Soon, children of various sizes gathered around. They knew Ye Zhifang was nicknamed “Little Fool” in the village and had the mental age of an eight-year-old, so they circled her with mischievous grins.
One boy immediately shouted, “Little Fool, I heard you got lucky money for the New Year. How much did you get? Take it out and let’s see who has more.”
Ye Zhifang seemed immune to the nickname “Little Fool.” No matter what they said, she didn’t get angry, just looked at the speaking boy with an innocent expression.
The boy wasn’t young either—probably around ten years old. He pulled out a stack of paper money from his pocket, one by one: one-yuan notes, two-yuan notes, five-yuan notes, and of course smaller denominations like five jiao, one jiao, five fen, and two fen. It was quite a lot of money.
Ye Zhifang was puzzled. Weren’t lucky money gifts between relatives usually just a few fen or jiao? This kid had received quite a sum.
The boy noticed that he had taken out his money, but Ye Zhifang hadn’t produced hers. In fact, before leaving home, Ye Zhifang had left all her lucky money at home. If she lost it outside, it would affect her survival later on.
“Little Fool, where’s your lucky money? Xiao Yong said you got a lot.”
The boy shifted the blame to the Ye family’s Xiao Yong, who looked indifferent—after all, it was the truth.
“I… I left my lucky money at home. Didn’t Xiao Yong tell you? I’m going to Beijing in a few days. I’ll probably be back after playing for a few days. I heard there are all kinds of things for sale in the big city—delicious foods and fun toys we’ve never seen on TV, like those plastic soldiers you can buy a whole bag of for just a few jiao, and building blocks, electric toys, and stuff. Do you want any? If you do, I can bring some back for you.”
Ye Zhifang spoke with utmost sincerity, hinting that she had seen many things on TV—things they had never encountered.
Originally, they had intended to help Xiao Yong get the lucky money back and have him treat them to snacks at the village store. But now, they were completely captivated by Little Fool’s words.
The crowd grew lively again. “Xiao Yong, is what Little Fool said true? Why aren’t you going to Beijing?”
Normally, no child in the village had ever traveled far—at most, they went to the county or city to buy things, let alone go somewhere to play. With food problems not fully solved, who had money for trips?
Ye Yong nodded. The adults had said something about Little Aunt going to Beijing to break off an engagement. He didn’t understand what “breaking off an engagement” meant, but he knew Little Aunt and Second Uncle would go to Beijing to play for a few days and then return.
“Only my second uncle is taking Little Aunt. When I grow up, I’ll go to Beijing too,” Ye Yong declared proudly, lifting his chin.
Ye Zhifang wasn’t in a hurry. From a child’s perspective, they would surely take the bait. The village store had similar toys, but no one bought the expensive ones. Most were common snacks.
“Little Fool, I want a handheld game console. But if I give you the money, will you really bring it back for me?”
The boy was very cautious, unwilling to trust Ye Zhifang with his money. At the same time, he genuinely liked the toy—his family just never wanted to buy it for him.
Ye Zhifang raised three fingers. “If you trust me, give me the money. I’ll bring back everything you want, and you can ask Xiao Yong for it later. But this stays between us—don’t tell your parents. If your parents come to my house to take the money back, I won’t be able to buy anything for you.”
That made perfect sense. Without money, how could anything be bought? Even these children understood that.
The children ran off to discuss among themselves again, while Ye Zhifang wasn’t idle either—she took the opportunity to admire the scenery around her. Everything here was so natural, free from any additives or excessive chemical fertilizers.
Just in these past few days, she had found herself growing fond of the food here. With every bite of vegetables, she could truly taste their flavor. It seemed staying in this backward era might not be so bad after all.
After the group finished discussing, Ye Zhifang noticed that a few of the children had run off. Were they planning to go and inform on her?
The slightly older boy led the way as they approached her. “Little fool, if you dare trick us, we’ll go to your house and find your parents. We can give you the money, but can you remember what each of us wants to buy?”
Ye Zhifang sighed inwardly. These kids were so cunning—why couldn’t they just hand over the money and be done with it?
If she really had to take out paper and record what each child wanted to buy, that would be truly strange. The Original Host had barely been literate, and while she could handle addition and subtraction within twenty, anything beyond that was beyond her.
“I can buy everything you want. As for who wants what, just remember it yourselves. You can simply pick it up from Xiao Yong later. I can’t keep track of what each of you wants individually.”
Ye Zhifang was patient enough to play along with these half-grown children, but her four-year-old nephew had unexpectedly acted as a guarantor. She wondered if he would face exclusion from the village kids later on.
After all, if he hadn’t taken the Original Host to the frozen river outside the village back then, the life-threatening incident might never have happened. Xiao Yong had shown no intention of looking after the Original Host, so he bore some responsibility too.
Then Ye Zhifang watched as the boy who had first spoken to her handed over a whole fistful of money. “Little fool, this is about 30 yuan—my entire fortune. When the time comes, help me buy a cheap game console from the capital.”
Ye Zhifang’s eyes widened. Wow, this kid was loaded. It had to be said—having money was great.
The children behind him followed suit, pulling out all their New Year’s money from their pockets and handing it to Ye Zhifang. Although the amounts weren’t huge—some gave fifty cents, others around five yuan—Ye Zhifang felt she wasn’t losing out by taking it.
The children who had run home soon returned, not even out of breath despite running such a long distance. These kids really had great stamina from running around outside all day.
Ye Zhifang roughly noted down what everyone wanted. “Game console, cards, electric toys, picture books, plastic soldiers, bubble gum, chocolate. The rest just said to bring back snacks, so I’ll buy whatever looks good.”
Before leaving, Ye Zhifang didn’t forget to remind them, “I’ve taken the money, but remember—you gave it to me willingly. If your parents come asking for it back, I won’t bring you anything.”
What she really wanted to emphasize were the first two points: she hadn’t asked for the money—they had offered it willingly. There was a world of difference between asking and giving.
On the way home, even her four-year-old nephew handed over the remaining two yuan of his New Year’s money to Ye Zhifang.
“Little Aunt, I only have two yuan. When you get to the capital, just buy me whatever toy looks good.”
Oh ho, she thought her four-year-old nephew was broke, but it turned out he still had money.
Ye Zhifang naturally accepted the two dollars. Just now outside, she hadn’t counted the money—if she had actually counted it, it might have exposed her. It was better to go home, hide away, and quietly count it. She estimated there was probably around a hundred dollars or so in there.