Chapter 99 : My Mouth is the Tightest

Huang Ying felt grateful to Jiang Yu and wanted to invite her to stay for dinner.

But Jiang Yu had already promised He Tingyue that they would eat at home, so she politely declined.

Huang Ying smiled and said, “Look at you! You just got married, it wouldn’t be right to keep you here. I have some cured meats that a friend sent me. Take a few pieces home with you as a wedding gift .”

The cured sausages were sent from a friend in Sichuan, and there was a whole box of them, salty and spicy, perfect for a meal.

Jiang Yu didn’t refuse and thanked her with a smile.

“Well then, Uncle and Aunt, Fei fei. Next time, I’ll come by the supply and marketing cooperative to chat.”

Xie Fei fei chimed in, “Next time, take me shopping at the department store! Lin Changan is going to buy me a watch, and you can help me pick the style.”

“Sure, I’ll remember.”

As soon as Jiang Yu left, a neighbor from next door came over.

“Xiao Huang, Xiao Huang!”

Huang Ying paused, her smile fading a bit.

“What’s the matter, Aunt Tang?”

“I just heard that you can get cotton? Oh no, I mean trade for cotton!”

She had overheard the conversation and hadn’t expected the Xie family to have such a connection.

Huang Ying’s expression turned difficult. “Aunt, you must have heard wrong.”

Aunt Tang hurriedly replied, “The price doesn’t matter, I’ll pay! I want to make a cotton coat for my grandson. Please help me out! I promise I won’t tell anyone!”

Only then did Huang Ying relent. “One yuan per pound, that’s the price.”

Aunt Tang nodded repeatedly, “I know! I asked last time I was over there.”

What she didn’t mention was that she had heard prices had gone up.

“How many pounds do you need?”

“Can I have five pounds?”

Huang Ying didn’t immediately agree. “I need to ask first, but you mustn’t say a word about this.”

Aunt Tang quickly replied, “I promise I won’t say anything! My lips are sealed, you can trust me.”

However, not long after Huang Ying closed the door, there was another knock.

When she opened it, it was another neighbor from the alley.

“Xiao Huang, we heard from Old Tang that you can get cotton here?”

Huang Ying cursed internally. When has Aunt Tang ever kept her mouth shut?

—

After leaving the Xie family, Jiang Yu took the food voucher that He Tingyue had given her to buy groceries. By this time, only cabbage and potatoes were left.

With winter approaching, the variety of vegetables was dwindling.

She weighed her options and decided that frying up some shredded potatoes would be nice.

She wouldn’t buy meat since she already had the cured meats that Huang Ying had given her.

After buying the cabbage and heading home, she happened to run into Jiang Ye at the entrance of the alley.

“What are you doing waiting outside instead of going in?”

Jiang Ye stood up. “Sister, I went in to look, but you weren’t home.”

Worried about what others might say, he waited outside the alley.

Jiang Yu scolded, “Let them talk, they’ve said worse about me. Come on, I actually need to find you!”

Jiang Ye was still carrying a bag of peaches, which caught Jiang Yu’s interest.

“Those are huge peaches! How are there still peaches this late?”

Jiang Ye explained, “Sister Yunshan asked me to bring them. They’re from a friend of Brother Hui in Pinggu County, their village grows a lot of peaches, and these are the late-season ones.”

Peaches are usually harvested in July and August, and now that it was October, only a few were left.

Jiang Yu opened the bag to find big, red peaches there were at least a dozen.

“That’s quite a lot! Did you carry them all by yourself? You must be exhausted.”

Jiang Ye felt warm inside. “Not at all, it’s nothing.”

As soon as they entered the house, everyone’s eyes were on the bag of peaches.

With vegetables scarce and fruits even rarer, peaches were a treat.

“Jiang Yu, those peaches look fresh! Can you spare a couple for me? My Liangzi hasn’t had that fruit in ages,” Sun’s mother boldly asked.

She wasn’t fond of apples, she loved peaches, whether they were soft or crunchy.

Jiang Yu directly refused, “I’m really sorry, but I have too many kids at home, and these aren’t enough to share.”

If she gave away two, others would surely ask for some as well.

With a dozen peaches, there wouldn’t be enough for everyone.

Sun’s mother was displeased by the refusal and pouted, saying, “You’re stingy.”

Lin Hongxia squinted her eyes and said, “Jiang Ting, those peaches are from your brother, right? why is he only giving them to Jiang Yu and not to you at all?”

Jiang Ting naturally knew about the situation between Jiang Hao and Jiang Ye.

But she didn’t care much, who was her brother didn’t affect her.

However, seeing Jiang Ye only give things to Jiang Yu made her feel uncomfortable.

She stepped outside and called, “Jiang Ye!”

Jiang Ye turned around. “Jiang Ting, sister.”

Seeing he was polite, Jiang Ting’s expression softened a bit.

“How come you’re here? Why not stop by Second Sister’s house? Don’t you want to see me?”

Jiang Ye shook his head. “No, I came to find my sister about something.”

Jiang Ting said, “Oh, in that case, shouldn’t you share those peaches with me?”

Jiang Ye still shook his head. “These peaches aren’t a gift from me to my sister, they’re from my sister’s friend, and I’m just delivering them.”

Jiang Ting’s face stiffened with embarrassment as she awkwardly withdrew her hand.

Someone chuckled from the back.

“I’ve never seen someone so bold as to ask for food right to someone’s face, what nerve!”

The speaker was Zhao Qing. She originally wanted to mock Jiang Ting but turned to see Sun’s mother’s ugly expression and remembered she had just asked for peaches too.

“Mom… I wasn’t talking about you, I meant Jiang’s sister.”

Sun’s mother sneered coldly. “Go clean the floors at home! Is the table wiped down? Hurry up and make dinner, if Liangzi comes home to no food, do you want him to starve?”

Zhao Qing felt bitter, Sun’s mother had a knack for making her life miserable.

She worked every day and still had to rush home to cook lunch.

The floor and tables didn’t need to be cleaned daily, they weren’t that dirty.

Jiang Yu brought Jiang Ye inside and shut the door, cutting off those prying eyes.

Once they were in the room, Jiang Ye asked, “Sister Yunshan asked me to see if we’re still collecting cotton.”

The few families that had been selling cotton had received cloth coupons from Liu Zi.

They didn’t keep it a secret, the villagers were eager to sell cotton too to save up some coupons for winter.

“Yes, I’ll go find Liu Zi today. You and Yunshan can handle it, a few hundred pounds is no problem. Also, save twenty pounds for me, I want to send it to a friend.”

Jiang Ye nodded.

“Alright, I still need to go report back to Yunshan. I’ll take off now.”

Jiang Yu said impatiently, “It’s mealtime! Just stay and eat. I have cured meat and sausages. You’re not an outsider, why be so polite?”

Jiang Ye felt a bit awkward. “Is it okay?”

“It is! I’ll wash a few peaches, we can eat them together when your brother-in-law gets back.”

Jiang Yu took out four peaches, they were big, and she planned to cut them up for everyone to share.

The first to come back was He Feiyan, as her school was nearby.

“Wow, peaches! They’re so big!”

Jiang Yu smiled and said, “They’re from Sister Wang, hurry and wash your hands and I’ll cut them up for us to enjoy together.”

He Feiyan nodded, washing her hands, then noticed Jiang Ye’s presence.

“Ah, little puppy brother is here too!”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Jiang Ye: “…?”