Accidentally-Born-C41

Chapter 41

Ming Bei raised his head and saw Zhen Zhen’s sinister smile. Then, glancing at the scattered melon seeds all over the ground, he shuddered in fear. The old Li family’s biggest food lover was undoubtedly Zhen Zhen. While Ming Nan and Ming Bei were also always thinking about food, they were typically craving meat—any kind of meat, be it chicken, rabbit, or roe deer meat, as long as it was meat. Their favorite, of course, was fatty pork, which they never got tired of eating every day.

Zhen Zhen, however, was different. Though she liked meat, she couldn’t eat much of it. She preferred snacks like pine nuts, hazelnuts, and melon seeds, as well as the wild fruits growing in the mountains, and wished she could eat these all day long.

In Ming Bei’s memory, when Zhen Zhen was only about a year old, she was already obsessed with wild fruits and nuts. Her brothers could tease her or play with her however they liked, but if anyone dared to touch her snacks, Zhen Zhen would surely howl and call the whole family over, gleefully watching as her grandmother beat them with a pipe.

Looking at the scattered melon seeds on the ground, Ming Bei was distressed. These things were so rare, typically only available around the New Year, and one person was only allowed two taels of seeds. These melon seeds were special because Grandma Li had noticed Zhen Zhen’s love for them and had specially planted ten or so trees with seeds in the yard. By autumn, the harvest was small, and Zhen Zhen would only get to eat them when she was craving them, with her sister-in-law roasting a handful each time. After saving and rationing for nearly a year, there was still a little over two taels left. Zhen Zhen had asked her sister-in-law to roast some for her today since they were going to watch a movie, but all of them had fallen to the ground, and she hadn’t eaten a single one.

“How about I pick them up and wash them for you to eat later?” Ming Bei looked at the scattered melon seeds, feeling heartbroken. But these seeds were covered in dirt, and he knew Zhen Zhen wouldn’t want to eat them after they were picked up. The little girl was very particular about cleanliness.

Zhen Zhen shot him a murderous glance, and Ming Bei froze, not daring to move, holding onto his bicycle, just like when he had encountered Da Huang the other day. The look was just as terrifying. Gritting his teeth, Ming Bei reluctantly took out a dime and said, “How about I give you a dime to buy something to eat?”

Zhen Zhen glanced at the dime with obvious disdain. “What’s the use of this? Melon seeds are only available during the holidays, and each person only gets two taels. With this dime, I wouldn’t even be able to buy a ticket. What good is it?”

Ming Bei looked at the four dimes left in his hand, feeling sorry. “The movie ticket is 1.7 dimes. At least leave me some.”

Zhen Zhen looked at Ming Bei. “Fine, I won’t take a single dime. When I get home, I’ll tell Dad and Grandma that you knocked me to the ground while riding the bicycle.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll give it to you,” Ming Bei hesitated, glanced at the dimes in his hand, and after a moment, handed her another dime. “Here, I’ll give you another dime. I’ll pay the remaining four cents for the movie ticket myself. Is that good enough?”

Zhen Zhen took the two dimes, put them in her pocket, and happily patted the bike seat. “This will do. If you knock me down again, I’ll tell Dad.”

Ming Bei immediately shrank his neck. “Please don’t tell Dad. In his eyes, this bicycle is much closer than his own son.”

Zhen Zhen rolled her eyes. “What nonsense!”

“Ha ha…” A clear, bright laugh rang out. Ming Bei and Zhen Zhen turned to look in the direction of the sound, only to see the little girl in red clothes laughing at them.

When the two turned around, the little girl seemed a little embarrassed. “The sound of you falling just now startled me. I was about to come over to help, but you two started arguing, so I didn’t want to interrupt. Are you both okay?”

Ming Bei gave a silly laugh, scratched his head, unsure of what to say. His ears and neck turned red.

Zhen Zhen couldn’t understand what was so embarrassing about that sentence, but seeing Ming Bei like that, her guess was that his mind had gone completely blank. She quickly greeted the little girl, “Hello, sorry for scaring you just now.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, as long as you’re okay,” the little girl smiled and touched her braid. “Are you both going to the movies too? You should hurry. The movie starts at 9:30, and it’s probably already close to 9 now.”

Zhen Zhen wasn’t paying attention to the time, but they had left the house around 8:30, so by now it must be past 9. Ming Bei came back to his senses, took a rag from under the seat, and wiped the dirt off the bike. He straightened the handlebars and quickly called Zhen Zhen to get on. “Hurry, or we’ll be late.”

