Chapter 13: Going to the Town

After returning home, Wang Chunlan went into the kitchen while the two sisters were tasked with feeding the pigs and chickens in the backyard.

The elderly woman carefully brought the water she had prepared before heading out that morning into the house, pouring it into a basin for washing clothes.

Without needing to be called by the grandmother, Song Liangzuo, hidden beneath his exterior as Song Xiaoxiao, quickly grabbed a gourd sponge for bathing and, while protecting himself, said to the grandmother, “Grandma, I can wash myself and scrub; you don’t need to help me.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! How are you going to wash your back? Stop dawdling and come over for a wash. After you’re done, those two girls also need to wash up.”

Just the thought of the first day when the grandmother had helped him wash made Song Xiaoxiao cringe at the memory—the force and technique felt like scrubbing a pig, and it hurt so much he wanted to run away.

Days had passed, but there were still small blood scabs the size of millet grains on his arms.

This time, no matter what, Song Liangzuo was determined to escape the grandmother’s clutches. “I’m not dirty; it’s just mud on me. I can wipe it off with a towel!”

The old woman didn’t see this as a bath; to her, her clever grandson was just playing with water. Although it was warm in the evening, it couldn’t compare to the warmth of the day, and she worried he might catch a chill.

“If you want to go to town tomorrow, hurry up and come over. Otherwise, you’ll be staying home obediently tomorrow.”

“Grandma, be gentle!” Song Liangzuo, fearing her threat, finally had to plead.

He seriously suspected that his grandmother treated him like a frying pan, and he cried out with pain.

He had wanted to shout, “Okay, okay, okay!” but what came out instead was, “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright!”

The grandmother found him amusing. “What could happen during a bath? You think I’m going to scrub off your skin?”

Taking advantage of the moment, he shouted that it hurt, and a smack landed on his bottom.

After a while, he noted, “Grandma, please wash my hair well; I think I have lice on my head.”

“Who in our family doesn’t have lice? I have them too; you’re the man of the house, so what’s a few bites? Just endure it and it’ll pass.”

Song Xiaoxiao wanted to retort, “You’re so old and still have lice? When am I supposed to endure that? Am I supposed to endure until I die? I can’t let that thing live off my flesh and blood!”

Wasn’t she afraid of raising a corpse insect?

But she soon found peace in the thought that as long as she got the chance, she would find a few medicinal herbs to make some shampoo.

Seeing that her grandson had fallen silent, the grandmother hurried her movements, quickly cleaning him up, then took him out of the basin to dry off, letting him dress himself to go play.

With leftover water, Song Zhaodi and Song Bandi also went in to wash up, but they didn’t get the special treatment that Song Liangzuo received; they had to help each other wash.

In the end, they also had to wash the dirty clothes of all three.

For dinner, they had a porridge made from sorghum, a big plate of amaranth, and some pickled cucumbers.

The next morning, the whole family rose early.

Wang Chunlan went to the kitchen to prepare food, while the grandmother carefully packed eggs into a basket and gathered some fresh vegetables from the backyard into a bamboo crate.

Once everything was ready, the grandmother led Song Liangzuo out, under the envious gazes of his two sisters.

As they left the village, headed south along the road, they encountered people the grandmother knew, and he would obediently call them “Grandpa” or “Grandma.”

His well-behaved demeanor earned him unanimous praise from the elderly!

After about an hour of walking, his legs felt as heavy as lead, and Song Liangzuo dragged along like a deflated balloon. “Grandma, how much longer do we have to go?”

The grandmother noticed how pale his face had become and scolded him, “I told you not to follow along, but you insisted. Now you know how tiring it is!”

“Grandma, I’ve never walked this far before! Next time I come, I definitely won’t be tired,” Song Liangzuo tried to defend himself.

In the end, the grandmother pulled out an egg from somewhere and stuffed it into his hand. “Here, eat this. Once you finish, you’ll have energy.”

He graciously accepted it, quietly thinking that the original owner was only four years old and had never exercised, so his body was quite weak.

However, he only ate half of the egg and shared the other half with the grandmother.

Naturally, the grandmother wasn’t interested in the half he offered and eventually shoved it back into his mouth.

While the taste of the egg still lingered in his mouth, they had already arrived at Gu’an Town.

The town wasn’t big; to Song Xiaoxiao, the main street looked quite commonplace. She thought they had arrived early enough, but when they got there, many stalls had already set up on the street.

The grandmother held tightly onto her clever grandson’s hand as he curiously looked around. She suddenly felt that bringing him out to see the world was the right decision.

To this end, she walked a bit slower.

After they set up their stall, Song Liangzuo obediently stayed by the grandmother’s side, his lively eyes surveying the surroundings, but after a long while, no one came to inquire about the produce, while his grandmother seemed entranced behind the stall, busy making notes.

She didn’t call out or entice customers; it was as if she was fishing without bait!

Song Liangzuo tugged at the hem of the grandmother’s clothing and seriously asked, “Grandma, when will we sell everything?”

“If we’re lucky, we can sell out by midday; if we’re not, we might not sell everything in a whole day,” the grandmother replied.

Pointing at the eggs and vegetables in front of the stall, Song Liangzuo asked, “Grandma, how much do these sell for?”

“What’s this? Do you want to help Grandma sell vegetables?” The grandmother teased, looking at her clever grandson.

Song Liangzuo eagerly nodded.

The grandmother didn’t believe her grandson could sell their vegetables among so many vendors, but she explained the prices anyway.

“Dry vegetables are five wen a bundle; there are eight bundles here. Eggs are one wen each, six for five wens, and twelve for ten wens. Eggplants are two for one wen. Cucumbers are one wen for four. If someone buys all our little pile, just five or six wens will do.”

While pointing to the cucumbers on the ground, the grandmother added.

The more Song Liangzuo listened to the prices, the wider his eyes grew. Was this too undervalued?

Although the cucumbers were a bit small, there were at least twenty-six or seven in this small pile, and none were even worth ten wen?

And the eggplants were larger than an adult’s fist, and only two wens for one?

If these were sold in his previous life, where organic vegetables could fetch five yuan apiece, they would fly off the shelves!

He quickly scanned the surrounding stalls and understood: there were simply too many vegetable sellers, and the vendors outnumbered the buyers.

Most of the stalls didn’t even have scales; everything was sold by count. After surveying the surroundings, Song Liangzuo spotted only one stall whose vegetables were a bit smaller; the rest were all fairly uniform.

“Grandma, let me help you!”

As he spoke, he began categorizing all the vegetables, sorting them into three piles: large, medium, and small. Just as the grandmother was about to tell him he was being foolish, Song Liangzuo smiled at her, “Grandma, wait a bit; I’ll do the selling. You just stand here and collect the money. If we can sell out early, we can tour the town, right?”

Heaven and Earth, Song Liangzuo wasn’t really interested in shopping; he had been complimented by an old man on the way who had asked why his grandmother hadn’t sent him to school to study.

His grandmother had immediately shot it down, saying, “My grandson doesn’t go to school.”

The grandmother didn’t mention the reason, but Song Liangzuo knew it all too well—because the family had no money.