Chapter 83: Another Spirit Appears?

Bai Xi idly played with Little Black's teeth, not in the least worried that it might bite her. When Chen Daliu asked, she answered without a second thought, “Isn’t Chen Weiguo in the city? Ask him if any of his colleagues at work want to buy a couple of fish to improve their meals. Also see if anyone in the village is planning to sell some. The New Year is coming up, so everyone probably wants to trade for some cash to buy a few things.”

She herself had winter clothes for the New Year, but many children in the village still didn’t have a single set of new clothes. She’d only thought of this after hearing Shunzi and the others mention it offhand these past few days. Even if they didn’t buy fabric for clothes, selling the fish for some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar would still be good. Relying on the few eggs their own hens laid—who knew how long that would take to save up enough?

Chen Daliu’s eyes lit up at her words, and he hurriedly agreed. The young mistress was truly sharp; the city was in the midst of a severe food shortage. City folk wanted to buy food, but there was nothing in the supply cooperatives or food shops—not for lack of money, but for lack of anything to buy.

Their village just happened to have Chen Weiguo’s family in the city. With him as a go-between, city dwellers could fill their stomachs, and the villagers could make some money to buy what they needed—a win-win situation.

This wasn’t profiteering either; after all, country folk had no ration coupons to buy things with, and city people couldn’t just starve holding onto their money. Going through Chen Weiguo, none of the other villages would know, and the buyers, afraid of losing their jobs if word got out, wouldn’t say a thing. The villagers themselves would be even less likely to talk, making it safe and convenient.

Chen Daliu departed, leaving Li Youcai and the other two men to help Bai Xi clean the fish. Bai Xi kept about fifty of her fish in a large round tub; the rest were gutted, scaled, and washed, then salted and smoked. Although she preferred fresh fish, it was winter now, and a bit of smoked fish for breakfast would do. Besides, salting the fish was just to let the flavor sink in; within a few days, all of these would end up in her and Little Black’s bellies anyway.

When Li Chengcai and the two villagers finished their work and left, Bai Xi even gave each of them a handful of sunflower seeds. It wasn’t anything rare, but the three were delighted and thanked her repeatedly. Back home, they shared the seeds with their families. Anything given by the young mistress—sunflower seeds or not—was a blessing. It could help the sick recover faster or keep the healthy strong.

Bai Xi knew nothing of this scene. She was now sitting cross-legged on the couch, chin in hand, fiddling with her Qiankun Bag. She was simply too poor, yet even in such poverty, the villagers still thought of honoring her.

Respectful and awestruck, they devoted themselves to her, always following her lead. This was why Bai Xi couldn’t help but see the people of Niuluo Village as her own subjects. If her people lived too poorly, it only showed her incompetence. So she racked her brains to think of ways to improve their lives. She didn’t ask for them to eat extravagantly, but at the very least, they shouldn’t lack food or clothing!

“How did I end up getting tricked by that flower sprite?” Bai Xi muttered gloomily to herself. This really wasn’t supposed to be her burden. At her words, Little Black lifted its head and looked at her in confusion—Mistress, what flower sprite? Bai Xi, deep in her own thoughts, didn’t bother to explain, so Little Black pondered silently. Hadn’t the mushroom sprite business already passed? Why was there a flower sprite now? Would it have to search everywhere again? Well, it could do that, but what if it was another wild goose chase?

Little Black hesitated, wanting to speak, but when it looked up, Bai Xi had already started cultivating again. So it lay down quietly, dutifully standing guard.

Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya had also watched the fish-catching excitement. Although their family hadn’t received over a hundred catties, the village had still given them about ten fish. Chen Weiguo didn’t know that, if not for Chen Yi shouting at the pond that Bai Xi had cheated him, they would have gotten a few more. If he knew, he might have given Chen Yi another beating. Nowadays, buying a fish in the city meant pulling strings and using connections; even then, you might not get two in a month. To lose several fish just because his son ran his mouth—how could he not be furious?

When Chen Daliu came looking for him, Fang Ya and Chen Weiguo were happily cleaning their fish. The weather was cold; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been three fires burning by the pond to keep everyone warm.

Hearing the village chief’s reason for coming, Chen Weiguo agreed immediately without a second thought.

Fang Ya added, “Chief, you don’t know, but I was just talking to Weiguo about this. Two of our colleagues at work recently had babies and want some carp and pork trotters, but with the current situation in the city, there isn’t even frozen meat, let alone fresh trotters or fish.”

Chen Daliu nodded. That was the truth. Adults could make do with hunger, but what about the little ones? Newborns couldn’t go without milk. If the adults starved and had no milk, the babies would only cry in hunger. Who could bear to let their children go hungry after carrying them for ten months?

The pigs weren’t ready for slaughter, but the fish could be sold. Many in the village wanted to sell for some cash, but as honest farmers, they didn’t dare. If they were caught, it would be more than just their own faces they’d lose.

But when the chief came asking, saying it was at the young mistress’s suggestion and that Chen Weiguo would handle it, everyone agreed at once. If the young mistress thought of something, it couldn’t be wrong. Sell the fish, get some money, maybe even pool together to buy her something, and pick up a few things for their own families as well.

That very night, Chen Daliu drove the ox cart with Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya into town, carrying two baskets of fish and two sacks of dried sweet potatoes. They didn’t dare bring too much at first; this was just to test the waters. The dried sweet potatoes had been collected by the villagers, the money from their sale intended to buy something for Bai Xi—a collective token of their respect.

They arrived in the city just as dawn broke. The three of them first bought five steamed buns at the state-run restaurant—one for Fang Ya, two each for Chen Daliu and Chen Weiguo. But Chen Daliu only ate one, wrapping the other to take back for the young mistress to taste.

When it was time for work, Chen Weiguo hurried to his unit and quietly mentioned the fish to a couple of close colleagues. He hadn’t expected that, when they were taking out money, another coworker would happen to see. People in the unit would sometimes buy expensive grain on the black market, and when they smelled the scent of fish on Chen Weiguo’s clothes, they put two and two together. After all, his hometown was in the countryside, and it was just the season for slaughtering pigs and catching fish in preparation for the New Year.

Times were hard everywhere. Even the mining district was half-shut from hunger, but at least villagers had their own plots and could raise some livestock—better than city folk who couldn’t even find wild roots or greens.