Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 451: Simultaneous Translation

"Awesome!"

Yi Chichi gave him a thumbs up and then turned to Hua Hua and the others, "How’s your studies going?"

"Not as good as Niwa, but we’ve learned quite a bit!"

Compared to Niwa’s Mandarin, Hua Hua and the others spoke Mandarin with a noticeable accent.

However, it’s better than last year.

Last year, what they said sounded like gibberish to Yi Chichi, completely incomprehensible.

Communication relied entirely on gestures and drawings.

"New brains really do work better!"

Ji Jian was momentarily confused upon hearing Yi Chichi’s words, then burst into laughter, "Your way of saying this is quite vivid, Hua Hua’s parents didn’t learn Mandarin well."

Communication is still difficult.

Yi Chichi chuckled, "Kids’ brains are flexible, while older people have their thinking patterns set, making it harder to learn new things."

Ji Jian blurted out, "It’s just like me trying to learn embroidery from you, no matter how hard I try, I can’t get it."

Yi Chichi didn’t want to respond and couldn’t find a way to reply.

Ji Jian was still upset about not mastering embroidery; if she responded, he might explode.

To be safe, changing the topic was better.

"Niwa, are your parents home?"

"No."

Niwa answered firmly, "They’re all out working, no adults at home, but if you need to exchange seafood, I can call the adults for you."

After exchanging a glance, Yi Chichi and Ji Jian asked him to call someone.

Niwa nodded and sprinted away, reminding Hua Hua and the others to take good care of Yi Chichi and Ji Jian.

The kids didn’t really understand hospitality; once Niwa left, they enthusiastically invited Yi Chichi and Ji Jian to see their hard work according to their own ideas.

"Sis, look at how well our dried lychees are!"

While speaking, Tie Dan’s little dirty hands grabbed two dried lychees and handed them to the two.

"Eat, it’s sweet!"

Yi Chichi looked at Ji Jian, seeing her nod and laugh, said, "Alright, let’s try it."

Actually, there was no need to taste; the dried lychees were clearly well-dried.

You could tell they were delicious just by looking.

Peeled and tasted, indeed they were delicious.

Although the pit was a bit big, it didn’t affect the flavor of the flesh at all.

Just—

"Why are we still drying lychees this season?"

"Some were dried earlier, they got a bit moist, so taking them out to air."

"Didn’t the procurement station collect them?"

"They did, but not all were sold."

Tie Dan sighed like a little adult, "This isn’t a major lychee production area, the procurement station picks up a bit by the way, but not extra. They collect in areas specialized in lychee farming."

Meaning too many are collected in other places, which made what’s collected here good quality.

Yi Chichi turned to Ji Jian, "Do you want to exchange for dried lychees?"

"Yes!"

Ji Jian answered without hesitation, whether lychees or longans, they weren’t rare on the island, just like bananas and plantains, relatively common fruits.

Wild ones were abundant, hardly lacking.

But in her and Old Li’s hometown, they didn’t have these, exchanging some to send back for friends and family to taste is quite good.

Dried lychees and seafood don’t really weigh much, four to five pounds of fresh lychees are needed to dry one pound, the same goes for shrimp.

Thus, when Niwa called the team leader over, Yi Chichi talked with him about quantities.

But language barrier was present, the team leader’s Mandarin was a mess, shifting to dialect mid-conversation.

Yi Chichi was getting a headache from listening, reluctantly pulling Niwa in as a translator.

The kid was quite responsible, did simultaneous translation extremely well.

Made Yi Chichi’s conversation with the team leader very smooth.

In the end, she bought a total of eighty pounds of shrimp, dried abalone, ribbonfish, squid, shell meat, including twenty pounds from Ji Jian.

Additionally, sixty pounds of dried fruits like dried lychees, dried mango, dried longan.

Fifteen pounds were Ji Jian’s.

Exchanging for all these items cost 31.5 in cash, with the small change waived by the team leader.

Five industrial coupons, two two-tenths of sugar coupons, three half-pound grain coupons.

Yi Chichi provided industrial and sugar coupons, Ji Jian provided grain coupons.

The team leader’s after-sales service was excellent, more than a hundred pounds of seafood and dried fruits, he packed them separately according to their requests in burlap sacks, and helped them send directly from the post office.

Nowadays, it’s not as convenient to shop as in later years. If one had a chance to travel, carrying big and small bags was quite normal.

Those willing to spend would send things via mail, while those unwilling would carry them along.

At the train station, you could see people with luggage hanging from their bodies and hands.

Post offices were the same.

Plus, this area had many military families, with lots of big and small packages being received and sent, no one reported it.

Qin Hui, along with a few friends, uprooted from home, settling on the island for construction and coastal defense, their military family and friends surely more.

Reporting would cause public outrage.

So, parcels sent very smoothly.

After leaving the post office, the two said goodbye to the team leader, and seeing it was still early, Yi Chichi suggested a stroll around the department store.

Ji Jian, "??? Going to the department store now?"

"It’s still early, not even two o’clock."

She pointed to the time on the watch face.

Ji Jian twitched at the corner of her mouth, "How do we get there?"

"Take a shuttle."

"We’ll have to wait either an hour or an hour and a half."

The shuttle availability was limited at the Fenglin station, only two trips heading their way, normally one hour intervals, special cases an hour and a half.

Exact timing depended on the driver’s mood and the road conditions.

"A shuttle just passed at two."

She sincerely proposed, "If you plan on taking the shuttle, my suggestion is either we walk there or go back to the family area and bike over."

Yi Chichi thought it over and realized both options were a bit troublesome.

Deciding against going to the department store.

"Let’s head back."

After all, she’d be going to the Friendship Store once in Yangcheng, anything missing could just be bought there.

Ji Jian replied affirmatively and walked back with her.

"I plan to visit home this New Year’s."

"Feeling homesick?"

"Haven’t been back for a few years, need to check on mom and dad."

"It’s definitely time for a visit, not visiting your husband’s family?"

"Going to husband’s first, then my parents’."

Talking about this topic made her a bit irritable, "Actually, I’m not too willing to visit in-laws."

Yi Chichi didn’t rudely ask why, an unwilling daughter-in-law only points to one thing, unfriendly relations with in-laws.

No need to inquire.

"Does Old Li know about your thoughts?"

"He knows, he wants me to maintain some appearances, nothing more is expected."

Pretty understanding.

"Then just follow his advice, pretending for face isn’t hard."

Ji Jian laughed, "That’s why I exchanged for seafood and dried fruits."

But your seafood distribution isn’t balanced.

The bulk was for your family, leaving just a minuscule portion for in-laws.

The facade wasn’t done right.

Unless Ji Jian’s family didn’t flaunt it, otherwise once it reached the in-laws, trouble would arise.

However, this couldn’t be bluntly stated, only subtly reminded, "Sometimes Old Li’s thoughts and feelings need some consideration."