“Gu Zhao! Gu Zhao! Wake up! The sun is about to set and you’re still lying by the roadside basking in it!”
“You brat. You only caught a few loaches in one night—how much money can that even sell for?”
“And after earning just that little, you’re still sleeping here for so long. Not a single work point earned. Fooling around with this nonsense every day, not doing any proper work! Being this lazy, you can’t even gather enough for Gu Kai and Gu Yao’s school fees!”
By the roadside on the way back to the commune, Gu Zhao had sat down by the mountain, intending to rest for a bit—but ended up falling asleep. Someone from the commune returning from the county town lifted the worn straw hat covering his face.
Facing the sunlight, Gu Zhao struggled to open his eyes, taking a while to realize where he was.
The sun was high in the sky—he had actually slept this long.
But then he thought about how the culprit who pushed Shu Ning into the water last night had already been caught.
The more than one hundred jin of tofu—three loads from him and Er Gouzi’s family—and the twenty to thirty jin of chili sauce had already been successfully handed over at dawn, before anyone else was awake, to Wei Qingling, who helped him manage his stall in the black market.
He hadn’t brought any liquor out to sell today, but he wasn’t in a hurry.
The liquor stored in the cellar wouldn’t spoil; it would only grow more fragrant with time.
Selling it later at the market would be fine.
Feeling completely relaxed, he snatched back his tattered straw hat, lazily placing it over his head again. “Uncle, Aunt, I’m really tired. You go ahead if you want. I’ll sleep a bit longer.”
“Hopeless!”
“So lazy!”
“You might as well stay poor forever!”
“Forget it, let’s go. Let him sleep!”
The two left in disappointment.
Listening to their fading voices, the corners of Gu Zhao’s lips curved slightly beneath the straw hat.
He reached into the inner pocket of his clothes, where various ration coupons from today’s sales were stored—besides a large denomination bill, there were grain coupons, meat coupons, and cloth coupons.
The sun felt great. He really did want to sleep a bit longer.
“Brother Zhao, are you waiting for me here?”
Not long after he put the hat back on, Er Gouzi’s voice rang out.
Hearing the familiar voice, Gu Zhao lifted the hat and saw Er Gouzi carrying a shoulder pole with baskets. “Why are you back so late?”
Er Gouzi leaned in proudly. “Brother Zhao, look—I traded for ten jin of soybeans today! And I sold tofu at twenty-one cents per jin, so I made an extra two cents per jin. I earned two more mao today!”
“….” Selling retail did bring in a cent more per jin than wholesale. With thirty jin in total, ten jin exchanged for soybeans, and twenty jin sold—he had indeed earned an extra two mao.
Gu Zhao gave him a thumbs-up. “Nice one, Brother Er Gouzi!”
Er Gouzi beamed with pride and chattered non-stop. “Brother Zhao, my legs are about to break today, you know? I went all the way to the market at Lingxi Commune—more than ten kilometers! Since no one there knows me, I dared to sell retail.”
“Tofu sells really well there. As soon as people heard one jin of soybeans could be exchanged for one jin of tofu, or that tofu was twenty-one cents per jin, they rushed to buy. Later I found out tofu there costs twenty-five cents per jin—I was four cents cheaper, no wonder it got snapped up!”
Hearing this, Gu Zhao’s mind started turning. “How long did it take you to get there?”
“Two and a half hours going, two hours coming back since it was lighter.”
So all of Er Gouzi’s time had been spent on the road.
If they could shorten the travel time, with higher tofu prices there, their income would increase even more.
But how to shorten the travel time—that needed careful thought.
“Good job. The more markets we explore, the more places we’ll have to do business in the future.” Gu Zhao patted Er Gouzi on the shoulder.
“Ow! Brother Zhao, my shoulders hurt, my feet hurt. Carry this for me.”
Facing Er Gouzi’s sudden whining, Gu Zhao calmly quickened his pace. “Dream on!”
“….” Er Gouzi wanted to cry.
After walking a few steps, Gu Zhao slowed down and stepped back. “Fine, look at you. I’ll carry it.”
Er Gouzi happily handed over the pole.
Aside from ten jin of soybeans, the baskets were empty.
To Gu Zhao, it felt as light as nothing.
