Chapter 30: Let’s Perform a Model Opera

Don’t bother with Granny Wang’s explanations about how the stuff was sent by her goddaughter or anything like that.

Doctor Li, also known as Li Yidao, directly asked, “Ma’am, sell me some, how much?” Then hurriedly pulled out money.

Granny Wang came today just to sell him stuff.

Everyone in town has jobs and receives a monthly salary. Doctor Li not only earns a high wage but had also heard from the son of the Li family in Yushan that his mother smokes.

At a time like this, a woman who can afford to smoke obviously has a strong craving, but more importantly, it shows that the family is well-off.

When there’s wool to shear, why not pick the fat sheep?

So Granny Wang didn’t waste words, looked out at the door to check no one was around, then came back and whispered beside Doctor Li, “All these things: six jin of salted meat, one jin of sausage, each one yuan thirty per jin, total nine yuan ten; two jin of brown sugar, three yuan twenty; altogether twelve yuan thirty.”

Doctor Li took out twelve yuan fifty cents. “Ma’am, keep the change. The extra twenty cents is for Xiaomei and Xiaohua to buy candy.”

Granny Wang thought for a moment and accepted it. “Keep the basket. If you want anything else, tell me. I’ll have my goddaughter buy and send it over.”

“You have meat now; if you want more, it’ll be seafood, and seafood is hard to get.” True to her foodie nature, she even wanted seafood.

But Doctor Li knew seafood was hard to manage and just said that casually.

Granny Wang was secretly pleased. Her granddaughter had told her not to buy too much seafood.

“Seafood is all salty; fresh ones are impossible to get, and seafood is expensive,” Granny Wang said.

“Just having something to eat is good enough. Wanting fresh seafood? Unless you go to the seaside. Here, eating some seaweed, jellyfish heads, and salted ribbonfish is already a treat,” Doctor Li said, salivating at the thought of sea flavors.

Granny Wang nodded, signaling she understood, then changed the subject: “Doctor Li, if sending wine as a gift, what kind of wine would be appropriate?”

“Of course, Moutai and Wuliangye. But these are hard to buy, the supply and marketing cooperative doesn’t have much, and you need coupons.” After a pause, he asked, “Ma’am, are you buying wine as a gift?”

“Yes, someone helped me a lot, so I want to thank them.”

“Are you in a hurry? If not, you can check at the supply store. If yes, I have a few bottles here, all sent by some patients from Yushan. You know I have a taste for this.” Doctor Li laughed.

“Is it expensive? Will my money be enough for two bottles?”

So, when Granny Wang went home, she carried a cloth bag borrowed from Doctor Li, containing two bottles of Maotai. Of course, she gave back the money in her pocket to Doctor Li.

Xiaomei had nothing to do at home. Her aunt’s youngest son was staying next door. The second and third kids had gone to their navy dad’s place to pick malantou (a kind of vegetable). She had just been to her grandmother’s house and didn’t want to go again.

She was bored.

So, feeling aimless, she started heading home. Her front yard was open, with no fence.

Xiaomei walked a circle in the yard. She was a sensible kid from a young age, always helping with chores. Lately, she’d been busy moving things here and there, tired but content and happy.

Now with nothing to do, she felt a little lost.

After thinking a bit, while deciding between picking chicken poop or digging worms, she chose digging worms.

Not because chicken poop was dirty, but because she thought about the two chickens recently bought from the navy family—they hadn’t laid eggs yet. Maybe feeding them worms would help them grow faster and lay eggs sooner.

One egg was three yuan there, but only five cents here.

Gotta say, Xiaomei was quite a little money-lover.

With that in mind, she went to the utility room, grabbed a broken dung scoop and a small iron stick, then went outside.

Her home was at the east end of the village; going east three houses was the village exit, where a small river crossed with a cement bridge. Half the bridge’s railing was missing, the other half still there.

Xiaomei crossed the bridge and started digging worms near the east side of the bridge abutment.

That spot near the river rarely had people walking by, grew some wild goji berries, and the soil was loose.

Kids living in the east of the village all knew it was the best place for worms.

After digging for a while, someone called out to Xiaomei: “Xiaomei, are you digging worms too?”

She looked and saw Yujuan, holding the same tools, obviously there for worms.

Yujuan lived in Team Four and usually didn’t come here to dig worms. Xiaomei looked at her puzzled: “Why are you digging worms here? This is our team’s spot.”

Yujuan looked unhappy: “The team went to Nanhai today, I overslept and was left alone. I just came out to mess around.”

Nanhai was a place south of the village, farmland by the sand lake, called Nanhai by villagers.

So Yujuan was really just out to relax; digging worms was incidental.

Xiaomei shifted: “Let’s do it together, but be careful not to fall in the river.”

“I can swim,” Yujuan answered proudly.

Xiaomei scoffed, “I learned two years ago.”

After digging a bit, Xiaomei said, “Your mom came to my house to buy stuff, seemed like she bought meat too, said it’s for your grandma who’s sick?”

“No wonder I smelled something so good when I woke up. They must have cooked and brought it to Nanhai,” Yujuan said, almost in tears—meat! It had been so long since she last ate any.

Xiaomei felt bad too: “Why don’t you come eat at my house? We have chicken innards; stir-fried pickled vegetables are delicious.”

The innards left from recently killed chickens had been cleaned and salted by Granny Wang.

Yujuan, definitely a foodie, still had tears in her eyes but smiled: “Really? That’s great. Xiaomei, you’re so lucky. My mom says your family has lots of good stuff.”

Xiaomei warned: “Those things were bought by my Aunt Yanqin for my grandma. It’s Aunt Yanqin’s filial piety.”

Yujuan envied her: “Your family’s so good, having an educated city aunt.”

“Doesn’t your team have some educated youth too? Tell your mom to find a relative.”

“My mom’s fought with a few educated youth before. No way she’d find a relative! She’s always fighting,” Yujuan said.

Yujuan’s mom was famous for being straightforward and sharp-tongued, often offending others without realizing, so she’d had many quarrels.

The two girls dug worms and chatted, gradually stopping, then sat on the bridge railing by the west side, chatting casually without caring about the sun.

This was Granny Wang’s usual path back to the village; Xiaomei knew she was still waiting for her.

Yujuan was just there to keep Xiaomei company for lunch.

“Let’s perform a model opera,” suddenly a little girl’s voice said.

They were leaning on the railing, spitting into the river, watching small fish come to eat the spit.

Turning around, they saw it was Jinhua.

Xiaomei pouted and decided to ignore Jinhua. She had made up her mind to distance herself from this flower thief.

Jinhua had long forgotten the past, happily stepped up to them, and said eagerly, “Let’s sing ‘Smart Struggle’ okay?”

Before finishing, she tripped on the step, fell with a thud, and hit her head: “Ow!” Her voice was almost crying.

Xiaomei originally felt a bit schadenfreude, but hearing Jinhua’s cry softened her heart. She and Yu Juan quickly helped her up: “Don’t you look where you’re going?”