Chapter 30

Upon entering the yard, they saw various pieces of wood scattered around and some unfinished cabinets. It was clear Xiaohuzi had indeed found a reliable carpenter for them.

Second Uncle asked, “What kind of furniture do you need?”

Last night, Xu Zhao and Jiang Suihan had discussed their requirements: a large bed, a big wardrobe, and a dressing table for their room. Jiang Leyun’s room needed a smaller bed and wardrobe, another room would serve as a study, needing a bookshelf, writing desk, and chair. The kitchen also needed two small cabinets, and the living room lacked a dining table and a few stools. That was about it.

Jiang Suihan added, “Also, we need a couple of small stools for the kitchen so it won’t be too tiring to sit while cooking.”

Second Uncle quickly calculated in his mind: “You have a lot of items, so it will take some time. The total cost will be 125 yuan. If that’s okay, get a note from the brigade leader and bring it to me.”

Currently, private transactions aren’t allowed, so the brigade leader devised a method: the money earned by the carpenter goes to the brigade, and the work is counted as work points.

For all the items, 125 yuan isn’t too expensive, it’s quite reasonable. It would cost much more if bought from a department store.

Jiang Suihan asked, “How long will it take to get the furniture?”

Second Uncle estimated, “About seven or eight days.”

Jiang Suihan discussed with Second Uncle, “We just arrived here, and we’re missing a lot of things. Could you please expedite the process? We’re in a hurry.”

Second Uncle’s face showed some concern. “Even at the fastest, it’ll still take six or seven days. I can’t shorten it any further.”

He planned to focus on this business over the next few days and would call his two sons to help out, which would speed up the process. By the end of the year, when the village distributed dividends, their family would earn a good amount of work points and have a good year.

His two sons had grown up watching him do carpentry and had learned from him. Although their talent was average, they could only handle simple carpentry tasks, but they would be enough to assist him.

Reducing the time by a day or two would be great, Jiang Suihan had no other demands.

The two of them followed Second Uncle’s directions to the brigade leader’s house, collected the handwritten note from the brigade leader, and returned to Second Uncle’s house to confirm the date for picking up the goods.

With today’s main task completed, Jiang Suihan was in good spirits and encountered Xiaohuzi on the way.

Seeing the vegetables growing in the village garden and chickens roaming around, an idea suddenly struck her. She called the child over and gestured for him to come closer. “Do you have any extra vegetables or eggs at home? I’d like to buy some.”

Xiaohuzi’s eyes lit up with excitement. He glanced around warily and whispered, “My grandma is great at growing vegetables, and we’ve saved up a lot of eggs. Sister, I’ll take you to my house right now.”

Despite Xiaohuzi’s young age, he was quite sensible. People used to come to the village to buy things, but rather than buying, it was more like bartering. Everyone understood this unspoken rule and wouldn’t openly discuss it.

Most of the eggs they saved were sold at the market or to the supply and marketing cooperative. Selling to this kind-hearted and pretty sister was a good deal. It saved the trouble of traveling far to the cooperative.

Xiaohuzi dashed home and called his grandmother out. When she learned it was about selling eggs and vegetables, she quickly picked a large basket of vegetables and gathered over twenty eggs.

The elderly woman smiled and said, “The weather is hot, so we can’t keep too many eggs. These are what we’ve collected over the past few days, all laid by our own hens. They’re big and fresh.”

Jiang Suihan thought that since they were there, she might as well buy more. She remembered she needed to invite Political Commissar Zhou for a meal, and it was a good opportunity to practice cooking and improve her skills.

Although she could eat at the cafeteria, which was more convenient but the cafeteria was far from home. It took about half an hour to get there, so eating at home seemed preferable.

Jiang Suihan examined the eggs. None were broken, and the vegetables were freshly picked. The family seemed honest.

“Let’s go by the supply and marketing cooperative’s prices. Grandma, do you have a chicken? I’d like to buy one.”

It wouldn’t be right to have vegetables without meat. Xu Zhao worked hard in the army, and they had a growing child at home who needed proper nutrition.

There was a nearby military unit. Although Xiaohuzi’s grandmother had never been there, she had heard about it and guessed Xu Zhao must have come from the army. Hesitating, she said, “We have an old hen at home. I don’t want money, I’d like to exchange it for something else.”

Hearing that the elderly woman wanted to exchange for some cloth coupons, Jiang Suihan found this reasonable. Xu Zhao had repaid the cloth coupons he owed earlier, and she had brought a few with her, which turned out to be useful.

She gave Xiaohuzi’s grandmother two cloth coupons and, seeing another sugar coupon, asked if she wanted it. Xiaohuzi’s grandmother eagerly agreed.

In just over a month, her granddaughter would be getting married. With cloth coupons, she could make her granddaughter a beautiful new outfit for the wedding. The sugar coupon could also be used to nourish her daughter-in-law, who had just given birth to a son.

Xiaohuzi’s grandmother was very helpful, also exchanging for some eggs, dried black fungus, and mushrooms from other villagers. Jiang Suihan also requested three straw hats and two bamboo baskets.

With the load being quite heavy, the chicken was hung at the front of the cart. To prevent the eggs from breaking, Jiang Suihan carried the basket of eggs in the back.

