Chapter 69

” If you’re not moving, there’s no need to prepare for now. Go on, why haven’t you moved yet?” Lin’s mother was puzzled.

Why buy houses so urgently if they’re not moving? And why buy three at once?

Lin Guodong thought for a moment and explained to his mother, “Ning Shu and the three children will follow the army in the future, so we won’t move for now. It’ll be empty over there when we move, so it’s better to rent it out. We can earn some rental income. But when we’re not there, you’ll have to go check on the house there every few months. If there are any problems, you can contact us anytime.”

Hearing about following the army, Lin’s mother was initially surprised, then agreed, “Following the army is good. It’s really good. Following the army and being with you, you can also take care of your wife and children a bit. In these years when you’re not around, when the kids see others having a father, they’ll ask about you.”

Lin Guodong felt a pang in his heart as he listened, “Hmm.”

Before, Lin’s mother hoped Ning Shu would follow the army so the children would have their younger brother to take care of them.

With him around, they wouldn’t worry about Ning Shu.

And with him watching over them, the children could eat better and wouldn’t be criticized.

Now that Ning Shu had improved, she still hoped he would follow the army.

Because when a couple lives together, their relationship gets better.

If they’re separated for a long time, their feelings will grow distant, especially since Ning Shu and his wife married because of that situation.

Their feelings were originally just so-so.

“Don’t worry about the house. Just tell me where it is, and I’ll go check it regularly,”

Lin’s mother was happy that her son bought a house in the county town and was willing to go check on it regularly.

She would keep a close eye on her son’s house.

Her joy wasn’t just because her son bought a house in the county town but also because her son had changed from a rural person to an urban one.

This was a change in status, just like when her son became a soldier.

As for the matter of not being registered yet, she overlooked it.

In the eyes of rural people, buying a house in the county town meant becoming a city dweller.

Ning Shu listened to them talk and only spoke after they had finished, “After we follow the army, Mom, you’ll have to collect my residential benefits for me.”

Lin’s mother became even more enthusiastic: “You teach me how to collect them, and I’ll make sure to get everything for you. When the time comes, give me a spare key to an empty room, and I’ll bring everything over for you.”

Ning Shu wasn’t worried that Lin’s mother would keep what she collected for herself.

After all, for the past five years, she had been raising the children without asking for a penny.

But now that she had “woken up,” she wouldn’t let Lin’s mother do free work. “Every month, there’s about 25 kilograms of grain, as well as some meat coupons, egg coupons, oil coupons, etc. When the grain arrives, Mom, just keep it at our house. Those coupons will expire if not used for a month, so Mom can keep them for herself. If Mom doesn’t want them, you can exchange them for other things with people in the neighborhood. They’ll surely appreciate it.”

“But those coupons are for you, Mom. I personally think it’s better for you to keep them for yourself, to add something extra to the house.”

Lin’s mother hadn’t expected Ning Shu to consider this too.

“Well, that’s great. In the future, we can cut a little meat for them every month to supplement their diet. Cutting meat every month was affordable now, whereas before, without meat coupons, it wasn’t possible. By the way, aren’t the children’s household registrations under you? third daughter-in-law, did you transfer your household registration to the county town? Did the household registrations of the three children get transferred too? They should also have residential benefits, right?”

Lin Guodong said, “Ning Shu’s household registration hasn’t been transferred yet. Getting registered in the county town is very troublesome.

Buying a house doesn’t automatically get you registered; you need a work certificate from the county town or approval from the household registration transfer department.

We’ll handle this matter. But even if Ning Shu’s household registration is transferred, their household registrations won’t be.

Even though the children’s household registrations are under their mother’s, with three children in the family, if they transfer their household registrations, they might be assigned to go to the countryside when they grow up.”

Although he should follow the national policy, people have their own concerns.

He didn’t want his children to go to the countryside. Even though going to the countryside was for rural development, they were already living in the countryside and knew the situation there.

“Yes, yes, they shouldn’t transfer, absolutely shouldn’t.” Lin’s mother had forgotten about the possibility of the children going to the countryside.

