The Kindhearted Girl Gets a Wife 12

Chapter 12

Pingshun was a town born in the mountains, surrounded by continuous green hills, shrouded in thick white clouds and mist all year round. The mornings were always damp. This environment was enough to wake anyone up—except for the perpetually sleepy Pei Yunle.

She kicked her legs out and leaned back in her small stool, a bun dangling from her mouth, her eyes staring blankly at the distant green mountains.

Chen Qingtang glanced at her, stirred the surface of the millet congee with a spoon, and then tapped the spoon’s handle against the edge of the pot. The crisp sound pulled Pei Yunle’s wandering thoughts back.

She rubbed her eyes, forgetting about the bun in her mouth. The moment she opened it, the round, soft, yellowish-white thing rolled onto the ground. Pei Yunle yelped and quickly picked it up, patting off the dust. After making sure Grandma Liu hadn’t seen, she let her heart settle back into her chest.

“Three-second rule, still good to eat.” Pei Yunle finished the bun in two or three bites. Seeing Chen Qingtang stand up, the congee bowl on the table already empty, she quickly stood up too. “Are we leaving?”

Chen Qingtang shook her head and pointed to a pile of cardboard in the corner of the courtyard. She picked up a small wooden stick from the ground, dipped it in water, and wrote: You sell the cardboard, then come to the store in the afternoon.

Pei Yunle looked at the cardboard. It wasn’t just one or two pieces; it was several bundles. Next to it was a burlap sack, overflowing with empty bottles, a few of which had rolled onto the ground.

“Me? You mean, I have to take it all by myself?” Pei Yunle pointed at herself, suspecting Chen Qingtang was some kind of slave driver.

Chen Qingtang walked to the entrance and pointed at the three-wheeler parked there.

Seeing Pei Yunle’s contorted expression, Chen Qingtang patted her shoulder encouragingly and lowered her head to type: [Half of the money you make will be a bonus for you.]

Pei Yunle was speechless. How much could she make from selling some cardboard and bottles? A few yuan? But when you’re living under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.

Seeing no objection from her, Chen Qingtang finished cleaning the dishes and left.

Seeing the old woman huddled by the threshold, Pei Yunle couldn’t help but ask, “Grandma, did you collect all this?”

Grandma Liu, her eyes half-closed, shuddered at the question. “Oh… there’s a big trash can at our entrance. I just go through it when I have nothing to do.”

Great. Now it’s my problem.

The old woman pounded her own knees. “Dearie, could you trouble yourself to get me some medicinal patches from inside?”

“Are your knees bothering you?” Pei Yunle asked, poking her head out as she walked inside.

“It’s been many years. They’ve started hurting again these past few days. Maybe it’s from doing too much farm work when I was young. And all of you kids used to cry and fuss for me to carry you, making a ruckus all night long.”

The medicinal patches were under the TV cabinet. Pei Yunle casually pulled out two. The old woman refused to let her apply them, insisting on doing it herself.

Grandma Liu slowly rolled up her thick pants. Uncovered, the unpleasant smell of medicine immediately wafted from her legs. Her legs were covered in fine lines, the muscles atrophied from years of inactivity, making them look abnormally thin. Her knees were red and swollen.

Grandma Liu grunted in pain, not letting anyone but herself touch her legs.

“Grandma, what’s wrong with you? Have you seen a doctor?”

“I saw one a long time ago. Just a bit of inflammation. It’s started hurting again these past few days. Maybe because it’s going to rain soon. It hurts day and night.”

Pei Yunle only had experience from her internship and residency, not as a real clinical doctor. She could only guess it might be some kind of rheumatoid arthritis.

She was about to ask more when the old woman spoke first, “Dearie, you should hurry and sell the cardboard and scrap. It’s early now, so there won’t be many people, and the sun isn’t out yet, so it’s not hot. It’ll be unbearable when it gets hot later.”

Pei Yunle dreaded the cold on rainy days and feared the sun in the summer. Once, when she was a child, she went swimming without sunscreen and got a sunburn, peeling a layer of skin.

“Oh, okay. I’ll go sell it first. When I get back—no, when Chen Qingtang and I get back tonight, I’ll ask you then.”

After applying the patches, Grandma Liu told her where the recycling station was. Then, she leaned against the threshold, her eyelids slowly closing as she drifted off to sleep.

The recycling station was at the very edge of town. The three-wheeler made the journey relatively quick. Pei Yunle had been sent here in such a hurry by Lin Zilan that she hadn’t even had time to pack a baseball cap. She could only take a piece of cardboard, cut a hole in it to fit her head, and wear it as a makeshift sun hat.

Seeing a large iron gate in front of her, Pei Yunle thought the place was closed. But when she looked to the side, she saw there was no wall at all, just a few iron chains loosely marking out an area. Inside sat a house of an indeterminate color, with scrap scattered all over the front.

Pei Yunle bent over, gritting her teeth as she dragged the cardboard and empty bottles into the recycling station. The owner was a woman wearing a black mask, calculating money for a few children with a calculator. The children’s faces were dusty, their clothes equally dirty. Only their eyes, dark purple pupils, shone brightly in the light, making them look timid.

