"She’s just too ugly," Er La Niang said, sucking her teeth. She’d actually considered setting her son up with Su Qing, but Su Qing’s appearance was just...

’Goodness, that scar on her left cheek is just so ugly, no matter how you look at it. It’d be a miracle if my Er Lai took a liking to her.’

’But that girl has five hundred yuan. If I could get my hands on that money, what kind of wife couldn’t my Er Lai find in the future?’

’No, I have to have a good talk with my Er Lai about this later.’

Seeing the greed in Er La Niang’s eyes, Lu Chunhua knew exactly what she was thinking. She smiled, but before she could say anything, another woman beside them laughed. "Er Lai’s mother, you’re complaining that Su Qing is ugly? Take a look at your own son! With those buck teeth and squinty little eyes, he’s a chip off the old block."

"Shoo, shoo! Whatever my son looks like, he’s still a man. He won’t have any trouble finding a wife," Er La Niang said, waving her hand dismissively. Her family was just a little poor. If they had money, all the young women would be falling all over themselves to get to her Er Lai.

"Hahaha, right, right. No trouble at all."

’No trouble, my foot! He’s well into his twenties and still can’t find a wife. He’s become the village’s biggest problem case, and she says there’s no trouble?’

’Who’s she trying to kid!’

Su Qing returned home and put away all the things she had bought. After making and eating lunch, she took the thank-you gifts and began delivering them one by one to the ten families.

The four aunties who helped her first each received a pound of fruit candies and four ounces of white sugar.

The families of Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong each received a pound of fruit candies and six ounces of brown sugar.

The remaining four families each received a pound of fruit candies.

Once everything was sorted, Su Qing went from house to house to deliver the gifts, thanking each family again. They all tried to refuse at first, but accepted when they saw she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Naturally, their impression of Su Qing improved even more.

Wang Xuehong wasn’t home, but his wife, Pang Xiaofang, was. When she saw Su Qing’s gift, she didn’t refuse, accepting it with a smile and praising Su Qing. After a bit of pleasant small talk, Su Qing headed to Zhao Youcai’s house.

Zhao Youcai was home. Seeing the fruit candies and brown sugar Su Qing brought, he frowned. "You’re just a girl trying to get by on your own. You can’t be spending money so freely. Quick, take it back. You need to build your strength. Keep this sugar for yourself to get healthier."

Su Qing smiled and said to Zhao Youcai, "Village Head, you know my grandparents gave me the five hundred yuan from the job buyout. I’m not short on cash. I was only able to separate from the main family with all of your help. Otherwise, all by myself, no matter what I did, I probably wouldn’t have managed it. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

Beside him, Zhao Youcai’s wife, Tang Suqin, chimed in with a smile, "Since it’s a heartfelt gesture from the girl, just accept it."

Zhao Youcai shot his wife a look. "This girl, Su Qing, hasn’t had it easy." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"If she hasn’t had it easy, then we should look after her more." Tang Suqin took the sugar with a smile, then went to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of steamed dried fish. She said to Su Qing, "The boys in the family caught these in the river. They taste pretty good. Take them home and eat them."

Su Qing quickly tried to refuse. "Aunt Zhao, please keep these for your family."

Next to Lihua Village, there was a pond, not too deep, surrounded by a patch of reeds. Wild ducks often laid their eggs among the reeds, and the pond itself held some wild fish. The village children loved to go there to catch fish and gather wild duck eggs, which would become another dish for their families.

However, the wild fish in the pond were very cunning and hard to catch. If you managed to catch any three or four times out of ten tries, you were considered lucky.

"We have more. I’m giving them to you, so just take them. I made these dried fish a bit salty so they’ll keep for a while. You can have them with porridge or something later." Tang Suqin was a straightforward woman and thrust the bowl of steamed dried fish into Su Qing’s hands. "Besides, the sugar you brought is a precious thing. If you don’t take this fish, then you can just take your things back."

"Oh, no," Su Qing said. Seeing Tang Suqin’s insistence, she had no choice but to accept. "Thank you, Aunt Zhao. I’ll bring the bowl back to you later."

"Alright, no rush." Tang Suqin looked at Su Qing’s sallow and thin appearance and sighed. "It’s a good thing you’ve separated from them. From now on, just focus on living a good life for yourself. That’s more important than anything."

"Mhm," Su Qing said with a smiling nod. "I will."

Zhao Youcai cleared his throat and said, "If your grandparents give you any more trouble, you come and tell us."

"Okay, I will, Village Head."

"One more thing." Zhao Youcai glanced at the brown sugar. He knew for a fact that Su Qing didn’t have any brown sugar ration coupons. It was obvious where she must have bought it. However, this was the sort of thing no one would ever mention out loud. After all, almost everyone had to go to the black market to trade for things now and then. To call someone out on it would be to make trouble for yourself. Still, Zhao Youcai felt he had to give her a reminder. "Always be on your guard and be extra careful. There are some places you should go to as little as possible, you understand?"

"Mhm, I understand, Village Head. I’ll be careful," Su Qing replied with a grin. ’Looks like this Village Head isn’t such a stick-in-the-mud after all,’ she thought.

"Good, as long as you know," Zhao Youcai said with a nod.

After staying at the Zhao family’s home for a little while longer, Su Qing said her goodbyes and went home. She transferred the steamed dried fish into one of her own bowls, washed the one she was given, and returned it to the Zhao family.

She had been out since early this morning, busy all this time. After returning from the Zhao family’s house, Su Qing locked her courtyard gate, went to her room, and took a long, restorative nap.

When she woke up, Su Qing felt refreshed and invigorated. She checked the time—it was already late afternoon. The other villagers were all out working in the fields. She had taken a day off and didn’t have to work, so she decided to make herself a nice meal to reward herself.

She had bought a pound of pork belly, two soup bones, and two pounds of pork fat from the black market today. She decided to render the pork fat first, then cut off half a pound of the pork belly to make a mushroom and potato stew. After that, she would make a bone broth. Without even needing a staple food, it would be a delicious meal.

The thought of eating stewed pork belly soon made Su Qing’s mouth water like crazy. Heaven knew how long it had been since she’d eaten a proper meat stew. In her past life, after the apocalypse began, the world was turned upside down. Order collapsed, resources became scarce, and during that time, it seemed like she was only ever doing one thing: trying to survive.

Quality of life, delicious food, comfort—all of it had existed only in her memories.

In the two or three days she had been in this world, she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat a good meal. Now, she could finally have some stewed meat. Su Qing’s spirits soared with joy. ’In the future,’ she vowed, ’I will absolutely build a prosperous and vibrant life for myself.’

Her good mood made her movements even quicker and more efficient. Soon, the aroma of rendering pork lard wafted over to the Old Su Family’s compound.