Yang Qingqing had only just realized that Lu Jiayan treated her differently.
She frowned and fell into thought, feeling a little irritated.
Yun Ting pretended not to notice. Matters like this couldn’t be spoken about openly, and it was best not to interfere.
“Yang Qingqing, did you bring anything? I prepared half a bag of brown sugar. Let’s go to the village chief’s house and find Aunt Meihua.”
The chief had told them earlier that if they didn’t understand something, they could go to his wife for help.
The chief’s house was right in the middle of the village—a blue-brick, tiled-roof house that was easy to find. The gate was open, but there was no one in the courtyard.
“Aunt Meihua, are you home?” Yun Ting called loudly.
“I’m here… Who is it?” A slightly plump woman came out of the house.
“Hello, Aunt Meihua. We’re the educated youths who arrived yesterday. My name is Yun Ting, and this is Yang Qingqing. We wanted to ask you a few things.”
“Oh my! You two girls are really pretty. You’re the ones who gave candy to our Xiao Zhuzi this morning, right? Thank you!” Aunt Meihua looked them up and down with a cheerful smile.
It was obvious that Aunt Meihua was a straightforward person.
“It’s nothing—we really like Xiao Zhuzi. Actually, Aunt Meihua, we wanted to ask if there’s a carpenter in the village. We’d like to get things like kang cabinets.”
“There is! Old Uncle Li in the village does carpentry. Everyone orders from him. I’ll take you there!”
Yun Ting placed the half bag of brown sugar on the stone table in the courtyard. “Aunt Meihua, this sugar is for Xiao Zhuzi to enjoy.”
“And these peach pastries are for him too,” Yang Qingqing quickly added, setting them down as well.
“Oh dear, that won’t do! You’re being too polite—take them back!” Aunt Meihua said anxiously.
“It’s nothing, Aunt Meihua. It’s just a little something for Xiao Zhuzi.”
“Well… alright then. I’ll make sure Xiao Zhuzi remembers your kindness.”
Aunt Meihua closed the front door of the main room and led the two of them toward the end of the village.
“Old Li’s house is at the village’s edge. His legs aren’t good, so he mostly stays home doing carpentry. He has quite a few ready-made cabinets and things—you can take your time choosing later.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
“Oh, don’t keep thanking me—it’s nothing! If you ever need help in the future, just come find me. If I can help, I definitely will.”
“Alright, we’ll remember that,” Yun Ting said playfully.
Along the way, Yun Ting chatted with Aunt Meihua almost the entire time, while Yang Qingqing only spoke occasionally. She was the quiet, cool-beauty type.
Yang Qingqing secretly thought to herself: I never realized Yun Ting was such a social butterfly! She can really talk—her chatter has Aunt Meihua laughing nonstop.
“Meihua, where are you going? Whose daughters are these girls?” a woman asked curiously from her doorway.
“Yinfeng, why haven’t you gone to work yet? These are the educated youths who arrived yesterday. I’m taking them to Old Li’s to get some cabinets.”
In those days, buying and selling could easily be accused of speculation, so people would say “exchange” instead.
“Oh, I thought you were matchmaking again! These two girls are really fresh and pretty…” The woman’s gaze made Yun Ting uncomfortable—it felt like she was inspecting goods.
“Such bad luck running into her,” Aunt Meihua muttered after they walked away. “You two need to be careful around that woman. She has a lazy son whom she spoils terribly. She thinks he’s a treasure. Whenever he sees a pretty girl, he can’t even walk straight. She’ll definitely tell her son about you later. If you can’t handle it, come find me.”
“Alright, we’ll be careful.”
If that man dared to cause trouble, Yun Ting wasn’t someone easy to bully.
Soon they arrived at Old Uncle Li’s house.
With Aunt Meihua’s loud voice, she quickly called someone out.
“Old Li! Xingchun! Are you home?”
“Coming…” A thin woman came out to greet them.
“Meihua, what’s the matter?”
“These two girls came to exchange for cabinets. They’re the educated youths who arrived yesterday—this is Comrade Yang, and this is Comrade Yun.”
“Hello, Auntie,” the two greeted politely.
After chatting along the way, Aunt Meihua had already started calling Yun Ting “Little Comrade Yun” affectionately.
Aunt Xingchun led them inside. Old Uncle Li was working on carpentry.
“Hello, Uncle Li!” Yun Ting greeted him with a bright smile.
Old Uncle Li greeted them and told them to go inside and choose.
The side room was filled with finished furniture—mostly simple everyday items.
The designs were plain and practical, not particularly refined.
They had been smoothed but not painted. Village people didn’t care much about such things, so the durability probably wasn’t the best.
But Yun Ting only needed them until the college entrance exam was restored. For a few years, they would be fine.
She chose a kang cabinet, a small table, two small stools, and a wooden basin to soak her feet in. The enamel basin she had brought could be used for washing her face. Seeing some wooden buckets in the corner, she took two as well.
Yang Qingqing picked almost the same items.
Altogether, the cost was twenty yuan. Aunt Xingchun also gave each of them a handwoven straw mat, perfect for spreading on the kang.
Neither of them had any objections—they thought it was a good deal and paid immediately.
“Auntie, we can’t carry all of this ourselves. Do you have a handcart?” Yun Ting asked.
“If you’re not in a hurry, I’ll have my son deliver it to you after work,” Old Uncle Li said with a smile.
“That would be too much trouble.”
“It’s no trouble—just a quick trip.”
“Then thank you very much.”
As they walked out, Yun Ting lowered her voice and asked Aunt Meihua, “Auntie, does anyone have a spare pot or clay jar? We don’t even have a pot to cook with yet.”
“Oh! Little Comrade Yun, you asked the right person. I have one at home, though it’s a small iron pot with a tiny chip on the rim—not very big. I also have a few clay jars.”
“That’s fine, Auntie. As long as it works. How would you like to exchange it?”
“Well… the pot isn’t new, and I don’t want to take advantage of you. Do you happen to have cloth coupons? Could you exchange two chi of cloth coupons for it?” Aunt Meihua asked somewhat embarrassedly. Cloth coupons were hard to come by—she had been saving for a long time to make clothes for her daughter, but still didn’t have enough.
“Of course, Auntie,” Yun Ting agreed.
When they arrived at Aunt Meihua’s house, she brought out the small iron pot. Although it had a slight chip, it was still usable, and Aunt Meihua had cleaned it thoroughly. At the supply cooperative, you’d need industrial coupons to buy a pot like this, so Yun Ting didn’t think she was losing out.
“Little Comrade Yun, I’ll give you two extra clay jars,” Aunt Meihua said.
“Thank you, Auntie.”
Yang Qingqing took two clay jars and gave Aunt Meihua two yuan.
Feeling embarrassed, Aunt Meihua gave them some cucumbers and long beans she had grown herself.
They couldn’t refuse and had to accept them.
It was still before the end of the workday, so the road was quiet, and they didn’t run into anyone on their way back.
That evening, they planned to eat with the older educated youths. Since they had just arrived, they couldn’t go empty-handed. Besides their own grain, Yun Ting planned to bring a small piece of cured pork—about half a jin. She had bought it earlier at the black market and kept it in her storage space. She didn’t intend to take out too much; otherwise people might think she was an easy target to take advantage of.