After the frenzy of summer and the high prices on the black market a few years ago, a batch of sugar and flour were imported into China, which finally made people happy.
As expensive snacks and candies began to be supplied to the market, and a number of high-priced restaurants were added, many people with savings at home were able to alleviate their urgent needs.
Department stores and grocery stores were crowded with people, and the counters were filled with citizens buying expensive snacks and candies.
Unfortunately, these are expensive items. Toffees are six yuan per jin, and dim sum is five yuan. If you really calculate the price, it's not much lower than the black market.
Before long, these high consumptions became unaffordable even for high-income people, and also hindered many families who were struggling to make ends meet.
Especially in the once-popular high-priced restaurants, there are even fewer people and they seem empty. With a single dish starting at four or five yuan, or even twenty or thirty yuan, it is really not affordable for ordinary people.
Zhou Jiao didn’t know what others were thinking, but she was holding her mother tightly and not letting her go.
"Mom, please don't go. Just order whatever you want to eat and I'll cook it for you to enjoy!"
"Let's go and take a look."
Zhou Jiao shook her head decisively, "I'm afraid I won't be able to hold you back, and I'll be heartbroken and unable to sleep at night."
When the average monthly salary of an ordinary worker can only afford one dish, this kind of curiosity is unacceptable.
At the beginning, the wealthy fat sheep came to her house, but now even the stupid fat sheep don’t come. How stupid must she be to follow her mother and make trouble?
Forget about having space and supplies at home. With her father's special supplies alone, there's no need to go to expensive restaurants. When did her mother's living standard suffer? It's really irrational.
Time is gradually approaching the end of the Year of the Rat, and the vigorous Year of the Ox is about to come.
It's another New Year, and even though Zhou Jiao has made careful preparations, the atmosphere of celebrating the New Year and the Spring Festival is getting worse year by year.
After a collective meal on New Year’s Eve, we welcomed the first day of the Lunar New Year with a group celebration.
Nowadays, bowing and saying "Gong Xi Fa Cai" are no longer popular. Whether it is a family reunion or a visit with friends and family, people nod and say "Happy New Year" instead.
Zhou Jiao guessed that apart from Ping An who received the New Year's money, all the children in the capital were saying "Hello, Comrade Dad" and "Hello, Comrade Mom"... They had really abandoned the old customs and no longer needed the New Year's money.
During the collective New Year, everything was just like the previous year. The temple fairs and amusement parks during the first month of the lunar year could not regain the grandeur of previous years.
After the Spring Festival, the number of well-dressed pedestrians on the streets seemed to have decreased significantly due to hunger, and could only be seen occasionally in high-priced restaurants. Most people were walking in a hurry, and the leisurely strollers of the past were no longer seen.
After the first month of the lunar year, the third letter from Zhang's father arrived. Inside the envelope, besides two pieces of paper written by Xizi on his behalf, there was also a personal letter from Zhang's father himself.
Zhang's father told his son and his young wife that he was worried about the family's food shortage being exposed, so he sought Zhao Chuangguang's help. In the provincial capital, he exchanged most of the fine grains for coarse grains, which he then exchanged for food coupons, earning him several times the profit. Now no one was as well-off as he was, so he told his son to let him know if he was short of food.
Zhou Jiao smiled. Her father-in-law was quite a character. He'd avoided Zhao Dashan and found her godfather. This was a brilliant move! And then there were the neat strokes above. He was truly a man of talent.
"What? My father already knows quite a few characters, but he used to write traditional characters, which were always clumsy. Now that Xizi and the others are around, it's not difficult for him to write simplified characters. You forgot the account books for the division of the family business, he registered them all himself." Zhang Guoqing was unwilling to admit that his father was illiterate.
Zhou Jiao smiled, "Dad is amazing. Otherwise, how could he have exchanged fine grains for coarse grains to feed the whole family in the early years? I didn't expect that we made a profit here, and he also made a lot of money."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and nodded, carefully reading the letter, folding it carefully and placing it in the box, asking Zhou Jiao to put it in the space. These secrets must not be exposed.
