Chapter 77: The Third Truck
Those who had initially planned on buying one catty now switched to two. Those who wanted two catties went straight for four or five.
The large basin and the two massive tubs of chestnuts Jian Xingxia had brought were sold out in a flash.
She took in 1,282 yuan. The final requirement for the estate’s upgrade progress, the management revenue, jumped from 2,121 yuan to 3,403 yuan. Meanwhile, Estate Management Task Two was officially completed.
Though invisible to the people around her, Jian Xingxia could clearly see a card the size of a playing card materialize before her eyes. It gleamed with golden light, floating in thin air.
She observed the customers in front of the stall. They were all busy asking when she would return next, completely oblivious to the golden card hovering in the air.
Jian Xingxia said happily, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
She still had plenty of chestnuts frozen in her refrigerator and chest freezer. She also planned to have Lin Sanniang come over a bit earlier tomorrow so they could prepare another batch.
Thanks to the big brother’s “threat,” it was barely past 5:30 when Jian Xingxia finished selling all her chestnuts ahead of schedule.
Jian Xingxia called the number the big brother had left. “Hello, Big Brother…”
“Coming, coming!”
The voice came simultaneously from her phone’s receiver and from right behind her.
Jian Xingxia turned around. The big brother was carefully supporting his pregnant wife as they walked out from the residential compound’s entrance. They were right by the crash barriers.
Jian Xingxia hung up the phone. A plastic bag was dangling from the wife’s hand—she was eating as she walked out.
The wife grabbed Jian Xingxia’s hand immediately. “Little sister, my morning sickness has been terrible lately. I throw up whatever I eat. My tongue feels like a detector; I can’t keep down anything with even a tiny bit of additives or pesticides.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Only your chestnuts sit right with me. I didn’t have any reaction at all.”
Jian Xingxia looked at her. Judging by her frame, she must have been a perfectly healthy, round-faced girl before. But right now, her face looked somewhat bloated, dark circles heavily ringed her eyes, and the corners of her mouth were a bit red. It was obvious she was suffering greatly from the pregnancy.
Jian Xingxia quickly squeezed her hand back. “Sister, you’ve had it rough. Don’t worry, I still have chestnuts at home. However much you need, I’ll head back right now to fetch them.”
The wife, Sister Yu, wasn’t reassured and insisted on going along. “Your big brother is unreliable when handling matters; I don’t trust him. Little sister, I’m going back with you.”
The big brother loudly protested his innocence, while also worrying about his wife’s health. “Lu’an Village is all mountain roads. It’s a rough drive. You shouldn’t go; it’s fine if I go alone.” He added, “It’s just buying chestnuts, how could I possibly mess that up?”
Sister Yu shot back sharply, “Then did you manage to buy them a few days ago?”
The big brother: “…”
The most annoying part of an argument was bringing up old scores. The moment she brought it up, he couldn’t win.
Jian Xingxia tried to persuade her to stay, and the neighboring residents also felt it was better for Sister Yu to wait at home since she was pregnant.
But Sister Yu refused to back down. “You guys don’t know my husband. His brain is like mush; you can’t rely on him for anything. Besides, I’ve been feeling uncomfortable in the house all these days. It’s too hot to step out during the day, but now that it’s cooled down, I want to go out and catch a breeze.”
After a brief debate, Sister Yu ultimately won.
The big brother went to fetch his small truck, and the tricycle was rolled directly into the truck bed. Once it was secured, Jian Xingxia sat in the second row of the truck cab, while Sister Yu took the passenger seat.
The big brother drove incredibly slowly along the way. Whenever a car honked behind them, he looked as though he wanted to grab a megaphone and shout: My pregnant wife is in the car!
Fortunately, Jinmen Town was a small place, and there weren’t many vehicles on the road. The big brother drove slowly along the slow lane, and the cars honking behind them simply overtook them and sped away.
The distance was a little over ten kilometers, which took Jian Xingxia barely half an hour to ride on her tricycle, but the big brother stubbornly stretched it into forty minutes. Fortunately, Sister Yu ate her chestnuts along the way, looking thoroughly relaxed in body and mind.
Living in Jinmen Town, the big brother and his wife didn’t usually harbor much curiosity toward the great mountains. But perhaps because Sister Yu had been cooped up at home for too long lately—stuck in an air-conditioned room day after day and rarely venturing out—sitting in a slow-moving car, eating chestnuts, and catching the evening breeze actually felt incredibly comfortable.
“The air in the mountains really is wonderful.”
Jian Xingxia smiled. “It is. When I first came back, I actually felt a bit lightheaded from the high oxygen levels in the mountains!”
Sister Yu asked curiously, “You just came back? You weren’t in Jinmen before?”
“Mhm. I just graduated from university and came back to my hometown to start a business.” Jian Xingxia already had a plan in mind, so she wasn’t just talking nonsense.
The big brother chimed in casually, “What were you thinking, returning to the countryside to start a business after making it to university? A place like Jinmen Town truly doesn’t make much money.”
“Shut your mouth!” Sister Yu, conversely, highly appreciated Jian Xingxia’s choice. “I think it’s wonderful. Going out for university to acquire knowledge and broaden one’s horizons, then returning just in time to develop the hometown.”
Jian Xingxia smiled. “I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. My family just happens to own a mountain peak. I felt the things in the mountains are fresh and natural, so I wanted to renovate my family’s old house. Maybe I can turn it into a homestay, a campsite, or a fruit-picking orchard.”
This time, both the big brother and his wife were highly supportive. “That’s fantastic! If you open it, the two of us will definitely come to support you!”
“Great! You must give me plenty of feedback when the time comes.”
The three of them chatted and laughed, driving all the way into Lu’an Village.
The truck’s width exceeded the local standard, and it couldn’t pass the area with the stone bollards, drawing another crowd of onlookers from the villagers.
“Why is there another truck coming? Whose household does this belong to?”
Jian Xingxia quickly poked her head out the window. “Uncle Hu! Uncle Lu! It’s me!”
Everyone looked over—it was Jian Xingxia again!
Uncle Hu was baffled, but he still arranged for people to clear the road barrier. “Xiaxia, why did you call a truck over again? What are you hauling this time?”
The road from the village to the old house was rough. A large freight truck had heavy tires that could crush over the bumps, but a normal car or a smaller truck entering that path would feel exactly like a roller coaster mixed with bumper cars, shaking violently all the way. Especially for the final few hundred meters; when Liang Chengcheng came to buy furniture and appliances last time, it had required the villagers and the logistics crew to carry them together. Uncle Hu inquired carefully, worried that they would have to haul heavy goods again this time.
