Chapter 7 Pork belly.
What child doesn’t like to eat candy? Erbao ran over and took two White Rabbit candies with his little hands, saying sweetly, “Thank you, aunt.”
Dabao came over and was still a little bit unbelieving. He looked at the two White Rabbit candies in his hand, hesitated for a while, then took out another one and handed it to He Susu: "Aunt, this one is for you."
He still remembered the last time when he was unwilling to give his aunt a candy because he only had one White Rabbit candy, and she reached out to grab it from him, causing her to fall and bleed from her head, and also causing his mother and grandmother to quarrel. He was afraid that such a thing would happen again.
He Susu smiled and said, "Dabao, you are so good. I have more here. These two are for you. You can keep them for yourself." She gave Dabao a reassuring look.
Dabao finally felt relieved and said "Thank you, aunt" obediently. He immediately tore open the candy wrapper and ate a White Rabbit candy.
Su's mother was a smart person, so she understood the meaning of sending White Rabbit candy. She said apologetically, "It's rare that my mother-in-law cares about us and even sent us vegetables grown at home. Xiaoyu has been busy with her work at the radio station recently, so she brought the children back home to live, thinking that it would be convenient for her to go to get off work. I happened to be retired and at home, so I can help take care of Dabao and Erbao, which can be regarded as helping my mother-in-law."
She directly caused a quarrel between Su Yu and her husband's family, and took the children back to her parents' home, saying that she was temporarily staying there because she was busy with work and wanted to save commuting time.
He Susu naturally wouldn't expose her: "Yes, thanks to your help, auntie. Usually during the day, everyone in the family goes to work in the fields, and the children run around in the village and play. Naturally, they can't be as reliable as when you take care of them. Third sister-in-law is busy working at the radio station, and everyone in the family knows about this."
The two sisters sat and chatted with Su's mother for a while, and finally got up and left on the grounds that He Xiuxiu had to go home to cook.
Su's mother was polite. After taking out all the vegetables from the bamboo basket and putting them in the kitchen, she took out two bags of black fungus and put them in the basket again. "This one is for Susu to take home, and this one is for Xiuxiu. These black fungus were also sent by my mother's family. They said they were picked in the mountains. You can take them back and try them."
He Susu and He Xiuxiu took it with a smile: "Thank you, auntie."
Before leaving, He Susu took out two White Rabbit candies from the bag and stuffed them into Dabao's hand: "These two candies are for your mother. Just say that your aunt asked her to have a taste of the sweetness. You must keep them well."
Dabao was confused and wondered why his aunt was so generous today. He clenched the White Rabbit candy in his hand and said, "Don't worry, aunt. I will definitely keep it."
He Xiuxiu saw this from the side and secretly sighed that her little sister had really grown up.
Su's mother was also very satisfied when she saw it.
After saying goodbye and walking out of the textile factory's family building, He Susu rejected her elder sister's invitation to have dinner at her home: "No, it's still early. I can just take the bullock cart home to eat after I finish the rest of my work."
He Xiuxiu was annoyed: "I thought you would go back, so I didn't give you the things I prepared for you to take home."
There are three employees in the family, and she is the only one who cooks and takes care of the children at home. Life is good and money is not too bad. If she comes across something good, she will save some and let her younger sister take it back when she brings food.
It is not only a subsidy to my mother's family, but also a token of my appreciation, so that my sister-in-law won't have any objections to my mother sending food to me from time to time.
He Susu said indifferently: "It's okay, sister, just keep it for yourself, or bring it back next time you go home."
She took off the bamboo basket on her back, took out a bag of fungus and gave it to her elder sister, and the two sisters parted ways.
He Susu went to the bank and collected the allowance sent back by her third brother with the remittance notice, her mother and her ID card. She deliberately put the newly received 15 yuan into the specially sewn pocket inside the plaid shirt she was wearing to avoid accidentally dropping it.
Then I went to the post office and selected suitable magazines to submit my articles to.
He Susu loved reading these leisure books when she was in school. The classmates in the class who had more money would buy every new magazine and read it in class as soon as it came out. She would often borrow it to read, and she knew very well what magazines were on the market and what was published in them.
At this moment, she flipped through the magazines on sale one by one. The Youth Magazine talked about the deeds of aspiring young people from all over the country who devoted themselves to socialist construction. The Alley Stories told some interesting things happening in people's lives that could bring joy and inspiration to the readers. The Workers Magazine wrote about the deeds of outstanding workers in major factories.
