Chapter 62 - 62

Chapter 62 Changing Ducklings"Mother, aren't my elder brother and sister-in-law home?" Aunt Meihua led Yun Ting into the courtyard.An elderly woman was sitting in the courtyard; she was Aunt Meihua's mother."Hello, Grandma, I'm Yun Ting." Yun Tinggreeted her with a smile." Meihua! What's going on here?""We're bringing you some eggs to help you out. We're here today to exchange them for ducklings. Isn't your wife home?""I bet he's gone next door to chat right now. Doesn't he feel tired? He doesn't even rest after work."" Doggy, go and call your grandma back."The little boy responded, stood up, and ran outside.Yun Ting almost couldn't hold back. Doggy? That name is so reminiscent of that era."Auntie, you're back?" A young man came out of the house, followed by a young woman who also called out "Auntie."A little while later, Aunt Meihua's sister-in-lawreturned, following behind Doggy.Naturally, a brief introduction followed."Auntie, my little duck is full of energy! Let me take you to the backyard to see it..." she whispered, making sure no one else knew about it.Every household was required to support their children based on the number of people in their household; otherwise, it would be considered cutting off the "remnant of socialism," which could be fatal.Only close family members and friends knew she had ducklings, so she was prepared in case someone reported her, saying they had just hatched.However, no one has made a fuss about it for so long.Yun Ting looked at the little ducklings and thought they were extremely cute, chirping away. There were probably more than thirty of them, which was quite a lot."Little Educated Youth Yun, how many do you want?"" Auntie, someone asked me to exchange these for them. They said if I had any, I'd like twenty. Is that okay?"Aunt Meihua's sister-in-law's eyes lit up. "Okay! Here's what we'll do! Little Educated Youth Yun, everyone else exchanges grain for these, but you didn't bring any. I guess you're exchanging them for money? Auntie will give you two cents each, is that alright?""Okay, let's change it like this! It's four dollars in total, here you go." Yun Ting handed over the money."Thank you, Auntie...""Hey, I'm the one who should be saying thank you.""Auntie, how much do you want?""I only need five.""Okay..."She deftly took a woven bamboo cage and put the ducklings inside, putting in twenty-five of them in total." Auntie, does anyone around here have chicks or geese?" Yun Ting whispered as she leaned closer to ask."You've come to the right person. One of my sisters has chicks and geese. If you want, I can take you there later.""That's great!" Yun Ting said happily.This trip was truly effortless!Aunt Meihua's sister-in-law took them there.Yun Ting traded fifteen chicks and five geese. She only had fifteen goslings. Aunt Meihua also traded two geese.The two then returned home laden with their purchases, declined her sister-in-law's offer to stay for dinner, and left in high spirits.This time, Aunt Meihua refused to ride her bicycle no matter what.Yun Ting was extremely helpless and could only ask her to tie the cage to the cart and push the cart while walking with her."Little Educated Youth Yun, you don't need to walk with me, you go back first! I'm used to walking, I can walk very fast.""How can that be? We came together. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know where to change! How can I let you walk back by yourself? Walking is good too, consider it exercise.""You silly girl..." Aunt Meihua could only let her be.The two chatted and laughed, so it wasn't too difficult to get through; they had traveled this distance before."Hey, look at those two, are they stupid? They have bicycles to ride, but they let animals ride them instead.""Hey, isn't that Meihua from Old Zhao's family?"A few women were whispering nearby. Aunt Meihua didn't hear them, but Yun Ting, with her keen hearing, overheard them.Ah…this, she suddenly remembered a joke she'd seen in her later life: a father and daughter were leading a donkey, offering each other a ride. The father sat while the daughter led the donkey, and people said, "This father is really something, sitting on the donkey while his daughter walks, it's outrageous!" Upon hearing this, the father quickly got off so his daughter could sit, and then people said, "Letting the father walk while he sits on the donkey, it's outrageous!" Later, when both of them sat on the donkey, people said, "With both of them sitting, they'll crush the donkey, how heartless!"The father and daughter dismounted from the donkey again. This time, neither of them sat on it; they both led the donkey and walked. Some people said they were foolish for not riding the donkey when they had one.Now she and Aunt Meihua are being described as the last type."Yes, it is Meihua, that's for sure. Who is that girl? She's really pretty! Could it be that she's arranging a marriage for her nephew?""What are you thinking? Her eldest nephew is already married, and her youngest is only in junior high school. Who can she tell?"As they approached, they all fell silent. Aunt Meihua saw them too and greeted them, but they didn't chat much, since they weren't on very good terms.One of the women wanted to inquire about Yun Ting, but seeing Aunt Meihua's lukewarm attitude, she gave up the idea.After they walked away, another woman said, "Tch... what's so great about her? She just married a Brigade Leader, what's with all the arrogance she has?""Then why don't you marry a Brigade Leadertoo! Haha…" another woman said with a laugh." Aunt Meihua, you don't seem to like those people very much.""Why would I dislike them? Those people are all gossipy old women who love to talk behind people's backs; I can't be bothered with them."Yun Ting understood immediately. From what she had overheard their discussion, she could roughly guess. No wonder, someone as kind-hearted as Aunt Meihua who was unwilling to talk much must have some problems.Back at the village entrance, Yun Ting suggested that they deliver the package to her friend first, otherwise there would be too many people and too much attention in the village. Aunt Meihuanodded in agreement and went back first.Of course, she wasn't really going to town. She rode out for a while, found a spot, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then entered the space with her bike.She kept the animals and livestock in the space very tidy, with fences made of branches by herself. She also prepared a separate area for the chicks, ducks, and geese. When she let them out, they immediately ran around happily."Haha...this time we won't be short of meat."After spending some time in the space, eating some fruit, and making some more purchases, I slowly rode back to the village.She made a lot of braised beef from the bison she slaughtered last time, and she was planning to make some beef jerky sometime, but suddenly she really wanted to eat some.Time flies by, and summer is here in the blink of an eye.The crops planted in the fields have all grown tall, a lush green that is a very pleasing sight. Now the work involves irrigation and weeding. The newly educated youth are gradually adapting, and although they are still not as hardworking as the villagers, at least they are not holding the team back. The Brigade Leaderis very pleased with this. As long as they don't cause trouble, he feels he should be burning incense in gratitude.But that's something you can't keep talking about; what you fear most is what will happen.