Shen Qing thought that once she was more familiar with things, she would inquire about how to get travel permits for leaving the area, especially for their whole family.

If they could leave early, that would be the best.

If not… well, even leaving a day or two earlier would be good.

Right now, the focus was on making money, taking care of their health, stockpiling food, and preparing transportation…

Guan Li initially thought buying one or two jin of meat would be enough, but after hearing Shen Qing’s words, she decided to buy more.

“I want three jin of fatty pork, two jin of lean pork, and two big marrow bones.”

The marrow bones would be used to make soup and noodles for Xiao Shan.

She had heard that marrow bones were good for the legs, and her family often bought marrow bones to stew.

The fatty pork would be smoked to eat slowly, and when they craved meat, they could cut a few slices to stir-fry, supplementing her father and younger brother with some extra fat.

The lean pork would be eaten fresh.

Shen Qing worried that Guan Li would feel guilty and not want to eat the meat once it was bought.

She said, “Good idea, buy more so the whole family can build up their strength. Not just Xiaoshan, you and your father also need to eat well, especially you. If you get too tired, what will your father and Xiaoshan do? Even if we make more money, it won’t be enough for medicine if you fall sick.”

During the escape in their dreams, the family’s health had not been great.

They had to pull their cart while carrying their belongings and taking care of Xiaoshan, making the journey much harder for the father and daughter.

Every family in the convoy was too busy taking care of themselves to help others.

Only Jiang Xiangxi was willing, but his mother refused, and they ended up parting ways.

In the end, they could only rely on themselves.

It was great when others helped, but the real skill was standing on your own when no one else would.

Guan Li suddenly thought of her mother.

Her mother had been bedridden for many years, and the money spent on medicine had been more than what they spent on food!

She hadn’t minded not wearing nice clothes, but if she couldn’t afford to eat well and weakened her body, wouldn’t she be just like her mother?

Her father and brother wouldn’t abandon her, but at that point, she’d be the one dragging down the whole family.

Guan Xiaoshan also thought of their mother.

He looked at his sister and said with reluctance, “Sis, let’s buy more meat. Everyone in the family should eat some.”

Now that he was earning money, he could buy meat for his sister.

Guan Li gritted her teeth and added another pound of meat.

The total came to two hundred and ten wen.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t so bad.

Even if they smoked four pounds of meat, the rest would last for five or six days.

In six or seven days, they’d get paid again, and they could continue then.

If they made four pounds of smoked meat at a time, they’d make it four times a month, totaling sixteen pounds; after deducting the cost of the meat, they would still have two taels left!

Plus, her father was also earning money.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became.

She quickly stopped herself.

Shen Qing had bought everything except for pig trotters, with the most being lard.

After buying the pork, their spirits were even higher, and they moved on to the next shop.

The next stop was for soy sauce.

Shen Qing didn’t have any soy sauce jars, so she had to buy it on the spot and transfer it into containers.

She bought the soy sauce and naturally also got some vinegar.

These two items just improved the flavor of the dishes, so Guan Li didn’t buy any.

Then, they went to the oil shop.

Shen Qing bought sesame oil and rapeseed oil.

This time, sesame oil was out of stock.

Shen Qing thought they would be cooking more and frying small fish, so rapeseed oil would be used quickly.

She bought ten jin.

Guan Li followed behind and bought five jin.

The fatty pork could also be used to make lard.

Her family was small, so five jin of rapeseed oil, if used carefully, would be enough for two months.

She had just seen her aunt buy pig lard, and now she planned to buy some to make her own.

Lard was better than vegetable oil, and it was tastier and richer.

Lard scraps were more fragrant than meat when frying or stewing, and from every angle, buying pig lard was the most cost-effective for a poor family like hers.

At the cloth shop, the three men, Jiang Xiangnan and the others, were fine, but Jiang Shui and Guan Li, being young girls, were obviously more excited.

Although Shen Qing was no longer a young girl, she was also very excited.

She redefined it: age didn’t matter; the important thing was being a young girl!

Heaven knew how uncomfortable she felt wearing coarse hemp cloth every day.

She couldn’t complain because, of all the family members, she had the best and most clothes!

It wasn’t like the soft, breathable hemp cloth from Hua Country; if she had to compare it, it was more like the rough hemp sacks used to store rice in the countryside in the 80s and 90s.

As a modern person, she longed to wear cotton clothes.

Finally, finally, she had earned money and bought fabric.

After a few days, she could wear them!

Jiang Shui’s eyes were fixed on a piece of pink fabric and couldn’t move away.

Shen Qing pointed at the fabric and asked, “Xiao Er, how much is this fabric?”

The shop assistant had initially paid little attention to them, seeing they were wearing patched-up hemp clothes.

But when he heard Shen Qing ask for an entire roll, he was shocked.

He thought their clothing didn’t seem to indicate they could afford such things, but the assistant, being used to seeing odd situations, gave a careful reply: “The pink fabric is delicate and is one of the best sellers in our shop. One roll can make three to four sets of clothes, so it’s not cheap. It costs nine qian five hundred wen per roll.

The blue, dark blue, light blue, black, and gray ones are much cheaper, only five qian three hundred wen per roll.

If you think it’s too expensive, you could buy three feet, which would be enough for one set of clothes. If you think that’s still not worth it, the hemp fabric over there is more affordable!”

Hearing that the pink fabric was nine qian five hundred wen per roll, Jiang Shui’s hopeful gaze dimmed considerably.

Nine qian five hundred wen, converted into the cost for each set of clothes, would be about three qian, which is three hundred wen.

She had earned three hundred wen today, and when she came, she thought she could buy a set of clothes.

But that was when the fabric was only around one hundred wen for a set.

Three hundred wen could only buy one set of clothes, and now she suddenly felt very reluctant.

After all, if she picked another color, it would be much cheaper…

Shen Qing, after hearing the explanation, thought the assistant was quite professional.

He spoke politely and carefully, even though they didn’t look like they could afford expensive cotton fabrics, he patiently explained everything, and even offered cheaper options without her asking.

Shen Qing decided to go ahead: “Thank you,. I’ll take the pink one, one roll; the dark blue, light blue, and each black and gray one, one roll each.”

The shop assistant was stunned.

He couldn’t believe his ears.

Had the woman wearing hemp clothes just ordered six rolls of fabric?

Jiang Shui was also stunned.

She tugged at Shen Qing’s sleeve.

Shen Qing patted her hand to reassure her. “You want it, so buy it. You’ll get two sets of pink clothes; your sister-in-law will have one set. The rest will be made into two sets each for Hua Hua and the little one.

I’ll keep the dark blue for myself, and the black, gray, and dark blue will be for your brothers and Xiaoshan. The light blue will look good on your sister-in-law, so she’ll have two sets, and you’ll have one set. The rest will be for the two younger ones.”

The clothes for the men would be two sets each, and the women would each get three sets.

The two little granddaughters wouldn’t take much fabric, so they’d have several sets of clothes.

The single-layer clothes didn’t take up much space, and after the summer, they would be useful again in winter as layers under warmer clothing.

Shen Qing felt that this money was well spent.

She couldn’t be stingy with it!

“Sir, please calculate the total for everything?”