Chapter 7 Chapter 7 It's all psychosis
With a new cotton-padded jacket, Qingmei was no longer in a hurry to go back.
Grandma kept saying, "Dear PLA soldiers, we must repay them well."
Qingmei first went to the Chinese medicine store with her grandmother to get some medicine, and then bought a pair of cotton shoes with thousand-layer soles for the old lady.
It is the end of the year and the market stalls are set up.
Those selling needles and thread, scarves and masks, and wild fruits and dried goods were all shouting desperately.
Qingmei remembered that there was a place at the market that sold good scallion pancakes, so she helped her grandmother over there. Her stomach was rumbling, and it was too late to make them back home.
The big iron pan hissed, and the dough oozed scallion oil as it was fried in the pan. It was a pleasure for passers-by to smell it.
At one end of the wooden rack were cold pancakes, and at the other end were baked golden scallion pancakes. They were crispy on the outside and fragrant on the inside, greasy and so greedy that the children passing by licked their lips.
Qingmei queued up to buy two scallion pancakes for 40 cents. Grandma was sorry for the money and wanted to save it for Qingmei to eat when she got home.
Qingmei refused and tore off a piece of it and fed it to her grandmother: "I will take you to eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks in the future. Don't be reluctant to leave it all for me. Let's eat like the cadres in the city."
They were starving, and even a palm-sized scallion pancake still wasn't enough. Qingmei bought a bowl of oysters from another stall.
There was a large iron bucket of boiling water sitting on the coal stove in front of the stall. The auntie who sold oysters scooped a basin of water directly into the iron basin. All the oysters were boiled open and steamed.
The plump and fresh oysters are all pried from the seaside. They are everywhere on the seashore and a basin costs only 20 cents.
Qingmei sat face to face with her grandmother, opened an oyster the size of her palm and placed it in front of her grandmother, then opened one for herself.
The cooked oysters were large, white as jade, fresh and juicy. The delicious and smooth feeling when biting them made Qingmei close her eyes in happiness.
After all, this seaside town is still comfortable.
After a full stomach, Qingmei bought a large black fish before leaving. She planned to stew vermicelli and make pancakes in two days.
We took the bus back to Donghe Village and caught up with the donkey cart waiting for passengers.
When they got home, it was getting dark.
Grandma went into the house to light a fire, and Qingmei carried in firewood from the yard.
"I'll find someone to build a kang tomorrow." Qingmei felt relieved after separating from the Li family and decided to live a good life.
She was young and able to work, and she would have the opportunity to go to university in the future. Her life would definitely not be worse than before.
...just don't get struck by lightning.
Stay away from the male protagonist Gu Qingzhou, and don't expect to destroy the marriage of the male and female protagonists. It seems that the heaven has given up on other matters.
How wonderful.
Qingmei was still imagining the good days in the future when she heard someone calling her softly in the yard.
Because the mother and daughter depended on each other, Qingmei locked the gate of the yard early.
Qingmei slapped her thigh and asked, "How could I have forgotten about this?"
Huang Wenbi waited outside the dilapidated house for Qingmei for the entire afternoon. When he returned for dinner, he heard that Qingmei had returned and hurried over.
He had been treating her coldly all this time, hoping that she would give him the money she had secretly saved to buy eggs as she did before.
He returned to his hometown halfway through his studies at the Workers' and Peasants' University and was unemployed, calling himself a half-college student. He couldn't fool others, but he could definitely fool a young widow who was determined to find a good family.
The young widow was reluctant to eat or drink, thinking that after he resumed his schooling, he would take her out of the village and away from his parents-in-law. She had no idea that Huang Wenbi had been expelled from the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University.
Huang Wenbi has no other skills except being a smooth talker.
In the past, the young widow would save him an egg every week, but recently she has stopped giving him any.
