Chapter Forty-Four On the Bus

  Qiu Ye rested at home for a day and then decided to start his own tea egg project. Wang Zhu Zi had also been prepared early, so the next morning, Qiu Ye took Wang Zhu Zi together to the train station.

  The Normal University is quite far from the train station, and it takes more than 40 minutes by bus to get there. Qiu Ye was carrying a basin with a layer of newspaper at the bottom, on top of which were a small stool and a cushion, and in her backpack were two bottles of water and five steamed buns that had been freshly made at home that morning. Wang Zhuo, on the other hand, was using a shoulder pole to carry two large iron buckets containing 400 tea leaf eggs.

  On the way to the bus station, Qiu Ye asked Wang Zhuzi, "Yesterday afternoon, why did Wang Dandan's mother and several aunts go to your home?"

  Qiu Ye ran away very unfairly yesterday, but she was still curious about what they said. Zhu Zi Ge shook his head like a rattle drum.

  Wang Zhuzi may not have reacted for a moment, and didn't know how Qiu Ye knew about this matter. However, he wouldn't lie, so he said straightforwardly: "They came to ask what my family does every day that smells so good."

  Wang Zhuzi also remembered what happened yesterday afternoon. Although he was a bit silly, they shouldn't think they could fool him either. Usually, they would point and whisper behind his back, thinking he didn't know, but actually, he knew everything. When he was young, his mother told him to be happy being himself and not care about what others said. He had been following his mother's words all these years, living his own life.

  "What did you say?" Actually, Qiu Ye had already guessed it. It must be the aroma of tea leaf eggs that attracted them to go there. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered with Zhu Zi Ge normally.

  "I said the taste of boiled eggs," Wang Zhuzi replied.

  Qiu Ye burst out laughing at this answer, which wasn't entirely wrong either. "Did they believe it?" Even an idiot wouldn't fall for that.

  "I don't know, they just asked this and that at the door, and wanted to come in and sit for a bit. I didn't let them, I said it's not good for a single man and woman to be alone together." Wang Zhuzi said seriously, he wasn't lying, all he did at home was boil eggs and add some soy sauce. Also, although there were several women with her, someone had once told him that unless they were his own family or wife, it's not right for a man to be in the same room as a woman.

  Qiu Ye couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing this, the answer was just too awesome. She could imagine the faces of those women who had tried to flirt with him, their hypocritical and insincere behavior wouldn't work on Zhu Zhi Ge.

  They chatted and laughed all the way to the bus station.

  In the 1980s, buses were all equipped with large overhead racks and a turntable in the middle. The fare was one yuan per ride. Qiu Ye waited at the bus stop for less than a few minutes before they saw their No. 2 bus slowly approaching. Since Qiu Ye's home was near the starting point of this route, it was only a few stops away, so when they boarded the bus, there were not many people on board yet, and many seats were still empty.

  Rather than saying that people nowadays are simple-minded, the ticket seller with a long face, although not giving them a good attitude towards the big and small ones carrying a pole and a basin, did not ask them to buy tickets for the two iron buckets. If this were in the 21st century, they would definitely have to buy three tickets before the ticket seller would let them on the bus, because those two iron buckets took up one person's seat.

  Qiu Ye and Wang Zhu Zi found a middle seat to sit down, Qiu Ye looked at the familiar yet strange scenery outside and was a bit distracted. In her heart, she would unconsciously think that this place would become a large shopping mall in the future, with expensive clothes that would scare people to death. If she had money in the future, she would definitely buy several storefronts here and collect high rent every year. This place would become a land tax bureau in the future, and it was said that the welfare of this unit was very good. If she could work here in the future, that would be great. That place would open a large supermarket in the future...

  Qiu Ye was lost in thought all along, until a voice rang out and she came back to her senses.

  "Oh my, what's in this bucket that smells so good?" The speaker was an old lady with a head full of white hair, standing beside Qiu Ye and holding onto the armrest of her seat, pointing at the iron bucket containing tea eggs.

  Qiu Ye only then discovered that while she was staring out the window in a daze, many people had already boarded the bus and the aisle was packed with people.

  Qiu Ye quickly stood up and said to the old lady who was speaking, "Grandma, you sit here, this car is crowded, don't squeeze in." As he spoke, Qiu Ye made way by shifting his body and yielding his seat.

  In her previous life, she always took the initiative to give up her seat to others. There was a time when she took her one-year-old child out and got on the bus, but surprisingly, no one gave up their seat for her. The conductor shouted several times with a loudspeaker, but no one stood up. At that time, there were several young people in their 20s sitting in the priority seats, either turning their heads to look out the window or lowering their heads to play with their mobile phones, pretending not to see. However, at that time, Qiu Ye's son was being held very uncomfortably and crying loudly, how could they not know that there was a woman with a child standing next to them? Qiu Ye had no choice but to hold the child with one hand and grab the handrail with the other, swaying back and forth. It wasn't until an old lady sitting next to her occasionally supported her that she was able to get through the sudden braking safely.

  At that time, Qiu Ye thought that she had personally experienced the hardships of elderly, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant women with children taking the bus, so she put herself in their shoes. Later, when she encountered such people on the bus, she would actively give up her seat. She was young, it didn't matter if she stood for a while, besides, she also wanted to wait until she was old, someone would give up their seat for her, so she thought she should start with herself.

  The old lady with a head full of white hair was very surprised when Qiu Ye gave up his seat to her, but she still went over and sat down.

  "You're such a good kid, thank you so much, Grandma."

  "Grandma, no need to thank me." Qiu Ye saw herself standing up, and the pillar brother behind her also wanted to stand up, yielding his seat to her. She hastily shook her head at him, as she still had to sell tea eggs later.

  "Child, you haven't told me yet what's in this bucket of yours?" The old lady sat down and was now closer to the bucket, and the smell became even thicker.

  Qiu Ye seemed to hear someone's stomach growling in the carriage.

  "Grandma, this is a tea egg, made by boiling tea leaves and several kinds of medicinal herbs. We're on our way to the train station to sell these tea eggs." Qiu Ye explained her identity and what was in the bucket with just a few words, and she wasn't really lying either - the seasonings used for making tea eggs are also considered medicine in traditional Chinese medicine.

  "Oh, this is called a tea egg? How much does it sell for?" The old lady asked with interest.

  "Two mao five for one. We've been boiling them for over two hours, the eggs are full of flavor." Qiu Ye knew that two mao five for an egg was a bit expensive at this time, so she hurriedly boasted about how difficult it was to make tea eggs.

  "Oh, really? Little friend, are you selling now?" The old lady was somewhat moved, she had never eaten this kind of tea egg before. Today happened to be the day she went to her son's house to see her grandson and granddaughter, so she bought a few to let the kids try."

  "Of course we're selling! Grandma, how many do you want?" Qiu Ye's boastful words were meant to make a sale - why would they possibly pass up the chance to make some money?

  "Then give me four first, I haven't eaten breakfast yet this morning." The old lady was also very cautious, afraid that the things wouldn't taste good, so she bought a few to try the flavor first. If it tasted good, then she would buy more.

  "Wait, I'll wrap them for you." Qiu Ye said, taking off the backpack from his shoulder, unzipping it, and pulling out a small stack of neatly cut newspaper. He folded them up so that each sheet could wrap four tea leaf eggs.

  These newspapers were collected by her from Zhao Yanqing at the post office and her godfather, just to wrap tea eggs when she was in the train station. People rushing for trains can't bring their own lunch boxes, so she had prepared early.

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