Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 261: Friend, Not Foe

"Wait for Great-grandpa and the others to come out."

This answer did not satisfy Qin Jiu, but he knew in his heart that his aunt truly did not know.

Thus he could only nestle into her arms, patiently yet anxiously waiting for the people inside to come out.

Fortunately, the waiting time wasn’t too long; ten minutes later, the old men came out with reddened eyes.

Qin Jiu leaped out from her arms like a rabbit and rushed straight to the old man’s leg.

"Great-grandpa, is it my mom and dad?"

His little upturned face was filled with hope, and his eyes spoke of longing for his parents.

The old man smiled, "It’s your mom and dad."

Yi Chichi, "??? Which package?"

"The smallest one."

Saying this, the old man handed her the items he was holding, "These are for you."

"What, uh..."

The unfinished words abruptly stopped upon seeing the items the old man was handing over—a thick stack of tickets, all national tickets.

From grain, oil, rice, and noodles to industrial coupons and daily goods coupons, the assortment was very comprehensive, covering all tickets issued in the market.

The dates ranged from three to six months, with some tickets even valid until the end of the year.

"Take them and spend."

The old man waved his hand grandly, displaying the aura of a domineering CEO.

Old Mrs. Song was not to be outdone and also stuffed a stack of money and tickets into her hands, "Take these and spend too."

Yi Chichi replied oh, accepted them, counted them, and tucked them into her pocket.

"In the future, if you need anything, just say, I’ll run errands for you."

The old men found it both amusing and exasperating, "They’re meant for you to use."

Yi Chichi said nothing; using them was impossible because she could earn her own, and she wouldn’t take advantage of a group of elderly people.

Not to mention that among these elderly were her great-uncle and nephew, even without them, her upbringing would not permit such behavior.

"Uncle Ye, what about you?"

She reached out, and Ye Yuntang sighed, "I and Mr. Ma have no money or tickets for you, but we have items, want them?"

Yi Chichi understood—those large packages were from Ye Yuntang and Mr. Ma.

"What is in them?"

"Food and essentials."

Mr. Ma was a man of action and directly dragged the packages out for them to see.

Bacon, smoked meat, smoked chicken, sausages, biscuits, and a box of chocolate—these were the edibles.

The rest were clothes, shoes, and socks, not new, with clear signs of wear.

But they were washed clean, and one could still smell the fragrant scent of soap.

Seeing this, Wen’s mother asked, "Are these clothes you wear at home?"

"Yes."

Ye Yuntang nodded, "We don’t know who organized them and sent them to us."

This information was quite overwhelming, Yi Chichi felt she needed to sort things out.

Two seconds later, she wondered, "Was there no information left in the package?"

"No."

Mr. Ma and Ye Yuntang shook their heads simultaneously; they discussed it for a long time but couldn’t figure out who sent them the package.

Someone who was familiar with both families and managed to collect their old clothes—in their memory, there was no such person.

The crucial issue was that the food sent was expensive; it was a hefty expense, requiring significant financial and political power to obtain so many good items.

Especially the box of imported chocolates, available only in the Friendship Store.

However, the people they knew were either implicated or in Beijing, and it was impossible for them to flaunt themselves at the Friendship Store.

Seeing Yi Chichi frowning in deep thought, Ye Yuntang patted her shoulder, "Don’t worry blindly, at least our stuff was sent by a friend, not an enemy, in times like this."

Yi Chichi rolled her eyes, "Uncle, I’m worried not about that, but why the sender of the package sent it to me."

That’s the real problem, isn’t it?

A person whose identity is unknown to both Ye Yuntang and Mr. Ma, yet managed to send things directly to her—it’s truly shocking.

It suggests that she’s almost transparent to the sender.

She voiced her concern, and the old men’s expressions suddenly grew serious.

This indeed was a problem.

Wen’s mother looked at each of them and suddenly spoke, "Could it be someone who’s unable to reveal their identity but shares a deep connection with all of you, thus using others to send items indirectly?"

This possibility exists; after all, in the current environment, the slightest stir can make people extremely cautious.

Thus, the more discreet the method, the better.

"Uncle."

Seeing all the adults with furrowed brows and worried faces, Qin Jiu suggested a new idea, "Didn’t Uncle specially take on the task of visiting us before he left, so it’s understandable that someone learned about Aunt’s information through him, right?"

Yi Chichi’s eyes brightened, "He also once asked me to take care of you all."

It might indeed be that the information came from him, or through Secretary Tang at the commune.

Thinking of this, Yi Chichi said, "I’ll make a call at the commune tomorrow to ask."

Wen’s mother looked at her, "Didn’t you say he’s on duty during the Spring Festival, can you reach him?"

"...I don’t know, I’ll call and see."

If she can reach him and ask, that’s best; if not, she can wait for him to return and ask then.

What can be confirmed now is that the person sending the package to Ye Yuntang and the others is indeed a friend, not a foe.

Thus, even if it takes time, it can be delayed slightly.

As it turned out, on the fifth day of the new year, while the team participated in the Yangko contest at the commune, she managed to reach out through a call—indeed, the info came from Wen Shi.

"Tell Mr. Song and Uncle Ye that there’s news from the family."

This meant their family members were still alive, but only barely surviving.

It’s impossible for things to be well; as long as things are even slightly better, they wouldn’t have lost all contact and would certainly have tried to reach their parents and loved ones.

Talking over the phone at the post office was inconvenient with everyone around; keeping the principle of caution in speech, Yi Chichi calmly said, "The package was sent to me."

"I know, I provided the address."

Rather trusting Yi Chichi, Wen Shi laughed, "I wanted to mention it when writing, but forgot."

He emphasized the word "forgot"; Yi Chichi instantly understood that it meant it wasn’t convenient to mention it in the letter.

She didn’t dwell on the issue but shifted the topic, asking if He Yunsong had gotten married.

The moment this topic was brought up, Wen Shi expressed a bit of a complaint, "Not only is he married, but his wife is expecting too."

"?? So soon?"

"Yes."

Saying it, Wen Shi shifted the direction of the conversation, "Wife, when will you come for a family visit?"

"At the spring."

Right now the freezing weather makes traveling painful, plus her double-sided embroidery was yet unfinished, and she’d wait until it was done.

Wen Shi was quite disappointed but understood.

The two chatted briefly before hanging up the phone, after which Yi Chichi settled the call charges and left the post office.

The Yangko dance contest was a big event at Baoshan Commune, with not only teams from various production brigades participating but also units and departments such as the forestry station, farm, mechanical factory, slaughterhouse, etc.