“Who’s to say it’s not disappointing? We thought the market opening up would make life a bit better for the common people. Indeed, we made a decent profit from growing vegetables in the first half of the year. However, too many people planted in the second half, so now all vegetables are worthless. Even these fine beans are only two cents a pound, and it’s not even certain that we can sell them when they get to our hands. The storage unit next door still has half of yesterday’s vegetables left.”
Li Jian looked helpless.
Their vegetable station needs to make profits too. Now that vegetable prices are low, even if they sell the collected veggies for double the price, they won’t make much money.
Not to mention that the farmers have too many vegetables, and they’re being sold in heaps at the night market, greatly reducing the vegetable station’s sales.
Lin Chuxia didn’t continue discussing the current vegetable prices with him. She bought 5 pounds of leeks, 5 pounds of celery, and 10 pounds of spring onions, and gave Li Jian a bag of meat buns before leaving.
Li Jian held the hot meat buns. The cost of 5 pounds of leeks, 5 pounds of celery, and 10 pounds of spring onions wasn’t much, especially when he had some tricks up his sleeve.
Lin Chuxia didn’t know about his promotion, and he was clear in his heart that giving her a discount on vegetables hardly counted as a favor.
But Lin Chuxia didn’t mind, asking him to taste and offer feedback so she could improve further.
With the conversation reaching this point, Li Jian found it hard to refuse, thinking that since they would be working together in the future, he could simply offer her more discounts on vegetables later.
After leaving the vegetable station, Lin Chuxia went to the meat shop and picked up the 5 pounds of meat she had ordered.
This season, without refrigeration, all meat and vegetables had to be sold the same day they were bought, and even leftovers couldn’t be kept.
After shopping, she first sorted the vegetables and chopped the meat at home. Mrs. Qin helped her with the vegetables when she was free, and even Little Zhuangzhuang was accustomed to helping her.
Whenever they steamed buns, the little guy was busy helping with the firewood and fetching things, puffing his cheeks while praising how delicious her buns were.
With Little Zhuangzhuang around, Lin Chuxia felt far from lonely, his endearing antics providing her with great emotional value.
Human offspring are indeed the most adorable.
Mrs. Qin looked at her with warm eyes, picking leeks and smiling, “Yangyang has been at his job for half a month now. I don’t know if he can come back for New Year’s, has he told you to visit him if we’re not too busy here? I heard that family members can stay for a few days. If you get pregnant, then Zhuangzhuang will have a companion.”
Lin Chuxia hadn’t caught on at first, but her face turned red at the end.
So whether Qin Yang comes back or she goes to his workplace, it was just for the sake of sowing seeds.
Although Lin Chuxia liked children, she had never thought about having children with Qin Yang.
In her previous life, she had been diagnosed as infertile after a drowning injury, although she and Li Guangyuan had been married for over a year before that without any pregnancy.
This life, she and Qin Yang had taken no precautions during their honeymoon days, and she had just had her period the day before yesterday. Therefore, regarding having children, her attitude was to let nature take its course.
“Mom, I’m just starting my business. There’s no rush for children.”
Lin Chuxia reassured Mrs. Qin, who might be anxious.
Mrs. Qin was open-minded, “Business can be done anytime. I’m still able to help while you have children. You can continue your business later, and it won’t affect anything. Besides, Yangyang has a salary, even if you don’t do business or make money, he can still support you. As a man, it is his responsibility to earn money for the family.”
Zhuangzhuang blinked his curious big eyes and asked, “Auntie, do you have a little brother? But I want a little sister. My dad has always said he wants my mom to have a little sister for me, but she hasn’t had one yet; she must be too dumb. Auntie, you are so smart, can you have a little sister for me?”
Mrs. Qin chuckled and tapped Zhuangzhuang’s little forehead with her finger, “If you want a little sister, have your mom give birth to one. Your auntie might not necessarily want a daughter.”
Nowadays, family planning is getting stricter, and since Qin Yang is working, it would be better to have a son if they are only allowed one child.
Lin Chuxia was unaware of the old woman’s thoughts, finding Zhuangzhuang’s quirky charm adorable.
While they were talking, the crisp and pleasing sound of a bicycle bell rang from outside the courtyard, “Lin Chuxia, you have mail.”
“Must be a letter from Yangyang,” Mrs. Qin said with a smile.
Every month, Qin Yang would send money home, and the mailman, responsible for delivering mail to this area, recognized the address as the Old Qin Family’s and would deliver it directly to their doorstep.
Lin Chuxia quickly washed her hands and went out to get the mail, which included not only the letter but also a remittance slip.
Lin Chuxia glanced at the amount on it – her forehead creased – sixty yuan.
Is this guy not spending any money? Leaving only three yuan for himself and sending the rest to her, she felt a touch of emotion despite herself.
In both her lives, it had always been others demanding money from her, never satisfied no matter how much she gave, like a pack of vampires.
Now, here was someone who always thought of her, preferring to live tightly himself rather than let her suffer.
Even though she now had her bun business and didn’t need these sixty yuan, the money felt weighty in her palm.
“Go and read the letter, I’ll finish picking these chives shortly, so no need for you to help,” Mrs. Qin urged Lin Chuxia to go inside.
Lin Chuxia didn’t want to dismiss her kindness. If she showed disinterest in the letter, the elderly might overthink it. She simply said, “Okay, thank you, Mom.”
She went inside, placed the remittance slip aside, and opened the letter. It was a thin sheet, half-filled with writing.
Qin Yang’s handwriting was beautiful, just like him – strong and powerful, each stroke filled with vigor.
It started with her name, Lin Chuxia.
Lin Chuxia silently smiled and continued reading. The letter shared his basic daily routines at work and the bland meals at the cafeteria. He mentioned how delicious her fried meat sauce and chili oil were, popular among his colleagues, and ended with a hope for her reply.
Lin Chuxia folded the letter, her fingers tapping gently on the table top.
This letter might seem simple, documenting his daily life, but upon closer reflection, it was not that simple.
With a soft chuckle, Lin Chuxia laughed out.
This man, indeed, was somewhat childish.
Overall, the letter conveyed three points:
First, he wanted not only her response but for her to write to him more frequently.
Second, he wanted her to send him food.
Third, if possible, he even hoped she would visit him.
This damned competitive spirit in men, had he been provoked, or was it an attempt to compete with a colleague?
Lin Chuxia found a biscuit box and stored the letter and remittance slip inside.
At noon, the older brother and his wife hadn’t returned; the bean pods and eggplants had ripened recently, and the couple had gone to the fields early in the morning to pick vegetables, Mr. Qin had also been helping them these days.
After the first two days of picking vegetables, they went directly to the market; but as the prices were low these past two days, they didn’t bother and instead took the vegetables directly to the night market to set up a stall.
After eating lunch, Lin Chuxia started steaming buns – three large steamer racks of meat buns, one each of chive and celery filled buns.
They amounted to twenty-five steamer racks when the large ones were transferred to smaller ones, plus the stove, kettle, and other items, filling a cart.
The road, wet from rain, was difficult to navigate. Lin Chuxia walked carefully, and by the time she reached the train station, she was a bit later than usual, only to find someone had already taken her usual spot for setting up her stall.