Cuihua didn't insist after hearing this. "It's alright. We knew this beforehand. If he can't be cured, it's his fate."
As they were talking, the second sister, Tang Cuiju, also came in and gave Xiaojiu a somewhat embarrassed explanation.
"I strained my back while working yesterday, so I slept in a little longer this morning. I didn't even go to see you when your sister came back."
Is this because I slept in a little longer this morning, and I'm explaining it to her?
"Second sister, how are you doing now? Why are you working so hard? You should be careful, don't think you're immune just because you're young. Once you get a little older, all these illnesses will come knocking. Maybe you should put on some plasters?"
Tang Cuiju quickly waved her hand: "No, it's not a big problem. I'll be fine after a rest. But you, are you alright in Luoshi?"
"Okay, but there are a lot of classes, so I have to write and memorize non-stop from morning till night."
"That makes sense. You intellectuals focus on mental labor, while we focus on physical labor."
In essence, we are all the same: you are working hard to study, and we are working hard to ensure food security.
Study hard, get into a good university, and you'll become a government official with a government job.
"They're much better off than us who toil in the fields for a living."
During these years of famine, Xiao Jiu could clearly feel that her eldest and second eldest sisters had worried too much and worked too hard, which caused their skin to become rough and freckled at a young age, and they no longer looked as radiant as before.
He immediately remembered the face cream and shampoo she had bought, and told them to use them diligently.
To her surprise, her eldest and second eldest sisters shook their heads and showed her their hands. Their hands were not only rough with thick calluses, but also cracked due to the dry weather, which were wrapped with tape.
"People who work every day don't need those nice things. It's a waste to use them. It's dry here, and they'll get dirty easily after using them and have to be washed."
"You can soak it in warm water before going to bed at night and apply it. It will definitely help. The weather is so dry. In a couple of days when it gets cold, if you don't apply anything, your skin will get chapped. Everyone will have red bumps on their faces. How unsightly!"
Xiao Jiu disagreed with their ideas, saying, "Women should take good care of themselves. If you don't cherish yourself, how can you expect others to?"
These words reminded the two sisters of their unreliable mother. The money she earned from selling liquor was originally intended to treat her illness, but she preferred to spend it on her own family rather than on herself. Wasn't she thinking the same thing back then? If a woman doesn't know how to cherish herself, can she rely on others?
They never expected that one day, their youngest sister would use the same words to persuade them.
For a moment, both Cuihua and Cuiju's eyes welled up with tears.
Xiao Jiu continued, "The department stores in L City have even better skincare products. I'll buy some and send them back to you when I get back this time. Use them sparingly; you don't know how to take care of your skin these days."
Before Xiao Jiu could finish speaking, Cuihua quickly interrupted.
"Don't buy us any more alcohol. It's fine as it is now; every household does it this way."
If you can't even afford to eat, who has the time or inclination to spend money on grooming?
I think we should get through this difficult period first before thinking about anything else. I plan to introduce your second sister to someone after the New Year, and then give her the gifts after she gets engaged.
Cuiju, who was listening nearby, shook her head and said, "Sister, I'm not in a hurry. What's the rush? Look how many fewer people are getting married and having children these past few years."
Cuihua also knew that this matter couldn't be rushed. For example, she was thinking of getting engaged first to shut up those old women.
I'm so annoyed by their gossip all the time.
Xiao Jiu thought of the house, "By the way, big sister, when are we going to build a house?"
The village chief had already allocated the homestead land for them. The area was about the same as that of the Zhou and Tang families, and it was a standard three-room main house, east and west wing rooms, plus a front yard and a back yard.
The most important parts of making an adobe house are the adobe bricks, the roof beams, the bricks and tiles, and then the cabinets and furniture for each room.
Finally, we need to calculate the subsidies for the villagers who helped build the houses.
"Maybe next year or the year after, let's talk about it when we've recovered a bit,"
"How much would it cost to build a house?"
Tang Cuihua thought for a moment, "We have a large family, so we can't have too few rooms. Since we're going to build one, we'll have to live in it for at least several decades to make it worthwhile, so we'll have to spend at least two hundred. However, we can make the adobe bricks for the house in advance. If we make them in advance, it will save us a lot of trouble when we build the house."
“In the future, we’ll make the main room of our house a little smaller and the east bedroom a little bigger. I think we should also build a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), and connect the kang to the kitchen in the east wing. We should also build a bathroom in the kitchen so that we can take a bath in winter. We have a lot of women in our family, so we definitely need to build a bathroom. It will save us from having to go to the bathhouse in town in the dead of winter.”
