Xia Liang returned home, greeted her family, washed up, and went to bed. After all, she had been on tenterhooks all day, worried about being caught. She felt exhausted after arriving home and fell into a deep sleep shortly after lying down in bed.
The next day, Xia Liang returned the fabric she had specially saved for Old Lady Xia the day before: "Grandma, I was too tired yesterday and forgot to give you the fabric that my aunt bought for you." Old Lady Xia snatched the fabric from Xia Liang's hands and cursed, "You brat, are you trying to pocket this? This is my daughter's filial piety to me. Don't you even know if you deserve it?" Xia Liang was speechless. Zhao Danxiang, seeing her daughter being slandered, stepped forward to defend her: "Mom, A-Liang isn't that kind of person." "Slap!" Old Lady Xia slapped Zhao Danxiang across the face. Xia Dahe quickly ran over to support his wife. Xia Liang was stunned. After all, she hadn't expected Zhao Danxiang to speak up for her. Usually, when she went out, Zhao Danxiang wouldn't care about her. She thought Zhao Danxiang was like other women in feudal times.
Xia Rong angrily said, "Grandma, don't go too far!" Wang Chunhua, the eldest aunt who was watching the show from the side, said sarcastically, "Oh, it's always the elders who lecture the younger generation. When did it become the younger generation to lecture the elders?" After hearing the eldest daughter-in-law's words, Old Lady Xia's anger intensified: "These unfilial sons of the second branch of the family, may they be struck by lightning!" She then started crying, "Heavens above, I don't want to live anymore! I gave birth to an unfilial son, married a vixen wife, and gave birth to two worthless brats!" Xia Liang was about to step forward to stop Old Lady Xia when Xia Dahe rushed forward and knelt down in front of Old Lady Xia, saying, "Mom, I was wrong. Hit me, scold me." He lowered his head, looking like he was ready to be hit or scolded. Old Lady Xia vented her anger and went back to her room. In fact, she knew in her heart that the second son's family didn't have the guts, but she still had to teach them a lesson and keep them in check.
Xia Liang silently told herself to endure this moment of anger. "I'll endure it. I mustn't fall out with my family until I've saved enough money to buy a job." Two more days passed peacefully afterward.
On the day she was supposed to meet the women from Fengqing Village, Xia Liang used the same excuse to go to the county town. She went to No. 147 Xinghua Lane to find the old man and collect the fabric. As soon as she arrived, she heard a commotion inside. Xia Liang overheard a woman crying and yelling, "If you want to die, no one will stop you, but don't ruin my son's life!" The old man, whom she had dealt with before, also said indignantly, "How could I possibly return it to him? He's my son too! Why don't you believe me?" After about ten minutes, there was no more noise from inside. Xia Liang then knocked on the door. The old man answered and opened it. Seeing Xia Liang, he wasn't particularly happy, simply telling her that he didn't have much fabric left and wasn't planning on going to the black market anymore. Xia Liang asked the old man to keep the fabric for her; she would come to collect it every few days. The old man agreed.
Xia Liang, carrying twice as much fabric as last time, hurried to Fengqing Village. This time, there were even more people—about forty or so middle-aged women—who chattered incessantly, almost driving Xia Liang crazy. She still managed to finish processing the fabric quickly, then joined the group at Liu Huihong's house to count the eggs. The Zhang family had ten, the Li family twenty, and Wang Ermazi's family thirty. In total, they had over three hundred eggs. Xia Liang's basket couldn't hold them all, so she borrowed a carrying basket from Liu Huihong, filled it with eggs, paid according to the count she had made, and arranged a time for the next transaction. Xia Liang smiled and said, "Aunties and madams, if any of your relatives or neighbors have eggs they want to sell, please buy them for me." Receiving a promise from the aunties and madams, Xia Liang carried the eggs she had acquired to the black market. Because he received a large quantity of eggs this time, Xia Liang spent a long time at the black market, selling them all around 4 PM. After packing up, he delivered Liu Huihong's basket to Fengqing Village before rushing to the county bus station. Xia Liang had been doing this for almost a month. Looking at the little over a thousand yuan in his hand, he decided to stop. High risk, high reward—although he could earn a lot, anyone can make a mistake, and if he got caught, he might face execution.
Xia Liang went to her aunt's house and, finding her aunt alone, told her everything she had been doing lately. After all, the things she brought home as passes for Grandma Xia were all under her aunt's name, and it wouldn't be good if she wasn't informed beforehand and exposed. Upon hearing Xia Liang's words, her aunt turned pale with fright and slapped her on the back a few times, scolding, "You brat, do you know you'll get shot if you get caught?" Xia Liang quickly comforted her, "I know, Auntie, that's why I stopped doing it." "Come on, I'll take you to find Sister Peng," her aunt said, taking out a pound of biscuits she had just bought yesterday from the cupboard, and pulling Xia Liang outside.
They stopped in front of a house, knocked on the door, and called out, "Is Sister Peng home?" A cheerful voice came from inside: "Yes, I am!" She opened the door and welcomed the two women in, asking with a smile, "What brings you here today?" Xia Xiaogu and Xia Liang said, "This is Sister Peng, the one I told you about who wanted to sell her job. Call her Auntie." Xia Liang obediently greeted her, "Auntie." Xia Xiaogu then said to Peng Yingyan, "I heard you were going to join the army and were planning to sell your job, so I brought my niece to chat with you." As she spoke, she handed her the biscuits. Peng Yingyan quickly declined, but Xia Xiaogu genuinely intended to give them to her, so she couldn't refuse and had to accept.
She led the two to the living room and sat them down. After pouring water, she said, "I'm at my wit's end. My husband's in the army, and I'm the only one taking care of the child. Just now, the teacher called my workplace saying Xiaowei broke a classmate's head. I was so scared I had to take leave and rush the injured child to the clinic. Luckily, it wasn't serious." She rubbed her forehead, both laughing and crying. Aunt Xia smiled and said, "I saw you coming back from outside and knew you weren't at work, so I came over." After a short conversation, they settled on a deal: five hundred yuan for Xia Liang to take over her job, and they would announce to others that Xia Liang was a distant relative. After the agreement was made, Aunt Xia took Xia Liang away. Back home, Aunt Xia asked, "Have you thought about how to explain this to the family?" Xia Liang smiled and said, "I've already thought about it. I'll just say I saved a very important person on my way to the county, and he arranged a job for me as a reward." Aunt Xia chuckled, "You little devil." Since it wasn't the end of the month yet, Xia Liang could only go home and wait for further instructions.
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