Chapter 9: Gifts

When the spring plowing is finished, it's already late April. Seeing that the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, Wang Chunhua is going to buy some glutinous rice dumplings.

It just so happened that the weather was getting hot. Wei Yuanhang wore the same clothes from the year before last summer. By this time, he was still too small to wear them and they needed to be remade.

They also made one or two clothes for the child in Feng Qiuyue's belly. Wang Chunhua simply took out the food stamps and cloth stamps at home and lets her two daughters-in-law take a trip to the county.

He Xiaoyun was excited when she got this task. She had been here for such a long time but the furthest she'd go was her mother's house. She had long wanted to go out and have a look.

Moreover, since she decided to take the college entrance examination, she secretly set a few small goals for herself. The most recent one is to find some related books first. She wanted to go to the bookstore in the county.

The night before, she took out the living expenses previously given by Wei Jianwei. When she got it that day, she directly hid the envelope in the closet, without seeing how much money was inside.

Tearing the envelope open, five pieces of Great Unity were revealed inside. He Xiaoyun gazed at the money and her heart started beating faster.

Fifty yuan, in her time, may not be enough for a meal, but here, more things can be bought. 

For a catty of pork that costs eight cents, she can buy more than sixty catties of meat. For an egg that costs five or six cents, she can buy more than 800 eggs. 

Of course, these things require tickets and cannot be bought randomly. Just now, she asked her first sister-in-law how much money was needed to take a back and forth trip. 

The travel to commune cost 25 cents per trip, which means it cost 50 cents back and forth. She had fifty yuan, which means she can take a hundred buses back and forth! She's rich!

Wei Jianwei, who can give her so much money has become the representative of the local tyrants in He Xiaoyun's heart.

As for whether it would be bad to spend other people's money, He Xiaoyun had struggled for a long time before picking up the envelope.

Some problems are inherently hard to be calculated seriously. If she continued to struggle with this kind of thing, she probably won't survive in this era.

Besides, she had also thought about it. The money she borrowed from Wei Jianwei will be returned to him when she gained her income from her future work. 

So for now, she has no psychological burden of spending the money and just immerses herself in the joy of being rich.

When He Xiaoyun woke up early the next morning and was about to go out, Wei Yuanhang acted like a baby and said he wanted to go with her. Thinking that the child didn't need a ticket anyway, Wang Chunhua waved her hand and approved of it.

On the way, He Xiaoyun made an agreement with the child: "Let's talk about it first. After arriving there, no matter what you see, you are not allowed to say you wanted to buy it. You can only look at it. Otherwise, I won't let you follow in the future, do you understand?"

Wei Yuanhang happily jumped around her and nodded, "I know!"

He was probably happy to be able to come out to play. It took half an hour to walk from the brigade to the commune and she didn't see him complaining that he's tired.

When the commune arrives in the county, there are two busses. One to go in the morning and the one that will go back in the afternoon. If someone were to miss the bus, they can only walk back. 

Of course, some people choose to walk for two hours to save 50 cents. 

Wei Yuanhang sat on the bus for the first time as if he was Grandma Liu that entered the Grand View Garden. Sitting on He Xiaoyun's lap and looking around, he keeps asking He Xiaoyun what is that. When the car started, his mouth couldn't stop chattering.

He Xiaoyun who was holding the little chatterbox just want to give him to others.

The car bumped all the way and the passengers staggered in the bus seat. Although the county is considered to be a city, the place is not big, and there is no trace of tall buildings. 

There is only one street with shops. The most conspicuous one is the supply and marketing agency at the intersection, and it also took the name of a department store.

In her previous life, He Xiaoyun was a person who lived in a big city. In her view, this place has nothing to do with prosperity. But after staying in Qingshuihe for a long time, it's hard to see the previous life's scenery. 

The places of this era are not what she has seen before, so it is inevitable to look left and right. As for Feng Qiuyue and Wei Yuanhang, they are even more dazzled.

He Xiaoyun calmed her mind first and pointed directly at their destination, the department store in front of them, "Let’s go and buy what we need first, and then we take a look at the place later."

When they entered the department store, the three of them looked dazzled again. Behind the bright glass window, all kinds of goods were dazzling. 

The salesperson behind the counter was even young and fashionable. He Xiaoyun and Feng Qiuyue, who was the same age were put together in a lively manner.

After a brief glance, He Xiaoyun held Wei Yuanhang in one hand, and from time to time paid attention to the pregnant Feng Qiuyue. The three of them squeezed to the cloth counter first. 

Because she didn’t know whether the child in her belly was a boy or a girl, Feng Qiuyue didn’t buy any floral cloth. Instead, she chose a piece of blue fabric. 

He Xiaoyun also picked a small piece of blue cloth and a small piece of dark blue cloth. She planned to make clothes for Wei Yuanhang, a small blue shirt, and a pair of dark blue shorts. 

Of course, she doesn't have that much time to sew, she will have to trouble Feng Qiuyue at that time.

After buying the children's fabric, the two adults looked at the colorful silk scarves behind the counter. In the eyes of the previous He Xiaoyun, this kind of silk scarf was earthy and vulgar. 

