Bai Xiaoyue asked Wang Weiguo, "Weiguo, Mingyue is a little older than me, so I'll call you brother-in-law. Is that okay?"
"Oh my god, then I'm your older sister from now on, Xiaoyue, come on, call me 'older sister' so I can hear it." Li Mingyue grabbed Bai Xiaoyue's hand.
Bai Xiaoyue glanced at her, she simply couldn't bear to look at her.
Wang Weiguo was delighted: "Why not? I'd love to have another sister."
Then he added, "There's no rush for food. I think we can wait and see, and decide after the Spring Festival."
“Brother-in-law, great minds think alike! I think so too. Mingyue, your Weiguo is amazing!” Bai Xiaoyue gave a thumbs up.
"That's right, look who it belongs to." Li Mingyue said proudly.
The postpartum period is very simple: both mother and child need to eat well and sleep well.
Babies sleep as long as they are full. The main thing is for the adults to eat well and have enough breast milk so that the babies can be raised well.
Wang Weiguo brought back a lot of good stuff: pig's feet, bones, pork belly, pork shoulder, and a hen.
Judging from his posture, he's planning to fatten up his wife and son.
Bai Xiaoyue and her daughter spent their days cooking for Li Mingyue.
I cook braised pork trotters with soybeans, old hen soup, bone broth, and fish soup, changing the dishes for her to eat.
When Li Mingyue was a full moon baby, she had a rosy complexion and looked plump and fair.
Ping'er had just turned one month old, and Li Mingyue was able to take care of herself, so Bai Xiaoyue took her daughter home.
Wang Weiguo also brought her a large piece of pork, estimated to weigh about 5 jin (2.5 catties).
When she got home, Bai's mother had already dried the radishes and pickled the sauerkraut.
They even got her a few chicks to raise.
Bai Xiaoyue was nagged by her mother for a long time, and she had to act cute and act spoiled for a long time before she escaped.
As the weather turned cooler, Bai Xiaoyue bought some daily necessities and prepared to stay home for the winter.
Regardless of the outside world's turmoil, she focused on spending time at home with her daughter and also helped Bai Wen'an with his studies.
She hoped that Bai Wen'an could get into a good university and get a good job so that he could live off his younger brother without worry.
Before we knew it, the New Year was approaching, and I knew that every family was having a tough time.
Bai Xiaoyue took 20 jin of coarse grains and 10 jin of refined grains, which was a month's allowance for Chang Le.
Then, she took her chubby daughter to see Mr. and Mrs. Ye.
As always, Ye's mother was in good spirits, her hair was neatly combed, but her complexion was sallow, which showed that she was not having an easy time.
As soon as the door opened, Xiao Chang Le called out, "Grandpa, Grandma, Chang Le is here!" and ran to hug Ye's father's leg.
Seeing my chubby little granddaughter and hearing her sweet, childlike voice.
Every wrinkle on Ye's father's face was smiling. Afraid that his little granddaughter would get cold, he quickly carried Chang Le onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
"My dear grandson, have some candy." Mother Ye's old face beamed with joy as she handed Chang Le two pieces of candy.
When the two elders saw the grain that Bai Xiaoyue brought, they quickly declined and asked Bai Xiaoyue to save it for Chang Le.
“It’s hard to buy anything right now. This is all the grain Chang Le has to offer to Grandpa and Grandma. Please keep it without worry.”
"I will take good care of Chang Le, so please don't worry, Father and Mother," Bai Xiaoyue said sincerely.
She genuinely wanted to be kind to these two kind elderly people.
Ye's mother's eyes were filled with tears:
"This is already very good. These are difficult times, and there's nothing we can do to help you. You should also take care of yourself."
Brother Ye and his wife took their child to the wife's parents' home. Bai Xiaoyue chatted with the elderly couple for a while before going home with her daughter.
On New Year's Eve, the canteen unusually steamed white flour buns and cabbage dumplings.
