Chapter 23

"If we're not at the orphanage, then we'll be on Electronics Street. Just come find us there," Huo Baichuan said.

Even so, everyone still felt the awkwardness of being unable to keep in touch easily. He Jing sighed helplessly. "All right, then."

After seeing the two girls off, Huo Baichuan looked at Tao Yan. "How about we buy a pager too?"

Huo Baichuan spoke with unmistakable eagerness. He had never played with a pager in his life!

Tao Yan pondered for a moment. "A pager seems to cost over sixteen hundred yuan."

Huo Baichuan waved a hand. "It's for work. Let's buy one!"

Tao Yan had no way to deal with his pestering. "Then we'll come buy one together tomorrow morning."

With his wish fulfilled, Huo Baichuan immediately said, "Then let's hurry back. Aren't they showing a movie tonight?"

He had never seen an outdoor movie in his life! Much less watched a movie with Tao Yan.

At seven-thirty that evening, People's Square in Lotus District was already packed to the brim.

The crowd was dense, shoulder to shoulder, and greetings shouted between neighbors could be heard everywhere. The simple, lively locals had brought their families along with little stools to claim spots in the square. A ring of snack stalls stood outside the square, selling sunflower seeds, peanuts, chilled soda, old-fashioned ice pops, and ice cream bars. The volunteer aunties from the orphanage had set up a tricycle as well. A gas tank was strapped to it, and an iron wok sat atop a simple gas stove, half-filled with oil. The hot oil sizzled as potato strips fried golden on all sides rolled merrily within it.

"...You have no idea about those two new kids at our orphanage. Who knows what kind of family raised those rich young masters? The way they talk and act is really something." While frying potatoes, Aunt Zhao did not forget to complain to the neighbors. "They insisted we change the oil for these fried potatoes every single day. They even scared us, saying that if we didn't change it, people would get cancer from eating it. Does that sound reasonable to you?"

The neighbors gathered before the stall drew sharp breaths. The elderly men and women, long accustomed to scrimping and saving, immediately said, "You absolutely can't just change it like that. How many oil coupons do we get in a month?"

"My husband's an eighth-grade worker at the machinery factory, and we only get thirty-three jin of grain coupons and half a jin of oil coupons each month."

"My family has seven people, and altogether we don't even get four jin of oil a month!"

"That's why I say those two don't run a household, so they don't know how expensive rice and oil are." Aunt Zhao snorted. "This barrel of oil is the two-month ration for the twenty-odd people at our orphanage, from top to bottom. And that's after adding those six children. Before this, the two of them fried pork elbows and potatoes and used up more than half the barrel already. I couldn't bear to throw it out."

"We've all been neighbors for so many years. Tell me, do I look like the kind of person with a bad heart?" Aunt Zhao scooped out the fried potatoes, shook the skimmer twice to drain the excess oil, then poured them into a large iron tray beside her. She skillfully sprinkled on chili powder and cumin, packed them into a paper bag, and handed it to the neighbor across from her. "In this scorching weather, I'm standing over the fire and hot oil, spending both labor and ingredients, and I only sell a serving of fried potatoes for fifty cents. It's all so the children at the orphanage can have a little more to eat and use. We don't have bad intentions! If you trust us, I'll keep this business going. But if you think eating our fried potatoes will give you cancer, then forget it. We won't do this conscience-losing business. We'd rather not earn this money than have everyone point at our backs and curse us."

"What are you saying, Sister-in-law Zhao? We've been neighbors for so long—how could we not know what kind of people you are?" The neighbors hurriedly reassured her. "Don't overthink it. Keep doing business as you should. No one would dare say you're making dirty money."

"Those two kids mean well too. They must have heard some strange idea somewhere and got worried that frying with oil too many times would be bad for people's health." Though the neighbors had never heard such a thing, it did not stop them from admiring the children's kind hearts. They were not the sort to see only money. "They just don't know how precious grain and oil coupons are. They probably think you can casually go to the market and buy them anytime!"

"How could they not know something this basic?" Someone in the crowd suddenly asked in confusion. "No matter how well-off a family is, every household gets a limited supply of grain and oil. Everyone has to buy with coupons..."

The old neighbor stopped there without saying more. The others exchanged looks. Aunt Zhao frowned and tapped the rim of the iron wok with her skimmer. "What are you all thinking? Little Tao and Little Huo are just two kids who've only started high school. What could they know? Maybe their family works at an oil factory! Those families in Lotus Alley who work at the grain depot and meat factory haven't lacked grain or meat all these years!"

Even during the hardest years, when everyone else had to tighten their belts, those families could still stew bones into soup. That was simply making use of whatever resources came with one's workplace.

"...Your husband works at the cotton mill. Your family hasn't lacked needles, thread, or scraps of cloth all these years either, has it?"

The man's old face flushed red from her words, and he quickly said, "Why are you bringing that up? Give me my fried potatoes. The movie's about to start!"

"No rush." As she spoke, Aunt Zhao pointed to the jelly stall that had just been set up beside her. "That was another idea from those two little devils. It's called jelly, mixed with honey and diced fruit, and it was chilled in a water vat all afternoon before being brought out. If you're thirsty or hot, you can buy a bowl and try something new. It's fifty cents a bowl too."

"This is all genuine honey and fruit!" Hearing that, Aunt Tao immediately lifted the lid and began calling out to customers. "We bought watermelon, muskmelon, and strawberries this morning. There are crushed peanuts, walnut kernels, and raisins in it too. It's fragrant, sweet, cooling, and especially delicious."

"I'm telling you, the cost of one bowl of jelly is no lower than fried potatoes! Come on and try some."

The weather was so hot that everyone was thirsty after eating too many sunflower seeds. When they heard Aunt Tao calling out about the jelly, another circle of people immediately gathered around. The children brought out to watch the movie were especially close to making a fuss.