Soon, the two stopped at another stall.

This stall was filled with green vegetables, including baby spinach still glistening with dew, chives, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants—you name it, they had it. Seeing such fresh vegetables in the dead of winter was truly a rare treat!

So there were quite a few people at this stall, but they were all scared off by the price. The vegetables here cost two cents a pound.

An older woman muttered under her breath, "So expensive! That's enough to buy three ounces of meat. Isn't this a rip-off?"

"Auntie, how can you talk like that? Don't you know what time it is? We've put in a lot of effort to get fresh vegetables at this time of year. So what if they're a little more expensive? We're still losing money!" The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his thirties with sharp hearing; he heard the old woman muttering so softly.

Hearing this, some of the people who had been standing around without buying nodded, agreeing with him. Without further hesitation, they started buying one or two pounds at a time.

The middle-aged man didn't have time to talk to the old lady anymore; he quickly weighed the items and calculated the bill.

Seeing the bustling stalls, the old woman gritted her teeth and joined in.

"Sis, are you buying it?"

Wu Yuanyuan nodded, "You stay here and watch the bicycle, I'll go!" She remembered the disastrous experience of buying cotton wool last time.

"I'll take two pounds of each. It's a rare opportunity, who knows if I'll ever get to see it again?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuanyuan agreed with Buling's assessment and immediately decided to buy more for herself. "Stay away from her," she instructed Buling, then rolled up her sleeves and squeezed in.

Bling obediently pushed her bicycle a little further away, afraid of being accidentally injured.

Wu Yuanyuan quickly squeezed out carrying a cloth bag. She handed the bag to Bu Ling, took a deep breath, straightened her disheveled braids, and said, "It's all here. You get two pounds of each, and I get one pound. We'll divide it when we get back."

Bling nodded. Indeed, it wasn't very convenient here.

"Shall we still go shopping?"

"Let's go shopping! We're already here!"

It's a good excuse

The two continued browsing and stopped at a stall selling vermicelli. "Auntie, how much are these vermicelli?"

"Three cents a pound, no bargaining, but you can get a discount if you have a coupon!" The old woman said coldly.

That makes sense. Fans don't weigh much, and it's getting late, so Buling didn't haggle: "Okay, give me five jin, ma'am!" These things don't spoil, so buying a little extra won't hurt.

Wu Yuanyuan quickly added, "I want two jin too!" Vermicelli is an essential item in northern China.

Seeing that a big customer had arrived, the old lady didn't hesitate and deftly pulled out seven bundles of vermicelli from the fertilizer bag next to her: "Each bundle weighs one jin. If you don't believe me, I'll weigh it for you."

Bu Ling looked at Wu Yuanyuan

Wu Yuanyuan weighed each one in her hands: "That's right, it's one jin!" After working as a kitchen helper for so long, she had honed her skills.

Upon hearing this, Bling readily paid the money.

Finally, when the two emerged from the grove, their bicycle was laden with belongings. Fortunately, it was almost dark, so it wasn't as noticeable; otherwise, they might have been questioned by Red Guards.

Wu Yuanyuan rode her bicycle at breakneck speed, finally returning to the compound before it got completely dark.

The courtyard was bustling with activity. Seeing the two of them acting like they were buying new goods, everyone was a little envious.

"Yuanyuan, Xiaobu, did you two go shopping? Why are you back so late?" Aunt Zhou was cooking at the door.

"Oh, Sister-in-law Zhou, it just looks like a lot, but it didn't actually cost much." Bu Ling chuckled. That's the downside of courtyard houses—there's no privacy at all.

"With all these bags and packages, they really don't know how to manage money." This sarcastic remark clearly came from Aunt Lan.

"Aunt Lan, you certainly know how to manage a household well. I haven't seen your family living that well, yet you're always envious of others." Would Bu Ling tolerate her?

“That’s right, Aunt Lan, I saw you forcing Wang Ersao to go back to her parents’ home to ask for food just a few days ago. You’re really good at managing money!” Wu Yuanyuan chimed in. She grew up in this compound and knew all too well what kind of people her neighbors were.

Wang Ersao was the wife of Old Wang's second son. She came from the countryside, had no job, and did odd jobs at home such as pasting matchboxes. She only had one daughter, and she was always at the bottom of Old Wang's family.

Aunt Lan wasn't ashamed at all: "What do you know? She's from the countryside; it's already a miracle she married into our family. We're poor, and her family isn't short of food, so what's wrong with helping them out? We've helped them out quite a bit before." Her son was a legitimate factory worker.

"Oh! Aunt Lan, your family must be so great that marrying into your family would make your ancestors' graves emit auspicious smoke. If you ask me, you must have been unlucky for eight lifetimes to have a mother-in-law like you."

"What do you know, girl? My son is a worker, a permanent employee, not some street urchin who can't find a wife." Aunt Lan said proudly.

"Old woman Lan, don't embarrass yourself. A latrine cleaner like you has nothing to brag about. Aren't you afraid of hurting your back?" Aunt Tian couldn't stand it anymore.

Wang Kangcai, the second son of the Wang family, is quite unattractive, taking after his father completely. He's a gas cylinder, only about 1.6 meters tall, with a big face and small eyes, and a typical mama's boy. How thick must Aunt Lan's maternal filter be to say something so proud?

"What's wrong with shoveling manure? Some people want to shovel it but can't!"

"Alright, isn't that annoying? Everyone's cooking!" Aunt Wu interrupted Aunt Lan's boasting.

Exactly! Saying these things while someone is cooking is so disgusting.

Aunt Lan curled her lip, thinking these people were just jealous of her, jealous that her son had a job. She snorted and turned to go back into the house.

"Are you dead? You saw me being bullied and didn't even go out to help me!" She went back into the house and saw her second daughter-in-law busy cooking, and she was furious.

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