Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 281

The older woman started rambling on, and the staff member listened patiently. The more he listened, the more he thought Zhao Da'e was amazing. He would definitely praise Zhao Da'e to his superiors and try to get her more rewards, preferably more cash.

the other side

Zhao Da'e led Cheng Jinxiao to the first few carriages, and stopped when no one followed. Cheng Jinxiao was puzzled by Zhao Da'e's behavior. "Da'e, why didn't you tell us your name and address? It's such a good thing that you did a good deed. People will definitely give you gifts or cash or something. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Moreover, several boxed meals we bought were kicked over. These could have been sold for ten or so yuan, but now they're gone with a snap, and we've lost several yuan."

Zhao Da'e shook her head helplessly and said, "Auntie, we've earned enough on the train these past two days, so it's not like we're short of a dollar or two. Besides, I didn't ask for any reward for saving him. I didn't really help him much; I just gave him some nitroglycerin. I don't even know whose family this old man is. Helping him won't hurt. If my mother runs into trouble outside, I'll be happy to have someone to help her."

Moreover, Zhao Da'e was reborn, so doing good deeds was considered accumulating merit. Within her capabilities, she saved a family, and she felt that she was amazing. She didn't care about rewards or anything like that. In this era, she had several thousand yuan, which was considered a small fortune, and she didn't lack those rewards.

Besides, if this matter is exposed and attracts other people's attention, it will be inconvenient for people to pay attention to everything I do in the future.

Seeing that Zhao Da'e was like this, Cheng Jinxiao had no choice but to say, "Alright, alright, Auntie knows you have your own opinions, but there's a premise that you must pay attention to safety. There were so many people just now, it wouldn't be good if you bumped or fell."

Zhao Da'e nodded obediently. She knew that her aunt was thinking of her, and besides, there were a lot of people there just now.

"We'll be off the train in half a day. We won't be selling boxed meals for a while. We'll just take a good rest. We've earned at least a few hundred yuan in the last two days, which is equivalent to a normal person's monthly salary. I'm already very content that you've helped me earn money."

Cheng Jinxiao never imagined that one day she would be making money behind a junior. She also believed that Zhao Da'e would definitely do very well in the future. With her daring and decisive nature, as well as her sweet talk, she would be successful wherever she went.

After returning and meeting with Zhou Tianfu, everyone took out the money they had earned and divided it equally. The money they had earned in the past two days, when divided equally, was about a hundred yuan per person. This was the amount earned in just two days.

Cheng Jinxiao dared not imagine how much money she could earn in a month if she sold boxed meals on the train every day.

Zhou Tianfu thought the same way. He even considered giving up farm work and selling boxed meals on the train instead. At his current earning rate, he could earn enough to get married in a few months.

Zhao Da'e saw through their thoughts, so she said from the side, "Auntie, cousin, I know what you're thinking today, but selling boxed meals on the train won't last long. Like the boxed meals we sold today, the train vendors learned how to sell them and sold quite a few too. Once the train vendors learn how to sell boxed meals and they have the resources, if we sell boxed meals on the train again, the train vendors definitely won't give us boxed meals to sell anymore, and they'll let us steal their business."

When Zhou Tianfu heard Zhao Dage say that the business would fall through, he immediately retorted, "If they won't give us boxed lunches to sell, then so be it. We can just make our own boxed lunches at home and then bring them on the train to sell. We can still make money that way."

Hearing this, Zhao Da'e sighed. She knew that Zhou Tianfu was in a hurry to make money, but this approach would only hinder his success. Zhao Da'e could only slowly analyze the pros and cons, as well as the future development.

"Big cousin, let me explain this to you. It's possible to make boxed lunches at home and sell them on the train for a short period of time, but the costs are huge. There's the cost of cooking the food, the cost of traveling back and forth between home and the train, the train tickets you need to buy, and most importantly, if your boxed lunch business on the train is good, the train station won't stand for it and might kick you out. The boxed lunch business at the train station isn't very good to begin with, and now you have another competitor. Besides, we're just passengers, and it's not legitimate for us to sell things on the train. Being kicked out is inevitable sooner or later."

Trains have a large passenger flow, so there's money to be made selling anything. If someone buys something on board and makes a sale occasionally in a few carriages, the train station might turn a blind eye. But if this happens frequently and they're competing with the train vendors for business, it raises concerns about their interests, and they'll be kicked out sooner or later.