Tang Cuihua's design was based on the structural planning of houses from later generations that she dreamed about.
When it gets really cold, the sisters can sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed).
The west bedroom, as well as the east and west wing rooms, were all made into beds.
It seems that the eldest sister plans to find a husband herself and marry off the other sisters according to the proper customs.
She is truly working towards her goals.
It's not a good thing to be a live-in son-in-law, and it's not easy being a live-in son-in-law. She took all the harsh words upon herself and let her sisters go find their own happiness.
It's both magnificent and frustrating.
If you say you won't take a son-in-law, then your initial harsh words and declaration of starting your own business are tantamount to a slap in the face.
Moreover, when the sisters settled in Xihe Village, the village chief agreed to allocate them homesteads because she had mentioned wanting to find husbands for them.
Therefore, Tang Cuihua could not go back on her word. As long as she was there, the sisters would have a place to stay when they returned to their parents' home in the future.
When Xiao Jiu returned to his own courtyard, his brother put both stoves to use. The pot on the right was simmering corn porridge, and the pot on the left was steaming buns.
Grandpa had just pulled a big radish from the yard, and Xiao Jiu quickly took it from him.
"Are you going to pickle radishes? Come on, Grandpa, let me wash them. These spicy radishes of ours are really big!"
Grandpa chuckled and said, "If I'm not working and just staying home, I can only take good care of the vegetables in this yard so that we'll have vegetables to eat in the winter, and I can also provide some for your parents from time to time."
"Is Grandma up yet?" It's already past seven o'clock. People in the countryside are used to getting up early, and Grandma is no exception.
"Yes, she's up. She's walking around the house. I already gave her hot water to wash up."
After shredding the radish, Xiao Jiu sprinkled it with salt and marinated it. Then he brought out the small stove in the house and found some sesame stalks to start a fire.
Tao An poked his head out from the kitchen. "What are you doing?"
“Grandpa and Grandma are getting old, and drinking corn grits will give them stomach acid, so I’ll make them an egg noodle soup.”
Tao An was taken aback, and subconsciously stepped forward and squatted down: "Stomach acid? Why didn't they mention it?"
"That's because they care about us, knowing we like to eat these chewy and fragrant foods, so they're accommodating us!"
You may not have known this before, but you should remember it now. It's not just corn grits, but also sweet potatoes. Eating too much of these can upset your stomach.
Don't be too nervous. Just eat what you need to eat, otherwise who's going to eat all this food? But while you're eating, don't forget to make them a separate meal that suits their tastes, understand, bro?
"You need to write down what they can and can't eat, and what they can eat,"
"No problem, I'll write it all down for you, and I'll also write you a few recipes. Make them soup more often when you have time."
Tao An nodded obediently, but Grandpa Tao came out from behind and tapped his grandson.
"Don't listen to your sister. Your grandma and I can eat anything. We're not picky eaters and don't need to be served so meticulously."
Xiao Jiu turned her head away in dissatisfaction, "Oh grandpa, my grandma had a stroke, so we have to be careful about her diet."
This isn't about being meticulous; it's just dietary adjustments made based on your physical condition. When your body feels comfortable, your spirits will be high.
If you constantly feel psychologically burdened because the food you eat doesn't taste right, it can cause problems in the long run.
Don't think I'm being fussy. If we take these precautions in advance, you and Grandma will live to be a hundred years old without any problem.
What could Old Hammer say when his granddaughter cared for him so much?
Just then, Grandma stepped out of the door and slowly walked over, scolding Grandpa in a not-so-fluent tone.
“Your granddaughter is doing this for your own good, just listen to her and stop talking nonsense.”
Xiao Jiu laughed when she heard this, and happily ran over to hug her grandmother's arm.
"That's right, Grandpa. Listen to this, Grandma knows how to care for her granddaughter. She knows I'm thinking of you all while I'm away, and she's cooperating with a proper diet."
The old man sighed and glared at the old woman, "You, you just keep spoiling her!"
After Xiao Jiu finished making the egg noodle soup, Sister Cui Ju arrived with a basket containing about twenty large steamed buns.
"Xiao Jiu and Xiao An, bring some with you when you go to school. The white dough ones are filled with chives and shrimp, and the black dough ones are filled with pumpkin. They're a little bit spicy."
The two families had long since become one. Just then, the steamed buns and fried dough rolls that the young man had made were ready. They were made from a mixture of wheat flour and corn flour. He quickly packed about ten for Sister Cuiju. He wanted to pack more, but she stopped him.
