Gu Zuozuo and the other two exchanged glances, concealing the smiles in their eyes, and followed after them.
At that time, the countryside was really poor. Almost every family lived in a mud house with a thatched roof and a large yard surrounded by a fence, which was full of vegetables.
Who are you looking for?
The little boy, his bare bottom tanned dark from the sun, looked warily at the strange woman standing at his door. He slowly backed into the yard, as if he would turn and run away at the slightest movement from Gu Zuozuo.
Is this Ma Liang's house?
Ma Liang was even more puzzled; how did she know his name?
Gu Zuozuo smiled and pulled her hand out of her pocket. Ma Liang's expression tightened, and he tried to run away as fast as he could.
"Want some?"
Ma Liang paused, unsure whether to put his raised foot down or not.
His longing gaze swept over the White Rabbit candy in Gu Zuo's hand, then over the fair-skinned woman in front of him. She looked exactly like the kind of vicious, wicked woman his grandmother had described—the kind who liked to use candy to trick children.
Gu Zuozuo raised an eyebrow; this little guy was quite wary.
“I am a new educated youth. I was introduced to this place by Li Fanghua, an older educated youth, who said that your family can help me exchange my kang mat and cool mat.”
Upon hearing Li Fanghua's name, Ma Liang slapped his thigh and immediately adopted a fawning smile.
"Oh! You should have said so earlier! You scared me to death! I thought I'd been kidnapped and was going to be sold!"
As she spoke, she glanced at the few candies in Gu Zuozuo's hand, her big eyes darting around.
"Sister, I won't take advantage of you. Give me the candy, and I'll give you a bamboo pillow in return. Don't worry, I made it myself! It's very good!"
As he spoke, the boy turned and ran, and soon returned with a bamboo pillow. It was quite exquisite and looked like it had been carefully polished.
"Okay, no problem. Do you have a cooling mat or a bamboo mat for sleeping on a heated brick bed?"
Ma Liang happily accepted the candies. Hearing Gu Zuozuo's question, he waved his hand generously, signaling Gu Zuozuo to come inside with him.
"Yes, my grandma made a lot of them, originally intending to sell them at the fair."
Mentioning his grandmother, Ma Liang became depressed for a while, but he quickly cheered up and led Gu Zuozuo to a side room, where there were rolls of tied-up straw mats and kang mats.
Gu Zuozuo didn't stand on ceremony and picked out a few. The kang (heated brick bed) in their room wasn't very big, just big enough for the three of them to sleep in, so they didn't need to buy too many.
"I need five bamboo mats and three kang mats."
These cooling mats and kang mats are well-made, with no burrs and a very smooth finish, indicating that they were made with care.
Ma Liang, who was initially feeling down, was overjoyed when he heard her words. "Rich people!" he thought. He loved how generous these educated youths were with their money.
"A straw mat costs 50 cents, and a heated brick bed mat costs 1 yuan, totaling 5.5 yuan."
She was both amused and exasperated as she looked at Ma Liang's dark hand outstretched in front of her.
For such a young age, he's quite good at math.
Take out the money, count it carefully, and solemnly hand it to him.
"Take these, count them, and don't lose them."
Ma Liang's hand trembled slightly, and a hint of guilt flashed in his eyes, but he still accepted the money without saying a word. His head, which had been held high, lowered, and the youthful vigor he had shown when they first met dissipated considerably.
Gu Zuozuo glanced at him, reached out and patted his forehead, smiling sweetly at the seven-year-old boy in front of her who was barely up to her chest.
"Please do me a favor. I'm a girl and I can't carry all this stuff. Could you please go all the way and help me get it back to the educated youth settlement?"
A look of guilt flashed in Ma Liang's eyes. Hearing Gu Zuozuo's request, he nodded several times, his voice extremely serious.
"Don't worry, sister, I will definitely send them back to you, and I promise I won't miss a single one."
With a smile in her eyes, Gu Zuozuo took out a few candies from her pocket and stuffed them into his hand.
"Here you go, sweet talker."
Before he could refuse, Gu Zuozuo turned and walked out. Behind her, Ma Liang's eyes reddened. He stubbornly wiped away his tears, clutched the money in his hand, and ran wildly toward the barefoot doctor.
[Host, you knew he overcharged you and you still gave it to him? Are you stupid and have too much money to burn?]
Gu Zuozuo stopped and looked back at Ma Liang's dilapidated few thatched houses, letting out a slight sigh.
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