Chapter 3: Poor Life

After much insistence from Su Zhaozhao, they ended up eating plain white rice.

The two children didn’t dare to be too extravagant with the rice, so they added dried sweet potatoes and cooked it together. They ate until they were about half-full. The fish soup and cold dandelion salad were dishes that Su Zhaozhao couldn’t bear to let them cook, so she made them herself. When it came to cooking, she actually had some skill. The moment she picked up the spatula, her body seemed to remember what to do naturally, without fumbling, which prevented the kids from getting suspicious.

Thank goodness!

After persuading the two children not to go find a doctor for her, Su Zhaozhao, now with a stomach that finally stopped growling, began to look around the house.

There wasn’t much to see. The small courtyard was enclosed by a fence, with a tiny vegetable patch growing seedlings. In the center of the yard stood two thatched cottages—one served as the main hall and kitchen, and the other was the bedroom shared by the three of them.

In the corner near the door of the main hall was the kitchen area, with a large water tank and a cupboard. On the other side, against the wall, stood an ancient wooden table with a broken corner, which had probably been used for centuries, along with two long benches and some miscellaneous items piled in the corner.

The bedroom contained only one bed, where Su Zhaozhao had slept with the two children the previous night. At that time, she had been in a daze, preoccupied with fantasies of how to curse the heavens into cursing her back. Her mind had been a mess, so she hadn’t felt much.

Now, thinking about having to share a bed with them again tonight…

Ever since she became sensible, Su Zhaozhao wasn’t used to sleeping in the same bed with others.

But whether she liked it or not, she had to get used to it—poverty didn’t leave her much choice.

There was also a large wooden cabinet in the bedroom that required standing on a stool to open. Inside the cabinet was the family’s grain, the most valuable thing in the house.

They didn’t have many clothes either, all stored in a wicker trunk. When she roughly looked through it, she found that every piece of clothing had patches, including the ones they were wearing.

Although the clothes Su Zhaozhao wore were old, at least they fit. The children’s clothes, however, didn’t fit at all—they were all too small.

While checking under the pillow on the bed, Su Zhaozhao found some money wrapped in a handkerchief. She counted it: 185,560 yuan and six cents. At first, she was shocked, but then she realized that the bills included denominations of 1,000 yuan, 5,000 yuan, and 10,000 yuan, all from the first series of RMB. The only newer currency was the five mao and six fen notes, which were issued in the first half of 1955 as part of the second series of RMB.

Despite the large face value, 10,000 yuan was equivalent to just one yuan.

Su Zhaozhao admired the money for a while, thinking that if she could bring it to the 21st century, it would be worth a fortune!

Her biological father was a half-baked collector with a penchant for stamps and currency. Every time they met for a meal, all he talked about was his collection. From his stories, Su Zhaozhao learned about the value of the first series of RMB.

Issued in 1948, the first series of RMB had denominations of 1 yuan, 5 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan, 50 yuan, 100 yuan, 200 yuan, 500 yuan, 1,000 yuan, 5,000 yuan, 10,000 yuan, and 50,000 yuan. Each denomination had several versions, totaling 62 versions. During her last family gathering with her parents two years ago, her father said that this set of banknotes was worth over five million yuan.

Of course, her father didn’t have this set, because when he mentioned it, he had a look of envy on his face.

She had to put this money away! She needed to take advantage of the current circumstances to collect a few sets while she could.

Since the novel was set against a real social background, this currency must be valuable too. Even if the value wasn’t as high, it couldn’t be too far off.

Even if she didn’t live long enough to see it reach five million, she could leave it as an heirloom for future generations!

Of course, the prerequisite was that she’d need to have some money first.

With just 185 yuan and 60 cents in her possession, she definitely wasn’t equipped to be a collector.

The family had two chickens, and after the meal, Gu Nian busied herself feeding them. She chopped wild vegetable roots into small pieces and mixed them with the coarse bran from the first round of milling to feed the chickens.

Not far from the thatched cottage, slightly ahead and to the side, stood three houses built from stone and mud bricks. While Gu Nian was feeding the chickens, a small, thin man emerged from the back door and kept glancing back as he walked the short distance to the fence.

When he reached the fence, the man didn’t enter the yard. Instead, he quietly called out to Gu Nian, who was feeding the chickens, and then pulled an egg out of his pocket.

“Take this quickly.”

Gu Nian called him “Uncle” but kept her hands behind her back, shaking her head. She didn’t dare accept anything from him anymore. If her aunt found out, there would be chaos, and she’d take the gift back. Their mother had told them not to accept anything from their uncle, no matter what it was.

Just as Su Laibao was about to step into the yard to press the egg into Gu Nian’s hand, his wife’s loud voice rang out behind him.

“Su Laibao! What are you doing?!”

Startled, Su Laibao instinctively stuffed the egg back into his pocket and turned around. “Nothing, I just came to check on my sister.”

Xu Daniu, his wife, didn’t believe him. She quickly walked over, her suspicious eyes scanning the scene. “Don’t forget, you have three kids to feed! Our family can’t afford to support poor relatives!”

Embarrassed to be reprimanded in front of his niece, Su Laibao felt his face burn, but he didn’t dare argue with Xu Daniu. He could only agree, “I know, I know.”

Gu Nian pursed her lips in silent anger. They weren’t poor relatives.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Xu Daniu ordered.

“Alright.” Just when he thought it was over, Xu Daniu suddenly made a feint and pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing the egg he was holding.

“Well, well!” Xu Daniu exploded in anger.

“You guard day and night against thieves, but it’s hard to defend against one in your own home! I was wondering why our chickens were laying fewer eggs these days! Turns out there’s a thief in the house!”

She snatched the egg from his hand and started to curse him viciously.

“I work my fingers to the bone managing this household, inside and out, raising chickens, hoping to sell the eggs for salt. And you! You’re just giving away our stuff! Siding with outsiders, aren’t you? I must have terrible luck to have married such a useless man! Why did you even bother marrying and having kids? Fine, let’s divorce, and you can go live with your sister!”

“It’s not like that! I didn’t mean to give it away! Please stop yelling…” Su Laibao’s face was flushed with embarrassment as he looked around nervously, fearing that the commotion would attract attention and make them a laughingstock.

Though no one else came, the noise did bring out Su Zhaozhao, who said, “If you want to argue or fight, do it at your own house. Don’t create noise pollution here.”

Gu Nian quickly ran over. “Mom, I didn’t take the egg from Uncle.”

Su Zhaozhao patted her head. “Where’s your brother? He was here earlier when I went inside.”

“He went to catch cicada nymphs.”

Su Laibao tried to pull Xu Daniu away, but she refused to move. She shot a sideways glance at Su Zhaozhao and said to Su Laibao, “You think giving her an egg will make her grateful? Some people don’t know how to enjoy good fortune; they’re destined to have a hard life. Fate is decided by the heavens. No matter how much we help, they won’t appreciate it. You might as well throw it into a stinky ditch and at least hear a splash!”