My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 77 Back

After returning from the West Palace, Lin Ying was basically convinced that the West Palace was the perfect place to set up her stall.

This place is the most suitable location from every perspective, but we'll have to wait until Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing return to discuss the specifics.

In the following days, Lin Ying continued to go out for a few hours every day, but she no longer paid attention to the stalls as before, because no other place could compare to the liveliness of Xigong. Moreover, she was no longer going out for the stalls, but was keen on visiting the stamp market. Like a beginner who had fallen into the hobby of stamp collecting, she took the two stamp albums she had just bought and the stamps she had scavenged at the post office and plunged into the business. She spent her days at the Mushroom Pavilion not far from her home, mingling with the stamp enthusiasts.

Because Lin Ying was a woman, and because she was thick-skinned, spoke nicely, and had plenty of money, she quickly integrated into the stamp collecting community at Mushroom Pavilion.

Leveraging her advantages as a woman and her generosity, her collection grew rapidly in just a few days. Most of it was acquired through private transactions. Lin Ying not only collected all nineteen sets of stamps with Chinese characters issued between 1970 and 1976, but also gradually collected most of the stamps issued from 1970 to the present.

With these stamps, Lin Ying's two stamp albums were gradually filled up, so she simply went to the post office and bought two new stamp albums to store the other stamps.

Moreover, even when she was at home, Lin Ying would occasionally take out her stamp album to look through it, admiring the stamps she had collected. She would also find a small notebook to carefully record the origin, characteristics, price, value, and other information of each stamp.

Time flies, and several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Ying had just returned from the Mushroom Pavilion that day. She had become a regular at the Mushroom Pavilion these days. Except when the weather was bad, she would go there almost every day. She not only enriched her collection and learned more about stamp collecting, but also made many friends who were stamp collecting enthusiasts.

Back home, Lin Ying put her stamp album on the desk and, in a good mood, hummed a tune as she put on her apron and headed to the kitchen.

In the afternoon, although there was still some time before dinner, Lin Ying needed to get started. Winter bamboo shoots would soon be out of season, and she had just bought some to make a stew of pickled bamboo shoots and pork belly. This dish required some time, and if she didn't start early, she might not have enough time.

Just as Lin Ying finished preparing the dishes and put them in the pot to simmer, she heard a noise coming from the doorway.

Lin Ying was slightly taken aback and quickly ran outside. When she reached the kitchen door, she happened to see Zhou Jiye, who looked travel-worn, enter the room.

"came back?"

"came back!"

Zhou Jiye's appearance upon entering was rather poor. He was disheveled, with stubble and a haggard look, his clothes were wrinkled and messy, and a few tufts of hair stuck out stubbornly in his tangled hair. He looked even worse than when they came to Shanghai from the Northwest.

"How did you get into this mess?" Lin Ying quickly stepped forward to take the luggage from his hands, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

What kind of smell is this?! It's like salted fish that's been pickled in a jar for ages, sour, smelly, and fishy, ​​emanating from Zhou Jiye.

"Xiaoying, who's here?"

At this moment, Fang Manxia, ​​who was upstairs, heard the noise and came out.

"Oh my!" Fang Manxia exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Zhou Jiye's appearance. "Little Zhou, why do you look like you're fleeing from war? What happened?"

"Grandma!" Zhou Jiye greeted Fang Manxia weakly, and said with a wry smile, "I just got off the train, and this trip has really worn me out..."

"Can a train ride really cause this much discomfort?" Fang Manxia asked, voicing the question Lin Ying had also wanted to ask.

"Oh, forget it."

Zhou Jiye sighed and shook his head: "The train back was delayed. It stopped halfway through the journey for some reason, and then it took twice as long due to the frequent stops and starts. What should have been a two-day journey took four days."

Zhou Jiye looked utterly dejected; this train journey had been incredibly grueling. Not only him, but Xu Guoqing, who was traveling with him, wasn't much better off.

Suddenly, Zhou Jiye's nose twitched twice, and his stomach couldn't help but rumble.

"It smells so good? What are you cooking?"

"The pickled bamboo shoot soup is freshly cooked; you'll have to wait two hours to eat it."

"Is there any food at home? Get me some, I'm starving."

Didn't you eat on the train?

"Eat? The train was delayed for more than thirty hours, and the dry food I brought was long gone. I've also spent almost all my money, and I only have two five-cent coins left in my pocket. I'll be lucky if I can make it home, let alone have money to buy food!"

Zhou Jiye rummaged through his empty pockets and showed them to Lin Ying, his face contorted in misery. Lin Ying was puzzled; hadn't they brought money with them when they went out? How did they end up like this?
Fang Manxia said with a mix of reproach, blame, and heartache, "You, you're such a grown-up, yet you act like a child. When you're out and about, you should at least have some extra money! How can you be so stingy? It's painful to see you like this. Come on! Xiaoying, I remember there's some leftover food from lunch. Heat it up for Xiao Zhou to tide him over, and after he eats, he can take a bath and rest properly."

Lin Ying responded and helped Zhou Jiye put his luggage away. Then she went into the kitchen to reheat the leftovers from lunch.

