Chapter 39: Buying Fish

“Hmm,” Liu Yinyin looked at him and said, “You wouldn’t know if you hadn’t gone. There were so many people exchanging grain at the market today, and some were even selling it directly. It wasn’t much more expensive than the supply and marketing cooperatives. I thought it was a rare opportunity, so I bought a bit more.”

Gu Cheng was only surprised but didn’t ask much more. He simply said, “I was thinking if we had dug the cellar a bit bigger.”

Had he known his wife was so fond of buying grain, he would have made the cellar larger when they first built it.

Liu Yinyin hesitated, “Do you… think I’m wasting money?”

Gu Cheng, without changing his expression, said, “Buying grain is hardly wasting money. Besides, if we don’t eat it all, we can sell it later.”

His tone was the same as when he spoke to Jiang Cuihua.

After all, Gu Cheng was from the countryside, and like most rural people, he had a special attachment to land and food.

Liu Yinyin smiled. Since he didn’t ask, she naturally wouldn’t say much more.

Seeing the watermelon in his hand, her eyes lit up and she asked with a smile, “Did they have watermelon for sale today?”

The supply and marketing cooperatives occasionally sold fruit, and whenever they did, Gu Cheng would buy some to bring back home.

Fruits didn’t require a ticket, but they were usually limited in quantity and relatively expensive.

“Yeah, it’s a pity I went late; there were only a few small ones left,” Gu Cheng replied, handing her the watermelon before turning to tidy up the things in the yard.

The grain was moved into the cellar, and the large jars were brought into the kitchen. The three large jars were just enough to store rice, flour, and cornmeal.

There were also two small jars. Since Liu Yinyin wasn’t planning to pickle vegetables, she decided to use them for millet and eggs.

Besides the few large jars, the rest of the big bags of grain from the kitchen were also moved into the cellar. It looked much tidier now. Having a pile of grain lying around had been quite unsightly.

The house was beginning to look more and more like a proper home.

On a whim, Liu Yinyin took a pencil and notebook to tally up the current stock of grain at home. Here’s what she found:

In the kitchen, the jars contained over 30 jin of white flour, over 30 jin of rice, 50 jin of cornmeal, and 5 jin of millet.

Underneath the cabinet were two layers. One layer held a bag of green beans (14 jin), a bag of soybeans (20 jin), a bag of red beans (9 jin), and a bag of peanuts (3 jin).

The other layer held 15 jin of buckwheat flour, 25 jin of millet, over 10 jin of brown rice, and over **20 jin of cornmeal.

The kitchen was filled with scattered grain, totaling about 250 jin in all.

The cellar was much simpler. It mainly held the grain bought today and the portion distributed from the village a few days ago.

There was 220 jin of rice, 215 jin of wheat, 604 jin of corn cobs, and a bag of cornmeal, not much, only around 30 jin.

Previously, Gu Cheng had received a bicycle ticket from a comrade and, in return for the favor, sent 50 jin of cornmeal to his friend.

The rest was about 1,000 jin of sweet potatoes.

Now there are only two people in the household, so their consumption isn’t that high. Gu Cheng eats lunch at the factory canteen, and Liu Yinyin herself doesn’t eat much.

Therefore, the household consumes just over two jin of food per day.

From time to time, Liu Yinyin can also sneak some grain out from the system, so the daily food consumption at home can be kept under two jin.

With this much food stored, it’s enough for them to last about two years.

Additionally, Gu Cheng gets a monthly grain ration of thirty-six jin.

At his level, he receives twelve jin of fine grain and twenty-four jin of coarse grain each month.

This month, Gu Cheng missed the deadline, so he won’t be able to get the grain until next month.

The more Liu Yinyin thought about it, the more reassured she felt. The food stored at home is enough for now, and she can worry about the rest after she gives birth.

She sliced the watermelon and handed a piece to Gu Cheng, then smiled and said, “We need to prepare a stone mill at home.”

The grain stored in the cellar is still in its husk, so it can be kept for several years.

However, it’s inconvenient to eat since she has to hull it herself.

Before Gu Cheng could respond, she continued, “There’s an experienced master in the village who knows how to make stone mills. We can ask him about it later. It seems we can trade grain for it.”

Of course, she actually wanted to buy it with money, but using money all the time felt a bit extravagant, and Gu Cheng doesn’t make money easily.

Gu Cheng took a bite of the watermelon and said, “I’ll check it out when I have time.”

“We’ll need a large stone mill for grinding rice, and a small one for grinding beans to make tofu when the weather gets colder,” Liu Yinyin murmured.

“Alright,” he said.

Fortunately, stone mills weren’t expensive. In just a couple of days, they had added both a large and a small stone mill to the house, which they got by trading thirty jin of cornmeal.

The weather had been bad lately, with several light rains.

An autumn rain brings the cold, and the weather was getting cooler.

One day, the village head’s wife, Li Chunfang, came to find Liu Yinyin. She said that in her maternal family’s village, there were several lotus ponds that would be draining water to catch fish and dig up lotus roots, and she asked if Liu Yinyin wanted to trade for some fish and lotus roots.

Liu Yinyin naturally wouldn’t refuse. The grain at home was almost enough, but they hadn’t managed to get any meat yet.

Fish meat is still meat, and if made into dried fish, it could be kept for a year or more.

She had bought two jin of white wine at the market last time, which was perfect for making dried fish.

Also, fish wasn’t expensive at the moment, only about two or three cents per jin.

In a year of famine, the price would certainly skyrocket.

Liu Yinyin thought for a moment and asked Li Chunfang, “Auntie, can I buy them with money?”

It wasn’t the first time Liu Yinyin had traded with Li Chunfang, so she didn’t beat around the bush.

Li Chunfang’s eyes shifted, and she lowered her voice, saying, “Alright, but don’t tell anyone directly. You have to say you’re trading grain for it.”

“I understand,” Liu Yinyin whispered.

Then she went to her room, took out two large notes, and handed them to her, saying, “Auntie, my condition isn’t very convenient. Could you please help me buy the fish and lotus roots? You can get about ten jin of lotus roots, and buy more fish.”

According to market prices, lotus roots were about one cent per jin, and fish were two or three cents per jin.

With twenty yuan, she could buy thirty or forty fish.

Li Chunfang knew Liu Yinyin’s family had money, but she was still shocked by the large amount Liu Yinyin was willing to spend: “Yinyin, isn’t twenty yuan too much? You can buy dozens of fish! Will your family be able to eat all these fish?”

Other families would buy just two or three fish, but who buys thirty or forty at once?

Liu Yinyin blinked and explained, “Buy more. I’ll send a few fish to my maternal family, and some to Gu Cheng’s side too. The rest, I’ll make into dried fish and keep them to eat slowly.”

“Auntie, you can buy as much as you can. If there aren’t that many, it’s fine to buy less.”

Seeing that Liu Yinyin had a plan, Li Chunfang stopped insisting and nodded, “Alright, I’ll try to buy as many as I can.”

Liu Yinyin smiled, “Thanks, Auntie. Just wait for me a moment.”

Liu Yinyin went into the kitchen, snuck out twelve eggs from the system, and placed them in a basket to give to Li Chunfang.

“Auntie, take these eggs home and eat them.”

Li Chunfang running errands to buy things for her wasn’t easy, so Liu Yinyin felt it was only right to repay the favor. Otherwise, next time, people wouldn’t think of helping her.