After seeing off the old captain and the elder uncles of the clan, it was already dark outside and the strong north wind was howling non-stop, finally allowing Zhou Jiao to experience the coldness of that year again.
No matter how cold it was, the men and children would get up early in the morning to exercise, and Zhou Jiao would still have to keep her body straight, and even after shrinking her neck when the wind blew, she would still have to move forward.
It is easy to go from simple to luxurious, but difficult to go from luxurious to simple. She should not refuse Aunt Chen to come over!
This time, she didn't bring much with her. Firstly, the New Year gifts for her parents-in-law and siblings took up part of her luggage, and secondly, she was still used to carrying tickets and money.
Her parents-in-law did send them food rations, but she hadn't been back in the past few years, so they probably had eaten up all the food they had stored.
Those two pitiful bags of coarse grains were probably not enough for ten grown men to eat for several meals even if they could be eaten. Besides, she couldn't bear to see her men and children suffer any injustice.
Especially Ping'an and Liuyi, they have been studying hard enough in the military academy, and in order to follow the crowd, they can't get any special treatment. The only thing they can do is to make up for it once they have a holiday and go home.
Buy! You must buy! And you have to buy a lot!
After breakfast, Zhou Jiao took out the national food coupons, provincial foreign exchange coupons, and money that she had prepared in advance and gave them to Xiao Zhu, asking him to drive to the provincial capital to shop.
At the same time, she could take those people back with her. Her family would stay in the village and not go out. Her husband and son were all masters. Didn't you see that they couldn't even withstand a few moves from her son this morning? Besides, these young warriors also had to celebrate the New Year. Why should they be saddened by watching thousands of families reunite?
Afterwards, when her three sons sneaked up the mountain, Zhou Jiao said nothing. She and Zhang Guoqing, who had changed into casual clothes, took Comrade Xiao Liu and drove to the market.
Her foolish son was in a hurry to go up the mountain to hunt in such a cold weather, not knowing that the best place to go now was the market.
The market in my hometown is different from the one in the suburbs of Beijing.
Local cloth, insoles, headscarves, bamboo baskets, bamboo baskets, kang mats, etc. ... each one is a work of art and is very worth appreciating.
Once the morning of New Year’s Eve has passed, what stalls are left at the market?
Just as she had imagined, the fair has now returned to its former glory.
Before Zhou Jiao even got close to the market, she saw that most of the young wives she met along the way had changed into better clothes, and many of them were carrying baskets covered with coarse cloth.
Men carrying loads and sacks, or strolling leisurely with children, all with beaming smiles on their faces, their days looking increasingly promising.
If Zhou Jiao was at home, she wouldn't have such a strong feeling, but when she went out, she felt the festive atmosphere more and more lively than that in the city. It was hard to describe the feeling, which made her, who had always been indifferent, a little excited.
Without his military uniform, Zhang Guoqing, who was wrapped up like a bear with only half of his face exposed, was finally free. He held his wife's hand and headed towards the destination.
Xiao Liu, who was ordered to change into casual clothes, could only look at the couple's backs in silence. He picked up the basket and followed them closely, worried that he would lose them.
Isn’t the purpose of celebrating the New Year to have fun?
Zhang Guoqing was delighted to see Zhou Jiao relaxed. Without the feeling of being constrained in Beijing, his wife's smile was so charming that he wanted to cover her tightly with a scarf.
As we get closer to New Year’s Eve, the flavor of the New Year is getting stronger and stronger.
There are stalls outside the market. Various Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures, and lanterns are hung on bamboo poles, and various kinds of firecrackers are placed in cardboard boxes on the ground.
A few steps away from this stall is the supply and marketing cooperative's stall, which is crowded with customers, most of whom are young wives and girls.
Zhang Guoqing shielded his wife from them and walked a few steps before his eyes. "What do you think?" "They're selling nuts, roasted seeds, and dried fruits."
That's good~ His wife is always worried about not having anything to serve to the guests during the first month of the lunar year? Of course, he won't expose his wife's hamster nature.
Zhang Guoqing waved to Xiao Liu behind him, and when he got closer, he whispered something to him, stuffed a handful of money into his pocket, and made two gestures.
Then he walked to the stall, protected Zhou Jiao and continued to change stalls. He finally understood that Xiao Liu, the light bulb, had a place to use his skills.
"I've asked Xiao Liu to buy the firecrackers and other things and put them in the car first."
Zhou Jiao covered her mouth and laughed. "Using the word 'pull'? 'You bought quite a lot!' You forgot I'm still home. I'd be surprised if I didn't call you a spendthrift!"
But she likes it because her man is like this!
"Auntie, your goods are good. I'll buy them all. Can you give me a lower price?"
"Uncle, it's not easy for you. It's too cold in the coldest days of winter. I'll take care of it. Can you send it to the parking lot? Yes, that's the place where the ox carts and horse carriages are parked."
"Brother, I won't bargain. Just one yuan per pound. If you win, you can run with my brother and deliver it to me. Money? My brother will pay you when we get there."
"Auntie, who would buy your salted fish and meat if they're not cheaper? Every family is now reminding themselves of the New Year's goods, and there are piles of them hanging everywhere in the house."
"Stop talking. How about I buy it all for you?... What? Why would I buy so much? Haha... You don't know how many brothers I have. If one for each of us is enough, we'll have nothing left."
“…”
As soon as Zhou Jiao squatted at the stall, Zhang Guoqing rushed around to buy everything, which made Xiao Liu very busy. The young comrade ran around in the cold weather and his forehead was covered with sweat.
Seeing that the car was almost full and there were things tied up on the roof, Xiao Liu didn't dare to ruin his leader's good mood and could only ask his wife for help.
Zhou Jiao burst out laughing.
"Wife, what are you laughing at?" Zhang Guoqing glanced sideways and pointed to the candied haws stand in front. "Why don't we buy some and stand them up in the yard? Give one to each child who comes."
Zhou Jiao was not surprised by what he said. In the past two years, when the three Ping'an brothers in her family went to the temple fair in the first month of the lunar year, they would bring back a few strings of candied haws and stick them on the hands of the snowman in the yard and give them to the children who came to visit.
But only a few people in the compound can enter their own yards, and how many will there be in the village this time?
But who can blame him for spoiling her? He's her man, so she can afford to spoil him. Not to mention candied haws, she can even afford a ten-yuan ticket for each of them.
After the final short sale at the end of the year, the total amount on the foreign list was over 70 million US dollars. This was because she didn't want to continue playing, otherwise it would have been easy to break 100 million by the spring.
"purchase!"
Zhang Guoqing raised his eyebrows at her cheerfully and raised his chin towards Xiao Liu. This silly boy, could it be that he didn't even know how much he bought and whether it would fit in the car?
Forget it, since he’s working so hard, let’s spare him for now!
Zhang Guoqing turned around and pulled Zhou Jiao, protecting her as they squeezed out. "Let's go back and see if the kids are back. There's a big market in Malutun tomorrow, let's go there."
Zhou Jiao nodded with a smile on her face. She had just heard her husband asking around for this information, and he probably wanted to take her out for some fun.
Hehe... I just don't know if his mother-in-law will nag him when he goes back!
After paying the money, Xiao Liu picked up a bunch of straw sticks full of candied haws and ran away quickly - luckily the children around him didn't cry!
But how to bring it back safely is also a problem.
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