Chapter 19: The Argument Over Egg Cake
After leaving the alley, Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi barely suppressed the excitement in their hearts.
Yun Linhe thought for a moment and took out a Da Tuan Jie banknote to give to Yun Jiao.
“Jiaojiao, take this ten yuan, buy whatever you want, and the remaining money will be enough to build a house.”
Pearl was picked up by Yun Jiao, so no one would feel pained to give her ten yuan.
Yun Jiao didn’t stand on ceremony. With her two fair and soft little hands holding the money, she revealed a sweet smile.
“Canned food, canned food.”
She had been craving canned food for a long time.
“Hahaha, okay, let’s go buy canned food now.”
Yun Linhe carefully placed the remaining money in the innermost pocket of his clothes, close to his skin. This money could not be lost, as thieves were very active nowadays.
Then the two of them took Yun Jiao to the city’s largest department store.
Individual businesses were quietly emerging now, but people still preferred to shop at department stores because they had the most complete selection of goods.
The department store was filled with a dazzling array of various goods, and there were several types of canned food that Yun Jiao wanted.
There were meat cans and fruit cans. As this was near the sea, most of the meat cans were various kinds of fish cans, as well as shrimp paste cans, and of course, there were also pork cans.
“Comrade, which of these canned foods tastes the best?”
The salesclerk in the canned goods section enthusiastically introduced them, “Hello comrade, what kind of canned food are you looking for?”
“Meat, and some fruit cans too.”
“Our best-selling meat cans are this braised pork can and this shrimp paste can, and this Dou Gu Yu brand canned fermented bean curd fish. For fruit cans, the best-selling ones are this canned yellow peach in syrup and this canned pineapple in syrup is also good…”
Yun Linhe didn’t give much thought to fish or shrimp paste, mainly because they lived by the sea and were tired of eating fish.
“Comrade, please get us that braised pork can and the yellow peach can.”
The braised pork can cost two yuan and fifty cents, and the canned yellow peach in syrup cost one yuan and eighty cents.
Just these two cans alone used up over four yuan.
Yun Linhe felt a pang just looking at it.
How could their family afford this?
Both cans were held by the greedy Yun Jiao.
The little one opened her mouth and took a bite off the lid of the can.
Yun Linhe & Yun Chenxi: …
They were used to it, used to it.
They smiled awkwardly and left with Yun Jiao.
“Jiaojiao, this canned food has to be opened to eat. Let’s buy other things first and eat it after we go out.”
Yun Jiao released her mouth: “Oh.”
Held by her second brother, her big eyes rolled around: “That, egg cake.”
“I want White Rabbit milk candy.”
“Fruit leather, and soda, two, no, three bottles, biscuits.”
Finally, they stopped at the toy section. Yun Jiao squatted on the ground looking at toy pistols and slingshots.
“Toys, buy them for my brothers.”
Yun Linhe gave a bitter smile: “Jiaojiao, we don’t have enough money. Buying just one toy pistol and one slingshot won’t do; they’ll fight over them.”
Yun Jiao furrowed her little brows, her gaze swept around and then fell on a tin box filled with a dazzling array of beautiful glass marbles.
They were round like pearls and came in various colors.
She remembered that Yun Zhuangzhuang, Cai Jinhua’s precious son, had a few marbles in his hand, and when he took them to the village, all the children in the village were extremely envious, and her brothers were envious too.
But they only watched and didn’t play with Yun Zhuangzhuang because that fatty, like his sister, had snatched her candy before.
Although she had slapped him and bitten his hand at the time, Cai Jinhua later brought her crying son to their house to make a scene.
Of course, they were also beaten and thrown out by the fierce Aunt and the protective Mother Yun and Granny Yun.
The little one was suddenly filled with heroic spirit. If others had it, her brothers should have it too, and there was no need to envy anyone else!
“This one.”
She pointed at the marbles.
The marbles weren’t expensive; you could get five for a jiao.
“Big brother, second brother, do you want some?”
Yun Chenxi’s heart felt warm. Children her age usually only thought about eating or playing for themselves.
Although their Jiaojiao also liked to eat, she always thought of her family.
“My eldest brother and I don’t play with these, nor does your third or fourth brother. You buy them for Xiaowu and the others.”
They used to envy the toys in other children’s hands, but they were past the age for playing with such things now.
Yun Chenxi couldn’t help but envy Yun Xiaowu and the others.
Having such a sister was truly wonderful.
Yun Jiao bought two jiao worth of marbles for each of her fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth brothers, carefully selecting the prettiest and most colorful ones she found.
By this point, her ten yuan was almost used up.
The three of them left the department store with a bountiful harvest.
On the way back, they still took the public bus. This time, Yun Linhe sat by the window, and Yun Chenxi sat on the outside, mainly to protect the money.
Yun Jiao, however, sat in her uncle’s arms, holding the fragrant and soft egg cake and nibbling on it bit by bit.
She was afraid that if she ate it too quickly, it would be gone.
The egg cake in her hand made a little boy in the opposite row of seats extremely envious.
“Grandma, I want egg cake too.”
The little boy began to pester his grandmother.
The old woman holding the boy turned and saw Yun Jiao eating the egg cake.
Yun Jiao wrinkled her nose and turned her back to them.
The little boy wailed, flailing his arms and legs: “Grandma, I want egg cake, I don’t care, I want egg cake!”
The noise was so loud it hurt the ears of everyone on the bus.
“Two young men, look at my grandson’s fuss. He’s still young, and this egg cake…”
“No.”
Yun Jiao directly hugged all the egg cakes to herself.
The old woman’s face immediately turned displeased: “An adult hasn’t even spoken yet, what is a child like you doing interrupting?”
Yun Linhe smiled, protective: “This Grandma, the egg cake belongs to our girl, and it’s not even enough for her to eat a few times.”
The old woman: “Don’t be so stingy, big man. Aren’t there still so many left?”
Those words were truly unpleasant. If she gave it to them, then they wouldn’t be stingy?
Yun Chenxi directly rolled his eyes.
Yun Linhe: “There aren’t many. We have a large family, and this isn’t enough to share when we get back.”
Hearing this, the old woman’s face fell, and she directly told her grandson.
“Grandma doesn’t have any egg cake. Go cry to someone who does.”
Upon hearing this, the little boy actually ran over to where Yun Linhe and the others were and started to make a scene.
“Egg cake, I want egg cake, I want egg cake…”
Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi’s faces immediately turned ugly. This was too shameless.
Some people on the bus couldn’t stand it anymore: “Old woman, why are you like this? Control your grandson.”
Who nowadays was willing to share their food with others? That egg cake wasn’t cheap.
The old person glared: “What’s it to you? If he wants egg cake, if any of you had one, he’d quiet down.”
“How do you teach your child? An egg cake costs two cents. Why don’t you buy one yourself?”
The old woman argued with several people on one side, while on the other, Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi, two adults, couldn’t do anything about one child.
Yun Jiao yelled fiercely: “Shut up, or I’ll eat you if you keep making noise!”
Her eyes stared fixedly at him, carrying the ruthlessness she used when hunting prey in her previous life.
