Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 84 - 82 Plastic Cloth (Part 1)

Shen Yunfang had been chatting with Jian Hui at the acquisition station when Jian Hui suddenly took her to the back, intentionally avoiding Shen Yunfeng’s gaze.

"What’s going on?" Yunfang asked, very curious about Jian Hui’s secretive behavior.

"Shh, let me show you something good." Jian Hui looked back to make sure Yunfeng was still sitting in his chair, not looking over, before she pulled Yunfang to the back storage room. They walked all the way to the back, bypassing a pile of books, to find several wooden boxes between the stacks.

Shen Yunfang blinked her eyes, thinking she might be seeing things wrong—were those beehives?

"Jian sister, are these beehives?" Yunfang grabbed Jian Hui’s hand and asked excitedly.

Jian Hui could tell she had guessed right by her expression; Yunfang must like this kind of thing, "Yes, they are beehives. There aren’t any bees inside, but there are bee pupae." Which meant, with proper care, there would be honeybees next year.

Jian Hui chuckled at the eager look in Yunfang’s eyes, "I knew you’d like this, so I kept them for you. Come and take them away on Zhou Tian when Yunfeng is resting."

From the time when wild vegetables became available, Yunfang had never come to the county empty-handed when visiting Jian Hui. It was either wild vegetables or mountain herbs, which the folks in the township did not value, but were a treat for the people in the county. Therefore, Jian Hui was very grateful to Yunfang and truly regarded her as a little sister. When someone came to sell these beehives, she had made up her mind to reserve them for Yunfang first, to give them to her if she wanted them, or to count them for the nation’s inventory if not. The small amount of money for the beehives had come out of her own pocket and had not been recorded.

It was impossible for Yunfang’s rummaging through the acquisition station to have gone unnoticed by Jian Hui, who worked there every day. At that time, she had noticed that Yunfang was up to something, but since it wasn’t her own property and Yunfang handled things quite diplomatically, she didn’t mind doing a favor for her. This also revealed Yunfang’s preferences to her.

"Thank you, Jian sister, I’ll definitely come to pull them on Zhou Tian," Yunfang said joyfully.

After arranging the pickup for Zhou Tian with Jian Hui, Yunfang left the acquisition station. Checking the time and finding she still had some to spare, she leisurely went to the bathhouse. At home, she would heat some water for a wash every day, but it never felt as satisfying as the substantial flow of water at the bathhouse.

Nearly an hour later, she emerged from the bathhouse feeling refreshed. This time, without detouring, she made her way straight to the supply and sales cooperative. On her way there, she passed by the post office and took the opportunity to mail her letter.

Upon arriving at the supply and sales cooperative, she found her cousin-in-law Xue Jialong was also present, so she approached with a smile and greeted him.

"Brother-in-law, here I am again."

Hearing her voice, Jialong turned around with a big smile, "Oh, Yunfang has come. I was thinking it’s about time for your visit."

The sales clerks at the supply and sales cooperative watched Shen Yunfang with cold eyes, aware that this young woman, who visited once a month, was their director’s sister-in-law and had taken advantage of them on several occasions.

The bargain items at the supply and sales cooperative that were not only cheap but also didn’t require coupons, were available for the sales clerks to purchase. But now, with this sister-in-law suddenly showing up, many of those bargains went to her instead, leaving less for their own relatives. No wonder they didn’t have a good impression of her.

Shen Yunfang slid her basket forward, "I’ve brought fifty eggs this time."

Since the hens at home began laying eggs in the spring, she gathered three eggs every day. Aside from the one she ate daily, she saved the rest to sell at the supply and marketing cooperative once a month.

Because she fed the chickens earthworms, their nutrition improved, and the eggs her chickens laid were a bit larger than those of others. The first time she went to sell eggs, Xue Jialong wasn’t there, and Shen Yunfang had to argue with the staff before they agreed to pay her six cents per egg. That was considered a high price.

This meant she could only earn three yuan a month from selling eggs. Of course, if she hadn’t been greedy and ate them every day, she could have made about five yuan a month from the eggs, which was a high income in the rural areas of that era.

Shen Yunfang also tried selling eggs at a neighboring village’s supply and marketing cooperative, but the clerks there wouldn’t raise the price for her, so she preferred to walk a bit farther and sell the eggs in the county.

"Haha, you raise your chickens really well. I was even thinking of having my mother learn a thing or two from you," Jialong said, referring to his mother-in-law, who was Shen Yunfang’s second aunt.

Shen Yunfang hurriedly declined, not wanting to cause trouble for herself, "Oh no, I’ve only raised chickens for a few years. My second aunt is so much older and has eaten more salt than I have rice—how could she not know how to raise chickens?" Wary of Jialong continuing this topic, she quickly pulled him aside and asked softly, "Brother-in-law, I heard that you have plastic sheeting for sale here, is that true? Could you get me some?"

Shen Yunfang’s main purpose for coming was to buy some plastic sheeting. In winter, she wanted to build a warm shed attached to the house in the backyard, not to plant anything, but to raise her own chicks.

If the temperature was right, the chickens could lay eggs continuously.

But she genuinely had no idea where to buy the plastic sheeting. After asking Dashuan’s wife, she learned that the supply and marketing cooperative did sell it, but this item was in short supply and often out of stock, especially in small places where it was virtually unseen. Purchasing it also required coupons, and Shen Yunfang had money but no coupons.

"Oh, what a coincidence, we have it here. How much do you need?" Jialong asked with a smile, thinking to himself that this young girl must be out of coupons and came to him for help. If she didn’t need much, he figured he could find a way to help her.

Shen Yunfang’s eyes lit up, "You have it now? How do you sell it? I want to buy more." She felt quite lucky.

"How much do you want?" Jialong squinted his eyes; he had seen this younger aunt-in-law’s buying power before. Others would buy cloth by the foot, but she bought it by the bolt.

"How wide is it?" She had to buy length based on the width.

"Hehe, how wide do you think it can be? They are all a standard size, one meter wide," Jialong chuckled a few times.

"One meter wide, that’s fine. What’s the price, do I need coupons?" Shen Yunfang then remembered to inquire about the price.

"Forty cents per meter, and you can forget about the coupons—when have I ever taken your coupons," Jialong said, fond of his wife’s cousin. She didn’t seem like a typical country girl, handling things with quite some resolve. Nobody had heard of anyone else who would sell eggs every month and buy things with the money right away, often spending more than they earned. Yet this young girl showed no sign of distress.

"Right, was the cloth I gave you last month any good?" Jialong recalled the piece of small floral print cotton cloth he set aside for his younger aunt-in-law last month; it was a defective piece and not very expensive. He guessed Yunfang would want it, so he held it for her without asking. Now he wanted to show off a bit.

"What cloth?" Shen Yunfang was a little slow to react, wondering how the topic had suddenly shifted from plastic sheeting to cloth.