Chapter 21 Excuse
"Oh, I was so scared. I was really scared just now. My heart almost stopped." Jiang Xinlan dared to speak only when they reached a place where there was no one around. She patted her chest, her face full of fear.
Jiang Xinbai looked at her sister curiously, "Sister, who did you see just now? Why did you turn pale?"
"You don't know him? Then why did you suddenly pull me away?" Jiang Xinlan thought her sister also recognized him.
Jiang Xinbai shook his head. "No, when I saw your expression, I knew you must have seen someone I knew, but I don't know him."
"Oh, Sister He who lives next door to us, oh my god, I broke out in a cold sweat when I saw her just now. Luckily we left, but I don't know if she saw me?" Jiang Xinlan was still a little worried when she said this.
"Sister, don't worry. Even if she saw it, she wouldn't tell anyone. Just like you, if you saw her, would you tell everyone?"
Jiang Xinlan shook her head, "No, I'm not a bad person."
"That's it, don't worry, it's okay, as long as we keep it quiet, no one will report it. But you still have to be careful."
Jiang Xinbai knew that at that time, every family was not wealthy, and except for those who were particularly timid, everyone else would more or less exchange some things with others, so everyone felt insecure and most of them would not report it.
Later, under the guidance of Jiang Xinbai, the two of them walked around for a while before reaching the family compound. They hid in the public toilet. They checked every toilet, even the men's toilet next door. After confirming that no one was there, they squatted in the corner of the door with peace of mind.
"Fifth sister, hurry up, let's divide it up." Jiang Xinbai endured the attack of various foul smells from the toilet, lifted the black cloth on the basket, and took out everything inside.
"We'll each have half of the dried sweet potatoes and taro. There aren't many vermicelli to begin with, so I won't take them. As for the corn flour, let's also have half each. Oh, if we hadn't been scared by Sister He just now, we would have bought more." Jiang Xinlan now regretted not buying more.
"Okay, the cornmeal is not easy to divide here, let's divide it at my house. As for the others, we can roughly divide them. We are all sisters, so it doesn't matter so much. Sister, it's too smelly, let's go back first." She had had enough of this toilet and would definitely change to another place next time.
"Hey, the third sister-in-law is back? You..."
"Sister-in-law, don't say anything. Mom, please come in first and close the door." Jiang Xinbai interrupted Li Huifen's sarcastic words without any hesitation. You didn't need to listen to the end to know that what she said was not a nice thing to hear.
When Sun Erni saw the baskets they were carrying, her eyes sparkled and she walked in quickly, pulling her eldest daughter-in-law in as well. After closing the door, she asked in a low voice, "Xinbai, what's in your basket?"
"Mom, go get the scale at home. I want to share the cornmeal with my fifth sister." Jiang Xinbai instructed her mother-in-law to divide the five kilograms of cornmeal into two, just half for each of them.
"Well, Auntie, I'll go home first." After getting the things, Jiang Xinlan was anxious to go home and hide them. It would be difficult to go out when there were too many people around after get off work.
"Okay, be careful." Sun Erni opened the door to let Jiang Xinlan out, then closed the door. Turning around, she saw her daughter-in-law taking out a handful of vermicelli, a small pile of taro, and some dried sweet potatoes from the basket.
Jiang Xinbai smiled at her mother-in-law, "Mom, we are lucky today. When my fifth sister and I were out strolling, we met an old farmer who came to visit relatives. He was going to give all these to his relatives, but his relatives didn't like him, so he took them all back in anger. We saw that it would be hard for him to carry them back, so we exchanged them with him."
Su Qiuyan touched the cornmeal in the bag and smiled, "Xinbai is really lucky. This cornmeal is ground very finely. Although it is a coarse grain, it is very fragrant when used to make pancakes and corn paste. And this vermicelli, stewing pork and cabbage with it will definitely be very fragrant, but it's a little too little."
"That's right, sister-in-law. Just this little thing cost me two dollars and a candy ticket. This food is really expensive."
Sun Erni glanced at her daughter-in-law and said with a smile, "I'll give you the money."
"No need for that, Mom. How can I ask you to take it? No, no need." Jiang Xinbai refused quickly. She didn't have any food to begin with. If she accepted the money, who knows what her sister-in-law and the others would say about her behind her back.
"That's right, Mom. This can be considered as supplementing the food rations for my third sister-in-law. But, third sister-in-law, I'm not saying anything to you, but look how bad these dried sweet potatoes are. Isn't it a waste to buy them?" Li Huifen looked at the thin white dried sweet potatoes on the table with disgust.
Before Jiang Xinbai could say anything, Sun Erni couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Even if the food tastes bad, you didn't eat less. If you don't know how to talk, then don't talk." She thought that since her daughter-in-law didn't want money, she would charge them two dollars less for food next month.
Li Huifen curled her lips, thinking that her mother-in-law was biased. She turned around and walked out, which was very annoying.
Sun Erni ignored her and quickly put away the things on the table. After thinking for a while, she said, "Xinbai, well, if you meet that old farmer again next time, ask him if he has any eggs that his relatives don't want, and we can exchange some."
"Mom, who doesn't want eggs..." Su Qiuyan retorted subconsciously, then immediately reacted and changed her words: "Yes, Xinbai, ask, we will take all the ones his relatives don't want."
Jiang Xinbai didn't think that this excuse could be hidden from her mother-in-law and the others. She was just finding a pretext.
But she had to say it in advance to avoid people thinking that she was making any profit from it. Jiang Xinbai stretched out her hand and gestured a few times, "Mom, one pound of eggs requires three pounds of food coupons, the price is not low." Although eggs were sold for 1.2 yuan per pound with coupons, she didn't have any coupons, so she could only exchange them for food coupons.
How could Sun Erni not know this? But for the sake of nutrition for her children and her husband, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree.
"Change it, if you have it, then change it. Mom will get you the food coupons now."
When Su Qiuyan saw her mother-in-law enter the house, she moved closer to Jiang Xinbai and asked in a low voice, "Xinbai, um, will there be brown sugar?"
Jiang Xinbai looked at Su Qiuyan in surprise, "Second sister-in-law, why would someone exchange brown sugar? Usually, only doctors can prescribe a little, huh? But who knows, some people may not even exchange it themselves."
"Oh, yes, yes, that's what I thought, Xinbai, can you help me, if you have any, can you give me two liang?" Su Qiuyan's hands and feet have been cold since she gave birth to her first child. No matter how she covers herself, she can't keep warm. Even in the hot summer, she is still cold. She heard from experienced women that this is a lack of blood and qi, and drinking brown sugar can help. In order to have another child, she can only bite her teeth and buy two liang to try.
Jiang Xin rolled her eyes, and an idea came to her mind. She smiled and said, "Second sister-in-law, you also know that brown sugar is rare and expensive. If I exchange it for you and you don't want it, then I..."
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