Chapter 231 Ji Qingqing’s Jealousy Causes Trouble

Chapter 231: Ji Qingqing's Jealousy

After the New Year, people from various provinces headed south to try their luck. Tickets for the southbound journey were hard to get and had to be bought well in advance. However, tickets for the return journey were much easier to obtain now.

After waiting in line for over an hour, they got three tickets for the following evening.

Although there were tickets available for the early morning and morning of the next day, they all lacked seats. Given the long journey of over fifty hours, everyone preferred to delay their return by a day rather than stand the whole way. Sitting for such a long time was already challenging, let alone standing.

As it was already dark outside, Chu Shuyu grew anxious.

After getting the tickets, she urged Su An to hurry, "It's too late; it's completely dark. The station is full of people, and there are many stranded homeless individuals. Let's go!"

Having seen the chaos at the train station over the past two days, Su An yelled at Ren San to keep up. Being too short, he could easily get lost in the crowd. "San, walk ahead and follow Sister Shuyu. Don't lose her."

Chu Shuyu had made numerous trips south over the years without any issues and had expanded her business a lot. Besides her boldness and determination, her cautious nature played a significant role in her success.

The ticket hall was completely full, with queues stretching outside. The three of them squeezed their way from the innermost window outward, amidst the noise and commotion.

Finally getting out, they breathed a sigh of relief. Su An's gaze then fixed on the back of Chu Shuyu's pants.

Her gray-brown pants were torn, revealing the black leggings underneath.

"Sister Shuyu, your pocket has been cut open."

Chu Shuyu pressed her hand against it, her face fell, "Damn it! The tissue I brought was stolen, and they ruined a good pair of pants. Luckily, they didn't cut my butt..."

"It probably happened while we were queuing for tickets. Quick, everyone, check if anything is missing!"

Hearing this, Su An quickly checked her belongings, "I... oh no, my bag was cut open too."

"Anything missing?"

"The change from buying the tickets is missing." Su An checked her bag and immediately reached for the inner pocket of her bra.

Seeing that the rest of the money was still there, she looked relieved.

"They must have targeted us when we took out the money!"

"Let's go home. It's better to deal with thieves than robbers!"

The three hurried back. As soon as they left the train station, they were surrounded by women holding signs and offering accommodation. After finally breaking through, they encountered three groups of beggars on the short walk from the station to the bus stop.

All of them played the sympathy card—one claimed to have lost money and couldn't afford the fare home, another asked for a dollar to buy a bun, and a child tugged at Chu Shuyu's pants, crying with a bowl in hand.

Once they finally boarded the bus, they breathed a long sigh of relief. The beggars specifically targeted kind-hearted women, and if they had shown any wealth in public, they might have faced other risks.

Exhausted from the day's events, they bought some fried rice on the way home and went to bed after eating and cleaning up. The next day, they slept until late morning.

After getting up and washing up, Chu Shuyu urged Su An to pack. They would go out for a meal, buy some food and necessities for the journey, and then go straight to the train station.

City A.

Although worried about Su An and Ren San, the stall still needed to be manned.

Without Ren San to help, Wang Xiaocui was even busier.

"Miss, a pancake with egg and fried pork fat is twenty-five cents, with just one topping it's twenty cents, and with pickled beans and shredded radish it's ten cents. Which would you like?"

"Then I'll have the egg and fried pork fat. Oh, and add some pickled beans. That won't cost extra, right?"

"No need, that'll be thirty cents, here's your five cents back!"

"Would you like some rice tofu? We also have tea eggs..."

"Here's your pancake, careful, it's hot! Take care, miss!"

On the bustling street, Wang Xiaocui skillfully fried pancakes, greeted customers, handled money, and wrapped the pancakes in oiled paper.

Ren San used to charm customers with his sweet talk, and now Wang Xiaocui was mimicking his style.

On the other side of the street.

Ji Qingqing, carrying a basket, glanced at the pancake seller across the street and thought it looked just like Wang Xiaocui.

She pushed through the crowd and, sure enough, it was Wang Xiaocui!

Seeing Wang Xiaocui serve several customers in minutes, Ji Qingqing's eyes flashed with jealousy.

After two months in the city, Wang Xiaocui had put on weight, her skin had lightened and turned rosy, clearly thriving and glowing with health.

Looks like the city agrees with her.

In just seven or eight minutes, Wang Xiaocui had made one yuan and ten cents.

At this rate, she could make several dozen yuan a day.

That damn country woman, thriving in the countryside, had to squeeze into the city, causing Jiao Jiao so much trouble and even costing Su Jianjun his job!!

Ji Qingqing's eyes gleamed with malice. Seeing few people around the stall, she stepped forward in her lambskin boots, "I'll take one with an egg and some potato shreds!"

"Sure, coming right up~", Wang Xiaocui said without looking up, her focus entirely on the frying pan, "Just a moment, it'll be ready soon!"

"Here's your pancake, twenty cents, careful, it's hot!", Wang Xiaocui handed it over quickly, then looked up and froze when she saw Ji Qingqing.

Her eyes instantly turned wary.

Ji Qingqing had come to buy a pancake—had she not recognized her?

She suspected Ji Qingqing was planning to skip out on the bill!

"That'll be twenty cents!", Wang Xiaocui repeated.

Ji Qingqing pretended not to understand, giving Wang Xiaocui a disdainful look.

She took a big bite, then spat it out with a "Pah!", "What kind of trash is this? It's disgusting!!!"

Then Ji Qingqing started rummaging through the stall, "Are your ingredients clean? Washed? Not poisoned, right? I saw you come from over there—that water isn't from the filthy pond up front, is it?"

"That pond's connected to Wentan Elementary's toilet!! You wouldn't stoop that low, would you?"

"Back in the countryside, you were always digging manure bare-handed, and now you're selling food in the city? Disgusting! Didn't you say you were seriously ill last year? Isn't that contagious?"

Ji Qingqing's eyes gleamed with malice. If this country woman wanted to stay in the city, she'd have to get her approval.

Ruin her business, and let's see how she stays in the city!

Ji Qingqing glanced at the gathering crowd and raised her voice, "How dare you run a stall like this? You're harming people! Have you even washed off all that filth? What are you selling? If it makes everyone sick, can you even afford to pay?"

The crowd began to murmur at Ji Qingqing's words.

"What? The water here's from the pond up front? That's awful!"

"Oh no, I just bought one for my grandson the other day—what if it makes him sick~"