Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 301: A Beating to Teach Him a Lesson?

Chapter 301: Chapter 301: A Beating to Teach Him a Lesson?

The food expenses are 45 jin per person per month, divided equally among coarse grains, rice, and flour, with 1.5 jin of peanut oil and 3 jin of soybeans per person per month.

After deducting the food expenses, the actual take-home pay is reduced by about 14 yuan.

Even so, you can still save sixty to seventy yuan a month, which isn’t a low income given today’s cost of living.

But He Yunsong, without even a word, mailed both the money and the ration tickets away, leaving Zhang Xin with only a few yuan, so no wonder she’s genuinely upset.

"His uncle broke his leg and needs surgery to amputate it, and the family is as poor as it gets, with no choice left, the village chief called him."

Yi Chichi sighed; it’s all due to poverty.

If there was any way, He Yunsong wouldn’t be the one they’d go to.

Still, in this matter, no matter how you look at it, He Yunsong is in the wrong.

His mistake is in not discussing it with Zhang Xin.

So, "Do you urgently need money?"

Zhang Xin immediately knew Yi Chichi wanted to help her a bit and quickly waved her hand, "I have money."

Both she and her grandfather have salaries, and before getting married, their expenses weren’t high, so they saved up a lot.

"Besides, my grandfather and I are about to get paid."

The implication: we don’t need your help.

Yi Chichi didn’t know what to say; she couldn’t justify speaking on behalf of Old He.

So she could only laugh awkwardly and ask, "So what do you plan to do?"

"I don’t know."

She said, quite troubled, "What Old He did makes me really angry, but he did it to save someone. If I get into a fight with him, it doesn’t seem worth it, after all, we’re not at the point where we can’t keep up with living expenses."

"But if I don’t argue, I feel so stifled."

It’s indeed quite vexing.

The two looked at each other, then Zhang Xin asked her, "Chichi, if you encountered this problem, what would you do?"

Yi Chichi was at a loss.

This situation really didn’t resonate with her, and she couldn’t provide an effective solution.

After all, in their family, she managed the finances, and Wen Shi was well aware; if he didn’t hand over the money, he’d have to create a small ledger for her to review.

She had to check it.

As for offering advice...

The more she advises, the worse it might get, how to handle that.

"How about having my Old Wen give him a good beating to teach him a lesson?"

Zhang Xin was speechless, thinking what a terrible idea.

"I may not mind if your Old Wen gets hurt, but I care about my Old He."

Waving her hand, she said, looking troubled, "Let’s not talk about this anymore. I’ll just take a walk to calm down."

What could Yi Chichi do but agree to her decision?

In the end, instead of leaving, Zhang Xin stood up and urged, "Let’s go."

"???"

Yi Chichi looked confused, pointing at herself, "You’re asking me?"

Weren’t you going to stroll alone?

"Yes, let’s take a walk together."

Alright then.

"Where to?"

"To the seaside to get some coconuts to cook chicken."

Yi Chichi’s eyes brightened, "Where did you get the chicken?"

"Bought it at the market, didn’t you know today they’ve got chickens?"

She shook her head miserably, not knowing a thing. She’d been too exhausted by Wen Shi in the morning and couldn’t wake up.

"Are there still any left?"

If there were, she’d go get one too.

Zhang Xin sighed under her expectant gaze, and Yi Chichi suddenly felt like she’d swallowed a bitter pill.

"Alright, alright, don’t be upset. Once we get the coconuts, I’ll give you half the chicken."

"Better not, your chicken isn’t that big anyway."

It wasn’t even enough for her family of three, let alone sharing half of it, what would they eat?

"But sharing the coconuts would be fine."

Zhang Xin remained silent but decided inwardly to give them some chicken soup come evening, even if she didn’t share the chicken once the coconuts were retrieved.

Unaware of Zhang Xin’s thoughts, Yi Chichi, considering they’d be going to the seaside, thought to bring a bucket along.

"To see if we can find any seafood there."

"Sounds good."

Thus, the two headed to the seaside with a bucket in tow.

Originally expecting the beach to be empty at this hour, they found a surprising number of people upon arrival.

Two children passed by excitedly, followed by a group of youngsters.

Among them was a young boy in mismatched shorts and a shirt, barefoot and deeply tanned. He ran past but then turned back to look at them.

Suddenly, he darted back and stood in front of Zhang Xin, speaking a string of dialect words.

Yi Chichi didn’t understand, her attention entirely captivated by his teeth.

His dark skin made his teeth look incredibly white, so white they almost glowed, making his face highlight them when he spoke.

They spoke in dialect for several minutes, then Zhang Xin, invigorated, tugged Yi Chichi, "Come on, let’s follow this little brother to pick some fruit."

"Huh? Picking fruit? Where?"

"In the orchard."

Yi Chichi was puzzled, "Is there an orchard nearby?"

"Over the mountain."

Pointing to the distant mountain, Zhang Xin said excitedly, "There’s a variety of fruits over there. Besides lychees, there’s a tasty green wild fruit too."

Yi Chichi grew interested, "Can we pick as we like?"

Whether or not the little boy understood, he responded with a string of dialect.

Zhang Xin, knowing Yi Chichi couldn’t understand the local dialect, translated kindly, "Little brother says they’re all wild fruits, adults don’t like them, so kids pick them to eat at home."

That sounded promising.

They didn’t know what kinds there might be.

Curious and hopeful, Yi Chichi followed the two quickly.

After about half an hour, they arrived at their destination.

Then, she saw an abundance of wild fruits.

They were truly wild fruits.

Since the island hadn’t developed large-scale fruit plantations, famous fruits of later eras such as lemons, durians, sapodillas, and shanzhus weren’t there yet.

But local fruits were abundant; lychees and longans had a history of over a thousand years, as did mangoes.

The "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions" mentions a fruit called "Ambapali," renowned in the world, which refers to mangoes.

And in May and June, lychees and mangoes are ripe in large numbers.

Even though the lychees, mangoes, bananas, and other fruits in this area hadn’t reached high-volume cultivation yet, the yield was still optimistic.

Upon seeing these fruits, Zhang Xin’s eyes sparkled with excitement like a cat spotting a mouse. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"So many fruits!"

She rubbed her hands together and said something to the little brother, then pulled Yi Chichi towards the banana trees under his guidance.

"Here, Chichi, these are delicious, really sweet."

She swiftly broke off a banana and gave it to Yi Chichi, and then took one for herself, eating it on the spot.

"A bit astringent."

After taking a bite, Yi Chichi commented.

Zhang Xin responded with a sound, "They’re not fully ripe yet; if you let them mellow for a few days, they become delicious."

However, Yi Chichi wasn’t particularly fond of bananas; whether bananas or plantains, they seemed a bit odd in texture to her.

So, after finishing one, she only took a few more to be polite, and then dove into the arms of the lychees and mangoes.

These were unrefined varieties; compared to the later generations’ improved-tasting kinds, the lychees and mangoes here tasted a bit lacking.

Still, they were free and unclaimed, a delightful find indeed.

Of course, she wasn’t greedy; after picking a bit of each, she stopped.

Given the hot weather and lack of refrigeration back then, these fruits wouldn’t last long. If picked too many and they spoiled before being eaten, it would be wasteful.