Chapter 640 The Passing of Time 5
She was exhausted after that half-day. After digging a basket of shepherd's purse, she dug another hole and then dug a jar from the shrine and put a box of gold ingots inside.
Zhou Xiuhua felt a chill run down her spine when she saw what was inside. Her hands moved faster than her brain to slam the lid shut, and she glanced around, asking, "Has anyone seen you digging here?"
Ning Yan: "Everyone's digging for vegetables, who'll notice me?"
She quickly emptied the wild vegetables from the basket, put the box inside, covered it with more vegetables, and pressed it down firmly to make sure no one would notice. "Quickly, fill the hole, let's go home right away."
Ning Yan was all about obeying orders and following instructions. She did whatever her mother told her to do, and soon the hole was filled. Ning Yan picked up her basket and prepared to go home.
It was only then that Zhou Xiuhua noticed a snake next to her daughter's basket.
"Where did this thing come from?"
Ning Yan: "Huh? Didn't I say that? I dug this box out by catching it."
Zhou Xiuhua quickly picked up the thick snake, which was non-venomous. "Good, good, good, we can have more food tonight." It's all meat, we can't waste it; such a fat snake is not common.
Ning Yan: ...I thought her mother would be scared, but her mother's first reaction upon seeing the snake was that it meant she could add more food to the meal.
The mother and daughter returned home with a strong sense of guilt. Zhou Xiuhua felt particularly guilty, thinking that she had stolen something that someone had hidden.
But even though she felt guilty, she didn't want her daughter to bury the things back.
People with lots of stuff just throw it on the ground, so she, a poor ordinary person, isn't going to be a fool who would return lost property.
She has a daughter to raise, no fixed assets, and no surplus wealth. Isn't it only natural for her to be a little greedy?
The two returned home, where Ning Xiasheng was tilling the soil. Upon seeing the mother and daughter, he jokingly said, "Oh, you're back quite early. I thought you wouldn't be willing to come back until dark."
Zhou Xiuhua didn't hear what her husband said at all. After entering the house, she closed the courtyard gate behind her. "Her dad, come inside with me to pick wild vegetables."
Ningxia was about to say that he hadn't finished his work yet when he noticed his wife's expression was off. Looking closer, he saw that she was holding a snake.
He threw down the pickaxe and quickly followed him into the house.
The snake was left in the kitchen, but the basket of wild vegetables was taken into the house by the wife.
Ningxia Sheng: ...What's going on?
As soon as I entered the house, I saw his wife pull a box out of the basket!
Seeing how hard his wife struggled to pick it up, Ning Xiasheng gasped in shock. "Where did this come from? What happened?" When he opened it, good heavens, it really was there!
"Your daughter dug the snake out of the ground while catching it."
"Did no one see you?"
"No."
Ning Xiasheng stared blankly at the box of gold.
After a long while, he slapped his thigh and said, "I'll go to the city and buy a house tomorrow. Otherwise, I don't know where to put all this stuff in this box."
His first reaction upon seeing this thing was to bury it to avoid being discovered.
But this house isn't even his own, so he has absolutely no sense of security.
Another point is that he wants to get far away from his family's bunch of awful people, and buying a house in the city is the best option.
"Is it really a bad idea to buy a house these days?" Zhou Xiuhua hesitated. She felt that it was safer to hold gold than to buy a house. It wasn't that she didn't want a house of her own; on the contrary, she wanted it very much. But the world was tough, and she was afraid that she would lose the house after buying it.
Ningxia said, "No matter how bad the world is, as long as we hold onto the property deed, the house will always be ours."
Everyone needs a home of their own; otherwise, it feels like you don't even have a place to call home, and you don't feel at ease.
"Don't worry, even if I buy a house, I won't be able to spend all the gold in this box. Let me find out the house prices first."
The world is not peaceful, so he doesn't plan to buy a big house; enough for his family is fine.
Of course, he'll have to find out the specifics after he gets to the city tomorrow.
Ning Yan remained silent, behaving like an obedient daughter who let her parents make all the decisions. Buying a house was fine, saving up gold was also acceptable; she had so many good things, she could easily give some of them to her parents so they could live a good life. In any case, she didn't want to live a hard life.
The next morning, before dawn, Ning's father went into the county town.
Beiping was occupied by the Japanese. There were Japanese soldiers on their side, but it was much better than Beiping. After all, this place was poor and not a fortress, so sending troops here would be a waste.
When Ning's father went to the city, Ning Yan and her mother became the ones running the stall.
Zhou Xiuhua thought she would be too busy, but unexpectedly, business was bad, and there were hardly any customers from six o'clock to eight o'clock.
Ning Yan sat at the table listlessly, and later simply ladled herself a bowl of porridge, took two steamed buns, and ate them slowly with pickled vegetables.
She had just started eating when guests arrived.
The two men's demeanor was completely out of place in this town. The man in the lead was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, very tall, with phoenix eyes that gave him a commanding presence when he squinted at people.
The man beside him had a round face, wore a wristwatch, and was also wearing heavy leather shoes with shiny surfaces that reflected light. These two probably usually travel by car.
"Boss, what kind of food do you have?" Qiu Juncheng glanced at Ning Yan, who was eating a steamed bun. Goodness, she started eating before the customers.
Zhou Xiuhua wiped her hands on her apron and replied with a smile, "Vegetarian buns, meat buns, steamed buns, millet porridge, what would you like, guests?"
"Six meat buns and a bowl of porridge, please."
"Hey, I really don't know what you're thinking, insisting on coming out for breakfast so early in the morning. These little stalls are nowhere near as clean as the food at my place."
"So, are you going to eat it or not?"
Huang Tao said helplessly, "Eat! Give me two meat buns and a bowl of porridge."
His father repeatedly told him to maintain a good relationship with this old classmate, so what else could he do but accompany him?
There were only two guests, and Ning Yan didn't get up. She continued eating. Zhou Xiuhua quickly put the food the two had ordered on the table and thoughtfully placed a plate of the pickled vegetables her daughter had just prepared on the table.
Qiu Juncheng picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Most of the buns in the north are big, and Ning Yan's family's are no exception. Each one is the size of a fist. Even if a man has a big appetite, he can be full after eating six.
The corn porridge was cooked until thick and smelled delicious.
The steamed buns were soft and fluffy, with a generous filling; the meat buns tasted really good.
"No, you can really eat that much?"
"Why can't you eat? The people of Beiping eat steamed buns or cornbread with pickled vegetables every day. It's a good life to be able to eat steamed buns made from mixed flour. How could you not be able to eat meat buns?"
Although there wasn't much meat in these steamed buns, they were so well-made that they were really delicious.
Huang Tao regretted it. He forgot that his old classmate's hometown was in the rural Northeast. He was a genuine farmer. Moreover, after the Japanese occupied the North, all of his family members except him were killed by the Japanese.
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