But with so many eyes on him, he could only nod: “Fine, we’ll give it to her. It’s not like we’re not giving it. She should have just talked nicely instead of throwing chairs!”
Du Qing’s eyes brightened: “Right, she broke the high hall; if I have to buy a new one, what will happen to that money?”
“The high hall was broken?” The men restraining Du Chuan turned around in shock to look at the still aggrieved girl, completely taken aback.
Qingli blinked innocently: “But at that time, I spoke nicely with you. You didn’t agree to give me any money, so I smashed it. You brought this on yourself.” Then she smiled and added, “Uncle, I remember my dad helped out quite a bit. Why don’t we settle up and see if we have enough to replace your high hall?”
Du Qing’s eyes widened, and he felt a surge of anger, his face darkening as he fell silent.
His elder brother had indeed supported them financially in the past. He was capable and hadn’t relied on the family, managing to become a regular worker, earning twenty to thirty yuan a month while also farming and raising four kids; the money was never enough.
He had once considered letting his youngest son be adopted into the family for a better life but was refused. Still, his elder brother had always helped support him.
A middle-aged man chuckled lightly and advised, “Let’s not get into the details. If we keep counting, it will never add up. Uncle, let’s go home, give the money to Qingli, and then get some rest.”
Du Chuan nodded, feeling suffocated. Initially unwilling to part with the money, he now realized they had gone too far. What was the point of making such a fuss?
His granddaughter was asking for the money so urgently; he had already suspected that the Xiang family had coaxed her into coming to claim it. Just thinking about the money belonging to someone else made him ache.
Sure enough, a little girl was just a little girl!
All she wanted was the money from another family!
His eldest son was disobedient, demanding this money alone. If he had another son, he would have handed it over without hesitation.
Qingli had no idea what was going through Du Chuan’s mind, nor did she care. She was pleasantly surprised that things had gone so smoothly, especially with the help of several uncles in the village, which made Du Chuan cautious.
When they returned home, they were met with the sight of a complete mess in the main hall. The villagers who had followed were also taken aback, and their gazes towards Qingli were filled with newfound respect.
No one expected this little girl to be so impressive.
Qingli smiled back at everyone’s looks and remained quiet, patiently waiting for Du Chuan to reluctantly pull out the money. She counted: “Five hundred. I still need one hundred. The remaining thirty from my dad’s savings account is of no use to me; consider it a service fee for you all. Hurry up!”
Du Chuan gritted his teeth and turned to his second son: “Aren’t you going to get it?!”
Du Qing’s expression changed. He thought his father would just hand over the money, but he realized he had to go get it himself. He didn’t want to give it up and glared at He Dan: “What are you looking at? Go get it!”
Reluctantly, He Dan turned to fetch it. She took a long time counting the one hundred, flipping it back and forth, afraid she would accidentally add too much.
When she finally came out, He Dan handed over the money, still unwilling. Seeing the money in Qingli’s hands, she quickly said, “Since the money is going back, I won’t be responsible for your meals in the future.”
Qingli counted the money and nodded: “Don’t worry; it won’t be a problem, Aunt. You’re one short.”
He Dan couldn’t believe it: “You’re counting a single dollar so meticulously?”
Qing Li smiled and replied, “How about you just give me that thirty cents, and I’ll let you off the hook for the dollar?”
He Dan fell silent and pulled a dollar bill out of her pocket to give it to her.
Just a moment ago, when she couldn’t resist handing over the money, she had pulled out two fifty-cent bills, not expecting them to be counted.
“Is that good enough now?” He Dan said, trying to keep a stern face.
“Not yet,” Qing Li responded. Seeing He Dan about to get angry, she turned directly to the uncles who had come with her and said, “Uncle, could you help me move my dad’s cabinet? It’s in my cousin’s room, and they brought it over while I wasn’t home.”
A middle-aged man who had been restraining Du Chuan’s anger turned serious and shot a glance at Du Qing. Du Qing, feeling embarrassed, quickly averted his gaze. The man nodded, “We’ll go move it. You head home and unlock the door.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Qing Li said with a smile, turning around and leaving without hesitation.
In no time, four middle-aged men had moved the cabinet over.
Qing Li poured them some water, and after they drank, they didn’t leave immediately. They sat for a while, and the middle-aged man, Du Shengqiang, who had been quiet until now, asked, “Qing Li, are you not marrying into the Xiang family?”
Qing Li sat down across from them, smiling sweetly, giving no indication of the trouble she’d just caused at her grandfather’s house. She nodded, “That’s right, I’m not marrying. I don’t want to be a stepmother.”
