Bai Fumei in the 70’s

When Zhao Lanxiang returned to her room, she saw the pile of scattered money lying on the table, and the hand that was wiping her hair stopped.

The dim light from the kerosene lamp cast a long shadow on her face. She looked at the money and pursed her lips involuntarily. This family was too poor, poor beyond her imagination. People who can't even eat enough food can't begin to talk about happiness. Zhao Lanxiang felt that she should start doing something to ease the family's burdens.

He Sanya and her grandmother lied on the bed and she licked her mouth, she was happy and content.

"Grandma, did you eat meat?"

The elderly woman held her granddaughter in her arms, her dry-wood-like hand gently patting that small back, "I did."

The stewed pig trotters had a beautiful taste that reminded the old woman of the days before the He family's decline. At that time, even the group of helpers in the family would have good food. Plenty of meat, so much so that they could not finish eating, and silk satin that they could not finish wearing...

With these good memories, the old woman fell into a sweet dream.

......

Zhao Lanxiang was sent to the cornfield to fertilize the field early in the morning. She carried ash from the bottom of the stove and waited for the others to dig a small pit then shoveled it down.

At this time, corn had already grown tall shoots but the lack of fertilizer is bad. Zhao Lanxiang is not afraid of being dirty or tired. But what she fears the most are those furry bugs hidden beneath the corn leaves. Every three steps, she could see a creeping worm in her peripheral vision. That feeling is more tormenting than having her hands and feet work until they bleed.3

At this time, she saw a caterpillar on her cuffs that had crawled there from who knows where, and her whole body was stunned.2

"Sister Zhao!"

He Sanya came from between corn stalks, took two sticks, and quickly caught the insect on Zhao Lanxiang's hand and put it into her bamboo tube.

Zhao Lanxiang wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and asked, "Why are you here?"

She touched He Sanya's sweaty head, and the little girl showed her the bamboo tube in her hands. There is a mass of crawling creatures entangled together in the big bamboo tube.4

Zhao Lanxiang was scared when she saw it, her goosebumps made her arms look like chicken skin.

"I'm catching insects to feed the chickens." He Sanya whispered, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

She lifted the lid and peeked at the insects inside, and decided that it would be enough for today's portion.

Zhao Lanxiang knew that the chickens at home were fed by He Sanya, and she admired the little girl even more.

After Sister He had brought the chickens back from the town when they were just a bunch of balls of fluff, He Sanya began to feed them. She loved these chickens very much and ran to the chicken pen every day to hug them. Yes, every chicken was fattened by her bugs.

Every day, Sister He can pick two or three round and beautiful eggs. She would make a bowl of egg custard every three days to nourish their grandmother's body. The remaining eggs were all saved by her, and taken to the supply and marketing cooperative by the younger brother to exchange for money.

For this poor family, hens were treasures, and the money gained from exchanging eggs was a very important income. If it weren't for the rule that each family could only raise up to three chickens, the hardworking He Sanya would definitely raise at least a dozen or so chickens in one go.1

He Sanya wiped her mouth and said, "Big Brother is going to town to exchange the eggs for money today."

Zhao Lanxiang said, "Is that so? It just so happens that I'm going to do something in town today too."

After finishing her morning work, she decisively took leave. Captain Li Dali did not care and gave Zhao Lanxiang's job to Zhou Jiazhen. If she didn't work, there would be no payment anyway.

Zhao Lanxiang didn't know if she would meet He Songbai, but when she returned to the He family's home, Sister He said that he had already left.

Zhao Lanxiang took out a ten-yuan bill from her bag and picked up a basket to go out. This time when she went to town, she didn't call Jiazhen to go along because she was going to do something big.

She went to the town and walked all the way to the black market. She bought fresh bayberries on the roadside and asked the seller vaguely about where to buy food.

The honest farmer's eyes immediately became vigilant and he quickly waved his hand, "Comrade, you ask me, but what would I know!"

"The sister-in-law at home has just given birth, and she doesn't have enough milk for the child. My parents want to give her some nourishing food," Zhao Lanxiang said.

The seller took off his hat and carefully looked at Zhao Lanxiang over several times.

The girl was very beautiful in a dress, her two braids fell on her plaid shirt, and she wore a pair of black leather shoes. She spoke with proper Mandarin and her voice was thin and light. She looked very student-like.

Zhao Lanxiang took out some money to buy the rest of his bayberries, and said sadly, "I can't buy eggs or meat, then I'll buy some more bayberries and go back to make her some little snacks... I can only spend a little money on it. Grain, if I want to buy a pound of grain how much will it be?"

The mouth of this honest farmer was finally pried open, and he directed her towards an alley.

Zhao Lanxiang went forward in the direction he said and found the black market in Qingmiao Town. This place did not have a fixed location because people were afraid of being arrested by the public security bureau, so it would change to other locations in intervals. If it weren't for Zhao Lanxiang's golden eyes that could see the right stall owner to ask, it was estimated that she would not find this place even if she went all over the town.

