Chapter 25: Love at First Sight

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Bai Xue had 13 feet of cloth stamps in her hands, and she could buy cloth that did not need stamps. She was extremely happy.

Soon, the cloth seller brought over the flawed black cotton cloth.

“Here you go! I only have 10 feet left, but I can sell you a little!”

“Can you sell everything to me?” Bai Xue immediately asked with a smile.

“This was reserved for someone else! I can’t go back on my word… Besides, you can just sew the cloth bag with burlap. This cotton cloth is used to make clothes!”

“It’s almost the new year and this meat is in high demand! Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?” Bai Xue tempted the lady.

“Then… can you get more pork? I prefer something fatter!” The lady’s eyes lit up as she asked.

“Alright! Three catties of pork belly! I’ll send it to you the day after tomorrow! I have to charge you based on the black market price! I can’t get it at a normal price!” Bai Xue said.

“I know! In that case, you can have all the cotton fabric! Here you go! Oh right. This is good cotton fabric, so don’t put it to waste. Although it’s a little flawed, it’s still cotton! If you want to sew a bag, I still have burlap here. Hmm… I can sell it to you without a stamp too! Remember not to forget me when you have good stuff!”

“Thank you! I won’t forget you if I have anything good to sell in the future!” Bai Xue was overjoyed! She naturally accepted the lady’s kind offer!

“Just call me Sister Wu! If you can sell me something good, I’m happy to save you any fabric that doesn’t need stamps in the future!” The two of them happily established a mutually beneficial friendship.

Bai Xue bought the burlap bags and 10 feet of cotton cloth. She also bought 10 feet of coarse linen and needle and thread. Although she did not know how to make clothes, Wang Cuihua could teach her how to do it.

She put all the stuff she was buying into one burlap bag and placed the remaining nine burlap bags on top. After leaving the place, she would put everything into the interspatial supermarket.

She paid for the fabric after leaving the fabric stockroom. The 10-foot defective cloth cost a total of $8. The 10-foot burlap cloth cost $4, plus the sack and needle, and thread.

This piece had cost her $14. In addition to the $75 she had earned from her first transaction with Chef Wang, she still had over $240 left.

She took out milk powder stamps and went to the milk powder counter to buy two cans of milk powder.

A can of milk powder cost $3.50 and was packed in two catty cans. Since there was a milk powder factory in Pingyang Town, as long as people had milk powder stamps, people could buy them.

After buying her things, she left the supplies cooperative and prepared to go home.

When she passed by the hospital, she still went to the alley with a dead end in front.

Her burlap sack was bulging when she walked out of the alley.

She took out seven fried twisted dough sticks from the interspatial supermarket. One for each of her family members.

There was also a cabbage, a handful of vermicelli, a catty of pork, and 20 large white steamed buns.

She only had steamed buns in the supermarket and no meat buns. If she had known that she would end up here, she would have definitely sold meat buns in the supermarket. In that case, she would have easy access to them.

She planned to make vermicelli with stewed pork and cabbage tonight, together with white steamed buns.

Her siblings could eat to their hearts’ content again.

“Little girl?” Bai Xue was struggling to walk with a big sack on her back when a male voice came from behind.

Caught off guard, she turned around and her mouth formed an O shape.

The boy rode over from behind on an old-fashioned bicycle. The guy looked just like her favorite character from a web novel.

When she turned around, her heart almost stopped beating. She had almost forgotten what year it was today. She thought that she had met her idol.

She looked at the young man in front of her in a daze.

“Little lass? Did I scare you? Why are you in a daze?” Zhang Yuan got off the bicycle and waved his hand in front of Bai Xue as he asked.

Only then did Bai Xue come back to her senses. Upon closer inspection, there was still a slight difference. It was just that they looked a little similar, but their temperaments and voices were different.

“Comrade, who are you? Why are you looking for me?” Bai Xue calmed down and found her voice.

“Have you forgotten your savior so quickly?” Zhang Yuan looked at the little girl in front of him teasingly.

He clearly saw this little girl staring at him in a daze just now, looking like she wanted to eat him.

This time, she pretended not to know her.