Huang Wenbi thought that the young widow's parents-in-law were very strict with her. Today, when he heard that the young widow had obtained the Gu family's ancestral bracelet, Zhao Wuhe wanted to marry the young widow as their daughter-in-law.
At first he thought it was a joke. After all, the idle young and old men in the village also liked to make fun of widows.
Later, he heard from Secretary Qian that the young widow had separated from her parents-in-law and would no longer be burdened by their vampire family, and he immediately became excited.
His family had been poor peasants for three generations and could not afford the hundreds of yuan in betrothal gifts required for marriage proposals, let alone the "three turns and one ring" and "thirty legs".
The only option is to find someone who doesn't ask for a dowry.
After much deliberation, he finally settled on Qingmei.
First, this girl is so beautiful, famous for her beauty in the surrounding area. The child she gives birth to will definitely be good.
Secondly, although she was a widow, nothing happened on her wedding night; she was still a virgin. Her husband had been drinking with someone and died of drunkenness before they even entered the bridal chamber. Everyone in the village knew about this.
The last and most important point is that she is so gullible and believes everything she says.
Huang Wenbi came over with full confidence and waited and waited, but there was no movement inside.
"Xiaomei, it's me."
Qingmei came out in her slippers and a cotton-padded jacket: "Who are you? Standing in front of a widow's door in the middle of the night? Are you sick or something?"
Huang Wenbi: “…”
Is this still the Qingmei I know?
"I have something to do, something to do." Huang Wenbi stood at the door and looked back. When he saw someone passing by, he would pull over and pretend to search his pockets.
Qingmei said, "Then let's talk through the door."
Huang Wenbi couldn't talk through the door, he had to take the young widow out and find a place where no one was around to hug her and talk.
It doesn't matter if someone sees them. I just hope more people know they are having an affair and that they will just be accepted as being together in the future.
Thinking of this, Huang Wenbi straightened his thin waist and smiled on his freckled face: "Open the door, I'll go in and tell you slowly."
Unfortunately, the young widow didn't fall for it and refused to open the door.
Qingmei said coldly: "I don't want to talk to you."
Huang Wenbi was a little anxious, and couldn't help but think of the rumor that she was going to marry into the Gu family, and then he shook his head contemptuously.
Could she possibly enter the Gu family? Was she foolish enough to take the villagers' jokes seriously again?
"I'm asking you, have you separated from the Li family? Did you sign a document in front of the captain?" Huang Wenbi tried to squint at her through the crack in the door, but saw something glittering silver. He subconsciously took a step back, and when he looked again, it was gone.
Qingmei put her hands behind her back and twisted her wrists. The kitchen knife hid its light behind her.
Qingmei opened the door with one hand. Huang Wenbi wanted to rush in, but when he saw the kitchen knife, he was frightened and asked, "What are you doing?"
Qingmei said with a smile, "To protect against thieves."
Huang Wenbi took out a handful of peanuts left over from playing cards from his pocket and wanted to put it in Qingmei's hand, but he was afraid of her kitchen knife.
He always felt that Qingmei had become a different person, and her smile scared him a little.
"My mother will definitely agree to let you into our house this time." Huang Wenbi said flatteringly, "You're wearing a new cotton-padded jacket? It's so beautiful without a single patch. Look at my jacket, the cotton inside is almost rotten."
Qingmei knew that he was trying to cheat her out of her cotton again.
So shameless.
Ignoring this, Qingmei tilted her head and asked, "How did you get your mother to agree?"
When they were together, Huang Wenbi's mother found out and almost beat him up.
Look down on her.
They thought Huang Wenbi would have a bright future after attending the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, but he was expelled from the school for gambling within half a year.
Huang Wenbi's story spread throughout the surrounding villages, and everyone used him as a negative example. Only the young widow, blinded by her greed, believed he was being forced to play mahjong.
Huang Wenbi's mother knew that it was difficult for Huang Wenbi to find a partner and the family was poor, so she turned a blind eye and let them get together.
