CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: THE VEGETABLE GARDEN RAIDED

Yunyi was very grateful after hearing the Branch Secretary’s words. "Thank you, Uncle Branch Secretary. I’ll be troubling you then."

The Branch Secretary waved his hand indifferently. "It’s not a big deal. You kids from the city are always so polite. Alright, hurry back. I’ll go to the Zhiqing Point and let them know."

After they walked together for a few dozen meters, one headed towards the Zhiqing Point, and the other towards the small courtyard.

Since the Branch Secretary had given his word, Yunyi didn’t hold back. She went straight into the vegetable garden and picked eggplants, green beans, and tomatoes, and also pulled up a few green onions.

She figured that since the Zhiqing Point had received the news, they would probably come for a big haul, so she picked extra, ensuring they’d have vegetables for the evening.

And she guessed right. She was cooking her two-grain rice and had just finished cutting the eggplants when she heard a commotion outside. Stepping out, she saw Deng Xiaojie and Xie Lizhu from the Zhiqing Point indeed sweeping through the vegetable garden.

She deliberately walked out and said, "Picking vegetables, are we?"

Xie Lizhu hadn’t expected Yunyi to come out and said, somewhat embarrassedly, "After Jiao Zhiqing and Yan Zhiqing left, we’ve been the ones watering this vegetable garden."

Deng Xiaojie, however, said with some displeasure, "Why bother telling her so much?"

Just then, Liu Chenglin returned, and Yunyi immediately called out to him, "Liu Zhiqing, there’s something I need to tell you."

Liu Chenglin stopped and said coolly, "What is it?"

Yunyi pointed to the vegetable garden. "The Branch Secretary said this private plot, which previously belonged to Yan Zhiqing and Jiao Zhiqing who returned to the city, will be allocated to us from now on. We can just pick vegetables from here when we need them. He also said we should discuss among ourselves whether to cultivate it together next spring or divide the land and each plant our own."

Liu Chenglin looked at the vegetable garden. "Let’s leave it as is for this year. Next spring, we’ll divide the land, and everyone can plant their own."

With the matter settled, Yunyi paid no more attention to the two still picking vegetables in the garden. After today, the land would no longer have anything to do with the Zhiqing Point anyway. It was just meant to serve as camouflage for her space, so she truly didn’t care about it.

After a simple meal and tidying up, she went into her space for a comfortable bath before coming out.

Remembering the earlier advice from an auntie, she headed towards the home of someone who could weave straw hats. Heeding advice saves a lot of trouble, she thought; those corn leaves are genuinely too scratchy, and I urgently need a straw hat.

She’d worked in the fields in her past life, so why hadn’t she thought of this sooner? It seemed the comfortable life she led later had made her forget the basics.

Fortunately, when she arrived, some people at the Zhang Family home hadn’t yet taken their afternoon rest. Standing outside the courtyard, she called out, "Hello, Uncle. I’m a new educated youth sent to the countryside. I heard from an auntie in the village that I could exchange for straw hats here?"

In those days, even buying something had to be phrased as an "exchange" to avoid giving others a pretext for criticism.

The man in the courtyard, who had a limp, replied, "Yes, come in and choose."

Yunyi waved her hand. "I won’t come in. You can just help me pick three."

The man got up and went into the adjacent adobe house. When he came back out, he held five or six woven straw hats. "Choose for yourself."

These straw hats were clearly all made by the same person. She took the top three. "How much for all three?"

The man put the remaining hats away. "That’ll be forty-five cents."

Yunyi didn’t have small change and handed over a five-yuan note.

The man looked troubled. "I don’t have change for that. Why don’t you take the hats now, and bring the money later when you have change?"

Yunyi didn’t want such a hassle. Seeing gourd seeds drying on the adobe house’s windowsill, she asked, "Do you have any spare seeds at home?"

"What seeds?" the man asked, looking puzzled.

Yunyi pointed to the windowsill of the adobe house. "It doesn’t matter what kind—fruits, vegetables, anything will do. You can just deduct the cost from this money."