"Yes, what you think is right."
Chen's mother patted her hand with satisfaction, then turned to Chen's sister-in-law and said seriously, "This meat was originally brought back by A-Jing. He paid for it, so it's only right to give him the cured meat as a gift."
"Think about it, he has good relationships with those leaders, his work goes smoothly, and he gets the boss a few extra sets of clothes. Aren't you all benefiting from that?"
Chen's wife, Xu Yufen, thought it made sense. Cured meat was delicious, but now that her husband had earned money, it wouldn't be difficult for him to eat cured meat.
Ji Xia smiled at Xu Yufen, then turned to Chen's mother and instructed, "Mother, there are some rules to follow when giving gifts. Please try to pick out the best quality cured meat for me, preferably about a pound per piece."
"No problem, I'll keep an eye on this."
Chen's mother readily agreed, then thought for a moment and asked, "Xia, what other mountain products did you say you wanted?"
"Yes, Mom, did you get any mountain produce this year? Anything like wood ear mushrooms, mushrooms, or chestnuts would be fine."
Chen's mother thought for a moment and said, "We didn't find much mountain produce at home this year, but if you want it, some people in the brigade have collected quite a lot."
"Then Mother, ask them to exchange some? Try to pick the better ones, the ones in good condition. Let A-Jing take the money."
"Okay, I'll talk to a few of my sisters-in-law when I have time, and we'll spend some money to exchange some with them."
Ji Xia smiled, looked around, and saw that there were only two or three women in the house; everyone else was gone.
She asked with a suspicious smile, "Did Father and Ah Jing both go out?"
“Your dad goes out every day to arrange work, so don’t worry about him.”
"As for the brothers, your second brother Xiang Jun took a hunting rifle and went hunting in the mountains with several men from the village this morning, and the brothers went with him."
After finishing her sentence, Chen's mother added, "Don't worry about them. After you finish eating, do whatever you want. I'll go ask my sisters-in-law about dried goods."
She left in a hurry after she finished speaking, and Ji Xia couldn't help but chuckle.
In fact, she knew a little about Chen's mother's personality; she was always a very straightforward person, quite different from Lin's mother, who was sweet on the outside but bitter on the inside.
However, the most troublesome person in the Chen family is still the eldest sister-in-law, Xu Yufen. In her previous life, she had a rather unpleasant falling out with Chen Jing's daughter-in-law from a wealthy and noble family.
After finishing breakfast, Ji Xia smiled at Xu Yufen, who was deep in thought beside her, while tidying up: "Sister-in-law, shouldn't it be time to cook lunch? I'm not familiar with this place, can you give me some pointers later!"
"It's okay, there's nothing much to cook."
Xu Yufen waved her hand, and seeing her suspicious expression, she explained, "There are still a lot of leftover dishes from yesterday's banquet. We can just reheat a few dishes after cooking rice, and if that's not enough, we can cut up some braised pork and steam it. It's no trouble at all."
Hearing that it was all leftovers, Ji Xia initially wanted to say that it was not good to eat leftovers every day, but then she thought that in this day and age, the leftovers from banquets were the most juicy and oily, and no one would be willing to throw them away.
Given the current situation, basic needs like food and clothing haven't been met yet, so let's talk about quality of life in a few years.
She smiled slightly and said, "That's fine. I'll go with my sister-in-law later."
"No need, no need, it's just a small matter, I can handle it."
Xu Yufen waved her hand generously. Ji Xia was puzzled, but then Xu Yufen asked cautiously, "Sister-in-law, I heard from my husband that the factory hasn't been offering any clothes for wholesale lately, is that right? Your older brother hasn't received any goods for almost half a month."
Ji Xia suddenly realized why he was so generous and easy to talk to; it turned out he had come to her for a favor.
It's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. If you show them ways to make money, they'll be willing to do it. It's better than having a bunch of people be envious and morally blackmail you when you make money yourself.
She smiled slightly and explained softly, "Yes, I heard that their factory has dozens of supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores urging them to order goods, each ordering 20,000 to 30,000 units. The factory's supply is also insufficient, as the cotton arrived too late. They've been rushing to fulfill these urgent orders lately."
Xu Yufen nodded in realization, a hint of disappointment appearing on her face.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I asked around for her a couple of days ago, and I heard that the shipment will be ready in two or three days. Once that shipment is finished, the factory won't have any urgent orders, so we should be able to get some out."
"Your sister-in-law does this too? Doesn't she have a job?"
Xu Yufen was surprised to hear this, but then smiled ingratiatingly and said, "When there's stock, have the third brother save some for his brother."
"Don't worry, I'll tell him to leave more for his older brother so he can make more money during the peak sales season before the New Year and have a prosperous year."
"That would be great."
Xu Yufen was pleased to hear this, but then asked, puzzled, "What peak sales season?"
"Peak sales season, which means now is the best time to sell clothes."
As Ji Xia carried the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, she explained to her, "Think about it, when ordinary people earn money before the New Year, they always want to buy their children a new set of clothes for the New Year, right?"
"Young men and women go on blind dates and get married at the end of the year, so they always need to buy new clothes to dress up, right? That's why this is the best time of year for men's, women's, and children's clothing."
"Yes, yes, yes, you're right. Being cultured really makes a difference."
When the topic of making money comes up, even the most sharp-tongued woman becomes easy to talk to. As Xu Yufen washed rice and chatted, the unpleasantness from the cured meat that morning immediately disappeared.
Not long after, a brother and sister ran in from outside. They were Xu Yufen's children, five-year-old Chen Xiaohua and three-year-old son Chen Xu.
The two children, wearing slightly worn cotton-padded clothes and with dirty little faces, called out "Mother" to Xu Yufen as soon as they came back.
Upon seeing Ji Xia, Xiao Xu hid behind Xu Yufen, while Xiao Hua timidly called out, "Second Aunt!"
"Oh, my good boy."
Ji Xia smiled and reached into her pocket, pulling out two red envelopes and a handful of candy: "Here you go, Xiao Hua and Xiao Xu, your second aunt will give you a red envelope."
Upon hearing that there would be red envelopes, the two children smiled happily and boldly reached out to accept Ji Xia's red envelopes and candies.
Touching the cotton-padded coats on Xiaohua and Xiaoxu, Ji Xia asked suspiciously, "Sister-in-law, isn't your brother selling children's clothes at his stall? Why don't you get a couple of sets for the kids?"
Xu Yufen smiled nonchalantly: "It's still a long way from the New Year. His father said that he will prepare a new set of cotton-padded clothes for each of them next month, when the New Year is approaching."
Upon hearing this, Ji Xia secretly shook her head. She was used to keeping the good things for herself first.
After sitting in the kitchen with the mother and her two children for a while, Ji Xia excused herself that she was a little sleepy and went back to her room.
I was indeed a bit sleepy. Last night, Chen Jing tossed and turned me around, and I barely managed to fall asleep until dawn.
Back in her room, lying in her brand-new bedding, she could still almost smell Chen Jing's scent that made her blush and her heart race, but she couldn't fall asleep.
Recalling the madness of last night, Ji Xia felt her head spinning, her mind filled with images of his strong physique, powerful arms, and solid chest.
After lying down for a while, she got up, found her sketchbook, and started drawing figure sketches based on her memory.
After an unknown amount of time, a pair of arms quietly wrapped around her slender waist. Chen Jing quietly pressed against her back, looking at the sketch in her hand and teasingly whispering, "Didn't you eat enough last night? Are you craving my body again?"
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