Chapter 37 Mom, it’s me, look at me
Li Huifen and her partner each picked eight feet of cloth, and Jiang Xinbai thought about the remaining nineteen feet and gave five feet to her mother-in-law.
"Mom, don't you want to make a cotton coat for Dad? With these five feet, we can make a set of cotton coat and trousers."
Jiang Xinbai handed over five feet of dark gray cotton cloth. Together with the ten feet of cloth coupons that her mother-in-law had saved, she could make a set of cotton-padded clothes and trousers for her father-in-law.
"Hey, I don't want this. Keep it for yourself and make new clothes for my eldest grandson."
"Mom, it's still early. Besides, this grey one isn't suitable for kids." Jiang Xinbai has a job now, and next year he and his wife will have a 32-foot house. If they save some money, they might as well have fewer kids.
Yang Jinsheng stepped forward, grabbed the gray cloth and stuffed it into his mother's arms, "Mom, just take it. Think of it as our way of honoring Dad, right, Dad?"
Yang Fugui nodded happily, thinking that he had not raised his son in vain and that he had also chosen a good wife.
Li Huifen and Su Qiuyan suddenly felt that the cloth in their hands was not fragrant anymore. Seeing that the third brother and his wife could do it, they seemed filial. But if they were asked to give the cloth to their parents-in-law, they would be reluctant. After much hesitation, they finally quickly took the cloth back to the room.
Then, Jiang Xinbai pointed at the things on the table and said with a smile, "Mom, take a look at these and see if they can be used at home. If not, I will return them to others."
When Sun Erni saw the oil bottle, her eyes lit up. "This must be two kilograms. Of course you want it. Mom will definitely give you the money. You must accept it. The oil is for the whole family to use together. I can't let you pay for it alone."
Jiang Xinbai didn't refuse. She nodded and said with a smile, "This is peanut oil, two pounds in total, 90 cents a pound, plus the oil coupons, the total is 2.9 yuan, but you have to return the can to the owner."
"Of course, we have a jar at home. Wait, I'll free it up for you."
"Hey, wait, mom, didn't I lend you three pounds of sugar tickets last time? Because that person's special supply tickets are not suitable for us to buy with, so I asked her to change them to white sugar. Mom, how about I just give you three pounds? Sister-in-law, the same goes for you. I lent you one pound of sugar tickets and half a pound of candy tickets before. Do you want to change them to white sugar directly?"
Sun Erni thought about it and nodded, "That's fine, sugar won't go bad anyway."
"Then I'll switch to white sugar, but what about my half pound of candy?"
After hearing this, Yang Jinsheng took out a candy ticket from his pocket and said, "Here, sister-in-law, this is for you."
Li Huifen took it with some disappointment. She originally wanted to exchange it for white sugar, half a pound of candy ticket for eight ounces of white sugar.
"Sugar is 80 cents a pound, you need 2.40 yuan, plus the oil, the total is 5.30 yuan. The cloth is 35 cents a foot, eight feet is 2.8 yuan, plus 80 cents a pound of sugar, the total is 3.60 yuan, second sister-in-law, you need 2.8 yuan."
Jiang Xinbai didn't even need an abacus, he just worked out everyone's account with just a few words.
Li Huifen was still counting on her fingers, but Jiang Xinbai had already figured it out.
Yang Jinsheng looked very proud, "Sister-in-law, don't calculate it. Xiaobai is very good at arithmetic. She can't make any mistakes."
Jiang Xinbai took the money with a smile on his face, waved the money in his hand and said, "This time we are all clear, no one owes anyone anything."
"Well, third sister-in-law, if there is such a good thing in the future, you have to think about us." Li Huifen said happily to Jiang Xinbai.
"Of course, we are all family, so naturally, the best things should be kept within the family. Sister-in-law, if you treat me well, I will treat you well too."
The next day, Jiang Xinbai and her sister took the bus to Dayang Village.
"Second sister, I still have one pound of sugar and four pounds of oil left. I plan to give all the oil to mom and keep the sugar for myself. What about you?" Jiang Xinbai thought that since she was pregnant, it was better to drink some sugar water from time to time than drinking plain water.
Jiang Xinlan looked at her sister in surprise and said, "You only left two kilograms for your in-laws?
"Yes, we live in the city, and each person can get 3 taels of oil every month, so we can live a good life even if we save. There are no oil coupons in the village, and we are reluctant to use grain to make oil, so we can't eat much oil all year round. So I thought of giving it all to my family."
"Then I only took two kilograms of oil and one kilogram of sugar."
"That's six kilograms of oil in total, which is enough."
When we arrived in the town, we happened to meet a oxcart going to the village. We gave each of us two cents and got on the cart back.
"Cui'e, you are still here. Your two daughters are back home. Why don't you go back and see what good things they brought you?" A lively villager saw Chen Cui'e still picking vegetables in her private plot, so he urged her hurriedly.
Chen Cui'e raised her head and asked, "Xiao Lan and Xiao Bai?"
"Besides your two daughters, who else could it be? Your eldest daughter has been with the army for so many years and has never come back." At this point, the lady who was speaking paused and hurriedly said, "Hey, I was just talking nonsense. Who knows, Xinhong might come back this year, and you can see your grandson too."
Chen Cui'e didn't care what the old lady said. She just waved her hand, picked up the basket and said with a smile: "Thank you for your good words. I'll go back and take a look first."
"Yeah, okay."
Wu Hehua was happily touching the oil can when she accidentally saw her mother-in-law walking into the yard with a basket on her shoulder. She hurried over to greet her and said with a smile, "Mom, you're back just in time. Look what the fifth and youngest sisters brought back? A big can of oil. It will last for a long time."
Chen Cui'e looked at her happy eldest daughter-in-law and raised the basket in her hand, "Hehua, if you have nothing to do, sort out the vegetables in the basket." Then she looked at the Jiang Xinbai sisters and asked, "Are you all alone? Didn't your son-in-law come back with you?"
"No, Jinsheng was supposed to come, but he didn't come because of something urgent. Mom, don't ask him. Look, we brought back six kilograms of oil." Jiang Xinbai looked at his mother with a smile.
"You've spent money recklessly again. You're really not sensible at all. How much did you spend? I'll compensate you." Chen Cui'e was afraid that her two daughters would be criticized by their in-laws for spending money recklessly.
Jiang Xinbai and her sister looked at each other and smiled, "Mom, I told my second sister that you would say such things, but she didn't believe it."
Jiang Xinlan glanced outside the house and whispered, "Mom, these oils are cheap, so you don't have to pay for them. It's inconvenient to eat oil in the village, so you can keep them."
Seeing that her mother wanted to say something else, Jiang Xinbai quickly interrupted her and said, "Yes, Mom, I want to tell you something. You are going to be a grandmother."
Upon hearing this, Chen Cui'e immediately looked at Jiang Xinlan's belly. Thank God, she was finally pregnant.
"Mom, where are you looking? It's me, look here." Jiang Xinbai pointed at her belly in dissatisfaction.
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