Wang Lingling stood up, but Wang Ying was still staring longingly at the enamel bowl.
Following Wang Ying’s gaze, Wang Lingling saw that she was clearly eyeing the one remaining bun in her bowl.
“…Fine, fine, it’s yours!”
Wang Lingling was fuming, cursing Wang Ying a dozen times over in her head, and even blaming Li Chunjuan. How could she let San Ya be so embarrassing! She looked like she hadn’t eaten meat in seven or eight years!
If Wang Ying knew what Wang Lingling was thinking, she would have nodded furiously—because she really hadn’t eaten meat in seven or eight years…
The pale, plump meat bun wasn’t greasy to Wang Ying at all. She ate quickly, but not sloppily. Holding the bun in both hands, her big eyes squinted in contentment. Dressed in patched-up clothes, with a seam coming undone at the shoulder, she looked just like a little stray white cat sunning itself—satisfied, yet a bit pitiful.
Xu Shuang walked in carrying vegetables in both hands, and this was exactly what he saw.
By the time Wang Ying finished her third meat bun, she noticed from the corner of her eye that someone was standing at the door. In an era when nearly everyone was undernourished, the most striking thing about this man was his height. Wang Ying estimated silently—he had to be at least 1.85 meters tall.
Looking more closely, his appearance was even more striking. He had a high nose bridge, sharp and defined features, and a very short haircut that only further highlighted his angular face. His whole presence carried a kind of aggressive sharpness.
In short, he was absurdly handsome—so handsome he seemed out of place holding two sacks of vegetables.
While waiting for the meat buns, sneaking a glance at the handsome guy counted as a halftime break.
Wang Ying silently sighed with regret in her heart. With that level of beauty, in the future entertainment industry, this man would be considered blessed by the heavens—someone who could live off his looks for a lifetime.
Tsk tsk, what a pity.
Wang Lingling was holding two enamel bowls, having spent another sixty cents and six ration tickets, which pained her deeply. As soon as she turned her head, she saw Xu Shuang.
Wang Lingling almost dropped the bowls she was holding.
She knew Xu Shuang was good-looking. Back when she was a young girl with a crush, how many girls from the nearby brigades didn’t envy her? She had landed a chef for a fiancé—and not just any chef, but one that looked so good. Wang Lingling herself was just ordinarily pretty, with nothing particularly remarkable about her family. Landing this engagement had made others green with envy.
Looking at Xu Shuang’s face now, Wang Lingling still couldn’t help her heart from fluttering.
Forcing herself back to reality, Wang Lingling began to feel like she’d gotten the short end of the stick.
— Just a little bit more! If she’d known Xu Shuang would return just now, she wouldn’t have rushed to buy those six buns!
After all, she was Xu Shuang’s fiancée—wasn’t it only right that he should treat her to a meat bun? With this thought in mind, Wang Lingling blurted it out:
“Xu Shuang, you’re back so late. Good, now that you’re back, go get me back the six liang worth of ration tickets I just gave away. Your restaurant doesn’t lack ration tickets anyway.”
Wang Lingling thought she was being quite reasonable—she wasn’t even asking for money, just the six liang worth of ration tickets. Xu Shuang was a worker and got ration tickets every month. He didn’t need them all. And besides, with so many people coming and going at the restaurant, it’d be much easier for them to swap or supplement tickets than it would be in the brigade.
Xu Shuang still wore the same indifferent expression as always, not a flicker of emotion on his face. He carried the two sacks of vegetables to the back kitchen. Wang Lingling, acting as if everything was perfectly justified, stayed at the counter and called the server to return her tickets.
The server had originally thought Wang Lingling was bluffing when she said she knew Xu Shuang, but now she wasn’t so sure. Could this really be one of Chef Xu’s relatives?
Xu Shuang came back to the front counter holding an enamel mug to get some hot water. The server, a little unsure, leaned in and asked awkwardly, “Master Xu… um, should we really return her ration tickets?”
Wang Lingling, still holding the buns, was already getting impatient. What was taking Xu Shuang so long! Wasn’t it just about returning a few ration tickets—was it really that hard?
Xu Shuang looked up and showed a faintly puzzled expression to the server.
“Why should we return them?”
Whoa! That stirred the hornet’s nest. Wang Lingling’s face was full of disbelief. The server had the classic “So this is just another country relative mooching off Master Xu” expression.
Wang Lingling jumped in frustration:
“Xu Shuang! I’m still your fiancée, whether you admit it or not! Why are you acting all high and mighty? It’s just some ration tickets—why are you so stingy!”
At this point, Wang Lingling didn’t care anymore about not wanting to be tied to Xu Shuang. All she could feel was rage.
It was partly habit. In their past life together, Xu Shuang had always gone along with her on most things—except for a few principles he refused to budge on. In the village, some men beat their wives, but Xu Shuang never did. Even when there were a few times she thought he was about to raise his hand, he never touched her. Not even once.
More often than not, Xu Shuang wouldn’t even argue with her.
So now, being publicly slapped in the face by Xu Shuang like this, her first instinct was sheer fury. She almost wanted to sit on the ground and wail, making sure everyone saw what kind of person he really was.
Xu Shuang was a little helpless. He worked in the town and had a bed in the back kitchen. Usually, he only went back home once every half a month to give his mother his wages and ration tickets. The engagement with Wang Lingling was something his mother had arranged. The two families hadn’t even exchanged betrothal gifts yet, and now she was coming to his workplace asking for ration tickets? It was simply inappropriate.
“Wang… Lingling, was it? We really can’t refund the ration tickets. We have rules here.”
That was all Xu Shuang wanted to say. If he agreed to her demands, wouldn’t it ruin her reputation even more? Just looking at how she was causing a scene here, he was already unwilling to go through with this engagement his mother had arranged.
