Chapter 41: Chapter 41 How to Deliver the Goods (Part 2) Chapter 41: Chapter 41 How to Deliver the Goods (Part 2) “Xiaoyun, do you have any Malt Extract? Your second aunt’s Dabao and Xiaobao are not even a year old yet, and I reckon they need to add sothing like Malt Extract to their diet to be full.”
Lu Aiguo suddenly rembered his two nephews. He had heard his eldest sister tell the second brother’s wife that the second sister’s breast milk wasn’t enough for both the little ones, and they had also tried to get Malt Extract, but that stuff was too expensive, and they simply couldn’t afford it.
“Malt Extract?”
Upon hearing this familiar term, Lu Yun suddenly felt a sense of being transported through ti. For many born in the sixties and seventies, Malt Extract was ingrained deeply in their childhood mories.
However, she really didn’t have any of it in her space.
“Dad, I don’t have Malt Extract, but I do have baby formula suitable for little babies.”
How could she possibly overlook infant goods when she was preparing her supplies? She quickly took out more than a dozen cans of first-grade baby formula, as usual, “three no” products.
“That’s great. There’s no need for so many; keep the rest for now, and I’ll co to you for more later,” Lu Aiguo kept three cans and pushed the rest back to Lu Yun, “This will solve my second sister’s urgent problem. When the ti cos, just say it was mom who specifically reminded us.”
He also wanted his second sister to rember the kindness of his wife, to prevent her from taking out her displeasure on her and making life intolerable for him. It didn’t matter how his second sister treated him; he wouldn’t take it to heart and wouldn’t quarrel with her about it. But if she mistreated his wife, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control his temper. Then, if the second mother-in-law got upset, it would beco a big issue.
“Why not just say we both thought of it together?” Xia Yuan blushed, “Wouldn’t all the credit go to then?”
“I want all the credit to go to you. You know what my second sister is like. Stubborn as a mule. If she’s got a grudge against , it might take her a while to get used to switching her position, so it’s better for you to do her a favor. Then she might gradually co around,” Lu Aiguo said casually.
“Actually, your second aunt can be sharp-tongued, but she really does care about you,” Lu Yun couldn’t help but interject. In her previous life, when dad passed away, her second aunt cried so hard she could hardly breathe. Not to ntion how heartbroken she was. She even continuously regretted the friction they had when she was younger, leaving lingering regrets because they were rarely close as they grew up.
“I know, she’s just not good at holding her tongue, but she’s actually soft-hearted. I just hope she doesn’t annoy my brother-in-law; otherwise, I’m the one who has to back her up. Honestly, I’d rather be fair than biased,” Lu Aiguo said with a helpless look on his face.
As if.
Lu Yun finally couldn’t hold back and started laughing while holding her stomach.
In her previous life, her second aunt and uncle had a row over sothing, and in a mont of anger, the second uncle slapped the second aunt lightly. The second aunt ran back to her parents’ house. As a result, dad rushed over and, without asking for any details, gave the second uncle a good beating.
It turned out that the second aunt was actually at fault, but dad didn’t care. Afterward, he still gave the second uncle another beating in secret and threatened him, reminding him never to raise his hand against the second aunt again, under any circumstances.
Later, the second uncle said to the second aunt, “Your male cousin seems okay normally, but when it cos to being unreasonable, he really takes the cake.” The second aunt actually took pride in that. Since then, no matter how angry the second uncle got, he never laid a finger on the second aunt again.
“What does this little girl know that’s making her laugh like that?” Lu Aiguo tapped Lu Yun’s head.
Xia Yuan had no idea what that was about, while Shitou could guess she was probably recalling sothing amusing from her last life. There was no need to ask; she would surely spill the beans to him before they went to sleep at night.
Thinking of Lu Yun’s “chatterbox” nature, Shitou’s lips curved in a reluctant yet anticipatory smile.
After packing each item and labeling them clearly, Xia Yuan looked at the pile of items on the ground and started to worry, “Giving away so much stuff at once isn’t an issue, but if soone sees us on the road, won’t it be too conspicuous? What would we say then? Wouldn’t everyone find out?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll put the things in big baskets and store them in my big warehouse first. When we get to my second uncle’s door, I’ll take them out when there’s no one around.”
Lu Yun had thought everything through. Nowadays, they couldn’t afford to be too showy, lest people start getting suspicious. Once they started their small business in Haicheng, there would be no need to hide. In the future, even if they brought big and small packages ho every year, people would only feel jealousy and admiration, without overthinking it.
It was already 1979, and in fact, the standard of living had improved a lot compared to the past years. She rembered that in two or three years, by 1982, everyone’s lives would truly start getting better.
“Okay, we’ll do as Xiaoyun suggests,” Lu Aiguo also thought it was a good idea.
“Mom, you haven’t written the letter to Auntie yet. You should write it quickly, so we can send the package to her tomorrow morning, okay?” Lu Yun urged Xia Yuan.
“If they say you’re a little housekeeper, you really do want to take charge of everything, eh?” Xia Yuan pointedly tapped Lu Yun’s forehead, sowhat irritated, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any delay.”
“As long as there’s no delay, that’s fine,” Lu Yun said with a wrinkled nose and a prematurely serious tone, “I have to hurry for the September school opening. Mom, shouldn’t you pack Auntie’s things now so we can send them off directly tomorrow?”
But she wondered whether, in this life, she would still attend the sa Haicheng No. 6 Central Primary School as in her previous life. The thought of going through primary school, middle school, high school, and university all over again and reliving the hardship of a decade of studious toil made her shiver involuntarily.
Seeing this, Shitou couldn’t help but laugh again.
After laughing, he realized that he had laughed more tis yesterday and today than he usually did in an entire month combined.
“Tomorrow when you go to the township, Shitou and I will head straight to the mountain. The goji berries are ripe; we must pick them quickly,” Lu Aiguo happily watched the interaction between mother and daughter and felt very content.
“And don’t forget about the grapes outside; make sure to pick them for . Don’t let them spoil,” Lu Yun reminded Lu Aiguo.
“I won’t forget, I won’t forget, you little glutton,” Lu Aiguo smiled and pinched her cheek, “I’ll go pick so for you in a while. We need to pick a lot; Jinfeng, Jinzhao, Xiaoying, they all love them, too.”
“If you’re going to pick grapes, wait until evening. Picking them in the heat will spoil them too,” Xia Yuan imdiately objected upon hearing the plan.
“Alright, we’ll do as you say and pick them in the evening,” Lu Aiguo didn’t insist, as there really was no difference, and if his wife said so, he would listen to her. He called Shitou over and then said to Xia Yuan, “Shitou and I will go cut so bulrush to dry. That way, we can weave more baskets and hampers, which we will need for our store in Haicheng.”
“Just rember to wear straw hats, or you’ll get sunburned too badly,” Xia Yuan no longer objected but cared enough to remind them gently.
“Don’t worry, we won’t get burned.” Lu Aiguo and Shitou indeed went to find straw hats to wear before taking their sickles and heading out the door.
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