Chapter 33

When I walked into the yard, I heard a man talking in the house.

Ning Jia and An Ye looked at each other and both stopped.

It was already dark, and there were sounds of a man in this widow’s house… If this were to get out, it would probably cause trouble and criticism.

“Are you still going in?” An Ye asked.

Ning Jia pricked up his ears and listened. The sounds in the room were intermittent until a plop sound was heard.

Then came the angry voice of Widow Chen: “Do you have any shame? If you do this again, I will call for help!!”

Ning Jia heard something was wrong inside, cleared his throat, and shouted loudly: “Is Sister Chen home?”

Soon, the noise in the house stopped.

Widow Chen hurriedly came out of the house, tidying up her hair and clothes. She was very surprised to see Ning Jia and An Ye standing in the yard.

“Why are you two sisters-in-law here?

These two people love to quarrel on a daily basis, and they are well-known in Laohuaishu Village.

Ning Jia knew what she meant, so she said directly: “My mother-in-law asked her to go to the mountain to collect dry firewood and asked me to supervise her! To prevent her from being lazy!”

“That’s complete nonsense! It’s asking us to supervise each other!” An Ye retorted.

“Okay, stop arguing here, both of you. What do you want from me so late at night?” asked Widow Chen.

“Then I’ll be frank.” Ning Jia directly stated his purpose, “Sister-in-law, I want to buy some eggs from you! The more the better…”

When Widow Chen heard this, she immediately made a gesture to keep quiet: “Shh~”

She pointed inside the house and waved at Ning Jia.

Ning Jia understood and immediately said loudly: “Sister Chen, we are thirsty after walking all the way. Can we go to your room to drink some water first?”

“Of course I can! Come in with me!”

As soon as Widow Chen finished speaking, Wang Erlaizi came out of the house with a cigarette in his mouth and a nonchalant look.

“It’s you again!” Ning Jia’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here so late at night?”

Wang Erlaizi glared at her and said, “Why are you meddling in other people’s business? Why should you mind? Pah!”

He spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm. Fortunately, Ning Jia dodged quickly, otherwise it would have fallen on her.

“How disgusting!” Ning Jia was disgusted.

“Tsk~” Wang Erlaizi snorted and walked away with a swagger.

As soon as he left, Ning Jia asked Widow Chen, “Sister Chen, what happened to him?”

Widow Chen’s eyes turned red and she started to cry: “He is such a scoundrel! He came here this afternoon to borrow something, but as soon as he entered the house, he refused to leave… You must have heard it just now, he was so shameless to touch me! I am a widow…”

The more she spoke, the sadder she became. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and covered her face with it.

It’s not that Widow Chen is not afraid of being embarrassed and tells everything to others.

It was really because this Wang Erlaizi had a bad reputation in the village. He flirted with widows and teased young girls.

Everybody disliked him to death.

But no one talks about these things openly.

One reason is that young girls and wives are concerned about their reputation and are unwilling to publicize it.

The second reason is that although Wang Erlaizi is not a good person, his father is a well-known figure in the village.

Three years ago, there was a heavy rain and the village was flooded, trapping many people.

Wang Erlaizi’s father actively organized people to rescue the villagers. He did not sleep for three days and three nights and saved dozens of people.

Finally, in order to save the production team leader’s old mother, he was washed away by the flood.

When he was salvaged, he was already swollen beyond recognition.

On the day he was buried, the whole village attended his funeral.

From then on, Wang Er Laizi did evil things in the village, and everyone knew about it and was disgusted with him. However, considering that he was his father’s only son, everyone tried to tolerate him.

Wang Erlaizi is well aware of this, which is why he dares to be so arrogant.

Widow Chen was afraid that Ning Jia would misunderstand that she was willing to hang out with Wang Erlaizi, so she took the initiative to bring up the matter.

“This bastard!” An Ye’s teeth itched with hatred, “He really deserves a beating!”

Isn’t this Wang Erlaizi just as bad as the bastard boss he has at work?

She didn’t want to be taken advantage of by her boss, but she was bullied everywhere.

“Forget it.” Widow Chen waved her hand, “Let’s not talk about him anymore! Let’s go inside and talk.”

As soon as they entered the room, Widow Chen opened the drawer and took out two handfuls of melon seeds. She stuffed a handful into each of their hands and said, “Eat melon seeds.”

Ning Jia was not polite and took it and started eating naturally: “Sister Chen, I know you have two chickens at home, but you live alone and you probably can’t finish all the eggs on weekdays. So I want to buy some eggs from you.”

“Okay, okay.” Widow Chen readily agreed. She was a smart person. If someone wanted to buy, she would just sell it and never ask why. “How much do you want?”

“How many do you have? I want as much as you want.” Ning Jia held up two fingers, “I’ll buy yours for 20 cents per pound.”

Widow Chen lives alone and it is inevitable that she will get sick or have a disaster. She needs to save some money just in case.

On weekdays, earning work points is only enough to fill your stomach and you can’t save any money at all.