“So that’s Educated Youth Shu’s man?”
“His features are decent, he’s quite tall—not bad. Even the way he carries things looks good.”
“You can tell he’s strong! Just a bit rough—unkempt beard and long hair.”
As they walked along the road back to the commune, the women passing by kept whispering.
“But I heard he’s fierce.”
“What’s wrong with a man having some temper? Without a bit of fierceness, how could he attract such a beautiful female educated youth? And he even dotes on his wife.”
“I heard he can drive a tractor too. Impressive! Boys his age in our commune haven’t even touched one.”
“Exactly! And he’s so hardworking. Look at the young man beside him—empty-handed, carrying nothing.”
“….” Er Gouzi, who had just handed over the load, fell into deep contemplation about life.
He had walked four and a half hours and received no praise.
Gu Zhao had just picked it up and was already being praised endlessly.
Life…
Circumstances…
Why were they so different?
“….” Hearing the discussions around him, Gu Zhao quickened his pace dramatically.
“Brother Zhao, wait for me!” No matter how unwilling he felt, Er Gouzi still had to chase after him.
Gu Zhao turned his head, confusion in his narrow eyes. “What’s going on? I already said yesterday that wasn’t an engagement. How did it turn into me being Educated Youth Shu’s man?”
He didn’t care about his own reputation.
But if people kept talking like this, how was Shu Ning supposed to face others?
“Brother Zhao, it’s like this,” Er Gouzi began.
“Aunt Chen said Gu Zhao is dating Educated Youth Shu.”
“Aunt Li heard that and told Aunt Zhao they’re engaged.”
“Aunt Zhao heard that and told those aunties just now that you’re already married.”
“Next, it’ll probably be that you already have a child together.”
Gu Zhao let out a long breath and cursed, “Who the hell started this rumor?”
Er Gouzi immediately shut his mouth.
But then he heard Gu Zhao mutter so softly it was almost inaudible, “Sharp eyes, though.”
“….” Er Gouzi.
“Gu Zhao, why aren’t you home yet? Your grandma went to your house again!” As soon as they entered the village, a villager rushed over to tell him.
“Damn it!” Gu Zhao’s heart tightened instantly.
Zhu Qiulan had just been dealt with last night, and Old Madam Gu still dared to come.
Courting disaster!
If she scared Kai Kai and Yao Yao, he would fight her to the death!
At the Gu family courtyard—
Old Madam Gu stared in shock at the scene before her.
The fire on Gu Zhao’s kitchen stove had just gone out, and in the main room sat a bowl of steaming noodles.
Shu Ning stood in front of the two children, protecting them behind her, holding a wooden stick pointed at Old Madam Gu’s chest, as if ready to fight to the death.
“What a shameless Educated Youth Shu! Not even married to Gu Zhao yet, and you’re already here—how shameless can you be?” Old Madam Gu cursed viciously, her wrinkled face twisted.
Shu Ning wasn’t angered and shot back directly, “Only shameless people sneak in while Gu Zhao isn’t home to scare children and steal things.”
“Steal? I came to take my pot!” Old Madam Gu snapped.
“Your pot? Gu Zhao already threw it into the garbage heap this morning. Even my dog wouldn’t sniff that pot—who would want it?”
“Educated Youth Shu, watch your mouth!” Old Madam Gu had been domineering all her life—when had she ever lost in an argument?
Shu Ning couldn’t be bothered to argue further. “Get out right now. If you scare Kai Kai and Yao Yao, don’t blame Gu Zhao for tearing your house apart!”
Old Madam Gu looked at Shu Ning’s resolute attitude, furious.
But then she thought—if Gu Zhao wasn’t home and she couldn’t even handle a frail city girl, how could she regain authority over him?
Straightening her old back, she said as if facing death, “Go on, stab me! If you stab me to death, you’ll go to prison too!”
Shu Ning froze for a moment.
How unlucky was Gu Zhao to have such a grandmother?
“Fine! If you want to die, I’ll grant it!” Shu Ning hardened her resolve. As Old Madam Gu lunged forward, she stepped forward as well.
Who was afraid of whom?
In her previous life, Old Madam Gu didn’t die so easily.
Since she wouldn’t die, then Shu Ning would deal with her ruthlessly!