Chapter 30: Can’t Go a Day Without Arguing

Early the next morning.

Grandma Zhao knocked on the second room’s door.

“Yueyue, are you awake?”

“Mhm, Mom, I’m awake.”

“Hurry up and get ready, or you’ll miss the ox cart.”

“Alright, I know.”

Si Yueyue didn’t even have time for breakfast. She rushed out the door and headed toward the big tree at the entrance of the village.

Grandma Zhao watched her second daughter-in-law’s hurried figure and murmured to herself. After that, she quickly entered the second room to watch over An An and Lele.

She didn’t want the two children to wake up and cry when they found no one around.

Si Yueyue rushed as fast as she could and finally arrived just as Grandfather Luo’s ox cart was about to depart.

“Oi, hurry up now~ Time waits for no one. Let’s go!” Grandfather Luo said. Once he saw that Si Yueyue had settled herself, he cracked the whip on the ox.

Si Yueyue had just climbed onto the cart. She took off her basket and panted heavily.

“Educated Youth Si, are you alright?” a nearby aunt asked as she looked at Si Yueyue.

Si Yueyue raised her hand and waved it. “I-I’m fine, thank you for your concern, Auntie.”

“Tch~ You’re being way too polite. I was just asking a question—what’s there to thank me for?”

“Hmph~ What do you know, old woman? Educated Youth Si is just well-mannered.”

“Heh, so you went to a few literacy classes and now you’re putting on airs? Of course I know it’s called being polite! I just think she’s being overly formal.”

“…” Si Yueyue looked at the argument that had started because of her and felt completely helpless.

“Um…”

“Educated Youth Si, don’t say anything…” The two aunties said in unison.

And then continued to argue.

Si Yueyue quietly mimed zipping her mouth shut.

Grandfather Luo chuckled at her little gesture and said: “It’s alright, those two are used to bickering. They feel uncomfortable if they don’t argue for a day.”

“…”

The two aunties seemed to accept Grandfather Luo’s comment. One of them gave a final snort, and the day’s argument was officially over.

After that, no one spoke again. Only the sound of the cart wheels and Grandfather Luo’s hollering could be heard on the road.

In the stillness of the early morning, those two sounds seemed especially loud.

Amid the steady cries of Grandfather Luo, Si Yueyue gradually drifted off to sleep…

The other aunties noticed that she had fallen asleep and lowered their voices.

No one knew how long she had slept before Si Yueyue suddenly woke up with a start. Her big, confused eyes darted around.

Once she realized she was still on the bone-rattling ox cart, she finally relaxed.

Ten minutes later, she saw the familiar landmarks of the town.

Sigh~ She still wasn’t used to riding the ox cart. Her backside felt like it had been pounded black and blue.

She really had to think of a way to get the family a bicycle.

Just as she was pondering how to do that, Grandfather Luo’s loud call roused everyone again.

“We’re in town! Time to get off! Be back by three this afternoon to head home—don’t be late!”

Si Yueyue paid the fare, slung her basket onto her back, and headed first to the post office.

“Comrade, is there any mail for Shanhe Brigade?”

“Oh, what a coincidence! One just arrived.”

“Is it for Si Yueyue?”

“That’s right…” After a short process, Si Yueyue received her new royalties.

She glanced at the money slip inside and nodded in satisfaction. This time wasn’t bad. Though it wasn’t as much as the royalties from the autumn harvest, it was still better than what most others got.

After stuffing the royalties into her pocket, she headed to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Even though she had plenty of supplies stored in her space, she still had to make a trip here to cover for it—without this, she couldn’t create a proper front.

When she arrived at the cooperative, the long line made her want to turn around and leave, but she resisted the urge.

After a long wait, it was finally her turn. She quickly listed out her items: “Comrade, I’d like one jin of sugar, two jin of rice, one jin of flour, and one jin of egg cake…”

“That will be seven yuan and eighty-five cents, plus one sugar coupon and two grain coupons…”

Si Yueyue swiftly took out the money and handed it to the clerk.

Once the amount was verified, she immediately stepped aside and left.

After packing up everything, she strapped the basket on her back again and headed to the state-owned restaurant.

Along the way, people bustled by—some heading to work, others shopping…

When she arrived at the state-owned restaurant, Si Yueyue quickly stepped forward to queue. There weren’t many people at that time, so it was soon her turn.

“Comrade, I’d like two fried dough sticks and a bowl of soy milk.”