She opened her mouth and haggled. She spent five yuan to buy a ten-pound meat ticket from a seller, as well as a few food tickets and sugar tickets. She also bought many rare spices from a street on the black market.

The prices in the 1970s were actually very cheap. The prices were uniformly set by the state, so people did not dare to change the fees too much. A lot of things could be bought with ten yuan. Father Zhao's salary was that much, and he still had more than 50 yuan left after the family's expenses each month. It's not that he was cheap, it was just that most of the things in the city required tickets to buy them. They quickly ran out of tickets but had too much money to spend, so he had to save them.

Now Zhao Lanxiang bought meat and food tickets at a low price, and she was relieved. She took the tickets firmly to the grocery store, intending to buy some pig's trotters and meat.

When she was passing the supply and marketing cooperative just before the grocery store, she spotted He Songbai's thin back.

"We can only give you this much," the salesperson of the supply and marketing cooperative said contemptuously.

"Look at the size of your eggs. Do they really deserve the price of five and a half cents? Small eggs like yours are all only for five cents."

Zhao Lanxiang glanced at the eggs brought by He Songbai. Every egg was round and full and had even been wiped clean carefully, until there were no stains from chicken feces left.

Any person with good eyes would know at a glance that the salesperson had closed his eyes and talked nonsense. Because he looked down on the person selling them, he deliberately embarrassed him.

He Songbai was also accustomed to this kind of cold reception, so he didn't even blink his eyelids. When selling eggs, you must pay attention to luck. When the salesperson was in a good mood, he would give you a normal price. When he was in a bad mood, the price would drop.

He pushed the eggs forward and was ready to speak. But at this time, he was suddenly pulled back by a force...

Zhao Lanxiang said with a smile, "Elder sister asked me to say a few words to you."

As she said that, she simply took the basket of eggs on the counter away. Her other hand pulled the corner of the man's clothing and led him away from the place.

He Songbai's thick and sharp brows were wrinkled and bent upright, and there was cold indifference in his eyes.

"If there's anything, say it quickly."

Zhao Lanxiang said, "I will help you sell the eggs."

He Songbai said fiercely, like when he was scolding the unreasonable He Sanya, "Don't make trouble, return the eggs to me."

Relying on his strength, he wanted to forcefully take back the egg basket from the woman's hand.

Unexpectedly, the woman bowed her head and hugged the egg basket firmly to her chest. She didn't argue with him, but simply turned and walked away. As she roamed, she decided to express herself to him and said, "That person had a bad attitude just now, but you were very kind to him. I didn't offend you much, yet you put on this stinky face. Wait and watch, don't stop me."

Zhao Lanxiang took the eggs to a street on the black market, and she peered out at the passing pedestrians.

An elder sister glanced at her eggs a few times, so Zhao Lanxiang waved at her, and the two went over to a hidden corner.

Zhao Lanxiang whispered. "These are fresh, farm-grown eggs, they are big and nutritious. Those who have mothers in confinement or elderly people can come and see them. The prices are cheap and we will not bully."

Her voice is thin and moist, with the standard mandarin that is different from the rough and sloppy men everywhere else. Her decent and clean appearance made looking at her comfortable.

"How much are these?"

"Little girl, you have such eggs? Can it be cheaper if we want more?"

Zhao Lanxiang nodded.

The elder sister bought half a basket of eggs.

Zhao Lanxiang returned to the street, and as usual, whoever stared at her eggs, she would go and trade with that guest.

Zhao Lanxiang used this sneaky method and quickly sold a basket of more than thirty eggs. The eggs from the He family are of good quality. Once they were taken out, it was easy to see.

She finally counted the money in her hand. She gave discounts of two cents and got a total of thirty cents for thirty eggs. She handed the money to He Songbai in full.

He Songbai watched in silence from the very beginning of her selling the eggs, until they were all sold out. His dull eyes contained a relieved emotion.

"You, you..."

He Songbai's thin lips trembled faintly, as if he only now was seeing the true Zhao Lanxiang.

His eyes suddenly became more fierce and unreasonable. "You can't do this kind of thing in the future!"2

He considered it for her thoroughly. The reputation of the He family is completely rotten, and it was their business if they looked awful. But she was a bright and knowledgeable young woman who did not lack any money or food. She cannot commit such bad deeds for them...

Zhao Lanxiang said with a smile, "You can control me?"3

The woman's smiling eyes were bright and warm, and their brilliant light blinding his eyes. Her slim body walked on the road with a chic style, full of confidence and a firm temperament. As if she knew everything and could block all his crude words with confidence.

She is clever and unreasonable.

He Songbai became terribly quiet, and his thin lips turned pale and pulled taut.1

Zhao Lanxiang didn't care, and said easily, "Come on, I'm going to buy some meat."