Chapter 212 – Watching the Show

As time passed, it wasn’t long before the performances began.

The audience under the stage had already been waiting impatiently. After all, seeing Xin Fengxia perform was something to brag about. These days, even getting enough to eat was a problem, so even fewer people were willing to go out to listen to operas.

To express her gratitude for the 50 jin of pork provided by Zhou Yimin, Xin Fengxia pulled out all the best acts her troupe had to offer.

After all, money wasn’t what they lacked—what they lacked were ration tickets. If they could maintain a good relationship, they might be able to buy some meat in the future without needing tickets. That would be ideal.

The first performance was The Young Phoenix Takes Flight. Soon, the villagers saw the actors coming on stage one after another.

This play tells the story of a battle between the Song and Liao dynasties. Eighth Sister and Ninth Sister of the Yang Family Generals are besieged in Shuanglong Valley. Yang Yanzhao orders Meng Liang to return to the capital and request reinforcements. Old Lady She knows that the kitchen maid Yang Paifeng is extraordinarily skilled in martial arts and is determined to serve her country, so she recommends her to be sent to the frontlines to rescue them.

Xie Tingfang is unconvinced and challenges her to a duel, only to lose to Paifeng. Paifeng then follows Chancellor Kou Zhun to the frontlines. Unexpectedly, Jiao Zan also does not trust her and ends up being soundly defeated in a match, yielding wholeheartedly. Afterwards, Paifeng and the others devise a fire attack strategy, and with the help of a kite, they send a message to Eighth and Ninth Sister, launching a joint internal and external assault. In the end, Han Chang is defeated and the Song army secures a great victory.

When Xin Fengxia saw the performance start, she ordered the troupe members to take out the peanuts and sunflower seeds they had prepared in advance and sell them.

There was no other way—some troupe members came from poor families, so they let those members handle the sales, allowing them to earn a bit of extra income and help lighten their household burdens.

These peanuts and sunflower seeds were gifts from previous performances in other places. They hadn’t been able to refuse, so they had accepted them.

Lu Anguo, with the leader’s permission, began walking around and quietly hawking, “Tasty peanuts and sunflower seeds! Anyone want some? Fifty cents a bag!”

Each bag weighed about one jin. At present, peanuts and sunflower seeds cost thirty cents per jin, so each bag earned them just twenty cents.

This price had also been set by the troupe leader. It couldn’t be too high, otherwise they wouldn’t sell, and worse, it might ruin the troupe’s reputation. People might even report them for profiteering—that would be a serious problem.

Once Lu Anguo began selling, quite a few people shook their heads at the fifty-cent price. After all, pork only cost eighty cents per jin—this was nearly the price of half a jin of meat. Most rural people couldn’t bear to spend like that, so business wasn’t great.

Then Lu Anguo spotted Zhou Yimin sitting in the front row. He knew Zhou was a cadre and should be willing to spend, so he slowly made his way over.

Before long, he stood beside Zhou Yimin and began hawking again, “Peanuts and sunflower seeds! Anyone want some? Fifty cents a bag!”

Zhou Yimin couldn’t help but laugh—he didn’t lack that kind of stuff.

Though he could buy them from the store, it wasn’t the right time to bring those out. If someone noticed, it wouldn’t look good. So he said directly, “I’ll take four bags then—two peanuts, two sunflower seeds.”

There were his grandparents and his cousin’s family—so many people that even four bags might not be enough. Besides, at fifty cents each, four bags were just two yuan. To him, that was pocket change.

The old man protested, heart aching, “Grandson, one bag is enough. Buying that many is a waste—we won’t finish them.”

Two yuan was no small amount in the countryside. Some families couldn’t even save that much in a whole month.

“Grandpa, four bags might not even be enough. There are seven or eight of us here. And a performance lasts at least two or three hours—we’ll definitely finish them,” Zhou Yimin explained.

As he spoke, he took out two yuan and placed it on Lu Anguo’s tray.

Seeing this, the old man didn’t say anything more.

Indeed, to his grandson, two yuan was nothing. After all, he’d recently become a team leader.

Lu Anguo wasn’t about to miss this sale. He quickly handed over the four bags to Zhou Yimin and said gratefully, “Thank you, Team Lead Zhou.”

Just as Lu Anguo was about to walk away, Zhou Yimin suddenly thought that the old village secretary and the others probably didn’t have any either.

He figured he should give them some too. But he wasn’t sure if there’d be enough. After all, there were quite a few elderly and children in the village.

Aside from the bedridden and newborns, almost everyone who could come had come. If they missed this chance to watch the show, who knew when the next one would be?

Zhou Yimin asked, “Excuse me, how many more bags of peanuts and sunflower seeds do you have?”

Lu Anguo immediately perked up—this was clearly a big sale coming. He replied quickly, “There are five more bags of peanuts and seven bags of sunflower seeds.”

He thought if he could sell all of those, he’d earn more than two yuan. Considering that families with monthly incomes below five yuan were considered struggling, two yuan really meant a lot.

Zhou Yimin then asked, “Do you have more than that?”

There were many elderly folks in the village. Just ten or so bags wouldn’t be enough. If he distributed them unevenly, it might cause more trouble than it was worth.

“Team Lead Zhou, please wait a moment—I’ll go check the inventory,” Lu Anguo replied at once.

Saying that, he dashed back behind the stage, afraid that if he delayed even a little, this sale would fall through.

Zhou Yimin watched this and shook his head helplessly. He hadn’t even stated what he needed yet, and the guy had already run off to check stock.

The old lady didn’t understand and said, “Grandson, you already bought four bags, and it’s still not enough? Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should spend it like this. You should save it. When you get married and have children, you’ll need a lot of money.”

She hadn’t said anything about the two yuan just now.

But now it looked like her grandson wanted to buy up all the peanuts and sunflower seeds. Who knew how much that would cost? That just wasn’t acceptable.

“That’s right, Yimin, you should listen to your grandma,” added his third aunt.

Zhou Yimin explained, “Grandpa, Grandma, I’m not trying to waste money. I just want to buy them to give to the elderly in the village. It’s a way to earn some good reputation—it’ll be helpful for me in the future.”

He said it deliberately, knowing his grandparents’ weak spot. As long as it was beneficial to his future, they would support him without question.

Reputation was especially important right now. If your reputation wasn’t good, you might not get promoted or even have a chance at marriage. Without a good reputation, the leaders wouldn’t think highly of you, and you’d never get a promotion.

Sure enough, after hearing this, the old lady immediately said, “Grandson, you make a good point. Do you have enough money on you? If not, ask your grandpa.”

Her grandson’s promotion was at stake. The Zhou family had finally produced a cadre, and she couldn’t be the one to hold him back. Otherwise, how would she face their ancestors in the afterlife?

(End of Chapter)