Guan Laoliu curled his lips at the thick stack of money, probably because he thought it was too little. Suihe felt itchy to see the man looking like he deserved a beating, and wanted to drag him to the back mountain for a friendly "exchange".

"You think it's too little? Forget it. My wife has no impression of her parents' home anyway. It doesn't matter whether we look for her or not." Jiang Huashu changed his smiling attitude and immediately turned hostile.

"It's not too little, it's not too little, give it to me!" Guan Laoliu saw that Jiang Huashu was angry, and thought that this was fine. His wife at home estimated that the small golden lock was worth at most one hundred and fifty cents if he took it back to the bank, so it would be really good to get an extra fifty cents. He reached out and grabbed the money, then got up and left.

After walking outside, he turned back and said to Jiang Huashu, "Second brother, don't tell anyone else."

"I know." Jiang Huashu replied.

Guan Laoliu and his wife didn't tell their brothers about this little Jinsuo. Now the third brother Guan Dadi is eating peanuts. The eldest, fourth, fifth and sixth brothers in the family have divided the family. The sixth brother has been cunning since he was young. His parents are gone, but he unexpectedly married a calculating wife. As long as he doesn't care about her parents' family like Zhang Cuihua, judging from what he taught Guan Laoliu to do today, it is estimated that their family will be able to live a good life.

I put away the small golden lock and placed it in the drawer of the kang cabinet, which was actually already in the space. I also put the wine that Suihe bought for Fifth Grandpa, the snacks that my two sisters bought, and the headscarf that my aunt bought on the cabinet.

Suihe had just started working at the county police station less than two months earlier and had only received one paycheck, for 18 yuan. He spent 3 yuan on something from his eldest brother, and 8 yuan on something for his family when he returned, leaving him with 7 yuan. On his return, his eldest brother gave Suihe 200 yuan and Jiang Huashu 500 yuan. Jiang Huashu and Suihe refused to accept either, and his eldest brother, frustrated, had no choice but to accept both.

Jiang Shaoming knew Fifth Grandpa was a veteran who loved military uniforms, so he brought back his own old uniform for him to wear while working in the village. He also had an old police uniform, with the epaulettes and other items removed. Ordinary people could wear these hand-me-downs without any problem. There were both long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts. Fifth Grandpa was thin due to the famine, so the clothes might be a bit too big for him.

Suihe will report to the Armed Forces Headquarters tomorrow. Professor Dong packed his luggage a few days ago. I bought him two sets of short-sleeved summer pants from this era on Taobao for his vacations. He'll take his underwear, socks, and insoles with him in his backpack. Military training is tough, so I bought twenty pairs of insoles alone.

There was another large package. Jiang Huashu would mail it to Suihe from the post office after he left. It would be cold in a month or so, so he'd packed two sets of thick clothing: autumn sweaters and long johns for fall, a thick cotton-padded jacket for winter, cashmere pants, cotton trousers, thick socks, and cotton-padded shoes. He'd also packed various meat sauces, pickles, sausages, and dried meat for immediate consumption. Suihe, in the army, couldn't control what his family mailed him. Besides, they were sure to be understanding and wouldn't be too strict about such matters.

Suihe's eyes turned red as he looked at the big package prepared for him on the kang in his aunt's room.

Jiang Huashu walked out of his home and headed towards the educated youth handicraft factory. On the way, he met several women who had just returned from their shift. Some of them greeted him, then turned around and pointed at him. He was puzzled, what was going on?

When we arrived at the processing plant, we saw wild fruits piled up in the yard. A group of women wearing straw hats were picking them under the shade of trees. This was the first step in making canned fruit and jam.

Under the guise of a processing plant, he established close ties with the county department store and the village cooperative, and obtained a significant amount of sugar and seasonings using formal procedures. However, this "significant" amount was actually quite small; it was just a cover. With these necessary paperwork in place, he wasn't afraid of investigations.