CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: AS WISHED

Xinyan looked at the two little ones with a smile: "Don’t worry, there’ll be fish for you. Earlier, when I delivered meals to the hospital, I heard someone in Upper River Village is selling quilts. Let’s go have a look, and if the price is right, we’ll buy one."

The two children, being little, were satisfied with the idea of having fish for dinner and stopped thinking about anything else.

Upper River Village is not far from here, and within twenty minutes, they found the intellectual’s gathering place.

Upon arrival, a group of people had just left, so Xinyan quickly walked inside. She saw a woman standing in the yard wearing a Lenin suit: "Hello, we’ve come to see the bedding."

She had noticed that the departing people weren’t carrying any quilts, hoping they hadn’t been sold yet.

The woman glanced at the three of them, Xinyan and the kids, and said with a cool demeanor: "Come in."

Xinyan led the two children into the room and immediately saw the bedding placed on the bed. The woman said, "That old quilt is already taken; someone will come by to pick it up later. There’s only the new one left, and it’s not for sale under twenty."

Xinyan didn’t respond immediately and mentally calculated how much she needed to make a quilt herself.

In the eyes of the people in the room, it looked like Xinyan found it too expensive, and the woman said, "The lining, quilt, and mattress materials are all new. We also paid for the labor. The quilt uses a full five pounds of cotton, and the mattress uses four pounds. Asking for twenty yuan isn’t asking for a penny more."

Xinyan knew they weren’t asking for more money, but she habitually asked, "How about eighteen?"

Xinyan didn’t have much hope, but she heard the woman sigh before she said, "Eighteen it is. If we weren’t leaving this afternoon, this price wouldn’t be possible."

Xinyan was momentarily stunned but quickly smiled and paid when she realized what the woman said. This price was indeed a bargain, as they hadn’t even considered the fabric and cotton tokens.

After selling fish for twenty-one yuan, buying the quilt left her with three yuan remaining.

Holding the bedding, Xinyan finally felt relieved.

The female intellectual inside watched Xinyan carrying the bedding outside and, for reasons unbeknownst, said: "Wait a moment."

Then, from a pile of items, she pulled out a used bedsheet: "Wrap it with this. It’s a shame if the bedding gets dirty when it hasn’t been used once."

Xinyan eyed the female intellectual: "Thank you."

With the old bedsheet wrapped around it, Xinyan no longer needed to hug it. Instead, she slung it over her back, noticing her strength increasing again, but having other matters to attend to, she didn’t dwell on it.

The three of them left Upper River Village and first went back home. It was indeed inconvenient to go fishing with the bedding, and she was uneasy letting the kids wait by Yuquan River, so they all went home together.

Fortunately, on the way home, they didn’t encounter many adults, but there were quite a few kids outside.

Some children saw them carrying fishing tools and gathered around: "Ye Silai, you went fishing—did you catch any?"

Ye Silai, being clever beyond his years, didn’t want to reveal his sister’s deal of exchanging fish for money, so he didn’t respond.

Seeing they wouldn’t respond, a child chimed in to help them out: "Yuquan River’s fish are hard to catch. Not only you, last time my dad and my Big Brother only caught three, and they weren’t big. Don’t be discouraged; when your uncle gets better, let him take you, and you’ll definitely catch some fish."