Sixth Brother noticed Song Yan following behind Wei Aiguo, but Wei Aiguo didn't introduce him or cause trouble. Hearing Song Yan's words, Sixth Brother's expression darkened slightly. "Who is this?"

“This is my wife. She’s never been here before and doesn’t know the rules.” Wei Aiguo stepped forward, blocking Song Yan. “The item has been sold; how much it fetched is Sixth Brother’s business. It’s none of our concern.” The last sentence was directed at Song Yan.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Song Yan knew it was a misunderstanding. This matter had to be clarified. "Wei Ping and Wei An are craving meat, can we buy a few pounds to take home?" If Wei Aiguo hadn't said that whole hampers of pork were selling well, Song Yan would have bought a few pounds of meat in advance.

"Sure! I'll sell it for one yuan and one jiao. If your sister-in-law wants to buy, I'll sell it for one yuan. How many jin do you want?" As soon as Sixth Brother spoke, someone next to him came up with a knife and waited to cut the meat.

Song Yan turned to look at Wei Aiguo. Was one yuan okay? Wei Aiguo nodded.

"I'd like to buy a piece of meat with a good balance of lean and fat, and another piece of fatty meat. Is that okay?" Song Yan asked tentatively.

"Okay." Sixth Brother readily agreed, and someone began cutting meat for Song Yan.

Song Yan tugged at Wei Aiguo's sleeve. He had seen the bags on the floor when he came in. "Is that flour in there? Can we buy a few pounds?" Song Yan's voice was neither too loud nor too soft; he figured Sixth Brother could hear him.

"Those noodles are for sale. How many do you want, sister-in-law?" Sixth Brother asked in a nonchalant manner.

"How much is it per pound? How many pounds are in the bag?" Song Yan asked.

"Six cents. There are 53 jin of flour in this bag." Sixth Brother said as he opened the bag.

"Take it all?" This question seemed directed at Wei Aiguo, but she had already made her decision. "And some cornmeal! Do you have any?" Song Yan, prepared in advance, put down her basket and took out a bag. In those days, grain was stored in cloth bags, and cloth bags cost money; they weren't given away for free…

The family's food supplies were already sufficient if they were used sparingly. Since Song Yan arrived, adding another mouth to the family, Wei Aiguo had considered getting more food. However, he didn't intend for Song Yan to buy it himself. Wei Aiguo tried to stop Song Yan, but Song Yan completely ignored him.

Sixth Brother: This woman is really willing to spend money!

When Chen Xiaodong saw the Aiguo couple, their hands were full of things.

Song Yan was especially happy. Cornmeal cost 40 cents a pound, and she bought 25 pounds. She also bought 8 pounds of meat and 53 pounds of noodles. She had 119.2 yuan left over from the pork. Combined with the money she made selling other things that day, she now had some savings!