When Mother Yi and Father Yi came over for dinner, the expressions on their faces clearly showed distress.
The third son’s family was being a bit extravagant—meat and fish every single day, with no thought of saving.
But the third son’s wife had a hard life. She was raising three children alone, Yi Yang was gone, and she was still breastfeeding. If she could eat something good, then so be it. Besides, they wouldn’t go bankrupt from it. The two old people could still help out a little now and then.
During the meal, when they heard Li Tingyun mention that she would be going to the county town again the day after tomorrow, Mother Yi agreed immediately without hesitation.
“Alright,” Mother Yi said. “If you want to go, then go. I’ll take good care of my precious grandchildren.”
After Father Yi and Mother Yi left, Li Tingyun spent the day as usual with the children.
Bathing them, reading storybooks, making delicious food for them.
She thought to herself that Third Treasure was almost seven months old now, so he should probably be able to start eating some supplementary foods.
Once she returned from this trip to the county, she would begin making some baby food for him.
On the day she was going to the county town, Li Tingyun woke up even earlier than last time.
Her agreed trading time with the black-market contact was around eleven in the morning, but she worried that going there alone might expose the secret of her space. So she planned to arrive earlier.
Not long after she finished washing up and getting ready, Mother Yi arrived.
Since Li Tingyun needed to leave earlier today, it made sense for her to wake up early.
But she hadn’t expected Mother Yi to come this early too. She asked in surprise, “Mother, why did you come so early today?”
Mother Yi smiled. “The other day, you said you still had things to do in the county. You seemed in a hurry. I’m old and don’t need much sleep anymore, so I thought I’d come over earlier.”
Then she smiled again and asked, “I didn’t delay you, did I?”
“Not at all,” Li Tingyun quickly shook her head. “I was just about to leave. I just didn’t expect you to come so early today.”
After chatting for a few more moments, Li Tingyun said, “Mother, I put the grain in the kitchen cabinet. Cook whatever you want and make enough for Dabao and Second Treasure too.”
After Li Tingyun left, Mother Yi first went into the room to check on the children. They were all still asleep.
Then she went into the kitchen and opened the cabinet.
Good heavens!
Had the third son’s wife moved the entire grain store from town into this house?
The cabinet had several shelves. The bottom shelf was full of polished white rice. The middle shelf contained white flour and noodles. The top shelf held dried tofu, pickled vegetables, and similar foods.
According to the third son’s wife, the meat was kept fresh in the well water because the weather was hot and she worried it would spoil if left in the cabinet.
With this much refined grain, there must be quite a bit of pork too, right?
Mother Yi closed the cabinet door and went over to the well. She pulled up the rope tied to the bucket.
The bucket was completely empty.
It looked nothing like the image she’d imagined of a bucket full of pork.
So the third son’s family didn’t actually have meat to eat? Then why had the third son’s wife claimed they did? Was she just trying to stop the old couple from worrying?
The third son’s household clearly wasn’t lacking vegetables, rice, or flour, but they had no meat. If she hadn’t brought over an old hen yesterday, the family probably wouldn’t even have had meat to eat today.
A woman raising three children alone really was having a hard time. It seemed she ought to help the third son’s wife more often.
Li Tingyun really had said she stored meat in the well to keep it fresh, but she never expected Mother Yi to actually check.
Keeping meat in well water naturally couldn’t compare to storing it in the refrigerator inside the little villa in her space. The well had only been an excuse. In reality, she stored all her meat inside her space.
She wasn’t lacking meat at all. Riding her electric scooter toward the county town, Li Tingyun had no idea that in Mother Yi’s eyes, she and the children had become pitiful people who couldn’t even afford meat.
To get there faster, Li Tingyun once again chose to ride the electric scooter to the county.
She had left even earlier today, so she wasn’t worried about being seen.
Still, she needed to stay cautious. When she reached a place not far from the county town, she stored the scooter back into her space and walked the rest of the way on foot to the meeting spot.
The place she’d arranged to meet the young man surnamed Wu was a small wooded area on the other side of the county town. Few people came here, making it easier to avoid attention.
There was still plenty of time before the agreed meeting hour, so Li Tingyun found a smooth large rock and sat down to rest.
Remembering that she had skipped breakfast in order to hurry here, she took out a char siu bun, a pumpkin cake, and a cup of soy milk from her space and ate them.
In the future, a traditional courtyard house in the capital would be worth an enormous amount of money. But right now, even filling one’s stomach was difficult, let alone buying courtyards.
She thought happily to herself that if she earned plenty of money now and bought several courtyard houses in the most prosperous parts of the capital, then when she grew old she could drink tea, raise fish, collect rent, and live off the supplies in her space.
That kind of life would truly be paradise.
Feeling pleased with herself, Li Tingyun casually tossed the breakfast trash back into her space.
Checking the time, she figured it was almost time for Xiao Wu to arrive.
With a single thought, the supplies she planned to trade with Xiao Wu appeared neatly stacked in the clearing of the woods.
She didn’t own a scale, nor did her space contain one, so she wasn’t sure whether the quantities were exact.
Li Tingyun estimated roughly and added a little extra. Since Xiao Wu wanted this much goods anyway, he probably wouldn’t mind a little surplus.
Just as the time approached, she suddenly remembered something extremely important.
She hurried into her space and disguised herself as a middle-aged man.
If Xiao Wu discovered that the person who had traded with him last time was actually a woman, it would probably complicate future dealings.
It was safer to appear as a man.
Not long after finishing her disguise, she heard voices approaching.
Perhaps because this shipment was especially large, Xiao Wu had brought quite a few people with him.
Seeing so many people still made Li Tingyun uneasy.
She was socially anxious, and being surrounded by a crowd genuinely frightened her.
But her current persona was that of a taciturn man. If she acted strangely, people might become suspicious, so she forced herself to endure the discomfort.
Fortunately, the people Xiao Wu brought seemed to be there only to carry goods, not to cause trouble.
The moment they arrived, they immediately noticed the highly conspicuous mountain of supplies stacked neatly in the clearing, beside which sat a short, chubby man hunched on top of a large rock.
It was the same short, stout man who had traded with him a few days ago.
“Big Brother,” Xiao Wu greeted with a smile as he stepped forward, pointing at the pile of goods. “Is everything here?”
Li Tingyun nodded. Tilting her chin toward the goods, she said, “Count it and see if the quantity is correct.”
With a wave of Xiao Wu’s hand, the two young men behind him immediately stepped forward and began checking the shipment.
While waiting for the count, Xiao Wu smiled and handed Li Tingyun a cigarette, thoughtfully flicking open a lighter for him as well.