Wang Chungen needed to head to the commune to pick someone up, so Shen Zhihuan got off the ox cart at the entrance of the town, arranging to meet back there in two hours.

In this era, owning a watch was a luxury few could afford, so “two hours” was more of an estimate than a precise timeframe.

The town of Shuangsha had only a few streets, and walking through them all wouldn’t take two hours.

The sun was blazing, baking everything beneath it. Shen Zhihuan wasn’t about to stand under it for long to “get some Vitamin D” and headed straight for the town center’s supply and marketing cooperative.

Upon reaching the entrance, Shen Zhihuan noticed a few bare, meatless bones left at the butcher’s stall.

“How much are the bones?” Shen Zhihuan asked, stopping in her tracks.

“Five cents a piece, no ration coupons needed,” replied the chubby woman selling meat, fanning herself impatiently.

“I’ll take them all.” Shen Zhihuan handed over thirty-five cents.

The woman rolled her eyes, stood up slowly, and wrapped the bare bones in oiled paper with a loud “thwack” on the counter.

“Thank you, Grandma!” Shen Zhihuan chirped sweetly, tucking the bones into her basket.

The woman froze. “What did you just call me?”

“Grandma?”

Enraged, the woman’s voice thundered so loudly it startled a few people entering the store.

“I’m only thirty-five! How dare you call me an Grandma?”

“Thirty-five?” Shen Zhihuan repeated, sizing up the woman’s many rolls of fat with obvious doubt.

Those entering the store cast incredulous looks at the woman, their gazes darting between her and another female clerk nearby.

“Sister Sun, you’re my age?” gasped the clerk, a striking woman who looked far younger.

The room fell silent. People compared the two: one stout and aged, the other vibrant and youthful. Surely they couldn’t be the same age?

Perhaps the silent doubts of the crowd were too glaring. The short and fat woman glared at the clerk at the counter next to her and rushed out of the supply and marketing cooperative angrily.

Humming to herself, Shen Zhihuan sauntered over to the snack and canned goods counter.

She began filling her basket with treats: sponge cakes, canned peaches, malted milk, peach crisps, sticky rice snacks, and White Rabbit candies.

The cashier stared in shock. Most locals couldn’t afford sponge cake at five cents a pound, let alone canned goods or malted milk.

“I’m buying this for the educated youth in our production team,” Shen Zhihuan explained with a smile.

“No wonder! I thought it was odd to see someone buying so much,” the cashier chuckled.

Indeed, it was the educated youth who could afford such luxuries, not the impoverished rural folks.

Before leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Shen Zhihuan turned to the counter selling braised food and got half a braised chicken. Only then did Shen Zhihuan leave the supply and marketing cooperative.

She wandered leisurely back to the town entrance and found a stone block to sit on. Pulling out a sponge cake, she began eating as she waited.

The cake wasn’t as refined as what she’d had in her previous life, but its sweetness still brought her comfort. Before she knew it, three were gone.

When Wang Chungen’s cart appeared in the distance, Shen Zhihuan wiped her mouth and got up.

As the cart neared, she noticed it was carrying seven people: three men and four women, all dressed in urban styles. One girl in a pink dress stood out as someone from a wealthy family.

“Waiting long?” Wang Chungen asked as he hopped off the cart and retrieved a burlap sack to place on the seat for Shen Zhihuan.

“Not at all,” Shen Zhihuan replied with a smile, climbing onto the cart with her basket.

A girl with pigtails sitting nearby glanced at the burlap sack under Shen Zhihuan and then at the wooden plank beneath her own seat, her expression souring.

“Villager, are those bones for your dog?” she sneered, peering at Shen Zhihuan’s basket. “But they don’t have any meat. Will the dog even eat them?”

Her words made everyone on the cart stiffen, including Wang Chungen.

Times were tough, and for many families, even the sight of meat was a luxury. Bones like these were often used to make soup, letting families savor a bit of the meat’s flavor.

“Educated Youth, you must be joking. My family is so poor we can’t even feed ourselves, let alone raise dogs. We’re not like your family, with old dogs and young dogs to spare,” Shen Zhihuan retorted with a faint smile.

The girl’s smug expression froze. “Mud-legged bastard…”

“Comrade Wang Meili!” barked a stern male voice, interrupting her.

Wang Meili turned to see the man in the white shirt glaring at her.

“Wang Meili, watch your words! As educated youth, we represent progress and culture. Your behavior tarnishes the reputation of all of us,” he reprimanded.

“Yes, Comrade Chu Ge is right. Wang Meili, reflect on your attitude,” chimed in the girl in the pink dress.

Chastised, Wang Meili sulked in silence.

“I apologize on her behalf,” said another man, adjusting his glasses. “She’s young and doesn’t know better.”

Shen Zhihuan raised an eyebrow. “Young and naïve?”

The bespectacled man awkwardly scratched his nose, realizing his excuse wasn’t convincing.

“Who are you to apologize for me?” snapped Wang Meili. “And stop following me! My family may have agreed, but I haven’t. Stay away from me!”

Her words were sharp, but her nervous glance at Chu Ge didn’t escape Shen Zhihuan’s notice.

Smiling to herself, Shen Zhihuan thought, The tenth production team is about to get very lively.