I arrived at my doorstep familiarly. Since I only brought small items, which were hidden in my bag and not visible to others, I avoided attracting any envy. I greeted my neighbors in the yard and then went inside.

Ding's mother got up early today to tidy up the house and prepare to welcome her new son-in-law.

Hearing the voices in the yard, Ding's parents knew that their daughter and son-in-law had returned, so Ding's mother went to make them tea.

Before she even entered, her voice rang out: "Mom and Dad, we're back."

Then the curtain was lifted, and Ding Qiunan walked in first, followed by Li Chu, who propped up his bicycle. As soon as they entered the house, they greeted each other: "Mom and Dad, Qiunan and I are back."

When Ding's mother saw her daughter and son-in-law, her face lit up with joy: "It's good that you're back. Come and sit here. I've poured you all some water. Drink some hot water to warm up."

Li Chu went over and sat down at the table, took the cigarette offered by Ding's father, and the two began to chat.

After greeting her father, Ding Qiunan pulled her mother into the inner room to talk.

Ding's mother looked at the yarn bills her daughter handed her, but didn't take them. Instead, she asked, "Nannan, do you know that Xiao Chu is giving so many bills home?"

"Yes, I know. I told him, and he even wanted to buy some yarn to bring back, but I didn't agree."

Ding's mother then took the ticket: "It was right not to agree. You two should just live your own lives. Our family is on a ration of food, we don't lack anything, so don't cause any trouble."

"I know, Mom. I told Li Chu the same thing." She paused, then asked, "Has Jianguo gone to school? Has that kid been behaving himself these past few days?"

"Yes, he went to school. When Jianguo came home from school that day, he found out you got married and wouldn't be coming home as often anymore. He didn't say anything, but your dad found him crying alone that night." Ding's mother told Ding Qiunan with a smile.

Ding Qiunan felt a little smug: "Hehe, at least that kid has a conscience, he didn't forget his older sister."

After saying that, he took out a pen from his bag: "This is from Li Chu for Jianguo, to tell him to study hard!"

Ding's mother took the pen: "He's still so young, he doesn't need it yet."

"I'll need it sooner or later, it's a gift from my brother-in-law to his younger brother!" Miss Ding waved her hand dismissively.

Aunt Ding stretched out her finger and tapped the girl's forehead: "You, you need to be more careful. You silly girl are also lucky. I think that Xiao Chu is not bad. You should live a good life with him."

Little Ding pouted and said, "I know, Mom, I'm fine too, okay?"

"Oh right, Mom, could you come with me to the neighborhood committee and the police station? I need to transfer my household registration and grain ration book there. I have the letter of introduction with me." Ding Qiunan remembered.

"Then hurry up and go, we still need to cook when we get back," said Aunt Ding, standing up.

Stepping out of the inner room, Ding Qiunan said to the father-in-law and son-in-law who were talking, "Dad, Li Chu, I'm going to the neighborhood committee and the police station to transfer my household registration and grain ration book."

"Do you need me to go with you?" Li Chu asked the girl.

"No need, I'll go with my mom."

"Xiao Chu, you sit with your dad, Nan Nan and I will go over there."

"Mom, thank you for your hard work." Li Chu stood up.

"Alright, you two can talk now." Ding's mother waved her hand and went out with Ding Qiunan.

After the mother and daughter left, Li Chu and his father-in-law sat and continued chatting.

Ding's father spoke up, "Xiao Chu, do you remember Da Gang? You mean Luo Da Gang?"

Li Chu nodded: "I remember. He brought his wife to see me for treatment. They made two trips. I told his wife to take the medicine prescribed the second time for a while, and then she wouldn't have to make the trip again."

Mr. Ding said with a smile, "Da Gang told me a few days ago that he went to the hospital for a checkup and his wife is pregnant."

Li Chu smiled happily upon hearing this. Seeing the patient regain a new lease on life thanks to his medical skills filled him with an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

A little over an hour later, Ding Qiunan and her mother returned. The formalities had been completed, and they only needed to go to their local neighborhood committee and police station when they got back.

After finishing their meal and sitting for a while, Li Chu left with Ding Qiunan amidst Ding's parents' repeated reminders and instructions.

Back home, seeing that there was still time, Miss Ding hurriedly got on her bicycle and rushed off to complete the formalities, without letting Li Chu accompany her.

After Miss Ding left, Li Chu didn't stay idle at home. He took out the honeycomb briquette stove, tidied it up, and cleaned the chimney before setting it up in the living room.

They also renovated the coal shed that had been built under the eaves at the entrance.

Then he took out his coal ration book and went to the coal station to buy coal.

Honeycomb briquettes are priced the same as coal briquettes, but because they don't burn for long, very few people buy them.

However, Li Chu thought that honeycomb briquette stoves were easy to seal. He could put a kettle of water on the stove when he went to bed at night, and he would have hot water to use when he woke up in the morning. How great was that?

I bought 200 jin of each type of coal, found a porter at the door, and he delivered it to me for 6 mao (0.6 yuan) to load and unload it.

When I got home, the girl was already back.

"Honey, you're back? Are you done?"

"You're done? Where did you go?"

"I've gone out to buy coal for us. I'll talk to you later. I'll bring the coal back with the foreman."

Li Chu parked his bicycle and then ran out to help move coal.

After everything was tidied up, Li Chu went inside. As soon as he entered, he saw a pile of cloth and a large bag of cotton on the sofa.

"What are you doing?" Li Chu asked, a little curious.

"I just finished registering my household registration, and before I got off work, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some cloth and cotton." Ding Qiunan said, picking up a piece: "This is for making cushions for the sofa."

She picked up another printed piece: "This is for making my cotton-padded jacket, and the other one is for making your clothes."

Li Chu picked up the large water jug ​​and took a sip: "You haven't been gone long, but you've accomplished a lot!"

"I didn't just wander around aimlessly. I planned everything out. I went there, bought what I wanted, and left. Of course, it didn't waste any time!" Ding Qiunan said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, right, Li Chu, let's go buy some cabbage for winter tomorrow. The neighborhood committee already gave out the coupons today." The girl thought for a moment and then added, "I see we still have quite a few meat coupons. I plan to go buy some every day, then pickle the meat and make cured pork. And also, we need to buy some radishes and pickle some for us..."

Li Chu smiled as he looked at the girl's earnest expression.

Li Chu interrupted Xiao Ding: "You don't need to queue up to buy meat every day. I'll give the ticket to Chef Liu, who's in charge of purchasing at the hospital cafeteria, and ask him to buy it for us. We can buy more at once."

There's no need to buy meat at all; there's plenty left in the storage space. We can just take it out when the time comes.

As for Master Liu, Li Chu had saved his life before, and he was extremely grateful to Li Chu. He readily agreed when asked to buy some meat.