The next morning, Yao Tongjia and Xiao Gengwu followed Xiao Yan back by car. The weather outside was really cold, but luckily there were old down jackets in the space.
Yao Tongjia had looked at the styles before, and these were old styles that even grandmothers in later generations would dislike. It was a wonder that General Manager Zhang could find such goods.
The clothes are long and come in various sizes. They range from small, like Yao Yanxin who is short, and they reach her ankles, to large, like Xiao Gengwu who is over 1.8 meters tall, and they reach his knees.
The clothes are all black and outdated; they're unremarkable in this day and age and won't attract attention.
Yao Tongjia tied the large hood around her neck so that the cold wind couldn't get in, and that she wouldn't feel cold when walking on the street.
Xiao Gengwu's eyes were glued to Yao Tongjia. Seeing her tie her hat up, he followed suit and tied his hat up as well: "It's so warm!"
Xiao Geng really wanted to kick her son, but since they were her own son and daughter-in-law, she couldn't bring herself to do it. So she just went along with the crowd and kept the hat in place.
It was indeed much warmer: "Tongtong is really capable!"
After saying that, he glanced at Xiao Gengwu sideways. Xiao Gengwu: "..." Who did I offend?
When we arrived at the village, it was already eleven or twelve o'clock. Smoke was rising from chimneys everywhere. Nowadays, people are afraid of not having enough food, so they basically don't eat breakfast and stay on the kang (a heated brick bed).
They only ate their first meal at noon. Xiao Yan took her two children back to their original courtyard. When she opened the courtyard door, it was like an ice cellar.
It was mealtime, so it wasn't appropriate to visit. Just then, Aunt Xue arrived: "Your yard hasn't been lived in for months, it's like an icebox! Come to my house!"
"Aunt Xue, have you installed a radar on me? I just walked in and you caught me?"
Aunt Xue laughed heartily: "Why would I need to install radar for you? You are our village doctor, after all. As soon as you come in, everyone will spread the word."
"Look, your Aunt Xu is here too. It seems your Aunt Xu isn't as fast as me. I had to hold your hand for her to slowly walk over!"
Aunt Xu overheard Aunt Xue making fun of her: "You old Xue, are you showing off your feet? I'm just having this old problem come back! I can't walk fast!"
Xiao Yan noticed that Aunt Xu was walking with a limp: "Aunt Xu, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, it's just that my old ailment flared up in winter. Before, when you were here, a few acupuncture treatments would keep me going for a year. Now that you're not here, I can't even find anyone to give me acupuncture."
"Don't let this old codger's nonchalant talk fool you. He was in so much pain before that he couldn't walk. Otherwise, why would I be the one to send things over? I was the one who sent the things, but it was actually this old codger who arranged everything for you."
Xiao Yan quickly helped Aunt Xu up: "I brought an acupuncture kit, let me give you acupuncture!"
Aunt Xu grabbed Xiao Yan and said, "Come stay at my house, come stay at my house, that way I won't have to walk!"
Aunt Xue laughed and scolded, "So you came here to steal my people. Xiao boy and Yao girl, your mothers are staying at your Aunt Xu's place, so you can come stay at my house. There's a spare room."
The three of them were taken away again without even entering the room. They were first taken to Aunt Xu's house. When the village secretary saw them come in, he took a puff of his pipe and said, "You're here. Take the grain away!"
"You old bastard, I was hoping my daughter could treat my leg, but you just told them to take the grain away!"
The village party secretary coughed: "Take it away so we can make money!"
"That makes sense. Please leave me some food. How much do you need? I'll pay you right now."
Aunt Xu sat down: "I know you've gone to the county now and probably haven't been eating much coarse grains, so I've decided to leave you 100 jin of wheat grains. You can grind them into flour and that will be white flour."
"We've also left you 300 jin of sweet potatoes, which can stave off hunger. We also have 100 jin each of cornmeal and corn kernels."
Xiao Yan nodded: "Thank you, Auntie and Uncle. How much is it?"
"We'll distribute it to you according to the village's quota. Wheat grains are 30 cents a pound, so 100 pounds would be 30 yuan. Sweet potatoes are 3 cents a pound, so 300 pounds would be 9 yuan. Cornmeal and corn kernels are 5 cents a pound."
"That makes 48 yuan in total! Wheat is a refined grain and is more expensive, so our village doesn't grow much of it."
Xiao Yan had prepared 200 yuan for this trip. Upon hearing that it was 48 yuan, she quickly took out the money. The village secretary stood up and said, "Come with me to the brigade headquarters to pay the money!"
Xiao Yan stood up, and Yao Tongjia and Xiao Gengwu also stood up, ready to go and move the grain over together.
Aunt Xu called out to the house, "Eldest son, go with Dr. Xiao and bring the grain over!"
A dark-skinned man in his thirties came out of the house. This was Aunt Xu's eldest son. Now that it was cold, he stayed on the kang (a heated brick bed) all the time.
Xiao Yan quickly declined, saying, "The three of us can go and move the grain. It's so cold, let him stay on the kang!"
"What do you mean, 'okay'? Such a big guy, if he doesn't go to work, he can't even incubate eggs while lying on the kang!"
These words made the dark-skinned man blush, but he was so dark that you couldn't tell he was blushing.
So four or five people went out together and headed towards the brigade headquarters.
Half an hour later, they returned with a cartload of grain. Aunt Xu was also worried: "How are you going to take all this grain?"
Xiao Yan already had an idea: "I'll rent a tractor to help me get there!"
Aunt Xu nodded: "That's fine, but it's too cold to ride a tractor in this kind of weather!"
“It’s alright, we’ll go to town and take a bus, then have a tractor take me to the county.”
"Alright, it's too cold for you to suffer in the cold. Come on, the food is ready, come and eat!"
Xiao Yan hurriedly went to get the food: "I can eat here, I'll give you the food, otherwise I won't eat here!"
Aunt Xu laughed and scolded, "You're nitpicking over something just because I gave you some food?"
"Nobody is well-off right now, and food is rationed. I can't let you go hungry just because I took your ration!"
These words convinced Aunt Xu: "Then I'll shamelessly accept it!" In reality, no one had any extra food, and Aunt Xu had no other choice.
For lunch today, they ate corn porridge. Yao Tongjia took a bite and couldn't swallow it because it was so hard on her throat. Since Yao Tongjia came into this world, they have almost never eaten porridge that was not tasty.
They had also tried corn porridge, but Yao Yanxin usually started cooking it very early in the morning, cooking it until it was soft and tender, so it wouldn't make their throats hurt.
"Is this something you don't like? The corn porridge wasn't cooked long enough today, it's making your throat a little sore. How about I steam an egg for you?"
Yao Tongjia quickly swallowed the porridge: "No need, no need, Grandma Xu, this porridge is fine for me!"
Yao Tongjia wouldn't dare eat someone else's eggs. These days, eggs are saved to sell for money, to exchange for needles and thread. She wouldn't dare eat eggs like that.
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