Chapter 70 Two yuan a skewer, five yuan for two skewers

When Wen Qingqian was carrying the cub out the door, she ran into Yuan Tengzhen, who was rushing to work.

"Hey? Why are you in such a rush to work? Is the military region busy at the end of the year?"

She noticed that her husband's expression was off, so she quickly called out to him.

Upon hearing his wife's voice, Yuan Tengzhen stopped in his tracks. "Commander Ji is sick. There's a year-end review and exercise, so he's very busy. I need to hurry over to the plenary meeting."

Is Grandpa Ji sick?

Grandpa probably drank too much milk tea at home yesterday, so he's not feeling well when he gets back.

Xiao Zhizhi suddenly raised her head and looked at Uncle Yuan with concern.

She wanted to ask what had happened, but seeing that Uncle Yuan was in a hurry to get to work, she had no choice but to swallow her words.

Never mind, I'll ask Dad what happened when I get back at noon.

"You..."

He frowned as he watched Qing Qian holding the child, followed by a string of little kids.

"Why?!" Wen Qingqian said matter-of-factly, "I'm on vacation today, taking the kids out for a stroll."

Yuan Tengzhen was a little worried. "The end of the year is approaching, and the streets are quite chaotic. Be careful when you take the child out. Hold his hand and don't let him wander off."

"Don't worry, Cuiping is coming with me."

When Yuan Tengzhen heard that Cuiping was there, he thought that with two adults watching over three children, nothing should happen.

"Okay, I'll be going now. I'll come back at noon and we'll talk again."

... ...

The streets were bustling with activity, even though winter was just around the corner.

Many rural people carry their goods to the streets to sell. In the past, these small vendors were absolutely not allowed to come out, and if they were caught, they could even go to jail.

However, with the policy change, by the end of 1979, the authorities were turning a blind eye to these spontaneous private buying and selling of goods.

With prices rising, every household is suffering.

So they had to find other ways to make a living, and many state-owned factory workers even secretly started growing vegetables, raising chickens, and selling eggs in their own yards.

An egg costs two cents. If you save up a little over a month, you can sell it to earn some money to supplement your household income.

Wen Qingqian held the cub in her arms, and her appearance immediately attracted the attention of many people.

After all, Zhizhi is very pretty, like a little dumpling. Today she wore such an eye-catching dress. If you didn't know better, you might mistake her for a child actress on TV.

"How lively!" Zhizhi looked around curiously. She looked at the fresh cabbages and radishes on the ground and thought about how she could take out the vegetables from her space and sell them in the future, and maybe even make a small profit.

Thinking about this made her incredibly happy.

“Yes, vegetables are more expensive as winter approaches, so everyone wants to buy them in advance and pickle them,” Cuiping sighed, then walked to the side to ask about the price of cabbage.

Upon hearing that even turnips cost one cent per pound, she was so frightened that she quickly put them back.

"This dish is too expensive; it looks like we won't be able to afford a meal."

Wen Qingqian teased her, "I don't pay you a low salary, how come you can't even afford cabbage?"

Cuiping smiled and secretly gestured a number to her.

Wen Qingqian was instantly surprised, "So expensive?"

"This is already considered cheap. The supply and marketing cooperative charges 12 cents, and you still need vegetable coupons."

Cuiping sighed and shook her head, "If prices keep rising, how will we survive in the future?"

Upon hearing this, the little cub's eyes lit up immediately. "Aunt Cuiping, don't panic! If you ever run out of vegetables, I can give you my burrow!"

“You bought it for the same price, how could your auntie take advantage of you?” Cuiping affectionately rubbed her head, her tone gentle. “Alright, your auntie isn’t that poor, she won’t really go hungry.”

"no!"

The little cub blinked its big, dark grape-like eyes and explained earnestly, "I know there are cheap vegetables to buy. Auntie only needs to give me five cents a pound. It's not about taking advantage!"

Cuiping was afraid that the child was deliberately offering a low price in order to take care of her.

"Zhizhi, you don't need to do this. Auntie's salary is enough to live on now, and I can even save a little every month."

“Really, really, Mom has a small vegetable garden at home, right in front of the yard and behind the kitchen, that’s enough.”

A while ago, my mother said there was a small plot of land in the yard, and she got some vegetable seeds from the school.

Their research has already produced a batch of high-yield vegetable seeds. Planted in the fall, the cabbages are already forming heads!

Zhizhi didn't dare tell anyone about her online space.

But she also secretly scattered the seeds from her space into her mother's vegetable garden, and found that the vegetable seeds irrigated by the spiritual spring could still mature in three days.

My mother usually spends all her time in the school laboratory, so she had no idea that a lot of vegetables had already ripened in our garden.

Cuiping had never seen her, but Wen Qingqian had seen her with her own eyes when she went to find Zhizhi today.

She laughed and said, "I was wondering why there were so many vegetables in your yard when I walked in today. I thought you had stocked up for the winter, but I didn't expect you to have grown them. They look pretty good, better than what you can buy outside."

As she spoke, she winked at Cuiping, "Just accept their kindness. Deng Qiu studies this kind of thing. You don't know how many vegetables she grows in her garden, even big cabbages are growing in the cracks between the bricks. You can just give her the money later."

Cuiping hesitated a bit, but Wen Qingqian made the decision first, "Zhizhi, whatever vegetables you have left over, leave them to Cuiping and me. We'll buy them all for you at market price. That's settled, no more arguing!"

"Great!"

Zhizhi smiled happily.

Zhenwei listened from the side, then asked his brother blankly, "Big brother, when did we start growing vegetables?"

Gan Su rolled her eyes at him, "What have you been eating lately since we haven't been growing vegetables? We haven't been able to go out to buy groceries for ages."

"Oh, when will pork be grown in that field? I like sausages."

Jiang Gansu's brow twitched. Although he had already given up hope on his younger brother's intelligence.

But hearing such foolish words, I still couldn't help but feel disgusted.

"Zhenwei, you used to play with your umbilical cord before you were born, right?"

"ah?"

"Otherwise, how could someone have such a stupid brain?"

"Brother, you're talking about me again!"

"—Look! Candied hawthorns!" Wen Qingqian saw a vendor carrying a wooden frame by the roadside and happily walked over. "Zhizhi, don't you love candied hawthorns the most? How much, boss? Give me two flat ones!"

The man carrying the candied hawthorn stand was middle-aged. He was picking his teeth when he saw a group of children arrive and his eyes narrowed instantly.

He held up two fingers and said, "Two yuan a skewer, five yuan for two skewers, no bargaining!"

"What?"

Wen Qingqian thought she had misheard. "Brother, are you robbing me? Two yuan a skewer, two skewers should be four yuan. How can you raise prices like this? Besides, if it's only two yuan, why don't you just rob someone? Pork has only gone up to forty cents a pound!"

Is the candied hawthorn vendor trying to rip her off because she has a lot of children with her?

Two yuan is enough to buy a whole sack of candied hawthorns!

Is this some kind of bullying?

The candied hawthorn vendor grinned, revealing a mouthful of rotten, yellow teeth. "That's the price, pay up!"

"Why should I!" Wen Qingqian frowned and refused outright. "I'm not buying it. How can you do this? Zhizhi, let's go!"

"Hey?! Stop right there!"

The candied hawthorn vendor grabbed Wen Qingqian's arm and shoved a candied hawthorn into her hand without saying a word.

"You've already asked the price, so you have to take it whether you want it or not!"