Ever since Eldest Brother gave Little Sister 35 yuan, Eldest Sister-in-law had been in a foul mood, finding fault with her sister-in-law at every turn.
That evening during dinner, Eldest Sister-in-law couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up, “Xiao Fang, I am your sister-in-law after all, and there’s something I have to say or it’ll eat at me. In all the years I’ve been married into this family, your brother has never given New Year’s money to the children on my side of the family. You’re already so grown up, yet you still ask your two brothers for New Year’s money. Besides, what use do you have for it? Do you even know how to spend it? Don’t let someone else trick you out of it in the end.”
Ye Zhifang knew Eldest Sister-in-law was upset, but there was no way she was giving the money back. She wasn’t even sure if she’d return from Beijing, and without money on hand, she wouldn’t be able to do anything she wanted later.
All Eldest Sister-in-law got in response was Ye Zhifang’s clueless expression. “Sister-in-law, I know how to spend money. Xiao Yong took me to the village store today with his New Year’s money. Look, these are the snap caps he gave me.”
Ye Zhifang pulled a few snap caps wrapped in gunpowder from her coat pocket. These things would pop as soon as they hit the ground, releasing a distinct smell of gunpowder.
Mother Ye snatched them away, hurried to the door, and threw them outside. Moments later, the snap caps went off.
Returning to her seat, Mother Ye didn’t blame Xiao Yong but spoke seriously instead. “Xiao Fang, girls shouldn’t play with dangerous things like these. What if they go off in your pocket and hurt you? Don’t play with them anymore. And you, Xiao Yong, if you want to play, play by yourself. Don’t give them to your aunt.”
Earlier that day, Ye Zhifang had spent most of the afternoon wandering around the village with her four-year-old nephew. She had followed Xiao Yong to pay New Year’s visits to some elders. But because she was an adult, no one gave her candy, while Xiao Yong’s pockets were stuffed with all kinds of sweets.
The snap caps in her pocket were bought by Xiao Yong at the village store with his New Year’s money. He had given her a box, and though she threw some like he did, she kept a few in her pocket—which ended up coming in handy.
Xiao Yong, who was sitting there eating, looked up. Earlier that day, he had tried to trick his aunt into giving him her New Year’s money, but she was too clever and didn’t give him a single cent. Even when he claimed he had no money to pay, she refused to take out the money from her pocket.
Later, when they ran into some village friends, one of them was playing with short strings of firecrackers. Xiao Yong got the idea to tease his aunt and asked his friend to throw the firecrackers near her, hoping to scare her.
Having lived into her twenties in her past life, Ye Zhifang wasn’t afraid of the noise. Instead of covering her ears, she asked for a few strings of firecrackers to play with herself.
Just as Ye Yong thought Ye Zhifang’s fingers would be blown to pieces by the firecrackers, she lit one and didn’t let go immediately. She waited until the flame was about to reach the small firecracker string before suddenly tossing it, causing it to explode in mid-air right in front of the children, startling them instead.
Ye Yong hadn’t expected his aunt to be so brave. In previous years, she would hide far away at the sound of firecrackers. Now, she wasn’t afraid of them at all.
What Ye Yong really wanted was to tell the whole family how brave his aunt was and that she had even played with firecrackers with him. But it seemed no one would believe him anyway.
The next day, Second Brother went out after finishing his meal, saying he needed to buy two train tickets to the capital. They lived in the countryside, so they first took a minibus to the county town, then transferred to another vehicle to the city, and finally boarded a train from the city to the capital.
“Xiao Fang, your Second Brother has gone to the city to buy train tickets. I don’t know how many days you’ll be gone for the round trip, so I’ll pack you some spare clothes. When you get there, have your Second Brother help you wash them. It’s just that he’s clumsy and won’t know how to braid your hair.”
Mother Ye stood behind Ye Zhifang, holding a comb dipped in water from the basin beside her, meticulously combing her daughter’s hair. Just this careful and attentive way of caring for her daughter—if it were any other family, they probably wouldn’t be so attentive.
Ye Zhifang looked at herself in the mirror, her hair braided into two pigtails. It had to be said, the amount of hair she had now was almost twice what she had in her later life, and it was jet black and glossy. Actually, she preferred wearing a ponytail—simple and easy—but unfortunately, she was still that fool with only an eight-year-old’s intelligence who needed others to take care of her.
“Xiao Fang, once you’re outside, you must stick close to your Second Brother. Keep all your valuables on you, and if someone tries to talk to you, don’t respond. If anything happens, let your Second Brother handle it. Listen to everything your Second Brother says, understand?”
With only a few days left before their departure, Mother Ye was truly worried about her only daughter going to Beijing. At least her second son would be accompanying her.
“Mom, I understand. Once we’re out, I’ll listen to everything Second Brother says.”
Ye Zhifang felt quite speechless. In her later life, she had often traveled to other places, and after starting university, she had even visited many cities alone. Would she really be kidnapped by human traffickers in this era? If so, she would have truly wasted her life.
During the day, Xiao Yong dragged Ye Zhifang out again. Only a four-year-old like Xiao Yong was willing to play with his little aunt, who had the intelligence of an eight-year-old. None of the adults in the village were willing to play with her.
“Little Aunt, today some married women from the village have returned to their parents’ homes. I’ll introduce you to a few new friends. I heard some of them have moved to the county town to live, and their families are really rich.”
Ye Zhifang didn’t know what Xiao Yong was thinking, but she already had her own little plan.
What new friends? They were just the same people who had bullied the Original Host before. Some of them were already over ten years old, probably about to start middle school.
Ye Zhifang followed slowly behind. Before leaving, she wanted to vent the Original Host’s anger for her. The best way was to take all the New Year’s money from their pockets.
For children, New Year’s money was essentially their family’s living expenses for the rest of the year. It was said to be for the children, but in the end, the adults would take it away.
Soon, Ye Zhifang followed Xiao Yong to the village threshing ground. In autumn, every household dried their grain here. The rest of the time, whether it was the elderly or children, everyone liked to come here to play because the space was large and open.
But once they arrived, Xiao Yong was surrounded by a group of children, with no intention of playing with his little aunt.
Ye Zhifang looked around. More than twenty of them were children from various households, and the rest were children who had come back with the married women visiting their parents’ homes. A few of the children occasionally glanced at Ye Zhifang.
If she hadn’t transmigrated into a fool, she wouldn’t be playing with these little brats. But being a clear-minded fool didn’t seem so bad either.
“Xiao Yong, you said your little aunt took your dad and Second Uncle’s New Year’s money. If we help you get it back, just buy us some snacks with it, okay?” someone suggested.
Ye Yong had the same idea. Last night, Da Sao’s Mother had given her son an important task: to find a way to get the New Year’s money from his little aunt’s hands. That way, it wouldn’t be that the adults hadn’t given her New Year’s money—it would be that she couldn’t keep it safe herself.