When they finished eating, Li Shiyue kept her face stiff the entire time, clearly sulking.
Ji Xiu couldn’t quite figure out why she’d suddenly gotten angry.
He studied her expression, completely baffled. In the end, he could only sigh about how a woman’s heart was like a needle at the bottom of the sea. Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it and ate while pondering how to make money quickly—how to get his first pot of gold.
It is March now. In another seven months, the college entrance examination will be reinstated.
Educated youths who passed the exam could use this path to return to the city, go back home, and gain opportunities for further education and advancement.
Ji Xiu planned to take the college entrance exam together with Li Shiyue.
He didn’t doubt for a second that they would pass, but once they did, the expenses afterward would be a serious problem.
They were husband and wife—naturally, they’d have to rent a place to live outside. That alone would cost money. Then there were daily food expenses, living costs, and the fees to send Yingzi to daycare. All of that would need to be saved up in advance.
Ji Xiu didn’t know what prices were like outside these days. To be safe, the more money he could save, the better. Relying on the Ji family or the Li family was out of the question.
He’d have to find a way himself.
Ji Xiu frowned in deep thought, his expression grave.
Li Shiyue waited and waited, but Ji Xiu didn’t come to coax her. She glanced at him a couple of times and saw that he seemed lost in thought, his handsome profile serious and focused, radiating a kind of charm that made one’s heart flutter. She couldn’t help softening.
Forget it. He had already started changing for the better. She couldn’t expect him to be perfect in everything all at once.
And even if he didn’t sweet-talk her, the housework would still fall to her anyway. What was there to be angry about? He made her happy—wasn’t that enough?
“What are you thinking about?” Having comforted herself, Li Shiyue also wanted to contribute. She asked him softly.
Ji Xiu snapped back to his senses, looked at her, and showed a troubled expression. “Wife, how can we make money?”
Li Shiyue was puzzled. “Isn’t it enough if you go to work on time?”
Chunxi Village had fertile land and relatively high grain output, so work points were quite valuable. One work point was worth twelve cents. A strong laborer could earn ten points a day—one yuan and twenty cents. An adult woman earned seven points a day—eighty-four cents.
At current city prices, rice wasn’t sold openly. Other things, like flour, were one yuan eighty-five cents; pork, eighty cents; napa cabbage, one cent…
By comparison, Chunxi Village’s income was very high.
Even some city workers didn’t earn as much as these ordinary farmers from Chunxi Village.
Li Shiyue had been to the city several times and knew this, which was why she said so.
She had even done the math. The two of them were young, didn’t need to support elderly parents, had no major family burdens, and only one daughter. Calculated over four to five months of work a year, their annual income would be between 250 and 300 yuan. After subtracting basic food expenses, as long as they worked hard, they could save at least a hundred yuan a year.
If they didn’t insist on saving that much, they could even buy meat every now and then to enjoy.
Before, Ji Xiu had completely neglected the family. She had to take care of the household and the child and often asked the production team for leave, so her work points were insufficient. That was why they’d been so poor they could barely make ends meet.
Now that Ji Xiu was willing to work hard, life suddenly felt full of hope.
She couldn’t understand why Ji Xiu was still worried.
Ji Xiu met her puzzled gaze, his heart stirring. He leaned over and said mysteriously, “Wife, yesterday I went out drinking and came back late. You were mad at me, right? When you got angry and argued with me, I forgot to tell you something important I wanted to say.”
Thinking about yesterday still made Li Shiyue annoyed. She shot him a glare and asked skeptically, “What important thing?”
Ji Xiu lowered his voice. “I heard it from my buddies—this year, the higher-ups are going to reinstate the college entrance exam.”
“What?!”
It was like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. After processing the information, Li Shiyue sprang to her feet. “You—Ji Xiu, are you sure?”
Ji Xiu narrowed his eyes. “About an eighty percent chance.”
Eighty percent was more than enough to shake one’s heart. Li Shiyue’s eyes lit up instantly. She didn’t ask where Ji Xiu had heard the news from and instead paced around the room, venting her excitement.
