Chapter 64 Silly and naive, but Qin Xiangxiang still accepted it with a clear conscience…
Zhuang Xiaoman mustered up her courage and knocked on Qin Xiangxiang's door. Qin Xiangxiang lived in another apartment building. Zhuang Xiaoman had only heard of Qin Xiangxiang's name and had never had any contact with her before. It was only last time that she spoke to Qin Xiangxiang for the first time because Zhou Lu had taken her there.
She had a natural fear of these family members from the city.
"Comrade Qin, are you home? I'm Zhuang Xiaoman, you can also call me Sister Xiaoman."
When Zhuang Xiaoman saw Qin Xiangxiang open the door for her, she immediately explained her purpose, "I want to trade some chocolates from my house for something. My child wants to eat that chicken cake that you made by the vegetable garden last time."
“My son said it smells really good and he wants to try it.”
As she spoke, Zhuang Xiaoman handed Qin Xiangxiang two large bars of chocolate. They were large-sized military-grade chocolates, like small bricks, with a very good consistency. Each bar of these chocolates weighed about two ounces and would cost at least one yuan outside.
These are usually supplies delivered after an important mission.
Qin Xiangxiang's inner thoughts: Wow!
The egg tarts her man made actually managed to attract chocolate. Egg tarts are made of nothing more than eggs, milk, sugar, and oil, which are not hard to find. Chocolate is the hard thing to find.
These two bars of chocolate are enough to make two more chocolate-coated ice creams.
“Okay, I promise you. But it’s inconvenient for me to do it alone at home. Let my husband Li do it when he comes back, because we need to light the fire and knead the dough. The bread oven needs to be fired up for a long time before we can use it.”
Zhuang Xiaoman nodded in agreement, "Then it's settled, you can keep the things here."
Zhuang Xiaoman didn't even glance at the two chocolates. She didn't like them; she thought they were bitter like Chinese medicine. But other people loved them, especially women from the city, who found them as incomprehensible as drinking coffee.
They're probably living a good life in the city, so they're forced to endure hardship!
Qin Xiangxiang held a chocolate worth two yuan in her hand. She thought about how Li Jianzhi only spent four mao (0.4 yuan) to make twelve egg tarts last time. Of course, there were also labor costs and firewood costs not included. Generally speaking, the gross profit of selling food is 50%, so twelve tarts would sell for a maximum of one yuan.
Since they gave us extra, we were actually getting a good deal.
Although she felt embarrassed, Qin Xiangxiang accepted it without hesitation.
Before Zhuang Xiaoman left, Qin Xiangxiang kindly called her into the house and carefully reminded her, "Zhuang Xiaoman, you have to be careful of Zhou Lu. She returned five hundred to you now, but she might ask you for a thousand next time."
"Comrade Xiao Qin, thank you for reminding me. Don't worry, I won't lend her any more money." Zhuang Xiaoman smiled innocently. She wasn't stupid; of course she knew that Zhou Lu always dragged her feet on repaying loans, treating her like a fool.
After lending the money, Zhuang Xiaoman regretted it many times, and her husband also complained about her. Every time, she promised her husband that she would have less contact with Zhou Lu in the future. However, whenever Zhou Lu called her, she still couldn't help but follow Zhou Lu to her side.
There was really no other way; Zhou Lu was just too sweet-talking.
Zhuang Xiaoman is the eldest sister in her family. There are two daughters and one son in her family. She has a younger brother and a younger sister. She is the eldest daughter who is least liked by her parents. Her younger brother is their precious child, and her beautiful younger sister is also their precious child. As for her, she is strong, has a square face, and is not smart enough in her studies. She is always disliked by her parents.
She was lucky in one way: she married a military officer who was quite well-off. He specifically wanted a simple and honest wife to settle down with, and he chose Zhuang Xiaoman at first sight. The couple lived frugally and were quite satisfied with each other.
Zhuang Xiaoman felt that she was doing quite well, and she even took the initiative to send subsidies to her family. However, she ended up sending a lot of things back home, which was like throwing meat buns to a dog. Her younger brother and sister were still the most important people in her family, while she was still just a weed in her parents' hearts.
