Watching the car drive away, a large group of people from the Zhang family walked into the yard, and Zhang's mother and the female family members went to Zhou Jiao's room.
When he came in and saw Zhou Jiao, he burst into laughter again.
Zhou Jiao looked at everyone and asked Zhang's mother, "Mom, are they all gone?"
Mother Zhang sat on the kang and nodded. "They've all left. Your mother is taking Xiao Xizi with her and will be back tomorrow. Did you bring Xiao Wu's clothes?"
"Everything is ready. If it weren't for me, I would have asked him to buy it. He has also brought the receipts. The provincial capital should be quite convenient. With my grandfather, I won't be worried about having no place to sleep or eat. Big sister and second sister, you won't be going back tonight, right?"
Zhang Meili looked at her sister and said, "I'm not going back. I'll leave early tomorrow morning. I've brought the children here."
Zhou Jiao looked at Zhang's mother and smiled at her flatteringly, "Mom, since my eldest sister and her family rarely stay overnight, how about we have mutton soup tonight?"
"Okay, I'll make you some mutton noodles. Your dad also said that mutton warms you up, and we have plenty at home. We'll have plenty of food at home tonight, so we don't even have to cook."
"Mom, you have to stew a little hen. You, as the mother-in-law, can't do this to your new son-in-law." After saying that, he winked and smiled at Zhang's mother.
Zhang's mother smiled cheerfully and said, "The hen is cooked and hasn't been eaten yet. I'll give it to my son-in-law tonight."
Zhou Jiao looked at everyone and said, "You said that my aunt and some of my cousins are going over to help today. I need to prepare something to send over. Mom, you have to teach me too. I don't understand these things."
Everyone looked at each other and stared at Zhang's mother. Zhang's mother thought, "It doesn't matter if they don't send any. Usually, whoever helps out gets leftovers and takes them back. Today, I brought all the leftovers from the kitchen back to them. If you feel bad, wait for Xiaowu to come back and buy some candy for their children. It's not good to give too much, because then they'll feel embarrassed when we help them next time. Invite your uncle back tonight to drink with us, and that'll be enough."
"Okay, I don't understand these. If you see me doing something wrong, please remind me. Also, please bring all the eggs from outside to the kitchen when you have time. Bring some back to my two sisters tomorrow so that the little ones at home can eat them."
Mother Zhang quickly shook her head. "No, just leave it there. The weather isn't bad, so just leave it there. If they want to eat eggs, you can keep them and eat them slowly. How many eggs do they need in a month? I'm afraid they won't have enough. Your sister can't take them. If she does, people will laugh at her. Don't worry about it. Just relax and take care of yourself. I'll bring some jars of brown sugar later. They won't go bad. I'll sort them all out for you."
Next year, you'll split up and move out. You'll have to repay the favors you've received. Do you know how much you have to pay back every year? You'll be hiding these gifts for births, weddings, and funerals in the village. Where will you get brown sugar then? You'll only be given two kilograms of sugar coupons when you get married. Brown sugar is even harder to buy. You have to exchange for red carpet coupons, and they don't exist in the countryside. When your two sisters-in-law were in confinement, they could buy them without red carpet coupons, but they couldn't get brown sugar either. They needed it urgently, and they ate a kilogram in a month, which made others envious. Nowadays, in the city, each person only eats four ounces per month. Tell me, where can you buy brown sugar in the countryside?
Keep them. In the past few years, there were no restrictions on other coupons except for grain coupons and oil coupons. In the second half of this year, meat coupons were added, and the city added egg coupons and sugar coupons. In the future, we don't know what coupons will be added, so you should save everything you have. Who knows when coupons will be needed again?
Zhou Jiao secretly admired her mother-in-law. She was so shrewd and would really need tickets from now on. "Mom, will there be a market during the Spring Festival this year?"
Mother Zhang nodded. "Yes, there will be markets in the second half of this year, but the meat will be hard to come by. By the time people in the city buy it, there won't be enough meat left. When we kill a pig, we have to sell half of the meat to the commune, or even all of it, and give you meat coupons. It's not cost-effective to get meat coupons. We use the gross weight of the pig, and the coupons we give are used for the net weight, so we usually make bacon. Now we can only buy it secretly. Some people raise pigs secretly. I guess the market can sell everything except grain and meat. Last year, we could buy everything except grain. You can go to the market when you're one month old."
Lin Juhua looked at everyone and said to Zhang's mother, "Mom, are we going to kill a pig this year? If we do, we need to find the piglets sooner rather than later. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until the beginning of next spring."
"That's right. Don't kill them this year. Wait until you split up and kill them. You can use them then. It's better to wait until spring to buy the piglets, otherwise there will be nothing to feed the pigs. This year, see who in the village kills pigs, negotiate with them in advance, and then send them over and pay them." Mother Zhang thought about it and decided to forget it. The family will split up in spring tomorrow, so they can raise them if they like.
Zhang Meihao sighed, "You don't know that shopping in the city isn't as easy as it used to be. Every month, people have to line up at two or three in the morning to get the items on the supply list. Otherwise, the items are either the worst or completely gone. It's okay in the summer, but what about in the middle of winter? My mother-in-law keeps saying that we can wait for my eldest sister to help us get in front of our family so we can finally save each other's space when shopping."
Huang Cuilan looked at Lin Juhua and Zhou Jiao, "Big sister, have you bought a house? We didn't even know when you bought it. When are you moving in? Have you asked your family to come over and help? Have you arranged a date for warming up your home? We need to prepare as well."
Zhang Meili smiled and said to her, "I just paid the deposit, and I'll pay it all off and hand over the house deeds tomorrow. There's no rush, there's nothing to move, so the other party can bring clothes and food, and leave all the furniture behind. The house will be warmed up when Xiaowu comes back. I'll notify you, so you don't need to prepare anything, just come and play."
"Tomorrow, see if your father-in-law is free. Remember to ask him to come with you. Although the family has split up, he still needs to be respected. Telling him will make him happy. Invite the two old men to stay at your place when they are free." Zhang's mother instructed her, then said to her daughter-in-law, "You don't need to prepare too much. I'll prepare it. I'll let you know if I need anything."
Huang Cuilan looked at the other two sisters-in-law and nodded, "Listen to mother, you should follow the rules of the city, don't follow the village rules, or you will be laughed at by the neighbors."
Zhang Meili glared and put on a calm expression. "Don't make a fuss, you three. If it's a city or a village, just follow the village's rules. Don't make me move and make people jealous. If the neighbors are short-sighted, it's better to have less contact with them. Don't listen to them, mother. Our family is not well off, and we rely on work points from the fields. Save some money and leave more for us brothers. A daughter who is married off is like spilled water. Don't mess with our family just to save face. Otherwise, I won't accept her."
Everyone nodded with a smile, indicating their obedience, but they still wanted to inquire about how things were being prepared. Zhang's mother knew she wouldn't give everything a proper look, but she also didn't want her daughters to suffer. The eldest daughter suffered the most, having had no money for a dowry in those years, so she gave her a gold ring. This time, she'd have a serious discussion with the old man. Money was needed for everything in the family, and every penny counted.
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