People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 46
Jiang Yutao and Xu Baozhu’s first interaction took place the day after they met Xu Manqiu. She arrived while Jiang Yutao and the others were having lunch.
She entered the yard, greeted Wang Shanxi and the others who were in the yard, and then directly went to their dormitory.
Without knocking, she walked right in: “Educated Youth Jiang, Educated youth Gu, hello, I’m Xu Baozhu.”
Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei exchanged a glance, guessing the reason for her visit.
Jiang Yutao stood up to greet her: “Hello, hello, come sit here. Have you eaten? Would you like something to eat?”
After entering the room, Xu Baozhu looked around. The living room was small, with a small dining table against the wall. Three stools were placed around the table.
Xu Baozhu’s eyes briefly scanned the food on the table. Seeing that they were eating only vegetarian dishes, not as good as what she had at home, she shook her head: “No, no, I’m here for something.”
She pulled out a stool and sat down on her own: “I went to Uncle Manzhu’s house today and saw the snowflake cream my sister Xiaoyan used, and it looked really good. They said you helped her buy it. I wanted to ask if you could help me buy some as well.”
Liu Xiaoyan was Xu Dazui’s eldest granddaughter and the same age as Xu Baozhu.
Although Xu Baozhu had no memories of her past life, her intuition was very accurate. When she went to visit Liu Xiaoyan, she immediately noticed the snowflake cream on the shelf. She instantly thought it was a good product. After asking Liu Xiaoyan for permission, she applied some, and it felt incredibly moisturizing and smelled nice.
Xu Baozhu had always had smooth sailing in life. Whatever she wanted, she always got. She wanted that snowflake cream, so she came to the Youth Commune to ask for it.
Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei looked her up and down.
She was still wearing a brand-new red cotton coat, her hair neatly combed and hanging down on both sides of her face, decorated with two red flower hairpins. This style of headwear seemed very old-fashioned to Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei, but in this era, it was something that most people couldn’t afford.
In the whole of Liushu village, only Xu Baozhu had ever worn it.
She wore black-blue nylon pants on her lower half and had a pair of Warrior-brand shoes on her feet.
This outfit, not only in the countryside but even in the city, very few girls could afford to wear. Xu Manqiu, who was born from the same mother and is Xu Baozhu’s twin, was treated entirely differently, as if they came from two different worlds.
Just yesterday, they saw Xu Manqiu, who was wearing a dull, old cotton coat that she must have inherited from someone. The cotton at the sleeves was already torn, and her pants were just single-layered. She was wearing black, multi-layered shoes, but the front had already split, and when she walked quickly, her big toe would poke out.
Jiang Yutao didn’t want to help Xu Baozhu, and neither did Gu Niangwei.
With a forced smile, Gu Niangwei declined Xu Baozhu’s request: “That snowflake cream was bought in the city. We don’t have any left now. If you want some, you’ll have to go to the city and buy it yourself.”
The snowflake cream had been bought by Xu Dazui for Jiang Yutao just a week after she arrived in the countryside. Jiang Yutao found it too much of a hassle to go to the commune and squeeze with others to buy things, so she had Gu Niangwei bring it for her.
Gu Niangwei simply took a jar from her space and gave it to Jiang Yutao to pass on. It was a high-end foreign brand, specifically designed for teenage girls. Not only did it smell great, but it was also very moisturizing. Of course, it was also very expensive.
Gu Niangwei had stocked up on many such products. She had given Jiang Yutao a bottle too. She didn’t care about skincare products; she had enough supplies in her space to last her three lifetimes. She could easily give them away without feeling bad, but if she didn’t want to give something to someone, she wouldn’t even give them an empty bottle.
In other words, as long as Gu Niangwei insisted that the snowflake cream was no longer available, Xu Baozhu could search the entire country, and she would never be able to find the same one.
Even abroad, she wouldn’t be able to buy it. Times are progressing, and formulas are improving. However, she could buy other effective skincare products; it all depends on whether Xu Baozhu has the ability to do so.
Xu Baozhu was stunned. Throughout her life, whenever she wanted something, she could simply ask, and someone would give it to her. No one had ever refused her before.
“I’ll pay you, I have money!” Xu Baozhu thought for a moment and figured that Gu Niangwei might be refusing because she saw her as a child with no money. So, she pulled out money from her pocket.
A small handful of money, with the largest denomination being a “big unity” note, and the smallest being a fifty-cent bill, no change notes.
Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei looked on, growing more and more dissatisfied.
Xu Manqiu’s hands were covered in frostbite, and she didn’t even have medicine to treat them. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to repay even the two steamed buns, yet Xu Baozhu could easily pull out dozens of yuan from her pocket.
To put it into perspective, this was the 1970s, and the monthly wage for a regular worker at the time was just a little over 30 yuan. Xu Baozhu was only 15 years old!
