Chapter 51: Li Lijuan Goes Begging (Part 1)

“Auntie, I’m not giving you things for nothing. Whether it’s exchanging with others or with you, it’s still an exchange, so you don’t have to be too polite.”

Zhao Xiulan’s words made Auntie Chen feel a little relieved. Otherwise, she would feel guilty for taking advantage of Zhao Xiulan too much.

Auntie Chen nodded and said, “Okay, Xiulan, then I’ll exchange things with you next time.”

“Okay, Auntie, I’ll leave now.”

Auntie Chen didn’t insist on keeping Zhao Xiulan. In their current situation, getting too close to them would probably bring trouble to both parties.

Zhao Xiulan was a good person, and Auntie Chen didn’t want her to be implicated.

Before leaving, Auntie Chen thought of something and reminded Zhao Xiulan, “Xiulan, if you go to the black market to exchange for food next time, it’s better to disguise yourself a bit. Don’t let people recognise you. Otherwise, if you go there too often, people will remember your appearance. Nowadays, you have to be careful. The food you carry is the most precious thing. There are many good people, but there are also bad ones. If you meet a bad person without being cautious, who knows what terrible things might happen.”

Auntie Chen’s words reminded Zhao Xiulan that she hadn’t disguised herself on the two previous trips to the black market.

It was fine for one or two times, but if she went there too often, she would surely be remembered.

Next time she went to the black market, she had to prepare and not show her face directly. In addition, she couldn’t go to the black market too often.

After today, Zhao Xiulan planned to come back to the county town in two days.

Zhao Xiulan nodded heavily, “Auntie Chen, I’ll remember. Thank you.”

“Ah, what are you thanking for, Xiulan? Auntie only hopes that you will be well.”

After bidding farewell to Auntie Chen, Zhao Xiulan first went to the black market to exchange some coarse grains with her fine grains, then went to the state-owned restaurant for a meal.

After a hard trip, especially since she earned some money, Zhao Xiulan didn’t want to treat herself unfairly.

This time at the state-owned restaurant, her luck was a bit better. There was still a small portion of braised pork left. Just like last time, Zhao Xiulan ordered a bowl of noodles and a side dish. With the braised pork, she felt very satisfied with her lunch.

This time, she didn’t have Lu Qingguo’s truck to take her back. Zhao Xiulan dragged her tired body and walked for another three hours before reaching home.

This delay took up quite a bit of time, and by the time she got home, it was already three or four in the afternoon. At this time, it was too late to go to the production team to work, so Zhao Xiulan simply rested at home.

The coarse grains she brought back were deliberately taken home, claiming that she begged them, otherwise it would be too conspicuous to bring back fine grains. Nowadays, who would give fine grains to others?

Zhao Xiulan exchanged 1 jin of rice for three jins of wheat bran and three jins of sweet potatoes.

Fine grains were more valuable than coarse grains, and one jin of fine grains could be exchanged for several jins of coarse grains.

If it were usual times, if Zhao Xiulan didn’t go out to work and earn work points, she would definitely face Ma Yumei’s harsh scolding, but seeing that Zhao Xiulan had brought back a few jins of grains by begging, even if she wanted to find fault, she couldn’t. Besides, now Zhao Weiguo was protecting her, Ma Yumei didn’t dare to make trouble too much.

After Zhao Weiguo came back from work and saw that Zhao Xiulan had begged a few jins of grains again, he was very happy and praised Zhao Xiulan.

Before, he didn’t know that his daughter had such abilities. It could be said that he had been neglectful and didn’t pay attention to his daughter’s outstanding qualities.

Li Lijuan, hearing Zhao Weiguo’s praise for Zhao Xiulan, sneered, “Isn’t it just begging for some food? What’s so difficult about that? Going out to beg is so comfortable? Unlike me, exhausted, my skin almost peeling off under the scorching sun. If this continues, I’ll probably turn into charcoal.”

(End of Chapter 51)