Du Shengqiang nodded. While he didn’t care much for her decision, he was genuinely concerned about her future. He said gently, “Your dad left so suddenly, and with your uncle’s situation, it’s likely he won’t plan for you. We had a good relationship with your dad, so if you need anything, just tell us. You have good conditions for marriage, and if you don’t like someone, just move on. Don’t settle for less, okay?”
The three men beside him chimed in, with one suggesting, “If you’d like, I can ask my family if they know of any suitable matches nearby. We can find someone local, so you have support if anything comes up.”
Qing Li smiled and shook her head, her voice cheerful, “Thank you, Uncle, but I don’t need that for now. I plan to have a husband come to my family, and when I have kids, they’ll take my surname.”
Du Shengqiang’s expression brightened. Although he disapproved of Du Chuan and the others’ behavior, he knew one truth: when a girl marries another family, they often fear that her family will have no one to honor her memory afterward. Most families didn’t allow girls to pay respects. “That’s great! If you have any requests, let me know. If there’s someone suitable, you can meet them. If you’re not happy, that’s fine.”
Qing Li thought to herself, “As long as they’re good-looking, that’s enough.”
Du Shengqiang: “…”
He chuckled softly. It seemed she still had a child’s innocence. However, he was happy to hear that Du Qing Li wanted to bring a husband into her family. He made a note of her request, advised her to reach out if she needed anything, and then left.
Qing Li saw them out, closed the gate, and ran to the kitchen to heat water for a bath.
After a long day, she was relieved to find some firewood still in the kitchen.
After enjoying a hot bath, she lay in bed and fell asleep.
Though there had been quite a commotion, the village had early hours, so by the time she went to bed, it was probably only seven or eight in the evening. Because she slept early, she also woke up quite early the next day.
The house felt empty; there were only a few leftover sweet potatoes from last year, but Qing Li didn’t want to eat any and left on an empty stomach for the town.
The village was quite far from the town, and it took nearly two hours to walk there. Gradually, she began to see some bright buildings ahead, and as she walked further, she could see people coming and going.
The reform and opening-up had been going on for seven or eight years, and by ’79, it had already been a year since things had opened up.
At first, people were a bit fearful due to previous policies, and not many dared to start businesses for fear of being caught as examples. However, with policies becoming increasingly safe, many people were selling various items along the streets.
Though it couldn’t compare to the bustling streets of forty years later, it was still quite lively.
“Hey, young lady, look over here!” a woman selling hairpins called out to Qing Li.
Instinctively, Qing Li looked over and saw a colorful array of flashy hairpins on her stall, perfect for young girls. There were already three girls gathered around the stall.
Next to her was a stall selling clothes, where the seller shouted, “We just got this stock from the provincial city! Come take a look…”
As she moved a bit further, a shop selling steamed buns caught Qing Li’s attention.
Other purchases could be more complicated, like clothing or jewelry, which required running around and getting recommendations to go out. But food didn’t require any of that.
Qing Li approached and asked, “How much for these?”
The bun seller cheerfully opened the white cloth covering the buns, revealing plump, fluffy buns and soft steamed buns inside. “Two for a penny for the steamed buns; vegetable buns are a penny each, and meat buns are two pennies.”
Qing Li bought two buns for just three cents.
Prices were incredibly cheap at this time.
Just as she marveled at how inexpensive things were, she heard someone selling watches: “Watches from Hu City, selling cheap, only sixty-one cents!”
Qing Li had been considering buying a watch, but upon hearing the price and calculating her money, she decided against it. Watches were still too expensive right now, so it wasn’t worth it.
She figured she’d wait a bit.
Suppressing that thought, she continued to browse. After a full circuit, she had a good idea of what was available and headed to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy ingredients—sugar, eggs, and a little bit of meat.
She even spotted a stall selling chicks and bought a few.
While her haul wasn’t large, it was still enough. Qing Li headed straight home, but as she approached the village, she saw a middle-aged woman hitting a girl.
The girl was wearing ill-fitting old clothes, her somewhat yellow hair tied into two braids. As her mother hit her, she didn’t dare to fight back and simply covered her face with her arms.
Just as Qing Li passed by them, the girl glanced up inadvertently, her eyes filled with envy.
The middle-aged woman noticed the girl’s expression and scolded, “Song Dong! What are you staring at? You can’t even sell an egg properly! You’re three cents short compared to others! What’s the use of you?”
Qing Li paused for a moment but then continued walking. The Song Dong in front of her wasn’t the main character, Song Dongyun, from the story yet.
However, if the plot still unfolded in two years, would Xiang Lifeng marry another girl at that time?
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152