Chapter 15 Another job.

It was only when He Susu was sitting in the carriage returning to the village that she remembered that she was so happy about the delicious fried hairtail fish at noon that she actually forgot to give a lipstick to her elder sister.

But it doesn’t matter. I’ll just give it to my elder sister next time I go to the county town.

After getting off the carriage at the entrance of the village, He Susu walked slowly with the package in her hand until there was no one around. She then called up the shopping system and exchanged 4 points of diligence for two kilograms of pork belly with distinct fat and lean parts.

Then she took out the apricot lipstick that she had exchanged earlier from the storage compartment, along with the thermos that her eldest sister had given her, and went straight to her uncle's house.

Most people in the village were working in the fields at this time, so He Susu didn't meet anyone along the way. But Sister Qiaoyi, because her wedding was approaching, had not been to work recently, so she helped cook at home and prepared things for her wedding.

He Susu walked to the door and called out, and He Qiaoyi quickly came out to open the door: "Susu is here."

He Susu nodded: "Well, I just came back from the county town, and I wanted to come and sit with you." She followed He Qiaoyi into the room, and the other party led her directly into her room.

He Qiaoyi said, "Susu, please sit down. My room is a bit messy, please don't mind."

The quilts, clothes and some miscellaneous items prepared for her at home were now all placed in the room. She could only ask the carpenter to make a wooden box and pack them up to take them to her in-laws' house.

"It's okay." He Susu took out the two pounds of pork first, "Sister Qiaoyi, I heard from my aunt that she wanted to cook pork belly for the wedding banquet. My mother told me about it when she found out. I happened to go to the county town and met a classmate who had relatives in the slaughterhouse, so I bought two pounds of pork belly. No meat coupons are needed. It's 86 cents per pound. You can talk to my aunt later and you don't have to buy any more."

He Qiaoyi said happily: "That's great. My mother was originally worried about this matter and wanted to ask my brother to go to the pork seller at three or four o'clock to wait."

The family gave her all the betrothal money from her future husband's family, and gave her an extra twenty yuan, but He Qiaoyi didn't have any loose change. She said, "I'll talk to my mother about this money and ask her to give it to my aunt. I was able to buy two kilograms of pork belly without a meat ticket, thanks to you, Susu."

"You don't have to be so polite." He Susu took out the thermos bottle and said, "Sister Qiaoyi, this is a wedding gift from my eldest sister. It was difficult for her to take time off to come and congratulate you, so she asked me to bring this thermos bottle to you first."

He Qiaoyi was surprised and delighted: "It's rare that Sister Xiuxiu cares about me so much, thank you for your concern. Please also tell Sister Xiuxiu that I like this thermos very much."

The thermos is practical and not cheap. She really didn't expect that He Xiuxiu, whom she hadn't had much contact with since she got married and moved to the city, would give her such a gift.

"I've made a note of it." He Susu took out the lipstick from her pocket again. "This lipstick is my wedding gift to you, Qiaoyi. It just so happened that a classmate had a relative in Shanghai who bought something for me and sent it back to me, so I asked her to buy a lipstick for you. I hope that you will put on the lipstick and have a prosperous life after marriage."

"Thank you, Susu." He Qiaoyi took the lipstick and was very curious. "This is the first time I've heard of this lipstick. Do I apply it directly on my lips? Susu, please teach me how to use it."

"Okay." He Susu had heard from a female classmate about how to apply lipstick before. She took a lipstick and practiced in the room a few times when she was free. She looked in the mirror to make sure that she looked better before she dared to teach He Qiaoyi.

She took off the lipstick cap, twisted the paste inside out, and applied it to He Qiaoyi first: "Qiaoyi, you usually have to look in the mirror when applying lipstick. First, apply it along the outline of your lower lip, then apply it on the key areas of your upper lip. Just purse your lips a little and blend it out."

"Okay, Sister Qiaoyi, take a look in the mirror."

He Qiaoyi looked at herself in the mirror and felt that it was a little unreal. Her originally small lips became red, but not too glamorous, and instead made her face look rosy: "Just putting on lipstick really makes me look a lot better."

