Chapter 92: It Is None Other Than Your Fearless Auntie

“That one!” Bai Xi pointed at the sponge cakes. “We want... no, five pounds!”

The sponge cakes were two yuan a pound, and each pound required eight taels of grain coupons. Bai Xi thought for a moment and settled on five pounds.

It was no easy thing to make a trip into the county town. The ox cart had nearly shaken her little bottom numb on the way here, so if she was going to buy something, she might as well buy plenty. Even if she did not eat it all herself, there was still Chen Rui and little Shunzi and the others.

Besides, to be honest, it was a little embarrassing, no, embarrassing for a tiger. She was clearly a spirit beast, yet that little black fellow would eat anything. Fish or meat, candy or pastries, it liked to taste everything, and once it tasted something, it never forgot it...

The sponge cakes were dainty, about the size of a finger, a creamy pale yellow, and they smelled of egg and custard. They looked freshly brought out. The price was a bit steep, but Bai Xi had money in hand and naturally did not mind.

Chen Da Liu merely glanced at them and agreed at once, then said politely to the sales clerk, “Comrade, please, weigh five pounds of these pastries for us.”

After speaking, he lowered his voice and asked, “Old Auntie, are you sure you only want five pounds?”

Bai Xi nodded.

“Comrade, sorry to trouble you, weigh five pounds.”

“Oh, oh, all right.” The sales clerk, still dazed by the strange sight of the two of them, quickly came to herself and began issuing the receipt, taking the money, and weighing the goods.

While the clerk was weighing them, Bai Xi instructed, “Wrap them in half-pound packets.”

The clerk looked to Chen Da Liu after hearing this. Chen Da Liu was counting out the money to return to Bai Xi, and upon sensing her gaze, he hurriedly said, “Do as our old Auntie says.”

Old Auntie?

He had not listened closely the first time, and the second time he had thought he must have heard wrong. Now, hearing it again, it truly was old Auntie.

How strange. Who would call a little child old Auntie? The clerk found it odd, but she complied and briskly set to weighing and wrapping the goods.

Bai Xi paid with her own money, while Chen Da Liu used his grain coupons.

“Little Liu, I’ll borrow your grain coupons for now. I’ll pay you back in a while.” Bai Xi had noticed the coupons when Chen Da Liu patted them out earlier, so she was not worried about not being able to buy anything.

Thinking of it, she felt a little bitter. Since when had Bai Xi fallen so low as to have to worry about the price whenever she wanted to buy something?

Just yesterday she had still felt rather wealthy, and now she was already annoyed. After all, in these times, being rich alone was not enough to buy things. Without coupons, there was no way.

She was too small. Whatever she did, the villagers felt uneasy about it. Besides, with the current state-run purchasing and sales system, even the black market sold things in secret and with great caution, afraid of being caught. She was so young that even if she went to the black market, no one would think to buy from her.

It was not vanity on Bai Xi’s part, but if she went to the black market looking like this, people would probably treat her like a monkey show.

“Old Auntie, what are you talking about? Buy whatever you want. There’s no need to talk about paying it back. You’re making me sound unworthy of the favor. This is me honoring you!”

The grain coupons had been traded for with Chen Wei Guo for a few catties of rice. It was only a few catties of rice, and he still expected his old Auntie to pay him back? That would make him look unfilial.

He had not even finished speaking when Bai Xi, light and nimble because of her small size, had already slipped over to another counter. Chen Da Liu hurriedly picked up the things and followed.

The candy counter carried only a few kinds of sweets: White Rabbit milk candies, smooth little candy balls with no wrappers, multicolored fruit candies, and soft candies wrapped in bright red paper.

Bai Xi leaned over the glass and sniffed. They all smelled sweet. She had eaten White Rabbit milk candies before, and fruit candies too. As for the soft candies, Chen Wei Guo’s family had once presented her with some when they entered the ancestral hall to pay respects.

“Little Liu, is there anything you want to buy?” Bai Xi asked him first.

Chen Da Liu thought for a moment and shook his head. “I haven’t decided yet. Old Auntie should buy what she wants first. There are still eleven pounds of grain coupons—more than enough.”

These had been exchanged in case the old Auntie needed them. Since they were swapped for her use, they could not be spent on anything else.

He also had another five and four-tenths pounds’ worth of scattered coupons on him. Even if the family needed to buy something, they would still be enough if they were careful.

“All right.”

After thinking it over, Bai Xi chose the mid-priced fruit candies wrapped in translucent paper and the soft candies wrapped in red paper.

The fruit candies were five mao a pound, and the soft candies with red wrappers were six mao five a pound, with two taels of grain coupons required per pound.

Indeed, as an elder, and with the New Year approaching, one had to spend some money! Bai Xi sighed inwardly while casually telling Little Liu to have the clerk issue the receipt and weigh the goods.

Chen Da Liu politely spoke to the clerk while inwardly gasping in amazement. Good heavens, these things in the city really were precious. The fish they caught sold for only five mao a pound, and they still had to pay two taels of grain coupons per pound on top of that. It was really not cheap.

The sponge cakes could be left alone; they looked expensive enough. But these candies were also being sold at such a high price. It would be better to buy a few pounds of meat and eat that instead.

In that case, fine!

If the village was going to slaughter a pig for sale, the price had to be set higher. Otherwise, they would all be losing money.

Farming did not come with coupons. Not only did one have to trade coupons with city people in order to buy things, but the goods themselves were not even cheaper than those in the city department store. Business could not be done this way. Even if they did not make a profit, they could not sell at a loss.

Thinking of this, Chen Da Liu immediately felt much better. They could not keep letting the people in the countryside be the ones to suffer.

“These two kinds, five pounds each.”

“Old Auntie, shall we go upstairs and have a look?” Chen Da Liu placed the candies into the bamboo basket and bent slightly to ask.

Bai Xi nodded and looked up toward the second floor. She had not been up there yet, but she could guess what was sold above.

“Let’s go!”

Seeing Bai Xi step toward the stairs, Chen Da Liu quickly moved to follow, but the sales clerk at the counter called out to stop him.

“Hey, comrade, may I ask why you keep calling her old Auntie?”

She had been curious for ages. Even if the little milk child was four or five years old and clever, there was no need to be this respectful, was there?

Yes, respectful. Not the joking sort of title, but a proper, reverent old Auntie, and the little girl’s matter-of-fact expression only made the clerk even more astonished.

So the clerk could not help asking.

“She is old Auntie,” Chen Da Liu said, looking at the clerk with utter puzzlement. If she was not called old Auntie, then what was he supposed to call her—old Uncle?

“No, I mean, this little comrade is very, very young. How can she be an old Auntie?”

“Our old Auntie is our old Auntie!” Chen Da Liu said, then turned to leave.

The old Auntie had already gone up several steps. There were so many people here; he absolutely could not fall behind. If she disappeared in a moment, there would be nowhere to cry.

Seeing Chen Da Liu in such a hurry to go, the clerk shouted after him again, “Hey, comrade, could she be a late-life child?”

Other than that, she truly could not think of anything else.

Chen Da Liu glanced back at the clerk, then hurried after Bai Xi without pausing. The clerk only heard one firm sentence from him.

“Our old Auntie is our old Auntie. Even if she is not a late-life child, she is still our old Auntie.”