Lin Yiyi doesn't want to go to Brother Wang to buy vegetables recently. She doesn't enjoy the food, but she enjoys spending the money. She spends more than ten or twenty yuan for a casual purchase. The speed of making money cannot keep up with the speed of spending money, so people will become stingy. In addition, she has bean sprouts, mung bean sprouts, baby corn, potatoes, and eggs at home, so she doesn't want to go to buy vegetables.
People nowadays say that money is not saved, but earned. But this is wrong in this era. The old saying that money is saved still makes sense. At least in this era, money is saved.
The bean sprouts were distributed on October 1st, and Cui Ping came to pick them up early in the morning on October 4th. When Cui Ping came to pick them up, Lin Yiyi returned the remaining two kilograms of bean sprouts to her: "Sister Ping, these are the remaining two kilograms of soybeans, and these are the four kilograms of bean sprouts this time."
Cui Ping looked at Lin Yiyi. She didn't say it in detail, but Cui Ping certainly understood it. She said, "Sister Yiyi, are you not going to grow bean sprouts?"
Lin Yiyi said: "Yes, my husband blames me for focusing on growing bean sprouts every day, and he won't let me do it anymore."
Cui Ping: "... Sister Yi Yi, let's be frank. It's not without benefits for you to grow four pounds of bean sprouts from one pound of soybeans, don't you think? But I think this is fair, otherwise how can I let you work for nothing? If you take some benefits and help me continue to grow bean sprouts, won't it be good for both of us?"
Lin Yiyi: "Why don't you talk to my husband? He's the one who makes the decisions in our family."
Cui Ping: "...Okay then, I'll talk to him."
Lin Yiyi added: "Sister Ping, if you want to eat bean sprouts, you can bring me vegetables to exchange for them in the future. Half a pound of vegetables for a pound of bean sprouts. I can do this, but I can only exchange for one pound in a week." She didn't really want to exchange with Cui Ping, but because Cui Ping's man was the director, and she didn't want to make the relationship awkward.
Cui Ping said amiably: "That's great, thank you, sister Yi Yi." Her tone was a bit perfunctory, and it seemed that she was angry.
As soon as Cui Ping left, Grandma Wang came again: "Miss Yi Yi, can you please let me exchange your bean sprouts? How about half a pound of vegetables for one pound of bean sprouts?" You know, Xiao Wang charges two yuan per pound. If she could exchange half a pound of vegetables for one pound of bean sprouts, it would be one yuan per pound. Grandma Wang was so happy. "Miss Yi Yi, I'll exchange it once a week, no more."
Lin Yiyi thought about it. She was just being polite to Cui Ping. She didn't expect that Grandma Wang would hear it. Grandma Wang has been taking good care of her during this period. So she nodded and said, "Okay, once a week, only one pound each time." After all, Grandma Wang also bought her vegetables from Brother Wang. She exchanged with Grandma Wang for the sake of friendship, and it would not affect Brother Wang's business.
Grandma Wang hurriedly asked, "That's great, can you change it today?"
Lin Yiyi: "...Yes, I got a few kilograms of food today for myself."
Grandma Wang: "Wait a minute... Can I exchange any vegetable?"
Lin Yiyi: “Yes.”
Grandma Wang ran back home, and when she came again, she brought a handful of spinach: "Miss Yi Yi, here is half a pound of spinach. I bought it from Xiao Wang before dawn today." This handful of spinach can only be eaten for one meal, while a pound of bean sprouts can be eaten for three meals. Grandma Wang was very happy.
Lin Yiyi didn't have a scale, so she could only roughly estimate and take out a quarter of the bean sprouts from a basket. The basket weighed four pounds: "Grandma Wang, I didn't have a scale, so I just roughly grabbed one. If it's short of an ounce, I'd be sorry." But it should be just the right amount.
Grandma Wang: "It's okay, it's okay." Anyway, she got the advantage in this exchange.
After exchanging things with Grandma Wang, she took Lin Wudi to Brother Wang to say hello and told him about Cui Ping. Brother Wang didn't care about this matter. How could Cui Ping's little trouble affect his business? It didn't matter if he bought a few pounds less bean sprouts, because he didn't have enough to sell every day anyway.
