C13 Wang Caifeng's Jealousy!

After the saleswoman received the three yuan, she promptly began to bag the apples for Tang Jin. Onlookers eyed the bright red apples, feeling a twinge of desire themselves. Once the saleswoman had finished weighing them, she handed a jin of apples to Tang Jin.

"Keep the change, and could you add fifty cents' worth of sugar cubes?"

Fifty cents would get him half a jin of sugar cubes. The saleswoman weighed out the sugar for Tang Jin, who then left the store with a contented smile. As he passed the seafood market, he caught sight of the lively large prawns from a distance. Though their village stream had fish, it lacked prawns, especially ones nearly a foot long.

Approaching the stall, Tang Jin noticed the vendor's trendy attire—a pair of overalls and a neat shirt—hardly the look of a typical peddler.

"Come take a look at these fresh, large prawns!"

"How much for the prawns?"

"Three yuan per jin, or five yuan for two jins!"

Tang Jin chuckled.

"Alright, I'll take two jins."

He then pulled out a ten-yuan note from his pocket. The vendor was taken aback by Tang Jin's seemingly lavish spending, given his modest appearance. After a brief pause, the vendor smiled and nodded.

"Sure thing, I'll weigh out two jins of the big ones for you."

"Thanks a lot!"

Having completed his purchases, Tang Jin hurried home, humming a tune along the way, looking quite pleased with himself. As he arrived at the village entrance, he ran into Wang Caifeng.

Wang Caifeng just scoffed.

"Oh, carrying a basket, are we? Did you go scavenging for unwanted sweet potatoes in the fields?"

Tang Jin couldn't be bothered with her and continued walking. But Wang Caifeng was relentless and grabbed at Tang Jin's basket.

"Let's see what you've scavenged this time?"

She lifted the cloth covering Tang Jin's basket and was met with the sight of the lively prawns, the large red apples, and the half jin of sugar cubes. She was momentarily taken aback.

"What's this? What are these round things? And what's that jumping around?"

Tang Jin merely smiled and then mimicked Wang Caifeng's tone.

"Oh my, the mother of the village secretary hasn't even laid eyes on an apple or shrimp before!"

Wang Caifeng was immediately incensed.

"Who says I haven't seen them? We used to eat them every day back in the day, to the point of getting tired of them!"

Tang Jin just shook his head, covered the items with his clothes, and walked away.

Wang Caifeng stamped her foot in frustration.

"No way, if that wastrel can have them, then apples and shrimp can't be that expensive. When Yongzi gets here, I'm definitely going to have him buy some for me to try!"

With that, Wang Caifeng stormed back into her house, fuming.

Yongzi had already come back, bringing with him two taels of pig skin. Pork was too pricey, but pig skin was quite affordable – those two taels had only cost twenty cents.

Seeing the pig skin on the table, Wang Caifeng involuntarily swallowed hard.

"Just as I thought, my son is the successful one. Next time, Yongzi, buy some shrimp and apples!"

Upon hearing this, Yongzi stood up abruptly.

"What are you talking about? Buying shrimp and apples? My entire month's salary is only eight dollars and seventy cents. How could I possibly afford them? Do you have any idea how expensive a kilogram of apples and prawns is?"

Yongzi raised his voice.

Wang Caifeng's face turned an odd shade as she listened to Yongzi.

"How expensive are they? I saw that good-for-nothing with a whole basket full of apples and shrimp!"

Yongzi's brows furrowed deeply.

"That can't be right. I was at the grocery store in town just last time. A kilogram of apples is two dollars and fifty cents, more expensive than a kilogram of quality pork. A kilogram of shrimp is around three dollars, even pricier than the top-notch pork! How could that spendthrift afford apples and shrimp?"

Wang Caifeng was dumbfounded.

"Exactly, that kid must have stolen them. There's no way he could afford apples and shrimp! Later, get in touch with our friends at the police station; something's definitely off with that boy!"

Yongzi nodded in agreement.

"You're right, Mom. There's some sense in what you're saying. Perhaps he did steal those items!"

...

Tang Jin had been walking for a bit when he ran into Ergou.

Ergou greeted Tang Jin with warmth.

"Jin, where have you been off to?"

Upon seeing Ergou, Tang Jin smiled.

"Just took a trip to town. What about you? What brings you out here?"

Ergou opened his fish basket to show a few small, sorry-looking carp.

"I'm getting something to nourish my wife!"

Tang Jin took a quick look at the fish basket and simply smiled. He then opened his own basket of vegetables, grabbed a handful of shrimp, and placed them into Ergou's basket.

"Here, really nourish your wife with these!"

Ergou shook his head repeatedly.

"No, no, I still haven't finished the pork belly you gave me last time!"

"If you haven't finished it, save it and eat more later. Yuh Hua always looked after Churan well!"

With that, Tang Jin walked away.

Ergou stared at the lively shrimp in his basket, which were much larger than the carp, feeling a mix of emotions.

Upon Tang Jin's return home, he found Xia Churan standing at the doorway, looking around.

Tang Jin quickened his pace and approached Xia Churan.

"Guess what I've brought back this time!"

Xia Churan shook her head.

"What is it now? You look so secretive!"

Tang Jin slowly lifted his garment to reveal the lively shrimp, half a pound of sugar cubes, and a bright red apple.

"Is that an apple?"

Tang Jin nodded.

"It's incredibly sweet!"

"But apples aren't cheap around here!"

"Don't worry about the cost. If you want more, I'll buy them for you every day!"

Xia Churan shook her head: "Let's save it for Little Milk Bun. She's the one growing!"

Ignoring her, Xia Churan took two apples, scooped up some water, and began washing them in the ladle.

After cleaning the apples, she handed one to Xia Churan and then headed inside.

Little Milk Bun, seeing Tang Jin enter, ran straight towards him.

Tang Jin scooped up Little Milk Bun in his arms and placed the apple in her small hands.

Little Milk Bun's large, luminous eyes shimmered with a touch of bewilderment.

"Daddy, what's this?"

Tang Jin chuckled, "It's an apple, and it's incredibly sweet. Give it a taste, Little Milk Bun!"