Chapter 207 Cotton

Once you build the earthen stove, you won't need help with anything else.

When it comes to farming, the Liu family is definitely more experienced than the two of them.

Jiang Cuihua invited them to have lunch, but Liu Yinyin refused: "We have food at home, let's go back and eat."

Jiang Cuihua thought that there was really nothing good at home to entertain her daughter and son-in-law, so she did not try to persuade them to stay.

Huang Xiaoyue took Liu Yinyin aside and talked to her for a few words. The weather was getting cold, and she wanted to buy some cotton to make a new cotton jacket for her father, and also for her mother-in-law.

"Yinyin, can you help me buy some cotton? It would be better if you buy more. I want to make two cotton shirts."

She saved two pieces of fabric and didn't need to buy any more.

Liu Yinyin didn't respond immediately, she just said, "I'll go to the county town and ask for you later, it may not be available."

Huang Xiaoyue smiled and said, "Thank you for your help."

After saying that, he stuffed twenty yuan into Liu Yinyin's hand.

Twenty yuan is not a small amount. Huang Xiaoyue couldn't help but feel bad about it, but prices are so high now.

If you want to make two cotton shirts, you need to buy at least three or four pounds of cotton.

Twenty dollars...I don't know if it's enough.

Thinking about it, Huang Xiaoyue added: "If it's not enough, I'll give you more later."

Liu Yinyin agreed. These past two days she had been thinking about when to go to the county town to buy some meat to make dumplings.

I have finished eating the dumplings I made last time.

It’s very cold to cook in winter, so Liu Yinyin just does it in whatever way is convenient.

At noon, Liu Yinyin fried some pea sprouts and some scrambled eggs with green onions.

The staple food is corn steamed buns.

These days, she would make enough steamed buns for the day in the morning and just heat them up when eating.

Anyway, the weather is cold and the steamed buns will not go bad if they are kept for a day.

After dinner, Gu Cheng went to the mountain to chop firewood.

Liu Yinyin continued to tend to her vegetable garden at home. There were not many pea seedlings planted, so she picked the remaining ones.

Have it once in the evening, and then eat it all day tomorrow, and you can almost finish it.

The pigpen is not big, and Liu Yinyin plans to keep all the vegetables grown in it for her own consumption.

Even though the vegetables were valuable at this time, she had no intention of selling them.

No matter what, we can't let the whole family down.

After picking the pea seedlings, Liu Yinyin turned the soil over and planted another crop of pea seeds.

Just after I finished watering, there was a knock on the door.

It was Mrs. Liu calling her.

Liu Yinyin opened the door for her: "Second sister-in-law, come in quickly."

Mrs. Liu was holding a bag in her hand.

Liu Yinyin muttered to herself, could it be that Mrs. Liu also wanted to ask her to exchange something?

"Yinyin," Mrs. Liu said as she entered the room, "I want to ask you for a favor."

As expected, Liu Yinyin smiled slightly: "Second sister-in-law, you say."

As long as the other party is sincere, Liu Yinyin generally will not refuse to help.

Mrs. Liu explained why she came: "My parents gave me a bag of dried wild mushrooms. I wonder if I can exchange them for some cotton. I want to make a cotton jacket for Hu Zi."

It was cold and the little son was less than five months old, so how could he not dress warmly? Jiang Cuihua made a cotton jacket for her grandson.

However, it was made from old cotton jersey and was not very warm.

It just so happened that Liu Ersao's parents gave her a bag of dried wild mushrooms, and she wondered if she could exchange these dried mushrooms for some cotton.

She wanted to make a new quilted shirt for her little son.

Liu Yinyin: “…”

What a coincidence, both sisters-in-law wanted to change to cotton.

She weighed the bag and found that there were not many dried mushrooms, only about two kilograms at most.

In later generations, these dried wild mushrooms would be more than enough to buy a cotton shirt.

But these days, dried wild mushrooms are not very valuable and are just a common game delicacy.

However, Liu Yinyin was quite interested in these dried mushrooms.

She thought about it and said, "Sister-in-law, I should be able to exchange it, but I may not be able to exchange it for much."

Mrs. Liu was delighted to hear this. She had not held high hopes to begin with. "It's fine as long as I can get a replacement. A child's cotton quilt doesn't use much cotton."

At worst, she could make it thinner. If that didn't work, she would sew a small jacket for her son to wear inside and an old cotton jacket on the outside.

Liu Yinyin accepted the dried wild mushrooms and said, "I'll go to the county seat tomorrow and ask for you then."

It's cold, so there must be a lot of people who need to buy cotton. Liu Yinyin thought that if she couldn't exchange it, she would have to smuggle some cotton out of the system.

Gu Cheng was very strong, and in one afternoon he chopped down more than ten large trees and piled them in the yard to dry.

When the trees are dry, it will be easier to chop firewood.

When he came back from the last trip, Gu Cheng was holding a pheasant in his hand. The pheasant looked injured and was covered in blood.

Gu Cheng frowned and said, "This pheasant won't live long. Let's kill it now."

Liu Yinyin understood and said, "I'll go boil some water."

The pheasant is quite fat, weighing about three pounds even after plucking its feathers.

I ate half of it in the evening and left the other half frozen outside to eat after a few days.

The next morning, Gu Cheng had just left.

Liu Yinyin immediately sent Gu Yanyan to the Liu family, and then went to the county town carrying a backpack.

Because there were people walking around all the time and the sun was shining, the snow on the road was not very thick, but it was quite slippery.

You have to walk carefully and you definitely can't ride a bicycle, it's very dangerous.

During this period, Gu Chengdu did not ride a bicycle and walked to work.

Liu Yinyin came to the compound carrying a backpack containing a rabbit, a bag of about ten pounds of sweet potatoes, and thirty eggs.

She did not take the dried wild mushrooms that Mrs. Liu gave her, but kept them for herself and went back to inquire about the price.

Liu Yinyin then converted it into cotton and gave it to her.

Having not been to the county town for some time, Liu Yinyin went next door to visit Aunt Zhou first.

Although it is possible to exchange things with Aunt Li, and her supplies are more complete, she is a businesswoman, and businessmen value profit.

Therefore, it is more cost-effective to trade with Aunt Zhou.

When Aunt Zhou saw Liu Yinyin, she was extremely surprised: "...I have finally seen you."

Because Liu Yinyin has not come to the county town, the food quality of the family has dropped sharply during this period, and we haven't had any meat for a long time.

In the past few months, locust plagues and snowstorms have occurred one after another, and the people in the city have been living in dire straits.

Not only did the monthly ration of food decrease, but the supplies provided by the supply and marketing cooperatives also became less and less.

I went a little late in the morning and couldn't even buy a green onion.

Almost everyone in the city is hungry. Now, nine out of ten people walking on the street look pale and thin.

Liu Yinyin didn't bring much, so Aunt Zhou naturally took all of them.

After giving her the things in the backpack, Liu Yinyin asked, "Auntie, do you have any extra cotton? I want to exchange some for making clothes."

Aunt Zhou said hurriedly, "Yes, there are some... but not much."

The weather is cold this year and many families need to make cotton clothes, but her family didn't buy much cotton this year.