Lin Yiyi came back from Brother Wang's place and brought some leeks and peas.
At noon, Lin Yiyi made stir-fried spinach and scrambled eggs with leeks. The staple food was steamed buns, as they had a lot of flour at home.
She had just finished cooking when she saw Xiao Yu coming back with a big package. Lin Yiyi: "What is this? It's such a big package, it looks very heavy."
Xiao Yu: "I don't know either. There must be milk powder. It was sent by my comrades in Inner Mongolia. It was sent to the Public Security Bureau and has not been unpacked yet."
Lin Yiyi went to the room and got a pair of scissors: "Tear it apart quickly. It's so big, it shouldn't be just milk powder, right?"
Xiao Yu said: "I don't know either."
After Xiao Yu opened the box, Lin Yiyi was stunned: "Oh my God, Brother Yu, who are you talking about? You are so polite."
It was indeed a courtesy. Not only did they send four cans of milk powder, which would last Lin Wudi four months, although a can of milk powder these days only weighs 450 grams, but they also sent two air-dried lamb legs. In order to make the lamb legs easier to store, they were added with more salt than usual during the air-drying process. So after we received the lamb legs, they were still intact and had no signs of mold.
Two lamb legs, including bones, weigh about 6 pounds. The dried meat accounts for the weight, and it takes 4 pounds of fresh meat to make 1 pound of dried meat. So I have to say that Xiao Yu is a very generous comrade.
Xiao Yu said: "Revolutionary comrades, brothers in life and death."
Lin Yiyi: "Then we have to return the gift, otherwise it would be too rude."
Xiao Yu: "What?"
Lin Yiyi thought about the things at home, and it seemed that there was nothing good. "Jelly shrimp and rice noodles?" These were the only things she could offer. "Rice?"
Xiao Yu: "Then let's have dried shrimp and Fuqiang rice noodles."
At noon, when Xiao Yu went to work, he went to the post office and mailed 5 kilograms of flour, 2 kilograms of dried shrimp, and a 20-yuan remittance slip for milk powder.
The Lin brothers did not come to the county town this week because they were very busy at work. On Monday, Grandma Wang came again to exchange bean sprouts with Lin Yiyi.
In a blink of an eye, it was the end of October. During this month, the younger brothers of the Lin family did not come once, probably because they were too busy in the fields to leave. Lin Yi managed to survive for a month by relying on yam, baby corn, and bean sprouts. This month, except for spending money to buy 2 kilograms of eggs, she basically did not buy any vegetables. She felt quite relieved, but bean sprouts were a trick. She could make several dishes with bean sprouts now. But her frugal life was already the best in the eyes of others. At least she had white rice and white steamed buns to eat. Xiao Yu was not full, but he was 70% full, and she herself could eat enough.
She knows that some vegetables can be saved, but some things cannot be saved, such as eggs. So she still needs two kilograms of eggs a month, and steamed egg custard every day to nourish her body. It is really the times that have affected her values. She used to buy things without thinking, but now she has to be careful with every penny.
At the end of October, Lin Yiyi had finished writing the 100,000-word manuscript of the second short story in Black and White, True and False Daughter, plus the 5,000-word novel about the Republic of China. When she sent the manuscript, she also collected the monthly royalties, 140 yuan for 70,000 words and 5 yuan for 5,000 words. A total of 145 yuan, plus the previous 77 yuan, there were 222 yuan. Lin Yiyi opened a bank account for herself and deposited 222 yuan into it. This was her private money. As for the daily expenses of the family, of course, they used Xiao Yu's money. Xiao Yu's monthly salary was 80 yuan, which was enough for their monthly expenses.
As for the county newspaper, Lin Yiyi hasn't written for this month. Faced with difficulties, she still chose to be realistic. It was important to send her manuscripts to the city publishing house to make money. As for the county newspaper, she would deal with it when she had time.
The weather in early November was getting colder. Lin Yiyi didn't have many clothes, and Lin Daya's clothes couldn't keep her warm at all, so she wanted to buy herself a sweater and a padded jacket. As for knitting a sweater, she didn't have the skills. So, whether it was a sweater or a padded jacket, she could only rely on Brother Wang.
