To Xiao Jiu's surprise, the Liu family actually prepared dinner for her.
this……
Xiao Jiu felt too embarrassed to eat at someone else's house, but the family was so hospitable that they insisted on pulling her to sit at the table.
"It's just adding an extra bowl of water, why are you being so polite? It's not like it's anything fancy, eat it, it's a waste not to eat it!"
Grandma Liu, or rather, Aunt Liu, seems to be only in her forties or fifties, not old at all.
The main reason is that she smiles a lot, looks very kind and gentle, and has a benevolent appearance, which makes her look much younger.
I also met Grandpa Liu today. He's a serious man who doesn't smile much, but he treated her like a guest.
The Liu family also put their heart into cooking tonight, frying radish balls, making corn porridge, and baking cabbage and black flour pancakes.
After finishing a bowl of porridge and a little wine, she felt embarrassed to eat any more, but the hospitable Liu family kept stuffing her with flatbread and meatballs.
It was really delicious, but the social obligation made her feel burdened.
After the meal, I didn't know how to ask them for the money back.
Grandpa Liu seemed to notice her embarrassment.
"You silly child, you're straightforward. It's just a meal, why are you being shy?"
"Come on, take out your things, let's settle the accounts together."
The old lady came over and said with a smile, "That's right, it's not as exciting if you don't come often. If you come a lot, won't you really become relatives?"
Seeing this, Xiao Jiu no longer stood on ceremony. She took out the thirty catties of meat she had already cut and pointed to the eggs in the basket.
“There are 110 eggs in this basket. Count them. There will inevitably be some bumps and knocks on the way. The extra ones are compensation.”
Upon hearing this, the Liu family felt that although the young girl was young, she was meticulous and reliable in her work.
"If there's too much meat, I'll take some more."
"Hey, what's the big deal? You've already brought it over, how can you take it away again? This meat looks good, you've already weighed it, right?"
Xiao Jiu nodded, "We can reweigh them, it's okay, I can wait. Let's count the eggs too. Even if they weren't damaged, these ten eggs are for the old lady, as we agreed before."
She was certain that not many eggs had been broken, since it was only a short walk and the eggshells weren't that delicate.
Sure enough, after a second inspection, not a single egg was broken, and the Liu family looked at her with admiration.
"Your little girl is strong and steady enough that she didn't even get a scratch. She's reliable."
After Aunt Liu finished speaking, she looked at Xiao Jiu with embarrassment.
"Girl, they're fifty cents each, ten of them would be five dollars. Are you really willing to spend that much?"
"Of course, it's not because you treated me to a meal, Auntie. This is something I prepared long ago. You like me, and I like you too. These ten eggs are to supplement the nutrition of your grandchildren."
"Wow, you're such a capable girl! Well done, just for that, our business can last a long time."
The eldest son of the Liu family, who was standing to the side, said, "Luckily we just got paid, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to scrape together so much money!"
With five workers in the family, how could we not scrape together 140 yuan? I'm just saying that.
"Fresh meat is unavailable; this is frozen meat, and it hasn't been fully thawed yet."
"I know, I know, we just found it. Frozen meat is frozen meat, but it looks pretty fresh. It's better than eating canned food."
Finally, the Liu family happily counted out 14 black ten-yuan bills, settling the bill at 140 yuan, and then didn't linger for a drink.
He shouldered his bamboo basket and took his own crate, then bid farewell to the Liu family.
"Girl, if you can get some food this weekend, please bring it over to your aunt!"
Xiao Jiu nodded, "Okay, we'll see. If there's anything good, we'll definitely think of you."
After leaving the Liu family's house, she left the compound without stopping. As she was looking for a shady spot with her bamboo basket on her back, an old woman with bound feet suddenly ran out of the darkness, grabbed Xiao Jiu's arm, and startled her.
"Oh dear, ma'am, what's wrong?"
"Little girl, what are you selling? Let me see, do you have any grain?"
Xiao Jiu shook her head, looking confused. "What grain? I just delivered some things to my relatives."
"I can smell the meat! Was your basket filled with meat just now? What are you afraid of? I have something else."
As he spoke, he slapped a gold ring onto her hand, which startled her: "This, this is?"
"I don't have much money, so what can I exchange this for?"
Xiao Jiu hurriedly looked around and shook her head at her.
"Auntie, it's really nothing, please take this back!"
Although we haven't reached those crucial years yet, we have experienced the Landlord game before, and we are currently in a famine era.
During famine years, it's no exaggeration to say that grain was more valuable than gold; so many good things ended up on the black market under these circumstances.
"Do you think it's not enough? How about I add this one?"
Even though it was dark, the cool touch made Xiao Jiu realize that it was a jade bracelet, and she looked at the old lady opposite her in astonishment.
Because of hunger, her clothes hung loosely on her body, feeling extremely ill-fitting, and her empty eyes were filled with fervor.
It's like grasping at a straw, desperately craving food; this situation certainly doesn't seem like black market fishing.
She pursed her lips. "Where do you live? I really don't have much left in my basket, but I can go home and pack some things. What do you want?"
The old woman's frail, skeletal hand instantly grabbed Xiao Jiu's arm, and she spoke in an extremely urgent voice.
"Food, just give us food, I don't dare to think about anything else, as long as my old man and I can have enough to eat."
Xiao Jiu looked around and realized it was an inconspicuous alley, so she couldn't help but ask a few more questions.
Where are your children?
The old lady broke down instantly, pouted, covered her mouth, and cried.
“Our family has a bad class background, and both of our sons were persecuted to death.”
The daughter-in-law and grandson were sent away, which also meant that they would never see each other again.
It's just the two of us old fogies left, struggling on our deathbeds, not even knowing if we'll ever see our married daughter again.
Xiao Jiu looked at the old woman with sympathy, not knowing what to say. The issue of class background was the hardest thing to empathize with, and besides, this was not the hardest time yet. In a few years, their lives would probably be even more difficult.
Unable to say anything, she could only silently nod to the old lady: "Then please take me to your home?"
To Xiao Jiu's utter surprise, the old lady's house was actually in a low shack at the very end of the alley.
Judging from the environment here, even during the day, sunlight probably can't get in. Before even going inside, you can hear coughing sounds coming from inside.
The old lady didn't invite her in, but stared into her eyes and asked, "This is the place. When are you coming?"
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