Qin Yu’e suddenly slammed the cup onto the table and glared furiously at Huo Guangji.
Huo Guangji froze.
What was wrong with this woman now?! Why had she suddenly gotten angry again?
Then he heard Qin Yu’e coldly say through gritted teeth:
“If Captain Huo has nothing else to say, then you can leave! I’ll figure out how to raise my own children myself! And if Captain Huo truly thinks he’s their father, then pay the child support first!”
…
Huo Guangji’s lips tightened into a straight line.
His pockets were completely empty. For the first time, he even regretted not withdrawing some of his wages earlier.
This woman really was obsessed with money—her whole heart seemed filled with nothing but cash!
“I don’t have any money on me right now.”
After tossing out that sentence, he no longer wanted to stay. He turned and walked out.
Qin Yu’e glared at his retreating back, seething with anger.
Sure enough, he was a complete scumbag. When it came to fighting over the children, he was eager as anyone, but the moment he had to pay money, he played dead!
Over the next several days, Huo Guangji never showed up again, and Qin Yu’e was more than happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Every day she brought the children to help out at the cafeteria. Even when he came to eat, she rarely saw him.
She divided the duck eggs she’d collected into two batches. One batch contained eggs that were close to hatching, while the other batch consisted of infertile eggs.
Qin Yu’e didn’t keep anything for herself. She brought all the duck eggs straight to the cafeteria.
Zou Zhengping, the deputy cafeteria director, was grinning from ear to ear.
“Xiao Qin, where did you get so many duck eggs?! If we bought these from the villagers, they’d be worth several yuan at least! This has to be over five jin!”
Qin Yu’e had gathered eggs all along the riverside, so naturally she’d collected several jin worth.
And these were only the infertile eggs. Counting the ones she was incubating, there were at least another two jin.
“Deputy Director Zou, everyone in the army has treated me and the children so well these past few days. Let these duck eggs count as a small contribution from me to the troops. Why don’t we add an extra dish for the soldiers at lunch today? I also caught some tiny shrimp from the creek and preserved them with salt. We could make shrimp paste scrambled duck eggs—what do you think?”
Zou Zhengping looked so delighted he was practically glowing.
“Of course that’s wonderful! But we can’t just take your things for free, Xiao Qin. It’s not easy raising children by yourself. I’ll go to logistics and have this reimbursed through official accounts. Whatever it’s worth, you’ll be paid properly. We can’t let you suffer a loss!”
As he spoke, he already started walking toward logistics, impossible to stop.
“Deputy Director Zou, wait! I don’t want the money, but I do have something I’d like to ask of you!”
Qin Yu’e quickly stopped him.
She’d gone through so much effort collecting these duck eggs. She certainly wasn’t doing it for a one-time deal—that would be a terrible loss.
What she wanted was a long-term business.
When Zou Zhengping heard this, he assumed she’d run into some kind of difficulty again and immediately stopped walking.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Qin? Are you having trouble? Do the children not have enough clothes, or enough food?”
Qin Yu’e shook her head.
“The army has already treated us mother and children very well. We can’t keep taking advantage of the troops forever. Although logistics gave us meal tickets, I know the children and I will eventually leave the camp one day, so… I’d like to make a business deal with you, Deputy Director Zou.”
“A business deal?”
The words completely stunned Zou Zhengping.
Still, he wasn’t bothered by what she said. These days everyone wanted to earn money, and Qin Yu’e speaking about it so openly instead made her seem straightforward and honest.
After all, in a cafeteria position with so much food passing through, it would’ve been easy enough to secretly skim a little for herself if she’d wanted to.
Zou Zhengping stopped walking and smiled warmly.
“Then tell me, Comrade Xiao Qin. What kind of business do you want to make with me?”
“I collected quite a few eggs that are close to hatching this time. To be honest, seven or eight ducklings already hatched this morning. I was thinking… our troops haven’t developed any poultry farming yet. If I could raise ducks, then in the future the troops wouldn’t need to go down the mountain to buy duck eggs or duck meat from the villagers anymore. It’s just… raising ducks might not quite fit with the larger communist policies, so I figured I should ask the leadership for approval first.”
Even as she spoke, she still felt somewhat nervous.
Although after several days of interaction Qin Yu’e felt Zou Zhengping wasn’t the kind of rigid ideologue who shouted socialist slogans nonstop, the atmosphere outside was still very strict.
If a household raised even a couple extra chickens or ducks, they might be accused of exploiting socialism. If the accusations became serious enough, people could even go to jail.
So from the very beginning, she had no intention of hiding this matter. Instead, she wanted to put everything openly on the table and ask the leadership first. As long as they approved, she’d be able to stay in the camp openly and honestly.
After hearing her explanation, Zou Zhengping immediately slapped his thigh and burst out laughing.
Pointing at Qin Yu’e, he laughed so hard he could barely speak.
“You really are something, Xiao Qin! You’re still so young, but the way you talk sounds like some old scholar! Didn’t the Great Leader already say that leadership must think flexibly and analyze specific situations specifically? Rules may be dead, but people are alive! The Great Leader supports innovation and self-production among young people. How could what you’re doing possibly count as making a mistake?”
At that point, he simply waved his hand decisively.
“How about this—I’ll go speak with Company Commander Liu and have him personally approve it for you! From now on, improving the troops’ meals will be your responsibility, Xiao Qin!”
Qin Yu’e’s eyes lit up instantly at his words, and she nearly screamed from excitement on the spot.
But with soldiers all around waiting for food, she held herself back and instead smiled brightly.
“Then thank you very much, Deputy Director Zou!”
Just like that, Qin Yu’e’s duck-raising business within the camp was officially settled.
Fully grown ducks would be sold to the troops according to procurement standards, at two yuan and five jiao per duck.
Duck eggs would be sold slightly cheaper than the state supply stores, at around fifty-something cents per jin.
But in this remote mountain wilderness, being able to earn this kind of income was already more than enough for Qin Yu’e.
After Liu Shutong learned about Qin Yu’e’s plan to raise wild ducks, he directly allocated a small empty patch of land behind the guesthouse specifically for her use.
He even assigned several soldiers to help build fencing around the area and install feeding troughs inside to prevent the ducks from wandering off.
From that day onward, Qin Yu’e treated the newly hatched ducklings like the apples of her eyes, caring for them tirelessly from dawn till dusk every single day.
The two little children at home also adored the fluffy ducklings.
Little Zhu Yue especially insisted on seeing the ducklings the moment she woke up every morning. She even followed the adults down to the riverside to catch insects, gather grass seeds, and dig up tiny fish and shrimp to feed them, terrified the ducklings might not grow well.
There was already a hint of “children from poor families growing up early” about her.