After eating a delicious chicken stew, Wen Qing took Wang Da Chuan to the back of the mountain to search for treasures.
The Wang Family Col was surrounded by mountains. Because of the so-called eat from the mountain if you live by the mountain, the villagers often went to the mountain to hunt for the treasures. Nowadays, not getting enough to eat was normal. Some people were so hungry they could chew on grass, so all the things inside the mountain had almost been swept clean.
Wang Da Chuan felt that his sister had hit a jackpot that she could catch two things this morning, and this time they probably wouldn't have such good luck. However, they saw a big fat rabbit as soon as they arrived on the mountain. Moreover, the rabbit was so stupid that it did not run away when it saw people. Wang Da Chuan pounced on it and caught it.
Wang Da Chuan excitedly held up the rabbit, "Jie, I caught a rabbit!"
"Hush, keep your voice down, don't let people hear.” Wen Qing was not afraid of being found out then having to give the rabbit to them but she was afraid of people who became green-eyed once they found out. Because their village was being closed off, the regulation of the hunt was not very strict. For little animals like rabbits or pheasants, they would belong to whoever caught them, and the chief would also close one eye. On the other hand, large animals like wild boars must be handed in.
Wang Da Chuan also realized that he was too excited just now, so he hurriedly lowered his voice. "Jie, this rabbit is really stupid, it did not even hide when it saw us coming. Otherwise, with how fast it runs, it will not be easy to catch."
Isn't it a silly rabbit? She had bought a few more artificial rabbits from Taobao on purpose this morning and put them here as cover. But her mouth said, "Maybe it becomes dumb from hunger."
Wang Da Chuan was convinced. People couldn't get enough to eat these days, let alone this little thing. Wang Da Chuan was immersed in the joy of his harvest and subconsciously ignored how the rabbit was fat and big, not looking like it was starving at all.
It might be that their luck had come and they couldn't block it. In one afternoon, Wang Da Chuan had caught three rabbits and two pheasants, so he was very happy. He was running back excitedly while carrying a pile of things, ready to free up his hands to continue to work again!
Wen Qing slowly followed from the back. Was it easy for her to make the things she bought from Taobao appear?
This time, there was meat. Wen Qing simply cut the remaining Chinese cabbage in half, mixed it with rabbit meat, and chopped it into dumpling filling.
When scooping flour from the flour bag, Wen Qing smoothly added another two jins to it. When she dragged grain from Li's house yesterday, she deliberately dragged a bag of wheat, because this was the most expensive. The Wang family also only had this one bag of fine grains. The rest were sweet potatoes, corn, and such.
Yesterday, when she’d gone to the village to exchange the flour, the aunt relentlessly persuaded her to exchange all the grains to coarse grains, but she declined. Anyway, no matter what she got, she would secretly replenish them from Taobao. Naturally, she would choose the better options! Moreover, corn was more expensive than flour on Taobao!
Wen Qing was cooking the dumplings when Wang Da Chuan returned. This time, he only caught a rabbit and there was some regret in his expression. Wen Qing smiled. "It's enough, come eat quickly. The mountain has been cleaned up long ago, it's already good enough to find these. I guess these are also because of the busy farming period and because fewer people go to the mountains."
"I also know it is great luck, but somehow I always think that there might be more?" Wang Da Chuan scratched his head and laughed.
Wen Qing picked up a bowl of dumplings and handed it to him. "All right, eat ba. Tidy up the remaining rabbit and pheasant after you finish eating, we'll make them into bacon," she said, before lowering her voice and leaned into Wang Da Chuan's ear and whispered, "Let's sell this meat to the city."
Private trading was an act of profiteering and you'll be beaten like a bad egg if caught. However, Wang Da Chuan did not know about this profiteering at the moment. He only felt that Wen Qing lowering her voice to him just meant that it was an important thing, so he also followed along and whispered, "I'll listen to Jie."
Although Wang Da Chuan was the same age as the original owner, the original owner was the big sister who had yielded to him and protected him since young. Therefore, Wang Da Chuan trusted her very much. Especially after Wen Qing transmigrated over, she had a more convincing aura. If she said to sell it, Wang Da Chuan would not object at all. Because he knew what his big sister did was for their good.
