CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: EVEN A THOUSAND CUTS WOULD NOT BE TOO MUCH

The sudden voice startled Yi Chichi and the others, and they turned around to find He Yunsong. Wang Nan exclaimed, "When did you get here?"

"When you guys were saying Old Wen is good-looking."

Yi Chichi and the others’ gaze immediately fell on Zhang Yunhao, who smiled sheepishly, "I was just saying."

It wasn’t just saying; he genuinely thought Wen Shi was good-looking from the bottom of his heart.

To be honest, Wen Shi’s face was truly exceptional.

Not only did females find him attractive, but males also had the same visual impression.

He Yunsong agreed, Old Wen was handsome, but unfortunately, the gender was different, so they couldn’t fall in love.

And also—

"I remind you again, don’t praise his looks in front of him."

The voice was very low, afraid of being overheard.

Yi Chichi and the others exchanged glances and nodded in understanding, but still felt a bit curious.

"Why can’t we say it?"

Yi Chichi asked in a hushed voice.

"You’ll get beaten up."

Recalling the tragic experience when he praised Wen Shi’s looks but got beaten up to the point his own mom wouldn’t recognize him.

He Yunsong sighed deeply, "His fists are hard, he hits ruthlessly, and doesn’t differentiate between genders."

"In his eyes, there are only three kinds of people: his own, strangers, and enemies. If friends praise his looks, he’ll just use harsh words but won’t hit, strangers should fend for themselves."

He didn’t mention enemies, but through his expression, Yi Chichi and the others could imagine how ruthless Wen Shi would be to his enemies.

Moreover, she had personally witnessed Wen Shi’s swift and fierce joint dislocation techniques.

Sure enough, a great beauty like a mandrake carries poison; admiring from afar is safer.

"Let’s go back."

Adopting the "stay away from trouble" attitude, Yi Chichi called Bai Chen and the others to leave.

Wang Nan was startled and glanced at Aunt Ma and the others, "Aren’t you waiting for Aunt Ma and the others to trade?"

"They’ll go to the Youth Corps Courtyard when needed."

The sky was overcast, and delicate snowflakes fluttered down gently. Yi Chichi extended her hand, letting the snowflakes melt instantly in her palm, bringing a faintly moist chill.

She exhaled, "It’s snowing."

Meaning, if they didn’t head back soon, it would be hard to walk when the snow became heavier.

"Indeed, it’s time to go back."

Bai Chen agreed, noting that it was too cold outside, and it was better to return to the Youth Corps Courtyard and warm up by the fire.

So, after greeting Aunt Ma and He Yunsong, the group turned and left.

Wen Shi, surrounded by the crowd, caught a glimpse of their departing figures from the corner of his eye, then squinted slightly before continuing to answer Aunt Ma and the others’ questions obediently.

Seeing them go on endlessly, Liu Xiangqian knocked the pipe loudly and shouted, "That’s enough, let Wen go home before chattering more."

The young man hadn’t entered the house since returning, and holding him back to talk was going a bit too far.

Thanks to Liu Xiangqian’s words, Wen Shi was able to escape from the circle of elders.

After bidding farewell to them, Aunt Ma and the others headed straight for the Youth Corps Courtyard.

Wen’s good looks were for viewing only and could not be possessed.

The things Yi Zhqing had could be possessed, so they hurried over, afraid they’d miss the chance to trade.

The things Yi Chichi could trade were actually few, just a couple of enamel mugs, two pairs of Liberation shoes, two towels, and two packages containing a total of twenty candles.

Holding the swapped enamel mug, Liu Feng, a handsome young man from Kao Shan Village with naturally pale skin and deep-set eyes indicating foreign lineage, chuckled, "Yi Zhqing, I want to trade for some fabric."

Yi Chichi was puzzled; where did this guy get the idea she had fabric to trade?

"Mr. Liu, let me remind you, I’m just a young person on a youth assignment, not running a supply store."

In other words: no, don’t have.

This gentleman replied with an "oh," accepting the statement calmly, without much disappointment, and grinned at her ingratiatingly, "Yi Zhqing, could you trade me some fabric tickets?"

Clearly, he was eyeing the tickets awarded to her by the commune.

"Wait a moment."

She took out her tickets, looked through them, and after removing meat coupons, oil coupons, and toilet paper coupons, she traded away industrial coupons like cotton, cloth, and soap tickets.

With few tickets and many people, everyone was short of tickets, and Aunt Ma and the other women almost fought.

Fortunately, the outcome was good; with the village chief’s mediation, the women reached a friendly agreement and successfully divided Yi Chichi’s tickets.

After sending them off, Yi Chichi rubbed her ears and sighed, "Those aunts are scary."

"This is nothing; when they actually fight, it’s truly frightening."

The thick wooden clubs they wield could really kill a person without fear.

Yi Chichi was stunned, "Did those aunts ever fight?"

"Human traffickers."

"They deserved to be beaten."

Beating them to death wouldn’t be too much.

Yi Chichi despised human traffickers the most. In her original world, a classmate’s younger brother was abducted by traffickers.

A lively and adorable two-year-old child was snatched by a few men in broad daylight while his classmate’s mother was out shopping.

They were bold, grabbing and leaving without giving anyone time to react.

After the turn of the millennium, surveillance was sparse in China; there were no camera systems. Once a child was kidnapped, they were mostly never heard from again.

If lucky, they might be sold to a family in desperate need of a boy and could still have a life; if unlucky...

Whether alive or not, it was unknown.

But a family was destroyed.

The classmate...

Recalling the aged, haggard, and numb face of her classmate, she gritted her teeth, "May all human traffickers explode on the spot."

Bai Chen and the others didn’t have any good feelings towards human traffickers either and expressed the same disgust at the mention of them, nodding in agreement to her words.

"Indeed, human traffickers deserve a horrible death; being hacked into pieces wouldn’t be too much."

After cursing the evil of human traffickers, they looked at each other.

Then—

"You’re a little biased."

Wang Nan’s sudden comment shocked Yi Chichi, "What do you mean I’m biased? I didn’t, I’m not, don’t spout nonsense!"

"I’m not spouting nonsense. You trade tickets and goods with the villagers, but not with us."

She was self-righteous, and Zhou Qiuyu weakly spoke up, "She did trade."

"Traded?"

All in unison, "What did we trade, and why don’t we know?"

"Traded for me a cotton-padded jacket."

She tugged on her thick, warm cotton-padded jacket, smiling contentedly, "She also promised to make chilblain cream for you guys and treat us to big bone soup..."

"Enough already."

Ge Sujuan patted her head, "If you keep going, we’ll seem sinister and unforgivable."

It wasn’t that bad.

Yi Chichi just laughed, "Do you want to trade tickets?"

"I want to trade some fabric tickets to make a vest come spring."

Not even daring to think about a shirt, fearing there’s not enough fabric.

"I don’t have any light clothing left to wear."

Bai Chen said with a bitter face; before the autumn harvest, his last piece of light clothing completely gave out.

It was already beyond repair and couldn’t be thrown away. If he couldn’t barter tickets, he would have to continue wearing it after spring came.

As for whether it looked good or not, he could only say it didn’t matter; after all, ragged cloth hanging on the body was better than not wearing anything at all.