Letter from Li Yuer

Zhao Dongchuan remained calm, circling the market once to get a general understanding.

The stall owners varied in height, weight, and build, both male and female. Most wore headscarves, half-covering their faces. Some wore patched clothes, clearly farmers who toiled in the yellow earth, while others wore well-fitting polyester clothes and Dacron shirts, likely professional vendors who had already become prosperous.

Perhaps due to similar products naturally clustering together, the market was roughly divided into several areas. There was an agricultural section, where local farmers sold their homegrown grains, vegetables, and chicken and duck eggs, exchanging their own food for some money.

Fish were relatively rare here, probably because they lacked professional fishing gear and relied on experience to secretly fish in the river.

There was also a fabric and clothing section, selling various materials and ready-made garments, with occasional appearances of relatively fashionable styles.

Some people held handfuls of tickets, drawing attention; these were ticket scalpers, engaged in buying low and selling high, each employing their own unique methods to acquire tickets.

The least crowded area was the electronics section, selling second-hand radios, mechanical watches, loudspeakers, and desk lamps. He didn't see any digital watches.

What intrigued Zhao Dongchuan was that in some corners, there were old items: small porcelain bowls, ancient coins, silver dollars, calligraphy and paintings, and ancient books—things not found in Shenzhen.

Unfortunately, Zhao Dongchuan didn't understand antiques and lacked knowledge in that area, making it easy to be fooled. Moreover, now was not the right time; completing the system task was paramount, so Zhao Dongchuan didn't linger.

After quietly observing, he noted that people were relatively simple and didn't want to ruin this market, so transactions were harmonious. Buyers paid, took their goods, and disappeared into the alleys. Sellers, satisfied with their money, would pack up their stalls and quietly leave.

Zhao Dongchuan even bought some eggs from an old farmer, planning to go back and cook a bowl of egg noodles, or perhaps some scrambled eggs with chili?

Swallowing quietly, Zhao Dongchuan left the market after buying his items.

Riding his bicycle, he quickly arrived at Li Huiying's house, explained the situation, and gave her five watches, telling her to be careful and make necessary plans.

Zhao Dongchuan didn't plan to participate much further, hoping to train Li Huiying's ability to adapt, perhaps even cultivating a 'strong woman' in the future.

After this, Zhao Dongchuan began a leisurely life, dutifully commuting between his dormitory and the Cultural Center, reading books, doing practice problems, and writing novels.

Time passed quickly. On Wednesday morning, after eating breakfast, he decided to visit Li Huiying's house to check on the situation.

Li Huiying was washing clothes at home when she saw Zhao Dongchuan arrive and quickly stood up to greet him.

"Oh, Little Zhao, you're here!"

"What's wrong? What happened?" Zhao Dongchuan asked, a little confused.

"Nothing happened, it's just that I've sold three watches these past few days, and with four or five hundred yuan at home, I'm incredibly anxious, always afraid the money will be lost or stolen!" Li Huiying said with some trepidation.

Then she ran into the inner room and pulled out a small cloth bag from a box, which was at the bottom of a chest.

Unfolding layers of cloth, she revealed a thick stack of 'Great Unity' banknotes and scattered smaller bills.

"All the money from selling watches is here. These days, I go in the morning and come back in the afternoon, only taking one watch a day. This watch is very popular; many people ask about it. I sold one on the very first day for 170 yuan, and then two more in the following days."

"You didn't leave any traces, did you?"

"No, I covered my face, and before going home, I circled around and even changed clothes before slowly making my way back. I wasn't discovered!" Li Huiying said confidently.

"Amazing!!!" Zhao Dongchuan praised Li Huiying.

Taking the money, Zhao Dongchuan calculated that Li Huiying had a 45 yuan commission and handed the money to her.

"Ding, progress complete: 180 / 200"

Seeing the system's progress, Zhao Dongchuan was delighted. This task had such a large span, and he had even gone to Shenzhen to open a sub-quest for it. It was finally nearing completion.

He could get a system treasure chest again!!!

Zhao Dongchuan couldn't stop smiling.

"Haha, Mom, look, Brother Zhao, he's drooling!" Cao Yuan suddenly appeared from somewhere.

Zhao Dongchuan quickly wiped his mouth. Uh, what just happened??

"Xiao Yuan, look, it's like this: now your mom doesn't need your help anymore, and she's earned money. Shouldn't you go to school?"

"Before, you dropped out of school to help your mom with the stall. Now that times are good, you should study hard, okay?" Zhao Dongchuan said to Cao Yuan with a mischievous smile.

"Your Brother Zhao is right. You should go back to school and learn more characters."

Cao Yuan looked at 'Brother Zhao's' mischievous smile. Although she knew he was doing it for her own good, she still felt a bit 'tricked'!!!

Declining Li Huiying's kind offer of a meal, Zhao Dongchuan told her to arrange Cao Yuan's enrollment, pay off her debts, and also take care of the family. Anyway, the task was almost complete, so there was no rush.

He left the remaining 2 watches for her to continue selling, saying he would come back after a while.

Zhao Dongchuan also wanted to take this time to return to Yuanxi County to check on Sun Shaoan and Shaoping's situation.

The next day, as Zhao Dongchuan was sitting at his desk, writing and drawing as usual, Jia Bing walked in and handed him a letter.

"The doorman had a letter for you, I brought it over."

"Oh, okay, thank you."

Zhao Dongchuan glanced at the envelope, which was sent from Pengcheng. He opened the letter and read it carefully.

It was a letter from Li Yuer, who was far away in Pengcheng. She talked about her situation there, saying she was now a saleswoman at a supply and marketing cooperative, and asked about his recent condition and if he had any new works.

Zhao Dongchuan felt a warmth in his heart; in two lifetimes, this was the first time a girl had written him a letter.

Li Yuer used to be a very introverted girl, possessing a rare intelligence and intuition for her age. On the train before, he felt she seemed to have figured out that he was studying physics, chemistry, and mathematics to prepare for the college entrance examination in the future.

Only later did he learn that her father was the director of the Revolutionary Committee of Bao'an County.

Thinking of the rapidly developing Pengcheng in the future, Zhao Dongchuan couldn't help but feel the unpredictability of the times. Who could have imagined that the small town it was now would develop to such an extent in the future?

Zhao Dongchuan thought that he must personally participate in it in the future, to experience the grand and magnificent waves of history.

He wrote a reply to Li Yuer, describing his situation here, and also advised Li Yuer not to neglect her high school knowledge, as it would surely come in handy in the future. He encouraged her to study hard and make progress every day.

Finally, he recounted a passage from the novel "yellow earth."

At the end of his workday, after dropping the letter into the mailbox next to the Cultural Center, Zhao Dongchuan planned to return to his dormitory.

At this moment, Du Lili also happened to come out, and the two met head-on.

Zhao Dongchuan nodded in greeting and prepared to cycle away.

"Little Zhao, there's an exchange event this weekend, all modern poetry and prose enthusiasts gathering to share and learn. Are you interested in participating?" Du Lili paused, then quickly asked.

"Uh, I plan to go back to Yuanxi County this weekend, so I'm afraid I won't be free."