In her previous life, it was today that Su Tian, having just married Guo Zhiwei, was preparing gifts for her return visit to his family. By chance, she encountered Old Mrs. Li in the compound. Mrs. Li had planned to sell her monkey tickets to raise money for her grandson’s medical expenses. Her husband had gone early, leaving her to raise a son alone. When she finally had a grandson, an accident left the father paralyzed at home, needing constant care. Her daughter-in-law ran off after her husband became paralyzed, leaving her to care for the three-year-old grandson by herself. Life had been very difficult.
Now her grandson was sick in the hospital, needing medicine, and the family was poor. They had borrowed all they could, and no one else was willing to lend money. Earlier that year, following the advice of another elderly stamp collector, she had spent a fortune to buy a set of stamps. Originally, she had planned to buy the whole set, but it cost several yuan each, so she only bought four monkey stamps for 0.36 yuan. Hearing that monkey tickets could now sell for several yuan, Mrs. Li was tempted. With her grandson in the hospital and no job, she needed to raise funds for his treatment and decided to try selling the stamps. She planned to go through the compound to see if anyone wanted them, even five yuan a ticket would do—more if possible.
Mrs. Li hurried into the compound, calculating who might be easier to deal with. After thinking, she realized only the newlywed daughter-in-law might work. She had reportedly received a 520-yuan bride price, so she certainly had some money. Mrs. Li figured she could sell the monkey tickets to her for maybe ten or twenty yuan.
Su Tian waited near the entrance for a long while, avoiding people who knew her, especially Su Lili, so she wouldn’t be recognized or thought to be seeking her out. Around nine o’clock, Su Tian saw an elderly woman hastily get off the bus, looking worried and rushed. Could this be the Mrs. Li she was waiting for? Su Tian’s eyes lit up—she seemed to see the monkey tickets waving at her.
In her previous life, Mrs. Li had approached her to sell the tickets, and Su Tian hadn’t realized how valuable they would become. Hearing “twenty yuan for four,” she hadn’t hesitated to accept. Guo Zhiwei had said it was all a scam—better to spend the money on good food. She had missed the perfect opportunity to stockpile the monkey tickets.
This time, Su Tian took the initiative. She knew Mrs. Li was the only one with the tickets. Even though she had heard that the resale price was four yuan, she offered five, which wasn’t unfair to Mrs. Li. Su Tian also knew Mrs. Li could have charged twenty if she wanted.
When Mrs. Li passed by, Su Tian, wearing a straw hat for sun protection, called out, “Buying monkey tickets! Buying monkey tickets! Ma’am, do you have any monkey tickets? One yuan each.”
Mrs. Li paused. “One yuan each?” she thought, tempted.
Su Tian nodded.
Mrs. Li frowned. “That’s too cheap. Everyone says monkey tickets are valuable now. It wasn’t easy to get them back then. They should be at least three to five yuan each.”
Su Tian nearly laughed. “I can’t afford that. I can only offer one yuan each. If you ever want to sell, come find me. I’ll be around, but I won’t be back tomorrow.”
Mrs. Li hesitated, seeing Su Tian go to ask others and not insist on buying from her. After thinking of her grandson’s medical expenses, she decided it was worth asking the new daughter-in-law. Maybe she would pay twenty yuan! Mrs. Li left without looking back.
Su Tian wasn’t worried. Even if Mrs. Li went to Su Lili, Su Lili wouldn’t recognize the value. In her previous life, Su Lili had been too busy working multiple jobs to care about collectible monkey tickets. Even if asked, she wouldn’t have bought them. Su Tian’s guess was correct—Mrs. Li really did go to Su Lili.
Su Lili had just married Guo Zhiwei and wanted to make a good impression. Early that morning, she prepared breakfast for her in-laws and Guo Zhiwei, cleaned the house, and made the bed. She was just about to do the laundry, waiting for Guo Zhiwei to return so they could go to the city, buy things for the return visit, and show off a bit to Su Tian.
Suddenly, an elderly woman with completely white hair and a worried face appeared. Su Lili rarely came to this part of town—after marrying Chen Xiaodong, she had endless chores and no time to visit neighbors, so she had no idea about Mrs. Li. Seeing her fawning attention, Su Lili smiled and said, “Is there something I can help you with, ma’am?”
Mrs. Li saw Su Lili’s innocent and easily fooled expression and smiled. “Are you alone at home, Zhiwei’s wife?”
Su Lili nodded with a smile, liking the title “Zhiwei’s wife.” Now she was truly Guo Zhiwei’s wife, enjoying city life and free from farm work. After the return visit, she would go to work at the factory, earning forty or fifty yuan a month, managing Guo Zhiwei’s one-hundred-plus-yuan salary—money she couldn’t possibly spend. Compared to Su Tian’s life back home eating coarse food, she was living in luxury.
In her heart, Su Lili cursed Chen Xiaojun for not treating Su Tian well, but outwardly, she maintained a kind and pleasant demeanor, earning a good-new-daughter-in-law reputation in the compound. She coyly said, “I’m alone at home; everyone else is at work. I just thought I’d do some laundry and sweep the floor, make it nice and tidy—it looks comfortable too.”
Old Mrs. Li smiled and praised her: “You’re so diligent and capable. Zhiwei is lucky to have married you.”
Su Lili grinned at the compliment, exchanged some polite words, and asked, “Is there something you need, ma’am?”
Exactly what Mrs. Li was waiting for. She immediately brought up the monkey tickets, first playing the sympathy card, then appealing to emotions and reason: “If it weren’t for urgent money at home, I wouldn’t even think of selling them. I heard one can sell for seven or eight yuan now. I need the money quickly, so I’m not asking for that much. Four tickets for twenty yuan—if you like them, take them. They have collectible value!”
Su Lili looked at the stamps in Mrs. Li’s hand: red background, black monkey—they were ugly. She didn’t like them at all; even if given for free, she would have refused. And now she was being asked for twenty yuan. Couldn’t she spend that twenty yuan on a new dress or shoes? Or maybe get a perm—she noticed several people in the compound with curled hair. In her previous life, she had wanted a perm but had no money, and even if she did, she wouldn’t have spent it. All her money ended up being gambled away by that scoundrel Chen Xiaojun. This life, she had money and had married Guo Zhiwei—she could have anything she wanted. There was no way she was taking these ugly stamps.
Su Lili waved her hand: “No need, ma’am. Find someone else. I’m not buying.”
Mrs. Li didn’t give up. She bragged about how valuable and rare the monkey tickets were, claiming buying them wouldn’t be a loss and would definitely appreciate. She tried to persuade her further, lowering the price from twenty to eighteen, and finally to fifteen. Su Lili didn’t even raise an eyebrow.
“Ma’am, you can go back. I said I’m not buying, and I’m not. I’d rather spend this money on meat. Find someone else!”
Mrs. Li finally realized Su Lili wasn’t easy to fool and had no choice but to look elsewhere. However, everyone else in the compound also refused. Even if she lowered the price further, she recalled what the other elderly lady had said: if she really wanted to sell, the most she could get was one yuan per stamp.
Reluctantly, Mrs. Li went to find Su Tian, who was still nearby. “Buying monkey tickets—four tickets for five yuan, do you want them?”