Chapter 42: Going to the City, Foolish Girl

After two weeks of rubbing corns, the granary’s corn was finally all processed.

Next, they had to harvest the radishes and cabbages before the frost arrived.

The team leader gave everyone a day off so that village members with vegetable gardens at home could tend to their own chores.

With nothing else to do, the new educated youths applied for permission to visit the commune.

After confirming that Aunt Huang’s family didn’t need help, Ming Dai took Zhou Sinian with her to carry out their plan of buying supplies in the commune.

Zhou Sinian was obviously in a great mood. Early in the morning, he cooked rice soup, boiled eggs, heated up the steamed buns, and served a plate of Ming Dai’s homemade pickled vegetables.

After getting up and washing up, Ming Dai went straight to breakfast, enjoying the convenience without any extra effort.

After the meal, Ming Dai washed the pots and dishes, while Zhou Sinian stood in front of the mirror, carefully adjusting his hair—

Oh, wait. His headscarf.

As for Ming Dai, she tied her own headscarf with an air of indifference, grabbed her bamboo basket, and headed out the door.

Ignoring the fact that Zhou Sinian was carrying a large basket on his back and wearing a bright red headscarf, Ming Dai effortlessly blended into the group of young women from Liujiawan.

Among the new educated youths, Qin Fangfang dressed similarly, while Liu Yan, who couldn’t afford a headscarf, made do without one.

Fang Rou, however, wore her cloak, a woolen hat, and a wide beige scarf, making her seem completely out of place with the people and the environment.

Though curious about why she didn’t ride with Qi Zhijun, no one asked further.

It was later learned that their bicycle had its valve removed and couldn’t be ridden, so they had to go to the commune first to buy a new valve.

Who had done that? It was easy to guess.

That day, not only did the new educated youths head to the commune, but a few village women also joined them, carrying eggs to trade for goods.

As they stood together, whispers spread among them—everyone was commenting on Fang Rou’s outfit.

Fang Rou paid no attention to them. She tilted her pale face at a 45-degree angle, gazing at the bare branches of the early winter trees, feeling like them—soon to be reborn in the spring.

When everyone had gathered, Liu Laosan called for them to get on the cart.

At that moment, everyone scrambled for their preferred seats.

Many people wanted the spots at the front of the cart, with one seat for the driver, Liu Laosan, and another that anyone could take since there was no leader present today.

But today, Liu Laosan shooed away everyone who wanted that seat and, smiling, called the young Ming Dai to sit.

That spot was indeed great—first, it blocked the wind, and second, it wasn’t crowded.

There was no reason to refuse, so she smiled and walked up.

A voice suddenly broke in: “Why does Ming Dai get to sit there and not me? Do you look down on me?”

Oh, it was Liu Yan, with a face full of tears as she looked at Liu Laosan.

Liu Laosan glared fiercely, his whip pointing straight at Liu Yan: “I can’t stand you! So what?!”

Liu Yan didn’t expect him to be so blunt, and immediately burst into tears.

Liu Laosan sneered: “I’ve been driving for so long, and no one has ever dared to challenge me! Who do you think you are?”

Liu Laosan’s ability to remain an old bachelor for so long was due to a colorful history of his own.

Seeing him get tough, the others quieted down.

When they saw Zhou Sinian following closely behind Ming Dai, the whole scene suddenly became silent.

Even the once arrogant Liu Laosan withdrew his whip.

They had completely forgotten about this troublemaker!

Ming Dai had everything arranged. She sat inside, near the front, her short legs not quite reaching the ground.

Zhou Sinian sat outside, shifting inward. His long legs also didn’t quite touch the ground.

One was short, and the other was slim, so their seating arrangement fit just right.

“Grandpa Laosan, is this arrangement alright?” Ming Dai asked.

Liu Laosan glanced at Zhou Sinian, who was quietly playing with his straps, and nodded, “It’s fine!”

The cart was now full, and it was very cramped. But there was still a significant gap between Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian’s backs.

Even with Zhou Sinian carrying a large basket, there was still extra space.

They probably had some psychological scars from this.

This was the quietest ride Liu Laosan had ever had.

Not a single person spoke!

Not a single person!

Liu Laosan went from being excited at the start to calm, then eventually, a little happy.

Was it because Liu Laosan hadn’t married or had children all these years because he couldn’t afford a wife or have kids?

No!

He was the only man in the entire Liujiawan with his own cart (the only one in the village), so how could he possibly not afford a wife?

The real reason was simply that he didn’t want to—no other reason, just didn’t want to.

No matter how beautiful a young wife was, she would eventually become the kind of woman who would chase you around, pulling your ears and yelling at you!

No matter how adorable a child was, they would grow up to demand money from you, calling you “Dad” and acting like a little gold-eater.

Isn’t it better to drive alone into the city, buy some meat, and cook it to enjoy?

Ming Dai didn’t get a chance to have a conversation with Liu Laosan, or else she would have been shocked by his forward-thinking ideas!

The cart swayed along the road, and soon they arrived at the commune.

As the cart stopped, Liu Laosan was still puzzled—why was everyone so well-behaved today?

The horse: “Try not listening to me, I almost peed myself from being scared.”

Zhou Sinian, who was as good with animals as with people, jumped off the cart and looked at the familiar streets, thinking about where to start exploring.

As soon as the people in the cart saw Zhou Sinian get off, they scattered quickly.

Ming Dai glanced at Fang Rou and noticed a large streak of snot on the back of her cloak. It was probably the work of some auntie from the village.

She must have been fuming.

