Xiao Gengwu and Yao Tongjia, who were sorting through the grain, didn't notice anything at first. But when they turned around to look, the other person had already looked away.
They thought they were mistaken; there were only eight people on the bus: the driver, the ticket seller, Yao Tongjia, and three others, plus the three people who boarded after them.
Yao Tongjia had checked these three people and had no recollection of them at all; they were probably strangers. She even quietly asked, "Do you know which three people are in the back?"
Xiao Gengwu quickly turned around, glanced at the group, and shook his head: "Don't know him, what's wrong?"
Upon hearing that she didn't recognize the person, Yao Tongjia suppressed her unease: "It's okay, maybe I'm mistaken. Let's keep an eye on the grain!"
Better safe than sorry; those three don't look like nice guys!
The ticket seller looked at the several hundred kilograms of grain and asked, "Where did you get this grain from?"
It's important to understand that grain cannot be freely traded nowadays; it can only be bought and sold at grain depots and other locations.
“We were originally from the village, but now we’ve moved to the county. This is the food the village gave us.”
The ticket seller touched the grains and exclaimed, "These are still wheat grains? So many wheat grains could be ground into a lot of flour!"
The saleswoman's eyes were practically overflowing with envy. It was true that she had a job and her own receipts, but she also had many children at home, and her growing sons were practically living off their mothers.
In order to give the child more food, the adults dared not eat to their hearts' content. At this moment, she could eat a whole cow, but due to the limited conditions, she could only eat half full each time.
The sales clerk walked up to Xiao Yan and whispered, "Miss, could you share some of your grain with me? I'll exchange it for something else, that way we won't be breaking any rules!"
Xiao Yan shook her head: "I'm sorry, this is our family's food rations for a year. If we give it to you, we'll go hungry!"
The ticket seller didn't press the matter further. People these days are quite simple; if it's okay, it's okay, if it's not, it's not. Even though she really wanted to change, she knew there wasn't enough food anywhere.
Xiao Gengwu and Yao Tongjia took turns sleeping. The car soon arrived at the station, which was the final stop. Yao Tongjia wasn't in a hurry and waited until the other three people got off the car before starting to move her things.
The ticket sellers, perhaps wanting to leave work early, also came over to help move the grain, placing it all on the ground. The driver then drove the truck away to the warehouse. Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, so they can leave work a little earlier.
Looking at the pile of grain on the ground, the ticket seller pleaded with Xiao Yan, "Sister, please sell me some of the grain. I don't dare to take the fine grains, so I'll give you the coarse grains instead."
“I see you have several bags of sweet potatoes. Why don’t you give me some? It’s the New Year, so my family can have enough to eat. I’ll borrow a cart for you so you can push the grain back all at once.”
Yao Tongjia's eyes lit up when she heard this. Even if she was strong, she couldn't possibly pull all that grain back in one go.
But with so much grain, it's not safe for anyone to stay here and watch over it.
"Then I'll sell you a bag of sweet potatoes. Each bag weighs 50 jin (25 kg). Take whichever bag you want," Yao Tongjia said, pointing to the bags of sweet potatoes.
The ticket seller immediately beamed and said, "That's great, that's great! You can decide whether to give you money or something. I'll go get your cart right now."
Xiao Yan nodded at Yao Tongjia's head: "I knew you didn't like eating coarse grains. This station is crowded with people, so it's not a good place to do business with her."
"What are you afraid of? We don't need money. We can exchange all kinds of receipts with her, any kind of receipt will do. That way, even if someone reports us, we won't be violating any regulations."
"That's good. With a cart, we can haul it all back at once. I'm not comfortable leaving the grain here!"
The ticket seller returned pulling the cart, even helping to load the grain onto it. Holding her own 50 jin of sweet potatoes, she asked softly, "What do you want?"
Xiao Yan said, "Just give me a few tickets if you have any!"
That's great! They have three or four workers in their family, so they don't lack coupons. They just happened to have the coupons today and were planning to go shopping. Now she openly showed them the coupons one by one.
"Take a look and see which one you want. If you need tickets in the future, come here to exchange them. You can also exchange them for some coarse grains."
Xiao Yan smiled and looked at Yao Tongjia. This girl definitely wanted to exchange all the hundreds of kilograms of coarse grains.
In the end, Xiao Yan took the initiative to get a few bath tickets and soap tickets. They hadn't taken a bath in a long time, and with these tickets, they could have a good bath before the New Year.
If I need a shower ticket, that would be even better. It doesn't matter if I don't shower once or twice, as long as I'm full, I can tolerate occasional unhygienic conditions.
Both parties were very satisfied with the transaction. Yao Tongjia was about to push the cart when Xiao Gengwu snatched it away, saying, "Let me do it, let me do it!"
What a joke! How could a grown man like him let a woman do such heavy work?
Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction: "You still have some gentlemanly manners. You must push it into the yard!"
Xiao Gengwu: "..."
Yao Tongjia: "Master, Brother Xiao has almost never done such heavy work before, so please stop provoking him!"
"Can't a person just grow tall and still work? What's the point of having one?"
Xiao Gengwu: "........" Could maternal love disappear? From the moment he spoke, his mother seemed to dislike him intensely.
Xiao Yan: Of course I'll disappear if I treat a brat like you!
The three of them took turns pushing the grain back to the yard. Yao Tongjia was fine, but Xiao Yan and Xiao Gengwu were so tired that their hands were trembling. Yao Tongjia knocked on the door.
Soon, Yao Tongxu's rooster-like voice rang out: "Who is it!"
Yao Tongjia teased him, "They're here to rob us, will you open the door?"
Yao Tongxu immediately opened the door: "Sister, you're back! Aunt Xiao and Brother Xiao!"
Seeing that they looked very tired, he quickly called out, "Mom, my sister and the others are back!"
Yao Yanxin had heard the noise long ago, and now she ran out after putting on her shoes: "You bought so much food, you must be exhausted! Let me and Axu help carry it!"
Xiao Yan was truly exhausted; her physical stamina was even worse than Yao Yanxin's: "You guys carry it, I can't do it anymore!"
In fact, Xiao Gengwu's physical strength had also reached its limit, but when he saw that Yao Tongjia still had to move grain, he dared not stop and continued to grit his teeth and move it.
Yao Tongxu finally saw Xiao Ge's weakness: "Oh! Xiao Ge, we've finally found something you're not good at!"
Xiao Gengwu: "..."
Yao Tongjia placed a bag of grain in his hand. Yao Tongxu staggered a couple of steps before regaining his balance. Yao Tongjia retorted, "You're the one who's laughing at someone who's only a hundred steps ahead."
Yao Tongxu complained, "Sis, you're being unfair! Why did I get a hundred steps while Brother Xiao only got fifty?"
Yao Tongjia: "..." Where did this silly younger brother come from? Does it matter whether it's a hundred steps or fifty steps?
After everyone had finished moving their things and sat down to drink water, Yao Tongjia stood up and said, "Let's push the cart back to its owner. Tomorrow is the New Year!"
Chinese people generally hope to celebrate the New Year without owing debts, and Yao Tongjia, who came from the future, also didn't want to have anything in debt for the New Year.
Xiao Gengwu quickly stood up: "I'll go with you!"
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