She said happily, "Susu, I really like this lipstick. On the wedding day, and when I go to get the marriage certificate and take photos, I will also put on this lipstick."

"That's great." He Susu was happy to see that she liked the gift.

The two cousins ​​chatted for a while and agreed that He Qiaoyi would come and accompany her early in the morning on her wedding day. Then He Susu went out and went home.

At home, He's mother had been cooking in the kitchen. When she heard the noise outside, she came out to see: "Susu is back. I was just wondering why you were gone for so long."

He Susu: "After I bought the pork, I went to sit with my eldest sister for a while, and then I came back and sent the pork directly to my aunt's house. Sister Qiaoyi said that I will ask my aunt to return the money for the pork to you later."

"It's good that we can buy pork. It's also a favor to them." He's mother said happily.

He Susu told her about the wedding gifts she and her elder sister had given her. He's mother had no objection: "It's as it should be. Qiaoyi is a well-behaved girl. You two sisters are thoughtful enough to give gifts, and everyone is happy."

He Susu then handed the package in her hand to He's mother: "These are three boxes of canned meat that my eldest sister gave me specially. She said it is a monthly benefit from the factory. I and my parents can have a taste of them."

"Oh, this canned meat is so rare. I didn't expect that we would have it one day." He's mother thought of the days during the famine. She never thought that life would get better now, the family could have meat from time to time, and the eldest daughter would even bring back canned meat.

She took it and said, "Then I'll put this can of meat away and steam it for you to try in the evening."

He Susu corrected: "Let's try it together."

He's mother smiled helplessly: "Okay, okay, let's all try it."

When it was time for dinner, He Susu was given half a can of meat.

He's mother listened to her daughter and steamed canned meat for everyone to taste. But she was reluctant to finish all three cans of meat at once, so she only steamed one. In order to go with the canned meat, she also specially cooked a bowl of refined rice for her daughter.

So, not only did He Susu eat the salty and tasty pork belly slices in the canned meat, but the sauce in the canned meat was even more delicious when poured over the soft and glutinous white rice.

Some of the other members of the He family got a small piece of meat, while others only got a spoonful or two of sauce to pour over white rice mixed with 70% brown rice and 30% polished rice. Even so, they ate with gusto, relying on their desire for canned meat over the years.

Everyone knew that the canned meat was a welfare benefit issued by He Xiuxiu's factory. It was saved up and brought back for He Susu and He's father and mother. He Susu always got the first portion of the food at home, so no one was dissatisfied with her eating half a box of canned meat by herself.

There's really no point in being dissatisfied.

On April 25th, He Susu went to her uncle's house after breakfast.

Great uncle's house was bustling with activity. Wu Huada had already called on the relatives who came to help to prepare meat and dishes for the lunch banquet in the kitchen. □□ and his son went to borrow tables and chairs from several nearby houses and set them up in the yard.

He's mother came over to help a long time ago. After saying hello to everyone, He Susu went straight to He Qiaoyi's room.

As the bride, He Qiaoyi showed a happy expression, but also some anticipation and nervousness. She had already put on a specially made red dress, tied her hair into two pigtails, put some cream on her face, and applied lipstick on her lips. She was undoubtedly at her most beautiful moment.

She asked uncertainly, "Susu, what do you think of my outfit? Is my lipstick not smudged?"

He Susu gave the greatest affirmation: "Sister Qiaoyi, you look the most beautiful like this. You are the most beautiful female comrade in the village today. You put on lipstick very well, and you look very healthy."

He Qiaoyi was happy to hear that, and her nervous heart was somewhat relieved. She pulled He Susu and couldn't help sharing, "You don't know, I couldn't sleep last night. I was afraid that life after marriage wouldn't be as good as I imagined, and I was also afraid that if I didn't sleep so late, my eyes would definitely be swollen and ugly when I woke up today. I don't know how late I fell asleep in the end."

He Susu cooperated and looked at her face carefully: "No, there is no swelling at all, it looks very beautiful."