“Baozhu, it’s not that I don’t want to help you buy it, but we really don’t plan on going to the city. If you really want it, you can find someone else to buy it for you,” Gu Niangwei’s smile was fading more and more.
Xu Baozhu had never been refused by anyone, and now she was getting angry. She thought the city wasn’t far away; she could just find someone to buy it for her. She didn’t need to beg Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei. She quickly put the money back into her pocket.
“Alright then, I’ll leave.” Xu Baozhu stood up and walked out. With so many friends and parents who were so capable, getting a jar of snowflake cream in the city would be easy. There was no need to beg Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei!
After Xu Baozhu left, Jiang Yutao poked her rice with her chopsticks, no longer having an appetite.
Gu Niangwei put her chopsticks down on the table: “Tao Tao, what do you think Xu Accountant is thinking? He’s a team leader, and every year the team gives him subsidies. He also receives a salary from the team. Manqiu’s parents are both workers in the county town; they aren’t short on money, so why do they treat Manqiu this way?”
If the whole family was struggling, it would be one thing, but the Xu family was living well, yet they still treated Xu Manqiu so harshly.
After finishing the book, Jiang Yutao naturally understood what the Xu family meant. If she were to be angry, she would have been upset yesterday. But now, she had calmed down.
It was obvious that the whole Xu family believed Xu Baozhu was the lucky star and Xu Manqiu was the “scourge star.” They listened to the Taoist priest and wanted to suppress the scourge star, so naturally, they wouldn’t treat Xu Manqiu well.
“Isn’t it said in the village that Xu Baozhu is the lucky star? Maybe that’s why.”
“This is feudal superstition. I didn’t expect Accountant Xu, who usually seems like a decent person, to act like a dog at a critical moment. They’re all from the same Xu family, and Manqiu is so well-behaved. He’s really gotten old and confused,” Gu Niangwei cursed angrily.
The two of them vented their frustration, and then Li Yunying called them to study. Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei grabbed their pens and notebooks and went over.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Zhao Yonglan eagerly asked, “I just saw Xu Baozhu go to your place. What did she come for?”
Zhao Yonglan had heard a lot about Xu Baozhu’s mysteriousness, and she was very curious about her. Zhao Yonglan had grown up without ever hearing of such strange things.
Unfortunately, Xu Baozhu didn’t interact much with them, the educated youth, but she had a group of close friends in the village.
“She came to ask us to help her buy snowflake cream.”
After Jiang Yutao said this, Zhao Yonglan was very disappointed. She had thought it was something important: “I thought she was looking for you for something serious. It’s just about this? She can go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy it herself. It’s not expensive.”
They had just bought snowflake cream from the town recently. The most expensive brand was the “Friendship” brand, which cost 3.5 yuan, and the loose ones were even cheaper.
From Xu Baozhu’s outfit, it was clear she wasn’t lacking in money. What kind of things could she not afford to buy? Besides, didn’t she go to school at the commune? Why did she need Gu Niangwei and the others to help her buy snowflake cream?
What’s wrong with her? Does she really think she’s some kind of spoiled young lady who needs people to wait on her? Even at her peak, she never made anyone buy things for her.
Going to the supply and marketing cooperative was something she always handled herself.
Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei didn’t explain, as Wang Shanxi had already taken out the textbook and started copying the text on the small blackboard. They quickly fell silent, opened their notebooks, and began to write rapidly.
Everyone took their studies seriously. If they kept chatting during such a solemn occasion, it would be disrespectful to the others.
As Jiang Yutao and the others became immersed in their intense studies, Xu Baozhu, looking displeased, returned home.
When Old Woman Xu saw her beloved granddaughter, the “lucky star,” looking upset, she immediately felt sorry for her and cried out, calling her over: “Look at you, your face is so long you could hang an oil bottle on it. Come, tell your grandmother, who made our Bao’er unhappy?”
Grandmother Xu, who would scold Xu Manqiu harshly, was all sweetness and honey when talking to Xu Baozhu. She had always been somewhat biased toward men, and even her own daughter had not been treated as well, but with Xu Baozhu, she truly doted on her to the core.
Grandmother Xu felt that, aside from the fact that Xu Baozhu was the “lucky star,” she genuinely had a special affection for her.
Xu Baozhu looked at Grandmother Xu and felt very wronged: “I went to find Jiang Yutao.”
Xu Manqiu, who was in the yard twisting hemp rope, slowed down when she heard Xu Baozhu mention going to find Jiang Yutao, and tears immediately filled her eyes.
Old, buried memories rushed to her mind. She had once had a few friends, but when Xu Baozhu came back from school, looking beautiful and dressed well, all her friends went to be friends with Xu Baozhu, and she was left all alone.
