Chapter 61: The Department Store

“Of course not!”

Liu Yinyin repeated, “Ye Ye will have to wait another two years. She’s too young to understand anything in class. I’m not running a daycare.”

Jiang Cuihua didn’t really mind, but she was worried that her second daughter-in-law would become jealous again.

At noon, Liu Yinyin cooked stir-fried eggs with Chinese toon, bamboo fungus and shredded radish soup, and steamed a few cornmeal buns.

With the wild vegetable buns, sweet potatoes, and stir-fried cabbage that Liu Zhizhi brought back from the canteen, the meal was quite decent.

She didn’t prepare large portions of each dish, focusing instead on balanced nutrition.

Jiang Cuihua found her approach too fussy. Seeing how little Liu Yinyin ate, she frowned and said, “If people saw how you eat, they’d curse you to death.”

Others couldn’t even get enough to eat, while she, afraid of gaining weight, barely touched her food.

Liu Yinyin grinned. “Well, I’m lucky to have married a good man. By the way, Mom, when will the village distribute piglets?”

“Should be soon. Why? You want to raise pigs?” Due to last year’s swine fever outbreak, Jiang Cuihua was hesitant about pig farming. Piglets cost money, and if they didn’t survive, it would be a loss.

Last year, one of their pigs died, while the other was sold to the commune. In the end, they neither profited nor lost money, but the whole year’s effort had been wasted.

Liu Yinyin nodded. “I’ll raise two. There’s plenty of wild vegetables to feed them.”

One reason she accepted wild vegetables as tuition was to use them as animal feed.

Initially, she only wanted to raise one pig, but according to current policies, households raising just one pig had to contribute it to the collective.

She was raising pigs for the meat, not for profit, so the only way to keep one for herself was to raise two.

That was exactly what she told Jiang Cuihua.

Jiang Cuihua had the opposite mindset—she wanted to raise pigs to make money.

Because of the swine fever outbreak last year, she was now only willing to raise one.

“You already have a child to take care of, and now you’re going to be a teacher. Raising two pigs is too much work,” Jiang Cuihua worried, fearing her daughter was taking on too much and might end up losing money.

“It’ll be fine.” Liu Yinyin wasn’t alone in this—what she didn’t tell Jiang Cuihua was that Gu Cheng had agreed to raising pigs and even said he would handle most of the work.

Although Jiang Cuihua didn’t strongly favor sons over daughters, she still held the traditional belief that men should work outside while women managed the household.

She had told Liu Yinyin more than once not to let Gu Cheng do any kitchen work and to minimize his chores at home.

Liu Yinyin didn’t agree with that mindset, but she never argued about it. After all, they had been raised in different times.

The classrooms wouldn’t be finished anytime soon, so she didn’t have to start teaching just yet.

The next day was Sunday, Gu Cheng’s day off.

It had been a while since they last went to the county town, and since they hadn’t gone out together in a long time, Gu Cheng suggested they take a trip.

The moment Liu Yinyin heard the idea, she couldn’t sit still. She quickly sent Liu Zhizhi to call Jiang Cuihua over since her mother wasn’t working that day.

Gu Yanyan was still young, and bringing him along would mean packing formula, diapers, and other necessities—too much hassle. It was better to leave him with Jiang Cuihua for the day.

Liu Yinyin also ran to her room to grab some change and ration tickets.

Once Jiang Cuihua arrived, the couple handed over the baby and hopped on Gu Cheng’s bicycle to head to the county town.

Liu Yinyin sat on the back seat, wrapping her arms around Gu Cheng’s waist.

The man had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a firm build. Beneath her touch, his muscles were solid.

Feeling playful, Liu Yinyin couldn’t resist pinching his waist twice…

The bicycle suddenly jolted. Gu Cheng steadied it, his waist warming from her touch.

Clearing his throat, he reminded her, “Once we reach town, you better behave.”

When his wife got excited, she liked to get handsy. Gu Cheng didn’t dislike it, but while anything was fine at home, they had to be more mindful in public.

Liu Yinyin responded with an “Oh,” loosened her grip, and instead pinched the fabric of his shirt at his waist. She grinned, “Is this better, Comrade Gu Cheng?”

Gu Cheng glanced back at her, and almost instinctively, he pulled her hands back around his waist. Clearing his throat, he quickly changed the subject. “How about we buy a radio for our home?”

“A radio?” Liu Yinyin was surprised. “Can we even get one?”

No one in their village had a radio yet.

Gu Cheng answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

“If we can buy one, then let’s get it,” Liu Yinyin said with a smile. “Your son will definitely love it!”

With a radio playing, they wouldn’t have to constantly talk to Gu Yanyan to keep him entertained.

Once they arrived in town, they didn’t go to the supply and marketing cooperative but headed straight to the department store.

The department store was bigger and had a wider variety of goods.

To be honest, this was Liu Yinyin’s first time visiting a department store.

The first floor mainly sold food items. They walked around and bought a pound of crispy prawn candies, a pound of glutinous rice sticks, a bag of sunflower seeds, and two pounds of apples.

After finishing their food shopping, they moved on to the second floor, which focused on household necessities. The shelves were stocked with toiletries, cleaning supplies, skincare products, kitchenware, and other essentials.

Liu Yinyin wanted to buy almost everything she saw, but she held herself back. In the end, she only bought an enamel basin and a thermos.

On the third floor, they found clothing and fabrics—ready-made clothes, pants, and shoes of all kinds.

The variety dazzled Liu Yinyin, but the ready-made clothes were quite expensive.

However, they weren’t short on money, so Liu Yinyin picked out two white Dacron shirts for Gu Cheng.

For herself, she chose a piece of fabric and a pair of small leather shoes. She preferred making her own clothes rather than buying them.

The salesgirl at the fabric counter was a young woman. Seeing them buying so much, she assumed they were newlyweds and enthusiastically introduced more options. “Comrade, we have several beautiful red fabrics. Would you like to take a look?”

Liu Yinyin asked, “Do you have pure cotton?”

The salesgirl beamed. “Yes! We also have khaki and Dacron fabric. Clothes made from them look even better than cotton ones.”

The store’s bestsellers were khaki and Dacron, and they were quite pricey. But for newlyweds, buying something expensive was only natural.

Liu Yinyin thought for a moment and said, “I’m not making clothes. I want to make a bellyband.”

The salesgirl: “……”

Her words were so unexpected that not only was the young salesgirl stunned, but even Gu Cheng was caught off guard. His ears instantly turned red as he imagined something else entirely.

Noticing their misunderstanding, Liu Yinyin remained composed and explained, “I want to make two little bellybands for my son.”

The weather was getting hotter by the day, and by summer, Gu Yanyan would feel much cooler wearing a bellyband.

“Oh… I see. I’ll get it for you,” the salesgirl said, still processing the information. She had thought they were newlyweds, but it turned out they already had a child.

After buying the red fabric, Liu Yinyin tilted her head and asked Gu Cheng, “Do you need anything else?”

Gu Cheng nodded, then quickly shook his head. “No, just whatever you buy is fine.”

“Then I’m done too. Let’s head back,” she said. They had bought a lot, and carrying too much would be a hassle.