Chapter 34 – Sunday Morning…

On Sunday morning, Shen Mo’er deliberately wore the outfit with the fewest patches. She braided her hair and tied it with a red ribbon. She even applied a little rouge and face powder from the treasure vault. All in all, she looked spirited and pretty.

Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day were just around the corner, and the commune had a heavy load of propaganda work. So many people had been borrowed to the brick kiln factory that even though it was Sunday, Shen Shaoyuan still had to work overtime at the commune. After a simple breakfast, father and daughter carried their bamboo baskets and went to the neighboring brigade office courtyard to catch the donkey cart.

Normally, Shen Shaoyuan walked to work. Only when there was a market day at the commune would Uncle Liu Er drive the donkey cart to give everyone a ride. Not wanting his daughter to suffer, Shen Shaoyuan specifically asked Xu Weiguo to arrange their trip for a market day.

Several aunties were already sitting on the donkey cart. Right in the middle of them sat Zheng Jiamin, a young man, who surprisingly didn’t seem out of place at all—he was chatting happily with the older ladies.

When he saw Shen Mo’er and her father, Zheng Jiamin immediately waved, “Comrade Shen, Uncle Shen!”

As soon as Shen Mo’er and Shen Shaoyuan sat down, he scooted over to sit next to Shen Shaoyuan and said, “Uncle Shen, heading to the commune for the market today?” His use of “Uncle” rolled off the tongue smoothly.

Shen Shaoyuan replied, “I’m going to work overtime. Mo’er’s going to buy a few things.”

Zheng Jiamin immediately volunteered, “Comrade Shen Mo’er, if you buy too much to carry, just call me to help!”

When it was about time to leave and no one else showed up, Uncle Liu Er urged the donkey into motion.

Zheng Jiamin was clearly well-liked by the older women, and soon another one struck up a conversation with him: “So when are that educated youth Yang and educated youth Shi going to get married? We all saw what happened that day. It’s already like that, surely they have to get married, right? The autumn harvest is almost here. If they don’t hurry up, the harvest won’t be easy.”

At the mention of that, Zheng Jiamin gave an awkward but polite smile. “The two of them say they see each other as brother and sister.”

Shi Wei said he always saw Yang Qingqing as a little sister, and that day he was just trying to save someone. It was an emergency, and he had to act as needed. He couldn’t just marry someone over such a trivial incident, or they’d end up in a miserable marriage.

Yang Qingqing also said they were revolutionary comrades helping each other. Anyone bringing up differences between men and women was clinging to feudal nonsense.

But everyone could see it—neither of them liked the other, and neither wanted to get married.

It was just unclear why they’d acted so close before.

One of the chatty aunties exclaimed, “Brother and sister?! If that’s the case, then all the hooligans out there can just call it brother-sister love!”

She waggled her eyebrows and asked, “That day when Comrade Yang was holding onto Comrade Shi, wasn’t she shouting for Comrade Fu instead? Looks to me like she doesn’t like Comrade Shi—she’s got her eye on Comrade Fu! Tsk tsk, they always say girls love good looks, and Comrade Fu’s definitely more handsome than Comrade Shi.”

The other aunties chimed in one after another, looking like they’d already seen through everything. Zheng Jiamin silently sympathized with Fu Mingze, and tried to explain with little success: “It really has nothing to do with Comrade Fu. He and Comrade Yang don’t have much of a relationship.”

One of the aunties waved her hand dismissively. “Ah, it’s just that—falling petals have feelings, but the flowing water is indifferent. I get it.”

Zheng Jiamin weakly corrected her, “It’s ‘the falling flowers are affectionate, but the flowing water is heartless.’”

The auntie replied, “Isn’t that what I said?”

Zheng Jiamin, overwhelmed, quickly turned to Shen Shaoyuan to change the subject: “Uncle Shen, why are you working overtime on a Sunday? Is the kiln factory’s propaganda work really that heavy? Last time I went to the commune with Mingze, I saw the slogans you wrote on the wall outside the kiln. The calligraphy—tsk tsk—was really beautiful!”

He gave a thumbs-up and continued, “Not just the slogans, there were also paintings on the wall—the worker-peasant-soldier imagery was so vivid, so full of spirit! Uncle Shen, you’re really amazing!”

Shen Shaoyuan chuckled. “It’s alright.”

He’d heard plenty of flattery before. Though Zheng Jiamin’s praise wasn’t particularly original, it was sincere. Shen Shaoyuan could tell he was just trying to escape from the aunties’ gossip and graciously accepted the compliment.

Shen Mo’er had heard about the whole commotion by the stream near the village entrance, but she heard it second-hand from Aunt Cai and the others. Since they had arrived late, they didn’t know the full story.

Even so, Shen Mo’er couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for Fu Mingze. Not only did Yang Qingqing follow him around all day, but even when she was in a muddled state of mind, she was still fixated on pestering him. Shen Mo’er couldn’t imagine how Fu Mingze endured living under the same roof with her.

After they arrived at the commune, Shen Shaoyuan went to work. Since it was still early, Shen Mo’er headed to the Sparrow Market to browse around.

Back when the new house wasn’t finished, they had been unsure how much more they would need to spend, so they hadn’t bought much. Now that the house was done and most of the bills had been settled, Shen Mo’er had 83 yuan and 60 cents left in her hand. She planned to use 20 yuan to buy a few necessities.

She actually could’ve had a little more left, but the construction of the bathroom cost a bit extra.

Shen Mo’er wandered through the Sparrow Market and came across an old man selling wicker trunks he had woven himself. The craftsmanship was a bit rough, but the materials were solid, and the weaving was meticulous. Even better, the lid had a little handle where a lock could be attached—very practical.

