Chen Lishu found the price of three yuan acceptable and nodded, saying, "Brother Liu, I still need to inform my family and ask for their opinion."
"Of course," Liu Yong replied understandingly.
As she was about to leave, Chen Lishu suddenly turned back, "Brother Liu, do you buy grain?"
Liu Yong, who was walking her to the door, stumbled unconsciously. What good luck was this? First grain, then meat. It seemed his days of getting rich were approaching.
"I do. Your Brother Liu buys any grain. I guarantee the price will be higher than the market rate, and the more, the better."
He was running a restaurant privately himself and desperately needed grain and meat.
With Liu Yong's assurance, Chen Lishu felt more confident.
The next morning, Chen Lishu called her family, informed them of the price of pork, and gave them Liu Yong's address. They could send the pig directly after slaughtering it.
After the call, Chen Lishu returned home to continue making clothes.
In the afternoon, she took some time to stir-fry the dried goods that Li Xiulan had given her. She tasted them and found them quite good, so she sent some to the Ding family next door.
"This is a good thing. I haven't eaten walnuts for years and have almost forgotten their taste."
Ding Yongfeng grabbed one, used his finger to crack it open, picked up a piece of walnut meat, and slowly savored it.
The supply and marketing cooperative didn't sell them often, and the annual ration for peanuts and melon seeds was limited to one jin per household. Thus, it wasn't an exaggeration to say he hadn't eaten walnuts in years.
Chen Lishu smiled, "Everyone in the village collects dried goods from the mountains in autumn. Uncle Ding, if you like them, I can try to get some for you privately when I return to the village."
Ding Yongfeng nodded, "That's very thoughtful of you, Xiao Chen."
Sun Shuzhen couldn't help but smile and tease, "You don't know, but your Uncle Ding has no other hobbies except being a bit greedy for food."
Chen Lishu sat with them for a while longer before heading home.
...
One day, Liu Yuemin took the hairpins she had accumulated for half a month to the supply and marketing cooperative in town. As soon as she placed the hairpins on the counter, a figure suddenly appeared and bumped her aside.
"Comrade, I'm here to deliver goods. Please accept my goods and not hers."
Liu Yuemin looked closely and realized the person pushing her aside was none other than her sister-in-law, Zhao Xiaoju, and she exploded.
"Zhao Xiaoju, have you no shame? Don't you know about 'first come, first served'?" Liu Yuemin said, pushing her away and handing her hairpins to the salesclerk, "Comrade, don't listen to her nonsense, accept mine."
"Pah, what 'first come, first served'," Zhao Xiaoju said, sweeping the bag Liu Yuemin had placed on the counter to the ground. The bag opened, and many hairpins spilled out.
"These junk you made, you'd better take them back quickly, don't embarrass yourself here."
After speaking, Zhao Xiaoju smiled cheekily at the salesclerk, "Comrade, accept mine. Mine are more numerous and of better quality."
Seeing her things thrown on the ground, Liu Yuemin glared at Zhao Xiaoju with fire in her eyes, "You shameless slut, how dare you throw my things! I'm not done with you today!"
With new and old grudges, Liu Yuemin grew increasingly angry and charged at Zhao Xiaoju. Zhao Xiaoju was no pushover, and the two quickly began to wrestle.
"Stop fighting, quickly! If you attract people, neither of us will be able to get away with it." The salesclerk was very anxious and quickly crawled out from behind the counter to break them up.
Some customers entering the store saw the situation was not right and ran out to call for help, quickly bringing the patrolling "Red Guards."
Upon seeing the "Red Guards," Liu Yuemin and Zhao Xiaoju were terrified. Their arrogant demeanor from the fight vanished, and they both cowered like quails, not daring to breathe a word.
"Have you all forgotten the policies from above? Speculation and profiteering are crimes. All goods will be confiscated, and each person will be fined forty yuan."
Forty yuan? Liu Yuemin panicked upon hearing this. She hadn't earned much money making hairpins.
"Comrade, can you not fine me? Forty yuan is too much; I really can't afford it." Liu Yuemin pleaded with the "Red Guard."
The "Red Guard" was unmoved, not even lifting their eyelids, and directly issued a notice, "It's fine if you don't pay. Then you can come with me. You are responsible for the consequences."
Upon hearing that she would be taken away, Liu Yuemin's legs weakened, and she almost fell to the ground. She dared not have any other thoughts and obediently paid the money.
Zhao Xiaoju didn't have that much money and was eventually taken away by the "Red Guards."
Watching them walk away, Liu Yuemin's intestines were filled with regret thinking that the fruits of her labor for more than half a month were all in vain, and she even lost forty yuan. She felt like her heart was bleeding.
If she had known this would happen, she should have just sold everything to Chen Lishu.
Thinking of Chen Lishu, Liu Yuemin's previously dull gaze flickered.
...
Chen Lishu was making clothes at home when she vaguely heard someone knocking on the door. She put down her work and went out. As soon as she opened the courtyard gate, she saw Liu Yuemin standing at the door, her clothes wrinkled, her hair messy, and with two scratches on her neck.
"Second sister-in-law, what happened to you?"
Liu Yuemin didn't answer, walked into the courtyard, and her gaze swept over the small yard. The envy in her heart could not be suppressed.
She was so disheveled, yet Chen Lishu lived in such a nice yard. This was too unfair! "Third sister-in-law, you still have the nerve to ask. If it weren't for you trying to take advantage of me by eight fen before, I wouldn't have sold it to the supply and marketing cooperative for seven fen, and I wouldn't have met that bitch Zhao Xiaoju and fought with her, nor would I have been caught by the 'Red Guards'."
As Liu Yuemin spoke, she became more agitated, "You must compensate me for my losses today!"
Chen Lishu was amused by her shameless words.
"Liu Yuemin, I've met shameless people before, but I've never met anyone as shameless as you."
Liu Yuemin didn't care what she said. Having suffered such a great loss, she just wanted someone to compensate her.
"If you don't compensate me for my losses, I'll expose your speculation and profiteering and private clothing making."
Upon hearing her words, Chen Lishu's previously gentle face instantly turned cold.
"On account of you being my second sister-in-law, I'll give you one chance. Get out of my house now. It's all your muddled brain talking nonsense. I can pretend today's events never happened." Chen Lishu's voice was ice-cold, devoid of any warmth.
"You give me a chance?" Liu Yuemin scoffed, "Chen Lishu, you need to understand that I am the one giving you a chance now. Stop acting high and mighty. Give me a straight answer about compensation or I'll expose everything about you."