Chapter 12 - 12

Chapter 12 AcquisitionYang Qingqing belatedly realized that Lu Jiayanwas treating her differently, and she frowned in thought, feeling somewhat irritated.Yun Ting pretended not to know; such things were not to be discussed, nor should she meddle." Yang Qingqing, have you prepared anything? I prepared half a bag of brown sugar. Let's go toBrigade Leader's house to find Aunt Meihua."The Brigade Leader told them that if they had any questions, they could go to his house and ask his wife.Brigade Leader's house is located in the middle of the village. It's a brick house with tiled roofs and is easy to find. The gate was open, and there was no one in the yard." Is Aunt Meihua here?" Yun Ting called out loudly."Hey...who is it?" A slightly plump woman came out of the house." Aunt Meihua, hello. We are the new Educated Youth who arrived yesterday. My name is Yun Ting and this is Yang Qingqing. We want to ask you something.""Oh my! You two girls are so pretty. You were the ones who gave my little Zhuzi candy this morning, right? Thank you!" Aunt Meihua looked them over and said cheerfully.It's clear that Aunt Meihua is a straightforward person."It's alright, we really like Xiaozhuzi. Aunt Meihua, we wanted to ask if there are any carpenters in the village? We'd like to buy a kang cabinet or something.""Yes, Uncle Li in the village is a carpenter, and everyone orders from him. I'll take you there!"Yun Ting placed half a bag of brown sugar on the stone table in the yard. " Aunt Meihua, this sugar is for Xiaozhu to sweeten his mouth.""These peach shortbreads are for Xiaozhu too."Yang Qingqing immediately put the peach shortbreads over as well."Oh dear, no, no, you're too kind. Take it all back." Aunt Meihua was extremely anxious."It's nothing, Aunt Meihua. It's just for Xiaozhu, nothing else.""Alright then! I'll make sure Xiaozhu remembers all the good things you've done for him."Aunt Meihua closed the door to the main room and led the two towards the end of the village. "Old Li's house is at the end of the village. He has difficulty walking and usually does carpentry work at home. He has quite a few cabinets and the like at home. You can choose whichever you like later.""Thank you, Auntie.""Hey... don't thank me so much, it's no big deal. If you ever need anything in the future, feel free to come to Auntie anytime, and I'll definitely help if I can.""Okay, we've got it." Yun Ting said with a playful smile.Along the way, Yun Ting and Aunt Meihua did most of the talking, with Yang Qingqingoccasionally chiming in with a few words. She was a woman of few words, the kind of cool and aloof beauty.Yang Qingqing thought to herself, "This Yun Ting, I never knew he had such a social butterfly side! He's such a chatterbox, his little mouth is always making Aunt Meihua laugh."" Meihua, where are you going? Whose daughters are these two?" A woman asked curiously when she saw them at the door."Guifang, why haven't you gone to work yet? These are the newly educated youth who arrived yesterday. I'm taking them to Old Li's to exchange their cabinets."These days, buying and selling can be labeled as speculation and profiteering, so everyone says "exchange"."Oh, I thought you were playing matchmaker again! These two girls are so pretty..." The woman's gaze was unsettling, as if she were appraising merchandise."How unlucky! You two have to run into her. You'd better watch out for this woman. She has a lazy son that she dotes on. She thinks he's a treasure and he can't resist pretty girls. She'll definitely tell her son later that you should be careful and come to Auntie if you can't handle it.""Okay, we'll be careful."If he's blind and comes looking for trouble, Yun Ting isn't one to be trifled with.We soon arrived at Uncle Li's house.Aunt Meihua's loud voice easily called people out."Old Li, Xingchun, are you there?""You're here…" A thin woman came out to greet them." Meihua, is something the matter?""Look, these two girls are here to exchange their lockers. This is Educated Youth, who just arrived yesterday. This is Educated Youth Yang, and this is little Educated Youth Yun."" Hello, Auntie..." the two greeted politely.Through casual conversations along the way,Yun Ting was affectionately called "LittleEducated Youth Yun" by Aunt Meihua.Xingchun Auntie led them inside, where Uncle Liwas doing carpentry work." Hello, Uncle Li!" Yun Ting greeted him with a smile.Uncle Li greeted them and then let them go in to choose.The side room was piled with many finished products, all commonly used and of ordinary style. They could only be described as neat and practical, not particularly good. Moreover, they were only sanded smooth and not painted. Villagers don't care about these things, so their durability was probably not very good.However, she only needs to rely on the resumption of the college entrance examination, which should be fine for many years.Yun Ting picked out a kang cabinet, a small table, two small stools, and a wooden basin, which she planned to use for soaking her feet. She used the enamel basin she brought to wash her face. Seeing a wooden bucket in the corner, she took two of them.Yang Qingqing also chose something similar to hers.All of these together will cost 20 yuan.(Xingchun) Auntie also gave each of them a woven mat, which was just the right size to use as a mat on the kang (heated brick bed).Neither of them objected; they thought it was a good deal and paid right away." Auntie, we can't carry that much, can we? Do you have a cart?""If you're not in a hurry, I'll have my son bring it to you after work," Uncle Li said with a smile."That's too much trouble?""No trouble at all, it'll only take one trip.""Thank you then."Outside, Yun Ting whispered to Aunt Meihua, "Auntie, does anyone have any spare pots or earthenware jars? We don't even have any pots to cook with!""Oh, little Educated Youth Yun, you've come to the right person. Auntie has one at home, but it's a small iron pot with a small chip in it, not very big. She does have a few earthenware jars though.""It's okay, Auntie, as long as it works, it's fine.Auntie, how would you like to exchange it?""Little Educated Youth Yun, this little pot isn't new either. Auntie doesn't want to take advantage of you. How about this? Do you have cloth coupons? Can you exchange them for two feet of cloth coupons for Auntie?" Aunt Meihuaasked a little embarrassedly. She felt that this was taking advantage of her. Cloth coupons were so hard to come by. She had been saving them for a long time to make clothes for her daughter, but she still didn't have enough."Sure, Auntie."When they arrived at Aunt Meihua's house, she took out the small iron pot. Although it had a slight chip, it didn't affect its use, and Aunt Meihua had cleaned it thoroughly. This pot could only be bought with industrial coupons at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative! She wasn't actually losing out."Little Educated Youth Yun, Auntie is giving you two more ceramic jars.""Thank you, Auntie."Yang Qingqing took two earthenware jars and gave Aunt Meihua two yuan.Aunt Meihua felt embarrassed and gave them some cucumbers and green beans that she had grown herself.Unable to refuse, the two had no choice but to accept it.They hadn't finished work yet, and there weren't many people on the road. They didn't run into anyone on their way back.She had dinner with the older Educated Youthsthat evening. Since they were new to the area, they couldn't go empty-handed. In addition to their own food, she planned to take a small piece of cured meat, about half a pound. She had bought some from the black market and stored it in her spatial storage. She didn't want to take more, lest others think she was being ripped off!Problematic ad?m