With all her goods sold, Su Qing took a walk around the black market. She bought a pound of pork, two large soup bones, two pounds of suet, three pounds of brown rice, a pound of white sugar, and a pound of brown sugar. She also bought some salt. The prices for these items at the black market were triple what they cost at the supply and marketing cooperative. Thankfully, she had a financial cushion now, so Su Qing didn't feel the pinch too much.
Once she had everything she needed, Su Qing left the black market and headed for the supply and marketing cooperative.
She found a deserted spot to change back into her own clothes and remove her disguise, then slung the back basket over her shoulders and entered the supply and marketing cooperative.
This was Su Qing's first time visiting a supply and marketing cooperative of this era. With her clothes covered in patches of all sizes, the basket on her back, and the scar on her left cheek, she looked every bit the country bumpkin who had never seen the world. The gazes of many of the salesclerks were filled with disdain.
Their looks had no effect on Su Qing whatsoever. She glanced around, wondering to herself what she should buy as gifts for the villagers who had helped her.
Regarding her separation from the Old Su Family, she didn't need to worry about the people who helped build her earthen walls and fix her door. She had already asked Zhao Youcai to help settle their wages, and she had even given them an extra twenty percent as a thank-you. That left the people who had supported her, like Aunt Tao and Aunt Cuihua, plus the families of Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong. Counting them up, it was about ten households in total.
After looking around, she found that only the fruit candies didn't require extra ration coupons or have a purchase limit. Everything else required some sort of coupon and was restricted. Since coupons were exactly what Su Qing lacked, she ultimately decided to buy twelve pounds of fruit candy.
"How much?" The salesclerk at the counter heard Su Qing and looked her up and down in disbelief before asking again, "How many pounds of fruit candy do you want to buy?"
"Twelve pounds," Su Qing repeated.
The salesclerk frowned. "This is a state-run cooperative, not a playground for kids playing house. One pound of fruit candy is thirty cents. Twelve pounds is three-sixty. Are you sure you want to buy twelve pounds?"
'Even though there's no limit on this candy, who buys this much at once, aside from families preparing for a wedding? No, wait, even a wedding wouldn't require this much! And judging by this young girl's clothes, there's no way she looks like someone who can afford twelve pounds of fruit candy.'
"I'm sure," Su Qing nodded, then asked, "Could you wrap them in one-pound bags for me?"
"Alright, I get it. Even if you wanted me to wrap all twelve pounds together, I don't have a sheet of wrapping paper that big. Go over there and pay first." Seeing Su Qing's certainty, the salesclerk, though still skeptical, didn't say more. She wrote out a ticket, clipped it to the wire overhead, and sent it sliding over to the cashier's booth. She pointed toward the booth and said to Su Qing, "Go pay first, then come back to get your candy."
"Thank you." Seeing the salesclerk's attitude was decent enough, Su Qing nodded at her and turned to walk toward the cashier. The clerk watched her go and muttered to herself, 'For a little country bumpkin, she's surprisingly polite.'
When Su Qing returned after paying, she saw the salesclerk was already bagging her candy. While she was waiting, a girl's voice suddenly spoke up from beside her. "Su Qing? You're here buying candy?"
Su Qing turned at the sound of the voice and took a look. 'Well, what do you know. Isn't this the original body's eldest cousin from her uncle's family, Su Mei? What a coincidence.'
Su Mei wasn't alone. A young man stood beside her, dressed in a Zhongshan suit with his hair parted neatly to the side. He was decent-looking, but the moment they made eye contact, Su Qing felt a sense of dislike. She couldn't shake the feeling that when this man looked at people, his eyes held a subtle, appraising glint.
"Eldest Cousin," Su Qing called out coolly, just as the salesclerk finished packing up the twelve bags of fruit candy. Su Mei stepped forward to grab them. "Perfect, we were just running out of candy at home. I'll take some of this now. Just tell Grandma."
Su Qing moved with surprising speed, not even letting Su Mei touch the candy. She swept all of it into her back basket in one motion. Looking at Su Mei, she said flatly, "Eldest Cousin, I bought this candy. If you want some, please be so kind as to pay for it yourself."
"What's with this 'yours' and 'mine'?" Su Mei had no idea that Su Qing had completely separated from the Old Su Family. She assumed Old Su had sent Su Qing to buy the candy, and she even wondered to herself, 'How come Grandma is letting Su Qing handle money now?' "If Grandma didn't send you to buy candy, where would you get the money? And once you take it back, won't our family get a share anyway? I already said, just tell Grandma I took it. She won't blame you."
As she spoke, Su Mei glanced at Su Qing's back basket. She noticed it was more than half full and covered up tightly. "What's all that in your basket? How much did you buy?"
"That doesn't seem to be any of your business, Eldest Cousin." Su Qing raised an eyebrow slightly. "Eldest Cousin, did Grandma and the others not tell you that I've already separated from the main family? What I buy is my own. It has nothing to do with the main house, and nothing to do with your family."
"You!" Su Mei's face burned at Su Qing's words. 'What is she implying? That I'm trying to freeload off her?' Today of all days, she was out shopping with her blind date, only to be publicly humiliated by her own younger cousin. She glared daggers at Su Qing, secretly grinding her back teeth.
The salesclerk nearby watched with wide eyes, her gaze darting from one cousin to the other. 'Oh my, are these two about to start a fight? Should I watch the show, watch the show, or... watch the show?'
However, the outcome was a bit of a disappointment for the salesclerk. She didn't get to see the big, dramatic fight she was hoping for.
Su Qing readjusted the basket on her back and, without a single glance at Su Mei, turned and left.
Su Mei felt a knot of anger tighten in her chest. She wanted to go after Su Qing and argue with her, but for one thing, she had no idea what Su Qing was talking about with this 'separation.' For another, her blind date was still standing right there. If he saw her getting into a shouting match with her own cousin, wouldn't that lower his impression of her?
Thinking this, Su Mei took a deep breath. She turned to Wu Tao, who was standing beside her, and said with a helpless expression, "I'm so sorry, you had to see that. My cousin is a bit willful and has a difficult personality. Please don't take anything she said to heart."
"It's nothing. Every family has its own problems," Wu Tao said with a slight smile, his eyes flickering. 'That cousin, huh... The scar on her face is truly ugly, but her eyes are incredibly beautiful, like pools of clear spring water. Without that scar, she'd probably be a little beauty, even prettier than Su Mei.'
'What a shame! That little girl's eyes are so much more beautiful than Su Mei's.'