This package of pastries has a slightly dry and stiff texture. It must have been brought by an old comrade who came to visit him a few days ago. The old man kept it and couldn't bear to eat it.
"Second brother, I'll live in the east room, and the four of you can live in the west room. You can live there without worry from now on. I still have some allowance that I can't spend all by myself, so I can support you. Let the children warm up on the kang in my room first, and you quickly bring some firewood to heat up the kang in the west room."
"Okay, Uncle Wu."
Dad Guan went to the woodshed in the yard to get firewood. Professor Dong washed his hands and went to the kitchen to cook.
The old man is really happy. Except for the occasional visit from his old comrade-in-arms and his grandson, his home has never been so lively over the years.
After Shui Shui arranged for her sister to take care of herself, she turned and went into the kitchen in the yard. Professor Dong saw a pile of pumpkins and sweet potatoes in the corner of the kitchen and prepared to make pumpkin soup. He would then stick a circle of three-grain flour pancakes on the pot, and both rice and vegetables would be ready.
Professor Dong was just waiting to sleep, so he asked her to quickly get some white flour, mix it into the cornmeal, and then get a bottle of oil to stir-fry the pumpkin.
I just got here today, so take it step by step. Don’t take too much at once and then expose it. Just a little bit every day and let the old man accept it slowly.
After dinner at around 4 or 5 o'clock, Guan's father boiled two large pots of water, and the four of them took a bath, except for a change of clothes. They would go to the county town tomorrow to see if they could exchange them for cloth coupons, and buy some cloth and cotton to make it themselves.
At that time, the country implemented a planned economy, and market supplies were scarce. To control the influx of people into cities, purchases required coupons. You couldn't just show up and buy anything; even with money, you couldn't buy anything. There were food coupons, vegetable coupons, meat coupons, sugar coupons, salt coupons, egg coupons, fried dough stick coupons, cooking oil coupons, soy product coupons, tobacco and alcohol coupons, pastry coupons, non-staple food coupons, cloth coupons, shoe coupons, soap coupons, soap coupons, water coupons, and all kinds of industrial coupons. There were wardrobe coupons, bench coupons, match coupons, coal coupons, Muslim coupons, and even monthly belt coupons. Even using public restrooms required a toilet coupon. Even more surprising were the awakening coupons. In short, everything from eating and drinking to defecating and urinating required a coupon.
The next morning, Professor Dong got up and symbolically made breakfast. Three years of natural disasters had caused food shortages, and now every household generally only had two meals a day. This was a mandate from Fifth Grandpa before bed last night: breakfast was a must. They were going to the county town soon, and Fifth Grandpa wouldn't do it without breakfast.
Leaving Xingxing at home, the three of them carried the backpack they had taken from Fifth Grandpa's house, which contained two hand towels. They took Seventh Grandpa's oxcart, which had been used to carry the letter of introduction issued by the brigade yesterday, the family separation certificate, and the thirty yuan given by Fifth Grandpa, along with some tickets, to the county town.
Uncle Qi was born deaf, and his son drowned while bathing in the river when he was a child. After his wife passed away in the 1950s, he was left alone. To take care of him, the village arranged for him to drive an ox cart, which at least earned him a few work points and allowed him to support himself.
So I don’t have to worry about Uncle Qi hearing me talking in the car.
The three of them held a brief family meeting to discuss how to make money in the county town.
All the boys in the Guan family are sent to elementary school when they reach school age, regardless of whether they are good at studying or not. The two girls in the second brother's family are definitely not eligible. Old Mrs. Guan said that a girl's virtue lies in her lack of talent. She should stay at home and learn to do housework so that she can support herself when she grows up. She should not be a lazy girl. She should leave a good reputation in the village so that she can marry into a good family in the future.
The two children of Guan Laoer have never traveled far, let alone been to the county town.
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