I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

Qiaoqiao's decision not to pursue legal action against Wu Dan does not mean she has forgiven her. She also no longer speaks to Wang Min.

The "Wu Zhou Group" disbanded. Soon, Qiaoqiao received an invitation from the "Han Dynasty Wei Zifu Group". However, they already had three members and were only one short. What would happen to Gu Tong'an?

After much persuasion, they allowed Qiaoqiao to bring Gu Tong'an along, forming a group of five.

Of the five people, there was only one man. The four girls were not very familiar with the Han Dynasty, and their chattering gave Gu Tong'an a headache, but there was nothing he could do because he had nowhere else to go.

In the "Han Dynasty Empress Wei Zifu Group," there was a dark-skinned and thin classmate named Gao Xiaoqi, who had a very good relationship with Qiaoqiao.

Qiaoqiao asked her why she was called Xiaoqi, and she said that she had seven brothers and sisters and she was the youngest, so she was called Xiaoqi.

Her eldest brother is called Gao Laoda, her second sister is called Gao Xiaoer, and so on.

Qiaoqiao felt inexplicably happy; she had no idea that names could be chosen this way.

Xiaoqi lives in the suburbs. Her family farms, and her older siblings' highest level of education is elementary school. But Xiaoqi, the only one, got into university, and the whole family dotes on her.

Xiaoqi is outgoing and quirky, and Qiaoqiao loves playing with her, as there are always unexpected surprises.

That day, Xiaoqi mysteriously asked Qiaoqiao, "Do you know where the vegetables in the grocery store come from?"

Qiaoqiao was completely confused: "Wasn't it delivered to the vegetable store by the farmer?"

Xiaoqi shook her head: "It was brought back from the state-owned vegetable base in the western suburbs by the vegetable store's purchasing agent."

"Are there vegetable farms in the western suburbs? How do I get them? Can I take a lot at once?"

"Of course not. The comrades at the vegetable base should prepare the vegetables for each vegetable store, write down the orders, and then each vegetable store should take the vegetables according to their share."

Qiaoqiao often goes grocery shopping. Seeing all the different kinds of vegetables and meats in the market, she thought it was a national general store delivering to all the stores.

Do you live in the western suburbs?

"No, it's still a long way off."

"Then how come you're so familiar with the western suburbs wholesale market?"

Even adults probably wouldn't know about vegetable farms, yet this little girl is so familiar with them.

"Do you want to go and see?" Xiaoqi asked.

"Can ordinary people go in?"

"Others may not be able to get in, but you can get in if you follow me."

Why?

"I know them well. If you want to go, wait for me after school tonight."

"it is good."

Qiaoqiao has been in Huailin for more than three years, and apart from the nearby vegetable store, supply and marketing cooperative, and school, she rarely goes anywhere else.

She was very curious about what a vegetable base was like.

After school, Xiaoqi rode Qiaoqiao's bicycle, and the two of them sped off to the vegetable farm.

This is a large red brick courtyard. Above the gate, it says "Huailin City Vegetable Base". All the vegetables in the city are sent out from here.

Xiao Qi parked his bicycle and knocked on the closed guardhouse: "Uncle Liu, it's me, Xiao Qi."

The gatekeeper opened the door; it was an elderly man in his sixties or seventies. He opened the gate with a smile and asked, "Little Qi, aren't you going to school today?"

"School just let out, sir. This is my classmate, Yang Qiao."

"Okay, okay, come in."

Only the guardhouse was open, and Gao Xiaoqi pulled Qiaoqiao inside.

"Uncle Liu, I'd like to take two woven bags."

Xiaoqi took two woven bags from the corner of the guardhouse, one for Qiaoqiao and one for herself.

"What are you doing with the bag?"

"You'll find out when you go in."

Upon entering the vegetable farm, Qiaoqiao was truly amazed; vegetables, everything was vegetables!

Piles of cabbages, packed in large mesh bags, were stacked very high.

There were also green beans, garlic cloves, ginger, potatoes, eggplants, radishes, cucumbers... everything imaginable, and Qiaoqiao couldn't take it all in.

