“Old Zhou, I’m not trying to be mean, but what does it have to do with you if Xia Zhiqing wants to leave on her own? Even though you two are living together now, you two don’t really have any relationship. If you interfere so much, Xia Zhiqing will probably be unhappy.”
The one who spoke was the one who was just rebuked by Grandpa Zhou.
Xia Anyan is not the kind of person who can tolerate being bothered by others multiple times.
This person had been causing trouble several times, and she wasn't going to play the victim anymore, so she directly confronted her: "Auntie, I don't think I offended you just now. I just didn't agree to let you introduce me to someone, and you got all defensive? What, is your son or nephew so desperate that you have to step in?"
"I..." The aunt wanted to retort, but Xia Anyan didn't give her a chance at all.
She immediately said, "Auntie, you shouldn't go around fawning over everyone you see. If they're willing, that's your family's honor. If they're not willing, you can't force them. Sometimes, saving face is the most important thing. Don't lose face; that's what's shameful and disgraceful."
"Oh, by the way, you said you were going to introduce me to your son, right? I see you're not exactly young anymore. Other people's sons can find partners, so why can't yours? Is he lacking something? Or is there something wrong with his brain? If neither of those are the problem, then it must be a problem with his character, right?"
"Look at your attitude just now, and the things you said. With a mother like you, how can her son have any good character? How can a crooked vine produce good fruit?"
The aunt was so angry that her eyes rolled back, and she looked like she was about to die of anger.
She lifted her buttocks to grab Xia Anyan's face, cursing under her breath.
Xia Anyan didn't quite understand, but she knew the insults were very harsh.
"You shameless little slut, how dare you insult my son? I'll tear your face off!"
"Hey, all of you move aside, don't block my way."
The oxcart wasn't very big to begin with, and her commotion made everyone uncomfortable.
Xia Anyan raised her hand and slapped him.
With a crisp 'smack', the aunt's hand immediately turned red.
"Hey, Xia Zhiqing, how could you hit someone?"
The other women on the oxcart couldn't stand it anymore and started to criticize.
The next moment, they were dumbfounded.
Xia Anyan's eyes immediately reddened, and tears streamed down her face, making her look incredibly pitiful.
She held up her hand; her palm was red, and her hand was even trembling slightly.
She raised her hand, complaining with grievance: "Aunties, it's true that I was a sent-down youth, and it's true that I have no one to rely on, but my household registration has been transferred here, so we are now considered part of the brigade. Why can't you accept me?"
"Just because I'm young, does that mean they think I'm easy to bully? What did that auntie mean? Was she trying to kill me?"
“Hey, hey, Xia Zhiqing, you can’t talk nonsense!” The aunt next to her quickly spoke up.
After she finished speaking, she glared at the aunt who had just caused trouble: "Hey Zhao Dahua, what are you trying to do? You came out here peacefully, can't you just sit there quietly? You always have to cause trouble so that your husband can beat you up when you get back, right?"
“What Xia, the educated youth, said earlier wasn’t wrong. Your son was peeping at girls taking a bath when he was fourteen, and when he was sixteen, he went out with that group of hooligans to harass women. He was eighteen and still stealing from young widows. Now he’s twenty and still can’t get married. You’re worried now? What were you doing all this time?”
The newly arrived educated youth might not know, but how could those from the same village not know?
If they hadn't known that Xia Anyan had only arrived last night, they would have suspected that the things Zhao Dahua's son had done had reached Shanghai.
That's really weird.
Zhao Dahua was very dissatisfied, but Grandpa Zhou also turned his head and gave her a stern warning look.
Zhao Dahua stopped speaking, but her resentful gaze remained.
Xia Anyan lowered her head in 'horror' and rolled her eyes.
“Xia Zhiqing, don’t be afraid. Come, sit with your aunt. Zhao Dahua won’t dare to hit you again.”
Through conversation, Xia Anyan learned that her surname was Gu, that she was from out of town, and that she had married into the Shengli Brigade after fleeing famine.
This auntie spoke softly and gently, and seemed like someone from a water town in southern China.
Xia Anyan moved closer to Aunt Gu and listened to her tell interesting stories about the brigade. Along the way, she felt much more relaxed.
But inevitably, Zhao Dahua would roll her eyes.
"Xia, you should come back here to wait for the bus later. Don't walk back by yourself. It's a long way. It's not a big deal if you're delayed, but it would be bad if those local thugs targeted you."
"You're so good-looking and beautiful, those vagrants definitely won't let you go."
Aunt Gu was indeed a kind-hearted person, and she gave Xia Anyan a lot of advice.
After everyone had left, she picked up her basket and hurriedly left.
Xia Anyan glanced around, quietly found an alley, and slipped inside. When she emerged, she had transformed into a somewhat attractive country girl.
Her skin was a bit yellow, she had freckles on her face, calluses on her hands, and some dirt under her fingernails.
Even if Grandpa Xia came, I doubt he would recognize his own child immediately.
Xia Anyan followed the person to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Heilongjiang Province truly lives up to its name; it's a vast and abundant land. Many kinds of meat, which are hard to find in other places, are available here.
Besides these, there were other things that Xia Anyan had seen before, but couldn't recall their names.
Her target this time was the black market. After circling around the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative a few times, she saw someone walking towards a deep alley. She followed, until she was stopped by a burly man with a dark skin and a scarred face.
"Buy or sell?"
The burly man lowered his voice, making it sound even more rugged.
Xia Anyan was not intimidated and said, "I'll buy it."
"A dime."
Wow, that's really expensive.
She took out a dime, and the big man immediately made way for her.
The scene inside was truly disappointing to her.
I had expected a huge market, but apart from a dozen or so vendors on both sides of the road, there were only buyers.
"Little girl, what would you like to buy? Look, these are some fresh goods, do you want them?"
The man approached, his body wrapped up very tightly, so that apart from knowing he was a man, it was impossible to tell anything else.
"I don't want this. I want a bicycle, preferably one that looks secondhand. Can you get one?"
The man stared at Xia Anyan for a while, and finally nodded directly: "Yes."
"Give me a hundred first, and when I get back, I'll bring the bike over, and then you can give me the rest."
At this point, a new bicycle costs a bicycle ticket plus 140 yuan.
He asked for a hundred, which Xia Anyan found hard to believe.
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