“Besides, the ration tickets at the restaurant are all accounted for. I don’t have any on hand to make up the difference.”
And that was the truth. Xu Shuang had an older brother studying in the provincial capital. The moment his ration tickets came in, he had to exchange them for national ration tickets and mail them to his brother. Fortunately, his mother was still young and able to work, and since he worked at a state-run restaurant, he didn’t save much, but at least had enough to eat.
Wang Lingling had just been doused with two buckets of cold water by Xu Shuang, and her mind finally began to clear.
She had been rash. The two families hadn’t formally started the betrothal process—it was just that Li Chunjuan had mentioned it in passing to Xu Shuang’s mother.
But in this era, that was usually enough. Once the parents agreed, they’d pick a date to exchange gifts, and then in a few months they could go straight to the wedding.
Wang Lingling still wanted to say something, but Wang Ying had already run out of patience.
Halftime break or not—this was going on far too long! She hadn’t realized it before, but the fiancé Wang Lingling was so eager to reject was actually so good-looking. But no matter how good-looking he was, he couldn’t be eaten like a meat bun.
“Jie, I’m starving over here. Why are you still not coming?”
Wang Ying walked over and, somehow, effortlessly picked up the two bowls of buns from Wang Lingling’s hands.
She had wanted to cheekily call him “brother-in-law,” but seeing how neither side seemed too willing, she held her tongue. Wang Lingling had been making a fuss for days about not wanting to marry Xu Shuang. And Xu Shuang himself, who wouldn’t even spare a few ration tickets, didn’t seem very interested either. Wang Ying silently clicked her tongue—this engagement was probably doomed.
She carried the meat buns back to her seat, ready to dig in, but Wang Lingling quickly grabbed her arm.
“Xu Shuang, this is my second uncle’s daughter, Wang Ying. She graduated last year, is a year younger than me, and just turned eighteen this year.”
Wang Ying froze. What is going on now?
Xu Shuang looked at the girl he had noticed when he first entered. Earlier, she looked like a pitiful stray cat. Now her eyes were wide and round—clearly startled by Wang Lingling.
“…Hello.”
Even a smiling face can’t be hit—since the greeting was friendly, Wang Ying nodded as well. “Hello.”
Then she turned her head, “Jie, I’m really hungry…”
Although Wang Lingling wasn’t satisfied with either Xu Shuang or Wang Ying’s reaction, she figured it was good enough. After all, Wang Ying was someone who couldn’t get a word out even with a stick, and Xu Shuang was a man of few words too. The fact that they greeted each other in front of her was already pretty decent.
Next, she just needed to create a few more chances for them to bump into each other. Whether or not they had feelings, she could still make it official between them!
“Alright, let’s go eat.”
Wang Ying immediately rushed back to her seat, eager to enjoy the six meat buns. This time, she planned to eat slowly and savor every bite. Wang Lingling sat beside her, sipping on plain water with no taste. She had spent her entire yuan and only ate one meat bun herself.
…Wang Ying, this damn girl, why does she eat so much!
After finishing, Wang Ying rubbed her belly and turned her head again. “Jie…”
Wang Lingling snapped, “There’s no more! No money left! San Ya, wait till next time.”
Wang Ying looked at her with resentment. What the heck, she thought Wang Lingling meant they could eat freely today when she said she brought enough money. But in the end, she only got nine buns.
“Then, Jie, can we come back in a few days? I smelled shredded pork noodles in the shop. Next time, treat me to that, okay?”
Wang Lingling was about to retort, “Like you deserve to eat shredded pork noodles,” but then thought better of it. This way, she had a reason to bring Wang Ying along next time. She’d just leave Wang Ying there alone to eat—no need to be present and make those two awkward.
“Fine!”
On the way back, they got lucky and came across the team’s donkey cart.
Driving it was Uncle Tian from the production team. He had some issues with his legs and couldn’t do much fieldwork, so the team assigned him the donkey cart. It was a coincidence that he had come to the livestock station today to get the donkey’s hooves taken care of. Wang Ying called out to him using the name from her memory, and he warmly let them ride along.
The cart wasn’t heavy—just Uncle Tian’s little grandson and the team leader’s youngest son were already on it.
Both kids were about four or five years old, tagging along to see the donkey get its hooves trimmed. They had even gone to the supply cooperative to buy two candies and were happily sucking on them, completely lost in joy.
Wang Ying didn’t feel like walking anyway. The trip from town wasn’t exactly short—took over half an hour on foot. How could that compare to a donkey cart?
Wang Lingling, on the other hand, sat at the very end of the cart with a disgusted look, half-covering her nose. She couldn’t stand the donkey smell.
Uncle Tian’s grandson, named Er Zhu, loved the donkey. Seeing Wang Lingling look so disgusted, he leaned close to the team leader’s son, Shi Tou, and whispered.
“She thinks Little Horse stinks.”
“She’s bad.”
Wang Ying couldn’t help laughing. Just as Shi Tou was about to say something, the donkey cart jolted, and Er Zhu burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, look! You bit your tongue when Little Horse bounced you!”
Shi Tou held his mouth, unable to speak. Up front, Uncle Tian chuckled too, “Careful now, the whole road’s bumpy.”
Shi Tou was still holding his mouth, but then slowly moved his hand to his chest, making a rasping sound in his throat.
Wang Ying tapped Uncle Tian’s shoulder and shouted, “Stop the cart!”
Wang Lingling was annoyed. “San Ya, what are you making a fuss about now?”
Wang Ying’s tone turned serious: “Hurry, the kid’s candy went down the wrong pipe—if we don’t deal with it, he’ll suffocate soon.”
I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.
