Chapter 21

Grandma Qian and Xu Di returned to the Liang family, and as soon as they entered, they smelled the unique aroma of hot pot.

“It smells so good!”

Xu Di couldn’t help but praise.

In her previous life, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, she underwent constant chemotherapy, her appetite was lost, and she hadn’t eaten hot pot for a long time.

After transmigrating, her appetite had recovered, but it was the 1970s, who would eat hot pot for no reason, it was too difficult!

“It smells good, right? Authentic Donglaishun mutton hot pot, your brother Liang got the pot base from a friend.”

Aunt Wang looked at Xu Di, she seemed like a child again.

“I’m so lucky, I’m so lucky!”

“I’m so lucky…”

Kangkang, who didn’t understand, repeated it too, and even clapped his hands.

“Haha…”

They all burst into laughter, Xu Di felt a little embarrassed.  It had been so long since she had eaten hot pot, she couldn’t control herself.

The old copper pot was bubbling, the soup was boiling over.

“Come on, Xu Di, help yourself, don’t be shy.”

Aunt Wang gave Xu Di a chopstick of cooked mutton, asking her to eat more.

“Thank you, Aunt Wang, I’ll do it myself, I won’t pretend.”

Xu Di thought, she had already started eating, she had to eat her fill.

When eating hot pot, Xu Di loved to eat frozen tofu.  The frozen tofu soaked in broth, a bite, and the flavor lingered in her mouth.

The meal lasted for almost an hour, everyone was full.

“My tummy is full!”

Kangkang touched his little belly, it was round.

Aunt Wang took out some hawthorn balls, one for each person, to help with digestion.

Xu Di helped clean up the dishes, they chatted for a while, to let their sweat dry, and she was ready to leave.

“Alright, it’s getting late, I won’t keep you, come over often, we get along well.”

Aunt Wang held Xu Di’s hand, she was a little reluctant to let her go.

“Aunt Wang, I’ll come over often, don’t be annoyed by me then.”

Xu Di also liked the Liang family, and she liked Grandma Qian.

“We’d be happy to have you come, wouldn’t you, Kangkang?”

“I like Auntie!”

Xu Di smiled and left, she had to go home.

After returning from the Liang family, Xu Di hurried to tidy up her space.

There were more and more eggs, and the chives had been harvested batch after batch.

Xu Di didn’t care about anything else, she took advantage of the fact that it was New Year’s Eve, and sold all the eggs and chives in her space.

Xu Di thought, buying a job would cost two thousand yuan, she already had over a thousand.

With a goal in mind, Xu Di wasn’t so afraid anymore, after all, she had her space, she would be careful, she shouldn’t be caught.

Because it was New Year’s Eve, Xu Di found that the red armbands weren’t as strict, she even found several black markets, but she didn’t dare to go in.

Since the red armbands had relaxed, Xu Di wasn’t afraid of being tired, she rotated several sets of clothes, and she rotated locations, she wouldn’t sell too much in one place, caution is the best policy.

Xu Di worked until the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month, there were basically no eggs or chives left in her space, she should stop.

She entered her space early to change clothes, took out two bundles of chives and twenty eggs, and went home.

“Mom, I’m back.”

“You’re back, are you done with the temporary work?”

“I’m done, I won’t be needed after the New Year.”

Xu Di carefully placed the cloth bag on the kitchen table, it contained the eggs.

“Mom, I saw someone selling eggs and chives on the way, I bought some, we’ll make dumplings for the New Year.”

Xu’s mother was stunned when she heard about the chives, she opened the bag and saw that it was indeed chives.

“You know, you’re quite bold, if you had been caught by the red armbands, it would have been trouble.”

“I saw them in an alleyway, there was no one around, otherwise, I wouldn’t dare to buy them. These chives are so tender!”

“They are quite tender, you must have spent a lot of money, I’ll give you some later.”

Xu’s mother couldn’t let her daughter spend her money, she had worked so hard to earn money, she should keep it for herself.

“No need, I made some money, I bought some food for the family, you don’t need to give me any money.”