"The vegetables outside are all pre-selected, just waiting for the purchasing staff from various vegetable shops to come and pick them up. Go inside and choose; there are plenty of vegetables they don't want," Xiaoqi said excitedly.

"Discarded vegetables?"

"Yes, some radishes are half-rotten, so the vegetable shop won't take them and will throw them away. Come with me, we can pick out a lot of vegetables."

Xiaoqi enthusiastically pulled Qiaoqiao inside.

In the vegetable selection area, a dozen middle-aged women in work uniforms were sorting vegetables. When they saw Xiaoqi, they happily called out, "Xiaoqi, we thought you weren't coming today! There are so many radishes and potatoes, pick carefully!"

"Okay, thank you, Auntie."

This place is full of leafy greens and some bad vegetables, but if you pick and choose, you can still find quite a few good ones.

Qiaoqiao's family had enough food coupons to eat well and be full, but she had come from a life of hardship, so seeing so many vegetables made her excited.

"Yang Qiao, this piece of ginger is only rotten at the front. You can still eat it after you get home and peel it."

The two of them picked through the rotten vegetables, and Xiaoqi always gave the better-looking ones to Qiaoqiao.

"Cut the onion in half; the other half is fine."

"The chili peppers are a bit dry, do you not want them?"

"Chinese cabbage is so good, you can eat it after washing off the wormholes."

"The carrot isn't rotten, are we going to throw it away too?"

Qiaoqiao was a little dazzled; they were all very good dishes, but their presentation wasn't appealing.

"Yang Qiao, do you know why I was able to go to university?"

Why?

Could Xiaoqi's university admission be related to the vegetable base?

"My family is large, and we're so poor that we eat cornbread every day. How could we afford to go to school? My parents didn't want me to study because they didn't have the three yuan and eighty cents for tuition. I was heartbroken, so I ran away to the city and decided to earn money. I was only eleven years old that year."

Recalling the past, Xiaoqi didn't feel bitter, but smiled happily: "I was so young, what money could I earn in the city? I was unwilling to accept that, so I wandered to the entrance of the vegetable base and slept outside the gatekeeper's house. When Grandpa Liu saw me, he was so scared that he asked me, 'Why is a little girl like you sleeping outside?'"

I cried and told Grandpa Liu that I wanted to study, but my parents had no money and I wanted to come to the city to find work. Grandpa Liu said, "Nobody in the city has a job. How can a little girl like you find one?"

Later, Grandpa Liu gave me an idea: I should go to the market, pick up some rotten vegetables, clean them, and then take them to the alley to sell. Selling vegetables privately is illegal, so I carried the vegetables and went door to door, knocking on doors and asking if they wanted any.

My vegetables weren't very good quality, but they were cheap, and a basket of them sold out quickly. I made three cents the first time, and I was overjoyed. Three cents a day, ten days would be three dollars, and in half a month I'd have my tuition covered.

Xiaoqi's eyebrows were beaming with joy: "And just like that, I went back to school. Every Sunday I came to pick and sell vegetables, and I could even take some home to eat. During summer and winter vacations, I came to pick and sell vegetables every day, and I earned enough to cover my tuition for the next semester."

How far is your home from here?

"It's not far, about ten miles, a little over an hour."

"Isn't it a dozen miles or so? Aren't you scared to go home at night?" Qiaoqiao felt a little sorry for the cheerful girl in front of her.

"What's so far as a dozen miles? I'm delivering vegetables back today, so my family will have vegetables to eat for a week. Qiaoqiao, here's this radish for you, it's just a little damaged."

"Xiao Qi, why don't you take it yourself?" Qiao Qiao's nose tingled with emotion.

"The good ones are yours, I'll keep the bad ones. My family is used to them, they won't get diarrhea," Xiaoqi said generously with a smile.

"Xiao Qi, thank you."

"Don't thank me, it's not like it's my family's produce. If you'd like to come, I'll bring you next time. But I can't bring too many people, the aunties who work here also need to pick out some of these bruised vegetables to take home. Yang Qiao, even though their wages aren't high, they've saved a lot on groceries for the whole family."

Qiaoqiao was willing to come. She would peel off the bad parts of the radish, wash it clean, and then soak it. It was a kind of pickled vegetable that everyone loved to eat.