Educated youth Bai, could the two of us still repay you with our bodies?

His anticipation of some juicy gossip made Bai Yao stop caring about the few sunflower seeds. As long as he got his fill of the gossip, that was enough.

After giving each of them some seeds, the twins continued.

"It happened last year. After the village distributed grain, Zhang Dashu and Zhang Xiaocao got a letter from home. We don't know exactly what it said, but the next day, they mailed most of their grain home. They rationed what was left down to the last grain, and it lasted them until spring."

"There were plenty of wild vegetables in the mountains in spring, but they couldn't fill your stomach. After a few days, neither of them could hold out, so they looked for people to borrow grain from. But after a whole winter, nobody had much grain left, so naturally, nobody would lend them any."

"One day, the two of us were gathering firewood in the mountains when we heard Zhang Dashu asking Dong Aiguo to lend him grain. He even said that looking after the educated youths was Dong Aiguo's job as the person in charge. Dong Aiguo heard him out and actually agreed."

"At the time, we thought that if Zhang Dashu could borrow some, we'd go ask later too. But when Dong Aiguo came to find Zhang Dashu afterward, we were a step too late to eavesdrop, so we don't know exactly what was said. Anyway, Zhang Dashu let Dong Aiguo have his way with him in a haystack without resisting."

Bai Yao said, "That Dong Aiguo isn't a good person either."

He really had underestimated the man's disguise. If he didn't guard against him, he might not even know how he died someday.

"Tell me about it. We thought that after that, Dong Aiguo would give Zhang Dashu the grain, but he didn't. In the end, Zhang Dashu borrowed it from the village brigade office, to be repaid with this year's work points."

"We thought that after something like that, Zhang Dashu would surely beat Dong Aiguo to death. But there wasn't a peep, and the two of them carried on as usual. That was how we learned Dong Aiguo wasn't a good person—or rather, that none of the people at the educated youth compound were good people. That's why we've always kept our distance from them."

After hearing this, Bai Yao glanced at the brothers.

None of the people at the educated youth compound were good people. Did that make these brothers any different?

As if.

Compared with the other educated youths, the twins, Zhang Dashu, and Zhang Xiaocao simply had people they cared about, so they weren't rotten through and through.

Still, he really did have to watch out for Dong Aiguo.

There was no need to fear a hypocrite, nor a true villain. What was frightening was someone who was both.

Then again, it was probably Dong Aiguo's ruthlessness that had earned the educated youth compound its modest reputation in the village.

He truly couldn't imagine what kind of hellish mess the educated youth compound would become if Dong Aiguo left.

"All right, I'm very satisfied with this gossip. You can have the rest of these seeds."

Bai Yao gave the remaining half handful of seeds to the two of them and promptly left.

Seeing that, the brothers Xiang Qian and Xiang Hou left as well. They had really made quite a haul today.

They still owed Bai Yao some wild game, but that was no big deal. They could catch some in their spare time after going back and settle the debt.

"Brother, this educated youth Bai really is rich."

"Yeah. If we get anything good in the future, we can ask him first."

At two in the afternoon, the supply and marketing cooperative finally reopened for business.

Bai Yao was the first to arrive. He wanted to hurry up, buy some pastries, and head back.

He didn't know if he was overthinking it, but just now, he'd suddenly had the thought that if he delayed any longer, Kong Wu might charge into town looking for him.

The thought had come out of nowhere, but Bai Yao couldn't shake the feeling that Kong Wu was capable of doing something like that.

He hadn't managed to sell many coupons anyway, and he'd had enough of being in town, so he decided to buy some pastries and go home.

After entering the cooperative, Bai Yao headed straight for the pastry counter.

Salesclerks were among the eight prestigious professions in this era, and every one of them held their head high.

To avoid any trouble, Bai Yao took out his money and coupons as soon as he arrived.

"Hello, comrade. Sorry for the trouble, but could you weigh out two jin of walnut cookies, two jin of egg cakes, and one jin of these biscuits for me?"

"Sure, just a moment."

Since he had both money and coupons, the clerk didn't have to ask.

Weighing and paying included, the whole purchase took Bai Yao only a few minutes.

Just as he was about to leave with his purchases, he ran into Xiang Qian and Xiang Hou, who had just arrived.

Bai Yao: ...

Good grief, wasn't this the third time they'd met?

Three times in two hours. What a coincidence.

The twins, meanwhile, gazed at the pastries in Bai Yao's hands, their eyes full of envy.

Pastries! They hadn't eaten any in years.

This time, Bai Yao had no business with the two of them, so he greeted them and prepared to leave.

"You two educated youths Xiang, go on with what you're doing. I'll be off."

With that, Bai Yao headed out the door.

Once outside, Bai Yao found a secluded, empty alley. He needed to take his bicycle out of the System Space.

He also took out the ten jin of venison he'd bought, two large watermelons, and a bundle of soda bottles.

That was right, a bundle.

In this era, there was nothing else to carry drinks in, so a few bottles of soda were tied together with rope to make them easier to carry.

With everything arranged, the two large baskets hanging on either side of Bai Yao's rear seat were full.

"This trip really was a bumper harvest."

With that, Bai Yao rode home.

But on the road, he ran into Xiang Qian and Xiang Hou yet again.

He had no business with them anyway, so he didn't plan to stop.

But while he had no business with the brothers, they had business with Bai Yao, so they hurriedly called out when they saw him.

"Educated youth Bai, wait! We need to ask you something."

Bai Yao: ???

He braked and stopped.

"What is it?" Bai Yao asked.

"Um, educated youth Bai, do you have a way to buy fabric? The cooperative hasn't had any in stock lately."

Bai Yao was about to say no, but the words had barely reached his lips when he remembered that he'd raided two black-market hideouts and collected quite a lot of fabric, including some flawed pieces.

He couldn't use that much by himself, so...

"Do you two want flawed fabric? It's the same price as regular fabric, but you don't need coupons."

"Yes, yes, we do! Thank you. We'll give you the money right now."

"No need. We'll exchange the money and the fabric when I get it."

Well, Bai Yao still couldn't stomach the place where the two kept their money.

With that settled, Bai Yao was ready to leave again, but just as he was about to go, something occurred to him.

"Want to go back together? You two can take turns riding," Bai Yao asked.

Was he being kindhearted?

Not at all. He was simply looking for tools.

Even without all these things, riding the whole way was tiring for Bai Yao. Now that he had tools, two of them taking turns at that, why let them slip away?

Hearing Bai Yao's offer, the twins happily agreed. Riding a bicycle was much less trouble than walking back.

"Sure, thank you, educated youth Bai. We can both ride, and we won't let you fall."

"Mm."

With that, Bai Yao sat down on the rear seat.

As the twins came closer, they also saw what was in the two large baskets at the back.

Shock! Envy! And...

"Educated youth Bai, do you think the two of us could repay you with our bodies? We're strong and sturdy, and we have stamina. We're much better than Dong Aiguo, with his three-inch nail and three minutes."

Bai Yao: ???

Wait!!!

Dong Aiguo has a three-inch nail?!

And he only lasts three minutes?!

Now that was some explosive gossip!