OLD CHINESE CURRENCY

1.00 one yuan

0.10 one jiao / mao

0.01 one fen

1.11 one yuan one jiao and one fen

1 jin = 500 grams = 0.5 kilogram

Liu Fen was incredibly skillful with her hands.

With Xia Xiaolan simply describing what she wanted, Liu Fen could grab a handful of straw and weave something decent-looking in no time.

Seeing that Xia Xiaolan had already taken action, Liu Yong stopped worrying about her. After eating, he went back out to drain the paddies. Some of the rice fields still held water. Before harvesting the grain, the water had to be released and the fields left to dry for a couple of days.

Draining the paddies sometimes came with unexpected bonuses you can get loaches, eels, even palm-length crucian carp could be found wriggling in the mud. These were all wild delicacies highly sought after in later years. But right now, in the early 1980s, their value was… mediocre at best.

Crucian carp were small and full of bones, too troublesome to eat. As for loaches and eels, they only tasted good when cooked with plenty of oil. And oil was precious. Who would waste it on things like these?

Boiling them plainly only made things worse—the earthy smell was unbearable. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help sighing. Such high-protein, low-fat meat, yet utterly unappreciated by diners of the 1980s.

At first, she thought this might be a business opportunity, her eyes had practically lit up. But Liu Yong poured cold water over her enthusiasm.

“Loaches didn’t sell for much. Even dried ones are only worth a few cents per jin. Market price won’t go past one mao. Not even as valuable as a single egg!”

He casually grabbed a crucian carp and tossed it into a wooden bucket.

“Uncle, don’t waste the carp!” Xia Xiaolan said quickly.

“Cook more crucian carp soup for Taotao. It’s good for kids, helps them grow and keeps them from getting sick.”

Liu Yong froze. “Where’d you hear that?”

Xia Xiaolan thought, Isn’t this common knowledge?

Then she remembered... this was 1983. Common knowledge didn’t exist yet.

So she widened her eyes and lied smoothly. “I read it in a book.”

Please don’t ask which book, she silently begged.

Before Liu Yong could press further, she grabbed her little cousin the ever-present tail and ran off.

The villagers helping in the fields finally let out relieved breaths.

Xia Xiaolan was too beautiful. When she casually squatted by the field, most men didn’t even dare look at her directly. And Liu Yong, former hooligan was infamous in Qijing Village. Anyone who dared harbor thoughts about his niece would have to be seriously brainless.

Liu Yong wiped the sweat from his neck and shot the others a glare.

“I’m telling you! Anyone who dares set his sights on my niece, if I find out, I’ll beat him to death.”

One villager protested weakly, “Brother Yong, she’s like a niece to me too! I wouldn’t dare think anything…”

“Less nonsense!” Liu Yong snapped, tossing him a bucket.

“Hurry up and catch fish. Didn’t you hear Xiaolan? Kids need more crucian carp soup!”

---

Xia Xiaolan wandered around Qijing Village with Taotao in tow.

The village was rich in water resources. The reed marshes from Dahe Village stretched all the way here. Anqing County’s white-flowered reeds had been famous since ancient times, raw materials were everywhere. That was exactly why Xia Xiaolan had no interest in reed weaving products.

One, the timing wasn’t right.

Two, the local market was already saturated.

But the reed marshes weren’t just good for weaving materials.

They were also nesting grounds for wild ducks and moorhens.

To Xia Xiaolan, they looked like piles of waving banknotes.

Environmental protection can wait, she thought calmly. First things first—survival. She’d worry about that after she could afford to eat. Compared to people who made money by robbery and extortion, her methods were already pretty clean..

Taotao marched proudly at the front. Xia Xiaolan was his trophy, no one else’s big sister was as pretty as his.

With harvest season approaching, even the blazing sun couldn’t suppress the hormones of the village’s young men.

They greeted Taotao enthusiastically.

“Taotao, your cousin’s here?”

“Taotao, wanna go catch fish with us?”

“Taotao—”

Their mouths called Taotao, but their sidelong glances all drifted toward Xia Xiaolan. Such roundabout flirting made their faces burn red, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help thinking, most young people in the 1980s really were innocent.

She had no interest in them.

When you couldn’t even fill your stomach, who had the energy to admire pretty boys?

Xia Xiaolan had been to Qijing Village before. Her name was well-known among the youth, but she’d always been aloof, never responding to anyone’s advances. Now, she decided to continue following the original owner’s strategy.