His buddies came from all walks of life—knowing a bit of insider news wasn’t unusual.
She fell into her own beautiful fantasies. The college entrance exam… didn’t that mean she had a chance to go back home?
Ji Xiu felt a little displeased. He knocked on the table. “Wife, I’m talking to you properly—why are you running around?”
Li Shiyue barely suppressed her joy and sat back down beside him. Still lost in thought, her eyes bright with excitement, she responded absentmindedly, “Go on. What is it?”
Ji Xiu looked at her deeply. “Wife, you’re so happy about the college entrance exam being reinstated—are you planning to leave me and Yingzi behind and go back to the city by yourself?”
Li Shiyue froze.
Beside them, Ji Yingzi, who had been eating obediently, caught the key words. She lifted her head, grains of rice still stuck to her cheeks, her eyes full of confusion. “Is Mommy going to abandon Yingzi?”
Li Shiyue didn’t answer. She was still immersed in the shock and joy of the news, her thoughts unsettled, not having considered that far ahead.
Seeing her stay silent, tears welled up in Ji Yingzi’s eyes. Holding back her grievance, she asked, “Was Yingzi not good? Why doesn’t Mommy want Yingzi?”
“No.” Li Shiyue snapped back to herself, her heart aching. She bent down and kissed her daughter’s cheek.
Ji Yingzi wiped her eyes with her chubby little hand, red-eyed, and whispered, “Yingzi is very good. Mommy, don’t abandon Yingzi.”
She looked utterly heartbroken. Lowering her head, tears plopped down onto the table.
Both Ji Xiu and Li Shiyue sensed that something was wrong.
A normal child wouldn’t react so quickly, nor would she cry just from hearing such a sentence. Had something happened that they didn’t know about?
Ji Xiu put down his bowl and chopsticks, squatted to Ji Yingzi’s eye level, and asked her why she was crying.
Ji Yingzi glanced at him, her little hands twisting together. In a small, aggrieved voice, she revealed the truth.
After hearing it, Ji Xiu’s face darkened.
It turned out that some time ago, when he and Li Shiyue were in a cold war, outsiders had noticed. Several little boys from the neighboring household mocked her, saying her dad was unreliable and that sooner or later her mom would run off with another man, abandoning her useless oil bottle daughter.
Ji Yingzi had already felt that the atmosphere at home was tense. Frightened by their words, she’d been terrified and only recovered after several days, leaving a shadow in her heart.
Usually it didn’t show, but when she misunderstood and thought Li Shiyue really was going to abandon her and Ji Xiu, she remembered that incident and broke down in fear, begging Li Shiyue not to leave.
“Mommy won’t leave. Mommy will never leave Yingzi in this lifetime. Don’t be afraid…”
Li Shiyue’s heart ached unbearably as she held her daughter and comforted her again and again.
Yingzi was young and easily tired. Crying and crying, she gradually fell asleep.
Li Shiyue put her to bed, then returned to the main room, her expression unpleasant. “Those kids next door are going too far. If they weren’t so young, I really would’ve lost my temper. Good thing I don’t usually let Yingzi play with them.”
Ji Xiu’s expression was icy as he looked out the window toward the neighbor’s house. “What do kids know? It’s definitely the adults at home who keep talking nonsense, so the kids just parrot it. If you want revenge, you shouldn’t go after the kids—you go after the adults.”
Li Shiyue was startled and looked up at him. “What are you going to do?”
Ji Xiu stood up, tossed out a sentence, and walked out. “You stay home and take care of Yingzi. I’ll be back soon.”
Sensing something bad, Li Shiyue hurried after him. But she was no match for Ji Xiu’s long legs. The more she chased, the farther behind she fell. By the time she caught up, Ji Xiu was already done.
Chen Manzhu was the eldest son of the Chen family, with two parents above him and five younger brothers below.
The six brothers were united and highly respected in the village. When disputes arose, just lining up together was enough to scare others off.
But now, all six of them were lying on the ground, rolling in pain, groaning miserably.
