Chapter 163: Little Black's New Job

"If Great-Aunt wants to see them, we can just have someone call them back," Chen Rui said matter-of-factly.

After all, they were just in the city; it was not as if they needed to take a train for several days. Not everyone had the opportunity to be missed by Great-Aunt.

Just then, Little Shunzi and the others ran over. Overhearing Bai Xi's final remark, they immediately felt something was amiss. Could it be that Great-Aunt had taken a fancy to that kid Chen Yi?

That simply would not do. Great-Aunt belonged to the few of them; Chen Yi was a newcomer and had no business winning Great-Aunt's favor.

Exchanging glances, the boys instantly hatched a plan in their minds.

At that moment, Chen Yi, who was waiting at home for his parents to finish work and cook dinner, suddenly shivered.

Before long, the weekend rolled around again.

Though it was only the start of the weekend, Chen Weiguo still rode his bicycle back with his wife and child.

Niu Luo Village had already allocated a housing plot to Chen Weiguo, but he could not afford to build a house yet. With his current savings, he certainly could not build a thatched hut, so they were still living in his older cousin's ancestral home. They only returned on weekends, while the family of three spent regular weekdays in the city.

Chen Weiguo rode the bicycle, with Fang Ya sitting on the back and Chen Yi perched on the front crossbar. As the family entered the village, they drew many envious gazes.

A bicycle not only cost nearly two hundred yuan, but it also required a bicycle rationing coupon. If fabric coupons and cotton coupons were difficult to acquire, bicycle coupons were even harder to come by.

Naturally, the villagers of Niu Luo Village only felt envy; no one actually harbored thoughts of buying one themselves.

Upon entering the village, Chen Yi happily went off to play with Little Shunzi and the others, while Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya carried their things toward the treehouse.

With the weather turning gradually colder, preparations and washing for winter items were beginning to be scheduled.

Bai Xi's treehouse was cleaned daily anyway, so there were not many chores left to do. Li Jia and Chen Zhaodi worked with nimble hands, finishing up in no time.

By the time Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya arrived, Bai Xi was poking Chen Zhaodi's baby daughter, Chen Simin, on the cheek. The soft, pillowy sensation put Bai Xi in a wonderful mood. Human babies really were quite magical.

The little girl, who could only make cooing sounds, loved the treehouse—or rather, she loved Bai Xi. Whenever she came to the treehouse, she would lie there obediently. Even if Bai Xi paid her no mind, she would just lie on the bed by herself, opening her wide eyes to look left and right...

Today, Chen Zhaodi and Li Jia were going to tidy up the Bai family's ancestral home, so they had left Chen Simin behind in the treehouse. With Great-Aunt around, and since her daughter loved staying with Great-Aunt anyway, she never cried or made a fuss, and her happy giggles could be heard from far away.

"Great-Aunt, we're back."

Seeing the couple arrive, Bai Xi called out to Xiao Hei, "Xiao Hei, come here."

And so, Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya witnessed a scene that left them utterly astounded. They watched as Xiao Hei walked methodically over to the couch and handed its tail to Chen Simin to grab, replacing Bai Xi's hand.

Suddenly not seeing Bai Xi, Chen Simin looked somewhat aggrieved, but upon gripping the soft, smooth tiger tail, she burst into giggles of delight once more.

Fang Ya stood frozen for a long while before turning to look at her husband beside her, the astonishment still unmasked in her eyes. Was letting a giant tiger babysit a sign that Chen Zhaodi was an inattentive mother, or that Bai Xi, their Great-Aunt, was simply too self-confident?

Chen Weiguo was stunned as well, but he quickly recovered his wits. He placed the parcels he was carrying onto the table and pulled out a stack of cash.

"Great-Aunt, this is the jujube cake you asked me to buy last week, and this is the money from selling the meat."

Chen Weiguo's family returned almost every week. After all, staying in the city made getting food difficult, whereas coming back to the village allowed them to occasionally enjoy a meal of meat.

To put it bluntly, while they worked in the city, their diet was truly inferior to that of the villagers in Niu Luo Village.

Fang Ya had initially thought the distance was too far, but she could not endure the poor food at her workplace cafeteria. The two adults could grit their teeth and bear it, but they certainly could not make their son do the same. Besides, coming back to the village meant eating one's fill—why endure hardship?

Eating coarse grains in the city versus occasionally having white rice, fish, and meat back in the village—anyone with half a brain knew how to choose.

So what if the journey took a few hours? Riding a bicycle, they could reach anywhere, no matter how far.

Xiao Hei frequently hunted game, so Bai Xi would occasionally have Chen Weiguo take a pheasant or a hare back to the city to sell whenever he found buyers.

Both Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya worked at units with decent conditions, so selling wild game once or twice a month was never a problem.

Fang Ya shifted her gaze away from Xiao Hei and Chen Simin and continued, "Great-Aunt, the two hares weighed thirteen jin and four liang, and the three pheasants weighed fourteen jin and seven liang. None of our colleagues had spare grain coupons, so we sold them at the standard rate of three yuan per jin, totaling eighty-four yuan and three fen."

The price of meat was truly exorbitant, but the sub-district supply store never had any meat available for purchase. If one wanted to eat meat, the only option was to ask Chen Weiguo to source high-priced meat.

There were quite a few dual-income couples like Chen Weiguo and Fang Ya; scraping together enough to buy a chicken every two or three months was not overly difficult.

Some families would even pool their money together to buy a hare and split it between two households.

Even so, arrangements had to be made in advance; otherwise, wanting to buy meant having no way to get any.

"Fifteen jin of honey at two yuan per jin was completely sold out, coming to exactly thirty yuan." With that, she handed the money over to Bai Xi together.

Bai Xi glanced at the cash, nodded, and accepted it. "You've worked hard."

"You must have just arrived, right? Your home probably doesn't have much rice left for cooking. Take some from my stash later."

Even though the couple handled these errands smoothly, buying and selling goods for profit was technically illegal at this time. They could not simply be made to do all the work without reaping any benefits.

"No need, Great-Aunt. You're being too formal." Fang Ya hastily declined. The villagers treated her and her husband very well, and their household never missed out on allocations of fish and meat. If the villagers found out they were accepting perks for helping Great-Aunt sell a few things, they would have no face left to show.

Her gaze kept drifting toward Xiao Hei. Watching the tiger smoothly withdraw its tail, offer it to Chen Simin to grab once more, and amuse the child left her both amazed and baffled.

Seeing this, Bai Xi asked with a smile, "Do you want to play with Xiao Hei too?"

Fang Ya shook her head. She wouldn't dare. Even though this was not her first time seeing Xiao Hei, she still felt a twinge of apprehension every time she looked at it.

Chen Weiguo, meanwhile, voiced the question on his mind: "Great-Aunt, does Xiao Hei often keep Sisi entertained?"

"Mhm, yes." Bai Xi certainly didn't have that kind of patience; playing for a little while was her limit. Every time Bai Xi grew tired of it, she would leave it to Xiao Hei. Fortunately, Xiao Hei's fluffy white form proved to be quite popular.

After chatting for a little longer, the couple prepared to leave. Before departing, Chen Weiguo spoke up once more.

"Great-Aunt, we have to leave by noon. Is there any game you need us to help sell today?"

Bai Xi shook her head. "No. Xiao Hei hasn't gone into the mountains these past two days."

"I see." Hearing this, Chen Weiguo wore a disappointed expression.

Unfazed, Bai Xi crunched happily away on her walnut kernels.