The two of them ate a delicious meal of meat dumplings, then took out the remaining four rabbits and two chickens, rubbed salt on them, and hung them up to dry.
"Jie, the road to the city is so far away, how are you going to get there?"
"I won't go from Lijia Village, I'll go from the back of our house, over three mountains to reach the main road, then hitch a ride there. It's closer." Lijia Village was the closest village to the Wang Family Col* and it took more than two hours by foot. After arriving at Lijia Village, the road would be smoother, because people who wanted to go to the city had to pass Lijia Village.
Wen Qing was talking about taking a shortcut, but the difficulty factor for crossing the mountains was not small.
*T/N: The house where Wen Qing and Da Chuan live is on the foot of the mountain. The raws says 王家坳 (wang jia ao), which literary means “Wang Family Col” or the Wang Family that was located in the depression between mountains.
Once Wang Da Chuan heard of it, he disagreed. "No way, it's too dangerous for you to go alone, what if something happens?"
Wen Qing smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve been running in the mountains since I was a child. Other people might feel it's dangerous, but isn't it just like a flat ground for us? Besides, if I went from Lijia Village, I have to get an explanation letter from the chief. We definitely can't let people know that we are selling things. I'll go from this side secretly and come back after selling it quietly in the city. I'll be able to make a round trip in one day."
Wen Qing tried every way possible to reason and persuade Wang Da Chuan. After all, he was still a child and wet behind the ears, easy to fool.
Early the next morning, Wen Qing went on the road with more than twenty jins of meat. After crossing the first mountain, she took the things to Taobao's storage compartment and walked the mountain road empty-handed. Although there was a lot less burden, crossing three mountains was not an easy task.
Fortunately, she could buy things on Taobao to replenish her strength at any time. It took nearly two hours before she got to the main road. No wonder few people entered the city from this side even though it was obviously closer. Walking on flat ground was naturally much easier than climbing the mountain!
Wen Qing was lucky. Just when she got to the side of the road, a tractor came over. Seeing a child standing on the side of the road, they took the initiative to ask if she wanted to get a ride.
There was a two-wheeled handcart hanging behind the tractor, which was full of people. As soon as Wen Qing got up, they rushed to ask her what she was going to do in the city.
"My Didi is sick, I'm going to town to buy medicine." Wen Qing lowered her head as if she was shy.
Some people asked her where the elders in her family were. Wen Qing said their parents were both gone. So everyone stopped asking, looking at her with eyes full of pity.
Wen Qing pretended not to see and separated from them when she entered the city. She found a hidden alley, took out the bacon, and secretly searched for buyers.
Now was not the New Year nor some festival, so the amount of meat supply from the marketing cooperative* was very pitiful. Even if they had money, they were not able to buy it! Therefore, Wen Qing's 20 jins of bacon soon sold out. After selling the meat, she bought some dried noodles and eggs from Taobao. These fine grains were so popular. In the end, Wen Qing exchanged for a total of more than twenty yuan and a pile of colorful bills.
*T/N: 中华全国供销合作总社 (All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives), abbr. 供销社 (gong xiao she) is a National Supply and Marketing Cooperatives jointly organized by the country in the planned economy era. At that time, the government was responsible for controlling, organizing, and distributing agricultural products from rural and urban areas. Therefore, they can only sell it in the marketing cooperative stores and private trading is not allowed.
She went to the marketing cooperative and department store to take a look. Wen Qing had a plan in her heart when she saw the products in this era and then left. When passing by the health clinic, Wen Qing went in and bought some fever-reducing medicine before going to meet up with the people from the same tractor.
Those people had never suspected her, so seeing that she only bought a few packs of medicine, they believed her even more.
When Wen Qing returned to the Wang Family Col, the sky had turned dark. Wang Da Chuan was worried and waiting for her on the first mountain. Fortunately, Wen Qing has already carried the things she’d bought from Taobao in her hands.