Li Shiyue was utterly shocked. Following the scene, she saw Ji Xiu standing alone in the middle, completely unharmed—not even a strand of hair out of place. She was completely dumbfounded.
Ji Xiu hadn’t noticed that Li Shiyue had followed him. His expression was cold as he looked around at the Chen family, his tone full of threat and warning.
“Watch your mouths. Say one more word of gossip about my family, and I’ll smash your house.”
Rural areas at the time still followed a rule of violence answering violence. The more brothers a family had, the more authority they carried.
The Chen family used to be upper-middle tier, strutting around the village.
But Ji Xiu alone had beaten all six brothers badly.
Chen Manzhu was in agony, nearly dying. Seeing Ji Xiu’s terrifying gaze, he hurriedly nodded. “I won’t dare again—I won’t!”
Ji Xiu looked at the other five. They frantically echoed him. “Yes, yes, we won’t dare either!”
Ji Xiu then turned his gaze to their wives and children.
The six brothers widened their eyes. “Hurry up and apologize! What are you standing around for?!”
In their hearts, they harbored resentment—wasn’t it these women who couldn’t keep their mouths shut and corrupted the children? Otherwise, how would Ji Xiu have come after them?
They truly hadn’t expected Ji Xiu to be this strong—to take on six people alone.
No wonder he’d been a hooligan before. Without this kind of ability, no ordinary person would dare to be one.
The Chen family women and children finally snapped out of it and hurriedly apologized.
Ji Xiu gave a disdainful snort. Only then did he turn to leave.
When he met Li Shiyue at the doorway, her face full of shock, he raised an eyebrow, not at all afraid of her discovering anything. He walked over, wrapped an arm around her waist, and said, “Let’s go home, wife.”
Li Shiyue couldn’t believe it. “You beat all six of them?”
“Yeah.” Ji Xiu replied casually. “Haven’t fought in a long time—didn’t quite hold back.”
So he’d always been this capable—she just hadn’t seen it before?
Li Shiyue’s gaze lingered on his face. Seeing his carefree yet strangely reassuring expression, her heartbeat gradually quickened.
Women feared violence, yet also admired strength.
She suddenly felt that Ji Xiu, at this moment, was dangerously attractive.
…
Back home, Ji Xiu woke Yingzi and proudly told her that Daddy had taught the Chen family a lesson.
“If anyone dares bully you again and make you cry, tell Daddy. Daddy will make them kneel down and call you Daddy.”
Listening, Ji Yingzi gasped and widened her eyes in turns, her clear eyes full of admiration. “Daddy is amazing!”
After laughing, she showed a puzzled look. “But why would they call me Daddy? I’m a girl…”
“Uh, well…” Ji Xiu casually changed it. “Then they’ll call you Grandma.” He patted her head. “Go back to sleep, Yingzi.”
Already not well-rested, Ji Yingzi nodded, grabbed the corner of her blanket, rolled over, and fell asleep again.
Ji Xiu turned and motioned for Li Shiyue to step outside to continue talking.
“Where were we? Oh right—the college entrance exam. If you get into university…”
Before he could finish, Li Shiyue interrupted him. “I won’t take it.”
Ji Xiu froze. “Huh?”
Li Shiyue seemed to have made a major decision. She took a deep breath and nodded firmly. “I won’t take it. I’ll stay here with you and Yingzi.”
At this point, she and Ji Xiu had been in a cold war for less than a month. Their relationship was still relatively harmonious.
Unlike in her previous life, when the reinstatement of the exam was announced in October—after a long cold war that had made their relationship increasingly distant and filled her with insecurity—she had rushed to take the exam and leave as soon as she heard the news.
Now, she still loves Ji Xiu and her daughter.
And Ji Xiu’s performance today—his diligence and care—had given her hope. So she was willing to try staying here for him and Yingzi.
Making this decision was painful for her. Her eyes reddened as she forced a smile and looked at Ji Xiu. “You won’t make me regret this decision, will you?”
Ji Xiu understood what she meant. His heart shook, then he felt a bit helpless.
“Wife, I never said you should give up the exam.” He curved his lips, his eyes filled with indulgence and resignation. “The three of us won’t be separated—but we can go together.”