“Sir, how much for this trunk?”

The old man hesitated for a while before he finally mumbled, “Six yuan for one, eleven yuan for a pair.”

As if afraid that Shen Mo’er would think it was too expensive, he quickly added, “The materials are all good. It takes a lot of time to weave them. And also, this design was created by my granddaughter herself. You won’t find it anywhere else.”

Shen Mo’er didn’t think it was expensive at all. If nothing else, the trunks were solidly made. What surprised her was that this old man, who looked timid and honest, actually knew how to do business—six yuan for one, eleven for a pair. That’s just classic bulk pricing to encourage buyers to purchase more.

Unfortunately, she had only planned to spend twenty yuan today. If she bought a pair for eleven yuan, there wouldn’t be much left.

“Are you buying or not? If not, move aside—you’re blocking the way,” a slightly plump middle-aged woman pushed past Shen Mo’er and asked the old man selling the wicker trunks, “How much for these?”

After the old man repeated what he had just said, the middle-aged woman immediately raised her voice, “For this kind of thing made from a few strands of wicker, you dare to charge six yuan for one?! What kind of handicraft sideline business is this? This is blatant profiteering! What brigade are you from? This stuff doesn’t cost you anything. Two yuan apiece is already too much. Are you selling or not? If not, I’ll report this to your brigade leader!”

The old man was so frightened by her scolding that his face turned pale. He waved his hands frantically, “No, no… It really takes time to make these. Two yuan isn’t even worth the effort compared to digging in the fields for work points. I really can’t… Our brigade approved the pricing…”

“Fine, I’ll give you an extra fifty cents—five yuan for both. That’s the most I’ll pay.” As she spoke, the middle-aged woman reached out to grab the trunks.

The old man stammered as he tried to explain and reached out to protect the trunks, “I can’t sell them. My granddaughter said we absolutely won’t go below five yuan each…”

Having lived an honest life, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with someone trying to force a sale. He was completely flustered and couldn’t even speak clearly.

In his panic, he even blurted out the base price.

Shen Mo’er couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up, “Comrade, buying and selling is a matter of mutual consent. If you think the price is too high, then don’t buy it. Why make things difficult for this old man?”

The middle-aged woman refused to let go of the trunks and turned to glare at Shen Mo’er. “Mind your own business!”

She shouted toward the other end of the market, “Junliang! Junliang, come over here and pay!”

The old man was still insisting, “I can’t sell them… they’re not for sale…”

Shen Mo’er couldn’t take it anymore. She gave the woman a swift chop to the hand. While the woman cried out in pain, Shen Mo’er snatched the trunks back. “He said they’re not for sale. Are you trying to rob him?!”

She placed the trunks back on the ground, took out a few bills from her pocket—a ten-yuan note and a one-yuan note—and handed them directly to the old man. “I’ll take both. Eleven yuan, right?”

The old man only accepted the ten-yuan note and handed the one-yuan bill back to her. “Eleven is just the asking price. Ten is good enough.”

Shen Mo’er nodded. “Thank you very much.”

There were only three wicker trunks on the old man’s stall. With Shen Mo’er buying two, only one was left. The middle-aged woman hadn’t expected Shen Mo’er to pay so quickly. Just as Shen Mo’er was about to walk away with both trunks, the woman hurriedly grabbed her.

“What’s wrong with you? I was going to buy them first. How can you cut in line? Don’t you know about first come, first served? These are mine—you can’t take them!”

Shen Mo’er replied calmly, “I’ve already paid. Money exchanged, goods received. These trunks belong to me now. Why shouldn’t I take them?”

The middle-aged woman insisted, “No! If you take them, I won’t have a matching pair! I saw them first. It’s just ten yuan, right? I’ll pay!”

As she spoke, she pulled out a bill from her pocket—a ten-yuan note—and tossed it on the old man’s stall. “There’s the money. Now give me the trunks!”

Shen Mo’er narrowed her eyes. Before she could respond, a young man hurried over from the side. “Mom, what did you buy? I’ll pay.”

“Two wicker trunks. I already paid ten yuan. They’re nice. When you get married, this pair will make a fine betrothal gift.” The middle-aged woman seemed to have completely forgotten how she had just insulted the trunks. She now looked smug and satisfied.

This time, the old man actually stood his ground. He picked up the ten-yuan note she had thrown and handed it back to the young man. “That young lady bought them first. I can’t take your money.”

A shameless haggler on one side, and a polite young woman who hadn’t even bargained and had defended him on the other—it was obvious where the old man’s loyalty lay.

The young man immediately understood what had happened. He picked up the trunks and returned them to Shen Mo’er. “Comrade, sorry about that. These trunks are yours—please take them.”

Shen Mo’er glanced at him and accepted the trunks.

The middle-aged woman hadn’t expected her own son to side with an outsider. She immediately lost her temper. The young man soothed her with a few words, then bought the last wicker trunk from the old man and coaxed her away.

Once the two of them were gone, the old man thanked Shen Mo’er and even gave her a small hand-woven wicker basket as a gift before happily packing up his things and leaving.

Before coming here, he had never expected that the few trunks he had made—barely costing him anything but time—would actually fetch fifteen yuan. That was nearly half a month’s wages for a regular worker!

Shen Mo’er felt like the name “Junliang” sounded familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she had heard it before, so she didn’t dwell on it. She didn’t take the little episode to heart and continued wandering around the market, buying a few miscellaneous things.

Once there was nothing else worth buying, she brought all her purchases back to the donkey cart, emptied her hands, and headed toward the agreed meeting spot: the gate of the commune elementary school.