Early in the morning, when it was just getting light, Grandma Wang and Lin Yiyi went to Brother Wang's place together. Xiao Yu also went with them, carrying his fifth brother Lin. He was worried about letting his wife go alone.
Brother Wang made a lot of money using the bean sprout recipe in the past two months, and he also sold the bean sprout recipe to the black market in other counties. So even though he spent $1,000 and a house to buy the bean sprout recipe, it is not the case at all.
Brother Wang: "What do you want to buy today, Miss Yiyi?"
Lin Yiyi first picked two kilograms of eggs. With the residents' welfare, she could eat three kilograms of eggs a month, just one egg a day. Then she picked two kilograms of radishes and two kilograms of taro: "Brother Wang, do you have tickets here? I want to buy sweaters and cotton-padded clothes... I have three half-grown boys, a three-year-old child, and four elders." As for Xiao Yu, there was a military coat in the closet, still new, warmer than a cotton-padded coat, so she just wanted to buy him a sweater.
Brother Wang: "Sister Yiyi, you either don't sell it or it's a big deal. I have the sweater ticket, but I don't have the cotton-padded jacket. I only have cotton. You know that in this year, there is not much cotton available. Even in a good year, cotton is not cheap. Although cotton is not a necessity now, the price is not cheap either. One pound of cotton costs 5 yuan. What do you think?"
Grandma Wang: "This is incredible. An adult's cotton coat needs two kilograms of cotton, and a boy's coat needs one and a half kilograms of cotton. For a young lady, you need to buy a lot."
Lin Yiyi calculated that the four elders of the Xiao family, plus herself, the fifth brother Lin, and the three younger brothers of the Lin family who had been very well behaved recently, a total of 9 people needed 17 kilograms of cotton, plus the quilts at home, so it would be 6 kilograms: "I want 23 kilograms of cotton."
Brother Wang: "Okay, it's the newest cotton this year, 23 kilograms of cotton for 115 yuan, how many sweater tickets do you want?"
Lin Yiyi: “Two.”
Brother Wang: "I charge you 2 yuan for each sweater ticket, 2 tickets are 4 yuan, plus 115 yuan of cotton, plus 20 yuan for vegetables, a total of 139 yuan."
Grandma Wang looked at it with a pained look on her face: "Miss Yi Yi, you really know how to shop."
Lin Yiyi smiled and said, "The salary my husband just received is not enough, and I haven't even used it yet." Comrade Xiao Yu lost his 80 yuan monthly salary, but he bought it for his grandma and parents, so it's not a loss.
When Xiao Yu saw Lin Yiyi coming out, he was stunned: "What did you buy?" Although 23 kilograms of cotton is only 23 pounds, cotton is light, and one kilogram of cotton occupies a large area, let alone 23 kilograms.
Lin Yiyi said, "This is the cotton for everyone to make cotton-padded clothes. This year's new cotton will make one for grandpa, grandma, dad and mom."
Xiao Yu's heart moved: "Okay."
Grandma Wang: "Comrade Xiao Yu, our daughter Yi Yi is a good and filial daughter. You have to be nice to her, otherwise I, an old woman, will scold you."
Xiao-Woo: "You are right."
Grandma Wang said, "Miss Yiyi, let me recommend a place for you to make cotton-padded clothes. There is cloth there, but you have to pay for the cloth. No tickets are needed."
Lin Yiyi was very surprised: "There is such a place?"
Grandma Wang: "Of course." As someone who has been working in the county for decades, Grandma Wang knows these places very well. "Let me tell you, the fabrics used by these people to make clothes are from clothing factories. They are all defective fabrics, and they got them through connections..."
In fact, Lin Yiyi felt that she was very lucky to have such a good neighbor like Grandma Wang. If it weren’t for Grandma Wang, she would not have been able to integrate into the life in the county town so quickly.
the next day
Grandma Wang took Lin Yiyi to the clothing store.
Coincidentally, the clothing store is also in the old alley, not far from Lin Yiyi's yard. The old tailor is a 40-year-old lady who is quite familiar with Grandma Wang. She was a tailor when she was young. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, her family also opened a tailor shop, but her father was the tailor at that time. Later, her father passed away and she inherited the tailor shop. Later, the tailor shop was gone, so she did it at home. Now she makes clothes with her daughter, who is 25 years old this year and has very good skills.
