On the way to the county carrying the vegetables, Chen Chunhua already began to feel the difficulties Lin Guoqing had experienced last night.
Late at night, she walked on the uneven country road, the basket of vegetables weighing over 30 kilograms, much heavier than Xiao Shumei. Even before she went home to get the bamboo shoots and mushrooms, she was already starting to dislike the canteen she carried.
Even though I know that the weight is actually not as much as the vegetables in the basket, I still have to despise it. After all, vegetables cannot be thrown away, so it can be used.
So the first thing Chen Chunhua did when she arrived at the door of her house was to take down the canteen and put it inside the door, then drag the bamboo shoots and mushrooms out of the door, close the door, and continue on her way.
There was no moonlight... The early spring night was dark, cold, and a little foggy. Even with her rechargeable lantern, she couldn't illuminate the road very far. Even though she had lived a lifetime, Chen Chunhua still worried that she might encounter a mugger in the dark and be killed by a knife.
She didn't know why, but after being reborn, she became more cautious about her life and worried every day that she would die inexplicably.
She wanted to rub her face to clear her mind and stop thinking about all sorts of things, but when she raised her hand, she saw a basket of bamboo shoots and a basket of mushrooms.
Tsk! Sure enough, what they said later was true: money is hard to earn, but shit is hard to eat! Now she doesn't even have the freedom to scratch an itch.
As she walked, she began to feel thirsty and wanted to drink water again. She had been thinking about the pot of water all night. She secretly cursed herself for being sick and then quickened her pace.
I'd better hurry to Guanqian Lane. All the feelings will disappear by half once I sit down.
…
When Chen Chunhua arrived at Guanqian Lane, it was half an hour earlier than Lin Guoqing yesterday, and there was no one in the lane.
She looked back and counted again uncertainly. It was from the main road, turn left and go to the end of the third alley, turn right and go to the second small door at the end and then turn left and go to the fifth small alley. That was right.
That could only mean she arrived early, and someone would probably show up later.
Following Lin Guoqing's description, Chen Chunhua found the location in the middle of the alley. She looked down and found a scraped inverted triangle mark on one of the stone bricks.
This was the place where Lin Guoqing sat yesterday. She put her things on the ground with peace of mind and sat down.
Phew! She's so exhausted! Xiaomei won't be able to carry it tomorrow. How about Lin Guoqing? No, Lin Guoqing has to carry vegetables tomorrow night too.
Otherwise, I should just let her walk by herself. She's already two years old, and I can't carry her on my back all the time. The child is obedient and won't run around the village like the third child did. I should just ask her to follow me closely...
Chen Chunhua originally thought it was scary to sit alone in this alley, but because the complaints in her head were so loud and she had too many things on her mind, she ignored a lot of the terrifying atmosphere of the surrounding environment.
It seemed that she had not been sitting for a while when she heard footsteps outside the alley. It seemed that it was not from one person. Chen Chunhua was a little nervous, but her mind suddenly became clear.
Before she could decide whether to run or not, two people came in from the other side.
A man in his thirties with a shaved head and work clothes, and a slightly older man carrying a pole with two large bamboo baskets on his shoulders, one in front and one behind.
Chen Chunhua felt relieved, thinking that this was probably the kind-hearted ticket scalper that Lin Guoqing had told her about.
Lao Shi saw that there was a woman sitting in the place where Lin Guoqing sat yesterday. The two baskets in front of her were exactly the same as Lin Guoqing's, with one more basket. He thought that this must be the wife who was on shift that Xiao Lin mentioned.
"Is it my brother's wife? Xiaolin's wife?"
Old Shi greeted him quietly first, and Chen Chunhua stood up and nodded, "Hey, Brother Shi, right?"
"Right, right, right." Lao Shi nodded with a smile. "Just sit down. You must be tired after walking so far with the basket on your back... This is Lao Wang. If your family wants to buy salted fish, they can go to him... You're even earlier than Xiao Lin!"
Lao Shi introduced Lao Wang, whom he had just met on the road, to Chen Chunhua and sat down in his seat.
"I'm afraid of taking the wrong road, so I'd rather come early..."
While Chen Chunhua was chatting politely with others, she felt completely at ease.
It’s good to have someone who likes to chat next to you. Even in a horror movie, the atmosphere can be half as good.
Lao Shi first placed the tin box he brought with him in front of him, then took out a few banknotes from his pocket.
"Sister-in-law, did Xiaolin tell you about the five-step snake he sold me yesterday?"
Chen Chunhua nodded quickly, "He said he wanted to thank you for your help, otherwise his country bumpkin would have nowhere to sell snakes."
Lao Shi waved his hand. "Don't be polite. It's a mutually beneficial thing. I happen to know someone like that over there. The price is still 40 cents per pound, but he ended up giving me an extra dollar."
"The snake your man caught, even though he chopped seven inches of it into pieces, its venom glands were still intact. Even though it was dead, it managed to squeeze out a milliliter of venom! That's why I gave you an extra dollar!"
Lao Shi counted out fifty cents and stuffed it into Chen Chunhua's pocket, his tone revealing an irrepressible joy. "Sister-in-law, I'm not going to lie to you. Let's split this dollar in half. Can you count it as my fifty cents for running errands?"
Chen Chunhua felt embarrassed by the money he stuffed into her, and even pushed the fifty cents back.
"Brother Shi, didn't you give my man money? That money is what you bought him out of. The extra money from selling the snake is definitely yours!"
"No, I agreed with Xiaolin yesterday that if I make more money, I'll share it with you. If I make less, it'll be mine. Take it!"
Lao Shi thought that the couple only sold vegetables for a few cents per pound and could not earn many dollars a day, so they must not be shortchanged by the fifty cents.
Chen Chunhua felt that business had its own rules. Snake Old Shi had already paid yesterday, so that meant he had bought out the property. How could someone who was reselling goods have to pay the original buyer? So, if they made more money from selling vegetables, did they have to pay Qi Caigen's family back?
The two of them chatted back and forth for a while, and several people who had been squatting in the alley selling things for a long time arrived, but Lao Shi still couldn't give out the money.
He was also convinced that Xiao Lin's wife was really stubborn!
He took a breath, then glanced into her basket. "Hey, how about I buy some more vegetables? By the way, the bamboo shoots you had yesterday were really fresh! I cut a few slices of salted pork from the New Year to make soup with, and my old man and his wife had an extra bowl of rice!"
"Really?" Chen Chunhua stopped refusing when she heard that he wanted to buy vegetables. She pulled the basket over and showed Lao Shi the vegetables she brought.
"Brother Shi, would you like some more bamboo shoots today, or a change of flavor? My mother-in-law went up the mountain to pick mushrooms this day, including enoki and oyster mushrooms! Do you want some? This... the supply and marketing cooperative sells it for 10 cents a pound, and we sell it for 8 cents. I'll give you 7 cents a pound, Brother Shi! How about that!"
Wow, it turns out that the couple who open their business every day are “colleagues” in the alley!
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