"Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandma, we're here!" An'an shouted as she entered the alley and rushed towards her great-grandfather's house.
"An'an, you're here!"
"An'an, you'll play together!"
"An'an, why are you so late!"
In the alley, many children came out to greet An'an when they heard her voice. These were said to be An'an's newly recruited little soldiers, and they were getting along very well!
Yu Yin smiled as she watched An'an greet the other children. It was wonderful that her child had a happy childhood.
Grandma Lu heard the noise, opened the door, and saw the family coming over.
Although Kuaikuai is small, she's fast and runs in the lead. Pingping holds Manman's hand, keeping pace with her, walking slowly and unhurriedly.
Yu Yin and Lu Shurui walked side by side behind, letting the children play and make noise in front of them.
"Grandpa, Grandma," Yu Yin greeted them with a smile as she entered the house.
"Is everything packed?" Grandpa Lu put down his newspaper and adjusted his reading glasses.
"Everything's all packed, just waiting for the New Year. I wanted to ask how we're going to celebrate this year, together or separately?" Lu Shurui sat next to his grandfather, chatting casually.
"Just live your own lives. Too many people and it's too noisy, it's exhausting." Grandma Lu chimed in. Every year when we get together, the place is small, there are too many people, it's noisy and tiring.
“Then, Grandpa and Grandma, please celebrate with us. This is my first time celebrating the New Year here, and I really don’t know what to do. Grandma, please teach me.” Yu Yin spoke sincerely, and Grandma Lu felt comforted.
“Alright, we’ll come over and give you some guidance.” Grandma made the final decision, settling the matter.
"Grandma, tell me what we need to prepare. Shurui and I will go buy it later. The children can stay here. Shurui said there are too many people buying things before the New Year, and I'm afraid the children will get separated." The missing person posters plastered all over the streets in later years are so heartbreaking!
“That’s right, you can’t take the children there. Let them stay here with your grandfather and me. They’re all sensible and don’t need us to take care of them. You’ve raised them well.” Looking at Pingping slowly reading a storybook to her over there, and An’an constantly reminding her to be careful outside, Grandma Lu felt that the children’s relationship would always be good.
Leaving the child behind, Yu Yin and Lu Shurui went to buy New Year's goods.
"Mom, don't forget to buy me firecrackers." Kuai Kuai reminded her anxiously, as he loved setting off firecrackers.
"I know, stay with your sister and don't run off on your own," Yu Yin reminded him.
When the two arrived at the department store, it was so crowded that they couldn't even squeeze in.
Outside the alleyway, there were some people peeking out, carrying baskets and bags, secretly doing business.
Before the Lunar New Year, regulations weren't strict, and they needed New Year's goods too!
"Want some bananas? They're from Yunnan Province, they're really sweet." Yu Yin and her friend were still standing at the door, hesitating whether to go in or not.
"How much are the bananas?" Yu Yin became interested, wondering if she could try her hand at selling them too.
"It's not expensive, only two yuan a pound, no coupon needed. At the department store, it's one yuan and fifty cents a pound if you need a coupon!" The young man wearing a hat tried hard to sell. He brought these back from Yunnan Province, seventy or eighty pounds, and if he sold them all, it would be enough for his living expenses for several months.
"Thanks, we're also from Yunnan Province. We didn't expect bananas to be so expensive here!" Yu Yin said casually.
“Things are valued for their scarcity. Nobody wants pineapples in Yunnan Province, but here they’re two yuan and fifty cents a pound!” the man in the hat exclaimed.
Seeing that Yu Yin and the others couldn't buy it, they went to sell it to others.
"What, are you tempted?" Lu Shurui knew from Yu Yin's inquiry about prices that she also wanted to sell supplies.
"Let's go talk over there." He pulled Lu Shurui to a quiet, secluded spot.
“Shu Rui, look, the college entrance examination has been reinstated this year, and many people have been exonerated. The situation is changing. Maybe in the near future, private buying and selling will be allowed again.” Yu Yin racked her brains to analyze, trying to persuade Lu Shu Rui.
“I understand what you mean, and I can see that the regulations aren’t as strict now. There’s a banana vendor over there, and other vendors too. But I’m still a little worried.” Lu Shurui noticed this as well and understood that things would change sooner or later.
"We only sell bananas and pineapples, which are readily available and won't cause too much of a stir."
“We don’t sell retail. Let’s look around and find a place that specializes in buying and selling wholesale.”
Yu Yin, having prior experience, spoke eloquently and logically.
“If we really want to sell, we have enough money to live on, and we’ll get a subsidy when school starts.” Lu Shurui doesn’t have high material needs.
"This is a rare opportunity. It's a good time to sell before the new year. There will definitely be more supplies later, so these won't be considered rare anymore."
“We have four children. Not to mention the future, our current expenses are already quite high. Can we not save more? I'm also thinking about whether we can sell our house and buy another one. Our house is still too small.” Yu Yin plans to have one house for each child, so that at least she won't have to worry about housing in the future.
Lu Shurui had no idea that Shanghai's housing prices would become sky-high decades later, and he didn't quite understand Yu Yin's urgency to buy a house, but he wouldn't stop her.
The two agreed not to buy any New Year's goods and instead started wandering around looking for a black market.
They actually spotted them near the department store. The two of them didn't make a sound and quietly slipped away to go home.
"Lu Shurui, close your eyes. I'll try to get you in." Time was of the essence, and Yu Yin didn't have time to do it herself bit by bit.
"Okay, I'll close it." Lu Shurui's heart was pounding. What would happen next?
"Alright, open your eyes."
Lu Shurui slowly opened his eyes, and the scene before him was truly shocking.
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