Lin Yiyi told the old tailor about the body types of the elders and four younger brothers in the family, and then selected royal blue fabric for the four elders and military green fabric for the four younger brothers. "Auntie, the cotton-padded jackets of the four elders in my family all contain two kilograms of cotton. The cotton-padded jackets of my three younger brothers use one and a half kilograms, and the remaining half kilogram is used to make trousers for them. The cotton-padded jacket and trousers of my youngest brother contain one kilogram of cotton in total. My cotton-padded jacket contains one and a half kilograms of cotton, my cotton-padded trousers contain half a kilogram of cotton, and I have a six-kilogram quilt, a total of 23 kilograms of cotton. How much is it?"
The old tailor said: "It costs 10 yuan to make a quilt, not including the quilt cover. There are eight adults and one child here. The adult's top is 3 yuan each, and the pants are 1.5 yuan each. I will give you the child's set for free. The total is 40 yuan."
Lin Yiyi paid the money and felt like she had returned to the pre-liberation era. Her brother Yu had spent all of his two-month salary today. But it still felt like it wasn't enough: "Auntie, do you have any cotton trousers or sweaters?"
The old tailor said: "The fabric is here. You can choose the fabric yourself and I will make it for you."
Lin Yiyi chose cotton material, which is soft and comfortable. She chose the light grey color: "I want six sets of this style." Two sets for herself to wear alternately, two sets for Xiao Yu, and two sets for Lin Wudi. Lin Wudi is young, so he can save on fabric.
The old tailor said, "A set for children is 2 yuan, two sets are 4 yuan, and a set for adults is 5 yuan. Four sets are 20 yuan, a total of 24 yuan. Girl, since you bought so much, if your clothes and pants get torn in the future, as long as you don't need the fabric or just have some scraps of cloth, I can mend them for you three times for free."
Lin Yiyi: ...It feels a bit like after-sales service in later generations.
Lin Yiyi: "Thank you, Auntie. By the way, Auntie, my cotton coat can be made later. You can make my cotton trousers and sweater first. My child and I can make them first. My husband can make them after us. He has a good physique and is not afraid of the cold."
The old tailor said: "Okay, you get two sets and your children get two sets. You can come and get them in three days. My daughter and I will go first to pick up yours." In that year, some people hid their money to buy food, so there were very few people making clothes. Therefore, they had time to make clothes for Lin Yiyi.
Lin Yiyi: "Thank you so much, that's great."
After leaving the tailor shop, Lin Yiyi felt bad for the money, but was also happy that she finally had clothes to wear. However, Xiao Yu's two-month salary, plus the remaining money from before, only 23 yuan was left out of more than 200 yuan, and this month had just begun.
Grandma Wang was not prepared to say anything. She already knew that the girl next to her was a spendthrift.
In November, the time to receive the resident welfare was Tuesday, so Xiao Yu sent 4 kilograms of Fuqiang flour and 1 kilogram of meat back to the Xiao family, but Lin Yiyi did not go. Because it was too late at night. However, she asked Xiao Yu to deliver food to Lin's younger brother.
As a result, Lin Yiyi didn’t go back, and the younger brothers of the Lin family finally couldn’t bear it anymore and went on strike and came to the county town.
That day, Lin Yiyi had just come back with her cotton-padded sweater and cotton-padded trousers when she saw the three guys squatting in front of her yard. They had lost weight and were darker than before. There were three backpacks next to them, and they looked weak.
Lin Yiyi: “Da Jun.” After not seeing them for a month, she actually found that she missed them quite a lot. Maybe she was used to them.
Lin Dajun raised his head suddenly: "Sister." Seeing Lin Yiyi, Lin Dajun's eyes turned red, "Sister, we missed you so much."
Lin Yiyi: "...Why didn't you come? I missed you so much that I became thinner and have no appetite every day."
Lin Dajun: “…” He saw that his sister had gained weight.
Lin Yiyi: "I couldn't sleep thinking about you guys. I lost weight, but I think this is not good. If I lose weight, you will definitely worry. So I made cotton jackets for you. Thinking about you wearing warm clothes in winter makes me feel better. When I feel better, I gain weight."
