Chapter 9
The uncle was about fifty years old, wearing black-framed glasses, a clean blue shirt, and a Everlasting fountain pen in his left pocket. He had a gentle and clean temperament, but his eyes were dry and he exuded a gloomy aura.
"Brother, do you want some noodles?"
The uncle was startled when he heard this, staring at her in disbelief. He followed her to a secluded place, looked around, and then asked in a low voice:
"You have instant noodles? How do you sell them?"
"It's 2 jin, 80 cents a bag, and it uses the best flour."
The uncle looked at her. Her clothes were not plain, but she was not as respectable as the city people. However, her expression was frank and she did not seem embarrassed, unlike the ordinary rich woman.
"Big sister, do you really have some dried noodles?" His wife was sick and in the hospital, and he wanted to buy some rice and noodles to take care of the patient. However, the situation was tense and there was a lot of noise outside, so he was suspended from work and he really didn't know where to find food coupons for a while.
Zhen Zhen blocked it with a sack and took out a bag of noodles.
When the uncle saw the quality of the noodles, his eyes sparkled brighter than the aunt's. He tremblingly took out two yuan and forty cents and whispered, "Give me three packs."
Zhen Zhen didn't expect that he would order three packs at once, so she took out the noodles and put them into his black handbag.
"Take a look."
The uncle opened it, took a look, and touched it lovingly.
"Big sister, do you have anything else? Where can I find you if I want some noodles next time?"
"What else do you want?"
The uncle said awkwardly: "My wife is in the hospital, I want to buy some brown sugar and old hens."
There is a freshly killed old hen in Zhen Zhen's space. "I have both brown sugar and old hens, but I can only bring the killed old hens."
"Kill it, all right! Then I'll order a bag of brown sugar and an old hen from you first."
Zhen Zhen didn't expect that she would have a returning customer the first time she sold something.
"I'll be back here in three days. If you need me, you can come and wait for me."
The uncle nodded, not daring to delay, and left with his briefcase.
Zhen Zhen was just about to move to another place when she suddenly heard a low cry: "That's her! Don't let her go!"
No way? It's not that bad, is it? It's so easy to get caught? These days, speculation is a serious crime, and if you're not careful, you'll be shot.
Zhen Zhen was about to put the evidence into the space when he heard the man say:
"Big sister, I finally found you. My sister wants to buy some noodles too. Do you have any?"
It turned out to be the auntie who bought noodles from me earlier.
Zhen Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. Standing next to her aunt was a woman who was dressed more decently than her, but she looked pale and it was clear that she had been hungry for several days.
"You...you really have noodles?" she asked anxiously.
"Yes, but now it's 0.8 yuan for 2 kilograms. Let me make it clear, it's not that I want to raise the price, but I don't have much noodles, and there are many people waiting outside. If you don't buy now, the price will only go higher later."
The woman was relieved. The aunt wanted to bargain, but 80 cents for 2 pounds was not expensive. She was afraid that Zhen Zhen would not sell it if she bargained, so she stood aside and said nothing.
The woman took a glimpse of the quality of the noodles and gritted her teeth and said:
"Okay! 80 cents is 80 cents. Give me 3 bags and I'll bring 2 bags for others."
Zhen Zhen nodded and handed her five packs of noodles. The noodles felt heavy in her hands, and she felt that it was necessary to raise the price.
Zhen Zhen didn't dare to stay in one place for too long, for fear of arousing suspicion, so he went to another place and sold 10 bags of noodles at the price of 1 yuan per bag.
With money, she could buy some daily necessities. She walked into the department store and pointed at the thermos on the counter.
"Comrade, please give me a thermos."
The salesperson glanced at her and said perfunctorily, "Ticket."
Zhen Zhen took out the thermos ticket. The original owner had a lot of unused tickets, which were all sent back with the allowance when Old Man Meng was alive. However, the original owner spent all the money and was never willing to spend "unnecessary money" to buy such things.
