The clothes she was wearing were brought from her hometown, never worn in the mechanical factory, just a little cleverness reserved for the black market. If anything went wrong, she would play dumb.
After buying cloth, she passed by a candy counter and saw they sold White Rabbit milk candy, but with money and no sugar coupons, she could only look.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard the salesperson inside say, "My daughter-in-law has been having severe pregnancy cravings, wants to eat fruit, but at this time, where can I get it for her? It’s really worrying."
Yu Xinyan stopped in her tracks; although the apple trees, pear trees, and jujube trees she planted in her space had not borne fruit yet, the mulberry and apricot trees she collected at the foot of the factory mountain had.
Yu Xinyan’s eyes turned; she had an idea.
She found a place and used her thoughts to pick some fresh apricots, packed them in a cloth bag she had prepared in her space, not much, just over a pound.
She briefly thought about what to say, then returned to the candy counter.
When she entered, it happened to be the same salesperson who had talked earlier in the counter, she greeted with a smile, "Hello, sister."
The salesperson thought she wanted to buy candy, "Which type, how much?"
Yu Xinyan glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention and whispered, "Sister, I just heard you saying your daughter-in-law is pregnant and wants some fruit, I have some apricots picked from the mountains, do you want any?"
The saleswoman was surprised and delighted to hear these words. She looked excitedly into the bag Yu Xinyan had packed.
Lowering her voice, she asked, "Miss, how do you sell these apricots?"
Yu Xinyan tied the bag and glanced around discreetly, "Sister, here’s the thing, I wanted to buy some candy to cheer up the kid, but I don’t have any sugar coupons."
As soon as she finished speaking, the saleswoman understood, "I thought it was something serious, I happen to have some sugar coupons, I’ll share them with you."
They laughed and chatted for a while, instantly getting closer. Yu Xinyan didn’t ask for much, just a pound of fruit candy and a pound of White Rabbit milk candy: "Sister, I’ll come back for the cloth bag next time."
The woman saw her thoughtfulness and nodded with a smile, "Alright, you’re a straightforward person, come find me if you need anything next time."
Actually, her son was several years older than this girl, but she liked being called sister, making her feel young, so she didn’t correct her.
Yu Xinyan got what she wanted and quickly left.
On her way to the agreed delivery place, she saw an old man sitting against the wall with a child, "Gousheng, it’s all my fault, I can’t gather enough money for Grandma’s medicine."
The child had a somewhat dirty face, but his eyes were bright, "Grandpa, let’s try setting up a stall at the townmarket tomorrow, maybe someone will want our things."
The old man wiped his face and sighed, "It’s unlikely, the things from the mountains aren’t worth much, even if we sell them all, it won’t be enough."
These words were clearly heard by Yu Xinyan, upon closer inspection of the old man, she realized it was none other than the old gentleman who had sold her jujube seedlings in the town market. Her footsteps instinctively turned the corner, "Grandpa, why are you in the city today?"
The old man glanced at Yu Xinyan, feeling puzzled, thinking: Won’t this be a swindler? I don’t recognize her, so why is she greeting me?
He instinctively pulled his grandson closer: Could it be that she had been eyeing their Gousheng?