NOVPUB
Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Quietness Comes When The Child Stops Making A Fuss
In the 1980s, in the poorer rural areas, women would use cloth for their periods. They would wash and reuse them. Families in slightly better financial situations, like Li Nuanchun’s, preferred rectangular sanitary napkins. The paper was a bit hard and uncomfortable, but the price was indeed very affordable.
Only women like Yu Shiya could afford to use sanitary napkins. To them, these were considered luxury items, items that were disposed of after a single use. Why should they use such good stuff?
They reasoned that it would be better to save some money and buy a few pounds of meat instead.
Of course, although hospital nurses did not earn much, they had a tendency to compete with each other. Most of them also used sanitary napkins. Chen Yanmei would always make sarcastic comments behind their backs whenever she saw them. They were in no financial position to afford such things!
Tong Yao, seeing that her reasoning wasn’t working, had a sudden idea and said, "Sister-in-law, buy them for me. If I do get pregnant, I’ll give the sanitary napkins to you to use."
"Ah?" Li Nuanchun was stunned. All her persuasions had gone out the window. She was overjoyed, as if she had won a lottery. Her smile leaked into the corners of her mouth, "How could I accept something so expensive from you? Buying these things is more expensive than buying pork. How many packs are you buying? Do you have a particular brand preference?"
Li Nuanchun had lived for many years but had never used sanitary napkins before. The young nurses all praised their usefulness, but she always claimed to be unaccustomed to them. In reality, she simply couldn’t bear to part with the money. After all, who wouldn’t want to use a good product if it was free?
Li Nuanchun didn’t have a job and relied on Dai Liwen’s support. Although Dai Liwen was not stingy with his money, his expenditures were mostly spent on trivialities and necessary items.
If she were as extravagant as Tong Yao, Dai Liwen would have kicked her out a long time ago.
From Tong Yao’s previous shopping spree, you could tell what kind of a person Dai Liwen was. At night, when the two of them were in bed, Dai Liwen would repeatedly complain about how expensive it was to have a beautiful wife. He’d be better off single than with someone like this. His apparent chit-chat was actually a warning to her.
Sigh!
In retrospect, it was her lot in life to be cheap. Even if she had the money, she wouldn’t be willing to spend a large sum on such things.
Tong Yao thought for a moment, raised a finger and gestured, "Buy around four or five packs of the Lotus brand!"
To prevent Li Nuanchun from persuading her not to buy these next month, Tong Yao decided to buy a few extra packs. After all, she would need these every month.
Li Nuanchun fought to keep a straight face, nodded and said, "Alright, you better hurry to work then! Don’t be late. I’ll help you buy them this afternoon."
"I’ll give you the money first." Tong Yao pretended to take out the money.
Li Nuanchun waved her hand, "Wait until I get them!" They lived in the same residency compound and couldn’t escape each other, so she wasn’t worried about Tong Yao dodging the bill.
Hearing her say this, Tong Yao put the money back into her pocket and descended the stairs.
After Li Nuanchun finished washing the dishes, she had nothing to do, so she went to gossip with Chen Yanmei. Within a few sentences, she spilled the news of Tong Yao’s possible pregnancy, to which Chen Yanmei responded with a sarcastic quip.
"They’re shaking the bed every night, how could she not get pregnant quickly? Just look at the entire residency compound. Who else, like her, prances around in a skirt all day, flaunting herself like a seductress? It’s a good thing she got pregnant. If not, Dr. Si would have been sucked dry by her. Ever since she arrived, Dr. Si has developed dark circles under his eyes and has lost all his spirit. These are signs of kidney deficiency. You shouldn’t have interfered. Let them continue their antics and extinguish the child, then they’ll quiet down..."
...
He Fang had a restless night. She awoke early in the morning, unsure whether the police station had handled the matter and whether she should set up her stall today. After considerable deliberation, she decided to clean up the goods first, so she would be prepared in case Tong Yao appeared.
After waiting for about ten minutes, upon seeing Tong Yao’s figure, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense all night, finally settled, "Sister, what did the police say? Are they allowing us to set up the stall?"
Tong Yao picked up Niuniu in one sweep, teased her by pinching her cheeks, and comforted He Fang at the same time, "Sister Fang, don’t worry! Yuan Erhua won’t dare to cause trouble anymore, she has written a guarantee letter. Today she even has to compensate us with three buckets of water."
He Fang breathed a sigh of relief, but was also a little curious, "Sister, do you know someone influential? Yuan Erhua was still furiously ranting like a mad dog when she was taken away, but after a trip to the police station, she suddenly became so obedient."
Tong Yao let out a chuckle, "She got four big men to intimidate us. If you look at it seriously, it’s a gangster crime, certainly punishable by imprisonment, so of course they’re scared!"
Yuan Erhua and her husband probably never dreamed they would end up shooting themselves in the foot.
"Sister, you know so much, you must be educated, right?" He Fang looked Tong Yao up and down. She had previously thought that Tong Yao was fearless simply because she was naive, but now she realized that Tong Yao was actually very knowledgeable and had everything figured out.
Having known her for so many days, He Fang initially thought that Tong Yao was just a little smart and wealthy. But now, it felt like she was getting to know Tong Yao all over again.
Tong Yao rarely exhibited humility, "I attended school for a few years."
With the wisdom from two lifetimes stored in her brain, if she didn’t understand these things, how would she get rich and achieve a comfortable life in the future?
"Your husband is a doctor, you must not be far behind either, definitely a university graduate." He Fang suddenly had a spark of intelligence. She remembered that she hadn’t paid Tong Yao for the bubble tea yesterday. She quickly took the money out of her pocket to pay Tong Yao, "Oh dear! Look at me, I completely forgot about the money. It’s a total of fifty-three yuan and fifty-five cents, count it."
After being burdened by the money and worrying about Tong Yao, she had spent the entire night wide awake. She only managed to fall asleep just before dawn, fearful that her husband would return, find the money, and gamble it away. Fortunately, her husband didn’t come home yesterday, so she was able to hand over the money to Tong Yao in full today.
Tong Yao put Niuniu down, roughly counted the money she received, and casually put it into her bag. She nodded and said, "The money is correct, let’s go, we should head to the school first!"
"Oh! Okay."
The smile on He Fang’s face faded slightly. She had told Tong Yao to count the money as a courtesy, not expecting Tong Yao to really do it. Did Tong Yao not trust her?
She had counted the money multiple times yesterday and once again this morning for fear of making a mistake.
In fact, it’s not that Tong Yao didn’t trust He Fang. It’s just good business practice to count the money upfront in order to avoid disputes. One shouldn’t avoid such formalities just out of concern for politeness or face. Otherwise, the business cannot grow. And even if it does, it will eventually fail.
There are always unscrupulous people in the world, so it’s best to count the money upfront. If there are any problems, they can be addressed immediately, which is beneficial for all parties involved.
By the time the two of them arrived at the school gate, Yuan Erhua was already waiting there with three buckets of water. Her face was as hard and cold as an old shoe, "Here are the three buckets of water for today, all filled to the brim. Come and get them."
Yuan Erhua had a blue bruise on one side of her face from a fight with her husband last night. Combined with her sour expression, she looked rather amusing.