He Susu looked through the newspaper again. The articles published in Jiangshi Daily covered the latest policy news, economic conditions, factory operations, and cultural life. The New Youth Daily wrote about young workers and students going to the countryside to become educated youth. The provincial newspaper published articles about the entire province.
She knew that the articles published in the newspaper were of high quality. Didn't she see that the authors were all propaganda officers from the government and various factories? She did not have such a broad vision and had no experience working in a factory. The content of the articles she wrote was mostly imaginary and would definitely not be selected.
Finally, He Susu picked two magazines: "I want a youth magazine and an alley story."
She thought the story book "Alley Stories" was good. There were a lot of interesting things in the village, and she could write a whole article just by picking out one thing. This one was easy to write and more down-to-earth.
Moreover, she had looked through them and found that both magazines had submission addresses at the end.
"Hello, comrade. How much are these two magazines?"
The post office clerk glanced at the price and said, "Youth Magazine is 20 cents, Alley Story is 10 cents, a total of 30 cents."
"Okay." He Susu responded and took money out of her pocket to pay. When she left this morning, she had brought her own savings, which were the small change left over from the money her mother gave her to buy things. This was just the right amount to buy magazines.
After buying the magazine, she went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative, found the counter selling dishes and chopsticks, and picked one to pay and get a ticket. A bowl cost 20 cents, and she had to pay a food coupon. He Susu felt distressed just thinking about it, and she would have to choose dishes carefully next time.
She stood at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative for a while, and other aunts who came to the county town to buy things also came back one after another. After a while, Uncle Dashan drove a ox cart over, and everyone paid their money and got on the cart.
He Susu calculated the money she had spent today and felt that the most cost-effective thing was the four cents for a round-trip ride on the ox cart, so that she wouldn't have to walk all the way in the sun, which would not only make her tired but also waste time.
They got off the car at the entrance of the village. They saw that all the workers in the fields had finished work and went home for dinner. The aunts hurried home, while He Susu walked to a tree at the entrance of the village, brought up the light screen and exchanged two points of diligence for a pound of pork.
She finally had an excuse to go to the county town, and she didn't care about accumulating labor points. She exchanged them for meat and went home to eat first.
After the exchange was successful, He Susu was still wondering what kind of meat the pound of pork given by the system was. The fat meat could be fried into lard and used for cooking, while the lean meat would be more fragrant after stir-frying.
When she checked, the system gave her the most beautiful pork belly. The fat part could be used to make lard, and the lean part was delicious. Of course, the most perfect way to cook it must be braised pork. This was a hard dish that was rarely seen even at weddings in the village, so He Susu naturally had her eye on it.
She thought for a moment and took out the pound of pork belly and put it in the bamboo basket behind her. There was a bag of black fungus covering it, so she was not afraid of being seen. Then she continued walking towards home.
The He family had already prepared lunch, but they had to take a nap as they had to work in the afternoon, so they didn't wait for the younger sister. He's mother naturally picked the best food on the table and kept it for her.
Seeing her daughter coming back, she stood up quickly and said, "Susu is back. I'll go get the food warm in the pot."
He Susu nodded: "Okay, thank you mother."
She followed her mother to the kitchen and took down the bamboo basket behind her: "Mom, my third sister-in-law's mother gave us a bag of fungus, saying that it was picked by a relative in the mountains and can be fried and eaten."
"My mother-in-law is quite polite." He's mother sighed. She thought that there was nothing left in the bamboo basket after the vegetables were sent out, so she didn't help her daughter get the bamboo basket. But she didn't expect that she actually brought back some food.
She lowered her voice and asked, "Mother-in-law didn't say much, did she? How did she look when you went there?"
He's mother went there with the intention of building a good relationship with the Su family. She was mainly worried that if the matter was not resolved, her daughter would become estranged from her third brother in the future. But she was also unwilling to let her daughter suffer the cold shoulder of others.
He Susu smiled and said, "Don't worry, mom. My third sister-in-law's mother is quite welcoming. She kept entertaining me and my elder sister with a smile." She bought half a pound of White Rabbit candy, gave two to Dabao and Erbao each, and told He's mother about their reconciliation.
