Chapter 41

“Ye Ye, what are you calculating?”

“Jia Jia, come quickly!” An Ye pulled Ning Jia to sit on the kang, counting on her fingers and asking her, “I remember that our periods should be about the same time. How come it’s been several days this month, but our periods haven’t come yet?”

“You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No way?”

Ning Jia thought this was very possible.

After all, she and Li Xu had been through a lot, and the chances of her getting pregnant seemed very high.

“Alas!” An Ye was like a punctured ball, and immediately lost her temper. “I don’t want to have a baby now! I can’t even fill my own stomach, why should I have a baby to make him suffer with the adults?”

“There’s no use in guessing. How about we go to the hospital for a check-up?” Ning Jia suggested.

“Go, go, go tomorrow!”

When An Ye thought that there was a high possibility that a little life was growing in her belly, she couldn’t wait even a day.

She had to find out the truth.

“Do you need me to accompany you?” Ning Jia asked.

“Yes, yes, yes! Of course!”

“Okay, let’s go together tomorrow.”

“Okay.” With her best friend around, An Ye’s panicked mood finally calmed down. “By the way, why did you sneak over to my place?”

“I just want to go shopping with you in town tomorrow. Since you are going for the checkup, let’s go shopping together after the checkup. To be honest, I am so greedy and want to eat meat like crazy.”

“What a coincidence, me too!”

“Together, together!”

After explaining everything, Ning Jia sneaked back to his room, opened the cabinet, and counted the two rolls of money in the cabinet. There were more than 140 yuan.

She was going to have a good meal tomorrow and use the remaining money to buy something for her family.

Ning Jia took out fifty yuan from it and was about to put the rest of the money back into the box and lock it, but for some reason a flash of inspiration came to his mind and he felt that it was not safe to keep the money in the box.

Although this amount of money is not a lot, it is already a lot in this era.

In the past, when there was no money in the house, she didn’t worry or fear anything.

Now that she had some money in her pocket, she had to find a place to hide it.

Several families live in one yard, and with the annoying “naughty kid” Liang Nengneng around, they have to be careful no matter what.

Ning Jia searched the house for a long time but couldn’t find a suitable place to hide the money.

In the past, when I watched TV, people hid money in the gaps between floor tiles, but the floor of her house was made of dirt, and there was not even a shadow of a brick to be seen.

How to hide?

Finally, Ning Jia fixed his eyes on the kang.

There are no beds in this rural area. People sleep on earthen kangs, which are covered with mats and quilts. There is a hole dug underneath that connects to the chimney, and fire is burned in the hole to keep warm in winter.

There is usually a stove next to the kang, which is used to boil water in winter, so that people in the house can use hot water without having to go to the kitchen to boil water.

The advantage of this earthen kang is that it is warm in winter and cool in summer.

Ning Jia had been lying on the kang to recuperate for the past few days, and she accidentally discovered that there was a slight dent under the kang. She lifted it up and took a look, and found that the adobe in that place had sunk a little.

However, the sunken area is not in the center of the kang, and no one would sleep there, so it doesn’t matter whether it is repaired or not.

Ning Jia felt that the concave place was a good place to hide money.

She wrapped the money in a handkerchief and hid it there, then moved the quilt to that position to press it down, which made her feel much more at ease.

At night, all the workers returned.

Before entering the door, Li Yao dusted off the dirt on his body, took off his coat and hung it up.

He saw Ning Jia sitting at the table, holding a pen and a piece of paper and writing something. He leaned forward to take a look and was secretly surprised.

Her handwriting is so neat and beautiful.

“Make a list?” he asked.

Ning Jia was so startled that he almost jumped up from the stool.

She covered her throbbing chest and glared at him, “How come you walk without making any sound? Do you know that scaring people can kill them?”

“You are too focused.” Li Yao picked up the paper and took a look. “Well, the handwriting is good.”

Ning Jia thought, how could it be fake?

She has practiced calligraphy for nine years, and is proficient in both hard-pen and soft-pen calligraphy.

Of course, I can’t compare with the masters, but I am not bad either.

She still has some skills.

“I’m going to go into town tomorrow and I’ve made a list of things to buy. See if you need anything and I’ll add it.”

“I don’t want anything, just buy whatever you like.”

Ning Jia folded the paper and put it in his pocket: “Okay, let’s do it.”

“Ning Jia, it’s time to go to the black market to hand in the eggs tonight.” Li Yao sat down next to her, staring at her with a pair of dark eyes, “Do you want to go with us?”

