Chapter 55 Melon Purchasing

Wu Laizi was a talkative old man. Seeing that Xiang Yao was a very cheerful and lively girl, he was happy to talk more.

Soon, Xiang Yao got a lot of gossip out of him.

"You didn't even know about this? It's about your Shanbei Yuan family's next-door neighbor, the Liu Dashi family!"

"Ah, I'm not very familiar with their family, and I've never heard of this story. Uncle Wu, please tell me more about it."

Xiang Yao's face was full of interest in exploring gossip, and even his sitting posture straightened slightly.

What she was telling Wu Laizi was that there was a family in Xiangjiawan whose youngest son had joined the army and suddenly returned from the army a while ago, but he came back with one arm missing.

"He was such a good young man. I heard that all the salary he sent back and the pension he received after being discharged due to injury were used by his family to marry his two brothers. He didn't get any of it!"

When Wu Laizi talked about this, he shook his head. Even though he had lived for most of his life and seen the warmth and coldness of human nature, he couldn't help but feel sorry.

"That kid Xiaofei, I was the one who picked him up when he came back a while ago. He had a smile on his face that day. He didn't seem sad at all even though he lost an arm."

"But when I saw him a couple of days ago, the smile on his face was gone. He only forced a smile when he greeted me. It made me sad to see that. His family is really not a good family!"

Xiang Yao stopped laughing and said, "Why did he give all his money to his brother to marry? This is the guarantee given to him by the army!"

In rural areas, if you lose an arm, it means you lose half of your ability to work.

If she were to say, she would definitely keep the money firmly in her own hands and would not give it all to her brothers.

Wu Laizi said, "This child is just too honest. His family said nice things to him, saying that they would give the money to his brothers now and that his brothers and nephews would take care of him in the future. Didn't he believe it?"

Xiang Yao said, "Then he can't be happy anymore. Is it possible that his family is lying to him..."

Wu Laizi: "Hey, that's why I say it's so easy to talk to a girl like you. That's exactly what happened! As soon as Old Liu's wife got married, she said it was inconvenient for her to live with her brother, so she asked Liu Xiaofei to move to the small utility room next to the pig shed and give his room to his brother and his wife!"

He was very angry when he mentioned this: "How can people live in that house? The sound of pigs hitting the fence and snoring every day is so noisy, not to mention the stench!"

Xiang Yao said softly, "Then Liu Xiaofei, is he willing to give up his room too?"

Wu Laizi sighed, "Well, so what if they don't allow it? At first, they didn't allow it, but when he went out, the things in his room had been moved to that small storage room when he came back."

Xiang Yao frowned: "Get it back."

If her house was robbed like this, she wouldn't care about family or face.

After locking the door, she smashed it with stones. When it was time to go to bed, she just lay down on the bed. She didn't believe that others could do anything to her unless she moved.

Wu Laizi pulled out a hand and slapped his thigh: "That's what I said! But guess what immoral things the Liu family did?"

Xiang Yao asked, "What?"

Wu Laizi: "After Liu Xiaofei found out, he wanted to go back to his room, but Old Liu's new daughter-in-law, his new sister-in-law, was busy in the room and told him not to go in!"

"Like I said, Liu Xiaofei is a simple guy. Seeing that his new sister-in-law has already moved in, he has no nerve to talk about moving back."

Xiang Yao was silent.

This move is extremely despicable.

Isn't it just because Liu Xiaofei respects women, which is originally a good quality, that his family members use it as a bargaining chip to restrain him?

Wu Laizi said, "If you ask me, people shouldn't be too proud. Once people are proud, they will suffer great losses."

"Liu Xiaofei is now broke and has no house. He only has one arm and doesn't know how he's going to make a living. His family definitely won't really take care of him."

Xiang Yao supported his chin, not knowing what to say.

She thought of herself.

This morning, Ye Fang was so enthusiastic about introducing her to someone, it was hard to say that she didn't have the same idea in mind.

She lives alone in the house left by her parents, and I'm afraid her family has been missing her for a long time.

If she gets married, won't this house be given to them to live in?

I have to say that the idea that her second cousin-in-law came up with was really a good conspiracy.

Wu Laizi didn't say anything either. He was thinking about the Liu family's affairs and felt depressed.

It's not an exaggeration to say that Liu Xiaofei grew up under his care. He was such a good kid before. He was a bit naughty, but how could you see him not saying hello very politely?

Oh, his life will be hard from now on...

He shouted, telling the cows to go to the other side of the road and not to go the other way.

When they reached the commune, the slightly heavy atmosphere finally dissipated. Wu Laizi took the initiative to say, "Yao girl, when are you going back? If I can make time, I'll give you a ride."

Xiang Yao thought about the fact that she had to go to her grandmother's house in Shiniu Dabiao after buying some things, so she smiled and said, "Uncle Wu, I still have to go see my mother. You don't have to worry about me."

Wu Laizi nodded: "Okay, you are a filial son, you must be good to your mother in the future."

Xiang Yao said, "Yeah, of course I will!"

