In a military compound in Northeast China, a large package that had traveled across most of the country finally arrived after nearly a month. The main reason was that the snow in Northeast China was too heavy. In Xinshi, people were still wearing relatively thin cotton-padded coats, while here the mountains had been almost completely blocked by heavy snow. This is the difference between the North and the South!
"Commander Yu, there are some packages for you in the communications room. One of them is quite large. Do you want to take it back with you later?"
Yu Qianwu immediately knew it was sent from his hometown, probably delayed by snow.
"I'll take it back!"
Just as Li Juan finished cooking, she heard the door open. "You're back. It's time to eat. Yu Mian, come and serve the food."
"Here it comes, here it comes! Oh! Dad, is this huge package from Grandma and the others?" As soon as Yu Mian stepped out of her room, she saw two packages, one large and one small, prominently displayed in the living room. The smaller one wasn't actually that small; it was just smaller compared to the larger one.
"Yes, the older one was sent by the fourth brother and his family, and the younger one was sent by Mom."
"What? What did Liu Yun send this time? It's so big!" Li Juan was a little curious. She really liked her younger brother's wife, Yu Qianwu. She never tried to take advantage of her and always prepared thoughtful gifts, unlike her second and third brothers. Speaking of those two, she was speechless. She had sent them a lot of things when they got married and had children, mostly rare items. In return, the most common gifts were dried vegetables, saying that vegetables were scarce here in winter. Vegetables were indeed scarce here in winter, but the return gifts were mostly various kinds of dried vegetables and chili sauce. She was speechless, but she didn't say anything. Maintaining a superficial relationship was enough. She would give what she was entitled to, and she would never give more than she was entitled to. That was just the kind of person she was.
"I don't know, we'll find out after we finish eating and open them. But a lot of them are probably for Xiaomian, she's getting married, didn't she tell Mom and the others?"
After finishing their meal, the three of them started unpacking the package.
"Yu Mian, this is from your third uncle. Open it and take a look yourself." Yu Qianwu hadn't expected that the smaller one was sent by his second brother and their parents; he had assumed the larger one was sent by all three brothers together. He wasn't the only one who thought so; Li Juan and Yu Mian thought the same thing.
"Dad, a pair of red pillowcases, a silk scarf, and a sweater." Yu Mian then held them up to herself. "Mom, do they look good? How about I wear this under my clothes on my wedding day?"
"It looks good. You can wear blue underneath too."
"This belongs to your second uncle and grandmother. Open it and take a look." The mother and daughter gestured beside them, while Yu Qianwu frantically rummaged through and organized the things.
"The bed sheet and duvet cover that my second aunt chose are so beautiful. It's such a waste to make such good material into a duvet cover! It would be so much better to make a dress!" Yu Mian touched the red floral duvet cover with a regretful expression.
Li Juan was amused by her appearance. "What do you know, you little rascal? All you know is making clothes. You can't be like this after you get married!"
"Grandma made this dress, it's so pretty, but it's winter now. I really want to wear it. Hey! How come there's so much fabric left? Did Grandma use all her fabric ration coupons for this year to buy it and send it to me? There's also a pair of little leather shoes."
Yu Qianwu and Li Juan fell silent. Judging by the amount, it wasn't just this year's batch. Although there were some flawed fabrics, they wouldn't be noticeable if the garments were made carefully. It just goes to show how devoted parents are; giving Yu Mian so much was only because of Yu Qianwu.
Li Juan patted her thoughtful husband, "Let's see what we can send to Mom and the others when spring comes! Didn't we buy some ginseng last time? We can send it together then. I heard that some people here are secretly growing ginseng. I don't know if they have any. If they do, we can secretly buy some."
"OK."
Yu's mother had no idea that these fabrics had made her eldest son think so much. If she had known, she would definitely have said, "You're overthinking it."
The main reason is that the two older women haven't bought clothes for the past two years because they've been taking care of triplets. Liu Yun buys five or six sets of clothes for each of them a year, covering both clothes and shoes. She hasn't even used her fabric ration coupons. Ever since she saw Yu Qian asking Liu Yun to bring back things for her to keep as gifts when he goes on business trips, she's followed suit. Whenever she comes across good fabric, she buys it and stocks it up. After all, with so many grandchildren, it's always a good idea to give them as wedding gifts. Having a daughter-in-law who works at a department store means she'll know immediately when there are good items available, and she can also ask Liu Yun to help bring them back. Liu Yun's internal exchange meeting has quite a few flawed fabrics, and she asked Liu Yun to buy those flawed fabrics there. She still has quite a lot of fabric left after giving away so many, and she's only given away half of them.
Once Yu Qianwu had thought it through, he continued to unpack the packages sent by Yu Qianhe. However, since they were all sent by himself, he didn't sort and pack them like his mother did.
"This... did she rob the department store?" Li Juan was dumbfounded when she saw the huge pile of things, because Liu Yun had only packed the sauces and various dried vegetables, leaving everything else laid out naked in front of the three of them.
Yu Qianwu, with his sharp eyes, spotted the envelope inside the clothes at a glance. "There's another letter."
Upon opening the letter, numerous large bills fell out along with the letter paper; I counted twenty-six, for a total of two hundred and sixty. The letter's contents were simple and clear: the distribution of the items.
"This red cotton-padded jacket is for Xiao Mian, and this indigo one is for you."
Li Juan was surprised to receive one of her own. "For me?"
"Yes, she said it was to thank you for finding something for her. The two hundred yuan was for buying things, and the rest was for Xiaomian's wedding gift."
"Oh! She asked me to help her find some ginseng. I bought her two, which cost about a hundred yuan each. Giving such a large gift probably means she knew the ginseng was worth a little over two hundred yuan, but didn't know the exact price, so she gave more than she should have."
Knowing that the money was for buying things, Yu Qianwu wasn't so flustered anymore. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so confident about giving such a large gift! "Those yarns were knitted by the fourth son's wife because she didn't know what size clothes Xiaomian wore. This sailor shirt and red scarf are for her, as are these fabrics. She said she didn't know what style Xiaomian liked, so she gave her the fabrics and let her make them herself."
"There's still some yarn left to knit two pieces, and the fabric is very rare. The pink and light yellow ones are in high demand, and the small floral print is also hard to find. I'll just remember this kindness."
After they finished speaking, the two of them started packing their things. Yu Qianwen, Yu Qianyou, and Yu's mother had also sent a lot of dried vegetables, dried mushrooms, and chili peppers, all of which needed to be packed.
The most outrageous one was the one Yu Qian sent. It contained a huge bag of dried vegetables, dried wild vegetables, dried mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, dried chili peppers, cured fish, dried fish, and dried fruit. No wonder such a large package must have cost a lot in postage.
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