Thinking of what Xizi mentioned in the letter, Zhou Jiao felt sorry for the woman. "Do you think ten kilograms of cornmeal can really marry a beautiful girl?"
After saying this, she didn't think about Zhang Guoqing's response and looked ahead. She was really stupid. How could she fake this? As the head of the family, whether it was for the sake of settling down or her daughter's future, this was a good idea.
Zhang Guoqing didn't want to let outsiders' affairs affect his wife's mood. He picked her up and praised her, "Wife, you are so smart. Now you need receipts for everything you buy, so you don't have to worry about it."
When it comes to supplies, Zhou Jiao is quite proud. "The best ones are the old Huaihai goods. They're so affordable. As soon as the cafeteria closes, the pots and knives inside can be exchanged for a lot of things."
"Little money-grubber."
The couple was playing here, and soon the sound of conversation between Old Lady Cheng, Cheng Ruzhu and Aunt Chen could be heard outside.
Zhou Jiao stood up from Zhang Guoqing's arms, straightened her clothes, and followed him out of the room.
"Aunt, little aunt."
After saying hello, Zhou Jiao saw the package on the ground and looked at Mrs. Cheng and her daughter.
"Let's go inside first." The old lady asked Aunt Chen to pack up and took them into the living room.
"What's going on?"
Cheng Ruzhu said casually: "Give us something to keep us safe. Don't push it away. I know you don't need anything. This is our token of appreciation."
Seeing Zhou Jiao was still about to refuse, the old lady smiled and said, "Alright, listen to me. You two have been secretly subsidizing Xiaoyu and his brothers. Do you think your aunt and the others don't know? We are all family, so don't be polite to your aunt."
Cheng Ruzhu nodded. "We've become distant from each other after so much pushing and shoving. Your uncle even asked me to bring him some dumplings, saying that he had already eaten all the ones you made."
Several people laughed out loud when they heard it.
"You two are really rude."
"You're being polite. Several of Congwen's colleagues have swollen lower limbs and are relying on the recovery powder prescribed by the hospital. Xiaoyu and his three brothers all eat tree leaves at school."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and said, "Why didn't you bring some cousins here today?" He really didn't want to scare his wife with some bad news outside, so he could only change the subject.
Cheng Ruzhu doesn't want the children to come over again. How can you have the nerve to eat at Big Brother's house all day?
She smiled and said, "When school starts in a few days, he won't be around anymore. His grandfather asked them to stay with him these few days."
After a while of chatting, Cheng Ruzhu thought about some of the rumors she had heard, looked at their faces, and hesitated whether to speak up. If she didn't, she was afraid the child wouldn't know, but if she did, she was afraid the child would feel uncomfortable.
Zhou Jiao noticed that she looked uneasy and lowered her eyelids, knowing that it must be something about the Lin family. She had also heard some rumors, but she hadn't expected that even Cheng Ruzhu, who was far away in the north of the city, had heard about it.
Cheng Ruzhu thought about it for a while, but didn't say it out loud. She planned to tell the old lady later. Anyway, it didn't involve her eldest brother's family.
In fact, even Old Mrs. Cheng knew that there was really no need for Cheng Ruzhu to go to such great lengths.
The Lin family always makes a big splash about every little thing they do, fearing that others won't know. This time, the eldest brother, Lin Aiguo, was ruined by his mother, and the family was ruined.
After her son had gone through so much hardship to return alive, she refused to let him treat his wife, who had been faithful to him for many years, properly. Instead, she kept pulling her son away from home every day. Is there any mother like this?
Outsiders might think that old woman Gu Ruyi was seriously ill and wanted her eldest son to accompany her. But Mrs. Cheng knew clearly that the old woman was doing it on purpose. How could she show her status as the head of the family without causing trouble?
Now it's all right, right? The eldest daughter-in-law won't serve your Lin family anymore. This is karma!
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