Chapter 156: Favor
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
While Jiang Xia was weighing the pros and cons, a young man in the crowd suddenly said, “How about this, I’ll give you five yuan, and you give me the vegetables and the basket, okay?
Oh, this was exactly what Jiang Xia wanted.
Not only did this cover the cost of her bus ticket, but she could also exchange it for some meat tickets, a far more attractive offer than what the ticket seller had proposed.
The ticket seller fell silent instantly, but Jiang Xia didn’t think she would give up so easily.
“Heh, there’s a national regulation now, no private transactions allowed. My exchange of grain tickets for these goods is barter. If you buy with money, that’s breaking the law!”
Just as Jiang Xia had expected.
The young man’s face turned red when he heard the ticket seller’s words.
His family had been farmers all their lives and had never done anything bad. How could he be framed like this just because he wanted to trade for some wild vegetables?
In his frustration, he pulled a cloth bag from his pocket and unfolded it in front of Jiang Xia, “Here are two pounds of melon seeds. 1 was planning to bring them home as seeds. Could you please trade them for your wild vegetables?”
Melon seeds?
Jiang Xia hadn’t encountered these before.
These were quite rare. They were difficult to grow and prepare, plus they were not filling and took up space.
However, Jiang Xia knew that Zhou Lan loved them, and Jiang Gu probably had never seen them before. She could bring them back to her interspace and plant some for Jiang Gu to taste.
Jiang Xia didn’t reject him immediately. Instead, she took the seeds and looked at Jiang Chuan.
The moment Jiang Chuan saw the melon seeds, he thought of Zhou Lan. He was naturally inclined to take the seeds to pamper his wife.
But to exchange two pounds of melon seeds for a basket of wild vegetables was quite a deal.
“We can do that, but there’s a shortage of vegetables this year, let alone wild ones. The wild vegetables all over the mountain have been eaten up. We got these with great difficulty,” Jiang Chuan said reluctantly.
The young man was understanding and said to Jiang Chuan in a frustrated tone, “So, what should we do?”
Jiang Chuan pondered for a while, then glanced at the ticket seller and the old lady, “Getting two pounds of melon seeds isn’t easy for you either. How about this, you take a handful of these wild vegetables, and we’ll share the rest with the elder lady and the ticket seller.”
The elder lady had stood up for Jiang Xia when she was being scolded. It wouldn’t be right to forget her good intentions. Besides, Jiang Chuan thought, why not win some favor by doing a good deed? Maybe the elder lady would even be secretly pleased.
Before the young man could respond, the elder lady was overjoyed. She hadn’t expected to have a share in this. Afraid that Jiang Xia and her father might change their minds, she quickly took out a three-foot cloth ticket and stuffed it into Jiang Xia’s hand, “Yes, yes, take this cloth ticket. Let’s distribute the vegetables as you said.”
Seeing that the father-daughter duo was still wearing patched clothes, the elder lady thought that her three-foot cloth ticket could at least be used to make some clothes for the young girl.
Seeing the elder lady’s enthusiasm, Jiang Xia couldn’t maintain her cold face anymore. She then put on her usual smile and asked the elder lady, “Elder lady, should 1 pack the wild vegetables for you or for this young man first?”
“We agreed that the young man will take first, didn’t we? 1 shouldn’t take advantage!” The elder lady said reasonably.
Since the elder lady had spoken up, the ticket seller didn’t dare to be the one to go against the flow. However, she just kept her eyes on Jiang Xia as she packed the vegetables for the young man, afraid that she would give him even one more wild vegetable.
However, no matter how fair Jiang Xia was, the ticket seller still wanted to nitpick. “Alright, alright, you said you would grab a little, but how much have you packed for him? Hasn’t it exceeded two pounds already? I’m exchanging these with grain tickets, you’re grabbing too much, and I’m at a loss here!”
Jiang Xia was not used to indulging her, and responded directly, “1 have my own measure, I’m not being greedy with yours, I assure you it’s enough.”
Seeing Jiang Xia’s serious expression, the ticket seller felt a bit deflated.
Forget it, getting the wild vegetables first was the priority.
After packing the vegetables for the young man, Jiang Xia then gave the remaining half basket of wild vegetables to the ticket seller and the elder lady.
Knowing that her three-foot cloth ticket wasn’t worth much, the old lady let the ticket seller pack first..