Bai Xiaoyue prepared scrambled eggs with scallions, braised pork with potatoes, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and white radish and bone soup.
The meat was the same piece that Wang Weiguo had taken, and Bai Mu had salted it so that it could only be taken out to eat during the New Year.
Although there were only a few simple dishes, the five members of the family were all very satisfied with their meal.
It's something to be happy about when the whole family can eat together in a harmonious atmosphere.
Bai Xiaoyue gave her daughter two cents as a New Year's gift, and Bai Wen'an gave her five yuan. Both of them, being misers, were very happy.
Bai's father also gave her two yuan as a New Year's gift. This deep fatherly love warmed Bai Xiaoyue's heart.
After New Year's Eve, it will be the year 60. Bai Xiaoyue sincerely prays that everyone will be safe and sound.
Before spring planting, Uncle Bai came to visit my younger brother. He and my brother talked about the price of grain and sighed with emotion.
"Corn has now risen to 1 yuan per kilogram, and there's nowhere to buy it."
Many villages have run out of food and are waiting for relief supplies. Some refugees say that in some places, people are even eating tree leaves.
Uncle Bai had deep frown lines on his forehead.
"Brother, what should we do? Do we have enough food?" Father Bai was also worried.
"We'll have to reduce the planting area after spring planting; there's no other way."
Bai Xiaoyue reminded, "Uncle, many villages are out of food. We must protect our village's food. When people have nothing to eat, they will do anything."
Uncle Bai realized the seriousness of the matter and hurriedly went to a meeting with the village officials.
After discussion among several people, they organized able-bodied men to patrol the village in shifts, focusing on protecting the warehouse and driving away outsiders.
Before the busy farming season began, Bai Xiaoyue went to the supply and marketing cooperative to make purchases.
I only learned about the soaring grain prices after meeting Li Mingyue.
The price of coarse grains has already risen to 1.5 yuan per kilogram, and refined grains are even more expensive, with prices increasing every day.
The situation was extremely dire. Due to the scarcity of supplies, the supply and marketing cooperatives had very little stock, and even with money and coupons, people couldn't buy anything.
Workers' food ration coupons were also reduced, and the people of the whole country worked together to overcome the difficulties.
In Xiaochangle, only 20 jin of grain out of the 30 jin were distributed.
After discussing it, Bai Xiaoyue and Li Mingyue, a married couple, decided to process the grain in batches after the spring planting.
She also specifically instructed the two of them that they must not tell their parents, brothers, or relatives about this matter.
Human nature is the most vulnerable to temptation; sometimes it's necessary to put on an act, like borrowing some grain or something.
She herself wanted to leave the grain for the village, but she still needed to think carefully about how to do it.
In May 1960, grain officially entered the 2-yuan era, and there was nowhere to buy it.
Many villages nearby are now living in a thin porridge with more vegetables than grains.
Uncle Bai was worried that his production brigade would run out of food, so he went everywhere to buy grain, but to no avail. He was so anxious that he lost a lot of weight.
Bai Xiaoyue brought some eggs to visit her uncle.
She also mentioned to her uncle that she could go to the city to inquire about grain and try to buy some for the village.
Uncle Bai was very excited: "Xiaoyue, can you buy it? It's hard to buy anywhere now."
Bai Xiaoyue scratched her head and said shyly:
"Uncle, I'm not sure if I can buy it. I can only try first. I'll go find Mingyue and her husband and ask them to think of a way."
However, I need to ask the village to issue a certificate proving that I am buying grain on behalf of the village.
Otherwise, people will think I'm engaging in speculation and profiteering, and they might arrest me. Then I won't be able to explain myself."
Uncle Bai immediately got up and went to the brigade, saying as he walked:
"I'll get you the certificate right now. If you can buy it, then buy it."
Rainfall has been scarce this year, and it's uncertain what the autumn harvest will be like!
Seeing how much her uncle worried about the villagers, Bai Xiaoyue felt a pang of sadness.
My uncle truly deserves to be called a servant of the people.
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