The salesperson looked at the ticket carefully and reluctantly bent down to pick up the thermos.
Zhen Zhen paid 1.8 yuan, took the thermos bottle and went to the cloth supply and marketing cooperative, and took out two 5-chi cloth coupons. Ten-chi cloth coupons do not necessarily buy ten-chi cloth, it depends on the thickness and type of the cloth. For ordinary thin material, one-chi cloth coupon can buy two or three-chi cloth. In the end, Zhen Zhen spent 5 yuan to buy 15-chi cloth.
After buying all these things, she only had 11 yuan left. It sounds like a small amount, but it is enough for her family to live on for a month.
In the evening, Zhen Zhen and Lao Zhou met.
“Have you bought everything?”
“I’ve bought it.”
Old Zhou spread some straw on the cart for her to lie down.
He glanced at the sack, which contained a military green thermos and a few feet of cloth. Old Zhou shook his head, the Meng family was on the verge of starvation, and this spendthrift woman was buying cloth to make new clothes for herself. She already had granddaughters, and she still bought such a pretty color!
After returning home, Zhen Zhen washed his hands and went into the house to open the original owner's cupboard. He took out noodles, brown sugar, White Rabbit milk candy and soy milk powder from the cupboard, removed the outer packaging and locked them in the cupboard.
When Daya saw her coming back, she took out two eggs from under the old hen's buttocks, ran to Zhen Zhen happily, and said flatteringly:
"Grandma, two eggs!"
Zhen Zhen put the eggs into the jar and said, "Save one for your mother to eat during her confinement, and cook one for you tomorrow morning."
Daya never thought that grandma would be willing to cook eggs for her, and she licked her lips with greed.
Zhen Zhen touched her bald head, "Does your head feel cold? Grandma's hat will be woven soon."
"It feels cool when the wind blows, but I don't have to comb my hair, it's very comfortable."
Zhen Zhen smiled and took out a piece of White Rabbit candy from the cabinet, peeled off the wrapping paper and stuffed it into the girl's mouth.
The eldest girl ate the candy once, chewed a few times without knowing what was going on, and became more and more addicted to it, "Grandma, this vegetarian sacred tree? It's so delicious!"
"It's an elixir. If you eat it, you will become immortal."
"Where did the elixir come from?"
"It fell from the sky!"
The eldest girl raised her head and glanced at the roof with a hole in it. No wonder delicious food often fell from grandma's house. It must have fallen from here. It would be great if there was also a big hole in the roof of her parents' house.
"Grandma, Daya still wants to eat the elixir."
Zhen Zhen took out another pill and said, "Okay, that's all. Next time there's a magic pill falling from the sky, I'll save it for you."
Daya blinked and said in a baby voice, "Grandma, when you grow up, I will buy you meat buns every day! When you die, I will burn paper for you every day."
Zhen Zhen: “…Go, go, go!”
After sending the filial son and virtuous grandson Zhen Zhen out of the house, Zhen Zhen was leaning against the window knitting a woolen hat again.
The eldest son's wife gave birth in the spring, and the second son has to get married before the end of the year. There are always places to spend money at home, and the only time I feel less anxious is when I am knitting wool.
The eldest girl was small, and the woolen hat was knitted quickly. Zhen Zhen put the woolen hat on the eldest girl.
The hat can protect the ears, and has two woolen braids on both sides. Daya's face has become fatter these days, and she looks so cute in it.
Zhen Zhen looked left and right and felt that something was missing, so he went into the space, dug out a pair of furry shoes he wore in high school, pulled out a big ball of fur, sewed it to the top of the hat, and cut a piece of old coral fleece pajamas and sewed it on to make the lining.
This makes the beanie extra warm.
When Jiao Huilan saw this, her eyes widened.
"Mom, this is the first time I've seen this style! The material inside is also special, it feels smooth and warm!"
