Watching the argument between Ye Changqing and his mother, Ren Chaomei suddenly understood.
No wonder she had thought Ye Changqing’s mother was overly enthusiastic, as if she were revealing too much personal information to someone she had only just met. Not only had she told her about herself and her eldest son, she had even introduced her two younger children.
Ren Chaomei had assumed that older people simply chatted like that and didn’t care much about privacy.
Who would have thought that the woman had spotted her as a prime customer and was secretly trying to sell her own son?
The feeling that she was desperately afraid her son wouldn’t find a wife left Ye Changqing helpless and Ren Chaomei nervous.
She was afraid Zhang Shujun might get so anxious that she would accidentally sell her son to the wrong person—namely Ren Ganying—making all her efforts pointless and sending everything right back to square one.
Ren Chaomei looked at Ye Changqing and, where Zhang Shujun couldn’t see, frantically winked and gestured at him.
She mouthed, “Wanna date?”
Ye Changqing gently closed his eyes and turned his head away, pretending he hadn’t seen her.
Oh my~ So aloof~
That little series of moves was perhaps a bit too cheesy.
But seeing that Ye Changqing had been thoroughly cheesed out by her actually gave Ren Chaomei a strange little thrill.
It was like fooling around with a friend. No matter what kind of reaction she got, she would still feel smug about it.
Since Ye Changqing refused to cooperate, Ren Chaomei could only use her tactics on his mother instead.
“It’s okay, Auntie. Don’t pressure him. Liking him is my business. I can’t make things difficult for him… Sob, sob~ I can’t make things difficult for him. Sob, sob~”
Zhang Shujun already had red eyes, and when she saw Ren Chaomei start crying, she couldn’t hold back either and began to cry.
Ren Chaomei had been pretending to cry so someone would comfort her, but instead she ended up comforting Zhang Shujun.
“Auntie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“I just think… how could a child like you be… be so good!”
Ren Chaomei was a little incredulous.
Wait, did she cry because she was moved?
By this point, Zhang Shujun had already started blaming herself and her family.
“It’s my fault. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have become like this—so distant from people, so cold-hearted.”
Ye Changqing glanced at the two crying women and calmly stood up.
“You two can cry. I’m going to cook.”
“Changqing is the best cook in our family,” Zhang Shujun sobbed, still not forgetting to promote her son.
Being a good cook was an added bonus that came with that face.
The main product was already high quality. Whether there was an extra bonus or not was beside the point.
“Auntie, telling me that won’t help. Ye Changqing is the one who doesn’t want to date me, not me.”
Ren Chaomei cleared her throat and, somewhat guiltily, asked, “That… what about the women Ye Changqing has gone on blind dates with…”
Before she could finish, Zhang Shujun said with complete certainty, “He’s never succeeded in a single blind date. Every single one falls apart. The moment he opens his mouth, it’s ‘I’m sick.’ I think there really is something wrong with him.”
When it came to blind dates, it wasn’t right to hide major flaws. But some things could be explained gradually and in the right order.
First, talk about his advantages, such as his job position and salary. Then mention his housing situation—his family wasn’t struggling for space. Finally, carefully explain his illness: it only acted up when he experienced overwhelming grief after his father and teacher died. Ordinary day-to-day annoyances were unlikely to trigger anything serious.
Life was all about compromise.
It was hard to find a partner who was perfect in every way. In the end, people weighed the pros and cons and considered everything together.
But Ye Changqing was different.
He only talked about the disadvantages and never mentioned the advantages.
He clearly wasn’t sincerely trying to find a wife. He was simply going through the motions to satisfy the assignments given by his family and his leaders.
Now that they had finally encountered a girl who had practically chased him all the way home, Zhang Shujun absolutely didn’t dare let her leave.
She didn’t dare let go, and neither did Ren Chaomei.
Girls from the city with jobs and good family backgrounds had plenty of choices, which was why Ye Changqing’s previous blind dates had failed.
But Ren Ganying and Ren Dahe were so dazzled by the prospect of a steady city salary that they definitely wouldn’t care about Ye Changqing’s minor health problem.
If she let go now, those two might very well hit it off.
Keeping an eye on Ye Changqing in the city was difficult, but keeping an eye on Ren Ganying, who slept in the same room as her, was much easier.
The next time Ren Ganying took leave and came into the city, Ren Chaomei would have to continue causing trouble.
So after lunch, when Ye Changqing said he had to go out that afternoon and used the excuse to send her away, Ren Chaomei left—but not before delivering a final threat.
“Just you wait! I, Ren Chaomei, will be back!”
“Oh.”
Ye Changqing replied coldly, his expression and gesture indicating that he was still seeing her out.
Once the guest had left, Zhang Shujun, as usual, immediately picked up the broom and rag and began cleaning.
Zhang Shujun never slacked off when it came to cleanliness, so she quickly discovered the one yuan Ren Chaomei had left behind.
The yuan had been rolled into a thin little tube and placed on the edge of the dining table.
At Zhang Shujun’s insistence, Ye Changqing had not only cooked lunch but had also prepared a piece of smoked meat.
One thing was one thing, another thing another.
Ren Chaomei had only come to cause trouble. She hadn’t come to take advantage of them.
When she had no money, she didn’t mind shamelessly freeloading on a meal. But she had now gotten more than thirty yuan from Ren Dahe and had money.
