Ye Xiaoli arrived at the town’s Glass Factory with an uneasy feeling.
It was one of the few state owned enterprises in town. Rumor had it that the wages were high and the benefits were good, but not just anyone could get in.
You either needed connections, or a family member working inside who would pass down a position after retirement, or you had to graduate from a technical secondary school. For ordinary people, it was out of reach.
She guessed people were about to get off work, so she cut a white radish into small pieces, prepared thin bamboo sticks in advance, and pierced them through the pieces. When she saw people approaching, she mustered her courage and started calling out.
“Fresh sweet and crispy radishes. Try before you buy. No charge if it’s not good!”
Everyone has a tendency to take advantage of small bargains. Hearing that they could taste first, people naturally came over to take a look.
One by one, they picked up pieces and put them into their mouths, treating it like a trial. Some were even afraid it might be too spicy and waited for others to finish first.
“What kind of radish is this?” someone suddenly shouted, eyes wide.
Everyone else paused and waited for the explanation. Ye Xiaoli’s heart tightened instantly, afraid there was something wrong with the radishes.
“It’s just too delicious!” the man continued.
Only then did Ye Xiaoli relax.
“Is this soaked in honey or sugar? How can it taste this good?”
“Is this even a vegetable radish or a fruit radish? I’ve never tasted anything like it!”
Praise filled the air. Someone quick handed over the radishes and asked, “How much per jin?”
The radishes were large, each weighing four or five jin. At two mao per jin, one radish alone would cost nearly a yuan. That was almost the price of meat. But something this good was rare. Expensive or not, it was worth it.
Ye Xiaoli nervously held up one finger.
Someone immediately pulled out fifty cents.
“I’ll take about five jin. Here’s fifty cents, no need to return change.”
The man tried to leave with the radish, and others started to rush forward.
Ye Xiaoli quickly grabbed his sleeve and clarified, “These are fruit radishes grown with mountain spring water. One yuan per jin.”
“What? One yuan per jin? That’s meat price! Are you robbing people?”
The man angrily threw the radish down, grabbed his fifty cents, and left.
Many people hesitated. The radishes were delicious, but four or five yuan per radish was not a small sum. Still, it was hard to find anything like this.
At that moment, Ye Xiaoli forced herself to explain exactly what Ye Jin had told her.
“These radishes are grown in the deep mountains and irrigated with spring water. The yield is very low because wild animals damage the fields, so the price is higher. But the taste is unique, and there is only this one source.”
It was winter, and she was already sweating from nervousness.
Her explanation softened people’s expressions.
Then a woman stepped forward.
“I’ll take them. They’re that good, I want them.”
She took two large radishes and handed over ten yuan.
Her elderly family member had poor teeth and liked raw radish and cucumber, but had not found anything suitable. Recently the elder had been ill and had no appetite. She hoped these would help.
Once someone made the purchase, others followed. In a short time, all twenty plus radishes were sold out.
Ye Xiaoli tightly held the hundred plus yuan in her pocket.
She slipped into an alley, quickly removed her disguise, changed her jacket, untied her braids into a ponytail, and left from another exit.
Not long after she left, several shady looking young men entered the alley searching.
“We clearly saw that woman go in here. How did she just disappear?”
“Selling radishes for one yuan per jin? She must be crazy about money.”
“People like this should have their money taken and used for our drinks.”
They cursed and searched, but found nothing.
Following Ye Jin’s instructions, Ye Xiaoli went to the Farmers’ Market and bought thirty eggs and two jin of pork belly. Before dark, she arrived at Zhang Family Village and left the items at the door of Ye Jin’s grandmother’s house.
She had spent eighteen yuan and still had eighty two left. It was the first time in her life she had held so much money.
She did not go to see Ye Jin immediately, but happily bounced all the way home.
In the afternoon, after eating, Ye Jin locked her door again and studied the mysterious black soil space.
A day had passed. The pumpkin and peanut flowers that had not been watered were still blooming, but showed no sign of fruiting.
There were still many radishes in the black soil. To test the effect of the spring water, she still did not water them and waited patiently.
She had never eaten much of Wang Fengqin’s cooking. Thinking of how that woman had schemed and harmed Zhang Duo, Ye Jin felt unusually pleased.
She went to the well, drank a ladle of spring water, then ran a few laps around the black soil until she was out of breath and lay down.
Warm currents flowed through her body, slowly repairing her weak constitution.
She clenched her fist. Her strength had increased again.
Before, she was weak and helpless, easily bullied. Now, at least she would not be as passive when dealing with people like Zhang Duo and Wang Fengqin.
The amount of spring water she could absorb each day was limited. Otherwise, she would drink more and restore her strength to peak condition, even strong enough to fight men. Only then could she change her fate and her sister’s.
Wang Fengqin finally coaxed her daughter to rest, then saw the messy table and dirty bowls and felt her anger rise again.
“That damned girl is treating me like a servant! That old woman and her little bastard granddaughter, do they think they’re royalty?”
She slammed dishes while muttering curses, trying not to be too loud in case Ye Jin noticed.
During dishwashing, she accidentally broke two bowls.
Already frustrated, she felt both heartache and anger.
“Stupid wretch, once I dig out your corneas, I’ll sell you to that useless Er Laizi from the next village. I’ll make you suffer until you wish you were dead.”
“Mom, are you talking about me?”
Ye Jin suddenly appeared at the kitchen door.
Wang Fengqin jumped in shock, and a stack of bowls slipped from her hands and crashed loudly.