Zhang Guoqing touched his forehead and turned to go into the bedroom. He didn't know if Jiaojiao had woken up yet. His son hadn't been accompanying her properly and had been busy for a long time. He went in quietly. Come on, neither of them had slept yet.
"Oh, my dear wife, your husband is so pitiful. He's holding a steamed bun in his hand. There's not a drop of oil in the dish. Life here is so miserable. Every step is heartbreaking. He's holding a steamed bun in his hand. Tears can't stop flowing down his face..."
Zhou Jiao burst out laughing when she heard this, and said to the child in her arms, "Baby, look at your dad. Isn't he very pitiful? Shouldn't we, the baby, comfort him?"
Zhang Guoqing walked quickly to the kang, sat down and hugged Jiaojiao, "Baby, I'm your dad. Baby, I finally saw that you were awake. How come you sleep so well? Are you full? I feel so sorry for you. I don't have the happiness of having milk to drink like you."
Zhou Jiao hugged her son and leaned against him. "You've been running around a lot today, haven't you? Move this small table over here so I can put some food on it. I had chicken noodle soup for lunch, so no one can smell it. This time you had a quick meal of honey-glazed chicken thighs. I don't know when you bought it, but I was bored this morning and reorganized the space to prepare some cooked food. I'll eat more with the roast chicken."
Zhang Guoqing stood up and returned to the small living room, locking the door and moving the small table over. "Put your son next to you and don't hold him. Holding him during the confinement period will make your arms sore, and it will form bad habits, making it tiring to take care of him by yourself in the future."
My mouth watered when I saw her conjure up a fast food box of hot soup. I was so frightened after traveling through time yesterday that I almost lost my sense of taste.
Zhou Jiao felt so distressed when she saw him swallowing his saliva with hunger. This idiot couldn't buy himself something to eat in the city with money and tickets in his hand. The thought of the corn bran made her throat hurt.
"You're so stupid! You didn't eat your fill in the city before coming back. You must remember that next time. You must eat before coming back from outside, otherwise it will be troublesome if you get stomach problems at such a young age."
After finally taking a few bites, Zhang Guoqing quickly drank the soup. "I had two steamed buns at my second sister's this morning, and then I was delayed at Zhou's house for a while after returning. I was starving when I got home, and the first thing I got was corn dregs steamed bread and corn dregs porridge. It was all corn dregs, and I had to eat them. I endured it and ate a steamed bread and drank a bowl of corn dregs. Dad even gave me more steamed bread, and I almost cried. The salt seller would be beaten to death for the pickles, they were so salty, and I ate them all."
Zhou Jiao pointed at herself and said, "I'm quite stupid. I'll just starve if I don't eat. I'll swallow it down when I'm too hungry to bear it, and I won't tell you. Everyone in my family thinks I have a small appetite. When I eat with grandma at Zhou's house, the old people are all soft."
Zhang Guoqing quickly finished his meal and asked Zhou Jiao to put everything in the space. He then opened the door to the small living room to let the smell out. "No wonder you've become so skinny. It's a good thing you're back soon, otherwise your body would be so depleted that you wouldn't be able to make up for it. You must take good care of yourself during this confinement period. No matter what others say, you must do a full 30 days. If possible, I'd like you to do 40 days. Dad just said at the table that we'll start building the house tomorrow and move in at the beginning of spring. How are we going to get through the next few months? We don't have much in stock, and it's not practical to buy food for everyone to eat."
Zhou Jiao thought about the steamed bread and the stew without oil in her memory, and she was also very distressed. She pouted at him, "People in the village who are in confinement after three days go to the fields to clean up the house. It's good if they don't have to work in the fields. They are just picky about what they eat to increase milk production. Will this attract gossip? I don't know how your two sisters-in-law confined themselves, do you remember?"
"How can they compare with you? Those people are raised with rough labor and are born naturally. What are the gold bricks in the space for? Do we lack money? We buy whatever we need. Why do we care about them? Women are jealous and envious. They must be kept in the room for 30 days, which happens to be 10 days for hibernation. Don't worry, I will handle the family disputes, and you can take care of yourself with peace of mind. There are also the elder sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law who are in confinement after childbirth. As a grown man, why should I pay attention to these issues?" Zhang Guoqing rolled his eyes at her in annoyance.
He was thinking about what to buy to please his two sisters-in-law. He knew that during the confinement period, his sisters-in-law would wake up after three days to cook and prepare pig food. They didn't use cold water or work in the fields. Everything else was just like a nephew trying to find a lantern—it was business as usual. Only Jiaojiao would believe he didn't know. How could he not remember when six children were born in quick succession?
If he had to build a house and provide staple food for all those people, the house would be a mess. He had to think of a way to take advantage of his mother-in-law when she came. He didn't feel guilty about taking advantage of his mother-in-law. Who knows what kind of people are behind her or what calculations they are making? You have to meet them to understand. His poor Jiaojiao has never had a good relationship with her parents in her two lifetimes.
Zhou Jiao thought about it and it made sense. They weren't short of money, so if they really had to work, there wouldn't be much she could do. In her previous life, she had her older sister to support her, so she could only go to school. When she got older and started high school, she only worked part-time distributing flyers and preparing food in restaurant kitchens. When she went to college, she earned a living as a translator.
In this life, Zhou Jiao learned embroidery from her grandmother and did not do much housework. The Zhou family was full of idle people. After marrying into the Zhang family, she got pregnant immediately and did not do any work except making fire.
Now, comparing herself to the women in the village, she shuddered, feeling terrified just thinking about it. She decided to listen to her husband and go wherever he directed her. "Okay, I'll do whatever you say. Anyway, I'm staying here and not going back."
Zhang Guoqing kissed her cheek in agreement and rubbed the top of her head. "Okay, let's not talk about that for now. We need to find a way to buy food for the next three years, or even the next ten. Food is the most scarce. Besides our own food, we also need our parents and our four older siblings. We can't afford to eat the best food while they eat grass. I guess we'll just need to send them coarse grains when the time comes."
Zhou Jiao was so worried after hearing what he said. If she had known she would travel through time, she would have bought hundreds of tons of rice. "Where can we buy food? The city is only able to eat what is supplied, and the people in the countryside can't even get enough to eat."
"Let me tell you about my plan. Is it okay if you listen to it first? Here's what I'm thinking: My eldest sister-in-law's second brother, Huang Yaoguo, is a driver at the factory. I'll ask him if I can buy some defective cloth. Then I'll look for defective goods from his eldest brother at the supply and marketing cooperative. We'll also keep half of our brown sugar for our own use. When the price of everything is lower than the supply and marketing cooperative, we can secretly exchange it for grain in distant villages. We don't want money, we just want grain, regardless of whether it's coarse or fine.
Since we have money now, we can still buy food on the black market. Keep 1,000 yuan and exchange the rest for food. When you are out of confinement, I will have a better understanding of the situation in the city. Then we can take action. It will be much safer with more space."
Zhou Jiao nodded continuously. She thought it was fine. Nothing was more important than food. However, for safety reasons, she had some objections. "I agree with everything you said, but you can't go out to exchange food so frequently. Don't forget that you still have to go to work. If you don't go to work often, the people will stare at you as a bad element."
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