She had been feeling dazed since yesterday, as if she were dreaming. She had seen many female educated youth in the village—pretty, well-spoken, and elegant in their movements, so different from the rural girls like herself. They actually came to visit her, brought her medicine and food, and even asked her to call them “sisters.”
It all felt like a dream, and she was afraid that she would wake up any moment. Now, Xu Baozhu had pulled them away from her, and Xu Manqiu’s heart immediately felt at ease.
But it still hurt terribly. Her tears fell one after another.
Grandmother Xu remembered how she had been caught by Jiang Yutao with a stick yesterday, unable to move, and she became irritated: “Why did Bao’er go to find her?”
Could it be that her precious granddaughter knew she had been humiliated by Jiang Yutao yesterday and went to get revenge for her?
The irritation in Grandmother Xu’s heart disappeared, and she felt a wave of satisfaction. It was still her eldest granddaughter; all these years, her love for her hadn’t been in vain.
“I went to Liu Xiaoyan’s house to play. I saw she had a bottle of really good snowflake cream. She said her grandmother asked Jiang Yutao to buy it. I went to ask Jiang Yutao to buy it for me, but she wouldn’t.”
Xu Baozhu’s words made Grandmother Xu’s heart tense. The joy she had just felt instantly vanished.
Her smile faded a little, but when she saw the innocent look on Xu Baozhu’s face, her displeasure was pushed aside again.
Her Baozhu was raised so innocently and carefree, completely unaware of the adult scheming and intricacies. She probably didn’t even know that she had been humiliated by Jiang Yutao yesterday.
Grandmother Xu said, “Isn’t it just snowflake cream? We’ll go to the supply and marketing cooperative later and buy the best one.”
Xu Baozhu pouted again, “The best one isn’t as good as theirs. They bought theirs in the city.”
When Xu Laopo heard that snowflake cream had to be bought in the city, her heart instinctively tightened. She had come from a poor background and despised wastefulness. She had never used something like snowflake cream in her life.
However, when she looked at her eldest granddaughter’s beautiful face and considered the good fortune she brought to the family, this small matter didn’t seem significant: “Buy it! When your father comes back tomorrow, we’ll have him figure out how to get it for you.”
Xu Baozhu smiled, “Thank you, Grandma. You’re so good to me. When I grow up, I’ll make sure to take good care of you.”
Grandmother Xu was so charmed by Xu Baozhu’s words that she beamed with joy.
The grandmother and granddaughter went inside, warm and affectionate.
The tear that Xu Manqiu had shed had long since been blown dry by the wind. She twisted the hemp rope quickly, a faint smile playing at the corner of her lips.
Sister Tao Tao and Sister Wei Wei hadn’t been coaxed away by Xu Baozhu like her old friends had. That made her so happy.
Xu Manqiu desperately wanted to see them now, but she couldn’t; she still had work to finish today.
Finally, it was time for dinner.
There were over a dozen people in the Xu family. Xu Huijia, the head of the family, had three sons and two daughters. Xu Baozhu and Xu Manqiu’s father, Xu Zhiqiang, was the second child. He had two daughters, Xu Baozhu and Xu Manqiu.
Uncle Xu had three sons, and Third Uncle Xu had two sons. The younger boys were at the age where they ate the most. As soon as they sat at the table, half the food was gone. In the end, the youngest son from Third Uncle Xu’s family cried when he didn’t manage to get the last bit of food.
Xu Baozhu ate slowly. Her food was served separately. In addition to the same food everyone else ate, she also had a separate bowl of egg custard. No one in the family questioned this, not even Xu Lianhui, the youngest at six years old from Third Uncle Xu’s family.
Xu Manqiu and Xu Baozhu were two extremes. While everyone else ate sweet potato and cornmeal bread with corn porridge, hers had been watered down significantly, and the bread was the hardest one. There was barely any vegetable left.
Xu Manqiu didn’t protest because she knew it would be useless. She ate silently, waited for everyone to finish, and then went to wash the dishes. She didn’t rest afterward either, grabbing a rake and a basket before heading out again.
Xu Manqiu had never had a break like this before.
Just as she stepped out of the house and walked a couple of steps up the mountain, Xu Huijia chased after her.
“Qiu’er.”
Xu Manqiu turned around and saw it was Xu Huijia. The smile in her eyes slowly faded.
Xu Huijia took a few steps forward and pulled an egg from his hand, offering it to Xu Manqiu. “Eat this.”
Xu Manqiu looked at the egg in his hand and suddenly found it quite amusing.
Her grandfather always tried to make up for things in these tiny, insignificant ways.
An egg, a piece of candy, a sweet potato—he thought these would make her deeply grateful.
Yet, when she had cried in front of him, her eyes swollen from tears, he never once softened.