If the three children had to go to the countryside when they grew up, she would feel heartbroken.

“Not transferring is better. If they transfer, they won’t have their own land anymore. If they don’t transfer, although they won’t have residential benefits, the three children together have six units of self-cultivated land, and we can still grow crops.”

The villagers’ self-cultivated land is based on household registrations, with each household having two units of self-cultivated land.

Technically, since Lin’s third son joined the army and his household registration isn’t here, he shouldn’t have self-cultivated land.

But the brigade said they should take care of military dependents, so he has kept his two units of self-cultivated land until now.

Now that Lin’s third daughter-in-law’s household registration has been transferred, Lin’s third son’s family only has eight units of self-cultivated land.

“Children who transfer their household registrations receive less grain, and residential benefits are distributed based on age and occupation type,” Lin Guodong explained to his mother.

“Oh, I see. I thought everyone got over 20 kilograms of grain,” Lin’s mother finally understood.

Then she asked again, “You mentioned earlier about following the army. Will Lin’s third daughter-in-law and the children leave with Lin’s third son after the New Year?”

Thinking that the children would go with their father after the New Year, she felt quite reluctant.

After all, they were her grandchildren whom she had raised with her own hands, a bit different from the grandchildren at the old house.

No matter what, the grandchildren at the old house, when they were young, she just lent a hand, as there were their eldest and second daughters-in-law to take care of them.

But the three children in Lin’s third son’s family were really raised by her, changing diapers and all.

Naturally, her bond with them was stronger.

Lin Guodong looked at Ning Shu.

Ning Shu said, “No, Guodong will leave first. I’ll wait until the spinach and lettuce are harvested before I leave.”

Lin’s mother said, “That’s fine. I’ll look after the spinach and lettuce for you. When they’re dried, you can take them when you come back, or I can mail them to you.”

“Nah, no need. I’ve got some odds and ends to take care of,” Ning Shu replied.

The main thing was to harvest the spinach from that one-acre plot of land.

After that, there would be eight units of land left, and they could leave once everything was planted.

Speaking of which, the sweet potatoes harvested two months ago were still around and needed to be dealt with.

Even though the yield of sweet potatoes in this era wasn’t high, there were still about 1000 kilograms.

If left alone, they’d go bad. But selling them wasn’t easy for Lin Guodong either. It was her fault for forgetting to deal with them earlier.

If they were left for another two months until Lin Guodong left, they wouldn’t be fresh anymore. “Mom, we still have around a thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes at home, and we can’t take them with us. Do you think anyone in the village would be willing to trade? I could trade sweet potatoes for rice, eggs, or hens. I’m willing to take a loss.”

“Sure, there definitely will be,” Lin’s mother said. “Some families have many children and don’t have enough grain from their work points. They’d be glad to trade fine rice and eggs. After all, they sell their eggs to the cooperative, and although they can get money for them, without grain coupons, they can’t buy grain with that money, and they’ll end up hungry.”

Speaking of this, Lin’s mother suddenly remembered something.

Those families who don’t have enough grain from their work points, aren’t they their family? With the eldest and second son each having four children, what they earn from their work points isn’t enough to feed them.

Lin’s mother felt a bit embarrassed as she asked, “Third daughter-in-law, how do you want to trade? We need to trade too. With the many children in the families of the eldest and second sons, the grain distributed by the village every year isn’t enough.”

Ning Shu thought for a moment. “How much are our sweet potatoes, eggs, and rice here?” She knew the price of chicken because they laid eggs, making it relatively expensive at 1.20 yuan per kilogram.

But in terms of the price without meat coupons, it wasn’t expensive.

Lin’s mother replied, “I’ve seen some families selling eggs to the educated youth for 0.45 to 0.50 yuan per kilogram, rice for 0.18 yuan per kilogram, and the educated youth don’t buy sweet potatoes, but sweet potatoes are sold at 0.05 yuan per kilogram.”

Ning Shu thought she had paid a fair price when buying eggs from Aunt Zhang, but it turns out the price was the same when sold to educated youth.