After listening to Zhao Da'e's analysis, Zhou Tianfu sighed. He admitted that Zhao Da'e made a lot of sense. It seemed that doing business was not an easy thing. He would encounter so many setbacks and many competitors.

He didn't have Zhao D'e's long-term vision, nor did he know what to do now. Zhou Tianfu could only sigh repeatedly, "Anyway, nothing is easy to do right now. Getting married and living together will cost a lot of money. And if we have children later, it will cost even more money."

But where will the money come from? This is worrying.

Cheng Jinxiao had also heard about the blind date arranged for Zhou Tianfu. A girl had taken a liking to Zhou Tianfu, but the bride price was several thousand yuan, which Zhou Tianfu could not afford.

Cheng Jinxiao comforted him, "It's alright, Tianfu, things will work themselves out."

Zhou Tianfu was listless. "Auntie, you make it sound so simple, but I don't see any hope unless..."

Zhou Tianfu paused, his gaze falling on Cheng Jinxiao's neck, and then stopped talking.

He really was Cheng Jinxiao wearing a gold necklace, which he got from Li Jin. If he sold it, it might fetch several thousand yuan. He could keep those several thousand yuan for himself and then borrow some more from others, which might be enough to cover the bride price.

Zhou Tianfu found the idea increasingly feasible.

Cheng Jinxiao sensed Zhou Tianfu's intention. She awkwardly touched her neck. Although Zhou Tianfu was her nephew, she was unwilling to give him the gold necklace. This gold necklace was her security, how could she lend it to someone else so easily?

Zhou Tianfu didn't speak up, and Cheng Jinxiao didn't point it out either, making the atmosphere a little awkward for a moment.

Zhao Da'e couldn't stand it anymore, so she stepped in and said, "Don't worry, cousin, I'll make sure you get married. When the time comes, we'll figure out any method."

No one would let their son be unable to get married just because they're short of money; that's beyond question. Even if Zhou Yuren had to borrow money from door to door, he could still get his son married.

Zhao Da'e spoke with absolute certainty, and given the current profitability of the water-selling business—around three thousand yuan a month—he could raise five thousand yuan in two months. He added that if Zhou Yuren was truly short of money, he could lend him some.

But Zhou Tianfu clearly took Zhao D'e's words as a joke. They didn't have much money and had to borrow more. The problem was, they had to pay it back…

Zhou Tianfu was still somewhat touched. As expected of his little cousin whom he had watched grow up, it was truly rare for her to have the heart to help.

Compared to his aunt Cheng Jinxiao, who was clearly capable and whom he had hinted at so obviously, Zhou Tianfu felt somewhat dissatisfied that she hadn't mentioned it at all, even though he had gone to such lengths to pick her up.

In just a short while, the atmosphere between the three people, who were initially happy about making so much money in the past two days, suddenly became awkward.

Zhao Da'e felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Half a day had passed, and the three of them quickly got off the bus.

Then we took a minibus to the town, where we had arranged for my uncle from the village to come over.

After Zhao Da'e and the other two got off the bus, Cheng Rongguo had already been waiting outside the station for a long time.

When Cheng Jinxiao saw her older brother arrive, her nose suddenly stung with tears. She hadn't seen him for five years and really missed her family here. Compared to five years ago, her older brother looked more weathered. As the saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father, and her older brother had always doted on her like a daughter since she was a child.

Overwhelmed by the longing of the past five years, Cheng Jinxiao's eyes reddened, and she wiped away her tears, saying, "Big brother, it's been so long."

When Cheng Rongguo saw his younger sister, he was excited, but he felt more heartache. Before she got married, his younger sister was a vibrant and energetic girl. Five years later, she looked much more haggard.

Time really can change a lot.

"Jinxiao, come here quickly, your big brother will take you home."

The words "I'll take you home" brought tears to Cheng Jinxiao's eyes instantly. Home—she could finally return to the home she had always longed for. She had been so foolish to marry such an unworthy man and move so far away, only to end up with a failed marriage and not seeing her family for five years.

Zhao Da'e tugged at Cheng Jinxiao's hand and said helplessly, "Auntie, let's get in the car quickly, we need to get home for dinner before dark."

Cheng Rongguo arrived on a tricycle, with enough space in the back to carry three people and their luggage.

