Chapter 28: The Navy Mom Smiled Proudly:

A few people were chatting when Navy Mom came in carrying two chickens and a basket of eggs.

Seeing people there, she quickly changed her tone and said while putting down the items, “Auntie, this is from my second aunt. She asked me to bring these over — she said it’s for the educated youth (zhiqing) that you help buy for. She’s at the commune hospital with my little aunt giving birth and worried she’d delay your delivery to the youth, so she had me bring it over tonight.”

Grandma Wang understood immediately and went along with her explanation.

Everyone else was sharp and knew these were the chickens raised by Navy Dad under the “beauty’s legs” (a euphemism for a favored woman), but nobody said anything — they all just saw through it silently.

Grandma Wang first traded with Navy Mom for the chickens and eggs, paying her in full.

Navy Mom told Grandma Wang, “Auntie, my second aunt also wants some biscuits and brown sugar — one jin (half a kilogram) of each.”

“Oh, that’s more than yours!” Grandma Wang joked.

“She’s a real sister, no need to be as formal as me, a poor sister-in-law,” Navy Mom replied, then asked everyone present, “My little sister-in-law in the Navy is having her third child. Is half a jin of brown sugar, half a jin of biscuits, plus ten eggs enough to bring as a gift from me, the sister-in-law?”

The others, who were already friendly with her, realized from her words that Grandma Wang had good stuff. Hearing her question, they all praised her as a thoughtful sister-in-law.

Grandma Wang had been joking, but hearing the compliments, she just smiled and went inside to get two bags each of brown sugar and biscuits.

The items were all half-jin packages, only repackaged in small thick resealable bags that Xiaomei had bought — the kind without any markings.

Everyone saw the two thick bags of brown sugar (totaling one jin) and the many biscuits in one jin, and their buying interest was sparked.

Navy Mom paid and didn’t leave immediately, chatting with a few others.

Grandma Wang took out a sausage and a small piece of salted meat. “Navy Mom, do you want these? Not much, I can’t bear to eat it myself. If you want, I’ll share some.”

Navy Mom was tempted — the salted meat she’d made before the New Year had long been eaten, and her belly was craving some fat. Besides, having earned some money selling chickens, eggs, vegetables, and softshell turtles these past few days, she thought about stewing some salted meat for the kids.

“How much for the sausage and salted meat?” Navy Mom asked, with the others listening closely.

“I don’t know the original price. But since we’re all from the same village and kin, and I don’t rely on this for a living, I’ll give you some. One price — one yuan fifty per jin, whether sausage or salted meat,” Grandma Wang said.

Navy Mom sneered, “Auntie, you’re joking. Pork in town is only seventy-five cents per jin. You doubled the price.”

“Can you buy pork in town without a meat ration ticket? If you can, tell me how much you want, and I’ll get you that much,” Grandma Wang said with a smile, not angry but straightforward, “To cure one jin of salted meat, you need seven or eight liang (350-400 grams) of raw meat, right? Salt isn’t free, curing and drying take effort, and I haven’t counted the boat fare yet, nor the meat ration ticket. By all that, one yuan fifty per jin is already very cheap.”

After some calculations, the others agreed it made sense.

Navy Mom smiled and said, “Auntie, me trying to bargain means I really want to buy it. But you also have to drop the price a bit. Some of these ladies are buying gifts for maternity patients, some for the sick, some for other uses. If you lower the price, everyone will buy.”

She looked around and winked, implying, “You all speak up, let’s bargain together!”

The women immediately started talking all at once.

Grandma Wang pretended to have a headache and held her forehead. “Can you all keep it down? My head hurts.”

Then she asked Navy Mom, “So what price do you want?”

“I’m not greedy for your favor, let’s settle at one yuan per jin,” Navy Mom bargained hard.

Grandma Wang: “One yuan forty.”

Navy Mom: “One yuan ten.”

Grandma Wang: “One yuan thirty.”

Navy Mom: “One yuan twenty.”

Grandma Wang: “One yuan thirty.”

Navy Mom: “Okay, one thirty it is.”

Dropping twenty cents was great — worth four eggs.

With Grandma Wang agreeing, Navy Mom smiled proudly.

Grandma Wang’s psychological price was one yuan, so one thirty per jin was very satisfying.

The deal proceeded.

Navy Mom bought two Cantonese-style sausages and half a jin of salted meat.

Others also bought salted meat. The Cantonese sausages originally weighed one jin, but only three sausages were left at home; Grandma Wang wanted to keep some, so she said she had no more and to come back in a few days if needed.

No one wanted the spicy sausages — people from Su City prefer light flavors; Su cuisine mostly has sweetness. Rural folks already eat salty meat; eating spicy? Ten out of ten would shake their heads no.

Some bought brown sugar, some half a bottle of soy sauce, biscuits were down to half a jin, saved for Fu Ming’s mom who was visiting the maternity patient.

Yujuan’s mom asked if there were any rolled noodles; her old father craved them.

The women then chatted noisily, asking if this or that was available. Grandma Wang and Xiaomei listened carefully and promised to bring some back from visits to Su City relatives.

Peach Blossom Mom, thoughtful as always, asked Grandma Wang if she wanted more chickens or eggs. Grandma Wang replied she wanted to buy more for her goddaughters and other educated youth; families and relatives all liked these chickens and eggs, so if there were more, she’d bring some over like Navy Mom.

After sending the five chattering women off, the house grew quiet.

Grandma Wang checked her pocket money — just under seven yuan.

The grandmother and grandson were both satisfied.

Just then, Second Uncle came in — actually he had arrived a while ago but had returned home upon hearing voices. This was his second visit.

He was carrying two chickens and said to Grandma Wang, “I bought these from my uncle’s place.”

His uncle lived in a neighboring village, not too far.

Grandma Wang didn’t ask the price, just took out five yuan and sixty cents from the money she just received and gave it to him. “Bring one or two every few days. Also get eggs.”

Second Uncle nodded. “Got it, Mom. Why did you call Peigen to get me here?”

Grandma Wang told Xiaomei, “Xiaomei, go get six steamed buns for Uncle.”

Then she took the chickens to the storage room, put them in the chicken cage, washed her hands, and sat face-to-face with her son-in-law.

“I want to ask you to take some time off work these days and go to Yangcheng Lake to cut some reeds.”

“Okay, how much do you want?” Uncle asked.

Her brother-in-law never did farm work, so wherever men’s labor was needed, it was usually this second son-in-law, Tian Shuiguan, who helped out.

Tian Shuiguan was an orphan, and Grandma Wang’s family treated him well; he reciprocated sincerely.

“A lot. Both front and back yards need to be fenced, and the front yard needs a space for the chickens to roam. Borrow a boat from the team and row it to cut reeds. Start with two boats’ worth. Take Peigen with you to help. After bringing it back, dry it; I’ll weave it. If that’s not enough, I’ll tell you.”

“Three boats then. Two might not be enough; extra can be used as firewood. Don’t take little brother, his mother-in-law isn’t well and is already busy. I’ll find help here.”

Grandma Wang thought for a moment and nodded, “Okay, handle it as you see fit.”

Later, they’d send some things as thanks.