CHAPTER 173: CHAPTER 173: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I’LL BEAT YOU SENSELESS

The old man and others were satisfied when she responded so readily, without any unnecessary talk.

Then, after giving her a heap of reminders, they finally let her go.

The moonlight was especially bright on summer nights, with fruits and vegetables flourishing in the courtyard’s garden.

Bai Chen and the others hadn’t gone to sleep yet, enjoying the moonlight under the tree shadows, listening to the sounds of cicadas and birds, and noisily crunching on cucumbers, which made Yi Chichi think of mice sneaking food at midnight.

"Give me one."

She took the small stool next to Wang Nan and sat down. Zhou Qiuyu casually grabbed a washed cucumber from the basin and handed it over, "Have you bought the tickets?"

"I’ll go buy them tomorrow morning."

There’s no direct train from Hei Province to the island; to buy tickets, you have to get to Sanshu Station in the provincial capital, switch trains to Beijing, then take a train from Beijing to Yangcheng.

Then, transfer from Yangcheng to Jiangkou, and finally take a boat to the island from Jiangkou.

She calculated in her head and realized that with this travel route, the round trip would take roughly ten days.

But she’d still have twenty days to enjoy herself, which isn’t a loss.

With that in mind, she asked, "Do any of you have anything you’d like me to help bring back?"

"Yes."

Guan Mingyue was the first to respond, running back to the house and bringing out two meat coupons and two yuan, "See if you can find any meat. If there is, bring back two jins of meat as a farewell gift from me."

"We’ll contribute sugar coupons instead."

Wang Nan pulled out two liang of sugar coupons and fifty cents to give her, "Take these for snacks along the way, consider it a treat from us."

Yi Chichi looked at the sugar coupons and money in her hands, then at Bai Chen and the others, and sighed.

The sugar coupons were obviously borrowed from Guan Mingyue.

Could she refuse?

No.

It was all a gesture of their good intentions.

"I’ll bring dried fruits and seafood for you when I return."

"Mango dried, please."

"Lychee dried."

"I’ve never tried coconuts; could you bring back a few coconuts?"

Wu Yongfei looked at her hopefully. Yi Chichi replied with a cold laugh, "Just wash up and sleep; in your dreams, you can have anything."

Wu Yongfei didn’t like that response and retorted angrily, "Why is it that when they ask for mango or lychee dried, you don’t say anything, but when I want a coconut, you tell me to wash up and sleep?"

"Coconuts are heavy."

Yi Chichi, feeling a bit annoyed, countered, "Small ones weigh 3-5 jins, and if they over-perform, they could be around ten jins. Could I bring them for you and not for Old Bai or Old Wang?"

That would be quite embarrassing.

Wu Yongfei’s eyes widened abruptly, and he smiled sheepishly, saying, "Sorry, I didn’t know coconuts were so heavy."

Back home, he had heard about coconuts but had never seen them.

It was said that the water inside was particularly delicious, refreshing, sweet, and had a rich milky aroma.

Thinking that Yi Chichi was heading to the island, bringing some back wouldn’t be much of a problem.

"Coconuts definitely won’t be brought back, but I’ll see if there’s coconut meat available for you."

This was an easy promise, and Wen Sheng offered grateful thanks.

"It’s good enough if you can bring it back."

Seeing that their conversation was wrapping up, Yan Wanwan, who had been silently munching on a cucumber, raised her hand and spoke in a soft, sticky voice, "Well, I want..."

"Shut up, you don’t want anything!"

Guan Mingyue shot her a look that scared Yan Wanwan into silence, with no ideas left.

Seeing Ning Haitao open his mouth to speak, she sneered, "Believe me, Yan Wanwan would beat you to death."

One sentence KO’ed Ning Haitao.

He touched the scabbing wound that Yan Wanwan had scratched on his face, sighed grievously, and went back inside.

He couldn’t afford to provoke them.

Better hide away.

He genuinely didn’t want his old wounds to heal only to have new ones added.

Guan Mingyue was truly crazy, and Bai Chen and the others weren’t any better; not one of them helped him.

Ah, life; indeed, there is no most hopeless, only even more hopeless.

He had no other thought now but to wish Guan Mingyue would hurry back to the city so he could have a few peaceful days.

However, he never would have thought that before returning to the city, Guan Mingyue actually managed to get him and Yan Wanwan sent to a farm.

Not the Construction Corps farm producing goods, but the farm housing relocated personnel.

The three of them left together before Yi Chichi departed.

As everyone watched the vehicle carrying the three leave, they exchanged bewildered looks and began to discuss.

"Wow, indeed, what a wow. What is the background of Guan Zhiqing that she has a car coming to pick her up and even took Yan Zhiqing and Ning Zhiqing with her?"

"Such a loss! Had I known Guan Zhiqing had this capability, I should have let my Jian Dong marry her."

Ji Sixiu slapped her thigh, foam flying from her mouth in excitement, her face full of regret.

As soon as she said this, everyone backed away from her as if avoiding the plague.

Aunt Ma rolled her eyes and said in disgust, "You talk as if your Jian Dong wants to marry Guan Zhiqing and she’d be willing to marry, without considering how unwanted your Jian Dong really is."

"...Even if he’s unwanted, he’s better than Ning Zhiqing."

With a very proud expression.

The group was speechless; if you don’t know how to argue, then stay quiet, as arguing with Ning Haitao was really pointless.

Being slightly better than him only made one a small scoundrel, really not something to boast about.

"Alright, scatter, scatter."

The team leader waved a hand, face gloomily heading back.

Yi Chichi and the others followed along excitedly, originally not planning to speak, but couldn’t ignore the team leader’s constant sighs, which made their skin crawl.

Yi Chichi couldn’t hold back anymore and took the initiative to ask, "Uncle, what’s wrong?"

"Three Zhiqing have left, and now we’ll be allocated more Zhiqing this year."

He had thrown a fit and refused them in the spring; this time, even if he brought a rope and threatened to hang himself in the Youth Corps Office, it couldn’t prevent them from allocating more Zhiqing.

It’s just so hopeless!

Really don’t want any more annoying brats.

Especially not those troublesome and restless brats.

"Can’t refuse them like before?"

Bai Chen didn’t want new Zhiqing either, as it was such a hassle to get along with them.

They were doing fine, and besides, they were worried about getting more like Ning Haitao and his cohorts.

That would really cause them gray hairs.

"If I could refuse them, I wouldn’t be so troubled."

The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. The team leader touched his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a couple of puffs, and said, "No, I need to go discuss with Xian Qian to see if there’s any way to refuse them."

With those words, he swiftly accelerated into a walking race mode and left.

Yi Chichi and the others exchanged a glance and went on to mind their own business.

"Are the things packed?"

Wen’s mother, who was packing something for Wen Shi, wanting her to take it with her, saw Yi Chichi come over, so she brewed her a cup of malt milk and stared at her until she finished it before leisurely asking.

"All set."

Yi Chichi washed the cup clean and put it away, then stepped forward to pack the pine nuts Wen’s mother prepared for Wen Shi in oil paper. "I’m leaving the morning after tomorrow."

"Pay attention to safety, bring Uncle Yaozi’s silver needles."

"Okay."

Not only the silver needles would be taken, but also the defensive medicine powder prepared, according to her experience reading time-travel novels; Zhiqing traveling by train often have a ’Conan’ aura, either encountering human traffickers or dealing with terrible people.

Being a fellow time-traveling woman, she...shouldn’t be an exception?

In short, to ensure her own safety, Yi Chichi had made all possible preparations and boarded the vehicle amidst the escort and instructions of Wen’s mother and Uncle Yaozi.