CHAPTER 658: CHAPTER 633: THE CARELESS RELATIVE.

Baozi and Tang Yuan pulled Bai Yiyi out of the door.

"Auntie, let’s go buy something delicious."

Tang Yuan glanced at the four tails hiding behind the door.

Bai Yiyi was curious, "What do you want to eat? There’s nothing good here, the canned bread you want isn’t available here."

Though Tang Yuan loves to eat, he would never ask for things randomly.

Tang Yuan pouted.

"Sister! I want candy!"

"Xiao Lan, don’t make trouble. That’s a city kid, part of our family. Be careful; if Dad finds out you’re craving sweets again, he’ll scold you."

"Don’t blame her. Even I started drooling over that milk candy."

"We only get a piece of fruit candy at New Year’s. How come Yiyi can live a good life in the city?"

"Stop saying that. Yiyi isn’t having it easy either. Her parents don’t want her. If someone offered you milk candy, would you abandon Mom and Dad?"

"No, I won’t want milk candy then."

"Good girl, Xiao Lan. We need to have backbone."

Tang Yuan vividly mimicked the four siblings’ conversation, making Bai Yiyi feel a twinge of sadness.

That’s right.

She is the child whom both parents don’t want.

If it weren’t for Jiang Xiaoxiao, she might be just like her sister and brother now.

"Let’s go, let’s head to the small shop."

Baozi curled his lips. Were they more pitiable than him?

Should he pity himself?

Forget it.

These are Bai Yiyi’s family, so he shouldn’t be too harsh.

Mom said, little auntie is family too.

Little auntie and he were both pitiful.

"Guoqing, lead the way for us. Tang Yuan wants to buy something to eat. He’s hungry."

None of them knew the way.

Bai Yiyi called out.

Guoqing emerged from behind the wall with a troubled face, "Yiyi, how about waiting a bit? My mom said we’re having dumplings for lunch, so let’s not spend money recklessly. The small shop doesn’t have anything good."

He wanted to say he didn’t want to spend money.

The family was lacking money.

He didn’t want his brothers and sisters to drop out of school.

Tang Yuan put on a stern face, "No! I want to go!"

Baozi pinched Tang Yuan’s nose. This kid was great at acting.

Even better than him.

"Auntie, we want to go."

Firmly playing the role of a spoiled little chubby boy.

"Guoqing, take us to have a look."

Bai Yiyi rolled her eyes. These two were starting to deliberately act like spoiled brats now.

Bai Guoqing had no choice, "Wait a moment, I’ll be right back."

He dashed over to tell Cui Fen.

Cui Fen was kneading dough. Even though she was troubled, she took out two one-yuan bills from her pocket.

That was already a lot.

Bai Guoqing took it with a heartache.

He tucked it into his pocket.

Then led Bai Yiyi and the others to the small shop.

The village’s small shop really didn’t have anything good.

Bai Guoqing painfully watched Tang Yuan take a full two pounds of glutinous rice sticks, two pounds of sugar, two packets of fruit candy, and a large pack of pastries.

He didn’t know how much these things would cost, but had a feeling the two yuan in his pocket probably wouldn’t be enough. He might even have to negotiate with Uncle Wang at the shop to put it on credit.

Wait until his parents could bring the remaining money over.

Uncle Wang cheerfully placed the weighed items one by one on the counter.

"Guoqing, who’s this relative of yours? Looks like a city kid, not thrifty at all buying things."

Bai Guoqing’s face burned with embarrassment. Villagers were always frugal; no one would spend like this.

Occasionally, when visiting relatives, they might buy something from the small shop. On normal days, they would only buy essentials like cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

"She’s my uncle’s daughter, back from the Capital City."

He didn’t know what else to say.

Uncle Wang immediately showed a knowing expression.

He shook his head, feeling a bit sorry for Bai Jiefang and his wife.

Earning money wasn’t easy for them, and yet they entertained city relatives so generously. Once these relatives left, their lives would probably get even harder.

With everything bought, Bai Guoqing asked,

"Uncle Wang, how much is it in total?"

He was calculating in his head, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure it out. He had never bought these pastries and rice sticks before.

"It’s 3 yuan and 8 jiao in total."

Bai Guoqing no longer felt any heartache; he prepared to take out the two yuan from his pocket.

As expected, city kids bought things without calculating. They didn’t even know if they could finish all this stuff.

What a waste if they couldn’t eat it all.

Thinking about this, he couldn’t help but shake his head, knowing they would probably finish it.

Couldn’t they see those two little chubbies?

From their size, they surely ate plenty of good food. Otherwise, how could they be so plump?

Just look around the village and see if any household was able to nurture such round kids. Even the village chief’s son wasn’t this chubby.

Before Bai Guoqing could take out the money, a voice interrupted.

"Don’t settle up yet! Give me two bottles of baijiu. What’s the best liquor you have here?"

Jiang Lei came in.

Bai Guoqing almost fainted.

They wanted liquor too!

And the best liquor. He remembered the best bottle in the small shop cost ten yuan.

When his father saw the village chief’s family buy that liquor, he came back enviously and told his mother. He said if someday he could drink his fill of the best liquor, his life would be complete.

Those two bottles of liquor cost 20 yuan, plus the 3 yuan and 8 jiao... oh my.

This much in a single day!

His parents could only make a few dozen yuan in a year, and this was spending their whole year’s income.

Bai Guoqing was so anxious, tears almost came out.

The 15-year-old boy was on the verge of crying, but he also knew that these were guests from the city. No matter what, he should treat them well. The problem was, his family simply didn’t have that much money.

Uncle Wang paused, his face clouded over. People in the village were straightforward. They’d never encountered visiting relatives who behaved like this.

They felt like this was taking advantage, and they were from the city?

Looked well-dressed but acted without consideration while visiting others.

Asking for the best liquor, wasn’t this just bullying?

He placed the two bottles heavily on the counter.

"We don’t have any good liquor around here, just this homebrew."

Bai Guoqing gratefully nodded at Uncle Wang. He knew this so-called homebrew wasn’t the most expensive liquor.

He had seen what the village chief’s most expensive liquor looked like.

This homebrew was just what ordinary people in the village drank, about 80 cents per bottle.

Jiang Lei laughed, "Uncle, don’t fool me. I saw it there, isn’t that a bottle of Wuliangye? I know Wuliangye. It’s over 20 yuan, right? Give me two bottles of that."

Jiang Lei was sharp-eyed. How could he not recognize good liquor?

When his uncle used to work at the department store, he would often hang around there, so he knew what was good stuff.

It was surprising to find Wuliangye hidden in this small place, clearly a treasure of the shop.

Probably, no one usually bought it; it was just there for show.

If they had come prepared, they would have brought Maotai from home.

His uncle would bring a whole crate each time he visited.

As his uncle put it, since we’re drinking, we might as well drink something good, not to damage the body.