Chen Qingyang sat up in bed, still clutching the new sandals to his chest. “Sis, do you smell that? Whose family is eating meat…”
His words got stuck in his throat.
Because he saw Chen Qiaoyu holding a large bowl piled high with sliced roast duck. Two whole drumsticks sat on top. She was looking at him with a warm smile.
Chen Qingyang’s mouth fell open. He stared at the bowl of roast duck, swallowing instinctively, then couldn’t help but say, “Sis, Brother Dayong is going to get beaten up for this, isn’t he?”
He thought the duck had come from Jin Dayong.
Chen Qiaoyu: “…”
Life really was full of surprises. Who knew what would pop out of Chen Qingyang’s head next.
Chen Qiaoyu lowered her voice. “It’s not from Brother Dayong! I… bought it.”
Chen Qingyang also lowered his voice and glanced toward the window. “Sis, I’m thirteen, not three… Even if Mom left you money, she couldn’t have left you ration tickets too, right?”
Meat and grain tickets all had expiration dates. After five years, they would have long since expired.
Chen Qiaoyu was getting a little annoyed. Normally, she thought her younger brother was pretty smart—smart enough to team up with her against their father and stepmother’s exploitation.
But right now, she felt like Chen Qingyang’s brains were too smart for his own good.
Couldn’t he be a little dumber, like Daniu and Erniu?
“Just tell me—are you going to eat it or not?” Chen Qiaoyu put on a fierce face.
“Of course I’ll eat it! Definitely!”
Chen Qingyang was full of questions, but the simple fact was that he hadn’t had a proper meal in ages.
A growing teenage boy as thin as a stick, with no fat or oil in his belly—seeing roast duck in front of him, not drooling would have been an insult to the duck!
Chen Qiaoyu finally smiled. She set the bowl down and handed one of the drumsticks to Chen Qingyang.
Chen Qingyang gulped. All he could hear was the thumping of his own heart.
He stared at the drumstick for a long moment, then looked up at Chen Qiaoyu. “I can really eat it?”
“Really. Why would I lie to you?”
I even ate roast chicken today! Chen Qiaoyu thought to herself.
Chen Qingyang couldn’t hold back any longer. He took the drumstick and bit into it. The duck skin looked glistening with oil, but it was crisp.
Beneath the crispy skin was thick, tender duck meat. Where the fat had been, it had melted away during roasting, seeping deep into the meat. One bite felt like floating up to the heavens!
But after just one bite, Chen Qingyang handed the drumstick back to Chen Qiaoyu. “Sis, you eat.”
In the past, whenever his sister went out to work and someone gave her something—a handful of peanuts, a few red dates, anything at all—Chen Qiaoyu would always bring it back to share with Chen Qingyang.
And Chen Qingyang would always insist that she eat with him.
This time, Chen Qiaoyu didn’t take the drumstick he handed back. Instead, she picked up the other drumstick and took a bite herself.
“There’s plenty. Tonight, the two of us are finishing this whole duck.”
Otherwise, if someone else found out, it would be bad. Besides, in this heat, it probably wouldn’t last until tomorrow anyway.
Chen Qiaoyu also poured out the rice from the kraft paper bag. The rice had already soaked up the duck’s juices and oil, making it a hundred times more delicious than plain white rice.
Chen Qingyang ate ravenously.
Of the three boxes of rice Brother Cheng had given her, Chen Qiaoyu had eaten only half of one. The rest she gave to Chen Qingyang.
A teenage boy’s stomach was like a bottomless pit. An entire roast duck plus three boxes of rice—and the two of them ate every last bit, leaving nothing behind.
After finishing, Chen Qingyang wiped his mouth and took the initiative. “I’ll go bury the bones, okay? In the backyard.”
Now that the old house was their home, burying the bones in the yard would help enrich the soil.
Chen Qiaoyu agreed. “Alright, go ahead. Just stay out of sight.”
Just as Chen Qingyang was about to head out, Chen Qiaoyu stopped him and said solemnly, “You can’t tell anyone about this. Also, from now on, the camphor wood chest has to be locked. I’ll keep the key.”
Chen Qiaoyu didn’t explain why.
Chen Qingyang looked into her eyes for a moment, then nodded. “You’re my sister. Whatever you say, I’ll listen.”
Chen Qiaoyu’s relief was mixed with a trace of gratitude. No matter when, no matter what—even if something felt off—as long as she said it, Qingyang believed her.
After they finished cleaning up, Chen Qingyang moved the camphor wood chest to the head of his bed and went to sleep clutching his new shoes and clothes.
Chen Qiaoyu then went to the next room, where Zhou Quan was staying.
Zhou Quan stirred at the noise, groggily looked up, saw it was Chen Qiaoyu, mumbled “You’re back,” and fell asleep again.
The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Zhou Quan woke up. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she asked Chen Qiaoyu, who was getting dressed, “Qiaoyu, where did you go yesterday? I didn’t see you in the fields.”
Chen Qiaoyu used the same excuse as before. “I went to the big market at Eighteen-Mile River.”
Zhou Quan asked curiously, “Are things really good there? Why didn’t you go to town?”
Yaojia Village was only about twenty li from town—wasn’t that much closer than Eighteen-Mile River?
Chen Qiaoyu replied very naturally, “You need ration tickets in town! Things at the Eighteen-Mile River market are cheap, and no tickets required.”
“Really?” Zhou Quan perked up immediately, sitting up in bed. “Really no tickets? What did you buy?”
Most of these educated youth weren’t short on money, but they were absolutely starved for ration tickets.
Zhou Quan’s family was average, but since she was the youngest, her parents and older siblings all doted on her, sending her money and tickets from time to time.
The problem was, once she was sent to the countryside, where was there to shop? Plenty of money, not enough tickets. The few tickets she had went to the town supply and marketing cooperative. The rest of her money just sat there with nowhere to spend it.
Hearing “no tickets required,” Zhou Quan got completely excited. “What did you buy? Really no tickets? When’s the next market?”
Chen Qiaoyu kept a straight face. “This market isn’t on a fixed schedule. It only opens when goods come in from the south. I only found out last minute yesterday. No idea when the next one will be.”
Zhou Quan’s face fell. “What a shame.”
She didn’t suspect anything.
One reason the educated youth had never really fit in with the locals was that they were often out of the loop when it came to this kind of “inside information.”
Still, Chen Qiaoyu “kindly” offered a little more info. “I didn’t buy much—just a few pairs of nylon socks. They said they were seconds, sold at a discount.”
Zhou Quan gasped. “Nylon socks? How cheap? How many pairs did you buy? Do you have any extras? Could you spare me a couple?”
Zhou Quan was now wide awake, firing off questions one after another.
Her only pair of nylon socks had holes in them, and her other socks were worse than wearing none at all.
Chen Qiaoyu thought for a moment, then said, “I could spare two pairs. One… one yuan a pair. Would you want them?”
“Really? One yuan? That cheap?” Zhou Quan agreed almost immediately. “Yes, yes, yes!”