"That's settled then. The most important thing is not whether they suffer or not, but that if they follow us, they probably won't even be able to go to school."

"I'm not the only one worried about the children and uneasy about them; as their father, I'm worried too. But for their future, we have to be firm, you understand?"

"But I just feel like I've let my two children down."

"Okay, cry now! They won't understand now, but they will when they grow up."

"Third brother, it doesn't seem like eldest brother and the others are here to visit relatives this time."

Okay, that's good, but this fish is really quite big.

"It doesn't seem like it, but there were many people on the street, so my brother didn't say much. Besides, if something really happened, we'll know after they wake up."

“You’re right, but why do they look even smaller than Baozi? Didn’t Big Brother say in his letter that they were more than half a year younger than Mantou?”

"Didn't my brother say back then that they were both premature? Could it be that they weren't properly cared for after birth? You know, my brother and his family live in the Northwest, a place that's not as good as ours."

Putting everything else aside, it's questionable whether we can even get a sip of clean water.

"You're right. In that case, let's take advantage of these few days to give the child some good nourishment."

"But they're so small, can they eat meat? What if they get stomach aches?"

"Let's steam some egg custard for them! As for meat, that's fine too, but they can have a little fish. No pork, though."

"good"

"Sister-in-law, don't go to so much trouble. Just eat whatever you have."

"It's alright, sister-in-law. It's your first time visiting, we should at least treat you well."

"That doesn't need to be so lavish! Otherwise, how will you manage to live in the end?"

"Look at what my sister-in-law is saying. Although it looks like a lot, it actually didn't cost much."

This cured pork was made from pigs we raised last year. One was a pig we used to meet quotas for, and the other we slaughtered and kept for ourselves to eat slowly. In this place, unlike in the city where you can buy meat with ration coupons, in the countryside, even if you have money, you can't buy meat in the city. To be honest, the countryside is great in every way, except for the lack of ration coupons.

And this fish, sister-in-law, let me tell you a secret. My third brother caught it in the ditch over there with a fishing net he'd set out when he heard you and your brother were coming with the kids.

"Will this work? What if someone finds out?"

"Don't worry, sister-in-law! These were all put in at night and retrieved the next morning at dawn."

"That's quite a lot. Actually, the brigade doesn't really care. Many children in the brigade go to the ditch to catch fish, but it's still a bit of a problem for adults to do it."

So if some families really wanted to eat meat but couldn't afford to buy it, they would go to a distant ditch to catch fish. The brigade cadres usually turned a blind eye to this, as long as it wasn't excessive.

"That's good. I was just worried that someone might report us later."

"So everyone secretly went fishing. Also, the houses here are farther apart, unlike back in the city when we ate meat and the whole street could smell it."

"That's really true."

"But sister-in-law, this production brigade doesn't grow much wheat. What they do grow is handed over to the state, so most households here basically eat cornbread or sweet potato flour buns. Please don't look down on it."

"Sister-in-law, what you're saying is true. Putting aside everything else, even these cornbread buns are top-quality grains."

To be honest, even though my sister-in-law works a good job, she doesn't get to eat white flour buns every day. She mostly eats cornbread or steamed corn bread.

Another thing is that the only white flour the family has is for the two children. Even if you have money and ration coupons, you might not be able to buy it in that area.

"But your company shouldn't be like that!"

"It is indeed better than other units, but everything is rationed. If we want to go out and buy something, we can only ask the comrades in the logistics department to bring some back."

"Won't the tickets be wasted if it takes too long?"

"Who can argue with that? That's why everyone has objections."

"So what happened in the end?"

"The higher-ups did take that into consideration, and eventually opened a supply and marketing cooperative near our workplace. But even then, the supplies were incomplete, and sometimes we couldn't get any. In the end, we had no choice but to go to the higher-ups and exchange all our extra coupons for national grain coupons."

Is this okay?

"It was approved after reports were submitted from higher levels. Most of the people in our unit either have dependents or their families are in their hometowns, so they can't take care of them at all. They want to send something home, but they don't have any! And they want to send tickets, but they're not from their hometowns, so they can't use them at all. That's why the higher-ups agreed to allow the exchange."

However, grain coupons are still valid nationwide, so there's no need to search for local grain coupons from different regions.

"That's true. Now that I think about it, no wonder my elder brother always included a few national grain coupons with his letters."

"They're almost cooked. Let's eat first and chat while we eat."

"good"

"Brother, do you mean to leave the two children here?"

"Yes, is that alright, third brother?"

"Brother, what are you saying? Putting everything else aside, they are my own nephews. How can you say it's okay? Of course it's okay!"

"Won't this just cause trouble for you and Mianmian?"

"Brother, what are you saying? It's no trouble at all. We're all family. Besides, from childhood to adulthood, haven't you all been the ones taking care of our little sister? And what's wrong with just two more mouths to feed?"

"Mianmian, thank you, big brother."

"Sister-in-law, your wife also thanks you."

"Brother, sister-in-law, what are you doing? Saying thank you is too formal."

Besides, isn't it because the conditions where you live don't allow it? If things were better, who would be willing to leave their child behind?

"Sister-in-law, I really don't know what to say."

“Sister-in-law, you don’t need to say anything. Let’s just talk about myself. My parents sacrificed their lives early, and my older brother took good care of me. Also, even if we’re not family now, we were family before. My older brother and his family were my mother’s apprentices. It’s really too formal to say these things.”

"Okay, okay, Mianmian, we won't say anything more. From now on, the two children will stay with you. We're at ease."

To be honest, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the two children with anyone else, but I have complete confidence in you.

"That works, doesn't it?"

"But, sister-in-law, even if the two children are still young, they still eat a lot of food!"

"Sister-in-law, don't worry about that. I'll have my third brother register their household registration under my name. I'm still an educated youth in Xiangyang Brigade. Not to mention that I get a certain amount of food rations every year, the work points I earn are enough for the two of them to eat."