The staff at the window swiftly scribbled down the order and handed her the slip. “Two fried dough sticks, one liang grain coupon and six cents. Soy milk is two cents a bowl. That’ll be eight cents and one liang grain coupon.”

Upon hearing this, Si Yueyue took out the money and coupon and handed them to the window staff.

“Alright, go find a seat and wait. We’ll call your number when it’s ready—come get it yourself then.”

“Okay.”

Si Yueyue found a seat in the corner. She had just sat down when the restaurant staff began calling out numbers.

Seeing that it was her number, she immediately got up with her basket on her back and went to retrieve her food.

After returning to her seat, she set her basket aside. Looking at the heavy load, Si Yueyue let out a deep sigh.

This time, she had deliberately chosen the largest basket so she could carry more supplies. The large basket was much heavier than the small one, and now that it was full…

Sigh~ It was truly exhausting. If it weren’t for her space, she probably wouldn’t even be able to stand up with the large basket full on the way home.

While her mind wandered, she didn’t waste time starting her breakfast. She picked up a hefty fried dough stick and took a big bite.

Mmm… Fragrant and crisp, with plenty of dough—unlike the ones sold below her old rented apartment, which were all hollow.

Chomp chomp chomp—several more bites of dough stick went down, and then she picked up the bowl of soy milk.

Gulp gulp gulp… ahhh. Now this was real handmade soy milk.

It was a hundred times better than the so-called “handmade” ones she used to drink, which were really just instant mixes.

As she thought about it, she realized that although money was hard to earn in this era and materials were scarce, everything you could buy was authentic and genuine.

By comparison, in the later generations, while people had earned some money, prices were high, and what they got were either watered-down or hollow products…

Sigh~ Thinking about it this way, it felt like each generation was getting worse.

“Brother Ling, is your family really leaving? I heard from my mom that your family is already selling the house?”

A sudden voice entered Si Yueyue’s ears. Hmm? Selling a house?

Her ears perked up to listen carefully.

“Yeah, you know what our family’s been through. My parents can’t bear to stay here any longer—they want to go to Hong Kong City and find my aunt.”

“But…”

“No need to persuade us. The family has already made up its mind.”

“Alright then. How much is your family asking for the house? I’ll ask around and see if anyone’s interested.”

“Mm… Our family has two houses to sell. My aunt’s house next door is also for sale. The two houses have the same layout. Eight hundred yuan for one, fifteen hundred for both together.”

“…Brother, isn’t that a bit too low?”

“It is a little low, but we want to sell to someone who’s meant for the place. If someone won’t take care of the house, we won’t sell it.”

“That’s fair.”

While listening to the two talk, Si Yueyue began thinking about the possibility of buying the house herself. She just didn’t know where it was located.

She thought it might be a good idea for Eldest Sister-in-law’s family to buy one. That tube-shaped apartment building was awful—everything had to be queued for.

Every time she went there, she felt uncomfortable all over. It was worse than the countryside.

“Hello, comrades.”

Zhang Linghe and Chen Chen looked up at the sudden appearance of a young woman in front of them—big, shiny black eyes, delicate mouth… Cough, stop that, stop that.

“Hello, comrade. Do you need something?”

“Ah… Well, I accidentally overheard you talking about selling a house. Would it be possible for you to take me to see it?”

Chen Chen gave Si Yueyue a once-over. This girl didn’t look like someone who could afford a house.

Before he could say anything, Zhang Linghe nodded. “Sure.”

“Shall we go now?”

“Yeah, we’ve just finished eating. Let’s go.”

“Alright, great.”

With her stomach full and energy restored, Si Yueyue followed the two strangers to go view the house.

Truth be told, she was a bit scared. But some opportunities never came twice. She quietly took out the self-defense pepper spray she had bought from her space.

If these two turned out to be bad guys, she wouldn’t show them any mercy.

Following the two men, she crossed two streets. When they passed a school and turned into an alley, they arrived at their destination.

She nodded to herself in approval. This location was quite good—convenient for kids to attend school, and she’d already seen it was close to markets for buying groceries.

“This is the place.”

Si Yueyue took a careful look at the house. A few neighbors on the left were craning their necks to peek curiously.

A couple of nosy aunties even asked the two men about her. When they heard she was here to look at the house, they curled their lips and walked away.

An elderly couple came out from the house. The man looked at his son and asked: “Xiao He, who is this?”