"Let's go together and ask my mother to make sure it works," Huang Wenbi said happily. "If that doesn't work, we can always kneel down and kowtow to her."
Qingmei nodded thoughtfully.
Huang Wenbi said with a smile: "You know, it was not easy for her to raise me——"
Qingmei nodded and said, "Indeed, you should kowtow to her."
Huang Wenbi quickly said, "You have to kowtow too. You have to show off in front of her."
"Why didn't she kowtow to me?" Qingmei feigned surprise and said, "Is it so easy to let your son seduce a widow and make a profit without any investment?"
"..." Huang Wenbi's pockmarked face drooped, and he said sternly, "What do you mean by that?"
Qingmei said, "You keep looking for me, aren't you just trying to seduce me? Who am I? I'm a widow."
Huang Wenbi suppressed his temper, swallowed his saliva and said, "Don't be angry with me. I went out a few days ago and earned five yuan. Tomorrow I will ask my mother for it to buy you some candy. When you marry into my family, although it is unfair for you not to have a betrothal gift, your status is not suitable for asking for a betrothal gift. Your parents-in-law will not be able to control you in the future. We will only need to serve my mother, and you will enjoy endless blessings in the future."
Qingmei sneered and said, "Shouldn't I be the one serving you and your mother?"
Huang Wenbi said, "I am her son after all, so I will definitely serve her."
Qingmei said, "It's actually very simple for me to marry him."
Judging from the current situation, Huang Wenbi's mother is still putting on airs and waiting to beg her for help. She hasn't even become a mother-in-law yet, but she has already prepared her show of power.
"As long as you don't ask for a betrothal gift, I'll agree to anything you ask." Huang Wenbi was overjoyed and said excitedly, "I knew you were different from other girls and not so materialistic. Tell me, I will definitely agree to it."
"There's only one condition." Qingmei said happily, "If your mother kneels down and begs me to marry him, I'll consider it."
Huang Wenbi was suddenly exposed, the tendons in his neck popping out. He gritted his teeth and said, "Are you kidding me? How dare you make my mother kowtow to you? Do you really think you are a virgin?"
Qingmei smiled and said, "No, I always think of myself as a widow. I mean it very clearly. Even if I were a widow, your mother would kowtow to me and beg me, but I would not enter your rotten door. Do you understand?"
Huang Wenbi's chest heaved with anger, and his hands on the door frame tightened again and again.
Qingmei held the kitchen knife across her body and raised her chin towards him.
Huang Wenbi was a softie, and when he saw the kitchen knife, he shuddered. He murmured, "You're not a childhood sweetheart. You're definitely not a childhood sweetheart."
Qingmei didn't refute him, but smiled and told him: "Yes, Qingmei used to be bullied to death. Now Qingmei can't stand any anger at all. If anyone makes me angry, I will chop him to death."
Huang Wenbi snorted, retreated outside, pointed at Qingmei and said, "Don't regret it."
Qingmei said calmly, "When you say harsh words to me, think about your 'highly respected' mother!"
Huang Wenbi was really afraid that Qingmei would do something to his mother, so he hurriedly ran away under the moonlight.
Qingmei looked at his fleeing back and remembered that in her previous life, he had also fled in the same way when facing the cripple who abused her, without caring about her life or death.
If she lived another life, she would know too well how hateful they were.
Qingmei was about to enter the house when she turned around and saw a shadow on the wall.
"What a great show." Chen Qiaoxiang clapped her hands and poked her head out from behind the wall. She didn't know when she had heard it from the bottom of the wall.
Qingmei looked down on Huang Wenbi, and looked down on her even more, and was unwilling to even give him a glance.
She ignored Chen Qiaoxiang, who deliberately annoyed her: "Don't you understand what Zhao Wuhe meant by taking the betrothal gifts away? She is deliberately trying to piss me off and intimidate me. She will definitely propose to me again in a couple of days, so don't dream on."
