Is Mom taking them to the market? Is that true?
Shen Niannian twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling a slight pain, and, confirming it, laughed so hard he spun around in circles. Jiang Yu found his grimacing expression somewhat amusing:
"Are you being naughty again?"
Hearing her mother say this, Shen Niannian was afraid her mother would change her mind, so she quickly waved her hand:
"No, no, I just wanted to see if it hurt or if I was dreaming every year."
Normally, the original owner never went out. Shen Niannian and her sister often heard the village children talk about what they bought at the market that day, or what new and interesting things they saw, and they were extremely envious. Now that Jiang Yu said she was going to take them to the market, it was like a dream come true.
Shen Suisui was also somewhat excited, but compared to her younger brother, she wasn't very good at expressing herself. Besides, she was born two years earlier than her brother, which meant she had suffered two more years of the original owner's torment. Although she was now trying her best to adapt to Jiang Yu, it would take time.
Jiang Yu hadn't thought that far ahead. She bent down and patted Chen Niannian's back, reminding her:
"Then hurry up and put on your shoes. Brother Dongdong has been waiting for you at the door for quite a while."
Hearing that Dongdong was also there, the two little ones hurriedly got ready. Shen Niannian slipped on her shoes and ran to the door, while Shen Suisui brought her a cloth bag from inside the house.
She had a keen eye for observation, knowing that people at the market would use this to hold things. Jiang Yu looked at her thoughtfully; this clever girl probably inherited the male lead's intelligence. She wondered if she should send her to school after the New Year, lest her talent be wasted.
Unaware of her plans, Shen Suisui took the cloth bag and went out the door, calling out "Aunt Wang" to Wang Cuihua before obediently waiting.
Jiang Yu locked the door, and the group walked one after another. The morning sun wasn't too hot, and it felt warm and comfortable on their faces.
She chatted with Wang Cuihua casually, and when she heard Wang Cuihua talk about how Zhang Ergou had tried to extort money from Zhang Xinhua yesterday morning, she realized that it was all that woman's doing behind the scenes.
However, Shen Ying had already given Zhang Ergou a stern warning, so he wouldn't dare to cause trouble again. But Zhang Xinhua, that troublemaker, only lost a tooth and some hair; she hadn't received the lesson she deserved.
As if on cue, Zhang Xinhua arrived with her son, Shenbo, from a distance near the market. She walked with a swaying gait, trying her best to avoid the villagers' gazes.
Her husband only gave her a verbal reprimand last night; what truly humiliated her was that Zhang Meihua had torn off a patch of her scalp and exposed her gaping teeth. It was obvious at a glance that they had fought, and lost.
If someone saw this, wouldn't she be utterly humiliated? She's used to making fun of others; if they started pointing fingers at her, where would Zhang Xinhua's authority be in Shenjiazhuang anymore?
If she hadn't been in a hurry to buy New Year's goods, she would never have left this house.
Jiang Yu found her evasive behavior truly amusing. Normally, walking openly would be fine, but this deliberate attempt to attract attention made it hard for anyone to ignore her. However, no one wanted to get involved with her; unless she was chatting with others, no one was willing to approach her.
As they approached the market, people began to gather, and Jiang Yu seized the opportunity to shout into the crowd:
"Hey, Sister Zhang Xinhua, are you here at the market? What's with that hair? Did you get a new haircut to prepare for the New Year?"
She deliberately called out the person's full name, as if afraid others wouldn't know who she was. Sure enough, at her call, many people glanced over. Zhang Xinhua glared at her fiercely, then grabbed her son and hurriedly ran away.
Wang Cuihua's family wasn't particularly well-off; they were only slightly better off than Shen Ying's family back then. In the small village, families with good financial conditions were envied, while those with poor conditions were looked down upon. Wang Cuihua belonged to the latter group, and she had suffered a lot of ridicule from Zhang Xinhua back then, so there was a sense of hostility towards her.
Seeing Jiang Yu humiliate her in public now, I felt a surge of satisfaction. Serves her right, she really deserved it!
In the 1980s, the economy was just beginning to emerge, and few people went to department stores in the city to buy things. One reason was that it was too much trouble, and another reason was that the economy in the villages was not developed enough. So if you wanted to buy something, you could only go to the market.
Looking at the dazzling array of items and the crowded people, Jiang Yu reminded Sui Sui to hold Nian Nian's hand tightly, lest she get lost in the crowd.
Upon entering the market, Shen Niannian saw many novelties, looking left and right as if he wished he had eight eyes. Shen Suisui followed closely behind him, with Dongdong close behind.
He didn't like the adults' tedious haggling when buying things. Besides, he had chatted a lot with his little sister Sui Sui about school on the way here. Seeing how much she admired him, Dongdong was extremely proud.
Jiang Yu bought some groceries and headed straight for the fruit stall. The New Year's goods she'd bought at the supply and marketing cooperative were enough for her family to have a lively celebration; she was just going to the market today to join in the fun. But seeing so much fresh fruit, she was tempted.
She loved eating fruit before she transmigrated into the book, but since arriving here, she's been so busy every day that she hasn't had time to take vitamin supplements. Besides, it's the dead of winter, the fruit won't spoil, and it will last the three of them a long time.
However, transportation was limited in those days, so most of the available fruits were oranges, apples, pears, hawthorns, and bananas. Jiang Yu weighed out a lot of each, thinking that if they couldn't finish them, she could make canned goods for the children and avoid waste.
She wasn't very good at bargaining, but thanks to Wang Cuihua's help, she saved a lot of money. Listening to her and the vendor's long and drawn-out conversation, Jiang Yu felt that it was truly an art, one she would never learn in her lifetime.
The two wandered around for a while, stuffing their bags fuller and fuller, looking like they were returning home with a bountiful harvest.
As noon approached, the heavy load in her hands had taken its toll, and Jiang Yu heard her stomach rumbling. She glanced around.
While Wang Cuihua was buying meat, she went to the fried dough stall next door and bought five sesame balls and a bag of sesame peanut candy.
She called to the three children, who were running around in a sweat, and gave one to each of them. Shen Suisui and Shen Niannian, the siblings, took them and ate them heartily, while Dongdong hesitated, wondering whether he should take one.
The last time he met Jiang Yu was on her first day in the city. Back then, Wang Cuihua told him to call her "Auntie," which scared him so much that he ran into the house in a flash. Just now, on the way, because his mother and the two of them, Sui Sui and Niannian, were there, he didn't pay much attention. Now, if he were to take the snacks from her hand, Dongdong wouldn't dare even if he had a hundred lives.
"Dongdong, are you afraid of your auntie?"
Jiang Yu found an open spot, put the cloth bag aside, squatted down, and looked directly at Dongdong. She hadn't had much contact with this little guy before, but seeing how honest and kind Wang Cuihua's family was, and how much they loved playing with him year after year, she thought it was important to change Dongdong's opinion.
Dongdong fiddled with the buttons on his clothes, his eyes darting around. He didn't want to go against his conscience, but he was genuinely afraid of Jiang Yu. Although she was very beautiful, even prettier than the women in his textbooks, she could really hit a child when she was angry!
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