Zhou Sinian, eager to set off, was about to move when Ming Dai casually greeted Liu Laosan before following him.

Since she had promised to explore with him around and buy things, Ming Dai stuck by his side.

The two of them excitedly walked down the West Street, then turned to the East Street.

After walking all the way down the East Street, Ming Dai had to admit—what Zhou Sinian meant by “shopping” was really just walking down the street, walking with confidence, and not looking around at all.

Ming Dai couldn’t help but laugh and cry. Up ahead, not far away, was the junkyard. She grabbed Zhou Sinian and walked over.

Zhou Sinian was enjoying the act of shopping, and didn’t mind where they went.

A treasure hunt at the junkyard was something every story-driven girl had to do.

She greeted the elderly man nearly falling asleep by the entrance, convinced Zhou Sinian to leave his basket outside, and they went in empty-handed.

The moment they stepped inside, Ming Dai used her space powers to scan for treasures.

Ming Dai found two chipped bowls buried under a pile of junk. They were good quality, from the late Qing dynasty, so she decided to keep them.

Everything else was just average.

Ming Dai planned to take some newspapers to use for walling, in line with the times.

Zhou Sinian, on the other hand, had his eye on a pile of scrap metal. He was digging through it by himself.

Ming Dai handed him a pair of gloves and reminded him not to hurt his hands before walking away to focus on her own search.

After a while, Ming Dai found quite a few ancient books.

Following that direction, she used her space powers to search again and unexpectedly discovered two large boxes full of old books.

They weren’t skill-related books, but rather supernatural novels. She flipped through a few pages and found them quite interesting.

In the end, she found a large stack of newspapers, a few children’s books, and some elementary and middle school textbooks. They were all still in good condition, clearly belonging to a child who didn’t know how to study.

Straightening up, she looked over at Zhou Sinian. He was already moving quickly, having turned over the entire junk pile.

There were a few broken bicycles, a damaged radio, and some scrap metal on the ground.

Ming Dai didn’t disturb him. When the old man, who was guarding the junkyard, angrily approached to scold them, she slipped him a bun.

Then, the two of them sat down on the ground, watching Zhou Sinian dig through the pile.

The old man, still holding the warm bun against his chest, directed Zhou Sinian and even found a bicycle handlebar.

In the end, Zhou Sinian was satisfied, and with the help of Ming Dai and the old man, they started putting things back in place.

After calculating the value of the books and junk, they paid 3 yuan for everything, and the pile of junk became theirs.

They were probably the first ones to ever pay the junkyard for their scraps.

If it hadn’t been for Ming Dai’s space abilities, she probably wouldn’t have dared to play around like this with Zhou Sinian.

While Ming Dai was pondering how to carry away those broken bicycles, Zhou Sinian squatted down and started dismantling the bikes.

He didn’t use any tools, yet every part came off easily. He even sorted the parts into categories, which was quite magical to watch.

Ming Dai couldn’t help much, so she took out the newspapers and wrapped the parts up.

In the end, everything was packed into Zhou Sinian’s basket, making it much easier to carry.

They went to the old man to wash their hands, then continued their shopping spree.

Eventually, they ended up at the supply and marketing cooperative.

As soon as they walked in, they saw Fang Rou standing in front of the fabric counter, frowning as she looked at the materials on the wall, clearly dissatisfied.

Ming Dai noticed her cloak had been removed and was being held upside down. She realized that Fang Rou had discovered something.

Looking at her beige coat, Ming Dai couldn’t help but admire how clever she was.

Fang Rou noticed them as well. Frowning, she pointed to a greyish-blue fabric, handing over her fabric coupons and money.

Since she was dressed so fashionably, the sales clerk wasn’t annoyed and served her with a smile.

On their side, the service was just as good, thanks to Zhou Sinian. They quickly bought the things they wanted.

Afterward, they went to the meat stand at the meat processing plant, buying five pounds of meat and five pounds of ribs. The people in line were stunned. The butcher, rarely seeing such a generous purchase, threw in two large marrow bones and a big chunk of pig skin as a bonus.

Ming Dai stuffed everything into Zhou Sinian’s basket.

Finally, they stopped by the state-run restaurant for a quick visit. When they came out, Ming Dai’s basket had a few more oil-paper-wrapped packages.

They strolled leisurely back to the cart, where others were already waiting.

Taking advantage of the others’ inattention, Ming Dai quickly slipped one of the oil-paper packages to Liu Laosan.

Liu Laosan understood immediately, tucking it into his coat.

He felt it—it was warm and soft. It was a big meat bun!

He had known it! Ming Dai was the best child in the whole commune.

Once everyone was ready, the cart began its return journey.

Everyone looked at Fang Rou curiously, who still stubbornly refused to put on her cloak.

Fang Rou was shivering, her teeth chattering, but she refused to wear the cloak.

In the end, it was Qi Zhijun who took off his military coat and gave it to her. Only then did she finally put it on.

Of course, it was Qi Zhijun who was now chattering his teeth.

Eventually, an older woman, unable to stand it any longer, grabbed the cloak from Fang Rou and draped it over Qi Zhijun.

“You city kids don’t know what’s good for you. The weather here in Hei Province can freeze you to death!”

As expected, by the time they returned that evening, both of them had developed high fevers, and because they lived alone, no one noticed at first.

Not only did they suffer, but their reputation was also damaged. Now, even the three-year-old kids in the village knew that there was a “foolish girl” at the educated youth quarters who didn’t understand the weather.

This made Fang Rou even sicker, and she ended up missing the harvest of the cabbage and radishes.