Lin Dajun: “…” Wait, he seemed to have heard something important.
Lin Sijun: "Sister, have you made cotton padded jackets for us?"
Lin Sanjun also looked at Lin Yiyi with surprise.
Lin Yiyi: "I made cotton coats and trousers for everyone. I spent all my dowry and royalties on them, and it wasn't enough, so I borrowed some from your brother-in-law. You know, I made a set for each of you at once. Your brother-in-law also has his own ideas, so I can only borrow money from him. I will pay him back next time I get royalties."
Lin Sijun: "Sister, you are so kind. I haven't worn new clothes in years." As he said this, he touched his eyes, his eyes turned red, and his voice choked with sobs.
Not only him, but also Lin Dajun and Lin Sanjun were the same. When their parents were alive, they didn't have cotton-padded clothes made together, and the younger brother always wore the older brother's.
Lin Yiyi: "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Why are you here today? Come in."
Lin Dajun: "We have returned the food you asked your brother-in-law to send to my aunt. We were busy on the farm this month and didn't come to get food, so we borrowed it from my aunt. The brigade distributed some food yesterday, so we took it."
Lin Yiyi: "Why did you distribute food yesterday?"
Lin Dajun: "If they didn't distribute food, we would starve to death. So the captain distributed 50 kilograms of food to each household. We had 20 kilograms of corn and 30 kilograms of sweet potatoes. We left 30 kilograms in the countryside and brought 20 kilograms back with us."
50 kilograms of food would have to survive the Chinese New Year and the harvest season in April before the next batch of food would be available. But it was only November now, and there was still half a year to go, so some families only had 5 kilograms of food a month. Thinking of this, both the younger brother of the Lin family and the Xiao family were currently considered happy.
Lin Yiyi: "Then I will give you some good nourishment today. You can stay here for a few more days before leaving."
Lin Dajun: "We have to go back quickly. The work on the fields is not done yet. We have to be busy for another month and won't be free until December." They also wanted to stay for a few days. This month was really tiring for them, but there was no other way. October and November were the busiest times, and the other guys were also on the fields.
Lin Yiyi: "Then I'll make you something delicious tonight, and you can leave tomorrow."
Lin Dajun: “Hey.”
For dinner, Lin Yiyi made steamed buns and rice and sweet potato porridge. The dishes were stir-fried bean sprouts and braised radish. Not only was there enough rice, but there were also enough dishes, so that the Lin brothers had enough to eat. It was a rare occasion for the Lin brothers to be full.
The next day, the Lin brothers went back. Because they had left 30 kilograms of food when they came, they did not need to bring any food with them. They only carried two kilograms of bean sprouts, one kilogram of yam, six steamed buns, a stack of dried mutton, and a small bowl of milk powder.
In mid-November, Lin Yiyi received another letter from the city publishing house. This time, the money was more than the last time, because the publishing house printed a story between black and white, The Trafficker and The True and False Daughter, a total of 200,000 words, but they didn't know how the sales would be, so they printed 5,000 copies first. The royalties for each print run were 918 yuan, minus the 200 yuan that had been remitted, and then 718 yuan was added. They also told Lin Yiyi that there would be no royalties in the future, only royalties for the number of print runs, and the royalties for the number of print runs would be settled every two months.
Lin Yiyi was a little dumbfounded when she held the remittance slip of 718 yuan. No wonder some people said that in this era, the royalties could buy a courtyard house in old Beijing.
Lin Yiyi immediately took out 718 yuan and put it in the bank. Her deposit became 940 yuan, and she was going to become a 1,000 yuan account. Now that she had money, she had to celebrate. Lin Yiyi used pickled meat to make scrambled eggs, used lamb leg bones to make soup, and fried bean sprouts. For dinner, she had white rice without any other ingredients.
However, she waited until seven o'clock but Xiao Yu did not come back.
Lin Yiyi felt something was wrong, so she picked up Lin Wudi and went to the Public Security Bureau. When they arrived at the door of the police station, they saw several women crying there. Lin Yiyi felt that something had happened.
She walked into the police station.
There were police officers in this police station, which showed that the matter was not small. As soon as Lin Yiyi entered, the male police officer inside asked, "Little girl, what do you want?"