This meant that no matter whether she followed the army later or moved to another city, as long as they could contact her, she wouldn’t have peace.
Zheng Xiaoliu still drove Mother Lu out, and right in front of her, he slammed the gate shut and bolted it.
Mother Lu cursed outside, calling him an ingrate and saying he was heartless.
Whenever someone passed by, she would complain to them about how hard her life had been when she was young, how much suffering she had endured to raise three children. And now, look—the children were grown up, had families and children of their own, but they didn’t care about their old parents anymore. They even drove her out—wasn’t this forcing the old couple to beg for food?
In the village, some people knew the truth, some didn’t, some knew only part of it, and there were those who loved stirring up trouble and joined Mother Lu in her complaints.
In the end, Captain Lu came and drove them away.
He was fed up with the village women—they could create trouble out of nothing every single day.
Zheng Xiaoliu was fuming, his face puffed up like a big frog.
Jiang Yue, however, remained calm. “Xiaoliu, don’t be angry. It’s not worth ruining your health over this. We still have a lot of things to do!”
“Third Aunt, does Third Uncle know about you buying things from the black market?”
“He knows. He understands our family’s situation better than anyone. We’re not workers, we don’t have work units, so we can’t get ration coupons. The Supply and Marketing Cooperative has shortages of everything. Although the black market is a bit risky, it has good stuff! And no coupons are needed. After he leaves, we’ll continue as before—I’ll give you the goods, and you go exchange them. After all, keeping the goods in hand is just a waste.”
“Third Aunt…” Zheng Xiaoliu rubbed his hands nervously. “Those cigarettes and liquor aren’t ordinary. Last time after I finished trading, I felt like someone was following me on my way back. I hid in the mountains for half a day before daring to continue. Otherwise, why would I have returned so late! Next time, I’m afraid I’ll be even more likely to be targeted.”
In this era of scarce supplies, everything was troublesome.
“Wait a moment!” Jiang Yue went back to her room and brought out Little Bean Sprout. She sat in the yard with her legs crossed, patting and soothing the child while thinking. “Later, go find out—besides exchanging for pork and fine grains, we can also trade for something else. Hmm… this thing is small in size, easy to hide, inconspicuous. We don’t need to bring it out for now, but in a couple of years when restrictions loosen up, we can take it out to exchange for money. No matter when, it’s hard currency, good stuff.”
“What?”
“Gold!”
“Hiss!” Zheng Xiaoliu drew a sharp breath.
Gold! Large Gold Bars!
Before, he had only heard about it from landlords’ mouths. Oh, he had also seen a landlord’s wife wear some in her ears—shining golden.
His mother used to have a silver bracelet, but it had turned so black you could hardly see its original color.
That was the extent of his knowledge.
Jiang Yue encouraged him, “Xiaoliu! You need to broaden your horizons. Otherwise, you won’t be able to keep up with the times. We need to catch the first wave of reform and opening up. Just think—when you get married, if you can bring out gold rings, gold earrings, gold necklaces, your mother-in-law would be overjoyed, your father-in-law would seat you in the place of honor, and everyone would look up to you.”
“Hehe!” Zheng Xiaoliu chuckled foolishly, wiping his nose with his sleeve. “How could I have such luck? I don’t even know if I’ll ever get married in this lifetime!”
“You will!” Jiang Yue slapped his shoulder firmly. “As long as you stick with me, everything I just said will come true.”
“You’re not my sister, you’re my Third Aunt.”
“Oh! It means the same thing.”
“But I’ve never seen her before, what if we got the wrong person? Ah! I know, Third Aunt, wait here, I’ll be right back.”
Zheng Xiaoliu dashed off like a whirlwind.
With no one else left in the yard, she quickly retrieved a pre-boiled egg from the Space Supermarket, mixed a cup of milk with warm water from the kitchen, and finished with a few biscuits.
Before she could swallow, Zheng Xiaoliu came shouting back, nearly making her choke.
“Third Aunt, I brought someone with me. Come out and see!”
Zheng Xiaoliu stood in the yard, dragging a boy even skinnier than himself.
This boy, however, was much fairer than Zheng Xiaoliu, almost like a little girl, and kept his head bowed, whether out of shyness or fear.
“Who is he…?”
Zheng Xiaoliu immediately explained, “He’s the youngest son of the Wang Family, the big landlords in our village! Third Aunt, you don’t even recognize him? Back when we were fighting landlords and redistributing land, he and his father were tied up and kneeling on the stage!”
Jiang Yue cursed Zheng Xiaoliu inwardly for being a fool who blurted out everything without thinking.
He spoke cheerfully, but with every word he said, the Wang boy’s head drooped lower. By the time he finished, the boy’s head was almost touching his navel.
Noticing her displeasure, Zheng Xiaoliu loudly explained, “Third Aunt, are you afraid people will gossip? It’s fine. Even though his family background is bad, he’s literate and knows math. When we fought the landlords, gold was found in his house—they were super rich!”
Jiang Yue was left speechless by him. “Keep your voice down! The Brigade Headquarters is right next door. Do you want the whole village to know?”
“Ah? Oh no, oh no! I was so excited I forgot. Wang Sheng, you won’t go blabbing, will you?” He grabbed Wang Sheng by the collar, lifting him like a chick.
Wang Sheng shook his head frantically but said nothing, letting himself be held.
“Bolt the courtyard gate. Let’s talk inside.”
Little Bean Sprout was asleep, so she sat cross-legged on the bed, doing needlework.
Though she couldn’t make clothes, she could manage a few cotton diapers.
Zheng Xiaoliu dragged Wang Sheng into the room, but the two of them stood by the door without coming further in, and Wang Sheng never lifted his head.
Jiang Yue asked Zheng Xiaoliu, “What did you tell him?”
“I just said I had work for him. Third Aunt, he’s pitiful, like me—he only has to feed himself, no family to worry about. But it’s different too—his whole family is dead, and he’s the only one left. He lives in the Brigade’s pigpen now, mainly responsible for feeding the Brigade’s pigs. The village kids bully him, and no one pays him any mind.”
Jiang Yue asked, “What if he reports us?”
Zheng Xiaoliu stiffened his neck. “He wouldn’t dare! If he dares to snitch, I’ll beat him to death. After all, his whole family were landlords—he’s a landlord’s brat and deserves to die. The old folks say all the land in our village used to be theirs. If you wanted to farm, you had to pay rent, and if you couldn’t pay, you had to sell your children. They ruined families and lives—they were evil!”
Though Wang Sheng kept his head down, his whole body trembled visibly.
Jiang Yue’s thoughts shifted. “Beating people is against the law. Don’t say things like that anymore. No matter what happened in the past, since he’s alive now, it means he’s been forgiven. He’s not guilty anymore. Don’t bully him. Hey, your name is Wang Sheng, right? Lift your head.”
Perhaps because of her words, or perhaps because her voice was too gentle, Wang Sheng finally raised his head, revealing a delicate face.
But at that moment, it was streaked with tears.
Zheng Xiaoliu dodged aside with disdain, “Ew! You’re acting like a girl, even crying—how embarrassing!”
Jiang Yue yelled at him, “Shut up!”