“So, Mom, if you want to trade, I’ll price my sweet potatoes at 5 cents per kilogram, eggs at 50 cents per kilogram, and rice at 20 cents per kilogram. I’ll exchange 10 kilograms of sweet potatoes for 1 kilogram of eggs and 4 kilograms of sweet potatoes for 1 kilogram of rice.”

The main goal was to make the trades whole numbers.

“Mom, if you want chickens, it’s also possible.” I want to make some preserved chicken. Meat isn’t always available on the app, so preserved chicken can be a substitute.

Lin’s mother replied, “I’ll trade rice and eggs with you, but not chickens. However, with you having 1000 kilograms of sweet potatoes, I can’t trade for that much. I’ll go ask your Guodong’s uncle.”

Speaking of which, Lin’s father also had siblings.

Ning Shu didn’t know how many children Lin Guodong’s grandparents had, but apart from Lin’s father, there was also an uncle and an aunt.

The aunt married outside the village, living three or four villages away, and they only interacted during major events.

The uncle lived in the same village.

There were no conflicts between Lin’s father and his uncle.

Their families had a simple relationship and only gathered for major events.

But Ning Shu focused on her own affairs every day, not really caring about these things, so she didn’t have much connection with Lin’s relatives.

Moreover, Lin Guodong’s grandparents had passed away, and Lin’s father’s family didn’t even have dinner together on New Year’s Eve.

Ning Shu knew even less about Lin’s family relatives.

“Okay, thanks, Mom,” Ning Shu said.

“We’re family, no need for thanks. I’m off,” Lin’s mother hurriedly left. It was rare for her third daughter-in-law to ask her for something, and she was quite happy about it.

That’s how people are—delighted when those they usually hold in high regard ask for their help.

But if someone keeps bothering you all the time, you’ll start to get annoyed.

Once Lin’s mother left, Ning Shu remembered something and asked, “We bought three courtyards. Do you think the main house and the second house will cause any trouble?”

She wasn’t worried about them causing trouble.

They bought the houses openly, so it didn’t matter what others thought.

“I’m not sure,” Lin Guodong replied. “If they want to cause trouble, let them. We’ve already divided the family. But knowing Mom’s personality, she won’t bring it up.

I thought that after we follow the army, we can’t bother Meng Jie to take care of the house in the county town, so I told Mom about it.”

“Got it,” Ning Shu understood.

No matter how good the relationship between Meng Jie and Lin Guodong, he was just a friend.

It wouldn’t be right to bother him with such trivial matters.

Before long, the family of five finished dinner.

Shortly after, Lin’s mother arrived with two women.

They were accompanied by Qian Aifen and several children from the old house, probably coming to watch the excitement.

“Third daughter-in-law, your uncle’s wife, and Aunt Qiaohua are here to trade sweet potatoes,” Lin’s mother said as she put down the baskets carried with Qian Aifen. The baskets contained eggs, rice, and a scale.

Thanks to Lin’s mother’s good memory, Ning Shu had forgotten about the scale. But Lin’s mother brought a large scale, different from the small scale Ning Shu used when weighing chestnuts before.

“Aunt, Aunt Qiaohua,” Ning Shu greeted. She remembered Aunt Qiaohua, who lived next door to the old house.

Then she added, “Having this large scale to weigh sweet potatoes is really convenient.”

“This was borrowed from the brigade. We don’t have such a large scale at home,” Lin’s mother said.

Lin’s uncle’s wife asked, “Guodong’s wife, your mother said your family needs to trade hundreds of kilograms of sweet potatoes. Is that true? If so, I’d like to trade more.” Their family had more children than the old Lin family because she had given birth to more.

Last year, the brigade distributed coarse grains and rice.

With the addition of some coarse grains from last year’s self-cultivated land harvest, they had almost finished the coarse grains and were reluctant to eat the remaining rice.

When the grain was distributed last year, she also wanted more coarse grains, but the quantity was limited, and it was distributed proportionally by the brigade, not according to her wishes.

