The scrap purchasing station was now a state-run operation.
Behind the counter sat a staff member, a man of considerable age, dressed in blue denim work clothes with an abacus resting at his side.
“Comrade, do you accept copper blocks here?” Uncle Chen opened the bundle and placed the copper block on the counter.
“Is this industrial scrap metal? Do you have a letter of introduction?”
Yuan Ni was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized—the scrap purchasing station had regulations against accepting metals of unknown origin, mainly out of fear that people might deliberately damage wires and pipes for profit.
She hastily explained how she had found the cement block, adding, “As for where the cement block came from, I have no idea.”
Seeing the staff member’s expression soften, Uncle Chen quickly pulled out half a pack of cigarettes and tried to press them into the man’s hand. “This is my niece. She’s young and life hasn’t been easy for her.”
The staff member sized up Yuan Ni, refused the cigarettes, and bent down to examine the quality of the copper. “This is red copper. The purchase price is seven yuan and twenty fen per kilogram. Are you selling?”
This price was even a bit higher than Uncle Chen had expected, so he quickly said yes.
Only later did they learn that red copper was pure copper, while yellow copper was an alloy—which was why red copper fetched a much higher price than yellow copper.
The copper block weighed twelve and a half kilograms in total, selling for ninety yuan.
This was a small fortune. Uncle Chen’s hands were trembling as he said, “Yuan Ni, you keep it.”
Yuan Ni answered crisply, then thanked the staff member before pulling her eldest uncle away.
As they walked out, Yuan Ni said, “That’s too much money. If the other uncles ask, just say it only sold for eight or nine yuan.”
Even without Yuan Ni’s reminder, Uncle Chen had planned to do exactly that. Though the brothers were of one mind and sided with Yuan Ni’s mother, their wives might not think the same way.
If the women at home found out that Yuan Ni’s mother had money, they’d all come reaching for it.
He looked at Yuan Ni with a complicated expression. “Fine, we’ll say the copper wasn’t pure and it sold for eight yuan and sixty fen.”
Outside the gate, the brothers were waiting.
The moment they saw Yuan Ni, Fifth Uncle of the Chen family called out loudly, “How much did you sell it for?”
“They said the copper wasn’t pure and wouldn’t take it at first. It was only because Eldest Uncle put in a good word that they finally bought it for eight yuan and sixty fen.”
“Eight sixty? That’s not bad.”
“Exactly. Take it back to your mother—when she goes to market, she can buy some dried potatoes and mix them with the grain. That’ll stretch things until autumn.”
To be fair, the uncles were decent enough—they were all thinking of Yuan Ni’s mother and her sisters. It was just the youngest uncle, Fifth Uncle of the Chen family, who seemed less than welcoming of his third sister’s return.
Grandmother and Maternal Grandfather were waiting at the entrance to Hongqi Dadui village. Seeing their sons return with Yuan Ni and her two sisters, the old couple finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Grandmother grabbed the hem of her jacket and wiped the corners of her eyes. “It’s good that you’re back.”
“Zhaodie, Pandi, hurry and greet your grandmother and grandfather.”
Yuan Ni led the way, and all three girls greeted the old couple together.
Seeing the bruises, purple and blue, covering the girls’ arms, Grandmother wept and pulled Pandi into her embrace. “What a sin! I never liked Yuan Mancang from the start—his mother had those slanted, triangular eyes. You could tell just by looking that they weren’t good people.”
“What’s done is done. Why bring all that up again? They’ve walked a long way—hurry and take the children home for a meal.”
Maternal Grandfather was no ordinary man. He was a carpenter, said to have made furniture in the city in years past. Now, whenever anyone in the brigade wanted something made, they’d cut down timber and ask him to build it.
Of course, making furniture is labor-intensive work, and Maternal Grandfather couldn’t do it for free—he always had to receive some token of thanks for helping others.
Even so, the Chen family was still very poor.
The reason was simple: too many children, and all of them boys, who could eat like horses.