But if you see gray and black dresses every day, you will probably be envious of these cheesy rainbow colors.

After that, they went to buy glutinous rice and then went shopping in the store for a while.

Wei Yuanhang obeyed their early agreement. He looked at the colorful candies and all kinds of novelties that he had never seen before. 

Although he said a word or two that he wanted to buy something, if the adult doesn't buy it, he won't fussed about it. In the end, He Xiaoyun couldn't bear it herself, so she bought him a bunch of candied haws, which made the child happy.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, they walked around the street. He Xiaoyun went into a bookstore and take a look. The bookstores in the small county have very few types of books, most of them are "The Chairman's Quotations" and the like. There are no textbooks for students, and there are no tutorial materials.

He Xiaoyun couldn't hide her disappointment. Seeing that it was getting late, they had to walk back to the station.

There is a recycling station next to the station. When waiting for the bus, He Xiaoyun rushed to the recycling station to find old textbooks. 

She was happy that she managed to find something and then she went to pay with money. "Friends of Military and Civilian Talents".  Although she doesn’t know the specific content is, but thinking that Wei Jianwei might be interested, she still bought the book. The books were bought together and two of them cost 30 cents.

Back at home, to avoid Wang Chunhua’s eyes, He Xiaoyun transported the two books back to the bedroom undercover. Then put the book in front of Wei Jianwei with great pride and she said, "I'm giving this to you."

Although the gift was only worth a dime, she didn't feel it was inappropriate.

The book is a bit old. Although she wiped the dust off on the surface, it still looks tattered. Wei Jianwei picked it up, looked through the catalog carefully, then raised his head and said to her, "Thank you."

"It's not much." He Xiaoyun waved her hands happily and carefully put away her own book.

When she was about to go out, she thought of Wei Yuanhang's performance today. To be honest, children nowadays are much pitiful than they were later. 

There are no snacks, no toys, not to mention there are no mobile phones and computers. Give them candy and they will be happy. Thinking of that chubby boy in the store today, He Xiaoyun felt a bit uncomfortable.

She leaned in front of Wei Jianwei, "I have something to discuss with you."

In the afternoon, Wang Chunhua got a headache again when she found that her second son had taken out some wood at home and spoiled it. 

The wood was placed there, it was sawn into small pieces. He is saying that it was toys for children.

Fart toys! He really does what he likes!

He Xiaoyun hid in the bedroom, listening to Wang Chunhua's loud voice scolding Wei Jianwei, she keep saying that he was a dead fellow. Fortunately, Wei Jianwei, a fellow daoist was reliable, and he never confessed that she was the perpetrator from the very beginning.

Wei Jianwei worked carefully and his hands and feet were quick. By the end of the night, he had already made more than two dozen blocks of various shapes.

He Xiaoyun wiped them clean, she then moved them to the bedroom enthusiastically and said to Wei Yuanhang: "Mom will teach you how to play a new game. Let's start by building a castle, in the castle..."

"What is a castle?" Wei Yuanhang curiously asked.

He Xiaoyun thought about it and explained it in the simplest terms: "It's just a very big house."

"Oh." The child nodded understandingly.

"A dragon is living in the castle, do you know what a dragon is?"

"I know! I know! There is a dragon in the strip comic!"

The child has seen the comic strip of "Journey to the West" before. He Xiaoyun guessed that he was talking about the little white dragon in it. Although they are all dragons, the appearance of the Eastern dragon is quite different from that of the Western dragon.

"Yes," He Xiaoyun nodded, "It's that kind of dragon. The dragon lives in the castle, and one day it caught a princess."

"What is a princess?"

He Xiaoyun waved her hand and was prepared for this question. "A pretty little girl is a princess."

Wei Yuanhang frowned thoughtfully, and after a while, he clapped his hands excitedly and concluded, "Yanyan is also a princess!"

He Xiaoyun whispered secretly in her heart: this kid's mouth is quite sweet, he knows the way to coax the girls.

As she was about to continue, Wei Yuanhang asked again, "Why did the Dragon catch the princess?"

He Xiaoyun got stuck and fell into deep thought because of this question. Yeah, why did the Dragon catch the Princess? To give birth to a little dragon?

But let's not mention the issue of reproduction. The haplotype difference is enough to be eye-catching. The dragon's schlong is probably thicker than the princess' waist.

He Xiaoyun regretted it a little. She was fine playing with the little child but to find herself a bunch of difficult problems. Fortunately, after thinking about it, she came up with a plausible answer:

"Because the dragon is very lonely. It catches the princess and accompanies her to play hide and seek."

Wei Yuanhang nodded, there are no other problems for now.

He Xiaoyun breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "The dragon caught the princess and locked her in the castle. Now we have to defeat the dragon and save the princess—"

When her words are not finished yet, the child found another problem, "Why do we need to fight the dragon? Can't we just play hide and seek with him?"

He Xiaoyun: "..." She stopped playing.

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T/N: This is one of the difficulties in taking care of a child, you need to answer all their what's and why's. I feel for you, He Xiaoyun.

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