The two sisters talked a lot again, mostly He Susu trying to comfort He Qiaoyi and ease her tension.

As noon approached, the outside became more and more lively, and the guests invited by the He family had all arrived. When there was a wedding in the village, those who had a good relationship with the family would bring some gift money or a few eggs and rush over to share in the joy and eat at the banquet. When the groom's team came to pick up the bride, the atmosphere was extremely lively.

After the whole process, the groom, who was also wearing red clothes, took He Qiaoyi away. They left in a lively atmosphere with the blessings of her family, and then the banquet began.

□□ was the captain after all, and his family was well-off, so he set up four tables for the banquet, each with eight dishes, four meat dishes and four vegetarian dishes. Everyone was so engrossed in the braised pork, scallion-fried fish, braised chicken, and roast goose meat that they began to eat with great enthusiasm.

He Susu sat at the same table with her family and ate various meat dishes. She thought they tasted very good and it was a rare feast for her.

Everyone was eating and chatting at the table. Some were praising □□ and Wu Hua for being lucky, saying that their children had all started families and they had finally accomplished their mission. Others were praising the son-in-law for being handsome and a perfect match for Qiaoyi, saying that the couple would surely live a prosperous life in the future. Then they started talking about other gossip in the village.

After hearing this, He Susu said that the village party secretary's third son and Liu Zhiqing had fallen in love and started dating each other. They insisted on marrying Liu Zhiqing, which made the village party secretary and his wife very worried.

Some of the educated youth were full of fighting spirit when they first arrived, but were later defeated by the heavy farm work and the lack of hope of returning home. They were also willing to date and marry villagers to relieve the pressure of working.

In the early days, villagers also dreamed of having an educated youth as their daughter-in-law or son-in-law. Gradually, they discovered that the educated youth were just good-looking cultural figures who could not earn much money by working and had to subsidize their own food. The aunts were afraid that their daughters or sons would have anything to do with the educated youth.

He Susu had a very good memory of the village party secretary and his wife. She even remembered that when she kowtowed, her mother exchanged a pound of meat with the village party secretary's wife and brought it back to make porridge for her to nourish herself.

I don't know if this is simply a case of love between a man and a woman, or if Liu Zhiqing is attracted to the village party secretary's family background. In any case, judging from what he said, there is going to be trouble in the village party secretary's family.

Half a month later, He Susu took a bullock cart into the county town again, intending to go to the post office to see if the manuscript she mailed had any reason to reply, and to exchange some meat from the shopping system to take home so that she could have some more fishy flavor.

This time she remembered to give lipstick to her elder sister. It happened that her elder sister was on vacation today, so she went straight to the steel plant’s staff quarters after entering the county town.

As soon as she entered the room, she took out the pink lipstick and said, "Sister, I have a classmate who has relatives in Shanghai who can help me buy things and mail them back. I specially asked her to buy a lipstick for you. You can put it on to make you look more beautiful."

He Xiuxiu looked at the lipstick that her younger sister handed over. It was indeed a Shanghai product that she had never heard of before. She smiled and said, "Why are you spending this money? You finally earned some royalties and you're still thinking about me."

She pulled her younger sister to sit in the hall. Because of the lipstick, she was more confident about what she was going to say next: "Susu, let me tell you, a big sister in the factory found me a job as a ticket seller in a movie theater. On weekdays, my job is to collect ticket money from people who come to the theater and help show movies. Because I'm a temporary helper, I get 18 yuan a month, and I also get food coupons and meat coupons. I work for half a year."

"It is said that this comrade gave birth to a child prematurely and had to stay at home for half a year. She did not have time to hire a helper so we got the news. But there was a condition. This comrade was weak and had no milk after giving birth. The child could only be fed with formula milk, but she could not buy formula milk. So the news was spread that whoever could help buy formula milk would have the job."

"Doesn't the classmate you just mentioned have a relative in Shanghai? Can you ask her to help buy some milk powder? The work in the cinema is quite leisurely and not tiring, which is just right for you."