Zhen Zhen glanced at Ming Bei and quickly asked the young girl, “Miss, are you going to the movies too? How about you ride on the back of the bicycle and let my brother take us together? Otherwise, we’ll be late.”

The young girl blushed and looked at Ming Bei, shaking her head repeatedly. “No need, you two hurry on. It’s not far, and I have a ticket already. I can go in directly.”

Zhen Zhen looked at her with regret. “Okay, see you later.” Ming Bei blushed as he glanced at the girl and quickly said “Goodbye” before riding off.

Before Zhen Zhen could react, Ming Bei had already ridden seven or eight meters ahead. Furious, Zhen Zhen jumped in place, “Li Ming Bei, could you ride any faster?”

Ming Bei only then realized he had forgotten Zhen Zhen and quickly braked, waiting for her to jump onto the back seat. He then sped off again. The two kilometers were covered in just five minutes. Zhen Zhen patted Ming Bei’s back with a confused expression. “Why did you ride so fast?”

Ming Bei gave a silly grin. “I was a little embarrassed.”

Zhen Zhen stared at him speechlessly, not knowing what to say. Ming Bei found a shaded spot to lock up the bike, then bought two movie tickets and hurried inside with Zhen Zhen.

The local cinema had been screening the movie Landmine Warfare for the past few days. Beicha was a remote area, and new movies came out later than in other places. According to Ming Dong, the cinema in Ice City had been showing Landmine Warfare since last summer, but it had only just started showing in Beicha two months ago.

Although the tickets indicated specific rows and seats, it was basically first come, first served. Ming Bei and Zhen Zhen arrived a bit late, and the cinema was almost full. Ming Bei craned his neck and saw that there were still a few seats in the first row, so he grabbed Zhen Zhen and headed that way. Zhen Zhen exerted force and pulled him back, leading him all the way to the last row to sit down.

Ming Bei grinned and rubbed his arm. “How can you be so strong? I couldn’t even pull you earlier.”

“It’s natural; otherwise, how could Da Huang listen to me like that?” Zhen Zhen opened her cloth bag with a look of admiration from Ming Bei. She took out her water bottle, had a sip of honey water, and then pulled out a small square trash box she made herself, placing it on her lap. From the bag, she grabbed a handful of pine nuts and began to eat.

To make it easier to eat pine nuts and hazelnuts during the movie, Zhen Zhen had used her powers at home to crack open the nuts. When eating them, all she had to do was peel them. She popped a pine nut into her mouth and curiously observed everything around her. This cinema only had one screening hall, with about a hundred seats. A simple movie screen was hung on the stage, and most of the people here were children, chattering away about the movie plot.

The two children sitting in front of Zhen Zhen seemed to have watched this movie more than once. They were arguing about one of the plot points and were both getting heated: “I don’t believe it, let’s see later. If one of us loses, the other should treat us to a movie.”

“Fine, let’s bet. I’ve watched it seven times already. I’m not going to lose to you.”

Zhen Zhen had a dark expression on her face. Watching a movie seven times wasn’t enough; they were preparing for the eighth—just like those folks in the 60s who would reuse water.

As the movie was about to begin, more people were trickling in. However, everyone liked to push forward, and there were still a few empty seats in the last row.

Suddenly, a flash of red entered through the door. Ming Bei, who had been distracted, immediately brightened. He stood up, seemingly wanting to wave at the person, but suddenly thought of something and awkwardly sat back down.

Zhen Zhen, eating her pine nuts, pursed her lips and chuckled. The girl looked around, seemingly not finding a good spot, so she headed towards the last row. Ming Bei nervously stared at her, swallowing hard, and then hastily turned his head to pretend he hadn’t seen her.

Zhen Zhen found Ming Bei’s awkwardness amusing. When Ming Bei was at a loss about what to do, the lights suddenly went out. A beam of light shone onto the movie screen, and by the faint glow of the screen, Ming Bei instinctively glanced sideways, noticing that the girl had sat beside him.

Although Zhen Zhen had watched quite a few old anti-Japanese films when she was young, she had a strong impression of Tunnel Warfare and could hum its theme song. As for Mine Warfare, she hardly remembered anything except a few scenes. As the movie started, Zhen Zhen was immediately drawn in. She didn’t even stop peeling pine nuts and kept her eyes fixed on the screen.

Ming Bei hardly ever had the chance to watch movies. This time, he was lucky to be with Zhen Zhen. But his thoughts were all over the place. Every time he thought about the pretty girl in the red dress sitting beside him, his palms would sweat.