Qingmei didn't want to interfere with the marriage between the hero and heroine. She glanced at the sky and saw that nothing had changed, so she said with confidence, "Yes, she proposed to you. It has nothing to do with me. Congratulations."
Chen Qiaoxiang thought she was being sarcastic and immediately said angrily, "Don't think you're pretty. My dad is the accountant of the brigade, and my relatives are officials in the city. Even if I scratch your face, you have nowhere to complain!"
Qingmei turned around and looked at her expression carefully from a few steps away. She found that there was a strange light in Chen Qiaoxiang's eyes, as if she was determined to get rid of her.
Qingmei: "Why are there so many things going on all day long?"
Chen Qiaoxiang thought she was scared, so she took out the knife she had prepared with a stern face and said, "Be careful when you sleep at night. Others can't get into the yard, but I can climb over at any time."
Qingmei knew that she was inhumane, so she immediately lowered her voice and said, "Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"
Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. If you are really pushed to the limit, no matter whether you are the heroine or not, I will kill you first before you are struck by lightning.
When Chen Qiaoxiang heard Qingmei threatening Huang Wenbi, she also imitated her and said, "If you don't consider yourself, you should also consider your elderly grandmother."
It would have been fine if she hadn't said this, but she really wanted to piss Qingmei off when she said it.
"Okay, I get it." Qingmei gave her a thumbs up: "You did it."
Chen Qiaoxiang thought her threat really worked, so she said a few more harsh words and went back satisfied.
Qingmei returned to the house and tossed and turned.
Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and sat up suddenly.
Threatening grandma?
She actually dared to threaten grandma!
Grandma was a light sleeper. She opened her eyes and said, "What's wrong? Can't sleep?"
Qingmei got down to put on her shoes: "I'm going out for a while, please lock the door."
Grandma asked hurriedly: "What are you going to do?"
Qingmei gritted her teeth and said, "Go up the mountain!"
*** ***
Qingmei carried a hoe and went to the back mountain stubbornly.
Chen Qiaoxiang underestimated Qingmei.
She never expected that this childhood sweetheart was not the real person, but a book traveler with a unique personality.
It was true that Chen Qiaoxiang had relatives in the city who held official positions, and it was also true that her father was the brigade accountant. Her entire family doted on her, and she was indeed blessed. But her family was not without its weaknesses.
Chen Qiaoxiang is very wealthy in the book, part of which comes from Gu Qingzhou's pension and the other part comes from her father.
How much money can a brigade accountant have?
Dirty money.
There were many honest folks like Qingmei who were underpaid their work points. Some villagers were unaware of this, unable to understand the accounts due to lack of education. Others were too timid to speak up.
After her past life, Qingmei always received less work points, and she knew it very well. Sun Xiufen, who asked her for money, also knew it, so Qingmei could hide a little every time, following the plot of the book, buying medicine for her grandmother and even eggs for Huang Wenbi.
Chen Qiaoxiang's father was so greedy that he would pluck two feathers from every passing chicken before leaving. According to the book, having been the brigade accountant for nearly thirty years, he must have embezzled a significant amount of money.
Qingmei followed the directions briefly recorded in the book, carrying a basket and a hoe, pretending to be gathering firewood.
"Three hundred and twenty-three steps to the east, one hundred and fifty-six steps to the west, a place that is both conspicuous and inconspicuous..."
Fortunately, she had a new cotton-padded jacket on, so Qingmei didn't freeze on the mountain. She could feel the mountain with her eyes closed, but the dirty money Chen Qiaoxiang's father had hidden was hard to find under the heavy snow.
Qingmei searched for two hours but couldn't find it, and was covered in dust.
There were about ten matching locations in the east, south, west and north, and she had to use a hoe to turn over them one by one.
The road on the mountain was difficult to walk on. Qingmei walked up step by step with a hoe. As she walked, she heard a sound coming from afar.
