Jiang Ruyu pretended to be a little embarrassed and hesitant, and thought for a while before saying, "Alright, for my sake and for the sake of that old man, this was originally prepared by my aunt to help my brother and me get better, but this time I'll let you have it."

"Really? Thank you so much. Here's two yuan. I'll go call her for you. Wait a minute." Wang Fang took out two bills and gave them to Jiang Ruyu. She put the things in her cabinet, locked it, and turned to leave.

A moment later, she brought in a woman wearing a white shirt and black pants. The woman excitedly stepped forward and grasped Jiang Ruyu's hand: "Comrade, don't worry, we are all law-abiding people. We will definitely not tell anyone how much that goose cost?"

Jiang Ruyu didn't know the price on the black market, but a hen sold for 1.5 yuan per catty and required a ration coupon. Her geese were scarce, so it wouldn't be surprising if she sold them for double the price. However, she needed to maintain this supply chain in the long term, so she didn't need to set the price too high.

"How about this, I see you're a filial sister, so it'll be two yuan and fifty cents a pound, is that alright?"

Zhao Ying nodded without hesitation: "Okay, you're an honest girl, so I won't beat around the bush."

Jiang Ruyu took out the goose: "It weighs ten catties, no less. I also have five catties of refined flour. Do you want it? If so, it's two mao a catty, no coupon required."

Zhao Ying nodded repeatedly: "I'll take it. Thank you so much. You've really saved me from this urgent problem. I thank you on behalf of my father."

"Don't mention it, we're just helping each other out." After packing her things, Jiang Ruyu took the twenty-eight yuan and walked out of the post office. She didn't look back, her back straight, and walked quickly for a mile before stopping under a large banyan tree.

She cautiously looked back and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see anyone following her. This was the first time she had done something illegal. Although she knew they were all government employees and that no one would report them, since nobody wanted to cause trouble, she still couldn't help but feel scared.

After a while, she put away the snakeskin bag, took out a cloth bag containing five catties of white rice, a dozen or so White Rabbit candies, half a catty of assorted candies, a catty of soybean oil, and a catty of pork belly, and hurried to her younger brother's place.

When she arrived, Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin were getting a little anxious. They were relieved when they finally saw Jiang Ruyu: "Sister, where have you been? The second bus is coming soon."

"Alright, it's nothing, I'm here now. What did I buy this time?" Jiang Hui tugged at Jiang Lin's sleeve to stop him from saying, "Didn't you see that your sister's head is covered in sweat from running?"

Jiang Ruyu handed the cloth bag to Jiang Hui, who opened it and his eyes widened in surprise: "Sister, where did you get so many oil coupons to buy oil?"

Jiang Ruyu glanced at him and said, "Don't ask. Anyway, I didn't go to the black market."

Jiang Hui shut up and stopped talking. Jiang Lin, who hadn't heard what his brother and sister were saying, anxiously leaned in and asked, "What are you two talking about? Why aren't you telling me yet?"

Jiang Ruyu and Jiang Hui exchanged a glance and together pressed his head down as he tried to jump up: "Go away, you're everywhere. Come on, the car is here."

Jiang Lin shouted angrily from behind, "You two are too mean! Sis, you can't do this! Jiang Hui and I are twins, you can't show favoritism! I don't agree to this!"

"Who told you to be so tactless and have such a loose tongue?" Jiang Hui said deliberately to annoy him.

The three siblings, playfully fighting, took a bus to the suburbs. After an hour's ride, they got off at the intersection leading to their uncle's house. They still had to walk for more than half an hour to reach the brigade where their uncle's family lived, Qingshan Brigade.

After walking for half an hour, covered in sweat, the three siblings suddenly heard the sound of a tractor behind them. They turned around and saw that the driver was their eldest cousin, Hu Dong.

Hu Dong also saw his aunt's cousin and cousin, and quickly stopped the car: "What are you doing here? Come on in, look how tired you are, in this hot sun, aren't you silly?"

The three siblings quickly climbed onto the tractor's trailer with silly smiles. Jiang Ruyu could finally rest for a while; she was exhausted. She hadn't had this much exercise since graduating in the city, and her legs would be sore when she woke up tomorrow.

There was a slight cool breeze when the car was running, but it was noisy and dusty. After sitting for less than five minutes, the three siblings were covered in dust.

Hu Dong parked the car at the brigade headquarters, picked up the crank handle, and said, "You three wait a moment, I'll go tell the brigade leader that we'll go back together later."

"It's alright, Dong-ge, you go ahead with your work. We know the way." Jiang Ruyu didn't want to disturb her cousin's work.

"It's alright, I've finished my work. I'll just let the captain know." Hu Dong turned and went into the office. He came out a moment later, still holding the crank in his hand—his livelihood.

"Let's go. If my grandpa knew you were here, he'd be overjoyed. He'd definitely have a few drinks at noon." Hu Dong knew his grandfather usually worried a lot about his aunt's three children, but they didn't live very close. If he went over, he'd have to stay for a meal. These days, food rations were rationed for city dwellers, unlike in the countryside. In the countryside, people had their own plots of land where they grew sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and other crops every year. With the family's work points and wild vegetables and mushrooms from the mountains, they could always have enough to eat.

"Well, I just graduated, so I took over my mom's job. Otherwise, I would have had to go to the countryside. My grandma is getting old, and Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin are still young. I've been busy adjusting to my job for the past month and haven't been able to visit grandpa for a while. I'll come every month from now on." Jiang Ruyu explained what had happened during this time.

"You've got a job? That's great. Is it the same job your aunt used to have?" Hu Dong had no ulterior motives towards them; he just wanted to find out more.

"No, my mom used to be an accountant, but that position has been filled a long time ago. I now sell candy at the candy counter in a department store. At the beginning of each month, my company opens its defective goods warehouse to give to us employees as a benefit, without needing coupons. If there's anything you need that's hard to buy at home, just let me know, and I'll see if I can get some without coupons." Jiang Ruyu wanted to maintain contact with her uncle's family. She didn't have many relatives to begin with, and she couldn't just cut off all contact after her parents passed away.

"Wow, that's great news! Go back and tell your aunt, she'll be overjoyed."

My uncle's house has a very large courtyard with three main rooms and three side rooms on the east side. My uncle, Hu Qingling, and aunt, Zhang Yuezhen, live in the north room at the back of the east side. My maternal grandfather lives in the south room on the east side because it gets sunlight. My eldest cousin, Hu Dong, and his wife, Xu Cuicui, live in the south room on the west side. My youngest cousin, Hu Xi, lives in the north room on the west side. My second cousin lives in a side room. There are quite a few people in the family, and their living space is much more spacious than that of people in the city.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, look who's here!" Hu Dong shouted as soon as he reached the door. That's how it is in the countryside; when guests arrive, everyone quickly calls out.