Cheng Jinxiao wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and murmured, "Yes, I have to hurry home. Mom is waiting for me to have dinner at home."

The three of them got into the car. Cheng Rongguo was filled with excitement, and even the strength to pedal the triangular wheel seemed to increase. He said excitedly, "Let's go, Jinxiao, your big brother will take you home for dinner."

Along the way, Cheng Rongguo would also ask Cheng Jinxiao some questions.

For example, whether she has eaten well and lived well in the past five years, and who has bullied her in her husband's family.

Cheng Jinxiao was not one to keep things bottled up; she choked back tears as she recounted her grievances over the years to Cheng Rongguo.

After learning that Li Jin was a womanizer who spent his days indulging in debauchery and that he looked down on his younger sister for not being able to have children, he verbally abused her as a barren hen. During their divorce, Li Jin made his younger sister leave with nothing.

The more Cheng Rongguo listened, the more he felt that Li Jin was a real scoundrel. He couldn't help but curse, "It's good that we're far away. If we were closer, I would have picked up a shovel and beaten him half to death for bullying my sister! He got off too easy. If he were in my hands, I would never let him get away with it!"

After saying this, Cheng Rongguo felt a pang of guilt. When Cheng Jinxiao wrote to her family earlier saying she wanted a divorce, he had thought that Cheng Jinxiao should be patient and that there weren't enough rooms in the house to go around, so he told Cheng Jinxiao not to come back.

But even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. It was her own younger sister, and Cheng Rongguo couldn't just leave her to fend for herself. She decided to take it one step at a time, or find a good family for her younger sister to marry into later, preferably from her own village or the next village, so that she could feel at ease.

Soon, Cheng Rongguo brought the three of them to the Cheng family home, where a dining table had already been set up to wait for Zhao Da'e and the others to return. Cheng Jinxi and Cheng Jinxiang were also there, and even Zhou Yuren came to help.

When Zhou Chunwen saw Cheng Rongguo riding back on his bicycle at the door, he immediately turned around and greeted the people inside, "Uncle and the others are back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, many people poured out of the room, including Zhu Yufeng, Cheng Jinxi, Cheng Jinxiang, Zhou Yuren, and Zhou Chunhong.

Zhou Chunhong, who was at the very front, exclaimed curiously, "Where is it? Where is it? Let me see!"

It's getting a bit dark now, and it's hard to see clearly ahead.

Zhou Chunwen pointed forward helplessly, "See that? It's right there. A figure is emerging from the corner of that alley. It's my uncle riding back on his tricycle."

Zhou Chunhong saw it too, guided by Zhou Chunwen, as did Cheng Jinxi and the others.

Cheng Jinxiang was overjoyed. She exclaimed, "That's wonderful! They're back!"

Cheng Jinxi also excitedly grasped Cheng Jinxiang's hand, "Jinxiao is back too."

The journey from the town to the village took about half an hour. Cheng Rongguo carried three people on his back. The mountain road was quite bumpy, and Cheng Rongguo was almost out of energy by the end, panting heavily. It was Zhao Da'e who cheered him on from the side. Cheng Rongguo held his breath and finally rode to the Cheng family home.

Upon seeing so many people standing at the Cheng family's door, Cheng Jinxiao was moved and wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes. She excitedly called out, "Sister-in-law, eldest sister, second sister!"

As she spoke, Cheng Jinxiao ran towards the space between Cheng Jinxiang and Cheng Jinxi.

Cheng Jinxi exclaimed excitedly, "Jinxiao, it's been five years! You're finally back!"

Cheng Jinxiang's eyes also reddened. "You haven't been home once in the past five years. Do you know how much your mother misses you?"

Cheng Jinxiao's nose tingled, and her eyes reddened again. Hearing Cheng Jinxiang say this, she felt guilty. "I'm sorry, Second Sister. It's my fault. I misjudged you..."

Seeing that Cheng Jinxiao seemed about to cry, Zhu Yufeng quickly stepped forward and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Jinxiao has finally come back, she should be happy today, so let's not mention any unpleasant people or things."

Cheng Jinxi agreed with Zhu Yufeng, saying, "Sister-in-law is right. We should be happy today, so let's not talk about those annoying people and things."

Cheng Jinxiao wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded sadly.

Looking at Cheng Jinxiao, Zhu Yufeng noticed that he looked much more haggard than he had five years ago, clearly having suffered a lot.