Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Hearing her mother's agreement, Bai Xiuxiu felt reassured.

As long as her mother agreed, the matter would definitely go through.

"Mom, can you ask Big Sister to send me more of the local specialties this year? Don't worry, I won't let Big Sister do it for nothing," Bai Xiuxiu continued asking.

There was no particular use for them, she just wanted to eat better!

Having glimpsed the grand future ahead, she felt that it was important to start taking care of her health now!

This wasn't a time when she had to worry about her next meal; her future was bright and full of promise!

So she needed to treat herself well now, there was no need to save up!

Old Lady Wei felt heartbroken hearing her daughter's plaintive question. Her unlucky in-law must have bullied her again!

"Sure, Mom will have your Big Sister send them. And you should also send less stuff to your Big Sister! She's getting by, we're more worried about you," Old Lady Wei thought with a pang of sadness about her younger daughter!

She couldn't bear it; she had to go back and visit her daughter soon.

Bai Xiuxiu had nothing else to say, so she quickly hung up the phone.

She winced as she took out fifty cents.

Phone calls were really expensive!

After paying, Bai Xiuxiu headed to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The county's supply and marketing cooperative had much more variety than the commune's.

The place was always packed with people.

Once inside, Bai Xiuxiu went straight to the counter selling pastries. "I want two pounds of sponge cake and four pounds of cookies."

Most items here were rationed, and Bai Xiuxiu bought according to the highest quota allowed.

She had the money and the coupons.

After weighing the goods, Bai Xiuxiu moved on to another counter.

She bought two bars of soap, each costing one yuan.

She also bought twenty eggs, which required coupons and were expensive, at ten cents each.

But she planned to make egg water for the family to drink in the morning.

Eating well within the family never hurt anyone!

With everything purchased, Bai Xiuxiu arrived at the fabric counter. The fabrics here weren't particularly fashionable, but they were perfect!

It wouldn't do to be too flashy right now.

The fabrics for the children were too eye-catching!

Bai Xiuxiu spent twenty yuan on enough fabric for the whole family's clothes.

She used up all her cloth coupons.

In total, she spent ten yuan on food, two yuan on soap, two yuan on eggs, and the rest on fabric, coming to a total of twenty-four yuan.

Her savings had taken a significant hit.

Fortunately, she had managed to get some money from the Wang family recently.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to splurge like this.

After packing everything into her cloth bag—made by her mother for her wedding, as it was practical for shopping—Bai Xiuxiu headed straight to the state-owned restaurant in the county!

She aimed to arrive during lunchtime.

Today's special was pork and scallion buns, priced at thirty cents each, with no limit on quantity.

Bai Xiuxiu bought twenty buns and left.

Spending six yuan, a total of thirty cents per bun.

Unfortunately, apples weren't available yet, or she could have brought back some fruit.

Bai Xiuxiu returned home fully loaded, only to find that everyone had finished lunch and gone to work.

Those who had gone to the mountain hadn't returned yet.

Liu Xiaoe, who had injured her head, was doing the dishes and looked displeased upon seeing Bai Xiuxiu return. "Sister-in-law, where have you been living the good life? You didn't come back for lunch even after the mealtime passed. Because of you, our family had another big argument."

An argument?

Bai Xiuxiu was puzzled. What was there to argue about?

"Dad said you didn't know when to come back and refused to save your meal. Brother wouldn't stand for it. Dad scolded him for a while!" Chen Fang explained as she washed clothes nearby.

Bai Xiuxiu furrowed her brows.

Her father-in-law had probably long been displeased with her and Wang Qinghe, using this incident as an excuse to vent his frustration.

The reason was still about the money in the family that would have to be shared with them!

He used to not care about such matters.

"Did you save some food?" Bai Xiuxiu asked Liu Xiaoe instead.

Based on her experience, it should have been saved.

After all, whatever her man wanted to do could always be accomplished!

"Yes, it's in the kitchen." As Liu Xiaoe spoke, her gaze fell on Bai Xiuxiu’s cloth bag. "Elder Sister, where did you go? This bag is bulging."

"I went to buy medicine." Bai Xiuxiu said coldly, then put the bag back in her room before going to the kitchen to fetch the food.

Liu Xiaoe didn’t believe a word of it! She could smell it—there was a fragrance coming from her sister-in-law’s bag. Her sister-in-law must have gone out to eat something good.

The greediest person in the family was Bai Xiuxiu. No one else could do such a selfish thing as eating alone!

Liu Xiaoe grumbled to Chen Fang in a low voice, but she didn’t care. She glanced at Liu Xiaoe. "Don’t you have money too? If you want to eat something, just buy it yourself."

Liu Xiaoe: ...

She wanted to buy something! But the family’s money had to be saved for useful things. How could they spend it on food?

Was she like Bai Xiuxiu, that glutton?

The lunch at the Wangs’ house was still the same as usual: coarse rice with pickles. There hadn’t even been any oil in the past few days! Only the Wangs could do such a thing during the autumn harvest!

After finishing their meal, Bai Xiuxiu washed the dishes.

Liu Xiaoe came over again, hoping to get some food from her.

Before she could open her mouth, however, the door was kicked open, startling the three people in the yard.

Without waiting for them to ask, Zhao Guifen was carried back in, bruised and battered, looking miserable!

Two young men carried her back. They were brothers from the Yang family in the west of the village.

Behind them followed Zhao Cuihua, who looked disheveled, and Zhou Jiaojiao, who seemed unscathed.

Seeing this scene, Liu Xiaoe was shocked. How did she end up being carried back like this?

Chen Fang was also surprised, but when she thought that someone else was suffering as much as she was—and it was her unlucky mother-in-law—she couldn’t help feeling relieved!

Zhao Guifen kept crying out in pain, her face contorted in agony. It was autumn, yet she was sweating profusely from the pain.

"My old waist, I can’t live anymore. Ouch, help!" Zhao Guifen cried out repeatedly.

The two brothers from the Yang family, who had carried her, also wore grim expressions upon hearing this. "Aunt Zhao, you’ve been shouting all the way. Didn’t Uncle Zhang examine you in the mountains and say there was nothing serious? He said you just needed to rest for ten days or half a month. You’re lucky, getting kicked by a wild boar and still being alive."

"A wild boar?" Liu Xiaoe exclaimed in shock.

"What are you shouting for? Do you want me to die slowly? What are you standing around for? Quickly take me off this stretcher! You two, don’t you know I’m still lying here?" Zhao Guifen glared at her daughters-in-law.

If these three unlucky women could go up the mountain, would she have had to go? If she hadn’t gone, would she have been trampled by a wild boar?

Liu Xiaoe was terrified and hurried over to support her.

Zhao Cuihua also came over to help, and together they supported Zhao Guifen back into the house.

Zhou Jiaojiao, on the other hand, was thinking about the wild boar. "Brother Yang, we found the wild boar, and my mother-in-law got injured. Can we get a bigger share of the meat later?"