Xie Jinghao entered the room and saw Shen ng furrowing her brows, staring intently at the letter in her hand, which couldn’t help but amuse her. It was the first ti she had ever seen such an expression on her elder sister-in-law’s face.
"Big sister-in-law, are you reading a letter?"
Upon hearing the voice, Shen ng hurriedly pretended to look sorrowfully at her, thinking that everything about the Shen family was satisfactory. It was just unfortunate that the original hostess hadn’t been given the opportunity to attend school for a few more days.
"What’s there to read? It’s all just words on a piece of paper. They don’t recognize and I don’t recognize them. Jinghao, co over and take a look. If you recognize it, could you read it to us all? Let’s see what your big brother has to say."
Xie Jinghao’s face blushed. When her grandmother was alive, she had reached the third grade. The school at that ti didn’t teach as much as they do now, and during her ti in school, they morized quotations. During the busy farming tis, she had to work in the fields to earn work points. She wasn’t sure if she could recognize every character.
"Well, I’ll take a look then."
Xie Jinghao took a glance at the letter first, and sighed with relief in her heart. Luckily, there were no rare characters; she recognized all of them, and she could even guess the aning of those she wasn’t very familiar with. The two sisters-in-law ca out of the house and read the letter aloud in front of the children.
Lu Mingkai, who had never t his father since birth, stared intently at the letter as if he could see his father’s appearance from it.
"I’ve kept the remittance receipt, the food coupons, and the package collection voucher safe. Tomorrow, I’ll take the ox-cart to the county. Jinghao, is there anything you want to bring for you? I’ll bring it along."
Xie Jinghao was kind to all the kids. She was about to give birth, so she ought to express her gratitude sohow. Moreover, she wasn’t skilled in needlework, and there would be many tis in the future she would need assistance!
"No need, big sister-in-law, Jiasheng will be back soon. He will help to bring things. It’s not easy for you, a woman, to travel with four children. Don’t worry about . Um, big sister-in-law, will your body be able to withstand the trip to the county tomorrow?"
Shen ng chuckled lightly and said, "That half-dead appearance was just to fool mom. Actually, my body hasn’t suffered much harm and is almost completely healed by now. There won’t be any issues going to the county tomorrow. I just need to go after everyone else has started their work, to avoid people."
With this, Xie Jinghao was reassured. She was worried that after just a few days of good tis, her big sister-in-law might pass away. As long as the big sister-in-law was in good health, the good days were yet to co.
Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang, who were playing in the yard, exchanged glances. They had suspected their mother was fooling everyone from early on.
The next morning, Shen ng shook Lu Mingyang awake.
Lu Mingyang, who was in a deep sleep, was startled by his mother’s face suddenly enlarging before him, causing him to cry out "Ah!" and roll to the side.
"Don’t be afraid, I’ll be leaving to catch the ox-cart this morning. I’ve made breakfast for you all. You go ahead and eat with your younger siblings later. I’ve made plenty, so in case I co back late, you can have a bit. Oh, and for the stewed eggs, divide them up and leave so for Xiao Gang. Understand? Your third aunt will co over with Xiao Gang today to make clothes for Ming Fang. Your third aunt is heavily pregnant; if she feels unwell at any ti, go quickly to the fields to find the village chief. Hear ?"
Still recovering from the shock, Lu Mingyang stiffly said, "Understood, mother."
"Alright, then I’m off."
After giving her instructions, Shen ng took advantage of the pre-dawn light to wait for the ox-cart. She wore a headscarf, and upon reaching the ox-cart, she paid and got on without indulging in conversation with the others.
After nearly two hours, Shen ng finally arrived at the county town. The swaying ox cart nearly jolted her stomach out. As soon as she got off the cart, she headed straight for the post office and, with the voucher at hand, received a remittance and picked up a huge parcel. It took her two attempts to hoist it onto her shoulder.
Bending over and panting, tears welled up in the corners of Shen ng’s eyes. Damn it was heavy! What on earth were these soldiers sending that was so heavy? Couldn’t be that they sent all the good stuff they had on hand.
Lugging the item, she zigzagged into an alley and hastily stashed it away in her space. After taking a good rest in her space and catching up on two hours of sleep, she slung a basket over her arm and headed for the Cooperative Society.
The Cooperative Society in the county was bigger than the one at the commune, and it had a wider array of goods for daily needs: clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. It was quite crowded, and after struggling for quite a while, Shen ng managed to squeeze in. The clerk was frowning as she fetched items for custors, wrapped them up, and took their money.
"Comrade, could you please get a ter of blue polyester fabric, two pairs of two-year-old children’s rubber shoe soles, and weigh out a pound of Jinsihou milk candies, thank you, comrade."
Shen ng surveyed the goods behind the counter and made her request. These were all common items of the ti. Her purchases were for Xie Jinghao, making it worth her trip to the Cooperative Society. She had glanced over most of the items; anything she needed she could eventually take out from her space, in order to avoid producing anything that was either ahead of or behind the tis, as that would be embarrassing.
"Wait a mont!"
Shen ng breathed a sigh of relief. Although the clerk’s attitude wasn’t great, she didn’t give Shen ng trouble like in the novels. It seems that since Shen ng wasn’t the protagonist, she didn’t have the honor of arguing with the clerk.
After picking up her purchases, Shen ng strolled around the county town. Songs unique to that era played over the loudspeakers. Passersby bustled about hastily, yet every face brimd with vigor and passion, affecting Shen ng as well.
She made a point of visiting the waste collection station but, unfortunately, found nothing of value except for a few relatively clean old newspapers. With a sheepish look in response to the suspicious gaze of the gatekeeper, she left.
After a satisfying al of sukiyaki and a cup of milk tea in her space, along with a comfortable nap, she packed up two sets of quilt covers and linings, two outfits for each child, a pair of liberation shoes, fabric, wool yarn, two sets of clothes for herself, pots and pans, new toothbrushes, cups, enal basins, a hot water bottle, three pounds of pork belly, two pounds of lean at, and five pounds of ribs. She also included so candies and pastries, brown and white sugar, and a whole dley of items into a hemp bag.
Shen ng missed the ox cart back to the village and was worrying about what to do when she ran into the tractor from the neighboring production team. After striking up a conversation and finding out she was from a military family, the driver quickly helped her load the items onto the tractor and gave her a ride ho. When Shen ng got off the tractor, she slipped the driver a handful of candies. As the saying goes, one’s hands are tied once they accept gifts; embarrassed, the driver helped carry the items into Shen ng’s house.
Inside the house, Xie Jinghao was sewing, Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang, who hadn’t gone to bed yet, ca out to see two large sacks of stuff on the ground, and stood there stunned.
"Elder sister-in-law, what’s this? Did big brother send all these things back?"
Shen ng had been jostled by the tractor so much that she nearly bit her tongue while trying to thank the driver when the tractor hit a big pothole.
"No, I bought this bag myself. Our ho is lacking in so many things, I had to buy so stuff to get by, or life would be impossible."
Xie Jinghao: "..."
Lu Mingyang: "....."
Lu Mingliang: "..."
The three of them trembled with anxiety as they looked at Shen ng. How much money did that cost? Could they even afford to live their future days???
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