This Is Forcing Her to Make a Mistake

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Section 27: Is This Forcing Him to Make a Mistake?

They were precisely the handsome young man and the thieving fatty from the Black Market.

Lin Yuzhu's eyelid twitched. She immediately reined in her emotions, gave the two of them an expressionless glance, and lowered her head.

She suspected these two were the ones who had been following her. She absolutely could not show any fear here and let them notice.

She firmly believed in her makeup skills.

Mm, firmly believed?

Maybe. If her conviction was strong enough, she would really believe in herself.

Lin Yuzhu sat across from them with extreme calm, as though they had never crossed paths before.

Shen Bojun merely glanced at Lin Yuzhu. Seeing that she was a girl, he did not examine her any further.

Fatty Li beside him stared at Lin Yuzhu, his eyes lighting up and becoming somewhat unfocused.

Lin Yuzhu's gaze immediately shot toward him like a blade.

What are you looking at? Trying to act like a hooligan?

Fatty Li was immediately cowed and did not dare look anymore. He thought to himself that the girl across from him was pretty, but a little too fierce.

At that moment, Lin Yuzhu felt that there were advantages to being a girl too. People were too embarrassed to keep staring at her.

Bored from waiting for their food, Fatty Li quietly chatted with Shen Bojun. "Brother, it doesn't make sense. That kid looked unfamiliar, and his accent was off too. He definitely isn't local, so how does he know this area so well? He even managed to shake both of us off."

Lin Yuzhu's hand resting on her lap stiffened. With her sharp ears, she had heard every word Fatty Li said. So it really was them.

Even after Fatty Li finished speaking, he was still puzzled.

Shen Bojun sat there calmly and said coolly, "I told you to lose weight, but you wouldn't listen. Now even a kid can spot you."

Fatty Li looked awkward. "M-M-Maybe it wasn't me who got noticed."

Shen Bojun looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Could it have been me?"

Fatty Li felt a little guilty, then immediately put on a simple, ingratiating smile. "Hehe, Brother, how about I ask around at the other spots later? That person looked unfamiliar. Maybe someone will recognize him."

"Forget it. There's no need to keep wasting energy. That stuff was good, but it wasn't much different from what was already on the market. It wasn't what we were looking for."

From the vague exchange between the two, Lin Yuzhu understood the general situation. Though she had caught their attention, they were not especially focused on her. She breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, she did not get many chances to come into town. Once this fuss died down, she could change her appearance and come again.

Once she relaxed, the food tasted even better.

Craving pork beyond belief, Lin Yuzhu ate piece after piece of braised pork. She finished an entire plate of it with a huge bowl of rice.

The rice portions at the State-Run Restaurant were truly generous.

Although the chef's skills were average, the pork itself was genuinely delicious. Pork from later generations simply could not compare. Even with few seasonings, this braised pork was no worse than anything served in restaurants of later generations.

Once she had eaten and drunk her fill, she slipped away. Looking at the completely empty plate across from him, Fatty Li smacked his lips. "Brother, that girl sure can eat. She finished an entire plate of braised pork by herself."

Shen Bojun turned around and only caught sight of her back. After looking her over, he said, "She doesn't look like she's from the countryside based on her clothes. Her shoes are a little dirty, and the soles are worn. She should be an educated youth sent to the countryside."

Fatty Li turned back for another look. No wonder. Better not ask how his brother could tell, or he would get called stupid again.

When Lin Yuzhu arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she saw Wang Xiaomei waiting at the entrance, looking very bored.

Who knew how long she had been waiting? Had she eaten yet?

The moment Wang Xiaomei saw Lin Yuzhu, her dull eyes brightened. Then she pouted unhappily. "Why did you take so long? I was afraid you'd get impatient waiting, so I came early."

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes. "Then next time, leave Qingqing's place later. Who leaves right after eating at someone else's home? How rude!"

"I'm serious. Next time, you should at least have some tea and chat for a while before leaving."

Whether she had gone to visit relatives or not, they both knew perfectly well.

Wang Xiaomei felt choked up. Lin Yuzhu was being far too earnest. Did she really think Wang Xiaomei had gone to visit relatives? She had even stayed for a meal. Wang Xiaomei had been afraid of being exposed, so she had not even dared go to the State-Run Restaurant. She was still hungry now.

The two did not dwell on the subject. It was not a big deal and did not stop them from continuing their shopping trip together.

With money in hand, how could they not take a look around the Supply and Marketing Cooperative?

Lin Yuzhu had quite a few things she wanted to buy. She was not short on industrial coupons now, so of course she had to shop.

A flashlight and matching batteries, as well as a kerosene lamp and a wooden water bucket, were necessities.

Her luck was good. The Supply and Marketing Cooperative had stock. There were not many vegetables to eat in northern winters. Once winter came, people ate cabbage and carrots over and over, so every household pickled vegetables in autumn.

Just for show, she also bought a pickling crock. Then she used sugar coupons to buy a pound of hard candy. When asking someone for a favor, she could offer them two pieces to sweeten the deal. If she wanted some herself, she could buy it from the system.

After her system leveled up again, the grocery store unlocked sweets. It had all kinds of fruit candy, soft candy, milk candy, and crisp candy. Unfortunately, the quality was too outstanding, so she could not take them out to sell. She could only indulge her cravings in private.

Wang Xiaomei bought quite a few things too. Lin Yuzhu took a quick look and saw that most were daily necessities: soap, toothpaste, cold cream, and the only food item, cake.

