Chapter 93: Patting the Belly

The clerk stared blankly, utterly baffled by the nonsense she had just heard.

What did it mean that he was not the youngest son of the family, but a honored old lady?

Chen Daliu paid the clerk's confusion no mind. He had already hurried after Bai Xi and was wandering about with her on the second floor.

Bai Xi had not failed to hear the clerk asking Chen Daliu questions, but she could not be bothered to care. Xiao Liu was rather pleased, so let it be.

It was probably because the New Year was approaching. Any household that could afford it would take the chance to buy cloth and clothes, and so the second floor was no less crowded than the first.

Tut, tut, tut. Bai Xi looked around and was inwardly amazed.

What were wages worth these days, really? By now, she had a rough idea of the pay situation.

A temporary worker made twelve and a half yuan a month, an apprentice sixteen and a half, a regular worker twenty-two, and some earned twenty-eight a month. Different positions and appointments meant different wages and benefits.

Even if someone made forty-odd yuan a month, they still had a family to feed. Who would be willing to spend so much on a single garment?

And it was only a ready-made dress, not embroidered with gold or silver thread, so why did it cost eighteen and a half yuan? Worse, it required nine feet of cloth ration coupons. With her money, buying two or three ready-made dresses would not be a problem; the problem was that she had no cloth coupons.

And what about a pair of trousers? They were neither waterproof nor fireproof, yet they dared to charge twenty-six yuan and eighty cents for them, and on top of that, demanded twelve industrial vouchers.

As for a wool coat, the clerk boasted with great excitement that it had been allotted from the provincial capital—five pieces for the city, only two for Bai County. And no one was even allowed to touch it.

Bai Xi glanced at the price tag: more than eighty yuan, plus twenty industrial vouchers.

Was this coat woven with some self-purifying formation like an immortal robe? Could it help one cultivate?

How could they have the nerve to sell it for so much!

She curled her lip and glanced back at Chen Daliu. No need to ask; she knew he had neither of those things.

Then she looked at the shoes. A pair of leather shoes cost at least eighteen yuan, and the better ones cost over twenty. Some even required shoe coupons, some industrial vouchers. Listening to the clerk and the other customers extol them with such pride, Bai Xi felt somewhat dazed.

Bai Xi shook her head and started walking again.

No wonder—forget the villagers, even in the county seat many people wore clothes patched in places.

Chen Daliu followed her, watching Bai Xi listen here and look there, occasionally asking the price and then shaking her head. His heart filled with guilt. He had brought along every cloth coupon he could gather, but it still amounted to only six feet. As for the others, the industrial vouchers and shoe coupons, he had none.

In the end, it was because he was incapable and had let the honored lady suffer.

If next year's harvest was good, he would surely buy the honored lady two fine sets of clothes, and a pair of little red leather shoes, so that she would be dressed better than the people in town.

Noticing that Chen Daliu had fallen strangely quiet, Bai Xi turned to look at him and just happened to see the longing in his eyes as he gazed at the goods behind the counter. Thinking that all this time since entering the department store she had been the only one buying anything, she asked, "Xiao Liu, don't you have anything you want to buy?"

Chen Daliu shook his head at once, then asked tentatively, "Honored lady, why don't you buy a piece of cloth and have a new outfit made when you go back?"

Bai Xi refused without even thinking. "No need. My winter clothes are already prepared, and I'm not short of anything to wear. I don't need to buy anything."

Who in the heavens did not know that Bai Xi loved beautiful things? But now she was... Yesterday she had thought herself rather wealthy; who would have imagined that after entering the county department store, she would immediately feel like a pauper who could buy nothing at all.

Only people with jobs and wages had industrial vouchers. No wonder townsfolk looked down on country people as bumpkins. After all, without industrial vouchers, one had no job, and without a job, many things could not be bought.

She subconsciously touched the universe pouch in her arms, and could not help sighing inwardly again. How miserable.

When Chen Daliu saw the cloud of melancholy and disappointment cross Bai Xi's face, he hurriedly said, "Honored lady, I have cloth coupons—six feet of them. I can get you a piece of fabric, and when we get back I'll have the best seamstress in the village make you a new outfit. What do you think?"

Bai Xi's eyes lit up instantly at that, but after thinking of something, she shook her head again. "No need. These fabrics are all too old-fashioned; I don't like them. We'll talk about it when we run into something prettier."

For her, clothes aside, the villagers had none that were bigger or smaller than hers, and none that were better, either. Besides, the villagers had already pooled together to get her winter clothes. What was she doing asking for more fabric to make clothes?

She was not really five years old; she knew the villagers' situation.

These people were good to her and wanted to honor her, but Bai Xi could not be without restraint.

"Honored lady, I have cloth coupons. You..." Chen Daliu still wanted to persuade her.

He was not blind; he could see what his honored lady wanted to buy. She must be afraid he would not be able to come up with the coupons and would feel awkward.

Bai Xi raised a hand to cut him off.

"Xiao Liu, I just asked around. The clothes here in the department store are not cheap. But don't worry—someday I will make sure everyone in our village has a full outfit." Even if they could not buy ready-made clothes, they could still buy cloth and let the villagers make their own new clothes.

Her voice was soft and childish, but her little face was full of solemn pride. Bai Xi's words left Chen Daliu stunned.

The next moment, his eyes reddened. He nodded and shook his head again and again. "Honored lady, please don't say that. Just knowing you care means the whole lot of us will be happy. We never wanted the honored lady to work so hard. As long as you are happy, that's enough for all of us."

Anyone else might not believe such words, but Chen Daliu did. Or rather, anyone in Bull Luo Village would have believed them without question.

Seeing him like that, Bai Xi quickly stepped forward and patted his belly to comfort him. "All right, all right. You're a grown man. Don't go crying at the drop of a hat."

"If the others in the village saw you, they'd laugh at you. How are you supposed to be the village chief after that?"

She had meant to pat his shoulder, but for a moment she forgot that she was currently in the body of a child, too short to reach. Her hand ended up on Chen Daliu's belly instead. Though Bai Xi kept her expression composed, she still felt a little awkward.

"Yes, yes, honored lady. I'm not crying. I'm happy. I'm just so happy that I'm like this..." Chen Daliu said sheepishly, wiping at the corners of his eyes in haste.

Only then did he remember that most of the clothes Bai Xi had just asked about were adult styles. His honored lady had always kept the villagers in her heart.

The people passing by them also heard the exchange between Bai Xi and Chen Daliu. Some of them turned back in confusion, their eyes full of bafflement and suspicion. Were these two not a little strange in the head?

But when they saw that the little girl was round and rosy, soft and pretty, with bright, lively eyes, she did not look like someone with a problem in the brain. After a little thought, they came to a sudden realization.

True enough—a little girl did not know much. Out of the mouths of babes, after all.