They had come to town mainly to buy daily necessities, and Baibai Town wasn’t very large, three hours would be enough to walk around twice.
Grandpa Niu considered that it was their first visit and that some might want to browse or have a meal, so he allowed plenty of time.
Normally, in the village, there was just one trip in the morning and one in the afternoon. If they missed it, they would walk home. Rural people rarely ate in the city.
Besides, they didn’t even have ration tickets.
Ye Cai’e wasn’t familiar with Baibai Town either. In her previous life, she had only come to sell wild vegetables, always sneaking around for fear of being caught and made an example of. She had never known where to buy the better goods.
After getting off the ox cart, everyone scattered to buy things individually.
Ye Cai’e said a quick word to Tong Xin, then left on her own, agreeing to meet back at the cart in two hours.
She only had three ration tickets, which meant she couldn’t buy much. Most things she would have to take from her space.
She wasn’t in a hurry. Everything had been prepared in advance; now, the main purpose was to stroll and get to know the town.
Baibai Town was the largest town under Lianhua City in Hei Province, with more than ten surrounding villages.
Most importantly, Baibai Town had the province’s largest paper mill. This made the town relatively prosperous, with many workers and positions. The mill supplied the entire province and even other provinces, offering relatively good benefits.
At this time, having a family member working at a paper mill meant walking with pride, roughly equal in status to the staff at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Ye Cai’e walked along the streets of this northeastern town, feeling the completely different atmosphere compared to Shanghai, imbued with the characteristics of the era. Her mind felt peaceful.
Large slogans were painted on the city walls everywhere, exuding energy and vitality.
People walking on the streets looked completely different from later generations, faces calm and composed.
It was a weekday during work hours, so the streets weren’t crowded. Ye Cai’e didn’t know her way and noticed that fewer and fewer people were around. She guessed she was heading toward the town’s edge.
Along the way, she passed several factories, all large and imposing, the biggest being the paper mill.
After walking for a long while, she still hadn’t passed the walls of the paper mill.
Having gotten a general sense of the town, Ye Cai’e decided to head back and check out the supply and marketing cooperative to see what they sold and maybe explore the local black market.
She still had a bicycle in her space. Using it in the village had been inconvenient, so it was better to take it out now.
As Ye Cai’e walked back, she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, lost in thought, and didn’t notice a bicycle heading straight toward her.
The man on the bicycle looked panicked, shouting, “Move, move…” with a face full of pain.
Ye Cai’e reacted first, dodging quickly, but the bicycle coincidentally fell right where she had just stood.
The man fell heavily, pointing at her.
Ye Cai’e was about to snap back, thinking he was trying to scam her, but she quickly realized something was wrong. The pain on his face wasn’t from falling—it seemed like immense internal pain, making it hard for him to breathe.
Panicking, Ye Cai’e ignored any thought of being scammed and rushed over. “Comrade, are you okay? Can you speak? Do you have an old condition?”
Seeing that he couldn’t respond properly, Ye Cai’e decisively took out a bottle of fast-acting heart medicine and a bottle of mineral water she had bought from Pinxixi, not even checking the price.
She tore open the water packaging and fed it to the man.
In her previous life, she had been extremely robust, rarely needing medicine.
Now, the only thing she could think of was the life-saving fast-acting heart pills. Whatever his illness, she decided to try. She even attempted CPR, following what she had seen on TV.
Fortunately, she seemed to have guessed correctly. After about a minute, the man’s breathing gradually stabilized, and his previously purple face began to regain color.
Ye Cai’e sat on the ground, drenched in sweat, heart pounding.
“Little comrade, thank you!” the man said once he had recovered enough to sit up. “If not for you today, I’d probably have died here. Are you from Baibai Town?”
Ye Cai’e waved her hand. “It’s nothing. Saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. It’s fate, I’m a sent-down youth who just arrived.”
She paused, then asked, “Big brother, what illness do you have? How did it act up while riding a bicycle? That was terrifying.”
Qu Gui looked shaken. “It’s a congenital problem. I had an urgent matter today, and it triggered. I almost hit you. Are you okay, little comrade?”
“I’m fine. Since you’re alright, I’ll be going!” She stood up and dusted off her clothes.
Qu Gui quickly called after her. “Hey, little comrade, what’s your name? Where did you come for the sent-down youth program? I’m Qu Gui, a paper mill worker living in the workers’ dorm at the west end of Baibai Town. You saved my life today. I can’t thank you enough. At least let me repay the medicine.”
He spoke rapidly, afraid she would leave before hearing him. After all, she had saved his life, and the medicine had worked instantly—unlike previous attacks, which took a long time to recover from.
“Don’t worry about it, big brother. It’s nothing. Call me Lei Feng!”
Ye Cai’e left without taking anything, leaving Qu Gui behind.
She ran two blocks before stopping to catch her breath. Having seen too many modern cases of kidnapping and fraud, she trusted no one.
When out in the world, protecting herself was essential—otherwise, she might end up helping someone count money while being sold.
Having done a good deed, she was in a good mood and casually entered a relatively large supply and marketing cooperative. Inside, several clerks lounged lazily, indifferent to customers.
Only a very young girl smiled at her. “Comrade, what do you need?”
When the girl spoke, the others rolled their eyes.
Ye Cai’e knew that anyone working in a cooperative back then likely had family connections. Unlike modern sales with performance targets, buyers had to beg the cooperative to sell goods, demand exceeded supply.
She had even heard that state-run restaurants often had incidents of staff hitting customers.