Wang Da Chuan took the bags in her hand while asking, "Jie, are you tired? Is it safe on the road ba? You did not meet any bad guy ba? I saw that it's so late yet you haven't come back, you scared me to death!"
Wen Qing smiled. "Not tired, and I did not meet any bad guys. I even met good-hearted people who gave me a ride."
"It's good then, next time I won't let you go alone no matter what you say. You don't know how scared I am." He was afraid that something would happen to his big sister, his only relative.
"Don't be afraid. didn't Jie come back already?"
The two talked while descending from the mountain. When they got home, the Xu family was cooking. Wen Qing helped Wang Da Chuan to take things into the house first and she took the medicine to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, four people were eating around the stove, each with a bowl of very thin rice gruel that the bottom of the bowl could be seen, and a piece of black pancake the size of a child's palm.
The four of them were all stunned when they saw her enter. As they reacted, He Qiong greeted her, "Little girl, have you eaten yet? Do you want to eat with us?"
After saying that, he felt a little awkward, the dinner they’d made was just in the right amount, and there was not much left. Xu Jian'guo put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at her, smiling kindly. Xu Niansheng pushed up his glasses and looked at her with neither a servile nor overbearing attitude without the slightest embarrassment. On the contrary, Xu Jinyan* pursed his mouth and had a somewhat indifferent expression.
*T/N: In the last chapter, I wrote it as Xu Zhuangyan. I’m sorry guys, the right one is Xu Jinyan, it’s my fault.
Wen Qing glanced at the four people's expressions and said in a low voice, "I've eaten." Then she put down the things in her hand and left.
Several people looked at each other, and finally, Xu Niansheng picked up what Wen Qing had put down and opened it. He was a little surprised, "It's medicine."
After saying that, he handed the medicine to He Qiong. He Qiong looked at it and said, "It's an antipyretic, ei? That little girl couldn't have known you had a fever and bought it for you especially, right?" He Qiong said as he looked at Xu Jian'guo.
"It's not right, didn't they say that this pair of siblings broke their relationship with the family and only brought a bag of grain when they came out? Where did the money to buy the medicine come from?" He Qiong said again.
"This little girl has a good heart, she kindly sent the medicine over, let's not pry into people's privacy, who doesn't have any secrets?" Xu Jian'guo said.
"That's true, this medicine is really timely. Your high fever keeps coming back and forth, I was afraid that your fever would get worse." He Qiong was a doctor. He spoke while taking out the medicine, then handing it to Xu Jian'guo.
Xu Jinyan lowered his head, you couldn't see his expression. But Xu Niansheng glanced towards the house of Wen Qing and her brother thoughtfully.
In the central room, Wen Qing took out the things she’d bought today and showed it to Wang Da Chuan, "The meat in the city is so little that they can't buy it even if they have money. When Jie took the meat out, it was swiped clean by people. After I sold it out, I bought a pair of shoes and pants for us..." It was autumn, but the siblings still wore straw sandals and their trousers were full of patches, not to mention that it had become ankle pants*. The first thing Wen Qing thought of was to buy shoes and pants first. The shirts were too eye-catching, it was better to think about it later.
*T/N: A ⅞ long pants.
Thanks to the omnipotent Taobao and something like the "60s and 70s performance costume props." Otherwise, she would have to buy a piece of cloth and make the clothes herself.
Wang Da Chuan had his own new clothes for the first time since he was a child, he happily hugged them, not wanting to let them go. "Jie, help me put them away, I will wear them for the Chinese New Year."
"There will be new clothes for the New Year. It's already autumn, won't you freeze to death if you wait for the New Year? Don't worry, Jie still has some money on hand." Wen Qing said and continued to take things out.
"I also bought two quilts. It will be winter soon, so one quilt is not enough. There's also a piece of fabric, I'll make a New Year's cloth for you with it. I also exchanged some coarse grains. We don't have much flour anymore, so we have to use it sparsely. Jie also bought you some candy and mung bean cake, the city people all eat this..."
Wen Qing rambled on, Wang Da Chuan touched this and looked at that. He was so excited and didn't know what to do. He thought this must be the happiest moment in his whole life.