Chapter 36

The county town was about twenty miles away from Baohua Village, which was still a bit far. The two of them had to rely on their own legs to walk there, and it would take them until dark to make the round trip. Most of the villagers who needed to go to the county town usually rode a donkey cart, a horse-drawn cart, or hitched a ride on a tractor.

Clearly, they didn’t have those options, so Wang Changping led Liu Yu, who was unfamiliar with the road, to the highway to wait for a bus.

The bus was a short, somewhat cramped one that could only hold about twenty people, making one trip a day to the county town.

With a whoosh, the bus stopped in front of them, spraying Liu Yu with exhaust fumes. In this day and age, no one cared about emissions, and this old, worn-out bus definitely didn’t meet the standards!

That wasn’t the worst part. The ticket collector, a woman, looked at Liu Yu’s simple clothes and immediately raised her chin, “Five mao per person!”

“Is it that expensive?”

Liu Yu had only a single mao on her, which was the money Nie Xiaocui had saved up for who knows how long! To spend half of it just on a bus ticket made her heart ache.

“If you think it’s too expensive, then don’t ride,” the ticket collector said, raising her chin even higher.

“You two together, right?”

She held out a ticket, which was from Wang Changping. His expression was calm, and his tone was neutral, “Can we board the bus?”

Seeing the money, the ticket collector immediately took it, then opened the bus door to let them in.

Once aboard, the two of them found seats together. Liu Yu felt a little embarrassed. She took out her mao ticket and said, “Comrade Wang, this is my fare.”

Wang Changping, seeing through Liu Yu, knew she was poor and only had one mao to her name. He didn’t take the money and said, “I don’t have any change, so don’t worry about it. You can pay me next time.”

“Alright… but you remember to let me pay you back next time.”

Liu Yu awkwardly pulled back her hand, feeling too embarrassed to look at Wang Changping. She leaned her head against the window, staring out at the view, not daring to meet his gaze.

The bus wheels turned quickly, and in less than half an hour, they arrived at the county town bus station.

Though Qinghe County wasn’t exactly bustling, it was still far better than Baohua Village. There was a wide, straight cement road, lined with neat shops: grain stores, fabric stores, clothing shops, and grocery stores. Everything for eating, drinking, and living was available.

Liu Yu stood at the bus station, adjusting her small basket, wondering where she could sell the grain she had brought.

Wang Changping spoke first: “We haven’t eaten since we left this morning. Let’s have some noodles!”

He pointed to a small restaurant ahead.

At the mention of food, Liu Yu realized she was a little hungry, so she nodded and followed Wang Changping into the small restaurant.

But this time, Liu Yu felt even more embarrassed.

The small restaurant was clean and tidy, which made people feel at ease. However, the food wasn’t cheap. A baked pancake cost one mao, plus two liang of grain coupons. The ordinary bone soup noodles, probably because they had meat in them, cost five mao and three liang of grain coupons!

Liu Yu had planned to use the opportunity to invite Wang Changping for the meal and pay him back for the bus ticket, but she couldn’t even afford the noodles herself. She was really short on money!

“Two bowls of noodles, two baked pancakes, and a plate of pickled vegetables,” Wang Changping ordered, his lips curving into a brief smile. It seemed that he found it amusing how embarrassed the plump girl looked, with her head lowered and face blushing—quite cute, actually.

“No, no, no! Comrade Wang, you can eat the noodles yourself! I’ll just have one pancake!” Liu Yu truly felt embarrassed. She pulled out her grain coupons and money, handed them to the waitress, took the pancake, and rushed outside, leaving behind a parting remark, “Comrade Wang, you take care of your business! Let’s meet back at the bus station at one o’clock in the afternoon.”

With that, Liu Yu ran off, disappearing from sight.