“The boar’s right there—pay me whatever the black market rate is. And the rice, check the quality yourself. Don’t even think about cheating me. If we work well together, there’ll be plenty more opportunities. But if you’re trying to shortchange me, well, you know my fists aren’t just for show.”
Ji Chengyang felt his cheek throb again.
This person really didn’t hold back.
What he didn’t know was that Lin Jinghong had actually gone easiest on him.
Everyone else’s injuries were worse than his.
Ji Chengyang went to inspect the goods himself. He looked at the boar, still barely breathing, then at the two sacks of rice, and felt an odd sense of calm.
After what had just happened, what doubts could he possibly have?
At the current black market prices, meat and rice were expensive since no ration tickets were required. Rice was bought at seventy cents a catty. Ji Chengyang thought it over. “Eighty cents for the rice… and for the meat… eighty cents too?”
That was genuinely a very good price.
Not just because the goods Lin Jinghong provided were top-notch, but also… because he’d been beaten black and blue.
Ma Kui and the others thought the price was a bit steep, but none of them dared to say a word.
Lin Jinghong had already asked around about black market prices and knew she wasn’t getting the short end of the stick.
So she nodded in agreement.
The two sacks of rice weighed a hundred and eighty-two catties. At eighty cents a catty, that came to a hundred and forty-five yuan and sixty cents. The boar weighed in at two hundred and fifteen catties, which was a hundred and seventy-two yuan. The total came to three hundred and seventeen yuan and sixty cents.
Lin Jinghong had had an epiphany while beating those men up.
What the hell was she afraid of? If she had money, she should use it to give her family a better life right away.
Fix up the house, build up the courtyard, make life better.
And if anyone started running their mouth? Well, sorry, but she’d come down on them with everything she had.
Lost in thought, she took the bag of money from Ji Chengyang’s hand, spat on her fingers, and started counting.
The scene was utterly absurd.
A bunch of grown men, all twisted in awkward postures, grimacing as they watched a skinny girl with braids count money.
And they were all barely daring to breathe.
Ji Chengyang’s mouth twitched. “Don’t worry, we’re not that kind of people.”
“You definitely are.”
Lin Jinghong didn’t even look up.
She was fast, her counting movements quick and practiced, as if she’d done it a thousand times before.
“By the way, do you have any ration tickets on you? Any kind will do.”
The men…
Ji Chengyang took a deep breath and signaled for everyone to hand over their tickets.
Lin Jinghong raised an eyebrow. “Consider these compensation for scaring me.”
A robbery among thieves!
Ma Kui’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t dare say a word.
Ji Chengyang was at a loss for words as he watched Lin Jinghong take all the tickets.
They couldn’t beat her, damn it.
“Alright, that’s that. Next time I get an itch—oh wait, I mean, when I’m short on cash—I’ll come find you again.”
With two patched burlap sacks slung over her shoulders, she waved at Ji Chengyang and the others without looking back.
And walked off, chin held high.
Her thin, frail silhouette somehow carried an indescribable air of untamed ease.
Ma Kui groaned and moaned for a good while.
Any anger he’d felt had been thoroughly beaten out of him by Lin Jinghong.
“Yang-ge, where the hell did you meet a monster like her?” There was still lingering terror in his eyes.
Ji Chengyang’s mouth twitched violently. “She went to the black market on her own. Forget it, let’s not talk about that. These are all good goods—let’s get them back quickly.”
Even though they’d paid a high price, they’d still make a profit.
It was just the medical bills…
Ugh.
Ugh.
Lin Jinghong couldn’t hear the sighs echoing through the woods. She swaggered off with over three hundred yuan in hand.
It was getting late, but since she rarely came into town, Lin Jinghong found an oxcart at the city gate.
After paying two yuan, the old man driving the cart even helped her carry her things.
Fifty catties of rice and fifty catties of white flour—these were things Lin Jinghong had pulled from her Spatial Dimension.
As for the ration tickets she’d taken from Ji Chengyang and his men, she used them to buy a catty of fruit candy, half a catty of brown sugar, a catty of fried dough sticks, and two catties of sponge cake.
That should be enough for now. She’d take care of food first—there were still plenty of things the family was missing.
“Thanks for your help, Uncle.” Lin Jinghong climbed onto the oxcart and clapped her hands.
She’d just lifted a fifty-catty sack with one hand, and the old man had seen it clearly.
He was still in shock.
“Even without my help, you’d have managed just fine.” The old man’s surname was Zhao.
He was from the same commune as Lin Jinghong.
He’d happened to come into town on business today—otherwise, Lin Jinghong wouldn’t have been so lucky.
They chatted along the way. Uncle Zhao was talkative, and Lin Jinghong, when she wanted to, could hold a conversation with anyone.
So the rest of the journey was quite pleasant.
In fact, before Lin Jinghong even felt like much time had passed, the oxcart arrived at Qingyan Brigade.
“Go this way from here, across the bridge.” She pointed the way.
It was around this time that everyone was off work, right at mealtime. Some people would even come out with their bowls to chat.
But strangely enough.
Lin Jinghong didn’t run into a single person from the village, as if everyone had deliberately avoided her.
After crossing the bridge, she could see from a distance someone standing at the door of the rammed-earth house, craning their neck to look.
“You’re back! Finally, you’re back!” Li Dongxiang’s heart finally settled back into her chest.
“I’ll be fine, Mom. Don’t say anything else for now—let’s get everything inside first.” Lin Jinghong didn’t want to hear a long lecture.
Li Dongxiang couldn’t react at all, and Lin Erjun stood there dumbfounded.
Only Lin Xiaodi and Lin Xiaomei, those two kids, were completely in sync with their sister’s thinking.
The moment Lin Jinghong gave the order, they started moving things without a second word.
By the time Lin Erjun and his wife snapped back to their senses, everything had already been moved.
“…”
Lin Jinghong had even seen Uncle Zhao off.
“Mom, I’m hungry.” Lin Jinghong spoke up first.
Li Dongxiang…
What else could she say? She could only hurry off to make a meal.
Actually, the food was already cooked, but Li Dongxiang gritted her teeth and fried an extra egg.
It was still thin porridge. Lin Jinghong didn’t care for it, so she took out the egg cakes and handed them out—two for each person, and she took four for herself.
Anyway, she had to eat the most. Her appetite was huge, no way around it.
“Mom, here’s mine for you. And these two are for Xiaodi and Xiaomei to split.” Li Dongxiang couldn’t bear to eat hers at all.
Lin Erjun couldn’t bear to eat his either, and he quickly gave his away too.
Lin Jinghong glared. “Whoever doesn’t eat theirs can throw it away.”
She was already hungry, and this was getting on her nerves.
Lin Erjun and Li Dongxiang quickly took their portions back and didn’t dare say another word.
Under Lin Jinghong’s gaze, they ate the sweet, fragrant egg cakes.
The taste was so good it could make your tongue melt. And to think of it, it was a bit heartbreaking—neither of them had ever eaten an egg cake before.
Once, when Lin Jinghong was sick and had no appetite, Lin Erjun took her to the clinic. There, they ran into someone buying egg cakes.
Seeing the longing in Lin Jinghong’s eyes, the simple, honest man had swallowed his pride and traded the eggs in his pocket for one egg cake.
He hadn’t been willing to take a single bite himself.
Lin Jinghong remembered that too.
“From now on, everything in this family belongs to everyone. I won’t hog things, and I won’t allow anyone else to either. No more passing things back and forth.”
There was a hint of irritation in her brow—it was purely the hunger talking.
But the family thought she was about to throw one of her fits, and no one dared to say a word.
They all nodded like little chicks pecking at rice.