She quickly hid behind the banyan tree and heard someone shout, "Who's there? Come out before I beat you up!"
In the deep mountains and forests, there are not only local people, but also robbers.
Qingmei heard that the person shouting was not someone else, but Zhao Wuhe!
Why was she going to the mountains for no reason?
"It's me, Aunt Gu." Qingmei quickly stepped out and waved to Zhao Wuhe in the moonlight.
Zhao Wuhe was as dusty and dirty as Qingmei, and also carried a basket and a hoe...
Qingmei asked hesitantly, "You're going up the mountain so late at night?"
Zhao Wuhe breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Qingmei: "You also went up the mountain so late at night. Why are you here?"
Qingmei whispered, "I...I'm collecting firewood. What about you?"
Zhao Wuhe paused and said, "I'll collect firewood too."
"Oh." Qingmei thought of how Zhao Wuhe had hurriedly ordered two thousand kilograms of coal to be piled up in the backyard of his house in October, and the news spread throughout the village.
This reason seems a bit untenable.
But since both of them said they wanted to collect firewood, let’s do it.
The fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, half past three.
Qingmei and Zhao Wuhe collected firewood until dawn.
"That's enough." Qingmei was exhausted. "...I have to go and sell shepherd's purse cakes at the market."
Zhao Wuhe also sighed and pounded his back: "I can't bear it anymore. I have to go back."
Qingmei took two steps and said, "Then tomorrow night?"
Zhao Wuhe nodded: "I'll come again."
Qingmei: "..."
Qingmei went home depressed, carrying a heavy load of firewood.
When I opened the door, I saw grandma was already making shepherd's purse pancakes.
"Why are you back just now? You're almost late. Go wash your face and go."
"good."
"Are you sleepy?"
"fine."
Qingmei had just finished packing the shepherd's purse cakes when Captain Jin, who was working outside, called out, "Why are you so late today? I parked your bike outside."
Qingmei said, "No need, I'll go."
When she said this, Captain Jin had already left.
Qingmei decided not to continue pushing her bicycle to the market, so she decided to take a shortcut through the abandoned tunnel hidden in the book, carrying a basket of cakes on her back. The journey, which would normally take her an hour and a half, could be shortened to just 30 minutes.
As a result, just as she reached the entrance of the village, the warm sun in the sky was blocked by dark clouds, and thunder and lightning made a terrifying sound in the distance.
She seems to be very obsessed with her cycling.
Qingmei, who had been holding back her anger all night, flew into a rage, "What's wrong with that? Why does the supporting actress have to ride a bicycle and sell shepherd's purse cakes? You have obsessive-compulsive disorder?!"
Being able to ride is fine, the key is that she——
She can't ride a bike at all!
Rain or shine, she has to push the cart! Push the cart! Push the cart!
Back and forth, trip after trip!
Thunder roared from the sky, and Qingmei's head suddenly felt numb.
"You win."
She lifted her legs and went home to push her bicycle.
While pushing the cart, I found that the tire was flat... Captain Jin didn't even notice that the tire was flat?
This is probably the reason why the saying "When it rains, it pours" comes out.
I have to rush to the market, but I have to push this broken car!
Qingmei was so angry that she carried the bicycle alive!
This is the living ancestor.
She carried her bicycle and ran all the way towards the abandoned tunnel!
Jing Lei paused obviously. It should be a person riding a bike, how come the bike was riding a person?
After dozens of seconds, Qingmei successfully ran 300 meters carrying the bicycle.
A series of lightning struck behind her!
A strong wind suddenly blew up, and the clothes drying in someone's yard were blown into the air.
Yesterday, there were waves of monsters and demons, and Qingmei was exhausted. This morning, she still had to carry her bicycle...
Qingmei gritted her teeth and ran breathlessly while carrying her bicycle: "Psychopaths, all of them are psychopaths!!"
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