“Err… Are you Brother Zhang from the Educated Youth Section?” Bai Xue finally understood the meaning behind Zhang Yuan’s words and asked dumbly.

Bai Rushan told her about this the day she regained consciousness. He said that the person who saved her was Brother Zhang from the Educated Youth Section.

“Why are you here alone? Did you walk over?” Zhang Yuan asked Bai Xue instead of answering her question.

“Yes!” Bai Xue rolled her eyes in her heart. How else could she have come over? Did she look like she could fly? She was not like him and did not own a brand-new bicycle.

“If you don’t mind, shall I give you a ride back?” Zhang Yuan smiled and asked.

Bai Xue realized that this young man liked to smile. When he smiled, he looked especially sunny. He looked even more like her favorite web novel character. She could not help feeling dazzled by him.

“I have a lot of things… Are you sure?” Bai Xue pointed at the big sack she had just put down.

“It’s alright. Put the things on the front crossbar. You sit at the back! Hurry up and get on!” Zhang Yuan nimbly propped up the bicycle. He effortlessly lifted Bai Xue’s things and placed them on the front crossbar of the bicycle, asking her to get on.

Bai Xue did not stand on the ceremony. After Zhang Yuan placed the items on the front bar, she also sat in the back seat.

“Sit tight!” Zhang Yuan said before cycling.

Bai Xue realized that it was better to walk back on a bicycle on such a cold day. Fortunately, she was wearing a pair of winter shoes, warm pants, and a warm sweater.

Zhang Yuan was wearing a military green cloak. He had lowered both the flaps on each side of his winter hat as he rode his bicycle. He did not look cold at all.

“Brother Zhang, thank you for saving me last time! What’s your name?” Bai Xue sat in the back seat and looked at the snow-covered scenery on both sides.

The cold wind poured into her mouth, making her cough.

“My name is Zhang Yuan! I already know your name. You’re Bai Ruxue, right?” Zhang Yuan’s personality was especially cheerful, unlike the boys of this era who would blush easily when talking to girls.

“Yeah! How did you know my name?” Bai Xue asked.

Zhang Yuan’s face heated up slightly. He paused for a moment before saying, “We’re in the same battalion and work together. It’s no surprise for me to know, right?”

“But I didn’t know your name though!” Bai Xue whispered.

“Comrade Bai Ruxue, what are you doing at Pingyang Town?” Zhang Yuan disregarded Bai Xue’s muttering and tried to make small talk.

“I came to buy stuff! Didn’t you see the big bag of stuff I bought?” After Bai Xue understood Zhang Yuan’s character a little, she started talking to him casually.

“Uh huh. Yeah, I did. I went to town to send letters to my family! By the way, can you read?”

“Uh huh!” Bai Xue did not have an aloof personality. The cold wind felt uncomfortable whenever it poured into her mouth, so she did not want to speak.

Along the way, Zhang Yuan asked a few random questions. Bai Xue simply replied with monosyllabic answers without opening her mouth. In the end, Bai Xue could not take it anymore and asked him, “Comrade Zhang Yuan, doesn’t it feel uncomfortable when the cold wind gets into your mouth?”

“Nope! I’m good!” Zhang Yuan was still smiling.

If he did not take the opportunity to talk more today, how could he find an opportunity to chat with her in the future?

Bai Xue did not know that on the day of her accident, Zhang Yuan had been following her from afar. He had originally planned to create a chance encounter and exchange a few words with her. Unexpectedly, something happened to her and he became her savior.

After sending her home, he was sleepless thinking about her. On the day her father got beaten by her third uncle, he came running over the moment he learned about it. He only felt relieved when he saw her standing there and dissing her grandmother.

He returned to the Educated Youth Section tossing and turning in bed at night, waiting for this girl to take the initiative to come and thank him. After waiting for a long time, she did not show up. Today, he actually bumped into her when he was sending a letter to his grandmother.

He was so excited that he could not control his emotions for a moment. He kept talking to her to ease his exhilaration.

Actually, he had only seen her from afar when he was working. He fell in love with her at a glance and asked around about her name. In the days to come, he occasionally had the chance to work with her, but she failed to notice him at all.