When the food was served, Zhou Jiye, who was starving, devoured the leftovers in no time. He even drank a bowl of undercooked pickled bamboo shoots and pork soup. After eating and drinking his fill, he burped, rubbed his slightly protruding belly, and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, Lin Ying boiled water for Zhou Jiye and told him to take a bath first.

Zhou Jiye didn't refuse. He had been wanting to take a shower for a long time. He had been on the train for so long that he was smelly. Not to mention Lin Ying, even he himself couldn't stand it. After taking a comfortable hot shower and scrubbing off the grime, Zhou Jiye changed into clean clothes and finally felt like he had come back to life.

A wave of drowsiness washed over him. After taking a shower, Zhou Jiye came out, greeted Fang Manxia and Lin Ying briefly, and then went straight into the room and fell asleep immediately. Seeing him like this, Lin Ying, who wanted to ask about their trip, was both amused and exasperated. Fang Manxia told Lin Ying that they should wait until Zhou Jiye woke up before talking, as he looked exhausted and should rest first.

Zhou Jiye slept soundly until the next morning.

Opening his eyes, Zhou Jiye felt all his fatigue had vanished, and he was finally back, fully "recharged".

Stretching and getting out of bed, Zhou Jiye immediately noticed the breakfast on the table. It was undoubtedly Lin Ying who had bought it. Lin Ying was nowhere to be seen in the room, but he could faintly hear her talking to Fang Manxia upstairs.

After relieving himself in the bathroom, washing his face, brushing his teeth, and returning to his room, Zhou Jiye picked up his breakfast and began to eat heartily.

Home is the best! The fried dough sticks and pancakes were more delicious than ever before. Zhou Jiye devoured two in one go, then drank a bowl of soy milk. With his stomach full, he felt completely comfortable.

After getting up and stretching his limbs, Zhou Jiye opened the window and breathed in the fresh breakfast air. He noticed that the small garden was greener than when he left. Lin Ying had taken good care of the small garden at home. The flowers and plants they had planted not long ago were beginning to take shape with the arrival of spring.

After standing at the window for a while, Zhou Jiye was about to leave when his gaze fell on the stamp album that Lin Ying had placed on the table.

Slightly startled, Zhou Jiye reached out and picked it up. Upon opening it, the stamp album, filled with stamps, immediately caught his attention. He sat down and began to look at it with great interest.

Just as he was engrossed in reading, Lin Ying entered the room and saw Zhou Jiye sitting at his desk, seemingly absorbed in something.

"What are you looking at?"

"Hehe, look at these." Turning around and seeing Lin Ying, Zhou Jiye pointed to the stamp album and laughed.

Lin Ying frowned slightly: "Did you wash your hands after breakfast? There's nothing dirty on my stamps, is there?"

"How could that be? I definitely washed them. Look if you don't believe me." Zhou Jiye quickly stretched out his hands for her to see. Seeing that his hands were clean, Lin Ying was relieved.

"Where did this come from?" Zhou Jiye asked, pointing to the stamp.

"Of course I bought it," Lin Ying said matter-of-factly, pulling up a chair to sit down.

"Bought?" Zhou Jiye flipped to the last two pages of the stamp album, where a block of four monkey stamps that Lin Ying had bought was inserted: "Was this also bought?"

"Yes, I bought it at the post office."

"how much is it?"

"Eight cents a piece, isn't the price printed on it?"

"Eight cents? You only bought these?"

"What's wrong?" Lin Ying tilted her head, a smile playing on her lips.

"Was this monkey stamp just issued this year? Eight cents a stamp?" Zhou Jiye asked again.

"Didn't I just say? It was just issued last month, and there are plenty at the post office."

"go!"

As soon as Lin Ying finished speaking, Zhou Jiye stood up abruptly, his expression filled with excitement.

"Where?"

"Where else can we go? To the post office, of course!" Zhou Jiye's face flushed with excitement as he rubbed his hands together. "These are monkey stamps! Monkey stamps! Do you know what these things represent?"

"What does it represent?" Lin Ying asked blankly.

"Are you stupid?!" Zhou Jiye exclaimed in exasperation. "Of course it represents money! Banknotes! Money!"

As he spoke, he deliberately made a gesture of rummaging through money at Lin Ying, and said eagerly, "You're supposed to be from the 21st century, and you don't even know the value of these monkey stamps? These things will be worth a fortune in the future! Aren't they all about this in those online novels? The first thing they do when they travel back in time is buy monkey stamps, hoard a batch, and then sell them. That's a fortune!"

Seeing Zhou Jiye's greedy look with his eyes gleaming, Lin Ying burst out laughing. Zhou Jiye was taken aback at first, but seeing Lin Ying laughing more and more, he immediately realized what was going on.

"you know?"

"What do you think?" Lin Ying rolled her eyes at Zhou Jiye. She wasn't stupid. Although she didn't collect stamps in her previous life, she still knew the value of the Monkey stamp. Besides, Zhou Jiye reads online novels, but she, Lin Ying, doesn't? Isn't that obvious?

(End of this chapter)