Village Chief Ma frowned even more. Grandma Yan was definitely right, but he knew the situation in the village very well. The Yan family had their son sending back money for their old age every month, but what about the other families? Apart from the Tang family's son, who else had that?
The Yan family's house is being built very quickly; they've already started laying bricks, installing doors and windows, and pouring concrete. Grandma Yan took out a lunar calendar, checked it, and decided that the roof beam could be raised next week. She said she would invite the whole village to a roof beam-raising feast then.
Yan Xiaoqiang was a little worried. How should he prepare for the house-raising meal? He only had a little money left in his pocket, but where could he buy the ingredients? There were so many things to prepare for the house-raising.
Grandma Yan was also worried. Yan Xiaonan didn't know what was needed for the roof beam raising, but she could ask. Now she was sleeping in the same room as her grandma. Grandma Yan sighed and said, "The roof beam raising is very particular. It requires chicken, fish, pig's head, candy, cigarettes and wine, and small steamed buns made of flour."
Yan Xiaonan said, "That's easy! We'll go catch fish in the river, hunt wild boars in the mountains, buy candy, cigarettes, and alcohol in town, and have Sister Xuemei make some small steamed buns."
Grandma Yan nodded. "That's the only way. Tomorrow, let Cuihua, Beinan, and Xinan buy the candy boxes, cigarettes, alcohol, and red paper. The day after tomorrow, we'll go up the mountain to hunt wild boars."
The next day, Cuihua asked Xinan and Nannan to accompany Grandma Yan and Nannan to town. The housewarming ceremony was approaching, and there was a lot of work to be done. She couldn't spare any time to go out herself. Yan Xiaoqiang was worried that his mother and daughter wouldn't be able to walk, so he specially gave his third uncle 50 cents to hire a car for them to go back and forth. His third uncle happily agreed, thinking that this money was too easy to earn.
Southwest carried five rabbits in his basket, which he was going to exchange for grain in town. North and South carried ten catties of white rice in their baskets, which they were going to exchange for coarse grains. Yan Xiaoqiang put the two baskets on the oxcart, North and South helped their grandmother up, and Southwest carried South on. The two of them ran and jumped, easily getting onto the oxcart.
Old Niu glanced at Yan Xiaonan, but before he could make a move, he was so frightened by Zhong Nan rushing over that he almost knelt down. Humans might not be able to tell that this little wolf was real, but the ox definitely knew. Yan Xiaonan realized that things were going to go wrong, so he quickly used his consciousness to communicate with Old Niu, telling him that this was his pet and wouldn't bite the ox.
Old Niu cautiously began to walk forward. Zhong Nan was driven back by Yan Xiaonan. Sensing Zhong Nan's sadness, Yan Xiaonan made a promise to go hunting wild boar in the mountains in a couple of days. Only then did Zhong Nan reluctantly return.
When Uncle San reached the entrance of town, he would stop there. There was a shed there where he could get a bowl of water for a penny and chat with passersby to pass the time. Grandma Yan would take a piece of cake out of her basket and hand it to Uncle San, saying that he could chew it if he was hungry.
The four of them went to the supply and marketing cooperative first. They had candy, cigarettes, alcohol, and red paper, but they needed coupons for candy, cigarettes, and alcohol. Grandma Yan had quite a few of these, all sent back by her eldest son. She bought four packs of cigarettes and four bottles of alcohol at once, hoping for peace and safety throughout the four seasons. Actually, each person could only buy one bottle of alcohol and one pack of cigarettes, and there were exactly four of them.
After putting the things into the basket, she went to the market. One pound of white rice could be exchanged for three pounds of cornmeal, and one pound of cornmeal could be exchanged for five pounds of wheat bran. Grandma Yan took out ten pounds of white rice, intending to exchange it for one hundred and fifty pounds of wheat bran. In case of drought, this stuff could also be left out in the open.
