After breakfast, Jiang Yu, just like yesterday, packed up the pickled vegetables and hurried off to catch the cart. Her small frame struggled to carry the two large jars. Shen Ying remembered that today's vegetables weighed a full twenty pounds more than yesterday's, and after giving the two children some meaningful instructions, he headed towards the village entrance.
He hurried and caught up with her under the willow tree at the east end of the village. Shen Ying silently reached for the things in her hands, just like yesterday.
"who?"
Jiang Yu was engrossed in her world of making money when someone tugged at the cloth bag in her hand, startling her and making her look around.
When she turned around, she found Shen Ying staring straight at her, his expression hard to describe. Her first thought was that this man had taken Zhang Xinhua's lisp to heart and assumed that he knew she was at the door that morning, and that he had deliberately said those things to her.
Right now, I guess he's heard some gossip again and is coming over to argue with her.
"It's heavy, I'll help you."
Shen Ying was a man of few words; seeing her wariness, he didn't continue the conversation. This woman wasn't very guarded; he'd need to do some more in-depth research later.
Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and calmly handed over the cloth bag in her hand. Since she was already here, it would be a disservice to those strong and powerful arms not to let him carry it.
The two walked one after the other, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, looking very well-matched. Jiang Yu carried nothing and walked a little faster than yesterday. After arriving at the bus stop, they still had to wait quite a while. However, being alone together was still a little awkward. They didn't say a word, and tacitly looked in different directions.
Fortunately, the car arrived relatively quickly. The driver recognized Jiang Yu and honked his horn to remind her after stopping. Jiang Yu looked down at the cloth bag at her feet, preparing to bend down to take it, but Shen Ying grabbed it and put it in the car first. She looked at the man somewhat helplessly, and at first glance, she saw the sunlight shining on his profile.
"What time will you be back today? I'll come pick you up."
The man's face flushed slightly under her gaze. He quickly placed the bag in the car and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear. Last night's experience had been too dangerous; he still felt lingering fear when he thought about it. He didn't know how to bring up the topic of the dangers of going out.
On the one hand, the two were not familiar with each other, and on the other hand, he had no right to interfere with what others wanted to do.
Jiang Yu thought she had misheard. She glanced at the man and saw that he was waiting for her reply, looking rather serious.
She steadied herself by holding onto the car door, and with her free hand, she gestured three to the man. If the day ended quickly, she wanted to buy some snacks for her two children. She'd been too busy lately and worried about neglecting their meals, causing them to get sick and suffer.
Shen Ying understood immediately. Watching the car drive away, he patted his arms and headed home. His superiors had called, informing him of an awards ceremony in the next couple of days and insisting he attend no matter what.
His medal was awarded at the awards ceremony every year, and the format was always pretty much the same. Shen Ying felt bored, thinking that going back for two days would mean taking another day of annual leave, so he simply submitted a leave request to save himself the trouble of going back and forth.
Regiment Commander Zhang disagreed, saying that this year's gala had invited Military Region Commander An Xun as a special guest, the purpose of which was to see what Shen Ying, who had received medals for seven consecutive years, actually looked like.
My comrades told me that this commander has a niece who is highly educated, picky, and almost thirty years old and still hasn't found a boyfriend. As her uncle, Commander An is quite anxious about this. So he decided to find a few young men at this party for his niece to meet.
The father, who had two children, wasn't interested in such things, but he couldn't resist the leader's persistent pleading and had to go check it out. Time was tight; they had to leave tomorrow. So, he planned to use today to warn the troublemakers in the neighborhood to stop bothering their family.
After getting into the car, Jiang Yu tidied the cloth bag in her hand. The man had been a little awkward when he brought it up, so she had to fasten it to prevent the pickled vegetables from spilling on the way.
"Is that your man? He's really handsome."
The ticket seller approached Jiang Yu to greet her, but Jiang Yu looked embarrassed and remained silent. Despite having weathered many storms before transmigrating into the book, hearing those words still made her feel ashamed. So embarrassing!
Seeing her blush, the ticket seller didn't ask any further questions, but simply expressed envy and changed the subject.
As soon as the car entered the factory gate, a long, dense queue appeared. Upon seeing Jiang Yu, many people ran to greet her.
"Comrade, I want to buy an extra portion today so my family can try it."
“I want some too. I told my family about it when I got home yesterday, but they didn’t believe me. I insisted on bringing some back for them to try and see just how delicious these so-called pickled vegetables really are.”
Everyone rushed forward, many holding small bottles to scoop it up. Surrounded by the crowd, Jiang Yu couldn't stop smiling, her mind racing: I'm rich again!
Seeing this, Zhang Meihua, who was across the street, pulled Zhang Xinhua, who was inside the house, to look. She was furious, wanting to call the police, but her own sister kept talking about how amazing her man was and how protective he was of her. Jealousy had completely clouded her judgment!
"You'd better shut up for a bit. We can't win. Even if you call the police, her man can handle it in no time. Not only will you not be able to get rid of her, but your shop will go out of business, believe it or not?"
Zhang Xinhua's words were not meant to scare her. She could help with minor fights and arguments in the village, but when it came to matters involving higher authorities, she could only watch helplessly.
Fearing she wouldn't believe him, he quickly added:
"You know Zhang Ergou from our village, right? The one who's always running around like a madman. When he sees this little vixen, he's like a mouse seeing a cat."
Zhang Meihua found it unbelievable when she heard this. Who was Zhang Ergou? She wasn't even afraid of the police, yet she was afraid of her man? Outrageous, utterly outrageous.
"So what if this man is famous outside? His own woman is out in public every day, hanging out with men. Instead of divorcing her, he's treating her like a treasure. Has he lost his mind?"
Zhang Meihua got angrier and angrier as she talked, and pulled over the cook and threw him five cents.
"Go across the street and buy her pickled vegetables and bring them for us to try. I refuse to believe that this lousy cabbage, which has no oil at all, is so delicious!"
The young man took the money, dropped the rag, and went out to squeeze into the crowd.
Zhang Xinhua caught the bus before Jiang Yu's, and having been so busy spreading rumors that morning, she hadn't even had time to drink water. Now, arriving at her older sister's shop, she saw the unsold boxed lunches, tore one open, and popped it into her mouth.
The vegetables tasted bitter and weren't very appetizing. The meat also had a fishy smell, making her want to vomit. Zhang Xinhua forced herself to stay awake, watching her older sister sitting at the doorway, looking at the opposite side like a resentful woman, hesitant to speak.
"Fine, I'm here to get something for free, I can't be picky. Besides, there's vegetables and meat, it's quite a feast." Having almost successfully manipulated herself, she scooped up some rice and chewed it.
With a 'clunk' sound.
Zhang Xinhua felt something loosening, opened her mouth and spat out a tooth, followed by unstoppable bleeding, leaving her stunned. She looked at the tooth in her palm, then at Zhang Meihua who was still grieving, grabbed her lunchbox and rushed over.
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