With her attention focused on the child, Ning Xuan only realized after the transaction was completed that Wang Er Ya hadn't traded with copper coins today, but rather with two hair accessories instead.
One was a white jade hairpin with an exceptionally smooth texture. Although Ning Xuan knew little about jade, she could tell that even if this piece wasn't top-grade, it was certainly of superior quality.
The other was a kingfisher feather butterfly hairpin, exquisitely crafted with an incredibly lifelike butterfly whose wings trembled slightly with the slightest movement – the craftsmanship was truly extraordinary.
Considering Wang Er Ya had encountered bandits earlier yet emerged unscathed, Ning Xuan could guess how these hair accessories had come into her possession.
These two items would likely be quite valuable in the modern dimension.
Just as she was worrying about having little left to trade with Lin Yuhan, these two particularly valuable items appeared. Actually, regarding the Great Strength Pill traded today, although she had exchanged it for novels that cost her almost nothing, the other party didn't know that, so essentially neither side was at a disadvantage.
However, Ning Xuan felt she had been troubling Lin Yuhan quite a bit and wanted to let her earn more money. While the Great Strength Pill was valuable, its monetary value couldn't be immediately realized.
Therefore, Ning Xuan decided to trade the kingfisher feather hairpin to Lin Yuhan first, allowing her to make more money. This would actually benefit Ning Xuan as well – the wealthier her trading partner was, the more confidently she could purchase items for her.
Lin Yuhan had just finished digesting the Great Strength Pill she took earlier. She had gone to the gym near her residential compound and spent over half an hour practicing boxing to release the excess energy.
Then she saw the hairpin photos sent by Ning Xuan – they were absolutely beautiful and appeared to be valuable antiques.
Lin Yuhan thought happily about the incoming money.
The two then discussed their respective needs. Recently, Ning Xuan mainly required food, as she had no immediate use for too many other items anyway.
Because Ning Xuan's appetite had grown significantly lately, Lin Yuhan basically traded food to her daily. Of course, Ning Xuan couldn't finish all of it immediately, so she stored the excess.
Coincidentally, Lin Yuhan also felt hungry after her workout, so she went directly to a restaurant to order food.
Now that she had money, Lin Yuhan didn't hesitate to treat herself well when it came to food. She had progressed from frequently eating plain boiled noodles at home to regularly dining out, even daring to visit restaurants where a single meal could easily cost several hundred yuan.
With the Trading System, Lin Yuhan would order numerous dishes each time. She carefully used serving chopsticks to separate her portion first, then packaged the remainder for Ning Xuan.
This time, however, Lin Yuhan discovered her appetite had increased dramatically. She finished her portion of three dishes, one soup, and a small bucket of rice completely, then had to order two additional dishes and another staple food before feeling full. Consequently, she could only order two more portions with extra rice to pack for Ning Xuan.
Of course, not all the food came from restaurants. Since Ning Xuan specifically requested prepared foods for her extra meals, Lin Yuhan would also cook at home and package the food for her.
In addition to main dishes, Lin Yuhan bought desserts, milk tea, and other snacks – a large quantity of food that she packed into boxes as usual before trading everything to Ning Xuan.
Meanwhile, at Ning Xuan's end, the weather was gradually turning colder and there was less work in the fields. Work assignments became less strict, allowing those with sufficient family labor to choose whether to work, while the educated youth at the Educated Youth Center could take breaks every few days.
Then one day, the brigade leader notified the Educated Youth that the brigade was reopening literacy classes and asked them to arrange people to be responsible for teaching, with Work Points as compensation.
Ning Xuan and Xu Jiajia didn't want to go, afraid they couldn't manage it properly, so they declined.
In the end, two male Educated Youth took turns teaching: one was Liu Jun, whom Ning Xuan was quite familiar with, and the other was Zhou Jiahe, whom she had less contact with. Zhou Jiahe had been He Yuting's backup option after Li Ming, but he had a poor impression of He Yuting and never gave her a chance.
Although Ning Xuan didn't teach the literacy classes, since Zhao Yulian was in the Educated Youth Compound and knew the situation well, she would chat with Ning Xuan when she came to visit.
"The villagers in the literacy classes—some are enthusiastic, while others feel they don't need to learn so much and that it's useless. It's noisy and lively every day, and the scene is really hard to control. But later, Liu Jun and the others told them that if they didn't study properly, they might miscalculate their own Work Points or fail to notice when they were shortchanged while shopping. They shared several stories about people who couldn't read or do math, and that made the indifferent ones take it more seriously."
Then Zhao Yulian suddenly lowered her voice and said to Ning Xuan, "I heard that the teachers for this literacy class have a great chance of becoming elementary school teachers. It seems like a missed opportunity for those who didn't take the teaching role~"
Ning Xuan was curious how she knew this, but she didn't really care. Her current work was quite relaxed, and she had no desire to become a teacher. Although teaching is an honorable profession, she didn't want to mislead students.
"Anyway, I don't want to be a teacher. I'm afraid I wouldn't teach well and couldn't handle mischievous children," Ning Xuan said frankly.
Zhao Yulian was surprised that anyone would prefer manual labor over teaching. "But teachers get a salary and don't have to work in the fields. Fieldwork is really exhausting. If I had the chance, I'd still rather be a teacher."
Ning Xuan understood and wished her dream would come true.
"Ah, since several of you moved out, the women's dormitory has become so quiet. I can't get along with He Yuting, so I moved in with Qingqing, but it's still much lonelier."
Qingqing also came out to visit, but she went to Huang Xiaomei's place next door. The two came out together and only parted at their courtyard gates. Later, when it was time to go back, they called out to each other and returned together. Although it was very close to the Educated Youth Compound, they still preferred to go out in pairs.
"But let me tell you, He Yuting is probably going to get married soon," Zhao Yulian said with a sigh, then suddenly became mysterious.
Ning Xuan was curious, "Really? Who is she seeing?"
"It's probably the Scorekeeper's youngest son. There were signs a long time ago, but only recently have the two been more open about it. When we went to the Commune earlier, we saw them walking together. It's pretty much settled," Zhao Yulian recalled, feeling that the Scorekeeper's son was more enthusiastic about He Yuting.
Actually, at first, He Yuting didn't want to marry into the village, so she ignored the advances of the Scorekeeper's son, Zhou Weimin. But Zhou Weimin didn't give up—he genuinely liked He Yuting and persisted.
After the previous outburst, everyone at the Educated Youth Center knew He Yuting's dark history and true personality. Feeling hopeless about finding a partner among the Educated Youth, she finally decided to accept Zhou Weimin, who had always shown her kindness.
Moreover, Zhou Weimin had promised that once she married him and became part of the family, his father—being the Scorekeeper—would surely find ways to assign her lighter tasks. When she became pregnant and had to care for the child, she wouldn't need to work in the fields anymore. His parents had long been looking forward to a grandson, and she would be considered a great contributor when the time came.
In short, He Yuting was moved by the picture of married life he painted. She truly felt she couldn't hold on much longer.
In fact, if Xu Jiajia and the others hadn't arrived, without anyone to compare herself to, He Yuting might have been able to endure a while longer. But Xu Jiajia's better financial situation and popularity made He Yuting's mindset begin to falter. She increasingly found her current life unbearable and wanted to find a partner to share the burden, hoping it would make things easier for her.