Zhen Zhen was completely immersed in the movie. She didn’t even eat her pine nuts anymore. Hugging her water bottle, she would laugh like a chicken or a pig, causing Ming Bei even more trouble in concentrating. Finally, when the movie was over and the lights came back on, Ming Bei snapped back to reality. The thought of the girl sitting beside him made him want to stick to his seat, so nervous that he didn’t dare to move his head.

Zhen Zhen wiped the tears from laughing so hard, packed up the pine nut shells, and turned to greet the girl beside her: “Hello, sister, we meet again.”

“Hello,” the girl smiled warmly, noticing that Zhen Zhen looked like a cute, white, tender doll, and greeted her enthusiastically. “You’re not from the Hydrolysis Factory, right? You seem unfamiliar.”

“Yeah, my dad works at the grain storage, and we live south of the railway tracks.” Zhen Zhen handed her cloth bag to Ming Bei and quickly introduced herself, “This is my brother, Li Ming Bei, and I’m Li Ming Zhen.”

“My name is Yu Wan Qiu.” Noticing people coming in to clear the place, Yu Wan Qiu quickly stood up and added, “Let’s go outside and talk.”

Following the crowd outside the cinema, Ming Bei hurriedly went to push his bicycle. Zhen Zhen pulled Yu Wan Qiu and asked, “Sister Wan Qiu, when I came to the Hydrolysis Factory before, I only went to the bathhouse and didn’t really explore other places. Is there anything fun around here?”

“There is! Our supply and marketing cooperative is the largest, and they’re a little looser about things compared to outside. Some small things don’t need tickets. Want me to show you around?” Yu Wan Qiu, who had a lively and cheerful personality, didn’t mind Zhen Zhen being younger and chatted with her as they walked.

The Hydrolysis Factory’s supply and marketing cooperative was not far from the cinema. After walking just a few dozen meters, they arrived. It was large, with two doors, and was crowded with people—some were shopping, and others just there for the spectacle. Yu Wan Qiu, seeing Zhen Zhen might get pushed around, kindly grabbed her hand and led her to each counter to browse.

In the proper daily life, everything had to be bought with tickets, while things like needles, thread, face wipes, hand rubs, pencils, and erasers were more lenient. Zhenzhen had seventy cents in her pocket, fifty cents of which was secretly given by Grandma Li, and the remaining twenty cents came from Mingbei’s pocket. In this era, seventy cents was still quite a decent amount of money. Zhenzhen touched her pocket and was eager to spend it.

After circling around the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhenzhen’s gaze fixed on the high-end candies and cakes in the glass display. At home, she usually had biscuits and fruit candies, all of which she had to buy with tickets, so she couldn’t get much. She could only get one pack of biscuits or a few pieces of candy a month. There was another kind, however, that didn’t require tickets: the high-end milk candies and egg cakes on the counter. These could be bought without tickets and without limit.

Zhenzhen pointed at the milk candies and asked the saleslady, “Auntie, how much are the milk candies?”

The saleslady gave her a once-over, and seeing that she was clean and neat, she finally showed a smile. “Two cents a piece.”

“How much are those cakes?” Zhenzhen asked again.

“The egg cakes, one dime each.”

Mingbei clicked his tongue, tugging Zhenzhen’s sleeve secretly. “That’s too expensive. One dime and it’s gone in two bites, it’s not worth it.”

Zhenzhen blinked at Mingbei, her face serious. “But I want to try it.” Although this might not be as delicious as the snacks from later years, having come to this era, she felt she should try everything, or it would feel like a waste.

Mingbei helplessly rummaged through his pocket, pulling out only five cents. “I can only buy you two pieces of candy.”

Zhenzhen smiled, glancing at him before turning away. “I have my own money.” She then pulled out seventy cents from her pocket and handed it to the saleslady. “Auntie, I want six pieces of cake and five pieces of milk candy.”

The saleslady wrote a ticket for Zhenzhen to pay, while swiftly wrapping the cake and milk candies. Mingbei watched Zhenzhen spend the seventy cents without batting an eye and felt heartbroken. “You could just buy one to try. Why buy six? Ah, so wasteful.”

Zhenzhen smiled, placing the cake into the cloth bag, then handed one milk candy to Mingbei. “Buy some back for Grandma, Mom, Sister-in-law, and Meat Bun to try. It’s not easy for us to come out, so everyone should get one.”