“You worked so hard to earn that little bit of money, Mom wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

The two of them chatted and laughed in the kitchen, thinking about what dishes to make for the New Year.

“Xu Di, you and Xu Jun go back to your grandparents’ house tomorrow, take New Year’s gifts for them, your father, I, and your brother haven’t had a day off before the New Year.”

Xu’s mother had already bought everything, cigarettes, alcohol, candy, tea, everything.

“Okay, I’ll take Xu Jun back with me tomorrow. I miss my grandparents too.”

Xu Di had been busy selling eggs before the New Year, and it had been a while since she had gone back.

After dinner, Xu’s mother gave Xu Di five yuan, the money her daughter had earned from working hard, she should keep it for herself.

“Xu Di, take it, you worked hard and earned this money, keep it to buy yourself a new set of clothes.”

Xu’s eldest sister-in-law also persuaded her, her mother-in-law was fair, ever since she and Xu Li got married, besides the monthly living expenses, they kept the rest of the money for themselves.

This was rare in the entire family courtyard, every family lived together, and the money was all managed by the mother-in-law.

Xu Di took the money, thinking that she would buy some other food later.

The clock on the cabinet chimed, it was 7:30, Xu Di was ready to go back to her room.

She hadn’t counted the money she had made selling things in the past few days, she didn’t know how much she had made in total.

She bolted the door, Xu Di slipped into her space.

She quickly fed the chickens, she didn’t care about anything else, she quickly counted the money.

What others dreamt of, Xu Di had achieved, counting money until her hand cramped.

There was a large pile of banknotes, Xu Di didn’t know how to exchange them for large denominations.

She didn’t dare to go to the bank, she was afraid they would ask where the money came from.

Forget it, it’s fine for now, banknotes are money, it doesn’t matter if she spends them.

Over the past ten days before the New Year, Xu Di had sold a total of eight hundred and forty-eight yuan and six cents.  Adding that to what she had earned before, Xu Di now had two thousand yuan!

She put the money away, came out of her space, and lay down on the bed, her heart felt much more at ease.

Whether she could find a job next year or not, with this money, even if she had to go to the countryside in the end, she wouldn’t be afraid.

She went to sleep, she had to go to her grandpa’s house tomorrow.

In her dream, Xu Di was lying on a pile of banknotes, it was so beautiful!

When she woke up the next day, Xu Di could still feel the smell of money.

“Xu Di, this is your New Year’s red envelope for Grandpa and Grandma, keep it safe.  And these things, you and Xu Jun take them to Grandpa and Grandma.”

Xu’s mother reminded her again before leaving, and hurried away.

Xu Di saw that she still had time, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative first, she bought a hat for Grandpa, a headscarf for Grandma and her second aunt, and a pair of liberation shoes for her second uncle.

For her three younger cousins, she bought a string of firecrackers each, and for her younger cousin, she bought two hair ties.

Xu Di bought the things, packed them up, and went home to meet up with Xu Jun.

They took the small bus to Grandpa’s house, it was bumpy all the way, they finally arrived before lunch.

“Sister, how are you, are you okay?”

Xu Jun looked worried, his sister’s face was pale.

“I’m fine, I just got a little stuffy.”

Xu Di didn’t expect there to be so many people on the bus, it was so crowded, and many people were carrying live chickens and ducks.

It was stuffy and noisy, Xu Di got motion sickness.

She took deep breaths, Xu Di felt better after a while, she carried her things and went to Grandpa and Grandma’s house.

“Xu Di is back, with all these bags, Accountant Xu is so lucky!”

“How could she not be lucky, her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren are so filial, she has a large family, she’s blessed with many descendants!”

…

Xu Di smiled and responded to the aunts and grandmothers in the village, she took her brother and quickly walked into Grandma’s yard.

“Grandpa, Grandma, your eldest granddaughter is back.”

Xu Jun, the little rascal, couldn’t help but call out every time.

Grandma Xu heard the call from inside the house, she didn’t hear clearly what he was saying, she pushed open the door and came out to see.

Oh, her eldest granddaughter was here!