Most people in the town eat government-supplied grain, so the white rice was snapped up as soon as it was put out. Southwest and South South sat on 150 jin of wheat bran, feeling like they were sitting on a beanbag chair.
The fat chef, having received the news, rushed over and bought all five rabbits. Grandma Yan didn't want money, but she wanted oil and sugar. She would also like cigarettes and alcohol, but those required coupons, which the fat chef couldn't provide. He could only exchange five catties of oil and three catties of sugar, plus some other seasonings.
Bei Nan and Bei Nan struggled to carry the load. After all, they were only twelve years old. The reason they were able to carry it was because their family ate well. The children grew taller and taller like bamboo poles. Dongnan was already 1.7 meters tall, and even Xue Mei was almost 1.6 meters tall.
Grandma Yan carried the heavy basket on her back and wanted to hug Yan Xiaonan, but Yan Xiaonan refused. Such a heavy thing was already too much for an old lady to handle, and she was almost two years old and could walk.
When Third Uncle saw them coming from afar, he quickly walked a few steps, picked up a bag of wheat bran, and put it on the oxcart. Southwest quickly picked up Yan Xiaonan, saying that the little girl's feet were going to hurt from walking so far.
Bei Nan quickly took the basket from Grandma Yan. With her grandson around, it was disrespectful for her to carry such a heavy load. Uncle San nodded in agreement, thinking that the Yan family's children were indeed good.
The oxcart slowly made its way home. Grandma Yan reminded her third uncle, "Third brother, if you have any money, go and stock up on some grain, even wheat bran. Look, I traded cornmeal for 150 catties of wheat bran today."
Third Uncle's direction has always been very clear: whatever the Yan family does, he does too. He's been driving the oxcart for several years now, so he still has some money, but without fine grains, he can't exchange them for coarse grains. He simply can't buy them with money, and even if he could, the price would be too high for him to afford.
Third Uncle asked Grandma Yan, "Eldest Sister, after your house is finished, are you still going to the county town? If so, I'll go with your whole family."
Grandma Yan nodded. "I'll have Southeast write a letter to his uncle to see if he can get some grain. We'll share some with you then, but you'll have to go and exchange it for coarse grains yourself."
Uncle San nodded, which was great. When they arrived at the Yan family's door, Uncle San took out the fifty cents and returned it to Yan Xiaoqiang. No matter how much he pleaded, he wouldn't accept it. Yan Xiaoqiang was a little confused. Uncle San, who was usually so stingy, had changed his mind today.
Cuihua and Xuemei stared blankly at the wheat bran, but wisely remained silent. Grandma Yan told Cuihua to take the basket into the house and put the wheat bran in the yard. They would mix cornmeal with wheat bran to make cornbread for lunch.
Xuemei carried Nannan inside to wash her face and hands. The little girl had walked too much today and should be tired and need to sleep. Yan Xiaonan sighed, "Grandma knows me too well. From now on, I won't be able to escape Grandma's eyes for anything I do. How scary!"
That evening, Yan Xiaoqiang asked his grandmother, "Mom, why did you bring back so much wheat bran?"
Grandma Yan sighed and said, "Your village chief reminded me today that there was only one light rain this spring. We should prepare some coarse grains in advance, just in case."
They were all farmers. Grandma Yan's words startled the whole family. Cuihua quickly looked at Nannan, but only realized what was going on after being glared at by Grandma Yan. Oh my god, she almost gave herself away.
Southeast also glanced at Yan Xiaonan and said, "Grandma, why don't we go to the county town again and buy some grain?"
Grandma Yan shook her head. By the time the house was built, the money was almost gone. Yan Xiaoqiang regretted building the house so early, but Grandma Yan didn't. The courtyard wall of the old house had been raised to three meters high, and there were still many broken pieces of glass on it. Yan Xiaoqiang was afraid that the old wolf wouldn't be able to get in, so he dug a hidden dog hole at the side gate and let the little wolf climb through it a few times. The old wolf could tell by the smell.
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