He's mother looked at her daughter happily: "Susu, you are so generous. Your third sister-in-law will definitely have nothing to say when she finds out about this." She couldn't help but sigh that her daughter has really grown up and has her own rules for doing things.
He Susu took the bowl out of the bamboo basket and said, "I bought the bowl you asked me to buy. Now my father doesn't have to use a plate to eat anymore."
Mother He: "Okay, let's wash them together at noon, so your father can use new bowls tonight." She picked up the half bowl of rice, a sweet potato, and a small plate of scrambled eggs left in the pot, "The lunch was good, let's go eat."
"Wait a minute, mother." He Susu called her and took out the one pound of pork belly from the bottom of the bamboo basket. "There is another pound of pork belly here. It's very fresh. Put it in the well to cool it down first."
He's mother took a closer look and exclaimed, "Oh my God, there's still a pound of pork belly." She took the pound of meat and couldn't help but sigh, "The pork belly is so beautiful, with layers of lean and fat, very standard."
Then he was puzzled again, "How can you buy such beautiful pork belly when you go to the county town so late? Is the two dollars I gave you enough?"
He Susu had already thought of an excuse: "I found a way to buy this pound of pork belly. It was a former high school classmate of mine who had a relative who worked in a slaughterhouse. He happened to meet someone who said he could help buy meat, so I saw that there was pork belly for sale and bought a pound of it. It was 86 cents a pound, the same price as we usually buy it at, but no meat coupons were required, so it was quite a good deal."
It was hard to buy meat these days. If you didn't go early and line up, you couldn't buy good cuts. The price of meat wasn't expensive, but meat coupons were hard to come by. They were all distributed in fixed quantities, and it wasn't easy for farmers to get one. Most of the meat coupons in the family were sent back by my third brother.
He's mother was delighted when she heard this: "You don't even need meat coupons? Susu, you must seize this great opportunity and build a good relationship with her. If you want to eat meat again in the future, you can ask her to help you buy it."
He Susu smiled and agreed.
Mother He thought: "If we keep this pound of pork belly, we can cook several meals for it later. You can also take good care of yourself."
He Susu had already thought it through: "Mom, consider this pound of pork belly as the money I saved, and treat my family to it. I will find a way to make money, and I will buy meat for everyone to eat when I make money."
As she said this, she returned the RMB 1.4 that was left after buying the White Rabbit candies and the bowls to He's mother, and also gave her the RMB 15 that her third brother had sent back.
He's mother refused to take it: "Just keep the money. I'll pay for the meat. Also, what other ways do you think of to make money?"
"I'll tell you later when we have dinner. Please take the money." He Susu persuaded her mother to put the money into her mother's pocket. She took her lunch and waited for her mother to prepare the pork belly and put it in the well to cool it down. Then they went back to the dining table to eat.
The He family had a rare good meal at noon. A plate of fried eggs with leeks could barely be considered a meat dish, but He's mother picked out nearly half of the eggs for her daughter when she was leaving the dishes, so there was almost no leek on the small plate of eggs that He Susu brought back.
Mother He coughed lightly and said, "Susu went to the county town and met a classmate who had connections. She didn't need a meat ticket, but bought a pound of pork belly with her own money. She can cook it for everyone tonight. I said Susu is the most sensible, thinking about you all the time."
Her daughter is so good to the family that she wants to repeat it over and over again so that her sons and daughters-in-law will remember her daughter's kindness and not secretly be dissatisfied with her for giving her daughter special treatment.
Father He raised his eyes and said, "No meat coupons? That's really good."
He smiled a little, thinking that his daughter was filial and bought meat for him. He thought that he would have to ask his wife to give him the money for the meat.
Brother He and Brother Two were happy to have meat to eat, but they also felt ashamed that they had not bought any meat for everyone to eat. It turned out that their little sister was still thinking about them.
Zhao Miling and Qian Chunhe were of course happy too, but they couldn't help wondering why their aunt suddenly became so kind as to buy the meat with her own money.
The five children didn’t think so much and were just happy that they could eat meat in the evening.
He Susu explained: "I went to the county town today and bought two magazines. I wanted to learn from the articles written in them and write my own articles to submit. If they are selected, I can get royalties. It just so happened that a classmate had connections, so I thought of buying a pound of meat for everyone to eat. When I earn the royalties, I will buy meat and bring it home to eat together."
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