Chapter 53: The Sweater

People often say that villagers envy city folks for having jobs and earning wages, but sometimes, city folks envy villagers too—at least when it comes to food, which isn’t as scarce in the countryside.

Liu Yinyin’s eyes flickered slightly as she said, “Big sister, if you really want some, I can spare a bit for you.”

The woman in the red coat was thrilled to hear this. Of course, as she always said—she would take as much as she could get. Who would ever complain about having too much meat? No matter how much she bought, it would never be enough.

Liu Yinyin hesitated, pretending to be in a dilemma. “I only have five jin of pork. That’s all I can spare. If you want it, I can sell it to you, and later, I’ll go back to my parents’ house to get some more. But… it’ll be one yuan per jin.”

At the supply and marketing cooperative, pork was sold at 0.8 yuan per jin, but it required a meat ration ticket.

Selling it for one yuan per jin without needing a ration ticket wasn’t unreasonable.

“Deal!” The woman agreed without hesitation. “One yuan per jin it is. I’ll take it all!”

She didn’t even think it was expensive. That was five jin of pork—equivalent to half a year’s meat supply for her entire family!

Liu Yinyin’s lips curled into a small smile. She lifted the coarse cloth covering her basket, revealing a large piece of fatty and lean pork belly.

This was five jin of pork belly she had just purchased from her system using her thoughts.

Liu Yinyin lowered her voice and said, “Big sister, neither of us has a scale, but this pork belly is definitely the full five jin.”

The woman in red was already staring at the meat, unable to take her eyes off it. Without even lifting her head, she replied, “No problem, I trust you.”

Someone who could gather so many ration tickets couldn’t be from an ordinary household. There was no need for them to scam people.

Besides, the piece of pork belly looked hefty. Even if it wasn’t exactly five jin, it wouldn’t be far off.

The two completed their transaction quickly—one handing over money, the other handing over goods. Both were satisfied with the deal.

As soon as the exchange was done, they parted ways just as swiftly, like thieves avoiding attention.

With just one deal, Liu Yinyin had earned eight yuan. A faint smile appeared on her face.

She didn’t bother going anywhere else to make more money. After earning a few yuan, she was content to stop.

Her life was already good enough—she had plenty to eat and wear. A little extra pocket money was nice, but there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

Humming a tune, Liu Yinyin walked home cheerfully.

As she neared the house, she used her thoughts to buy two jin of pork ribs, two jin of fresh prawns, and two jin of squid from the system.

After a moment’s thought, she also added a pack of dried kelp, two packs of sunflower seeds, eight apples, and eight oranges.

Her basket was packed full, so she carried it inside.

“Mom, I’m home…”

“Waahhh!”

As soon as she stepped through the door, she was greeted by Gu Yanyan’s loud crying.

That was strange—Gu Yanyan was not usually a child who cried easily. Even when he was hungry, he would only whimper a little.

She had never heard him cry so heartbreakingly before.

Liu Yinyin panicked and rushed inside.

“Mom, what’s wrong with Yanyan?”

Hearing her daughter’s voice, Jiang Cuihua, who had been rocking the baby to sleep in the room, immediately stood up and quickly handed the wailing child to Liu Yinyin.

“Aiya, I think he’s been looking for his mother. He’s been fussing and crying several times all morning.”

Jiang Cuihua had been tormented by Gu Yanyan all morning and was nearly at her wit’s end. She had just managed to soothe him, but the moment he heard Liu Yinyin’s voice, he started wailing again.

Liu Yinyin cradled the baby and gently comforted him. Gu Yanyan buried his head in her chest, crying uncontrollably, his face covered in tears and snot.

As she wiped his nose with a small handkerchief, Liu Yinyin chuckled, “He’s really heartbroken this time. He never used to cry real tears before.”

Usually, he would only make noise without actually shedding tears.

Finally, as he inhaled the familiar scent of his mother, Gu Yanyan calmed down. His little mouth still trembled as if he had suffered a great injustice.

“This kid is really sharp—he already knows how to recognize people at such a young age,” Jiang Cuihua muttered in disbelief.

Back when she and Liu Yinyin had been taking care of him together, he had never behaved like this.

Gu Yanyan didn’t know if he understood anything, but he blew a big bubble at Jiang Cuihua.

Jiang Cuihua: “…”

This little rascal!

Ever since her postpartum confinement ended, Liu Yinyin had been the one taking care of Gu Yanyan most of the time. The mother and son had never been apart for so long before, so it was no wonder the little one was so heartbroken.

Perhaps from exhaustion, Gu Yanyan soon fell asleep in his mother’s arms.

Once he was sound asleep, Liu Yinyin carefully placed him in his crib and went out to sort through the items in her basket.

Today had been quite a fruitful day.

Most of the items could simply be stored in the cabinet, but the pork ribs, prawns, and squid wouldn’t be eaten all at once.

She set aside a portion for today’s meal and hung the rest outside in the basket.

With the cold weather, anything left outside would soon freeze into solid chunks, essentially turning it into a natural outdoor “refrigerator.”

Before Jiang Cuihua left, Liu Yinyin packed two bags of sunflower seeds and a jin of prawns for her.

“Mom, don’t you love chatting with people? Next time, just keep some sunflower seeds in your pocket. It’s more fun to chat while snacking on them.”

Liu Yinyin had specifically bought the sunflower seeds for Jiang Cuihua to enjoy.

“…Alright, I’ll take the sunflower seeds, but keep the prawns for yourself,” Jiang Cuihua hesitated, not wanting to always take things from her daughter’s home.

“There’s plenty at home,” Liu Yinyin insisted, directly placing them in her mother’s hands. “Besides, if I don’t treat you well, how can I keep asking you to help take care of Yanyan?”

“What are you saying? He’s my grandson. Of course, I’d help take care of him,” Jiang Cuihua said dismissively. She was more than happy to babysit her daughter’s child.

“Exactly. Mom, since you’re helping me with the baby, it’s only right that I show my appreciation.” The sunflower seeds and prawns had been discreetly brought over from the system, so Liu Yinyin didn’t feel bad about gifting them to her mother’s family.

No matter the relationship, maintaining goodwill through mutual giving was the key to long-term harmony.

Now that the matter was settled, Jiang Cuihua finally accepted the gifts with a big smile and left happily.

Liu Yinyin let out a sigh. Villagers often went back and forth refusing gifts before accepting them, but she preferred a more straightforward approach.

That afternoon, Liu Yinyin looked after the baby while knitting a sweater.

The last batch of yarn Gu Cheng had brought was quite a lot—enough for her to knit two scarves and a woolen sweater and pants for the baby.

There was still enough yarn left to make two adult-sized sweaters.

She planned to knit them as gifts—not for herself and Gu Cheng, but for their families.

As the year-end approached, it was customary to send gifts to both sides of the family. Liu Yinyin wanted to knit a sweater for her father.

However, since the yarn had been provided by Gu Cheng, it wouldn’t be right not to knit one for his family as well.

So, she decided to make two—one for her father and one for the Gu family.

She didn’t really care who in the Gu family wore it, as long as she fulfilled the social obligation.

After finishing most of her knitting, Liu Yinyin went outside to soak some dried kelp.

For dinner, she made kelp and pork rib soup, spicy stir-fried squid, and sautéed cabbage. The main course was steamed white flour buns.

Their household had a decent supply of refined grains, so they could now enjoy white flour buns or rice every few days.

When Gu Cheng returned home from work that evening, he brought someone with him.