"Alright, we'll just pack a few. They'll keep our things warm when it gets cold. You and Xiao Jiu can take more with you."
As she spoke, she took out five more from the basket, but only took five, saying she wanted to try Xiao An's cooking. She then said goodbye to her grandparents and left.
"Alright, let's eat."
Xiao Jiu served the food to her grandparents, including egg noodle soup with chive and shrimp dumplings.
She and her boyfriend filled a bowl with corn porridge. Because it wasn't made with glutinous corn kernels, the broth wasn't sticky at all; instead, it had a clear broth feel. But when you scooped a spoonful of corn kernels into your mouth, the more you chewed, the more fragrant and delicious it became. Especially when Xiao Jiu added white sugar to it, the taste was absolutely amazing!
Xiao An couldn't help but tease her when she saw her adding sugar: "You really know how to eat!"
Xiao Jiu grinned at him: "You can put it in if you want!"
Xiao An pushed the candy jar next to her, saying, "Only little girls like to eat candy!"
Xiao Jiu wanted to add some sugar to her grandparents' bowl as well, but they both shook their heads at her. Remembering that they were getting old and it was right for them to eat less sugar, she didn't insist.
My sister's steamed buns were delicious, and the chives were very fresh; I guess they were collected during the spring and summer.
At this time of year, the chive leaves have all turned yellow, and in a few days they will all be completely yellow and inedible.
If you eat it again, you'll have to wait until next spring for it to sprout again.
After lunch, Xiao Jiu started tidying up. Actually, there wasn't much to tidy up, just these steamed buns and mantou. She packed ten of each and left the rest for her brother and grandparents.
Before leaving, I wanted to visit my parents, and luckily my eldest sister came over.
“I steamed two more baskets of buns. I’ll take you to the county town and I’ll also visit my godparents and give them some buns.”
Xiao Jiu reluctantly said goodbye to Grandpa, Grandma, and Brother, and bought a ticket for the 4 o'clock bus at the bus station before going to the winery.
Passing by the post office, Xiao Jiu went in and bought five sets of goldfish stamps, one set of four-cent stamps and another set of five sets of eight-cent stamps, for a total of 60 cents.
"What do you need so many stamps for?"
“My classmate asked me to buy these for her. I think these stamps are pretty, so I'm buying a few sets to keep as a collection. Sis, do you want some? I can give you two sets to keep. My classmate said these things will appreciate in value in the future.”
Cuihua then remembered her dream, which seemed to suggest that not only would these stamps be promoted in the future, but many things would also see their prices skyrocket due to their scarcity.
She thought for a moment, "Okay, you've bought everything at this post office. I'll go back and check out the other post offices later."
"Yes, sis, buy more. Anyway, this set won't cost much. You should also buy a stamp album so you can preserve them more completely. When new products come out in the future, you can choose some too."
Cuihua remembered Xiaojiu's words and took her to the winery.
The two sisters were familiar faces, so they were told to wait in the dormitory.
When they arrived at the dormitory, their roommates went to the factory to report the news, and soon Cuilian and Zhao Lingli came looking for them.
Both of them were at work, so Xiao Jiu didn't plan to stay long. After putting down her things and chatting for a while, she followed Zhao Lingli to the workshop to find Tao Changyi.
After talking to her father for a while, Cuihua took her to the bus station. It was already 2:30 p.m.
After Cuihua left, Xiaojiu, seeing that it was still early, strolled over to a nearby scrap metal recycling station.
Among a large pile of old books and newspapers, I found some rare editions and old books that will soon be out of print.
There are also some foreign novels that you can pick up and read to pass the time.
There were no antiques in the junkyard, but there was plenty of old furniture, none of which were valuable.
Come to think of it, if you know it's valuable, wouldn't those who specialize in antiques know it? Would it even be your turn to collect it?
If you can find something of value in a pile of old books and newspapers, that's good enough; don't expect anything else.
"Auntie, besides this one recycling station, are there any other ones in our county?"
Xiao Jiu selected a stack of old books and newspapers, weighed them, and paid one cent. Since he still had some time, he decided to check out other recycling stations.
"Oh dear, that's quite far, about six or seven kilometers from here. It's on Jiefang Road. You can go and take a look if you want."
Six or seven kilometers is indeed not short. It's already past three o'clock, and even cycling back and forth would be a bit nerve-wracking, so I'll just give up.
After leaving the purchasing station, she went to two post offices and spent about 1.8 yuan to buy a lot of stamps.
When we got back to the bus station, we were just in time to join the queue to board the bus. See, we didn't waste a single minute.
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