Chapter 87: Bai Xi Enters the City

Remembering the money from selling the wild rabbits before, Bai Xi thought to herself: by now, I must count as quite a rich woman, mustn't I?

At first, Chen Dalai had not agreed to Granny Sell Sweet Potato Chips, but she said she could never finish so much by herself. Besides, city people were having a hard time too; everywhere, people were going hungry. If they could sell some, then at least they could help a few.

Granny was kind and broad-minded, far beyond what people could compare with when they only cared about their own patch of land.

If Bai Xi had known what Chen Dalai was thinking, she would have been speechless.

She simply did not care for sweet potato chips. Since that was so, she might as well sell them for money, then find time to go into the city and see what there was to buy. If there was something useful, she would bring it back; if not, a little melon seed, peanuts, or fruit candy would do as well.

When the first day of the new year came, the villagers would surely come to offer her their New Year greetings. She would take it as a little gift from this Granny to the villagers for the holiday.

The next day, early in the morning, Chen Dalai once again hitched up the ox cart, but this time he did not head out of the village. Instead, he drove it to the foot of the tree house.

Not long after, Bai Xi opened the door and came down from the tree house.

Little Black followed at her heels.

As Bai Xi went down the steps, she reminded Little Black, “I’ll probably be back tonight. Keep an eye on the house and the village. Don’t run off unless you have to.”

Little Black obediently agreed.

“At noon, Chen Zhaodi will come feed you.”

Yesterday, the wild wolf Little Black had brought back had yielded several jin of meat that belonged to it, and even if Bai Xi was not there, the villagers would not forget.

Chen Dalai stood beside the ox cart. Hearing Granny speak and Little Black answer with a low growl, he found it both astonishing and amusing.

Had Granny perhaps taken Little Black for a village watch dog?

Little Black was a tiger. How could it be put to guard a house?

Fortunately, Little Black did not know what Chen Dalai was muttering to himself, or it would surely have leaped on him in anger.

It was a spirit beast, a spirit tiger. If even dogs could guard a house, why could it not?

“Good morning, Granny!”

Chen Dalai greeted her with a smile.

“Morning!”

Bai Xi did not need Chen Dalai to carry her. She stepped onto the small wooden stool he had prepared and climbed onto the ox cart herself.

Unlike usual, the frame of the cart was not covered with straw alone; on top of the straw there was also a mattress and a piece of animal hide.

The straw had been replaced with fresh straw, but Chen Dalai’s wife had thought it over and decided that Granny had delicate skin and tender flesh, so they could not let her sit on straw. She had therefore found the mattress they had washed before winter and had not yet put into use, and laid it on the cart. The fur was for shielding Granny from the wind on the road.

Yesterday, before Chen Dalai left, he had said he would be going into town again the next day to buy some things. Bai Xi, hearing that, decided to go along and take a look.

Little Black followed the ox cart all the way to the village entrance before Bai Xi waved it to a stop, and it obediently turned back toward the tree house.

At the village gate, a large tree shaded several waiting villagers, including Chen Xiaocong, Chen Dalai’s son. The New Year was almost here, and they were preparing to go into town to buy a few extra things.

Bai Xi had cultivated until well past midnight the night before. By now it was still dark, and after the cart set out onto the road, she closed her eyes and dozed against the animal hide.

A woman sitting beside her saw this and quickly motioned to the others on the cart to shift their positions so they could block the cold wind for Bai Xi. She then took off her cotton coat and laid it over Bai Xi.

Bai Xi, sensing it, opened her eyes and blinked through some drowsiness.

“No need. There’s a cotton coat in my basket.”

Hearing that, the woman pulled the cotton coat from the basket, covered Bai Xi with it, and only then put her own coat back on.

Chen Dalai, driving the cart in front, heard the exchange and turned his head for a look. Seeing Bai Xi covered with a cotton coat, he immediately felt that he had not been thoughtful enough. Fortunately, Granny had brought her own coat.

“Granny, just rest. It’s still early. I’ll wake you when we’re nearly in town.”

Since Bai Xi was resting, everyone on the cart spoke in low voices along the way. Their talk was nothing more than family matters and a few things from the village. Now and then they asked Chen Dalai about this or that, since he was the village chief and naturally knew more than the others.

When they were almost at the county seat, Chen Dalai called softly, and Bai Xi opened her eyes.

In truth, she had already woken some time ago, but she did not know how to get along with the villagers on the cart and feared they would feel awkward, so she had kept her eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.

Flower Spirit had been to White State County, but this was Bai Xi’s first time.

As the ox cart entered the city, she looked around with curiosity.

Beyond the city wall, the streets were lined with low houses. It was probably the time when everyone was headed to work. People on the streets were walking in a hurry. Some cast curious glances at those on the cart, but most only looked once before hurrying on.

So poor.

Bai Xi sighed inwardly. There were many patched clothes in the city, and many passersby looked visibly gaunt.

At that moment, the woman who had given Bai Xi her cotton coat reached into her basket and took out a rice ball, offering it to Bai Xi with care.

“Granny, have something to eat.”

It was called a rice ball, but in truth it was just a steamed bun made from dried sweet potato mixed with sorghum flour and wild greens.

Bai Xi glanced at it and shook her head. She knew this bun was surely what the woman had saved for her noon meal. If Bai Xi ate it, the woman would go hungry.

“Granny...”

“You eat it,” Bai Xi said. “I’ll look and see what there is to eat in this county town. I want something hot.”

Hearing that, the woman stopped urging her.

After agreeing on a time to return, the others all said farewell to Bai Xi in turn, shouldered their baskets, took their things, and left.

When Chen Dalai brought Bai Xi away, he did not forget to remind his son.

“Keep an eye on the ox cart. Don’t run around.”

“Dad, don’t worry. I’ll stay right here and won’t go anywhere.”

Only then did Bai Xi realize why Chen Xiaocong had come into town too. So he had been sent to watch the cart.

“Granny, the state-run restaurant is just ahead. Shall I go with you to have some breakfast?”

Bai Xi really was hungry, so she nodded. Thinking of Chen Xiaocong, she turned back to look at him.

Chen Dalai seemed to understand what she meant and said at once, “Granny, don’t worry. We all ate breakfast at home.”

They were rough folk; it was enough to make do with a bite at home. How could they afford to go into town and eat at a restaurant every time?

Just after the two of them had gone not far, Chen Xiaocong also heard this and grinned at Bai Xi, nodding. “Thank you for thinking of me, Granny. Please go on. I’ve already eaten at home.”

Seeing that, Bai Xi said nothing further.

The state-run restaurant was empty. Apart from a waitress sitting behind the counter, there was not a single customer.

Bai Xi thought about it for a moment and understood why. Food was scarce now. No one would go out to eat for no reason. Even if they did, the restaurant might not even have anything to serve. The money for one meal could buy enough grain for a whole family to eat sparingly for two or three days.

Yesterday, Chen Dalai and the others had simply been lucky enough to arrive when the state-run restaurant had steamed buns. Even then, the buns were made of coarse flour mixed with cornmeal, and there was only the tiniest bit of pork rind filling inside. They were not cheap.

The grain coupons for the buns had been paid by Chen Weiguo, after all, only he and Fang Ya worked in the city and had grain coupons.