Chapter 35 A Gift to Relieve Boredom This man was encouraging her to spend money. ...

"Besides buying canned tomatoes and sausages, honey, what else do you need to buy? I'll go and get everything when I have some free time."

Qin Xiangxiang said, "I'll buy some salad oil so I can make salads later."

"Salad oil?" Li Jianzhi was surprised that there was still salad oil in the oil shop in this era.

Qin Xiangxiang said arrogantly, "You've never heard of it, have you? I'll teach you how to eat it later."

"Salad oil is only sold in grain and oil stores in Shanghai."

Li Jianzhi: "I know."

Qin Xiangxiang was speechless: "..." Do you really know or are you just pretending?

"Then tell me, how do you use salad oil?"

Li Jianzhi: "Cold salad? To make a cake?" Li Jianzhi really didn't know. He had never used it before and usually ate cooked food outside.

"Add eggs to it and make mayonnaise for salads." Qin Xiangxiang suppressed a laugh and said, "From now on, you'll have to work hard making mayonnaise at home. Anyway, you have plenty of strength."

Li Jianzhi: "...It feels like I've regressed to my ancestral ways."

Qin Xiangxiang: "? What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing... Leave it to me, but won't raw eggs have bacteria? Pasteurization?" Li Jianzhi blinked. Holy crap, in this day and age, families still have to manually make mayonnaise for salads, all by hand! Add raw eggs to salad oil and frantically stir to make mayonnaise by hand.

Putting aside whether it tastes good or not, adding raw eggs without sterilization means they might contain Salmonella or E. coli. What if you get sick and suffer severe diarrhea?

Qin Xiangxiang couldn't help but poke his forehead: "What nonsense are you talking about? I think you're the one who's been reading so much that your head is spinning."

"Wife, if you want to eat, then of course I'll risk my life to accompany you." But Li Jianzhi was considering secretly sterilizing it? Simple pasteurization involves placing it in hot water at around 60 degrees Celsius for about ten seconds, which sterilizes without overheating. After sterilization, it can be quickly put into the refrigerator... But doing it manually is too much of a challenge, so it's better to just let it cause diarrhea.

Qin Xiangxiang said, "I also want to buy some pickles to take with me to eat with rice porridge in the morning."

"Okay, then just write it down, and I'll go and buy everything when I have time."

Qin Xiangxiang beamed: "Li Jianzhi, you're so kind!"

In the future, she can live her carefree, laid-back life comfortably, complete with a refrigerator. She'll also befriend her well-informed sister-in-law and spend her days listening to other people's gossip to pass the time.

Li Jianzhi smiled and kissed her cheek, watching as the woman's face slowly turned red in his eyes. She was still easily embarrassed after all. He felt sweet in his heart and full of energy, like a young couple looking forward to their honeymoon and moving into a new home.

"Think about it, do you want to take the piano from your room? Should we leave it here, or should we go over and buy a new one?"

Qin Xiangxiang asked in surprise, "Do you have money?"

“I still have a little over a thousand yuan here. After buying the piano, I probably won’t have much left…” It’s almost like I’ll be completely bankrupt after buying the piano for my wife. In the past, Li Jianzhi would send fifty yuan to his wife and twenty yuan home every month. He saved most of the rest of the money. Over the years, he has only accumulated a little over a thousand yuan.

Given the prices of that era, a thousand yuan was a huge sum of money, but a piano was a luxury item, and after buying a domestically made piano, there was hardly anything left.

Although buying a domestically produced piano is not cost-effective and the craftsmanship is generally average, it's the only domestically produced piano I can buy right now, so I have to be generous when buying a piano for my wife.

Now that they've moved into a new house, they have to buy their wives a big purchase.

As for the money spent, you can save it again later. There was little need to save money in the 1970s; there were plenty of ways to make money in the 1980s.

"Keep your money. I'll take this piano with me." Qin Xiangxiang's piano wasn't badly worn, and the sound was still good. It should last another ten years, and maybe it could even be used by her daughter, provided she had a daughter.

In her dream, she went to the island with the army and sold the piano. Thinking of this, she was even more reluctant to part with it, so this time she simply took the piano with her across the ocean.

Qin Xiangxiang had always wanted to empty this damned man's wallet, but when it came to actually spending over a thousand yuan at once, she hesitated. She knew that he probably only had about a thousand yuan left over the years; she had spent most of the rest.

Well, the man said unequivocally that he would spend all his money to buy her a piano, and Qin Xiangxiang was quite touched, deciding not to completely destroy him.

She nestled in the man's arms, a strange sweetness welling up inside her, but she also felt a pang of unease, wondering if she'd gotten herself back on the wrong foot and was now in no way able to get a divorce. Because she realized she didn't really want a divorce anymore…

Let's get to the island first. What if this man is just trying to coax her now, and then he starts to dislike her like Zhou Aodong did when he sees her being lazy and good-for-nothing at home all the time?

snort.

"From now on, you will be in charge of all the money in the house. I'm giving you this thousand-plus yuan."

Qin Xiangxiang looked up at the man in front of her expressionlessly, thinking to herself, "You really are like a little mouse thrown into a rice bin. Giving her your savings to this little troublemaker will make her spend it all in no time, and you won't even know where it went. You might as well have bought a piano instead."

She reluctantly refused, saying, "Keep the money yourself. I can't save a single penny anyway. I spend as much as I have. Giving me that money is like giving it away."

