Qiao Yu first went to check out the food station, which typically handled the unified purchase and sale of live pigs, poultry, eggs, and meat.
She just wanted to try her luck and see if there were any piglets for sale.
And luck was indeed on her side.
The staff at the food station looked at Qiao Yu with confusion.
“Comrade, you don’t look like someone who works in the village brigade. What do you want to buy piglets for?”
Usually, those who came to buy piglets were from village brigades, but this girl’s attire didn’t resemble a villager’s at all.
Qiao Yu replied, “I’m buying piglets to raise them, of course. Can’t someone who isn’t from a village brigade buy them?”
The staff member was momentarily speechless. “You can.”
But the food station currently only had two small breeding pigs, priced at 0.8 yuan per jin. The two together totaled 28.8 yuan.
“I’ll take both.”
Qiao Yu paid without hesitation.
As the staff helped her tie up the piglets, they muttered under their breath, “Strange, do wealthy young ladies these days enjoy raising pigs?”
Qiao Yu looked at the two piglets in the bamboo cage on the ground, her eyes crinkling with delight.
On the island, aside from occasional supplies from ships or trips to purchase goods, pork was rarely available.
She needed to raise these piglets well so she could slaughter and eat them later.
Qiao Yu effortlessly carried the two piglets, which weighed over thirty jin combined, to a secluded spot before placing them into the farm in her Spatial Dimension.
She also asked a passerby for directions to the market, planning to pick up some flower and vegetable seeds.
If it weren’t for the fact that seeds from her Spatial Dimension couldn’t be taken out, she wouldn’t have bothered making this trip.
After navigating a few corners, she finally arrived at the market.
The county market offered a much wider variety of goods than the island market, and as Qiao Yu walked through, she felt tempted to buy everything.
In this era, no one sold flower seeds—when people struggled to fill their stomachs, who had the time to grow flowers?
Qiao Yu only managed to buy seeds for bok choy, radishes, cucumbers, and a single tomato seedling.
When she reached the livestock trading area, Qiao Yu was surprised to find small chickens, ducks, lambs, and calves for sale.
To ensure a future supply of meat, she splurged on two lambs, two calves, and two chickens and ducks each.
She didn’t dare buy too many, fearing it might arouse suspicion.
By the time Qiao Yu met up with Wang Guilan and Zhao Jinhua at the supply and marketing cooperative, it was already noon.
Wang Guilan looked at her in astonishment. “Sister Yu, you bought so many seeds! And chickens and ducks too. Are you planning to start a small farm in your yard?”
This was the first time she’d seen such a down-to-earth young lady from Shanghai.
Instead of buying clothes or skincare products while out shopping, she went to the market for seeds and livestock.
Qiao Yu had already placed the lambs and calves in her Spatial Dimension, while she planned to raise the chickens and ducks in her yard.
She smiled and asked, “Sisters, what good things did you buy?”
Wang Guilan and Zhao Jinhua eagerly showed off the new dresses they had just bought at the supply and marketing cooperative.
“What do you think? Do they look good?”
Qiao Yu nodded. “They do! The colors of these dresses suit you very well.”
Zhao Jinhua grinned from ear to ear. “Sister Yu, why don’t you pick one for yourself too?”
“Maybe next time.”
After wandering around the market for half a day, Qiao Yu’s legs were tired, and all she wanted now was to go back and lie down.
She glanced at her watch—it was almost eleven, just in time for the procurement team to head back.
…
Gu Shaoyuan returned from his inspection, carrying two lively sea fish in his hands.
These two sea fish were caught by his own hands, perfect to bring back and add to his wife’s meal.
Returning to the compound gate and seeing it locked, Gu Shaoyuan frowned in confusion.
Was his wife not home?
Gu Shaoyuan opened the door and went inside, first placing the two fish in a basin of water. After confirming Qiao Yu wasn’t in the house, he turned and headed to the Gu family home.
