[Jin Miao: Pah! Shameless bastard! Trying to get a free meal, unwilling to pay, and then standing on the moral high ground to morally blackmail others. Disgusting! As long as I have no morals, you can’t do anything to me!]
Jin Miao cursed the person in her heart, organized her words, and was ready to start a fight at any moment.
Her gaze swept over her mother and older brother in front of her. Seeing that they still showed no signs of abnormality, it seemed as if they were truly afraid of this Chen Anguo.
[Jin Miao: No way, no way! Are you two really that scared of him? How can we even do business like this? You get scared by a little threat from such a piece of trash?]
“Pah! Shameless bastard!”
Before Chen Anguo could finish speaking, he was ruthlessly interrupted. Wei Shufen angrily scolded him, placing one hand on her hip and striking the pose of a fierce, shrewish woman ready to make a scene.
“If you want to freeload without paying, just say it outright! Don’t use those fancy labels to pressure me. My family has been poor farmers for three generations back. Who’s the capitalist here? Stop throwing around false accusations! I could just as well say you’re the capitalist!”
She spat fiercely. “You’re so generous, but I don’t see you bringing me any white flour or fatty meat to eat! When you hide away eating good food yourself, why don’t you talk about unity then? I never expected an Educated Youth, a so-called cultured person, to have a face thicker than the corner of a city wall! Where do you get the nerve to say such things? You should be ashamed! I’m embarrassed to even listen to you, hmph!”
Whether Chen Anguo felt ashamed or not was unclear, but the other Educated Youth with him were all thoroughly ashamed, their cheeks burning hot. Even though Wei Shufen was criticizing Chen Anguo, they were all Educated Youth too. In the eyes of others, living in the same courtyard meant they were seen as one group.
Embarrassing. Utterly mortifying.
“Auntie, we’ll be going now. We’re in a hurry to get to town. We’ll take our leave first. Thank you, Auntie!”
After saying this, Xie Xuyang quickly led the others forward. But as he turned, the look he gave Chen Anguo was filled with warning.
It was Xu Hong, who was on good terms with him, who asked Chen Anguo:
“Comrade Anguo, let’s go.”
This was a perfect way out, giving Chen Anguo, who had been pointed at and scolded until his face turned red, a reason to leave. However, with his “thieving heart still not dead,” he actually shot Jin Yao a deeply disappointed look before leaving, as if to say, “I misjudged you.”
It was a look filled with a complex mix of disappointment, regret, sorrow, and sadness.
As if Jin Yao were the heartless one.
“You misjudged me? Ha?” Jin Yao was truly on the verge of laughing in anger. He misjudged her? What nonsense was he spouting?
Jin Yao stomped her feet in rage, spat in his direction as if utterly disgusted, and said, “Go to hell! I’m the one who misjudged you! Shameless, disgusting piece of trash! Are we your mother? Do we have to take care of your food, drink, and even your toilet needs? If you want to eat our grain without paying, fine! Call me ‘Mom’ first! Oh, and this is your grandma, this is your uncle, and this is your aunt. Call them, and we’ll give you whatever you want to eat!”
“You!”
Chen Anguo pointed at her furiously. Jin Sen, unable to hide his anger, stepped forward to shield his sister, facing Chen Anguo directly, his tone aggressive.
“What? Want to fight? Try pointing that dirty finger at my sister again!”
A coward like Chen Anguo naturally didn’t dare. With just a slight tug from Xu Hong, he turned and left, though he continued muttering complaints under his breath, giving Xu Hong another glimpse into his character.
“Mom, big brother, third sister, don’t be angry. It’s not worth getting upset over someone like that. Besides, we’ve had a good start today—I’m sure our business will be great!”
Seeing that her youngest daughter hadn’t been affected by the earlier encounter, Wei Shufen felt somewhat relieved. It was clear that her little sister truly didn’t care about Chen Anguo, and that put her mind at ease.
“Exactly! We’ve had a good start. Come on, let’s head to town early—there will definitely be even more buyers!”
Jin Sen quickly nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, let’s hurry!”
By the time the family reached the town, the sky had brightened considerably. As expected, the town was already “packed with people.” When the mother and son arrived carrying their bamboo baskets, they immediately attracted quite a few customers.
After inquiring about the prices, many people ended up buying. The mother and son were so busy they could hardly contain their joy. They hastily gave Jin Miao and Jin Yao a few instructions, telling the two sisters to explore the town on their own and stay safe, before diving back into the crowd to continue their bustling work.
“Sister, where should we go first?”
Jin Miao wasn’t sure either. In her previous life, she knew that the cultural troupe was selecting members in town around this time, but she couldn’t remember exactly which day it started. It lasted for several days, and the news only spread back to the village later, prompting many girls to give it a try.
“Let’s just wander around. Mom said we could go wherever we like.” She then looked at her sister and asked, “Do you have somewhere you want to go? I’ll follow your lead.”
Jin Yao chuckled. “I want to see if there are any scrap fabric pieces for sale. I’d like to buy some.”
“Scrap fabric? What for? To patch clothes?”
Scrap fabric had limited uses. Most people bought it to mend clothes or make patches because it was very cheap.
“No, I was thinking I could try making hair accessories. I want to give it a shot.”
Of course—it was her little sister, who loved pretty things.
“Alright, let’s go take a look.”
Scrap fabric at the supply and marketing cooperative also required fabric ration coupons, so the two sisters could only check the tailor shops. Those places often had leftover fabric, though most of it was just black, blue, green, or white. Other bright colors were extremely rare.
Even red fabric was scarce—if there were any red scraps, they wouldn’t be left behind; they’d have been bought long ago.
Jin Yao was quite disappointed. She glanced enviously at the two apprentices helping out in the tailor shop, but she quickly shook off the feeling and pulled Jin Miao out of the shop.
Jin Miao sighed helplessly as she looked at the back of the young girl’s head.
“Yao Yao, I’ll look for pretty fabric scraps for you later.”
“Really? Sister, I’ll remember your words! If you don’t give me any, I’ll pester you until I cry!”
She couldn’t remember how many years it had been since she’d seen her little sister so lively. For a moment, she felt quite emotional. If only her little sister could stay like this forever.
“Little sister, do you have any plans for the future?”
[Jin Miao: I wonder if little sister’s qualifications will be enough to be selected by the cultural troupe. If she isn’t chosen, what will she do then? Get up early and stay up late selling food with Mom and big brother? The three of them just selling food—it really seems like a bit of a waste, but what else can little sister do?]
“Sis, about future plans, I hadn’t really thought about it before. Every day just feels like it passes in a blur. As for the future… Sis, what do you think about me going into business?”
Jin Yao, going into business?
She didn’t think much of the idea. Since childhood, she had never done any real work—could she manage it?
“You…”
The rest of her words were cut off as someone bumped into her, causing her to stumble.