So, she would save some eggs from time to time, or go to the mountains to dig some herb roots, and sell them secretly every now and then to save some money for herself.

It doesn’t matter who you sell it to.

Since Ning Jia wanted it, she sold them all.

“I have saved three kilograms. I’ll go get them for you now.” Widow Chen happily stood up and went to the kitchen to get the eggs.

“Don’t worry, sister-in-law.” Ning Jia hurriedly stopped her, “I’ll pay you first, but I’ll keep the eggs with you first. I’m not in a hurry to take them.”

Widow Chen was stunned and didn’t understand what Ning Jia meant.

“Sister Chen, do you know the relationship between Lin Zhiqing and my seventh son?”

Widow Chen nodded repeatedly: “I know! Everyone in the village knows that your seventh son is going to marry Lin Zhiqing. I heard that they are planning to hold the wedding during the Chinese New Year. What? Is the egg collection related to Lin Zhiqing?”

“Her mother is a salesperson in the city. Do you know about this?” Ning Jia asked again.

Widow Chen smiled: “Who doesn’t know this? Everyone knows that Lin Zhiqing’s father is a factory director and her mother is a salesperson in the city. She has a lot of good things in her hands!”

“That’s right.” Ning Jia said with a smile, “The Chinese New Year is just a few months away. The demand for eggs in the city is greater than usual, but the purchase volume cannot keep up with the sales. So, I thought of collecting some eggs from our village. Lin Zhiqing was embarrassed to come forward for this matter, so she asked me to collect them for her!”

Widow Chen suddenly realized: “Oh, so that’s how it is.”

“But you also know that this is a secret transaction and cannot be made public. So, I would like to borrow your place to store the goods for a few days. When we have enough, we can transport them all away.”

“This…” Widow Chen looked at Ning Jia, then at An Ye, feeling a little worried, “What are you doing…”

Aren’t they mortal enemies?

On the wedding day, I almost scratched each other’s face. How come they are together now?

Ning Jia is here talking to her about buying and selling eggs. Isn’t she afraid that An Ye will turn against her and complain to her when she leaves this room?

An Ye saw what Widow Chen was thinking: “Sister Chen, you don’t have to look at me. I won’t tell anyone about this.”

After An Ye finished speaking to Widow Chen, he turned to Ning Jia, “Let’s make a deal about this. I’ll keep it a secret for you, and you have to give me some of the benefits that Lin Xiaoxi gave you. Otherwise, don’t blame me for turning my back on you!”

Ning Jia glared at her with disdain: “Give it to me, give it to you. I’ll give you some benefits. But if you tell me about it, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll dig up your ancestral grave with a pickaxe at night!”

Widow Chen looked at the two men in astonishment.

How come they hate each other so much that they want to strangle each other, yet they insist on working together?

Seeing that Widow Chen was stunned, Ning Jia smiled and said, “Don’t be surprised, sister-in-law. Although she is annoying, she has one good thing, which is that she is greedy for money. For money, she can definitely keep her mouth shut.”

Widow Chen nodded repeatedly: “Okay, that’s good.”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll have someone send all the eggs to you. Of course, I won’t treat you unfairly, sister-in-law. I’ll send you some White Rabbit candies tomorrow as a token of my gratitude to you, sister-in-law!”

When Widow Chen heard that there was White Rabbit milk candy to eat, her eyes lit up.

“Oh, I heard that this candy is very expensive! Sometimes you can’t even buy it at the supply and marketing cooperative in town.”

“That’s right! It’s because you, sister-in-law, have helped me a lot that I want to give you White Rabbit Milk Candy!” Ning Jia said with a smile.

Widow Chen smiled happily: “I thought you and Lin Zhiqing didn’t have a good relationship before, but now it seems that’s not the case! Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given this job to you!”

“That’s for sure!” Ning Jia said seriously, “Don’t worry, sister-in-law.”

“Don’t worry, of course I am relieved!” I, Widow Chen, continued, “This educated young lady Lin’s family is really rich. She gave away White Rabbit candies! I heard that she is going to organize a literacy class. Villagers can get a piece of candy as long as they attend the class for two days!”

“Isn’t it?” Ning Jia said with a smile, “My sister-in-law is not an ordinary person, she is very generous. By the way, sister-in-law, please help me contact them privately and ask whoever has eggs to send them to you. I will charge 20 cents for a pound of eggs. In addition, I will give you a piece of White Rabbit milk candy for every pound of eggs you sell! Try to collect 50 pounds of eggs within five days!”

When Widow Chen heard this, she immediately agreed happily: “Don’t worry about this, I will definitely get it done for you!”

“Okay, in that case, I’ll trouble you, sister-in-law. I’ll bring you some candy tomorrow!”

“You’re very polite.”

Ning Jia finished her work and stood up: “It’s getting late, we won’t disturb sister-in-law’s rest, see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, okay. I won’t see you off. Take care.”

Coming out of Widow Chen’s house, An Ye immediately gave Ning Jia a thumbs up: “This move of yours is really amazing!”