The man in the passenger seat was causing a stir. Brother Kay glanced lazily and caught a glimpse of a slender figure. The patched blue blouse, though loose-fitting, accentuated the girl’s curves. Her skin glimpsed behind her ear, was unbelievably fair… What was so special about being pretty? Women were all the same: two eyes and a mouth. Boring.
The younger man was utterly regretful.
“Well, looks like it wasn’t meant to be~~”
Brother Kay didn’t dwell on the matter. Soon, their truck was out of the county. It would take two more days to reach a major city. Long-distance driving was exhausting and came with the risk of being ambushed by robbers. Who had the time to gawk at pretty girls?
The wandering gaze of the outsider served as a wake-up call for Scarlett. She went and bought a large pair of scissors.
Unable to afford a pot, she bought an enamel mug to make a pair. The mug could be used for cooking, storing, and drinking—an extremely cost-effective purchase. Adding two pairs of cutleries to her buys, her initial 9.2 dollars was now reduced to 6 dollars. Scarlett didn’t dare spend any more. Wild duck eggs weren’t easy to find, and since the duck nests near Larkspur Village had been picked clean, they’d need to scour other villages.
If the mother and daughter stuck to foraging, they’d only make enough for subsistence. Scarlett aspired to trade in eggs. With a starting capital of 20 dollars, she wouldn’t need to venture into the reeds anymore.
Larkspur Village was two hours from the county, but there were villages even farther away.
Walking three hours to sell ten eggs for 1.5 dollars, a round trip would take six hours. If she bought eggs at 0.12 dollars each, it wouldn’t be worth the effort for farmers to walk six hours just to earn an extra 0.3 dollars. The rice harvest was coming up, and everyone, even the older children, would be busy in the fields. During the half-month harvest, no one would have time to go to the county to sell eggs. In the heat, eggs left unsold would rot.
Scarlett planned to seize this opportunity to profit from the price difference.
A two or three-cent profit per egg didn’t sound like much, but 100 eggs would net her 2 to 3 dollars daily.
Even accounting for rainy days when travel was impossible, she could earn at least 70 dollars a month. Not much? One of her elderly clients in her past life once told her that working at a county guesthouse in the 1980s earned her 36 dollars a month. In 1983, the wealthiest were private business owners who had started a few years earlier. However, these people kept a low profile, and no one knew how much they were worth. The only legitimate high earners were civil servants and those in state-run industries. Workers in heavy industries like oil and coal could earn 100 to 200 dollars a month. At the same time, high school teachers earned only a few 12 dollars. The lowest income earners, of course, were farmers.
If Scarlett could earn 70 dollars a month, even the Whitaker family might beg her to return and treat her like royalty.
With no capital or useful connections, Scarlett knew the road to wealth wouldn’t be easy. But she would take it one step at a time.
After returning to Larkspur Village with their purchases after a two-hour walk, they secured their items in the decrepit house. The new iron lock gave Scarlett much-needed peace of mind. After returning Peter the old man’s flashlight to the cowshed, Scarlett noticed the wound on her forehead itching. Elizabeth urged her to visit the health station for a dressing change, and Scarlett, concerned about infection after sweating all day, readily agreed.
The dressing change was affordable, mostly involving disinfecting the wound.
The doctor, a professional and unlike the village gossipers, carefully examined Scarlett’s injury.
“Don’t worry, it’s healing well. Looks like there won’t be a scar.”
Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you for your care.”
As they left the health station, Elizabeth grabbed Scarlett’s sleeve.
“Is that your uncle?”
The Whitaker family lived at the village entrance. A short man was yelling at the Whitaker matriarch.
“Your Whitaker family is heartless and rotten! If you don’t bring back my sister and niece, I’ll tear your house down!”