Zhuang Xiaoman felt resentful. She had given so much to her family, yet she couldn't hear a single kind word when she went home, nor did she receive any courtesy or respect.
Behind her back, people say she's doing well, like a sow on a whim, blown to the sky by the wind.
Zhuang Xiaoman was very angry. When she got home, she argued with her parents because they didn't respect her. She was so angry that she told her husband that she would never give the family any more money, saying that they were all ungrateful wretches who took her money and did nothing for her.
At this time, Zhuang Xiaoman met Zhou Lu. Zhou Lu was no ordinary person. She was very good at talking and praised Zhuang Xiaoman in front of her every day, making Zhuang Xiaoman feel embarrassed. She also always invited Zhuang Xiaoman to dinner, treating her as a "first-class guest".
Zhuang Xiaoman got all the feelings she couldn't experience at home from Zhou Lu, so Zhou Lu inquired about her savings and pretended to be in trouble to borrow money from her. Zhuang Xiaoman agreed to lend the money without thinking.
She regretted it very much after agreeing, but she couldn't bear to break off her relationship with Zhou Lu. In addition, Zhou Lu repeatedly assured her that she would pay back the money, so Zhuang Xiaoman really lent her five hundred yuan.
After receiving the money, Zhou Lu's attitude changed. She was no longer as enthusiastic as before and was very perfunctory when facing Zhuang Xiaoman. However, when Zhuang Xiaoman came to her to collect the debt, she would speak gently and play the victim to coax Zhuang Xiaoman.
Zhuang Xiaoman also enjoyed watching Zhou Lu play the victim and cry about how hard her life was, saying that her child was picky about food, smashed things and was difficult to educate, and that her husband didn't care about her... Hearing others suffer, Zhuang Xiaoman felt that she was doing alright, but then she thought, Zhou Lu eats well every day, while she herself is cooking rice bran and living a miserable life.
She cooks rice bran herself purely to save money. She and her husband are both very frugal and can save most of their monthly salary, sometimes even 80% or 90%.
As a result, her husband's family had a heavy burden, and she also liked to subsidize her own family. After both of them subsidized their families, the couple was still able to save money.
Now, with the five hundred yuan Zhou Lu returned to her, Zhuang Xiaoman and her husband had a total of fifteen thousand yuan in savings. Zhuang Xiaoman couldn't help but feel a little smug. She always got a little cocky when she had more than a thousand yuan in savings, and felt that everything was going well.
I can't hold onto this 500 yuan in my hand; I'll probably have to send some things home and help buy big items.
She couldn't bear to part with the chocolates she was eating herself, and even when she came to Qin Xiangxiang today to exchange them for "chicken cakes," she used the chocolates she already had in stock.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Don't act so nonchalant. You look like a complete idiot. You're such a idiot, you just know how to borrow!"
The little drama queen was very unhappy because in her dream she was also Zhou Lu's creditor, even though the other party only owed her twenty. In Qin Xiangxiang's eyes, Zhuang Xiaoman's act of taking back five hundred yuan of the debt and then lending out another thousand yuan was no different from throwing a meat bun to a dog, never to be returned.
"You silly spore."
Zhuang Xiaoman was stunned. She didn't expect Qin Xiangxiang to say that. This pretty woman from the city was quite kind and helpful. She knew that Qin Xiangxiang was saying she was stupid, but actually she was worried about her spending money.
“I know I’m a bit silly, but I… I’m easily swayed by my own thoughts. As long as someone flatters me or praises me, I lose my head.”
Zhuang Xiaoman is well aware of her own temper. If the other party tries to coax her again, she will probably hear a lot of nice words and be unable to resist lending the money.
Therefore, this money cannot be kept in my own hands; it should be used to buy some big-ticket items for the family.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Why don't you buy some big-ticket items for your own home? It's getting hot soon, so you can buy an electric fan. With your five hundred yuan, you can ask someone to buy a brand new two-hundred-yuan floor fan. Or you can buy a bicycle too."
Qin Xiangxiang turned on the floor fan in her home. The stronger airflow than a regular table fan blew on her face, bringing a refreshing feeling.