Zhen Zhen said, "I went to visit your father's army and saw that all the kids there wore this kind of hat, so I wrote down the style. Unfortunately, I'm not good at knitting, but luckily our eldest daughter is pretty and looks good in anything."
Daya looked at herself in the mirror while wearing a hat and said, "The hat made by grandma is so beautiful! There is no child in the whole village who is prettier than her."
"Grandma, am I beautiful?" Daya asked in a baby voice.
"Of course, you are grandma's granddaughter, you look like grandma, so of course you are beautiful!"
Daya giggled.
Jiao Huilan's eyes were filled with tears. Her mother used to say that Daya was a money loser, that she had no flesh on her little face and looked unlucky, and that she would definitely not find a good family when she grew up.
She had always been worried that her mother didn't like Daya, but who would have thought that her mother seemed to have changed into a different person and made Daya a hat that was so warm using material that she had never seen before.
"Mother, you should make yourself a hat with the good fabric, but the child can just use some old fabric."
"That won't do. Children will catch a cold if exposed to the wind, and it will be terrible if they get sick!"
Jiao Huilan was so moved, "Mom, Da Guo told me about Er Yong. Don't worry. I will help with Er Yong's marriage. Just rest!"
Zhen Zhen thought to herself, it was such a blessing to have such a daughter-in-law. Why didn't the original owner know how to cherish her?
"Huilan," Zhen Zhen stretched her legs and sat on the edge of the bed, saying earnestly, "They say a sister-in-law is like a mother. When your second brother gets married, you, the sister-in-law, must help more. In the future, the second daughter-in-law will also remember you well when she comes in. But you are pregnant, so don't overwork yourself."
Jiao Huilan was flattered and said, "Mom, I'm used to doing farm work. This is nothing."
Zhen Zhen nodded, "It's a little hard for me to say this, Mom. This time your second brother got Tao Aihong pregnant, and I was afraid that the Tao family would complain, so I offered to give them 24 yuan as a betrothal gift and make three sets of clothes for Aihong. Now that I think about it, when you came into the family, the betrothal gift was not as much as the second brother's, and I didn't make you a few sets of clothes. When I think about it, I always feel sorry for you."
Jiao Huilan raised her eyes suddenly. At first she thought that her mother-in-law was partial to the second child and felt sorry for her and her man. But then she thought that her mother had been so good to her and Daya these days. What else could she be dissatisfied with?
After marrying Meng Daguo, you will know that he is not favored. This is all to be expected. There is no need to take it too seriously.
Unexpectedly, her mother took the initiative to apologize to her, which made her flustered.
"Mom, I don't think so." Jiao Huilan said quickly.
"You are kindhearted and don't like to calculate, which is your advantage. But I can't ignore this matter just because you are easy to talk to. I wanted to make new clothes for you and Daya for the New Year, but your second brother suddenly wanted to get married, and you had to stay in confinement after childbirth. There is really no money at home. You just wait until I have more money, and I will definitely make up for what I owe you."
It was the first time that Jiao Huilan heard someone praising her, and it was also the first time that she had a personal conversation with her mother-in-law. Even her own mother had never been so nice to her. The fact that her mother-in-law had such kindness was enough to move her, so how could she even dare to dream about new clothes!
Jiao Huilan choked up and said, "Mom, we are all family, please don't say such polite words. When Aihong comes home, I, as her sister-in-law, will definitely take good care of her and give in to her. I won't make things difficult for you."
Jiao Huilan is such a good daughter-in-law, there is nothing wrong with her! Zhen Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she really didn't take it to heart.
It's not an easy job to be a mother-in-law! Why did she take on such a bad job?
The next morning, Zhen Zhen asked Jiao Huilan to invite Feng, a tailor from the village. Feng had good tailoring skills, and the clothes she made were beautiful in style and shape, and they saved fabric. Any family in the village who needed clothes made would look for her.
Because of this, she was paid $1.40 for a day's work, which was considered a sky-high price.
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