Chapter 97: The Hilarious Little Rascal

“Hey! Hey! What kind of look is that?” Liu Xing laughed as he waved his hand in front of the two staff members, teasing them with a joke. “Don’t get any funny ideas! I’m telling you, this money isn’t mine alone. If it goes missing, I could shut down this entire rural cooperative. Believe it or not?”

“You say that as if I’ve never seen money before,” the male staff member said, giving a glance to the female staff member. “Stop staring and hurry up to pour the tea. This is an important client.”

“Oh!” The female staff member quickly did as she was told.

“Hello, my name is Yang Zhi! I’m one of the managers here at the rural cooperative,” the male staff member introduced himself warmly.

“I’m Liu Xing,” Liu Xing smiled.

“Liu Dongju,” Liu Dongju added.

“Nice to meet you both.” Yang Zhi looked at the bundles of cash on the counter and rubbed his hands together. “I wonder if you want to deposit this money into a demand account or a fixed-term account?”

“Demand account,” Liu Xing replied.

A thousand yuan in the 1980s could be worth tens of thousands, or even more, decades later. There was no need to put it into a fixed-term deposit unless it was for a short-term investment, which would be the best choice. Of course, since there was nowhere else to keep it, it had to be deposited first.

Yang Zhi then looked at Liu Dongju, “Can your brother be trusted to keep his word?”

It wasn’t that he looked down on Liu Xing, but Liu Xing was still quite young, and Yang Zhi felt a bit uneasy.

“This money was all earned by my brother. Do you think he would lie?” Liu Dongju teased back.

“Alright then!” Yang Zhi’s gaze shifted to Liu Xing. “Do you have any ID? If not, your household registration booklet or a certificate from the village office would do. I can start the deposit procedures right away.”

“I don’t have any of those,” Liu Xing said helplessly with a smile.

“Ah?” Yang Zhi was stunned.

Without any ID, how could they deposit money? Even if he tried to pull strings, withdrawing the money later would be a huge hassle.

Liu Dongju took out her own ID. “Open an account in my name. Deposit all the money there. That should be fine, right?”

“No problem, of course not,” Yang Zhi said, taking the ID and examining it carefully. Seeing the stamp from the Donghe Police Station, he relaxed and sat down to begin the paperwork.

Liu Xing noticed everything was done manually and shook his head.

At that moment, the female staff member brought over tea and snacks, including sunflower seeds and little treats for everyone.

Seeing there was nothing else to do, she began to count the money with Liu Xing’s consent.

Liu Dongju, wary that the female staff might tamper with the count, watched closely and seriously.

After more than ten minutes, the total was tallied.

One thousand three hundred seventy-two yuan in total.

“Is the amount correct?” Liu Dongju asked Liu Xing.

“About right!” Liu Xing smiled.

The money spent on shoes over time was roughly a little over a thousand yuan; he wasn’t sure of the exact number. As for the money he earned at the Hengshui Distillery, he gave his mother five hundred yuan and still had over three hundred left on him. Because the bills were large denominations, he wasn’t keen on depositing them all—there were many places where he needed to spend money right now.

“What do you mean ‘about right’?” Liu Dongju gave him a sharp look. “You can’t be so careless or you’ll suffer a big loss.”

“Sis, it’s not as serious as you think,” Liu Xing said with a smile, looking at the female staff. “Out of this thirteen hundred seventy-two yuan, deposit twelve hundred for me, and exchange the rest into ten-yuan bills for my sister.”

Their eldest sister was the pillar of the family; she needed money on hand.

After thinking it over, he decided it was best to leave her a couple hundred yuan.

“Okay!” The female staff member quickly followed his instructions.

Yang Zhi naturally had no objections.

Liu Dongju, however, was a bit flustered and looked anxiously at Liu Xing. “Brother, why are you giving me so much money?”

“To spend, of course! Don’t you need money for daily groceries like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea?” Liu Xing replied casually.

“But not this much!”

For a moment, Liu Dongju felt a warm glow inside.

She finally realized her brother’s childhood affections were not misplaced.

“Is it too much?” Liu Xing didn’t think so. For him, money was never enough, no matter the era.

Yang Zhi overheard this and felt like giving Liu Xing a good punch. His own annual salary was only a few hundred yuan.

Liu Dongju smiled as she looked at Yang Zhi, but she knew once Liu Xing made a decision, it rarely changed. So she accepted it cheerfully. Their mother had worried that Liu Xing wouldn’t give her enough money to help make shoes, but it seemed she was getting much more than others.

Amid laughter and light conversation...

The deposit procedures were soon completed.

Liu Xing received the passbook and, seeing nothing unusual, chatted casually with Yang Zhi before heading back with Liu Dongju, carrying sunflower seeds and peanuts.

They had been at the cooperative for nearly an hour, and if they didn’t return soon, the safety of the black calf in the cattle pen might be at risk.

...

Back home, it was already past three in the afternoon.

Seeing no other tasks for him, Liu Xing told Liu Dongju and then took the black calf out for grazing.

Guazi followed along, holding hands with Xiaodi, and began searching for ant nests in the grass along the way.

Though Liu Xing found their playfulness somewhat boring, he didn’t stop them. After all, he had been like that in his childhood.