At the Gu household at that moment.
Gu Jianhua and Zhang Xiulian were packing their belongings. The temporary stay period approved from above was almost up, and they had to move out of the family quarters within the next couple of days.
The house had only been allocated after coordinating with the island’s collective organization.
Gu Ling didn’t really mind; living on the island was still better than the dilapidated shack back in their village.
Liu Cuicui bit her lip, her face full of resentment as she packed clothes.
Ever since Gu Shaoyuan rejected her wedding gift last night, she had hidden in her room all day.
She didn’t dare imagine how people outside would laugh at her! And now she had to move out with Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu.
Just then, Gu Shaoyuan’s steady, deep voice came from outside.
Liu Cuicui forgot about packing and eagerly ran out.
Gu Shaoyuan had come to see if Qiao Yu was at the Gu house, but when he asked Aunt Gu, she wasn’t there.
Strange, where was his wife?
Zhang Xiulian said, “Xiao Yu is probably out exploring. She’s only been on the island a few days, everything feels new, she might have lost track of time.”
“Mom, don’t make excuses for her! She definitely couldn’t stand the hardship and secretly took a boat back to Shanghai!”
Gu Ling spoke as if she had figured it all out. She always knew Qiao Yu looked delicate and wouldn’t last a week on the island.
See, while her brother was out on patrol, Qiao Yu had run off.
Zhang Xiulian frowned. “You silly girl, your sister-in-law just registered her marriage with your brother yesterday. How could she run off today? Don’t talk nonsense!”
“What if she suddenly regretted it?”
Gu Ling’s words made Gu Shaoyuan’s brow furrow tightly, his fists unconsciously clenching.
She had smiled and seen him off this morning; how could she regret it?
He didn’t believe Qiao Yu would abandon him and return to Shanghai. The dock was under the watch of his subordinates.
If Qiao Yu had left, his men would have notified him immediately.
Could something have happened to his wife?
Seeing Gu Shaoyuan unable to find Qiao Yu, Liu Cuicui was inwardly overjoyed.
She hypocritically stepped forward. “Shao Yuan, I always knew Qiao Yu wasn’t sincere about marrying you. She’s a Shanghai lady, how could she look up to us island dwellers?”
“Even if the Qiao family is about to be purged, they must have already figured out a way to handle it. Qiao Yu must have received news and gone to reunite with her family.”
Gu Shaoyuan’s dark eyes grew serious as he looked at Liu Cuicui. “How do you know about the Qiao family being purged?”
Liu Cuicui was caught off guard, her eyes darting toward Aunt Gu.
“Aunt Gu told me!”
Aunt Gu: “?”
Back then, it was clearly Liu Cuicui who told her; now she was turning it around.
Liu Cuicui spent her days either fishing with Gu Ling or staying home drying fish. No one knew where she got her information.
“Once you’ve finished packing, I’ll send someone to take you to the new house.”
Gu Shaoyuan tossed out this sentence indifferently and turned to find Li Jun.
His wife hadn’t been on the island long and didn’t know many female comrades. Yesterday, he had observed that Li Jun’s wife, Wang Guilan, seemed to get along quite well with Qiao Yu.
Gu Shaoyuan was just about to head toward the residential building where Li Jun lived when, under the locust tree at the entrance of the alley, he spotted a familiar figure.
Qiao Yu was fanning herself incessantly with one hand to cope with the heat, while the other held only a small handbag.
Everything else… was being carried by Yang Zhongcheng, who followed behind her.
Qiao Yu and the military wives had just returned to the island when they happened to run into Yang Zhongcheng, who was on his way to get a meal.
Seeing Qiao Yu carrying so many things, Yang Zhongcheng immediately rushed over to offer his help.
“Sister-in-law, let me carry those for you!”
Qiao Yu declined, but Yang Zhongcheng insisted on taking the items, clutching them tightly in his hands!
Qiao Yu let him have his way.