Chapter 10

Carrying a basket on her back, Jiang Tian went to Aunt Zhang’s house. She knew she could ride into town on Old Li’s donkey cart, but that cart only went once a week.

It had just gone two days ago, so today was out of the question.

“Jiang girl, why are you heading to town today?” Aunt Zhang asked.

Jiang Tian smiled. “Auntie, winter’s coming. I thought I’d buy some cloth to make new clothes for the family.”

Aunt Zhang’s eldest daughter-in-law came out and, spotting Jiang Tian at the door, stepped over to join the gossip.

“Jiang Tian, is it true your husband doesn’t have long to live?”

The words had barely left her mouth before Aunt Zhang snapped, “Li Chunhua, that mouth of yours is going to land you in trouble one day. Get back home and do your work!”

Li Chunhua pouted and muttered under her breath, “I was only asking.”

After driving her off, Aunt Zhang apologized. “That daughter-in-law my Dageng married—no brain in her head and too blunt with her tongue. Don’t take it to heart.”

Jiang Tian shook her head. “It’s fine, Auntie. I should get going, the day’s not early anymore.”

“Alright.”

•  

Jiang Tian didn’t know how long she’d walked before she reached the town. She strolled around once.

The place wasn’t large, but it had all the essentials for daily life.

She had only twenty yuan, a few meat tickets, and a few cloth coupons in her pocket. Most of them were left behind by her father.

But she didn’t intend to spend them.

Finding a quiet alley, she slipped into her space and disguised herself as a middle-aged woman before wandering around the factory housing districts.

There weren’t many people out. She was just about to move on with her basket when a woman hurried up, lowering her voice. “Big sister, do you have any grain?”

Jiang Tian guessed she wanted to buy food. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

They moved into a deserted corner. Jiang Tian spoke first. “Rice, flour, eggs, pork—I have them.”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “How much?”

“Rice is fifty cents a jin, flour is eighty cents, eggs are eight cents each, pork one yuan a jin—no coupons needed.”

She didn’t dare raise the price too much, not knowing the exact going rate on the black market. She figured charging a little more than the supply co-op was safe. Since her stock cost her nothing, it was all profit anyway.

Judging by how quickly the woman nodded, her prices must’ve been lower than the black market’s.

“How much do you have, big sister?”

“How much do you want?” Jiang Tian kept her tone even.

“Twenty jin of rice, twenty of flour, thirty eggs, five jin of pork.”

“That’s a bit much. I’ll need to fetch it. Can you wait here?”

“Sure. I’ll get the money and wait.”

“Alright.”

Ten minutes later, they traded—cash for goods.

Jiang Tian counted the money. She had just made thirty-three yuan and forty cents. Enough to last her for a while.

She switched back into her usual clothes and went to the supply co-op to look at cloth. She only had five feet of coupons, and after hesitating, she used them all.

At the counter, she quietly asked the sales clerk if there was any cloth that didn’t require coupons—even flawed pieces.

The clerk eyed her warily. “Why are you buying so much cloth?”

Lowering her voice, Jiang Tian replied, “I just got married yesterday. My family needs new padded jackets, but five feet of cloth isn’t nearly enough, you know how it is.”

The clerk studied her. She didn’t look like a village girl—probably a sent-down youth. Believing her, the clerk softened.

“We do have a few bolts with flaws. Come look.”

One glance at the imperfections was enough—Jiang Tian took three bolts without hesitation. The clerk was delighted, telling her to come again if she needed more.

After buying the cloth, she picked up half a jin of fruit candies, half a jin of White Rabbit milk candies, then went to the state restaurant. She bought six meat buns and a portion of braised pork.

All packed up, she started back home. Meat, flour, and other bulky items could just be pulled from her space before she reached the yard.

On the road, she checked her watch—almost noon. She needed to hurry.

Luckily, since it was mealtime, the streets were empty.

“Little Ears!”

Practicing archery in the courtyard, Jiang Er rushed to open the gate at the sound of her voice.

Jiang Tian set down her basket. Jiang Er happily began unloading the goods—until he realized how much there was. His expression grew pained.

“Sis, did you spend all our money?”

Jiang Tian blinked innocently. “Only about half.”

Jiang Er drew a deep breath, forcing a smile that looked close to tears.

“Sis, even if we have money, you can’t just spend it like this.”

Ruffling his hair, she reassured him. “Relax, your sis knows what she’s doing.”

She handed him two food boxes. “Go heat these up.”

Hearing the commotion, Xie Chen came out of the east room. Seeing the food, he said nothing—just offered, “I’ll warm them. Let Little Ears help you unpack.”

“That works.”

When he opened the boxes and Jiang Er saw the meat and buns inside, half his worries disappeared.

The moment he spotted the half-jin of fruit candies and half-jin of White Rabbit toffees in her hand, all his worries vanished completely.

Yes, his sister wasn’t silly anymore. He could just be a happy kid for a while.

“Don’t we have a sewing machine at home?”

Mouth full of candy, Jiang Er mumbled, “It’s in my room. Do you need it, sis?”

Jiang Tian pointed to the pile of fabric at the bottom of the basket. “I bought a lot of cloth. This year, the whole family will have new clothes for New Year’s.”

“I’ll get the sewing machine out then.”

“Out from where?”

Scratching his head, he admitted, “I kind of used it to pile stuff on.”

Jiang Tian: How badly I want to spank this brat right now!

•  

Once everything was put away, she divided the candies into two.

“Little Ears, this half is yours. Keep it in your room, eat it however you want. I trust you’ll ration it well.”

He nodded seriously.

The rest she planned to give to Xie Chen. But feeding him by hand? Definitely not.

She had bought six buns—two for each. One was enough for her, so the extra went straight into Xie Chen’s bowl.

“Is this enough? If not, I’ll cook something more.”

“It’s enough, plenty,” Xie Chen assured her.

By the time Jiang Tian was halfway through her bun, the other two had already polished off theirs like a storm.

They even saved her four pieces of the braised pork.

“I don’t like fatty meat,” she said, pushing the pieces toward them. “You two eat it.”

After the meal, Jiang Er went to clear out his room for the sewing machine. Jiang Tian, as usual, took Xie Chen’s pulse. “Much better. I’d say in about half a year you’ll be nearly recovered.”

“Mm.”

She brought up reporting to the authorities. “What are your thoughts?”

“No leads yet. It was twenty years ago. Leave it for now. Once I recover, I’ll investigate.”

By now, he no longer doubted his wife’s ability to heal him. With good food every day and that special water, he could clearly feel his health improving.

Jiang Tian agreed. From her “God’s perspective,” she knew Ma Yueying was the one who poisoned him, but after more than twenty years there was no evidence left.

Back then, Xie Chen had only just been born when Ma Yueying was married into the family by Xie Tianming. With no witnesses, there was no way to pursue it.