News from Taiwan

Chapter 23 The Rice Claim Dispute
Not long after, things suddenly changed.

Shen Xiangyun clutched the thin ration coupon tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.

"Mom, you haven't been feeling well these past few days, why don't I go instead?" Jiang Wumei had just filled the thermos with water and hadn't even started preparing breakfast when she heard the noise.

Turning around, I saw her mother, pale-faced, struggling to get out of the house.

"It's okay, just stay home."

Shen Xiangyun gave a pale, weak smile, slightly reassuring. She wore a pair of gloves, the ones that used to be trimmed with lace were now worn through, and her exposed fingertips were red from the cold, trembling slightly in the wind.

"Mom, why are you wearing lace gloves? It's so cold. I'll go get you some sheepskin gloves." Jiang Wumei couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Shen Xiangyun stopped her, "Listen to me, only by taking this will no one make things difficult for us later."

Hearing this, Jiang Wumei felt a surge of anger.

She watched as her mother, dressed in a rather inadequate coat and cotton trousers, her hair tied up and wrapped in a cloth, with only her shoes remaining relatively clean, went out carrying a cloth bag. Even in such ordinary attire, her aloof and elegant demeanor was undeniable.

Jiang Wumei was heartbroken. How did her mother become like this? It was all because of those people!

Sitting in the warm house, I felt guilty thinking about my mother outside in the cold wind. She was out in the cold wind, so what right did she have to stay in the house burning coal for warmth?

After thinking for a moment, she locked the door and followed them out, knowing where to collect the rice.

"Hurry up and take it, there are others waiting, don't delay things!" The people in charge of distributing the rice impatiently knocked on the tin buckets one by one, their movements of scooping rice deliberately rude.

This is the only time of the month when they can live like human beings.

Looking at the long queue ahead, people who are usually completely out of reach are now all queuing up.

If someone doesn't like you, the rice you get will definitely be shaken several times.

Shen Xiangyun quietly queued in the crowd. Some of the people she knew nodded silently as a way of greeting her.

If everyone has managed to get rice, it means that the family is already struggling to make ends meet and their living conditions are quite poor. People who usually dress smartly are only showing their true colors at this time.

Perhaps they felt that as long as they didn't greet each other or say anything, it meant they hadn't met before.

When it was Shen Xiangyun's turn, it was time for a shift change. When she saw the person wearing an armband, Shen Xiangyun's heart sank, but her expression remained unchanged.

Zhang Qian looked at Shen Xiangyun and sneered, "Oh, isn't this our Miss Shen?" She deliberately emphasized the last three words, drawing out the last syllable.

Even a fool could tell that his tone was very unpleasant.

Shen Xiangyun merely glanced at her indifferently, her tone calm, "Comrade Zhang."

Zhang Qian felt hurt by Shen Xiangyun's words; she had deliberately greeted her, wanting to show off her superiority and let this capitalist's daughter see how well she was doing.

I used to act superior to her, but now I still have to take things from her.

"Can you hurry up? Can't you see we're all in line?" Someone said when Zhang Qian stood there for a long time without moving or speaking.

It's so cold outside, nobody wants to suffer from the cold, and it's always better to leave early.

"What's the rush? If you're in such a hurry, why don't you just leave? What are you waiting in line for?"

As Zhang Qian said this, she also started working. The wooden spoon could clearly be filled to the brim, but she deliberately tilted it and shook it, causing the white rice grains to fall down. In the end, much less rice, at least a third of the amount, ended up in Shen Xiangyun's bag.

"Ahem, Comrade Zhang, are you trembling because you haven't eaten enough?" Shen Xiangyun coughed lightly, her voice weak, her face flushed an unnatural red. "Give it to you? A capitalist's daughter dares to complain about not having enough?" Zhang Qian glared at her, spittle almost splashing onto her face. "Get out of here."

Shen Xiangyun remained motionless. "Comrade Zhang, that's not how it works. If you don't make it up to me, I'm going to take this bag of rice and report you."

If it's only a little less, that's fine, but losing as much as a third is unacceptable.

"That's right, I saw your hands shaking just now. If you're not full, eat before you come."

"Yeah, you shook off a little over half, how much was it anyway?"

"that is!"

The crowd began to whisper.

Zhang Qian's face flushed red, and her gaze towards Shen Xiangyun was filled with venom.

"Pour the rice out of the rice bag and I'll refill it for you."

Shen Xiangyun silently complied.

This time, Zhang Qian's hands didn't dare to shake at all when she was filling the rice container.

"Thank you, Comrade Zhang," Shen Xiangyun said calmly.

She turned and left, walking across a street corner. She stumbled, grabbed the wall to steady herself, and the rice bag in her hand loosened, spilling some rice.

She looked down at the dirty rice grains on the ground and suddenly remembered how the rice jar at home was piled high when she was a child. Back then, she would even dislike rice grains that weren't properly pressed in the bowl and wouldn't eat them if they didn't look right. But now, she had to bend down and pick up even these bits of rice mixed with mud and water.

The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, seeped into her thin coat, making her shiver.

Her squatting movements to pick up rice were slow; her slightly frozen fingers were difficult to bend, so she could only press each grain onto her fingertips and stick it together.

When Jiang Wumei arrived, this was the scene she saw. "Mom! Get up quickly, we don't need these."

"It's okay to pick it up. Just wash it more often when you cook rice. It's not dirty."

"Mom, your hands are all red from the cold. We don't need it. We're not short of rice."

As soon as Jiang Wumei finished speaking, Shen Xiangyun covered her mouth tightly, her face extremely ugly.

She looked around to make sure no one was watching before lowering her voice and saying, "Don't talk nonsense."

Jiang Wumei's eyes flickered, and she lowered her head. "Mom, that's not what I meant. Please don't touch me."

She quickly gathered the fallen rice and put it into a bag, but hesitated for a moment when she looked at the rice grains still stuck in the dirt in her hand.

"Wu Mei."

Shen Xiangyun quietly reminded her.

Jiang Wumei reluctantly let go, watching the rice grains slip through her fingers and fall into the rice bag, quickly mixing with the originally clean rice. She quickly tied the rice bag with the rope, stood up, and hugged it to her arms.

Shen Xiangyun wanted to help carry them, but was avoided, with the excuse that she could carry them all by herself.

As the two hurried home, they didn't notice that a head suddenly poked out from the wall where they had been crouching, silently watching the direction they had left in for a long time, seemingly plotting something.

(End of this chapter)