However, he soon regretted it.

Xiaodi, fearless and daring, had led Guazi to a ground hornet’s nest and started digging, trying to catch some hornets for fun.

The consequences were predictable: both were chased by angry hornets, and Xiaodi was stung on the lip.

Guazi, being faster, was unharmed but thoroughly frightened.

Seeing Xiaodi’s lip quickly swell, Liu Xing hurriedly lifted her onto the black calf’s back and headed home.

Guazi hurried behind, “Brother, brother! Will Xiaodi be alright?”

“She’ll be fine. It’ll just be a bit hard for her to eat tonight,” Liu Xing teased.

He himself had been stung by ground hornets several times as a child. Without treatment, the swelling would fade naturally after a day.

But if the hornet was large and black, he had to be careful—such a sting could take more than half a month to heal.

Guazi breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as she was okay.

Xiaodi, however, pouted and began to cry.

Tonight there was meat to eat; if it was difficult to eat, she probably wouldn’t get much.

Liu Xing smiled at her but said nothing, quickening his pace.

Before reaching the door, he mentioned to Liu Dongju about Xiaodi’s hornet sting and, halfway there, ran into Nie Sun.

Behind Nie Sun was a sturdy man, about thirty years old, but his eyes were haggard, as if he hadn’t slept all night.

“Liu Xing, this is my brother Nie Quan,” Nie Sun said without wasting time, pointing to the sturdy man. “Anything about making shoe cabinets, just discuss it directly with him.”

“Alright! But this isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go to my sister’s house,” Liu Xing suggested.

“Let’s go then!” Nie Sun patted Nie Quan’s shoulder and took the lead.

Liu Xing followed, leading the black calf.

Soon, they arrived at Liu Dongju’s home.

After greeting Nie Sun, Liu Xing put Guazi and Xiaodi down and went to the cattle pen to secure the calf.

When he returned, Nie Quan and Nie Sun were already seated on low stools at the door, drinking tea.

But Nie Quan remained sullen, silent.

Liu Xing shook his head. “Uncle Nie Quan, you can’t be like this. It’s just construction wages you haven’t received. Why be so down?”

Nie Quan glanced at Liu Xing but lowered his head and sipped his tea, saying nothing.

Nie Sun sighed deeply. “Liu Xing, don’t bother trying to cheer him up. Tell him about the shoe cabinets. He badly needs money. The family’s barely scraping by, his wife is arguing with him, and she’s gone back to her parents’ home.”

“Alright,” Liu Xing said and went into the kitchen to get paper and pen from Liu Dongju. Then he sat opposite Nie Quan and began sketching the design for the shoe cabinet.

A hush fell.

Only the playful sounds of Guazi and Xiaodi echoed around.

At first, Nie Quan looked at Liu Xing’s design indifferently.

But soon his eyes brightened, and a strange light appeared in them.

This was because the shoe cabinet design was something he, a carpenter, had never seen before—it was innovative. Although it was for displaying shoes, if made, it would likely be very popular.

“Where did you copy this shoe cabinet design from?” Nie Quan finally spoke, his first words of the day.

Nie Sun was surprised but relieved. Afraid of interrupting their conversation, he smiled and stepped aside to play with Guazi and Xiaodi.

Upon seeing Xiaodi’s swollen, sausage-like lips, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

His cheerful laughter surprised Liu Dongju, who came out to see what was happening. Seeing Xiaodi’s predicament, she laughed too and took her inside to treat the injury.

She was experienced enough not to need a doctor.

Liu Xing also smiled and answered Nie Quan’s question. “That’s a bit harsh. Why would I need to copy a mere shoe cabinet design? There are plenty in books; I just modified the style a bit.”

His words were obviously evasive.

Nie Quan didn’t believe him but didn’t press further. Instead, he asked seriously, “How many of these shoe cabinets do you want to make?”

“Hmm…” Liu Xing thought for a moment. “Five per set, with a total length of about four meters connected together. I need two sets—that’s ten cabinets.”

“That will cost quite a bit. Dongkui’s family doesn’t have ready-made fir wood. If you have to buy everything, including the glass, it’ll be over ten yuan each,” Nie Quan said, picking up the design.

“Does that include labor?” Liu Xing asked casually.

“More or less, but I can’t say for sure. The price of timber at the market fluctuates a lot and is expensive,” Nie Quan replied.

Although Liu Xing’s shoe cabinet design was novel, the construction was simple.

Once the frame was made, the rest would be quick.

But the cost of materials...

He couldn’t guarantee.

Because many materials required ration coupons to purchase.

Without those, making the shoe cabinets would be nearly impossible.

“That’s true,” Liu Xing nodded in agreement.

In the 1980s, it wasn’t just pork that was expensive; timber was costly as well.

As someone who had lived through it, he knew this well. 1982 wasn’t even the peak of prices; by the 1990s, timber costs became even more bewildering.

“Are you still going to make the shoe cabinets then?” Nie Quan smiled and put down the design.

He knew the young man would likely say no.

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Thanks for the 100 Qidian coins to “No Smoking, No Drinking, No Perm” for the tip, and thanks to juyhnm for the 500 Qidian coins.

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