Wu Laizi felt somewhat relieved. At his age, he liked filial younger generations.

After all, when people get old, they will depend on their children in the future. The better they treat the older generation, the better their lives will be.

But if someone is unfilial, the elders in the family will be sad.

He also hopes that his children and grandchildren will be like Xiang Yao, who cares about their elders.

After Xiang Yao had walked away, he shouted, "By the way, Uncle Wu, I left two tomatoes for you in the car. Put them in your pocket and don't roll off!"

After saying that, she left quickly.

Wu Laizi wanted to chase after her but it was difficult. Knowing that she meant well, he smiled and carefully picked up the two tomatoes.

"Wow, this one is big and red, it's really a good fruit!" He raised his eyebrows and praised.

I was worried that the tomatoes would be squeezed if I put them in my pocket, so I looked around and finally found a cloth bag on the shaft of the cart. I carefully put the tomatoes in it and tied it to the cart. Only then did I feel relieved.

On the other side, after Xiang Yao left, he went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative of the commune.

Perhaps because it was just before the festival, a large number of people were crowded in front of the long counter of the supply and marketing cooperative, shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot, and the noise was boiling.

Xiang Yaoguang was watching from outside the door and felt it was very noisy.

The salesperson looked very unhappy and gloomy, and shouted several times, "Don't make noise! Don't push! Line up! Everyone line up!"

But no matter how loud the voice was, it could not drown out the noise of the customers. In the end, he could only quickly collect money, receive receipts, deliver goods, and make change with a gloomy face, and then repeat the process in front of the next buyer.

When Xiang Yao saw this scene, he couldn't help but be amazed. There were too many people!

After looking at the big words "Develop the economy and ensure supply" printed on the outer wall of the commune, she hesitated for a moment between squeezing in and not squeezing in. Finally, she gritted her teeth and rushed in to mingle with the crowd.

It’s not that she doesn’t want to queue, it’s just that the villagers are crowded together and there is no one queuing. If she stands at the back of the crowd, she won’t be able to buy anything!

However, she did not deliberately squeeze in with those old men and women. She just followed the crowd and was gradually pushed to the front of the grocery counter.

"Hurry up, what do you want!" the salesperson urged with a frown.

Xiang Yao knew that these staff members were at their busiest, so she didn't mind their attitude and pointed to some food inside that she couldn't name.

"Give me a bag of this, give me two pounds of this, and give me a pound of that—"

Seeing that she bought quite a lot and spoke so directly, the salesperson's expression softened slightly. He looked at what she pointed at and quickly calculated on his abacus:

"White sugar is 74 cents a pound, two pounds is 1.48 yuan! A bag of trough cake is 88 cents! Fruit candy is 1 yuan! French cake is 60 cents..."

After a round of shouting, the money was settled. Xiang Yao handed the money and tickets to him, took the full bag, and said "thank you" before leaving.

While calling the next customer, the salesperson was muttering to himself, "This little girl is quite polite!"

Xiang Yao squeezed out of the grocery counter with difficulty, then squeezed into other counters to take a look, and finally weighed two pounds of pork at the butcher shop.

She had agreed to order pork belly, and the butcher looked at her and added some lean meat.

Apart from the butcher shop, the only place where you can buy meat is the food station, but the food station does not supply meat all day long, only at specific times.

Scarcity makes things valuable, so Xiang Yao doesn't care.

It's like this when buying meat these days. If you buy a better cut, you'll often have to give it a little less popular meat, or some that's been cut off and people don't want.

After finally completing a large purchase in the crowd, Xiang Yao walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative and took two deep breaths of the fresh air outside.

It was so noisy inside that when I came out, I felt relaxed all over.

Under a tree, Xiang Yao sorted out the things he bought and put them into bamboo baskets and cloth bags, making them easier to carry.

After all the crowding, she was starving. Her stomach growled unceremoniously, reminding her to find something to eat as soon as possible.

Thinking of the delicious meal he had at the state-owned restaurant in the county last time, Xiang Yao couldn't help swallowing his saliva and thought: I wonder how the state-owned restaurant here in the commune is.

Xiang Yao walked towards the state-owned restaurant.

However, I didn’t expect that after walking back and forth twice, I found that there was no state-owned restaurant in Shengli Commune!

There is an old noodle shop that sells noodles and home-cooked meals. It is said that it is open according to policy.

Xiang Yao didn't care about all these things. It was good enough that there was a place to eat. She quickly went in and ordered a bowl of noodles.

She was too arrogant and thought that all communes were the same, with state-owned restaurants and cinemas. She didn't expect that their Shengli Commune was at the poverty level and lacked many facilities.

Of course, this place is relatively close to the county town. If people have other needs, they usually go to the county town. It doesn’t matter whether there is one in the commune or not.

The shop was run by an elderly couple who quickly brought over a bowl of hearty noodles.

Xiang Yao hadn't had breakfast and was really hungry, so he immediately picked up his chopsticks and started eating quickly.

After finishing her noodles, taking a sip of the hot noodle soup and burping quietly, she felt that her life was almost complete.