Chapter 210: Growing up
The 422 pounds of vegetables were priced at 15 points per pound by Boss Tang.
Compared to the sky-high prices from two months ago, this price seems much more reasonable now. However, it’s not because Boss Tang is offering a low price, but because it’s already June, and the vegetables everyone has been planting in their gardens are nearly ready for harvest.
The effects of the high-pollution rainstorm at the end of March have gradually diminished, and people’s lives have returned to normal, with diets also returning to pre-disaster habits.
Zhou Qian wasn’t very familiar with vegetable prices, but Huai Yu, who had been selling vegetables for a while, could feel the price fluctuations. Now, looking at the more than six thousand points she had just earned, she was very satisfied.
Zhou Qian wandered around the shop without paying much attention and then pointed at a game in the corner, “Are you still buying this?”
It would be quite convenient to charge it there.
Huai Yu hesitated for a moment. “Forget it.”
She had really wanted to buy it when her points were low, but now, seeing that her savings were approaching twenty thousand, she suddenly couldn’t bear to spend the money.
With the transaction complete, she was still thinking about the thirty pounds of sugar, so she quickly dragged Zhou Qian back toward the grain and oil shop.
It had been a while since they were last here, and the shop had new items. There were even several large jars of soybean oil, but due to the special nature of soybeans, the best mutated variant was only around 16 points per pound, which made Huai Yu frown.
As for the rice and flour…
She looked at Zhou Qian. “Why don’t we buy that in the Jinyuan neighborhood?”
They still needed to go to the hospital, and carrying all of these would be inconvenient.
Zhou Qian hadn’t even properly visited the market, so what did he know? Naturally, he just followed whatever Huai Yu said.
The rice and flour weren’t necessary, but the sugar was.
Huai Yu asked, “Uncle, do you still have any white sugar?”
The shopkeeper raised his eyes to glance at her, then looked at the tall and sturdy Zhou Qian before replying, “Yes, there’s still 21 pounds and 4 ounces. It’s all six-year-old premium sugar, unsealed, 8 points per ounce. How much do you want?”
Huai Yu felt a pang of pain at the price.
But after thinking for a moment, she gritted her teeth. “I’ll take it all!”
“Do you have coarse salt? If you do, I’ll take 30 pounds as well.” Summer was coming, and she needed to prepare for pickling and sun-drying.
The shopkeeper, hearing about the big order, immediately stood up. “Yes, yes! You have a good eye, young lady! I’ll get it for you right now!”
…
When they finally left the shop, Zhou Qian chuckled. “You’re really willing to spend money on food.”
She hesitated to buy the game for 2000 points, but without a second thought, she spent over a thousand points on sugar.
Huai Yu proudly touched her face. “I’m growing! And growing fast. I’ve grown a little taller than before.”
Although the difference wasn’t obvious on the doorframe, she really was growing. If not for that, why would she endure the terrible taste of the nutritional liquid and even buy some more expensive ones this time?
She really wanted to grow up to be as tall, cool, and handsome as Sister Chenxing, throwing punches with ease… Ahem.
But the most important thing was, she needed to get more meat.
She decided to ask Chenxing later at the hospital if the truck routes had any regular patterns. Otherwise, if she had to keep waiting there every night, she’d be exhausted.
And right now…
She wiggled her toes in her tight shoes. She was going to buy clothes and shoes!
Now that she had money, no more second-hand stuff!
Zhou Qian carried the salt and sugar they’d just bought, watching Huai Yu’s joyful figure. For a moment, it seemed to overlap with his memories of the old Zhou Ning, who loved shopping and beautiful clothes.
He stood still, warmth and tenderness pouring from his eyes like sunlight, before he took large strides to catch up with her.
…
But soon, all that warmth and softness vanished.
Zhou Qian stared at the bulging sack, watching as it was filled with clothes, shoes, and socks packed in plastic. Although it wasn’t heavy to carry, his face was even tenser than when he had been carrying over 400 pounds of vegetables.
“Didn’t you say we were going to the hospital later? It would be inconvenient to carry so many things, so you didn’t buy rice and flour. But now, you’re carrying a sack full of clothes and shoes. Does that make sense?”
“That’s a lot of clothes!” he exclaimed.
“It’s not too many!” Huai Yu grumbled as she tugged at her T-shirt, which had been worn for months and was now all worn out from doing rough work. The fabric was almost beyond recognition. “Right now, I look like a little beggar.”
She raised her foot. “These shoes are too small. Zhou Qian, have you heard the story of the mermaid? When the mermaid walks on land, every step feels like stepping on a knife. If I don’t buy new shoes, I’ll turn into a mermaid!”
“And also, I’m growing, you know… my chest…”
Before she could continue, Zhou Qian’s hand pressed firmly on her head, silencing her with a soft “ouch.”
Zhou Qian had never really dealt with girls in their teens.
When Zhou Ning was this age, she often stayed at school, and their parents were still around. He was at the base, and she had her girlfriends and classmates, gossiping and buying things online…
He didn’t have to worry about these things at all.
Now, seeing Huai Yu acting so pitiful, he helplessly carried the heavy sack and walked ahead in silence.
He wondered if they could leave these things at the front desk when they went to the hospital…
— Of course, they could.
The familiar nurse recognized the siblings immediately. As soon as she saw Zhou Qian come for a follow-up check, she arranged for him to leave the things in a corner and couldn’t help but compliment them.
“You look great! It seems like your diet has been going well.”
“And your facial scars, they don’t seem as deep now. They look pretty natural.”
Her compliments weren’t just empty words. In this world, who didn’t have a few scars? Especially for those in the defense forces, who faced life-and-death situations—scars were very normal. If the public didn’t accept it, that nosy aunt on the bus wouldn’t have started setting him up with someone.
Zhou Qian thought about the meals they’d had recently — indeed, they had been good.
He looked at Huai Yu again, feeling a bit embarrassed. He clenched his fist lightly and cleared his throat.
“She… Little Yu is still growing. Does she need anything to help with her development?”
The nurse smiled and glanced at Huai Yu. She couldn’t help but laugh. “You really are growing fast, huh?”
Not long ago, even in oversized, ill-fitting clothes, you could see that she was a thin little thing, like a clothes rack. But now, after some time, she had more meat on her body, and her figure had subtle curves.
Although she was still thin and her complexion wasn’t very rosy, she looked much better overall.
“Is her growth rate a bit too fast?” the nurse asked with concern.
Huai Yu felt completely fine about it. After all, her real age was probably around twenty or thirty, though she didn’t know why she had “reversed” to a younger age. But growing fast seemed normal to her, as long as she didn’t start aging too quickly.
She shook her head. “No, everything’s normal.”