Mingbei sucked on the milk candy while waving his hand. “I won’t eat it. If I do, I’ll feel so guilty I won’t be able to sleep tonight. You should keep it.”

Zhenzhen laughed and then handed a piece of candy to Yu Wanqiu. “Sister Wanqiu, please have some candy.”

Yu Wanqiu quickly waved her hand. “Keep it for yourself. If I want to eat some, I’ll buy it myself.”

“I don’t care if you buy it yourself, this one is on me,” Zhenzhen said as she pushed the milk candy into her hand. “Next time, I’ll come to the hydrolysis factory and want to play with you again. Are you rejecting me because I’m too young and don’t want to talk to me, so you won’t eat my candy?”

Yu Wanqiu was amused by Zhenzhen’s words. She took the milk candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. “Thank you for the candy.”

After watching the movie and strolling around, it was already nearing noon. Zhenzhen, fearing that they would be waiting at home for lunch, didn’t dare to delay further. After bidding farewell to Yu Wanqiu, she quickly had Mingbei ride the bike back home.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Zhenzhen jumped off the back seat of the bicycle, running towards the house and shouting, “Grandma, Mom, I bought some delicious food for you.”

Meat Bun heard the sound and stood up from the kang, stretching his neck to look outside. “What did Auntie buy?”

Zhenzhen took out an oil paper package from her cloth bag and carefully opened it. “Cakes, made of egg whites, flour, and sugar. Smell how fragrant.”

Meat Bun sniffed it lightly and couldn’t resist biting into it. His eyes immediately lit up. “Delicious!”

“Delicious, huh?” Zhenzhen pinched Meat Bun’s chubby little face and pointed at the one he had bitten. “This one is yours. Auntie didn’t wash her hands, you take it yourself.”

Meat Bun picked one up, looking longingly at the others. “Meat Bun wants two.”

“No way, everyone can only have one.” Zhenzhen washed her hands, then happily fed a piece to Grandma Li. “Grandma, try the cake I bought.”

Grandma Li quickly backed away. “I’m not eating. How expensive are these things? You should keep it for yourself.”

“One for each of us, try it. If you don’t eat it, I won’t eat it either.” Zhenzhen coaxed and threatened, finally persuading Grandma Li to take one. Grandma Li carefully took a small bite, then quickly handed the rest back to Zhenzhen. “Just a bite to taste the flavor is enough. Eating too much is a waste.”

When it came to Wang Sufen and Guihua, the two didn’t even want to try it, and Zhenzhen, holding the little cake, felt a bit disheartened. She had several boxes of gold bars on the mountain, but her family wouldn’t even spare a piece of cake to eat. If only there were a way to exchange more food or supplies, she sighed, looking at her own body. She felt a bit downhearted—she was still too young and really wanted to grow up quickly.

Zhenzhen wrapped up the remaining cakes and placed them on the shelf, then took out two milk candies from her pocket and gave them to Meat Bun. Meat Bun took the candies, grinning at Zhenzhen, when suddenly, a roar from the courtyard startled both of them.

“Li Mingbei, get out here!” Li Muwu stood in front of his beloved bicycle, holding a tape measure and seething with rage.

Li Mingbei crouched behind the door, trembling, forcing a calm expression as he poked his head out. “What… what’s going on?”

“Did you knock my bike over?” Li Muwu was so heartbroken his face turned green. “The handlebar is shifted by one centimeter to the left. You must have knocked it over on the right side.”

Li Mingbei was nearly scared out of his wits. He had never seen anyone measure a bike with a tape measure. How could they measure a one-centimeter deviation like this? He had checked the bike several times before entering the door!

Zhenzhen was in awe of Li Muwu. In front of his beloved bicycle, his intelligence and intuition were practically possessed by Conan!

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Author’s note: My mom was a child of the hydrolysis factory. When she was little, her favorite thing was watching movies. But movie tickets were expensive, so to watch more times, she and her friends came up with all sorts of tricks. For example, they would pick up torn ticket stubs and glue them together, then next time, they would take advantage of the crowd and have the ticket inspector tear the other side, or hide them in the bathroom. With ten attempts, they’d succeed once or twice if they forgot to clear the theater. Or they’d go straight to the screening room because they were neighbors, and the staff wouldn’t chase them out. My mom’s greatest achievement was watching four screenings of the same movie in one day! Impressive!

I remember the candy prices clearly because my grandmother once told me that my mom used to cry a lot as a child and could only be comforted with candy. A piece of candy cost two cents, and if she gave two cents, she’d stop crying. I suspect she just liked to cry for the candy!