PCJ – Chapter 169 The Unlucky Second-Rate Guy

“Ahem, two bowls of dumplings,” Zhang Manyin reluctantly sat down. The cost of living had risen quickly; last year, a bowl of dumplings was 0.2 yuan, but this year it was 0.3 yuan. Farmers had limited ways to make money, and on average, they couldn’t even earn 0.3 yuan a day. Spending 0.6 yuan at once was something Zhang Manyin found hard to accept. Originally, he planned to buy two buns for Jiaohua, which cost 0.1 yuan each, totaling just 0.2 yuan. It’s not that Zhang Manyin was stingy, but money was hard to come by. They had spent dozens of yuan on seeds today, and they still needed to buy fertilizer and pesticides, which were all very expensive. Last night, he and his wife calculated their expenses for the year, and they were still a bit short for the fertilizer money. They planned to sell a few chickens in the market soon.

Not many people who came to town to shop were willing to eat dumplings at a restaurant. A child, also brought to town by an adult to shop, kept staring at Zhang Jiaohua, but the adult pulled him away tightly, leaving step by step while looking back.

The dumpling stall owner quickly brought over two bowls of dumplings, each containing twelve dumplings. Zhang Manyin scooped two dumplings from his bowl into Zhang Jiaohua’s bowl. When Zhang Jiaohua looked at him curiously, he mumbled, “I don’t have much of an appetite today. It would be a waste if I couldn’t finish them.”

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t think much about whether Zhang Manyin’s words were true. Anyway, his appetite was huge now, and he could easily eat two bowls and still not be completely full.

Perhaps Zhang Manyin was reminiscing about the last time he had dumplings in town, but he couldn’t remember ever splurging on dumplings when he brought his sons, Lian and Ping, to town. Back then, the family was even poorer, struggling to get enough to eat, let alone splurge on dumplings in town.

The dumplings were filled with meat stuffing, but there were more green onions than meat, though the green onions were fragrant. The soup was made from bone broth, slightly milky white, with some floating oil. The taste was indeed good.

Zhang Jiaohua quickly finished his bowl of hot dumplings, including the soup, and sat aside to wait.

At this moment, three greasy and somewhat comical young men entered the dumpling stall. All three had curly hair, a typical hairstyle for troublemakers of the time. They seemed to have some trouble walking, all limping a bit. Actually, these three had some connection with Zhang Jiaohua. Last time, he didn’t get to see them. They were the ones who tried to steal wine from Zhang Jiaohua’s house on New Year’s Eve.

“Boss, three bowls of dumplings,” Sun Dinggui, the least injured of the three, shouted as he sat down and slapped the table hard.

“Just a moment, just a moment, coming right up,” the dumpling stall owner said with a bitter smile. These troublemakers not only scared away business but also might cause some damage. However, such people couldn’t be offended. The stall owner had to handle them carefully.

Zhang Manyin glanced at them and quickly whispered to Zhang Jiaohua, “Don’t look at those people.”

Zhang Jiaohua nodded.

Zhang Manyin hastened to eat his dumplings.

Jinhu and his companions had their eyes on the three troublemakers since they entered the stall.

“Brother Gui, did you feel a cold breeze when we came in?” Li Fading shivered suddenly.

“Maybe this place is just drafty,” Yuan Renqiang also felt a chill.

Sun Dinggui laughed, “You two are useless. What cold breeze? I didn’t feel anything.”

Seeing the two bamboo poles next to Zhang Jiaohua’s table, Li Dinggui became interested, “Look at that, even these farmers are eating out.”

Sun Dinggui walked over and tried to knock over the bamboo poles with his foot, thinking they might fall on Zhang Jiaohua or Zhang Manyin.

But unexpectedly, the poles didn’t budge and stood firm, while Sun Dinggui lost his balance and fell in an awkward position. His leg was already injured, and this unexpected mishap made him look even worse.

Sun Dinggui sat on the ground in a daze.

Li Fading and Yuan Renqiang hurriedly helped him up, “Brother Gui, did that farmer trip you?”

Sun Dinggui didn’t understand what had happened, but he nodded, “They must have tripped me.”

“Alright, you dare trip Brother Gui. This won’t end well!” Yuan Renqiang grabbed a bamboo pole, but it didn’t behave as he expected. It swung high and struck Li Fading’s head, knocking him down.

Yuan Renqiang was terrified and tried to drop the pole, but it swung again, hitting Sun Dinggui on the head. Sun Dinggui looked puzzled at Yuan Renqiang and collapsed, luckily landing on Li Fading, preventing further injury.

Yuan Renqiang, looking like he had seen a ghost, finally threw the pole away, but it flew up, bounced off the roof, and hit him on the head.

Bang!

Yuan Renqiang also collapsed on Sun Dinggui and Li Fading.

Zhang Manyin was dumbfounded. The dumpling stall owner stood frozen with a bowl of dumplings in his hand.

Zhang Jiaohua laughed, knowing it was Jinhu and the others causing mischief. These guys deserved it.

Zhang Manyin quickly counted out 0.6 yuan from his pocket, picked up the bamboo pole, gathered their things, and pulled Zhang Jiaohua outside.

“Let’s go quickly,” Zhang Manyin said in a panic. Although it had nothing to do with him, he wanted to avoid any trouble.

“We still need to visit Grandpa Luo,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Not today. Just in case…” Zhang Manyin was worried.

“It’s fine. They brought it on themselves. It’s not our fault. Uncle Luo is a policeman. If these bad guys dare to come, he can arrest them,” Zhang Jiaohua reassured him. With Jinhu and the others, there was no need to worry.

They walked quickly, with Zhang Manyin constantly looking back to check if the troublemakers were following.

When they reached near Luo Yongming’s house, the smell of fried dough sticks from Lao Xiao’s stall made Zhang Jiaohua’s stomach growl again.

“Hurry up, we’ll drop off the stuff and head back immediately,” Zhang Manyin urged, not wanting to stay in town too long to avoid any unexpected trouble.