She had really expanded her horizons!

When they had lived in the front courtyard, when had Lin Yuzhu ever seen Wang Xiaomei own such things?

Wang Xiaomei snorted and said proudly, "Hmph, now that I live alone, I don't have to worry about anyone taking advantage of me anymore."

Lin Yuzhu was completely speechless.

So she only wanted to take advantage of others.

Wang Xiaomei felt guilty under Lin Yuzhu's gaze and hurriedly pulled her along. "Let's go upstairs and look at the clothes. We don't need cloth coupons just to look."

Lin Yuzhu did not really want to go. Looking at things she could not buy would only make her feel worse.

"Oh, come on. Looking doesn't cost coupons." Lin Yuzhu was forcibly dragged upstairs.

The second floor sold ready-made clothes. There were not many styles that looked acceptable. Most were Dacron shirts, with ordinary designs that were neither especially shabby nor fashionable.

As for the price, they were fifty-six yuan each and also required cloth coupons.

Lin Yuzhu had enough clothes to wear and did not plan to buy any. What was the point of dressing so nicely in the countryside?

The two continued farther inside, and Lin Yuzhu took a liking to a pair of earthy brown suede leather shoes.

The shoes looked a little clunky and had nothing to do with beauty, but one look told her they were good quality. They should last three or four years without a problem.

They were much cheaper than other leather shoes, only seven yuan plus industrial coupons. She thought they would be perfect for autumn.

Lin Yuzhu gritted her teeth and bought them.

After buying them, she remembered she would need rain boots on rainy days, so she bought a pair of those too. Her feet could not suffer. Thinking of how she had spent over a thousand yuan on a pair of shoes in her previous life without feeling as much pain as she did now, she could not help feeling wistful.

Lin Yuzhu could not help sighing inwardly. She was truly living more and more backwards, in the literal sense.

Perhaps Wang Xiaomei had let herself go after building her house, because she actually followed suit and bought a pair of leather shoes as well.

She already had rain boots, so naturally she would not waste money buying another pair.

Lin Yuzhu was very curious how much money Wang Xiaomei had.

How could Wang Xiaomei possibly tell the truth? The moment she bought the shoes, she started crying poverty. Before leaving the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she even bought a bag of White Rabbit Milk Candy.

Lin Yuzhu smiled without saying anything. "Poor? I've watched other people eat it since I was little and always wanted to try it. Today, even if I have to empty my savings, I'm going to taste it."

Wang Xiaomei's eyes darted around as she muttered.

"Then just buy less. You're even saying you'll empty your savings. Who would believe that?"

Wang Xiaomei protested with silence.

The trip back was not as lucky. They did not come across a single Ox Cart.

Lin Yuzhu put the water bucket into the basket on the back of her bicycle, along with the smaller items.

The pickling crock would not fit, so she could only carry it in her arms.

It really was heavy, and carrying it was exhausting.

So Lin Yuzhu had to rest after walking for twenty minutes.

Wang Xiaomei said irritably that she would never go to town with Lin Yuzhu again.

Lin Yuzhu could not have asked for more and told her not to follow behind her next time.

When she truly could not carry it anymore, Wang Xiaomei suddenly gallantly took it from her, but demanded ten hard candies in return.

Lin Yuzhu refused and lectured Wang Xiaomei that this was wrong. If she gave Wang Xiaomei candy, the nature of it would change. Wouldn't that make it equivalent to hiring her to work?

This was forcing her to make a mistake.

Wang Xiaomei thought that was twisted logic.

Arguing and bickering all the way, the two returned to Kindwater Village and immediately drew the attention of a group of older women.

They had not even walked far into the village when they came across a group of aunties chatting beneath a tree.

The aunties could tell at a glance that the two had gone to the county town to buy things, and they could not help feeling sour.

Those two young educated youths had built houses and bought so many things. They really had money.

People from the city were just fortunate. The villagers could toil for half their lives and still not earn as much as they did in ten years.

Among them was the wife of the village's notorious loafer. Everyone called her Auntie Li Si because Scabby Li ranked fourth in his family.

As the saying went, birds of a feather flock together. Scabby Li's character was not much better either. He was lazy and gluttonous in the village, and he was also unreasonable and troublesome. What decent family would have been willing to marry their daughter to him when he was young? So he married the daughter of another family with an equally poor reputation. That woman was now Auntie Li Si.

Auntie Li Si did not disappoint. She was just as lazy and greedy, thick-skinned, and worst of all, light-fingered. She had taken things from practically every neighbor, and over time, she had become extremely unpopular in the village.

But she was thick-skinned and did not care in the slightest. Wherever there was excitement, she would squeeze her way in. Seeing Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei returning with their purchases, she rushed over at once.

"Oh my, you young educated youths really are rich. You bought quite a lot, didn't you?"

Auntie Li Si spoke with naked greed in her eyes, while her hands had already begun to wander.

Seeing the sour look on her face, Wang Xiaomei frowned deeply. How could she not know, after living in Kindwater Village for so long, that Auntie Li Si was a notorious sticky nuisance? Once she set her sights on someone, she would not stop until she had squeezed something out of them.

She was exceptionally unreasonable, and Wang Xiaomei did not want to bother with her. But Auntie Li Si was blocking their way, so they had no choice but to go around her.

Wang Xiaomei thought to herself that they were truly unlucky as they tried to circle around Auntie Li Si.