When she heard that Lin Guodong’s wife wanted to trade sweet potatoes, she immediately prepared rice and eggs to exchange.

“Guodong’s wife, our family also wants to exchange some,” Aunt Qiaohua said. There’s still some left to eat this year, and there’s next year as well.

Exchanging more sweet potatoes means the family can have fuller meals when they eat.

Every year, they have to hand over their grain, leaving them with less to distribute among themselves.

So sometimes, it’s not that they don’t want to exchange more with their work points, but there’s only so much available, and they can’t get more even if they want to.

Even if they can’t finish the sweet potatoes they exchange, they can dry them into sweet potato chips for the children to snack on later.

Of course, each family has their own self-cultivated land, but it’s not just sweet potatoes they plant; they also grow vegetables.

Unlike Ning Shu’s family, they can’t spare half an acre of land for vegetables.

The foundation of their land was bought with money. Who would be willing to buy land just to grow vegetables? Plus, not every household can afford to buy land.

So even if their self-cultivated land has just yielded food, they are still willing to exchange some sweet potatoes with Ning Shu, keeping them as reserves at home.

“My aunt, my uncle’s wife, what my mother said is true. We’ll keep some sweet potatoes for ourselves, but the rest will be exchanged,” Ning Shu said.

With Ning Shu’s agreement, everyone started exchanging sweet potatoes.

First was Lin’s uncle’s wife.

She brought a basket of eggs, probably pre-estimated at exactly five kilograms, exchanging them for 50 kilograms of sweet potatoes from Ning Shu’s family.

Then, she brought ten kilograms of rice, exchanging it for 40 kilograms of sweet potatoes, for a total of 90 kilograms.

Next was Aunt Qiaohua’s family.

They only had three kilograms of eggs, exchanging them for 30 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

But they had more rice, bringing thirty kilograms, and exchanged it for 120 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

Two households exchanged a total of 210 kilograms of sweet potatoes. Lastly, it was the turn of the old house to exchange.

Lin’s mother also used eggs and rice for the exchange, obtaining 150 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

In total, they exchanged 360 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

Ning Shu was pleased; whatever remained could be dried into sweet potato chips.

However, after a while, two more households came knocking on the door. One household was relatively poor, with only two siblings living there, both orphaned.

The siblings couldn’t earn much work points, relying solely on their self-cultivated land for grain.

However, being young, they weren’t skilled farmers, so their harvest wasn’t as abundant as others’.

When they heard they could exchange grain at Ning Shu’s place, they brought their eggs.

They brought quite a few eggs, about three kilograms, enough to exchange for 30 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

Ning Shu was concerned they wouldn’t be able to carry them, so she asked Lin Guodong to help.

The other household was also poor, with only elderly and children. They had no laborers and couldn’t earn work points for grain.

They also brought eggs for exchange, similarly exchanging three kilograms of eggs for 30 kilograms of sweet potato.

With these exchanges, 420 kilograms of sweet potatoes were exchanged, leaving only half remaining at home.

“So many eggs, they might go bad easily,” Ning Shu commented as she counted the eggs.

Lin Guodong returned with the sweet potatoes.

“We can make salted eggs,” Ning Shu suggested. Salted eggs can last long, and she hadn’t had salted duck eggs in a while.

Especially when eating porridge, having a salted duck egg makes you feel quite content.

Of course, she didn’t have duck eggs, so she would have to use chicken eggs instead.

Ning Shu knew how to make salted duck eggs, mainly because her grandmother knew how, and she used to help her grandmother with everything when she was a child.

Over time, she learned many skills from her grandmother, such as pickling radishes, pickling winter melon, making sesame sweet potato chips, and making salted duck eggs.

“They taste very good?” Lin Guodong, seeing her enthusiastic expression, thought they must be delicious.

“They taste delicious indeed. When pickled well, the egg yolks become rich and oily. When you go to the army later, you can bring some with you,” Ning Shu said. “Have you never tried them?”

“Rich and oily?” This description made Lin Guodong even more eager. “I’ve never tried them.”