Chapter 5: I Won’t Dare Anymore

The sharp cries didn’t attract any attention—everyone was busy out in the fields harvesting.

“Shut up! Cry again and I’ll hit you!” Chen Manman casually set Tie Dan down on the ground.

Tie Dan, who had collapsed and was bawling his eyes out, and Tie Zhu, who stood frozen with panic, stared at Chen Manman in terror.
“Wuwu… I’ll stop crying, please don’t hit me!”

“Do you know you were wrong?” Chen Manman looked down at the two troublemakers.

“Yes, we know we were wrong. We won’t dare again!”

“If I ever catch you bullying Dahu and Erhu again, I won’t let you off!” Chen Manman said fiercely.

“Never again! We won’t!”

“Get lost!”

Tie Dan and Tie Zhu turned and bolted.

“Mom~ wuwuwu, the mung bean soup is gone!” Dahu sobbed.

“Wuwuwu…” Dahu and Erhu clung to Chen Manman’s legs, their red faces streaked with tears.

“There, there, don’t cry! Mommy still has a lot of mung bean soup. If it’s not enough, I’ll make more for you.” Chen Manman gently hugged the two little ones and comforted them.

“Wuwu… Mama~”

“Come on, let’s go inside and change clothes.”

The mung bean soup had spilled everywhere, soaking their clothes and shoes. Chen Manman brought Dahu and Ehu inside, cleaned them up, and helped them change into fresh clothes.

“One bowl each for Dahu and Erhu,” Chen Manman said, looking at the two little ones sitting at the table. “Eat up. Later, Mommy will take you to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy candy.”

Slurp~ The two kids held their bowls and gulped it down.
“This is sooo good! Mama, I love you to death!”

Erhu: “Mm~ Erhu loves you too!”

“Mommy loves you both too!” Chen Manman’s heart melted. In her past life, she had little contact with children, but these two identical, soft, adorable kids—she was totally smitten.

Children’s happiness was simple. After finishing their mung bean soup, the two little ones happily ran around.

—-

Back inside, Chen Manman tidied up and found some money in an old wooden cabinet left behind by the original owner—166.3 yuan. With the 10 yuan from Chen Mother today, she now had a total of 176.3 yuan. A decent amount of savings for this time.

Continuing to rummage through the cabinet, she found a pile of ration tickets, including one bicycle ticket. It was originally requested by the owner from her second brother—she had been saving up to buy a bicycle for Lin Shuhe.

At this time, a Phoenix brand bicycle cost 150 yuan and required a ticket.

Just yesterday, the original owner’s second brother had mailed back the allowance and the bicycle ticket. The owner had been excited to tell Lin Shuhe the good news—which led to the events that followed.

From Chen Manman’s point of view, the original owner wasn’t necessarily bad. She had used some tricks to marry Lin Shuhe, but later, she loved him far too humbly. She often neglected Dahu and Erhu, but did everything for Lin Shuhe with her own hands. Whenever a woman got close to Lin Shuhe, she reacted like a furious rooster.

Yet Lin Shuhe always remained cold to her. Since their marriage, he had never been intimate with her.

Chen Manman rolled her eyes: Will a man die if he doesn’t act like a cold block of wood?

A bicycle was a must. It would be convenient for traveling to the county. The kids were still young and needed nutritious food.

Father and Mother Chen were also getting old, still doing physical labor—they needed nourishment too.

Chen Manman slipped into her space (storage dimension), picking out items suitable for this era: five jin (about 2.5kg) of pork belly, a bottle of soy sauce, a handful of White Rabbit milk candies. She didn’t dare take out grains in case the parents got suspicious.

Later, she would visit the village’s supply and marketing cooperative. Theirs was small, mostly selling grains, pork, rapeseed oil, salt, tofu—mostly requiring ration tickets.

People from nearby villages also came to buy supplies. Grains and oils were available, but snacks were limited.

—-

“Dahu, Erhu, Mama’s going to the co-op to buy some meat. Want to come with me?”

Before she even finished speaking, Dahu ran over. “I’m coming! Mama, I’m here~”

Erhu followed behind. “Mama, wait for me~”

“Slow down!” Dahu was lively and careless, while Erhu was more introverted and shy. The two were basically inseparable.

Chen Manman held both their hands as they walked along the village road. It was fairly smooth—two years ago, there was a road-building project that broke rocks and laid stone, otherwise it would still be a dirt path.

Just before reaching the co-op, Dahu let go and dashed ahead.
“Mama! I want candy~ Hurry!”

Chen Manman: “……” Such a rascal!

She looked at Erhu still holding her hand. Though his eyes were full of anticipation, he obediently stayed by her side.

Chen Manman felt gratified. So young, yet already able to resist temptation. Not bad!

At the time, supply and marketing co-ops were state-run. Propaganda slogans were everywhere. Looking at all the products inside, Chen Manman felt emotional—it was all domestically made goods.

“Mama! I want candy!” Dahu ran to a counter and pointed at the candy inside a glass jar.

Chen Manman didn’t answer him right away. She looked toward the co-op clerk—a young woman in a floral dress. Upon seeing customers, she didn’t stand or smile, just lazily remained seated behind the counter.

“How much is the candy?” Chen Manman asked. She’d read in novels how bad service was back in the day—now she was seeing it firsthand.

“Fruit candy’s one cent each, bubble gum’s ten cents each,” the clerk replied without lifting her eyes.

Chen Manman turned to Dahu and Erhu. “One candy each. Mommy will buy more for you tomorrow.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy more, but the fruit candy looked terrible. She had a stockpile of White Rabbit milk candy in her space and would sneak those to the kids later.

“Okay!” Dahu was still happy, even if it was just one piece.

Erhu: “Mhm.”

“Two fruit candies, please.” Chen Manman handed over two cents.

“Do you have malted milk powder?”

“No.”

“What about White Rabbit milk candy?”

The clerk glanced at her. “No.”

“Then what do you have?”

“Whatever’s on the back shelf.”

So cold, Chen Manman thought.

“I’ll take some pork then!”

“Four mao per jin. Needs a ticket.”

“One jin, and two jin of tofu too.” Chen Manman handed over the money and tickets.

She put the meat and tofu in her basket, ready to go home and add to the pantry.

“Mama! The fruit candy is so good! Can we eat more tomorrow?” Dahu shoved the candy into his mouth as soon as he got it.

Erhu, however, didn’t eat his. He looked up at Chen Manman and held out his piece.
“Mama, you eat~”

“Aww, Erhu is such a good boy! But Mama won’t eat it. You two enjoy it. Tomorrow, Mama will go to the county and get you some White Rabbit milk candy—but you can only have one a day!”

“Really?” Dahu’s eyes widened in disbelief. Mama had never bought them White Rabbit before. The last time they had some was when their second uncle came home last year. The milky-white, sweet, rich candy made his mouth water just thinking about it.

Erhu also looked up with wide, sparkly eyes, full of hope.

“Really!”

“Yay! We’re getting White Rabbit candy! That’s amazing! Mama, I love you!”
Dahu ignored the “only one a day” part entirely.

He ran around excitedly. “Mama! You better keep your promise!”

Chen Manman: “……” You little rascal!

Chen Manman: “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll buy it for you tomorrow.”

With her promise secured, Dahu was even more excited. But still…