Shen Shujiao had already been drawn in by the woman’s unique aura, and now, as the woman lifted her eyes to look at her, Shen Shujiao felt instantly captivated by a gaze as radiant as the stars.
The woman in front of her must be very beautiful when properly dressed.
But a vendor is a vendor, and a sick chicken is a deadly risk.
Even a chicken that had been killed a few hours ago could be dangerous in this heat.
Shen Shujiao was carrying four babies and dared not take the risk.
“Sorry, I won’t buy a chicken today,” Shen Shujiao said politely with a smile and continued walking forward.
“It’s okay. Just buy what you need. Don’t waste money on what you don’t need,” Qin Qingtang replied gently.
Hearing the woman’s soft, kind voice, and seeing the injuries on her face, Shen Shujiao felt a pang of sympathy.
She had plenty of money—she could buy the chicken and not even eat it, burying it under a tree in the yard as fertilizer.
But for this woman, the money from selling that chicken could be an entire week’s worth of meals.
“I’ll buy it, at the price for a live chicken.”
“That won’t do. A dead chicken is still a dead chicken. I can’t take money against my conscience. This one weighs six pounds; dead chickens are half-price—six cents per pound. You give me three yuan, that’s enough,” Qin Qingtang insisted, despite being surprised.
She knew Shen Shujiao would change her mind and buy the chicken out of pity. Being able to sell it at all already made her happy; she wouldn’t push for more.
Shen Shujiao handed over five yuan. Qin Qingtang stubbornly refused and insisted on giving Shen Shujiao two yuan in change!
Not wanting to draw attention, Shen Shujiao accepted the two yuan and put the chicken into the sack.
“Comrade, do you still have poultry at home? I’d like to buy more.”
“You can’t raise them anymore; I sold all my adult chickens. But there are still a few dozen chicks. If you have a way to raise them, I can give you a few.”
Shen Shujiao’s eyes lit up.
She wanted chicks!
Raising them from young would make her feel safe about eating them later.
“Is your home far from here? I’ll come with you to take a look.”
“It’s a bit far—an hour on foot.”
Before, walking for an hour would have exhausted Shen Shujiao, but after drinking the spirit spring water these past few days, she didn’t feel tired at all.
She had just walked an hour to the black market and didn’t feel a thing.
“My husband is waiting outside. I’ll give him the things and then come with you,” Shen Shujiao said.
“Alright.”
Shen Shujiao walked behind the deserted house, put the contents of the sack into her space, and then took an empty basket to Qin Qingtang.
“Shall we go?”
Qin Qingtang packed up her stall and smiled. “Yes, we can go.”
They left the black market together.
The black market was already far from the bustling city, and soon they arrived at a more remote farmland area.
At this time, there were still many farmlands around Shanghai—not all skyscrapers and abandoned fields like Shen Xueman claimed.
They didn’t talk much along the way. An hour later, they stopped in front of a mud-brick house.
“This is my home. The house is simple—please excuse me. Come in.”
From Qin Qingtang’s demeanor, Shen Shujiao felt that this woman must have had a good childhood. Even as a farmer’s wife, there was an undeniable cool elegance about her.
“Alright.”
As Shen Shujiao entered the yard, she immediately heard an angry roar from inside the house.
“Qin Qingtang, you cursed broom star! You’ve been out so long, trying to starve me? Are you running off with some wild man again?”
“Sorry to disappoint you… this is my mother-in-law. She’s blind. I came home late today and made her go hungry, so she’s angry,” Qin Qingtang said awkwardly to Shen Shujiao and hurried toward the door.
As Qin Qingtang pushed open the door, a chamber pot flew straight at her face.
Immediately, the foul stench of filth streamed down her body.
Qin Qingtang gritted her teeth against the nausea, ran to the well, and poured a bucket of water over herself to wash off the filth.
After rinsing, she picked up a spade and began cleaning the mess at the door.
“Mom, the things were a bit hard to sell today. I came back as soon as I finished.”
Watching Qin Qingtang’s expressionless, practiced cleaning, Shen Shujiao realized this was far from the first time the old woman had treated her like this.
Then, a woman with a cane, eyes crusted over, came out and swung the cane at Qin Qingtang.
“My son is dead because of you, and you still dare to cuckold him with a wild man! Shameless broom star, I’ll beat you to death!” The old woman’s face twisted, striking Qin Qingtang over and over.
Shen Shujiao was stunned—Qin Qingtang didn’t dodge, kept her head down, and let the woman strike her back and legs again and again.
The old woman struck with deadly precision. Her swift, agile movements were hardly those of a blind person.
And most importantly, her son had died. The daughter-in-law, being blind, should have been her support. Shouldn’t she try to please her?
A blind woman still dared to bully her daughter-in-law—this was against all natural order.
“Old witch, your daughter-in-law went to the black market to sell goods for you, the old wicked woman, and you still dare to treat her this way. No wonder your son died early. He must have been cursed by a heartless, blind poisoner like you!”
Shen Shujiao wasn’t usually meddlesome, but she couldn’t help yelling at the scene in front of her.
The old Shen Shujiao had been raised with the best education, a proper, elegant lady of Shanghai.
Cursing like this would have been impossible.
But with her previous life’s experience as a ghost and eight years accompanying Huo Zhoubai during his rural labor, she had seen the struggles of ordinary people and learned how to speak up in anger.
“Qin Qingtang, who did you bring home? I told you never to bring strangers!” the old woman snapped, glaring at Shen Shujiao.
“Mother, this comrade came to buy our chicks. The village chief said we can’t raise chickens anymore, so I sold off the last adults. A few dozen chicks remain, and this lady heard about it and came to take a look. Don’t scare her off—if she doesn’t buy, they’ll just rot in our hands,” Qin Qingtang explained.
The old woman’s expression softened slightly at Qin Qingtang’s words.
“Let her look quickly and leave.”
“Auntie, come with me to the backyard. If you want to buy, I’ll catch a few for you,” Qin Qingtang said.
Shen Shujiao looked at Qin Qingtang, soaked and smelly, and felt a pang of sympathy.
“Go wash and change into clean clothes. You’re all dirty—I don’t want the chicks to get dirty.”
“It’s just catching chicks. How dirty can they get? Besides, chicks are already in their filthy coops,” the old woman grumbled.
“Chicken poop is nothing compared to human filth, especially from an old witch whose poisonous heart killed her son. A touch of that filth would knock out the chicks.”
“Who did you say killed her son?” The old woman trembled with anger, her crusted-over eyes making her look even more ferocious.
“Whoever responds—you did.”
Unable to outcurse Shen Shujiao, the old woman pointed at Qin Qingtang. “Broom star, what kind of people did you bring? Get her out of here!”
“I’ll take all your chicks, fifty cents each. You really want to kick me out?” Shen Shujiao lifted her chin like a warrior hen, looking down on the old woman from above.
The chapter ends here.