Chapter 18 Bringing Mr. Cui Home

Putting the goods she wanted to trade into a backpack basket, Ming Leyao knocked on the courtyard door.

“Who is it?” The conversation inside stopped abruptly.

“Business talk.” Hearing a female voice, the people inside relaxed their guard a bit.

The door opened, revealing a woman with a dark face dotted with a few freckles, her head wrapped in a cloth scarf, carrying a large backpack basket on her back and holding a basket in her hand.

“Come in.” The man who opened the door led Ming Leyao inside the courtyard, cautiously closed the door behind her, then asked, “What kind of trade?”

“We’ll see.” Ming Leyao said, opening the floral cloth covering the backpack basket, revealing neatly stacked noodles inside. She then lifted the basket in her hand, showing a pile of shiny, oily pork belly strips.

When the man saw the noodles, his eyes lit up like light bulbs. When he saw the pork belly, his eyes were as bright as a 5,000-watt bulb.

“This…”

“I’ll go get the boss.” Another man quickly ran into the house, and after a few seconds, a scar-faced man came out. He looked fierce, but his clear eyes showed no hostility, which made Ming Leyao lower her guard a bit.

“Comrade, my surname is Wan. I’m the boss here. I hear the young lady has good goods? We can negotiate the price.”

“It’s just these two kinds. Boss Wan, make your offer.”

Ming Leyao’s clean and elegant demeanor, which didn’t match her appearance, made Boss Wan suspicious, but he knew some questions weren’t his place to ask.

“Do you want tickets or no tickets?”

“I want tickets.” She had enough money, but tickets were precious — back in the county, she hadn’t exchanged many. Tickets were rare and precious, so she preferred to trade with money but was willing to use the tickets.

“These noodles are pure white and flawless, even the refined flour on the outside can’t match this quality. I suppose you must have worked hard to get these?”

“Since you know, show your sincerity?”

Boss Wan, having gleaned no useful info, gave up struggling and said, “One yuan per bundle, plus a five-catty grain coupon.”

“Okay.”

“As for the meat, I don’t have many meat coupons here. What else do you want?”

“Cloth coupons, cotton coupons.” As the weather grew colder, preparing winter quilts became urgent, and gathering enough cotton for two quilts was a heavy task.

Finally, the pork was traded at 0.5 yuan per jin (Chinese pound), plus one cloth coupon per foot, or three jin of cotton.

On this trip, Ming Leyao earned 80 yuan plus a stack of coupons.

When she left, Boss Wan enthusiastically invited her to come again, saying such good goods were worth it.

Returning to the guesthouse at 4 a.m., Ming Leyao washed up in her space, cleaned the powder off her face, and slept comfortably inside the space, naturally waking up at 7 a.m.

After getting dressed, she went to the state-run restaurant to have soy milk and meat buns.

By 8 a.m., she arrived at the staff housing compound just as Grandpa Cui and Grandma Cui were walking out.

“Grandpa Cui, Grandma Cui, sorry I’m late.”

“Not late, not late, it’s still before eight. We came early.”

“Where’s Uncle Cui?”

“He was worried Grandpa Cui couldn’t handle the bus, so he drove us.”

Ming Leyao nodded and took the cloth bag Grandma Cui was carrying.

Soon, Cui Ying pulled up in a car.

“Get in. I have to return the car this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

The roads of the 1970s were narrow and bumpy, so the trip was uncomfortable for Ming Leyao, but at least no transfers saved some trouble.

Two hours later, they stopped near Shangjiaqiao Brigade.

After locking the car, Cui Ying carried the things and followed Ming Leyao into the village. Turning a corner, they arrived home.

Before Ming Leyao could take out the key, a few howling barks came from inside.

“That’s…”

“That’s my dog. It doesn’t have a name yet. If Grandpa Cui and Grandma Cui mind, I can take it over to the brigade chief’s house later.”

“No, no, I love these little creatures. Unfortunately, the staff housing compound has limited space, so I can’t raise one. Living here has fulfilled a dream of mine.”

“Grandma Cui really has a sharp eye. When she was young, she loved dogs. Before we moved to the staff housing compound, she had a doghouse built in the old courtyard and raised one. That dog lived for over ten years, and it was its natural lifespan.”

“That’s great. My dog is very obedient. Grandma Cui will surely like it.”

Opening the courtyard door, the dog ran straight to Ming Leyao, watching the three Cui family members warily.

“Don’t make a fuss. This is a guest who will stay here a few days. Let it get to know you, don’t let it bark.”

The dog seemed to understand, sniffed the elderly couple, then wagged its tail warmly.

“This dog is really smart.”

“No kidding. I think it looks different from other local dogs. Maybe it’s a mongrel?”

“Mongrel? Like a wolf?”

Actually, this wasn’t unusual. Dogs in the brigade roamed all over the hills, so who knows whose puppy got pregnant.

“Looks like it. The mouth is pretty sharp.”

“No wonder it’s so smart.”

Grandma Cui couldn’t help but pet the dog, which obediently lay on the ground, burying its head in its front paws, showing it wouldn’t bite and you could touch it.

This delighted Grandma Cui, who hugged the dog and wouldn’t let go.

“Grandpa Cui, the rooms here are empty and the furniture is new, just the kang (heated brick bed) is a bit cold. I’ll light a fire right away.”

“Very good, very good. This is much bigger than my bedroom.”

The floor was paved with red bricks, the room had a large open bed that could sleep three or four people, a kang cabinet by the bed, a chest and basin stand on the floor. Although the furniture was sparse, the essentials were all there.

Ming Leyao went to the main room to light the fire, while Cui Ying helped spread the bedding and neatly arranged the couple’s things, then brought a basin of water for Grandpa Cui to wipe his hands and face.

After finishing, Grandpa Cui took his tea cup and went into the courtyard.

“Ah, the little breeze is really cool. Leyao, your yard’s tree must be pretty old, right?”

“It’s decades old. When my grandparents bought the land, it was because of this tree. Later, the family grew too big, and the yard became too small, so we applied for more land and rebuilt the house.”

“I see your house looks pretty new.”

“Well… there used to be a house, but when they built the new one, they pushed down the old one and moved the mud bricks to the new site. The current house was built when I split from the family.”

Last night, Cui Ying had already told Grandpa Cui about Ming Leyao’s situation and naturally knew why the family split happened back then.