In fact, Ning Jia didn’t want to go.

The weather is freezing, and you risk getting caught, or even bitten by a dog.

“Then do you need me to go with you?” Ning Jia asked with a turn of his eyes, “If you need me to go, I will definitely go with you. If you don’t need me, then forget it. It will only cause you trouble if I go, so I might as well wait for you at home.”

“Then wait at home.”

“Okay.” Ning Jia agreed happily.

Someone makes money for you and you just sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. What’s there to be unhappy about?

As soon as it got dark, Ning Jia and An Ye went to Widow Chen’s house, weighed the eggs, and gave Widow Chen twenty pieces of White Rabbit milk candies.

In addition, Ning Jia also gave her two extra dollars.

Widow Chen was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling: “Hey, next time when there is such a good thing, I have to think more about my sister-in-law.”

“Don’t worry, sister-in-law. If I need anything, I will find you first.”

“Very good, very good.” Widow Chen was also very happy. Seeing that they were about to leave, she said, “I know Qin Niu from the carriage team. If you need a carriage, I can ask him to harness it and help you go.”

Ning Jia was a little hesitant.

An Ye agreed decisively: “Okay, then please go find Brother Qin.”

“Wait for me, I’ll be there soon.”

After Widow Chen left the house, Ning Jiacai asked, “Ye Ye, it’s not good for too many people to know about this.”

“Qin Niu has an ear disease and can’t hear anything. Have you forgotten?”

After An Ye reminded him, Ning Jia finally remembered.

Qin Niu went to the hospital for treatment whenever he had a fever when he was young. After a shot of gentamicin, he lost his hearing. When he grew up, he lived with his brother and sister-in-law.

It’s not a pleasant feeling to live under someone else’s roof. He was deaf and taciturn to begin with, and because his brother and sister-in-law often gave him a bad look, he felt unhappy and spoke even less.

He used to have a good relationship with Widow Chen’s husband. After Widow Chen’s husband died, he took care of Widow Chen from time to time.

“Qin Niu is an honest and kind person, there shouldn’t be any problem.” Ning Jia said.

“There definitely won’t be any.” An Ye said.

After a while, Widow Chen brought Qin Niu home. She gestured to Qin Niu, and Qin Niu looked at Ning Jia and nodded.

“He agreed. Let’s move the eggs.”

“Just let him take it to town.” Ning Jia said.

Widow Chen said, “He will deliver it wherever you tell him to.”

“That’s fine, Sister Chen, you should take a rest. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait a minute, don’t leave yet.” Widow Chen turned around and went back into the house. Soon, she came out with four hot eggs and two cornmeal cakes in her hands. “They are salted eggs that I just cooked tonight.”

She gave one to Ning Jia and An Ye respectively, and gave the remaining two to Qin Niu.

When she gave it to Qin Niu, she had a gentle smile on her face: “I put a few pancakes here, you can eat them with eggs on the way.”

Qin Niu refused to take it.

Widow Chen took a quick look and seeing that Ning Jia and An Ye didn’t notice her, she gestured quickly with her hands.

The meaning is probably: I give it to you, why are you being so polite? If I tell you to take it, just take it.

Qin Niu accepted the eggs and pancakes and gave her a simple smile.

Ning Jia and An Ye had actually seen this scene a long time ago, but no one said anything.

After leaving the Chen family, Ning Jia whispered, “I seem to have discovered some secret.”

An Ye pursed her lips and smiled: “I also found out. I think there is hope.”

“I think so too.”

When the two best friends returned home, they saw that the two brothers were already ready to sell eggs. Ning Jia told Li Yao about Qin Niu.

Li Yao said: “Well, he is reliable. Even if Sister Chen doesn’t look for him, I have to look for him.”

“Then you guys should go quickly.” Ning Jia remembered the salted egg in her pocket and stuffed it directly into Li Yao’s pocket. “Mrs. Chen gave it to me. You must have had a hard time on the road. If you are hungry, this is for you to eat.”

Li Yao did not refuse and took the egg: “Thank you. I’m leaving now!”

“Be careful on the road.”

Li Yao pushed open the door and was about to leave. Coincidentally, Li Xu on the opposite side also pushed open the door.

He looked up and saw An Ye sending him out. Li Xu raised his hands and hugged her, then lowered his head and kissed her hard on the mouth.

Li Yao saw this scene, and Ning Jia also saw it.

“Ahem.” He coughed awkwardly twice, “Well, I’m leaving now.”

Ning Jia smiled and tilted her head to look at him: “Li Yao, do you want to?”