Chapter 27: Safety First, Preparing for Vegetable Wholesale Sales

Wang Peigen was thinking while cutting cooked vegetables when he suddenly heard his mother calling him. He quickly placed a few slices of the cut beef into his son’s bowl, put the rest in the cupboard, wiped the oil off his hands, and pushed open the door.

Grandma Wang saw her son come in and picked up two boxes of Dolantin from the table, handing them to him: “These are for your mother-in-law.”

Wang Peigen looked surprised: “Dolantin? Where did this come from?” He had been trying to get this medicine for days but hadn’t succeeded. Seeing so much now, he felt both surprised and delighted.

“Don’t ask. Just make sure to use it well for your mother-in-law, to ease her pain and help her hang on a little longer. See if you can get some good wine—we need to thank those who helped us properly.”

Cigarettes can’t be kept too long, but old wine only gets better with age, so they’d give old wine as a gift.

“Baoqing is at the mall, right? Should I write him a letter asking him to get a few bottles? What kind of wine?” Wang Peigen asked.

“Of course, the best. They helped a lot this time—one person recommends another, and so on. We have to thank them properly. Tell Baoqing I’ll visit him in a few days, and don’t try to ask others to bring it back,” Grandma Wang replied.

The Yangcheng Lake Commune where Tianjing Village is located has a daily ferry to Sucheng City, but most farmers don’t take the ferry because it’s expensive. Usually, several people agree to row their own boat to the city.

Grandma Wang thought that after Xiaomei bought more salted fish and salted meat from there in a few days, she’d take the boat to Sucheng City herself.

That way, when people in the village come to trade, they’d know she’s been to Sucheng and that would open some doors for her.

Wang Peigen agreed while sneakily eyeing the things on the table: “Whoa, so much brown sugar! Mom, your camphorwood chest is like a treasure box,” he joked.

Grandma Wang couldn’t help but laugh: “Eat your meal! After you finish, go to your second sister and your mother-in-law’s house. Come back early if you can—don’t stay out late every night.”

“No way, I always get home early,” Wang Peigen said with a smile and winked at his daughter, making Xiaomei smile too.

“Before Qingming, Xiaohua had a fever and vomited. Where were you? Didn’t Hua’e have to come to the Xuegen’s house to drag you back from the mahjong table? I’m telling you, play fewer games—between cigarettes and kerosene lamps, too much damages your eyes and lungs,” Grandma Wang scolded.

Wang Peigen sheepishly replied, “I know,” then left the bedroom.

That time when his son had a high fever at midnight, his wife found out he wasn’t home, went to his mahjong friends’ house, scolded him, and dragged him home by the ear.

His wife was strong and angry, so she pulled hard. Later, the mahjong friends teased him for a long time.

Ah, the husband’s authority is lost.

After Wang Peigen left, Xiaomei quietly said to Grandma Wang, “Grandma, tomorrow I’ll ask about the famous wines there and have Uncle Baoqing buy some.”

“My thoughtful granddaughter,” Grandma Wang said, smiling as she touched Xiaomei’s face. This child was truly lovable.

After tidying up, Xiaomei told Grandma Wang about Aunt Zhou’s suggestion that she should wholesale vegetables to Grandpa Zhou and his people.

Grandma Wang pondered for a moment and asked Xiaomei, “What do you think?”

“Aunt Zhou keeps saying I should study well. There, kids go to kindergarten at three and elementary at six. I’m not even eight yet, so Aunt Zhou probably thinks I’m in second grade. I’m telling them that because of grandma’s illness, our family owes a lot of money, so I came to sell things. But I worry Aunt Zhou will tell the adults to make me go back to school. If she goes to Tianjing Village, I don’t want her to find out,” Xiaomei said.

“So, you mean wholesale the vegetables?” Grandma Wang asked.

“Not all wholesale. I can sell in the afternoons, say I’m doing it after school. They have Saturdays off, so I can go then. I can also go during breaks, like summer and winter vacations. If I don’t sell in the mornings, I can deliver vegetables early and then go to the wholesale market to bring stuff back. Now that we have this trailer, we can carry a lot,” Xiaomei explained.

Grandma Wang agreed: “I think that’s good. Safety is our priority.”

“Alright then, I’ll tell Aunt Zhou tomorrow,” Xiaomei said, holding Grandma Wang’s hand. “Let’s go eat.”

In the living room, father and son were enjoying their meal, especially Xiaohua, with his chubby, oily cheeks looking like a little hamster.

“Someone will come to our house later. If they ask what we’re eating, just say fried eggs, got it?” Grandma Wang instructed while wiping her grandson’s mouth.

Xiaohua was too busy eating to stop and just nodded with a muffled “mm mm.”

Wang Peigen brought the porridge for his mother and daughter. Grandma Wang took a meat bun each for herself and Xiaomei, added some cooked vegetables, and told her son, “Put these three items in the cupboard. Some village women will come later.”

She also told her grandchildren, “Eat quickly.”

Just as they finished swallowing, several village women arrived with Gu Hua’e leading them. Luckily, the Wang family used kerosene lamps, so it was dark, and no one could see the oil on their mouths.

Grandma Wang wiped her mouth and invited everyone to sit down, then told her son and daughter-in-law, “Take the stuff on the table to the kitchen. Hua’e can stand in the kitchen and eat.”

The Wang family knew this meant letting Gu Hua’e eat inside with the good food. The women thought Grandma Wang cared about them enough to let Hua’e eat inside, so everyone was quite satisfied.

Wang Peigen quietly told his wife that he got Dolantin for his mother-in-law, plus pears and bananas. His wife looked grateful as he left.

Xiaomei took Xiaohua to Grandma’s room for an apple. After washing, Gu Hua’e cut the apple into four pieces, and the siblings ate their after-meal fruit.

Two pieces remained: Xiaomei gave one to her mother and one to Grandma.

Watching the siblings quietly eating apples by the stove, Gu Hua’e felt both relieved and worried. Grandma wouldn’t let anyone ask where the supplies came from, which meant the sources were questionable.

If they couldn’t get the supplies, she worried her mother wouldn’t have enough to eat. If they got them, she worried about Grandma and even more about her daughter.

Sigh, meat buns, stewed beef, and salted goose don’t taste good anymore.

In the main room, four women looked at the things Grandma Wang had brought out and were surprised, mouths wide open: “Your good daughter-in-law is so filial.”

The basket was full: brown sugar, biscuits, sausages, salted meat, soy sauce, salt, and apples—enough to make anyone drool.

“This is good for everyone. I also brought some chicken and eggs, fresh vegetables, and the best rice. These days, I kept asking people to get me some chicken and eggs, asking everywhere. Their families are quite well-off and don’t lack money or tickets. Relatives and friends heard I have family in the countryside, so they also asked me to buy and send some over.”

“City folks are like that—when they have some money, they spend it all,” Yujuan’s mother commented. Everyone nodded in agreement.