Li Shiyue froze.
Ji Xiu walked over, pulled her into his arms, and softly laid out a blueprint for the future by her ear.
“You prepare for the exam at home. I’ll earn money outside. When you get into university, we’ll have some savings too, and we can go elsewhere together. We’ll rent a place— you study, I take care of our daughter and do some work to earn money. The three of us won’t be separated.”
The original body’s education had only gone up to elementary school. If Ji Xiu suddenly said he wanted to take the college entrance exam, Li Shiyue would definitely think he’d gone mad.
So for now, Ji Xiu didn’t reveal his true plan. He spun a dream for her first.
Following his words, Li Shiyue imagined it, her expression dreamy, her voice drifting. “But… that would take so much money.”
“That’s my problem.” Ji Xiu rubbed her head. “Before, there was nothing pressing at home, so I muddled along. Now that you have a chance to go back home, how could I ever drag you down? Don’t worry—I’ll handle it.”
His tone was steady. For some reason, Li Shiyue believed him. She nodded, leaning against his shoulder, dreaming of the beautiful future after getting into university.
And after comforting Li Shiyue, Ji Xiu also formed a rough plan in his own mind.
The history of this world was somewhat similar to the first and second worlds he’d experienced—likely a parallel timeline.
If he remembered correctly, at this point many places had already seen the sprouts of commerce, just operating in secret, through so-called “black markets.”
Tomorrow, he could take some time to go to the city and look for where the black market was.
The only question was—what business to do.
Selling the family’s grain was out of the question. He was short on food himself and still relied on aid from the Ji family, whose own supplies weren’t abundant either. To make money, he’d have to think of another way.
Or perhaps engage in so-called “speculation”—buy low, sell high, and earn the difference?
Ji Xiu thought for a moment, then quickly calmed down.
No matter what, he’d know more after taking a trip to the city tomorrow.
…
The next day, Ji Xiu didn’t go to work.
The villagers were already used to his absence and didn’t think much of it. But unexpectedly, Li Shiyue didn’t show up either.
That was strange.
The fields buzzed with speculation about why the couple hadn’t come.
Someone with a strong sense of curiosity nudged Chen Manzhu, who was working nearby. “You live next door to Ji Xiu. Did something happen at his place? Why didn’t they come?”
Chen Manzhu’s face darkened as he snapped irritably, “Why are you asking me? Ji Xiu’s business isn’t my responsibility. If you want to know, go check his house yourself.”
“Hey, what’s your problem? I was just asking.”
“I don’t feel like answering. Believe it or not. Get lost—stop being an eyesore.”
“What the hell did you say? Looking for death, huh—”
The two got angrier and angrier and ended up fighting right there in the fields.
A while later, Chen Manzhu’s five brothers heard the commotion and rushed over to help, beating the man until he curled up on the ground, begging for mercy.
The sixth brother still wanted to hit him, but Chen Manzhu couldn’t bear it and pulled him back. “Forget it. When I see him, I think of the six of us…”
Yesterday’s storm-like beating by Ji Xiu had left a deep shadow on all six of them.
The five brothers stiffened and let the other man scramble away.
Chen Manzhu sighed again. They’d really run into a tough one. He didn’t know how Ji Xiu had trained himself—if only the six of them had even half of his skill.
As for what Ji Xiu and his wife were up to, he was curious too.
Early that morning, he’d heard the sound of the Ji family of three heading out. He’d been lying in bed and glanced out the window—it wasn’t even light yet.
At such an early hour, where could they have gone?
At the same time, the Ji family that everyone in the village was thinking about had already arrived in the city.
…
Ji Xiu had originally planned to come alone.
But Li Shiyue said she’d forgotten all her high school knowledge and would need textbooks if she were to take the exam.
Ji Xiu thought that made sense. These things had to be prepared early. Once the news of the exam’s reinstatement spread, everyone would scramble for textbooks, making them hard to find. So he brought Li Shiyue with him.
And since she was coming, Yingzi certainly couldn’t be left at home.
