Zhang Siyu looked at the middle-aged woman who came over to talk to her with a smile on her face, and smiled a little too.

"Yeah, that's right. There's not much food at home, and the kids are growing up, so we need to buy something to fill their stomachs."

Zhang Siyu recognized the tall middle-aged woman in front of her as You Yumei, who was a few years older than Cheng Zhenzhu and had a good relationship with her.

Whenever she is free, she will come to Cheng Zhenzhu's house to chat and give Cheng Zhenzhu some advice. Cheng Zhenzhu trusts this elder sister Yumei very much.

"That's right. They are so thin and have no nutrition. We should give them some nutrition.

"You still have several children now that your man is gone. Don't always think about unreliable things. I think one, two, three, they are all sensible children. You should raise them well, and you will enjoy happiness in the future..."

The saying "appearance reflects the heart" is generally true. The elder sister Yumei in front of her looked upright, clean and refreshing. Zhang Siyu couldn't help but feel a bit favorable towards her.

"Well, I don't want to think about anything else right now. I just want to keep them healthy and plump..."

"What are you thinking? We're exposed to the wind and sun every day, how can we keep our skin white? Your one and two like to run around in the water and on the mountains. They are the darkest two in the whole Sanshi Island!"

Zhang Siyu couldn't help but laugh at what Sister Yumei was saying. The first and second ones were indeed quite dark, almost the color of dark soy sauce. The third one was slightly better, but still dark, about the color of soy sauce.

But Peng Aiqing is quite fair, the kind that doesn't get tanned, and even with pearls, it doesn't get dark. So the brothers aren't genetically tanned. If they were, she'd try to save them...

You Yumei was surprised to see Zhang Siyu's relaxed smile. "Sister Zhenzhu, do you have any good news?"

"No, I just thought it through."

"Think it over, think it over!" You Yumei couldn't help but nod. "There are some gossipers in the village. Don't bother yourself by getting close to them and listening to their nonsense..."

Your Aiqing, after all, sacrificed her life for her country. Everyone in the army remembers your Aiqing's kindness, so no one else has the right to say anything. Just live your own life." You Yumei said this, glancing meaningfully at the side.

Zhang Siyu glanced at the women who were whispering to one side and said with a smile, "Yeah, I know. You live your own life, why bother with what others do..."

The two chatted for a few more words, and then a dilapidated fishing boat slowly approached and stopped at the edge of the reef.

A bare-armed man on the boat lowered a plank down the river and shouted, "Get on board, get on board, hold on tight!"

You Yumei affectionately put her arm around Zhang Siyu's arm and said, "The boat is here, let's go."

Zhang Siyu looked at You Yumei, who was almost a head taller than her, and then looked at her own skinny self. She actually felt like a little bird, relying on someone else. "Well, let's go."

The fishing boat was not specifically designed to carry people. A lot of seafood was already on board, and some people were still carrying the large barrels onto the boat.

After we finished loading our things, the boat started sailing, and the bare-armed man came to collect the money. It was 1 cent per person, round trip included, but the boat docked at a fixed time. If you were late and missed it, you had to wait for the next one, and there was no extra charge.

Zhang Siyu and You Yumei paid and found a cleaner place to sit. The weather was nice today, with a clear and crisp autumn air. The strong fishy smell on the boat was much lighter after being blown away by the wind.

The fishing boat rose and fell with the waves for about half an hour before it approached the shore. Zhang Siyu, carrying a basket, got off the boat with You Yumei.

"Sister Zhenzhu, shall we go to the supply and marketing cooperative first? I need to buy some flour. My second child must have seen someone eating it, but he's been craving noodles lately. He cries and shouts for it every day, and I can't do anything about it."

"All the kids are like this. I'm going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some flour. We're out of rice and flour at home. I'll go to the grain depot to buy some rice later."

“I won’t buy it this time…”

The two of them walked to the supply and marketing cooperative while talking. There were not many people in the cooperative at that time, so it was Zhang Siyu's turn immediately.

"What do you need?"

The market was small, and the supply and marketing cooperative wasn't big either. There were only two people at the counter: a tall, thin girl and a short, plump woman. The one who had just asked her the question was the tall, thin girl. She had a clear voice, her head held high, and her every move was filled with pride.

"I need two pounds of eggs, one pound of soybean oil, two pounds of peanut oil, five pounds of flour, one pound of white sugar, and one pound of soy sauce." Cheng Zhenzhu read out a list.

She had tickets for all of these, plus a 20-jin (approximately 10-jin) coarse grain ticket and a 10-jin (approximately 10-jin) grain ticket. The 10-jin (approximately 10-jin) grain ticket was forced upon Cheng Zhenzhu by several soldiers...

In fact, objectively speaking, the army cannot be blamed for Peng Aiqing's incident.

Five months ago, Peng Aiqing had salvaged equipment that enemy elements had thrown into the sea. He reported it to the army and handed it in. The army sent someone to investigate the salvage site, and Peng Aiqing readily agreed.

But things don't go as planned, and the group encountered an unusually severe storm.

It was this storm, rare in decades, that took away Peng Aiqing and an experienced scout from the army...

"Why are you buying so much?" You Yumei was shocked and pulled Zhang Siyu. Pearl used to spend every penny carefully, so what had suddenly happened to her?

She could understand buying a pound or half a pound of flour to satisfy her craving. This time she came here thinking of buying a pound of flour.

As a result, Pearl bought 5 kilograms of it at once, and also added sugar, peanut oil, and eggs. How can she survive this?......

"We have to have some staple food. Eating fish all the time isn't a good idea, and the kids are tired of it. I'll make them something else."

"Then you can buy more whole grains. These few kilograms of flour can be exchanged for several kilograms of whole grains."

"You need to buy coarse grains as well. Let's go to the grain station later to buy them together with the rice." Zhang Siyu handed the money and ticket to the salesperson.

Zhou Xiaoyu took the stack of money and bills, still arrogant and without any extra expression.

"More to buy?" You Yumei exclaimed. "It's almost 4 yuan here!"

The last time I bought so much was when Peng Aiqing was here. He said that a distinguished guest was coming to his house.

Finally, the distinguished guest came, but the person was gone...