The uncles and older cousins who had gone to pick up Yuan Ni were already a sizable group, but once the Chen family door was opened, inside there was another crowd of half-grown boys—all of them masters at wolfing down rice.
Except for the youngest uncle, all the other uncles were married. Hearing the commotion, the sisters-in-law, along with Yuan Ni’s Mother, came out from the main hall. “Just in time, come sit down and eat first.”
Uncle Chen (Eldest)’s two sons were already grown, though not yet betrothed. The two strapping lads couldn’t very well keep living with their parents, so they had built a small room beside the main hall to stay in.
As for the other uncles, basically each family had one room, with parents and children all crammed together.
After Yuan Ni’s Mother returned, Grandmother and Maternal Grandfather arranged for the fifth son to move out of the single room, giving it up for their third daughter.
Seeing the Chen family’s living conditions, Yuan Ni came to understand her youngest uncle.
After giving up his room, the youngest uncle could only squeeze in with his two older nephews—no wonder he was so worried.
At mealtime, Yuan Ni once again witnessed the fighting power of her male cousins.
There were too many people to fit at one table, so the women sat with the underage children at one table, while the grown men sat at another.
The dishes on both tables were identical: cabbage stewed with tofu and potatoes, served in enamel basins, each piled into a heaping mound.
The staple was steamed buns made from a mix of cornmeal and white flour.
Zhaodie and Pandi had never eaten such good food at home; the moment they caught the aroma, their mouths nearly watered.
Grandmother, doting on her two little granddaughters, personally brought out a plate of golden scrambled eggs from the kitchen. First she set aside a bit for Maternal Grandfather, then distributed the rest among Yuan Ni’s Mother and the others. “These were all the eggs we managed to save up—fried them all.”
Yuan Ni looked at the heaping bowl of eggs in front of her, and tears nearly fell.
“Eat up, eat up—back home, we get these every few days.” The aunts-in-law all smiled warmly and urged her on.
But Yuan Ni clearly saw several of her little male cousins secretly wiping their mouths.
She immediately pushed her portion of eggs to the middle of the table. “I’m grown now, I don’t need the nutrition—let’s all share.”
Yuan Ni’s Mother shot her daughter an approving glance, then carried her own bowl over to the men’s table. “Father, you all eat.”
Zhaodie and Pandie wanted to do the same, but Grandmother stopped them. “Look at these skinny little arms and legs, like reeds. Get yourselves built up first, or you won’t look a bit like the Chens.”
Yuan Ni’s Mother felt deeply ashamed. “I haven’t taken good care of the children.”
Every man in the Chen family was robust and fierce, yet somehow Yuan Ni’s Mother had turned out to be such a mild, sluggish personality.
The sisters-in-law exchanged glances that only they could understand, though they said nothing.
Maternal Grandfather issued his command: “Eat up now—don’t talk about useless things.”
With each person taking a chopstick-full, the dishes on the table shrank by a good third. Yuan Ni was startled and quickened her own pace.
The dishes weren’t quite enough, but the mixed-flour buns were unlimited, and the meal was eaten both deliciously and swiftly—even the broth at the bottom of the basin was sopped up by the little cousins with their buns.
After the meal, the eldest aunt-in-law went to wash the dishes. Yuan Ni’s Mother tried to follow, but was stopped. “No need to grab for it—we take turns with the chores here. When your day comes around, just don’t slack off.”
Yuan Ni’s Mother smiled and agreed. She wasn’t afraid of hard work. Back when she was in the Yuan family, all the household chores were done by her and her daughters, and even then, she was often beaten and mistreated. Now, having divorced and returned to her parents’ home with her head held high, it turned out to be the right decision.
After the meal, as they were preparing to rest, they needed to move all of Little Uncle’s bedding out.
Just as everyone was bustling about, Little Uncle grabbed Yuan Ni’s Mother by the arm. “Third Sister, come with me. I need to talk to you about something.”