Everyone came to the kitchen and looked at Xu Laidie's grain bag. There was only half a bag of sorghum flour, but no fine grains. Xu Laidie was secretly happy, because you know, the fine grains that Cheng Qiao gave her were secretly taken to the black market by her to exchange for money.
Jiang Guangrong picked up a piece of paper and a pen and did some calculations. According to the amount recorded in Cheng Qiao's notebook, Xu Laidi had to give Cheng Qiao a total of twenty-one yuan and fifty cents. However, Xu Laidi said he had no money and could only use his food rations to pay it off.
The price of sorghum flour was only three cents per pound, and half a bag contained at most fifty pounds, which was equivalent to one dollar and fifty cents. In this way, the money Xu Laidie owed Cheng Qiao increased from two hundred yuan to two hundred and twenty yuan.
Jiang Guangrong poured all the sorghum noodles into Cheng Qiao's grain bag. Everyone looked at Xu Laidi's empty grain bag and felt a chill down their spines. However, Cheng Qiao smiled and scooped out a large bowl of sorghum noodles from the grain bag and put it into Jiang Guangrong's grain bag.
"Thank you, Captain, for helping me get my rations back. These are my token of gratitude."
Jiang Guangrong didn't know whether to refuse or accept. He looked at his grain bag which was almost empty. There was still more than half a month before the grain was distributed, so he made up his mind and accepted it silently.
Although the other educated youth were jealous, they also knew that now was not the time to take advantage. The scene was a little awkward for a moment. However, the eldest educated youth, Han Chunmei, smiled and nodded, and invited Cheng Qiao into the female educated youth dormitory.
"Xu Laidi, change your clothes and return what you owe us, so that we, the educated youth, won't be laughed at by the villagers."
Xu Laidi's face turned red and white, and he took his time to change his clothes and threw them on Cheng Qiao's bed. Cheng Qiao frowned in disdain, glanced at the educated youth sister, and smiled:
"Sister Chunmei, can I give you this dress?"
"Cheng Qiao, are you telling the truth?"
Han Chunmei has been in Xiangyang Village for five years. The clothes she brought were all patched up. Fortunately, everyone dressed like this, so Han Chunmei didn't look shabby.
But Han Chunmei was a girl after all. Every time she saw the new educated youth standing in front of her in all their splendor and beauty, she felt a little inferior. But the money she had was limited, and cloth coupons were hard to come by, so she gradually gave up the idea.
"Really, more real than pearls. And this quilt is mine too. You can take it too. Wash it and put it under your body to keep you warm in winter."
Cheng Qiao put the clothes directly in Han Chunmei's hands, then pulled out the mattress under Xu Laidie's straw mat and put it on Han Chunmei's bedding, then went outside to wash her hands. She thought the things used by the bitch were dirty.
Xu Laidi dared to be angry but not to say anything. This mattress was indeed Cheng Qiao's. In the past, he had even treated Cheng Qiao to a piece of fruit candy in exchange for this mattress. What a loss.
Han Chunmei took the clothes happily and kept feeling around. The clothes were about 80% new, without any patches at all. How could Xu Laidie bear to go out wearing them? It turned out that he would not feel sorry for the clothes that were not his own.
The other female educated youth looked at the clothes in Han Chunmei's hands and the mattress on the bedding with envy, and they all regretted not speaking up for Cheng Qiao just now, otherwise these good things would have fallen into their hands.
"Xu Laidi, I remember you had about a hundred dollars hidden in your cabinet. Why do you say you don't have money to pay your debts?"
Zhang Yuefang saw that Cheng Qiao had washed her hands and was about to go in, she rolled her eyes and spoke.
"Zhang Yuefang, what do you mean?"
Xu Laidi looked at Zhang Yuefang viciously and asked with gritted teeth.
"What can I mean? I just don't understand why you and Cheng Qiao are so close. You obviously have money, so why do you still ask Cheng Qiao to borrow money? You obviously have money but you just drag your feet and don't give it to her."
Xu Laidi opened her mouth but closed it again. She hated any woman who was prettier or better off than her, especially Cheng Qiao. Why was she so fair-skinned and richer than her? So she always wanted to destroy her.
Cheng Qiao came in from outside after washing her hands. She just heard Zhang Yuefang's words and stood directly in front of Xu Laidie, staring at her with wide eyes, which made Xu Laidie feel uneasy.
"Cheng Qiao, if Zhang Yuefang hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten about it. Please wait a moment, I will give you the money right away."
Zhang Yuefang sneered, forgetting. How could a person who is so stingy with every penny forget a hundred yuan? It turns out that he just doesn't want to pay it back.
Under Cheng Qiao's surveillance, Xu Laidi opened his cabinet and took out a pink tin pencil case. When Cheng Qiao saw the pencil case, her eyes shrank. This was also a gift from her when she was in elementary school. It was really stupid.
Xu Laidi opened the pencil case and found a roll of black paper inside. He picked it up and counted it, and found there was exactly one hundred yuan. Cheng Qiao put it directly into his pocket. Seeing that there were several food coupons, oil coupons and other bills in the box, he took them out without hesitation.
Xu Laidi was anxious. How could she exchange food for food without these tickets? During the snatch, she accidentally knocked over the pencil case, and the things inside fell on the bedding. A white jade pendant happened to fall next to Cheng Qiao's hand.
Cheng Qiao quickly picked it up. Wasn't this the jade pendant she had lost? She was still in elementary school at that time and didn't know when the pendant was lost. She just remembered that Xu Laidi would come to her house almost every day to do homework.
"No wonder I couldn't find it after searching for it. It turned out you stole it."
"Cheng Qiao, who did you say stole it? I warn you not to talk nonsense. It was obviously you who gave it to me."
"Pah~"
Cheng Qiao raised his hand and slapped Xu Laidi hard.
"You, if you dare to hit me, I will fight you."
"Snap"
Cheng Qiao slapped Xu Laidi again:
"I've already been beaten, why dare you to do that? My mother severely beat me for this pendant, and now two slaps are considered light, and you're still warning me, it's a joke."
Xu Laidi was on the verge of collapse. She looked at Cheng Qiao with eyes as if filled with poison. She jumped up and pounced on Cheng Qiao. Cheng Qiao dodged to the side but forgot that she had sprained her ankle and fell to the ground.
She instinctively supported herself with her hand, and the jade pendant in her hand cut Cheng Qiao's palm due to the force. The blood flowed out and was instantly absorbed by the jade pendant.
Xu Laidi missed his move and fell off the big bunk bed, landing 20 centimeters away from Cheng Qiao. As he was face down, one of his front teeth was broken and no one knew where the broken pieces went.
Han Chunmei, Zhang Yuefang and other female educated youth were frightened by the sudden fight. They only came to their senses after both of them fell to the ground. They hurried over and helped Cheng Qiao up.
When Xu Laidi saw that Han Chunmei and Zhang Yuefang went to support Cheng Qiao, and the other female educated youth stood there like idiots, he became so angry that he burst into tears, and his crying alarmed the male educated youth next door.