A family should move together—neatly and completely.
They took a bus that cost fifteen cents per person. When they arrived in the city, it was still dark.
Ji Xiu had arranged to meet a buddy named Ergou at the station. Ergou was already there. He glanced at Li Shiyue, grinned, called her “sister-in-law,” and led Ji Xiu outside.
They entered from a roadside alley, twisting and turning until they reached the entrance of a long street.
Someone was guarding the entrance. Ergou greeted them, brought Ji Xiu inside, and spread his hands. “Brother, look—this is the black market.”
Ji Xiu looked ahead.
The long street didn’t look like a black market at all. From a distance, it looked just like an ordinary vegetable market.
But in this era, buying and selling privately was illegal, hence the name “black market.”
The people doing business were ordinary folks, squatting along both sides of the road with sacks and baskets in front of them. Everyone looked extremely alert, glancing around—like street vendors dodging inspectors.
Ji Xiu nodded. “Thanks.”
“No need to be polite. You look around. I’ll wait for you at the entrance. I’ll tell them about you so next time you come, no one will stop you.”
Ji Xiu thanked him again. After Ergou left, he took Li Shiyue to stroll down the black market street.
There were more goods here than at the supply and marketing cooperative, and more variety. It was also cheaper. Ji Xiu casually asked the price of something.
Li Shiyue exclaimed, “So cheap!”
The old man smiled honestly. “Miss, want a couple of jin? This is all homegrown. Once it’s sold, that’s it.”
Li Shiyue glanced at the sunflower seeds in front of him and shook her head.
Cheap or not, they were unnecessary expenses. It wasn’t a holiday—few people could afford such snacks.
The old man wasn’t annoyed. Smiling, he nodded. “Come buy some when you feel like it.”
Li Shiyue nodded and pulled Ji Xiu to another stall.
After walking the whole street, Ji Xiu had a rough idea.
Things here were indeed cheaper than at the supply cooperative and didn’t require ration coupons—excellent value. But correspondingly, it was hard to make money from it.
Bringing goods from outside to sell here meant bearing risk for little profit. Buying here to sell elsewhere was also difficult—people in the city who could afford extra food already knew about the black market.
Ji Xiu stroked his chin and scanned the street again. Having no better ideas for now, he checked the sky and said to Li Shiyue, “Forget it. Let’s think about it after we get back. I’ll accompany you to the bookstore first.”
Li Shiyue vaguely guessed what he was thinking and grabbed his arm. “Don’t do anything illegal.”
Ji Xiu dodged the question and asked instead, “Wife, how much do you think I can earn in half a year by working normally?”
Li Shiyue bit her lip. “Even so, you’re not allowed to come here.”
Ji Xiu smiled. “Let’s think about it after we go back. I haven’t decided yet.”
Feeling uneasy, Li Shiyue said petulantly, “If you keep this up, I won’t take the college entrance exam!”
Ji Xiu’s expression turned serious—a rarity. He glanced around and pulled her into a corner to scold her. “Wife, don’t say things like that lightly. Nothing’s been officially decided yet. If word gets out and the higher-ups change their minds, what then?”
With the butterfly effect in play, anything could happen. Ji Xiu needed to be cautious.
Seeing her come back to her senses and cover her mouth in fear, he let out a breath and said firmly, “And you must take the exam!”
“Why?” Li Shiyue frowned. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away after I get in?”
Ji Xiu curled his lips into a smile, picked up Ji Yingzi and bounced her lightly, his tone full of confidence. “Would you really be willing to leave the two of us?”
Li Shiyue didn’t answer. She wasn’t willing—otherwise she wouldn’t have resisted the exam so much, even though it was her lifelong dream.
Ji Xiu smiled and continued, “Remember this: getting in is good for us, and good for our daughter.”
“You can go home and see your parents. I can leave here and make my way elsewhere. Our daughter will get a brand-new living environment.” He paused meaningfully. “Do you really want Yingzi to stay in Chunxi Village for her entire life?”
Li Shiyue froze, then shook her head quickly.
Join the discussion
Log in to comment.