They clutched the few thin bills, whispered their thanks, and left hand in hand.

The owner calculated the money quickly, scanned a QR code to pay, and then immediately went to calculate for someone else.

Pei Yunle hadn’t expected much from the money. In her mind, these things would only sell for a few cents. But when she saw the amount on the transaction record, her eyes widened like saucers. She couldn’t even imagine how much net profit the recycling station owner was making.

One person, one house, no need to exhaust yourself building relationships with people every day, and still making money.

A bold idea suddenly popped into Pei Yunle’s head.

She excitedly got on the three-wheeler, put on her cardboard hat with a flourish, and sped towards the convenience store.

Pei Yunle practically jumped off the vehicle. But the familiar figure was not behind the glass counter. She ran into the store and found Chen Qingtang stocking new goods by a shelf.

“Chen Qingtang, I know what I’m going to do in the future!”

Chen Qingtang took off her cardboard hat, held it in front of her, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Oh, I forgot this thing on my head still needs to be sold. I’m planning to open a recycling station in the future. Hey, do you think I can find an empty space in Pingshun?”

Chen Qingtang thought she was joking. She picked up a notebook from the floor and wrote, [Then I’ll sell all my future cardboard to you.]

Pei Yunle’s excitement hadn’t faded. She circled around Chen Qingtang, talking.

“I was just wondering if this recycling station needs to apply for a sole proprietorship business license from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, or if it needs to go through the approval process with the environmental protection department. But I just asked on the way, and they said I only need to get a business license.”

Hearing this, Chen Qingtang’s stocking movements paused, her fingers hovering over the shelf. Her gaze finally had a moment to rest on Pei Yunle.

Pei Yunle hadn’t noticed and was still talking to herself. “But, I have two problems to solve now. One is funding. Scrap plastic is usually a cash transaction. Before you’ve established a reputation, no one will give you credit. So the investment scope and corresponding funds are very important. The second is the source of goods. This isn’t stocks and insurance, just a paper transaction. It’s a real transaction of money and goods. No goods means it’s all empty talk.”

“Hey, maybe I can also use the internet to do internet recycling. I happen to have a social media account, so it should be relatively quick to get started!”

“Chen Qingtang, what do you think about recycling? If you know anything about it, tell me.”

After talking for a long time, she finally realized that Chen Qingtang hadn’t moved for a while and was just staring at her. Pei Yunle felt a little creeped out by her gaze. It wasn’t the look of appreciation and affirmation for her entrepreneurial idea. It was something else, something Pei Yunle couldn’t understand.

But she could feel that Chen Qingtang seemed to be angry.

Pei Yunle cautiously took a step closer. Chen Qingtang turned her head and took two steps back.

Okay, she was sure Chen Qingtang was angry, although she didn’t know why. She hadn’t said she was opening a convenience store. Opening a recycling station wouldn’t take any business from Chen Qingtang.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

Chen Qingtang grabbed a bag of spicy strips from the shelf. It wasn’t heavy enough to be a real blow, but Pei Yunle was more scared than if she had been hit by a hard rock.

Pei Yunle really couldn’t figure out what fuse she had lit. This was too inexplicable.

“Chen Qingtang, what’s wrong with you? If there’s something, just say it. What’s with this attitude?”

Chen Qingtang picked up the rest of the goods, leaving Pei Yunle behind. She walked to the door of the back storeroom and suddenly stopped. She put down the things, took out a pen and paper, and wrote word by word: [Are you serious?]

The handwriting was strong and powerful, the end of the strokes even piercing through the paper, the ink bleeding.

Pei Yunle thought to herself, what if she said she was just joking?

No, Chen Qingtang would still be angry. Not about the recycling thing, but about something else, like her attitude. Rather than getting angry about something so vague, it was better to be straightforward and admit she wasn’t joking.

She frowned. “I’m serious.”

The moment the first word was out, Chen Qingtang picked up the goods and went straight into the storeroom, leaving the store full of goods and a completely bewildered Pei Yunle.

Pei Yunle was not one to tolerate other people’s anger. In high school, because the school was in another city, she had to live in the dorms. Pei Yunle had a bad temper and would openly mock any sycophantic behavior, which led to some small cliques in the class ganging up on her, talking bad about her behind her back and openly isolating her. Pei Yunle didn’t fall for that. During self-study, she kicked over their desks and started a fight. On the day she was expelled, she let loose completely, venting all her anger at once. She ran back to the classroom and fought with everyone, boys and girls alike.

She took a few deep breaths. Living under someone else’s roof was different from living in a dorm. This had to be cleared up today. She walked into the storeroom.

The storeroom was low; if you stood up straight, your head would hit the ceiling. The light bulb on the ceiling swayed, casting a flickering light. Chen Qingtang was still squatting on the ground, looking for goods. Her slender, fair wrist swayed in front of her. Suddenly, it was grabbed and held still.

Pei Yunle stood with her back to the dim yellow light, one hand tightly gripping Chen Qingtang’s wrist. She tried to be as calm as possible.

“Don’t give me that attitude for no reason. No one is leaving until this is cleared up today.”