The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

The Red Guards had all left, and seeing that nothing much was happening, the onlookers dispersed. Only Bao Ya, Lin Chuxue, and the monkey remained in the courtyard.

Bao Ya stepped forward, raised her hand, and slapped Lin Chuxue across the face.

"You're not allowed to come to my house again, not even if you get caught. Otherwise, even if you escape in the city, I'll find a way to deal with you when you get back to the brigade. Got it?"

Lin Chuxue covered her face, a cold glint in her eyes. She had originally wanted to thank her, but now she didn't need to; they were even.

Lin Chuxue suppressed the turmoil in her heart and nodded. After what had just happened, she felt completely drained, and the back of her clothes was soaked with sweat. She silently picked up the sack from the ground.

"Get out of here, and don't let me see you again!"

Bao Ya said coldly, but Lin Chuxue stood still, her eyes fixed on the two plucked chickens, her lips trembling slightly.

Bao Ya scoffed coldly, "She really is willing to risk her life for money."

"I've done you such a big favor, shouldn't you give me something in return? I've left everything behind, so don't even think about it. If you ever dare to come to my door again, prepare a gift of this standard."

Seeing Bao Ya say that, Lin Chuxue gave up the idea of ​​getting her things back, and cursed Lin Bao Ya in her heart for being heartless. Nothing good ever came of running into her.

The monkey listened to their conversation and roughly understood the reason for today's events, so it didn't intend to say anything more.

After Lin Chuxue left, Bao Ya said to the monkey:

"Monkey, pluck the chicken feathers, chop it into small pieces, and once I've stewed it, I'll share it with your brothers. I want to thank them for today."

The monkey was overjoyed to hear there was chicken to eat; at least today's ordeal wasn't in vain.

"At least you have a conscience; you're not going to take those elm seeds off the ground?"

"Yes, I want to, but I haven't finished yet."

The monkey happily went to pluck the chicken feathers, while Bao Ya collected the remaining elm seeds. Judging from the monkey's expression, he was definitely figuring out how to get his money's worth from her house again.

"Why do you think she keeps coming this way? Are there a lot of people buying things here?"

Monkey also knew about Lin Chuxue's matter. Bao Ya didn't intend to hide it from him and asked him what happened.

Lin Chuxue keeps coming this way; surely it's not all of them coming for her, and besides, she thinks the people here don't lack food.

The meat processing plant's residential compound was originally an urban village. To the east was another village not far away, and the residents here often traded things with them.

Lin Chuxue brought agricultural products, which don't have much of a price advantage here. She could make more money selling them in the factory's residential compound in the city.

"You didn't know? There's an open space near the dairy farm on the east side that's our black market. People started trading there during the famine years. Didn't Jiang Yuan tell you?"

"What? Jiang Yuan knows? You all went there?"

Bao Ya bombarded him with a series of questions, and the monkey immediately shut up. No matter how much she asked him afterward, he refused to say another word about the black market.

Bao Ya had always felt that Jiang Yuan was hiding something from her, and she needed to find an opportunity to ask him properly.

At noon, Monkey's friends each brought a bowl to Bao Ya's house, making a total of twelve people including Monkey.

Bao Ya stewed a big pot of soup, and everyone was able to get a few bites of meat and a bowl of soup. She even shared some of the steamed elm seed rice with them. It was impossible to be full, but being able to eat chicken was already a great privilege.

Knowing that there was a black market nearby, Bao Ya didn't rush to ask Jiang Yuan. Instead, she observed his words and actions every day to see when he would go to the black market.

After observing for a few days, it seemed that Jiang Yuan simply went to get off work and left work on time every day, and had no time to go to the black market at all. However, his family never lacked anything.

If she ran out of meat at home, she could tell him, and he would bring back two pounds of meat the next day. If she wanted to make clothes, he would bring back fabric every few days. And brown sugar, white sugar—whatever she needed, he could get it for her even if they didn't have the ration coupons.

This is where the flaw appears. He hands over his entire salary to himself, so where does the money for those things come from? And aren't the cigarettes he smokes a bit too expensive?

Bao Ya stood at the base of the wall, watching Jiang Yuan walk home with a cigarette in his mouth and his tail wagging. When he was almost up to her, she suddenly stood up, startling Jiang Yuan.

When Jiang Yuan saw it was her, he immediately straightened his chest, shrugged his shoulders, and put on a smiling face.

"Wife~"

"snort!"

With a snort, Bao Ya turned and left without even glancing at him.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Yuan was a little confused. What was wrong with his wife? He didn't seem to have done anything wrong.

No sooner had Bao Ya arrived home than Jiang Yuan followed her up, wanting to ask who had upset her that day.

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Bao Ya spoke first:

"Where's the money?"

"What?"

Jiang Yuan was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding what his wife meant.

"Where did you hide the money?"

Bao Ya tilted her head back, stood on tiptoe, and hooked her arms around the man's neck, asking with a forced smile. "Damn height difference," Bao Ya couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Seeing that his wife wasn't angry, Jiang Yuan felt half relieved.

"I don't know, why don't you look for it?"

"Okay, sure."

Bao Ya loosened her grip on his neck and reached down with both hands.

The man's lips curled slightly, his head held high, his arms outstretched, looking like he was asking for a beating.

It was obvious he was thinking the wrong thing, so I ignored him and continued to feel down. I squeezed the two pockets on my chest, but there was nothing inside.

Continuing downwards, I squeezed the inner pocket at the rib area several times, but there was nothing there.

Then, looking down at the two pockets on the bottom of the jacket, it was still empty. Did they not put it on their person?

Undeterred, she continued to touch downwards.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan couldn't stop smiling; he was practically beaming. He knew his wife could be quite proactive sometimes, and he enjoyed that feeling. He wondered what tricks she wanted to play today, since she was already thinking about him before it was even dark. He felt like he could jump into battle at any moment.

Thinking this, his breathing became heavy.

Bao Ya ignored him and continued searching. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and a box of matches from her right pocket, and four yuan and fifty cents from her left pocket.

Jiang Yuan glanced at the things in Bao Ya's hands, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at his wife with a playful expression: "Found them? Here, take them all."

His tone was ambiguous, and he leaned his head over, his breath hot on Bao Ya's neck.

Bao Ya gently pushed him away, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, put it in his mouth, and then lit it for him with a match.

He raised his head and asked fiercely, "Where did you hide the money? Tell me the truth."

Jiang Yuan frowned slightly, then looked at his wife more closely. Was she really looking for something? Or was she playing some new trick?

"Do I need to explain further? I'm asking you where you hid the money you made on the black market?"

Jiang Yuan's expression froze for a moment, then his eyes darted away, as if he wanted to change the subject.

Bao Ya waved the cigarette pack in her hand in front of him:

"A pack of Zhonghua cigarettes costs 8 cents, and a carton of cigarettes costs 8 yuan. You can smoke about two cartons a month, not counting cigarette coupons, which is 16 yuan."

Your monthly salary is 35 yuan. You give me 30 yuan and keep 5 yuan for yourself. It's the end of the month now, and you'll get paid tomorrow. You'll have 4.5 yuan left in your pocket.

Bao Ya then showed him the money she had found in his pocket.