Oh my god, she's softened for this man and can't bear to spend his money. Even if they divorce in the future, she'll leave him some.

She has her son, and seventy yuan a month is more than enough for them.

Sigh, I never thought Qin Xiangxiang would be so kind one day.

"Keep the money here with me. I'll pay for the water, electricity, and gas from now on. I'll save the money here to buy big items."

"Mmm." Qin Xiangxiang felt extremely heartbroken. She had rejected such a huge sum of money. Although she had money but no coupons and it was inconvenient to buy things, she could go to Xiaomai. Xiaomai had a way to buy items without coupons.

"Think about it, if I give you an extra ten yuan every month, will fifty yuan be enough for you?"

Qin Xiang thought hard and said, "Shut up! Don't tempt me anymore. Besides the fifty yuan you gave me, my great-aunt also gave me twenty yuan. Seventy yuan is enough for me."

Li Jianzhi did a quick calculation: "Wife, you're really rich!"

My buddy's back to living off a woman.

Including Qin Xiangxiang's salary from the textile factory, she earns about 140 or 150 yuan a month.

“After arriving on the island, I don’t want to look for a job right now, so I’ll just stay at home.”

“Okay.” Li Jianzhi didn’t care. He guessed that his wife just wanted to take a gap year, which was perfect. She could stay home and study to prepare for the college entrance examination in advance.

Qin Xiangxiang was happy. From then on, she ate and drank well every day, occasionally went out for a stroll to see the sea, and listened to the older women chatting about their daily lives. She was very happy.

"Think about it, I've prepared a special gift for you. You can use this 'gift' to pass the time at home from now on."

There are also gifts?

Qin Xiangxiang's heart pounded. She wondered what was wrong with this man? Why was he suddenly so good at charming women? Had she threatened him with divorce, and he learned these tricks from one of his comrades?

A gift to cheer someone up... but don't get your hopes up too high for a man. Is it a new harmonica? An accordion? Or a radio? Or maybe a TV?

"Mom, when will Dad's vacation end?" The chubby boy finished reciting a few new words and peered into the room from the doorway with a pitiful expression. He dared not go in or out of his mother's room now, because he was afraid of seeing his devilish father.

My dad always catches me from school, makes me do math problems, or I have to go for a run, or I have to pick vegetables and clean the house... I can't live like this anymore!

He wants to go to kindergarten! He desperately wants to go to kindergarten! He misses his kindergarten teachers and classmates!

Qin Xiangxiang: "It should be soon. Your father isn't here on vacation; he's here on a business trip."

"How many days?" the chubby boy asked cutely. Hearing that the Great Demon King was leaving soon, he was overjoyed, as if he were sending away a plague god.

"I don't know."

Little Fatty: "Mom, when we send Dad off, do we want to see him on the boat?"

"We want to go on the boat with Dad."

"Why?"

Qin Xiangxiang: "Because Dad came to pick you and Mom up this time. We'll live on the island together from now on, and you'll see your dad often. Are you happy?"

Fatty: !!! !!! !!!

This is devastating news.

A four-year-old's breakdown is that simple.

"Waaaaaah! I don't want to go! I don't want to go! I don't want to go!"

"I don't want to go with Daddy!"

When Zhou Aodong learned that her son-in-law was going to take her daughter with him to join the military, she nodded and did not raise any objections. It was not good for the couple to live apart. With her daughter going with him, she could only hope that her son-in-law would be transferred back soon.

Although Qin Wutong was reluctant to part with his daughter, he also felt that his daughter and son-in-law should stay together. Moreover, it would only take one night to get there by boat, and it wouldn't be difficult to send his daughter some things on weekdays; he could just send letters or make phone calls.

"Think about it, after you go with Xiao Li, live a good life with him and don't cause trouble. Your parents will give you forty yuan every month, and we'll send you any extra grain and oil coupons as well." Zhou Aodong and Qin Wutong are getting old, and their monthly salaries are not low. Together, they can earn almost ten extra jin of grain coupons every month to subsidize their daughter and grandson.

They only have one daughter, Qin Xiangxiang, and one grandson, Li Qingfeng. If they don't give this money to their daughter, who will they give it to?

Qin Xiangxiang: "!!!!" She got more money!

Did she suddenly become rich by joining the army?

"Mom, you don't need to give me so much money."

"You know, I won't have a single penny left from your daughter."

Zhou Aodong raised an eyebrow: "If you don't accept it, are you going to give this money to your aunt and uncle's children later?"

The couple had the least financial burden, with only one daughter, so they could save a lot of money and food. Rather than having it "borrowed" by others, they preferred to spend it all on their daughter.

Qin Xiangxiang: "I want it! I want it! I want it!!!"

“From now on, when you go with your son-in-law, you’ll be in charge of the household. Don’t suffer any grievances. Only tell Xiao Li half of this money, and keep some extra for yourself.” Zhou Aodong taught his daughter how to hide money. Even in ancient times, a woman’s dowry was a source of confidence.

Qin Xiangxiang said, "I will listen to my mother." She has truly become a mama's girl.

"Don't think being a housekeeper is a good thing. Men's salaries are hard to come by, and don't think that the money you give them is truly yours. You'll be spending your money under his watchful eye, you won't have any freedom, and you'll end up with complaints."

Qin Xiangxiang: "Hmm..."

But she always felt that this man was encouraging her to spend money.