Trading for Vegetables

For noodles with diced eggplant and minced pork gravy, Bai Yao had plenty of noodles and meat, but he would have to trade with someone else in the village for a few eggplants. After all, the vegetables he and Kong Wu had planted had yet to sprout.

As for whom to trade with?

That could not have been simpler.

On the walk back, if he saw eggplants in someone's garden, he would go up and ask.

His mouth was right below his nose. As long as he asked, he would naturally be able to trade for some.

Of course, he also had to take care not to pick one of the village's most outrageous households, or he might fail to get any eggplants and end up with trouble clinging to him instead.

After walking for a while, Bai Yao spotted a household's little vegetable garden. The vegetables growing in it were exceptionally lush, and his first impression was that the people living there must have been born with an innate vegetable-growing sacred physique.

Other people's gardens were sparse, but this one could be called a bumper harvest.

It was settled. This was the one.

Bai Yao went up and knocked.

"Hello, is anyone home?"

"Coming! Who is it?"

At the sound of the voice, Bai Yao saw a middle-aged woman come out through the door, accompanied by three married women of different ages.

How could he be so certain they were married? Because he could already see their swollen bellies.

They were pregnant, so how could they not be married?

As the thought crossed his mind, Bai Yao quickly stated his business.

"Hello, auntie. We're the new educated youths. We noticed the vegetables in your garden looked very good, and we'd like to trade you for some to eat. Would that be all right?"

Hearing that they had come to trade for her vegetables, the middle-aged woman broke into a smile.

"Why wouldn't it be? What vegetables do you want?"

"Eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, and yardlong beans. Auntie, how much can you spare us?" Bai Yao listed every vegetable he could see in the garden.

The middle-aged woman's face lit up when she heard how much they wanted. Her family was going to earn some extra income today.

But...

"Young man, what sort of beans are yardlong beans?" the woman asked, puzzled.

"Uh, those long beans over there," Bai Yao replied.

He had forgotten that "yardlong bean" was only the formal name. In practice, it had plenty of other names.

Snap beans, bean sticks, and long beans were all other names for yardlong beans.

"Oh, you mean long beans. Since when were those called yardlong beans?"

As she spoke, the woman led Bai Yao and the others to the garden to pick vegetables.

Bai Yao and the others followed, explaining as they went. The woman found it interesting.

"Young man, pick as much as you want to trade for yourselves," the woman said, opening the garden gate, which was really just a little gate that did not even reach her waist.

"All right, thank you, auntie."

With that, Bai Yao went in to pick vegetables.

What he had not expected was for Kong Wu to follow him inside.

Once they were in, Kong Wu tugged on Bai Yao's clothes. Following Kong Wu's gaze, Bai Yao spotted a patch of tender green chives growing in the ground.

Kong Wu: "Steamed buns filled with chives and eggs are good too."

Bai Yao: ...

I know how much you love steamed buns.

"Auntie, can we trade for some of your chives?"

"Yes. I'll go get a knife. You pick the other vegetables first," the woman said, hurrying back inside.

That was another bit of income. Wonderful.

Seeing this, Bai Yao hurried to pick the vegetables.

Tomatoes were good stir-fried or eaten like fruit. Ten of those.

Cucumbers were an essential summer snack and could also be made into refreshing pickles. Twenty of those.

Yardlong beans, also known as long beans, could be made into steamed buns too.

"Kong Wu, want steamed buns with yardlong beans and pork ribs?"

"Yes," Kong Wu answered without the slightest hesitation.

All right then, a big bundle of yardlong beans.

Last were the eggplants for today's meal. But after looking at the vegetables he had already picked, Bai Yao picked only enough eggplant for today.

Just then, the woman came out with a cleaver. Seeing the vegetables the two had picked, she asked hesitantly, "Young man, these vegetables will last you several days. If you pick too many, they'll spoil easily. Why don't you two come back in a couple of days to trade for the chives?"

Although that would mean earning a little less today, it was better than wasting food.

Without even turning around, Bai Yao could feel Kong Wu's anxious gaze fixed on him. He smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, auntie. I'm going to pickle most of these vegetables, so they won't spoil."

"That's fine, then. As long as the food doesn't go to waste." With that, the woman went to cut the chives.

Seeing her about to stop after cutting only a small handful, Bai Yao hurriedly said, "Auntie, sorry for the trouble, but could you cut a little more? We're going to steam some buns when we get back."

Hearing this, the woman thought the new educated youth must be well-off, so she kept cutting.

In the end, every chive in that little patch was cut.

She stood up, looked at the vegetables they had picked, then glanced at what was left in her garden.

At that moment, the woman suddenly had a feeling that her family might not have enough vegetables to eat for the next few days.

"Auntie, sorry for the trouble, but could you work out how much money I owe you for these?" Bai Yao asked.

In the end, the woman's daughter-in-law showed good sense and brought out the family's scale.

They weighed everything. It came to exactly twenty-five jin.

The weight was quite a shock, considering only two people would be eating it.

But everything had already been picked, and the other party had no objections, so they might as well settle it that way.

"Young man, auntie won't take advantage of you. We'll use the supply and marketing cooperative's current prices. Vegetables are two fen a jin right now, so we'll charge two fen as well. The total for all this is..."

As she spoke, the woman began counting on her fingers.

Bai Yao had already worked it out, but she would feel more reassured calculating it herself than hearing it from him, so he said nothing.

After a while, the woman finally worked it out.

"Exactly five mao."

Before she had finished speaking, Bai Yao took out the money and handed it over.

The woman could not have been happier as she took the five mao.

Five mao! That was enough to buy half a jin of meat and still get some candy for her daughters-in-law.

"All right, young man, when you've finished these vegetables, come back to auntie's family if you want to trade for more. The vegetables I grow are among the best in the village."

"Then let me thank you in advance for looking after us, auntie," Bai Yao said with a smile.

He was quite satisfied with the quality of this family's vegetables, so naturally it would be best to choose them again the next time he traded for some.

"You're the one looking after my family."

"You're too polite. We're looking after each other."

By then, Kong Wu had picked up all the vegetables, and Bai Yao did not intend to chat any longer. He exchanged one more pleasantry before taking his leave.

Once they were gone, the woman put the money in front of her daughters-in-law and told them what she had just been thinking.

"Today, we'll buy half a jin of meat and have a good meal too."

When they returned to their little courtyard, Bai Yao went to prepare lunch.

They had agreed on noodles with gravy, so that was what they would eat.

To get the meal ready quickly without having to endure the heat of tending the fire, Bai Yao naturally chose to let the system help.

But that meant he had to get Kong Wu to go outside for a while first.

Before he could say anything, however, Kong Wu spoke up on his own. "Bai Yao, have a seat. I'll draw some water and leave it in the sun, so we can rinse off this evening."

That was what Kong Wu said, but Bai Yao could not shake the feeling that he was going out on purpose, so Bai Yao would not have to find an excuse to send him away.

Still, it saved him the trouble, so he did not look into it.

Knowing how much Kong Wu could eat, Bai Yao took out extra flour this time. There was still one jin of meat, ensuring the meal would once again be so delicious that Kong Wu would be dazzled by it.

Twenty minutes later, Bai Yao called him in to eat.

Bai Yao had a normal bowl, while he had prepared a huge bowl for Kong Wu.

"Try it. Noodles with diced eggplant and minced pork gravy."

Kong Wu: "Delicious!"