Zhuang Xiaoman shook her head: "It's windy on the island, so we don't need this. We can just tough it out. But it's hot back home in the summer, so I could buy one for them. But even if I bought one for them, they wouldn't appreciate it."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
She really wanted to ask: Can't you eat the meat bun in your hand yourself? It's either hitting this dog or that dog.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Don't you have anything you really like? Buy yourself a few more things."
“I like buying bed sheets. Zhou Lu returned the money to me, and I excitedly bought several sheets. They were defective goods from the Mingzhou Bed Sheet Factory that didn’t require a receipt. They were very cheap and affordable. Now I change my bed sheets every week, and I don’t wear the same ones twice in two months.”
Qin Xiangxiang: "..." A mysterious hobby.
"Wait, are all these photos...?" Zhuang Xiaoman suddenly noticed a stack of photos casually placed in the living room.
Qin Xiangxiang: "!"
I almost forgot, there were photos of her chicken coop, bread oven, and vegetable garden. The little drama queen even remembers the strange look the photo shop assistant gave her when she went to get the photos developed.
"You have so many photos of your house? You even take pictures of the chicken coop?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..." A certain man's mysterious hobby.
Zhuang Xiaoman blushed with excitement: "This chicken coop looks great! This vegetable garden looks great! I didn't know you could take pictures of these things!"
"I've only had my picture taken twice in my life. Once was when a student came to our village and took pictures of us. The other time was when I got married." Zhuang Xiaoman was very excited when she saw the photos. Many people in the countryside never have their picture taken in their entire lives. It's already quite remarkable that she has had her picture taken twice.
"Did you buy this camera yourself? How much did it cost?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "I bought the camera for 160 yuan, and the film cost 1.8 yuan each."
"I understand."
Qin Xiangxiang thought that Zhuang Xiaoman, being a stingy person, would definitely not be willing to buy a camera after hearing the price. However, the next day, Zhuang Xiaoman came to her very excitedly, saying, "I asked someone to buy me a camera for over 600 yuan! It can hold 135 film and can take 38 photos at a time."
Qin Xiangxiang was shocked: "!"
"If I take this camera back to the village, I'll be the coolest guy in the whole village, and everyone will fawn over me." Zhuang Xiaoman was particularly proud, feeling that her purchase was worthwhile. Buying a camera was better than buying a sewing machine, a radio, or a bicycle.
From now on, anyone who wants to take a photo will have to ask her, just like the projectionist in the countryside.
Qin Xiangxiang discovered that Zhuang Xiaoman was quite shrewd; she was just concerned about her image and wanted to be looked up to.
"You got a good deal on this camera. If you take good care of it, it can last for ten years or so," Qin Xiangxiang whispered to her. "You can also rent it out occasionally, like to art students who need to borrow a camera. Photo studios charge one cent per hour for camera rentals, and they all know the price. Renting a camera from a studio requires you to leave your household registration book as collateral, which is a hassle..."
"If you lend it out for eight hours, it'll be the price of a pound of pork. But don't charge money. Just give them candy, pork, or cloth, and someone will definitely be willing to lend you their camera."
Zhuang Xiaoman was stunned. So this camera rental cost one cent per hour? Goodness, isn't this a hen that keeps laying eggs?
Of course, there's an even more important point: "If they want to borrow my camera, they have to fawn over me, otherwise I'd be just like a projectionist, having to fawn over me?"
Zhuang Xiaoman was in a great mood and told everyone that she had bought a camera. Her husband also agreed to buy a camera. He had lent her 500 yuan, thinking he would never get it back, but the money came back and she even bought a camera. She was very proud of herself.
Zhuang Xiaoman's husband is much like Zhuang Xiaoman; they are both obsessed with saving face and want to appear impressive. He and Zhuang Xiaoman had the same idea: to bring a camera back to the village would definitely cause a sensation throughout the village and make quite a splash.
Take some more photos of the villagers; this story will be passed down in the village for decades.
Not to mention, this camera can be rented out to exchange for some candy and meat to supplement the family income, which is really worth it!
Zhou Lu knew that Zhuang Xiaoman had taken the 500 yuan that she had painstakingly given her and used it to buy a camera. She was so angry that she almost had a heart attack.
Her money, her electric fan!
Now we can only rely on Zhao Yangyang on the third floor.
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