Her interest wasn’t in these young men, but in children who could play with Taotao.

Kids over ten already helped with household labor, thirteen or fourteen-year-olds were half a workforce. Her targets were children under ten, rowdy, tough, and easy to coax.

After circling the village twice, she finally spotted her targets.

A few slightly older kids ran over, laughing as they called out. “Taotao! My mom said your cousin hit her head and turned stupid!”

Xia Xiaolan’s forehead twitched.

Compared to those shy young men, these brats were downright rude.

Taotao bristled. “My Sister Xiaolan isn’t stupid! You’re lying!”

Xia Xiaolan let out a cold chuckle. She pulled out two mao and stuffed it into Taotao’s hand.

“Go buy some snacks at the shop. I’m tired, I'll wait for you under the tree.”

The brats’ eyes lit up with envy.

Giving money for snacks? Who said Taotao’s cousin was stupid?

Innocent children stood no chance against a seasoned soul like Xia Xiaolan. When Taotao returned with candy, every one of them was swallowing hard.

Xia Xiaolan smiled sweetly. “Want candy?”

They nodded in unison.

“Then bring something to trade. Taotao’s my cousin... you’re not. And you just called me stupid.” The leader swallowed.

“Sister Xiaolan… what can we trade for candy?”

Fast learner. He’d already switched forms of address.

“You know wild duck eggs in the reed marsh? Three eggs for two mao. Take the money and buy candy yourselves. But you must go in pairs! And stay away from deep water.”

“Really?”

“If I lie, I’m a puppy.”

True or not, they’d find out soon enough.

In the county, duck eggs were worth far more than two mao for three. But business was business. If she didn’t make money, why bother?

Using kids to gather duck eggs meant exploiting the cheapest labor possible. Human costs reduced to the extreme.

Xia Xiaolan thought wryly: Reborn in 1983, and the first thing I do is employ child labor. Impressive.

Two mao was hugely tempting to kids.

Born in the 1970s countryside, their New Year’s allowance was usually just a few mao and one yuan was already generous. Enough to buy candy and firecrackers and treasure for ages.

An hour later, a nine-year-old girl came back with her little sister, carrying over a dozen duck eggs. Xia Xiaolan checked them carefully, then paid exactly as promised.

“You brought sixteen eggs. That’s one yuan and seven fen.”

She’d already broken the change at the village shop.

The girl clutched the money, hands trembling with excitement. The younger kids drooled at the thought of candy. The girl led her sister home, over a yuan was too much to spend without adult permission.

Xia Xiaolan called after her, “If you have chicken eggs at home, you can sell them to me too. I’m staying at Taotao’s house. But ask your parents first.”

The “junior brigade” Xia Xiaolan mobilized swept the nearby reed marshes clean within two hours. Wild ducks quacked furiously, flapping through the reeds. Some kids even brought newly hatched ducklings and asked if she wanted them.

Now that there was space to raise ducks, Xia Xiaolan planned to take them home to give Liu Fen something to do.

She collected over ninety duck eggs in total.

As for whether anyone would bring chicken eggs, she’d find out that evening.

When Xia Xiaolan got home, she found her uncle had caught half a bucket of loaches, plenty of eels, and over ten jin of crucian carp, all kept alive in water jars by the wall.

“Let them sit a few days.” Liu Yong said.

“Once they spit out the filth, then we’ll eat them.”

Li Fengmei had stewed radish with pork bones. The courtyard was filled with fragrance. No one ever dropped by during mealtime. Good food was rare, and everyone had the sense not to pretend ignorance and come visiting then.

Under the eaves, Liu Fen was weaving straw baskets. A whole pile had already been made.

“Xiaolan, what do you think? Are these okay?”

More than okay. Perfectly sized for duck eggs and chicken eggs.

Taotao puffed out his chest proudly. “Sister Xiaolan bought lots of duck eggs and she bought me candy!”

Li Fengmei laughed in the kitchen.

Xia Xiaolan had never been this patient with Taotao before. But he was Li Fengmei’s precious treasure, how could a mother not like someone who treated her child well?

For a while, the entire household felt light and cheerful.

Xia Xiaolan felt hopeful about the future.

Leaving Dahe Village had been the right decision.

Happy with the mass update?

I might just do the same on Chinese New Year!

Comment: Mass Update for Chinese New Year!

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