After eating their food, Ren Chaomei had secretly left one yuan behind when they weren’t looking, treating it as payment for the meal.
Seeing the yuan, both Zhang Shujun and Ye Changqing were surprised.
Ren Chaomei’s arrogant attitude toward him was in such stark contrast to the one yuan she had left behind.
Perhaps she wasn’t actually as unreasonable as she seemed.
“This child already has such a difficult life. Why would she give us money?” Zhang Shujun said sympathetically.
But two seconds later, her tone changed.
Pointing at her son, she said, “Chaomei must have dropped this by accident. Hurry up and return it to her.”
“If she dropped it, it would have fallen on the floor. It wouldn’t have landed on the table.”
“I don’t care. You have to find a way to return it to her!” Zhang Shujun said seriously. “Her family is from the countryside, and her parents died a long time ago. It’s not easy for her to earn money. How can we take her money?”
She forcibly stuffed the yuan into her son’s hand and ordered him to find an opportunity to return it.
Ren Chaomei, who had been assumed to be poor, didn’t actually care about that little bit of money. She had originally planned to use it to eat at a restaurant for lunch.
After finishing lunch at the Ye family’s home, she wandered over to the department store.
Before traveling back in time, there had been countless affordable, good-quality products. In Ren Chaomei’s eyes, the selection in this department store was honestly nothing special.
But whether she thought highly of the department store or not was one thing. Whether she actually owned those things was another.
Even though she thought the women’s watches at the department store were rather plain, she didn’t have one, so she wanted to buy one.
There weren’t many styles to choose from behind the counter. Ren Chaomei casually pointed to a simple, elegant watch.
“How much is this watch?”
“120 yuan, plus ten industrial coupons.”
This department store hadn’t stocked many expensive goods. There were no imported watches behind the counter, only practical, cost-effective domestic brands that ordinary people commonly used.
One hundred and twenty yuan wasn’t expensive in Ren Chaomei’s eyes, but she didn’t have that much money on hand, nor did she have the required industrial coupons.
She lowered her voice and negotiated with the saleswoman.
“Sis, I’m from the countryside. I don’t have that much money or any industrial coupons, but my family has grain. Can I exchange grain for the watch?”
The saleswoman was tempted but skeptical.
“No one has enough grain to eat these days. Does your family really have that much surplus grain?”
Grain supplies in the cities were strictly rationed. Each person had a monthly quota, divided into coarse and fine grains. No one would starve to death, but eating until completely full at every meal was impossible.
Ren Chaomei didn’t prove how wealthy her family was. She simply said calmly,
“I’m buying the watch for my wedding.”
“Oh~ In that case, all right.”
The saleswoman immediately felt reassured.
Even the most frugal and penny-pinching families were willing to spend money when it came to something this important.
Taking out a lifetime’s worth of savings to build a new house, buy a watch, buy a bicycle… That was completely normal.
Rural families were poorer than urban ones, but the saleswoman wasn’t foolish enough to underestimate how much a family might be willing to spend when emptying its coffers.
Tempted by the grain, the saleswoman, who normally didn’t bother much with customers, became enthusiastic and proactive.
“If you can bring out that much grain, I can help you figure out how to exchange it for money and industrial coupons.”
Afraid Ren Chaomei didn’t understand the going rate, she reminded her, “I don’t know if you’ve exchanged industrial coupons before, so let me make this clear first. Privately, industrial coupons usually go for fifty cents each. Ten coupons would be five yuan.”
“Okay, no problem. I already brought the grain with me. My family is keeping watch over it. Can you exchange it for me now?”
“Now?”
“Right now. After we finish this, we still have to walk for several hours to get home.”
Ren Chaomei generously added, “I know you’re not having an easy time either. As long as we can finish everything this afternoon, I’m willing to give you another five jin of grain as a little extra.”
Privately buying and selling grain was illegal, but Ren Chaomei wasn’t exchanging grain for money. She was exchanging grain for a watch, which made the whole thing seem quite wholesome and straightforward.
The saleswoman didn’t even bother taking leave to go home and find relatives. Under the banner of “helping a fellow villager buy a watch,” she simply found a few coworkers and managed to arrange everything.
While helping Ren Chaomei fill out the receipt, she even took the initiative to ask, “Since you’re getting married, do you still need to buy new clothes? What about a bicycle?”
“Thank you so much for your help today. We haven’t decided about those things yet. If we decide to buy them, I’ll come back and look for you.”
Ren Chaomei adjusted the watch on her wrist and set the time correctly. When she checked the time, it was already two-thirty in the afternoon.
She had spent a huge amount of time at the Ye family’s home, and buying the watch had taken just as long.
After subtracting the time it would take to get home, she wouldn’t have much time left in the afternoon.
There was no way she could finish a three-thousand-word self-criticism.
It was only a three-thousand-word self-criticism, not a three-thousand-yuan debt. Uncle Wang certainly wasn’t going to come all the way to her house to demand it. There was no need to waste that much time and effort.
Besides, Uncle Wang had already been willing to let her leave. The meaning was pretty obvious.
Some things couldn’t be asked about. If she asked, the answer would be no.
She had to simply go ahead and do them.
So Ren Chaomei didn’t hesitate at all and immediately headed back home.