The ride back was just as bumpy, which was quite uncomfortable for those sitting in the back of the cart.

Upon returning home, she first put the items down, placed the eggs and vegetables in the kitchen, and was left with the old hen, which posed a challenge for Jiang Suihan.

“Do you know how to slaughter a chicken?”

Xu Zhao: “…”

He was taken aback. Should he admit he had never slaughtered a chicken before? However, seeing his wife’s pleading look, he changed his response to, “I’ll do it.”

Slaughtering a chicken was nothing. He had even dealt with snakes before, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

With someone to handle the troublesome task, Jiang Suihan was very satisfied. “No rush, we’ll have the chicken tonight.”

She had already planned to cook mushroom stewed chicken tonight, though she regretted not having chestnuts, which would have made the soup even better.

After a long day out, Jiang Suihan didn’t want to cook. She asked Xu Zhao to get food from the cafeteria while she took some dried black fungus and four eggs to Wu Guihua’s house.

Wu Guihua was preparing to cook at home. Her family didn’t eat at the cafeteria. Although the cafeteria food was relatively cheap, with breakfast costing just a few dimes and decent meals for one or two yuan, feeding her five family members at the cafeteria would cost five or six yuan a day, which added up to over a hundred yuan a month. With their financial situation, they couldn’t afford to eat at the cafeteria regularly and usually ate at home to save money.

Seeing the items Jiang Suihan brought, Wu Guihua wiped her hands on her clothes and showed a look of disapproval. “Why are you bringing things again? It’s too expensive. I can’t keep accepting your things. We’re neighbors, so helping each other out is expected, but you can’t keep giving things every time. If you keep being so polite, no one will feel comfortable lending you things.”

Everyone’s life is tough. Although the Xu family’s conditions were better than most, money didn’t come easily. Jiang Suihan was still a new bride, and her lack of experience showed. Being so generous could lead to criticism from the community, with people gossiping that she couldn’t manage household finances and was squandering Xu Zhao’s money. Some might even privately lament that Captain Xu had married a spendthrift wife.

In the past couple of days, Jiang Suihan had been busy with family matters and hadn’t been around the family compound. However, there were plenty of rumors about her circulating in the compound. Some said that she and Xu Zhao didn’t know each other originally. She had merely latched onto him because of his good conditions. Others said there was no affection between them, and Xu Zhao married her simply to obey his parents. There were even rumors that she might be the daughter of a capitalist family who had fallen on hard times and had to marry Xu Zhao along with her brother.

In any case, various rumors were flying around. Wu Guihua, having heard so many of them, thought these people were simply idle and envious that Xu Zhao had married a beautiful young wife.

Jiang Suihan smiled and said, “It’s just a few eggs and some dried black fungus. Didn’t you bring us boiled peanuts and cabbage yesterday? It’s just adding some vegetables for the kids.”

That was not the same thing at all. Xu Zhao’s family had given a lot of good things, including candies and eggs. What she brought over was just some homegrown produce, which wasn’t worth much.

Seeing that she couldn’t refuse, Wu Guihua reluctantly smiled and said, “Then I’ll shamelessly accept it.”

Jiang Suihan was indeed a generous person. She wasn’t generous because she was rich. She always reciprocated gifts, and it was nice to get along with someone like her who was easy to be around.

Though Wu Guihua’s family wasn’t as well-off as Xu Zhao’s, she wasn’t trying to take advantage of Xu Zhao’s family. She just liked Jiang Suihan’s open and generous nature, unlike some people in the compound who would smile and chat with you but speak ill of you behind your back. Those people were truly unpleasant.

Wu Guihua didn’t want Jiang Suihan to leave empty-handed. She turned to the kitchen, ladled out a bowl of pickled vegetables, and handed her a handful of beans. “These are my homemade pickled vegetables. Take them back and try them. If you like them, come back for more.”

Her pickling skill was learned from her mother-in-law. Before moving with the army, she had lived at home with her three children. Whenever the family wanted pickled vegetables, her mother-in-law would pickle some to enjoy over time. She enjoyed eating them, and her mother-in-law was happy to teach her. Since her family liked pickled vegetables, she would pickle a bit regularly.

Seeing the pickled vegetables, Jiang Suihan thought of dishes like pickled vegetable fish, pickled vegetable stir-fried pork intestines, and pickled vegetable stir-fried beef, which she liked. Unfortunately, they had no fish or pork intestines, and beef was a rare luxury.

Seeing Jiang Suihan happily accept the gift, Wu Guihua was also pleased. As long as she didn’t mind, it was fine.

Jiang Suihan asked, “By the way, Sister-in-law, I heard from Xu Zhao that there’s a market in the nearby brigade. I wanted to ask when it is and how to get there.”

Wu Guihua teased Jiang Suihan, “Why do you call Xu Zhao by his full name?”

They usually referred to their men in general terms, like “my husband” or “the children’s father,” and rarely used full names. Using full names was usually reserved for when they were angry.

Facing Wu Guihua’s teasing look, Jiang Suihan could only pretend to be shy and lower her head.

Wu Guihua said, “Alright, I’m not joking anymore. The market day is the day after tomorrow. I’ll call you then, and we can go together. It’s a bit far, and we usually walk there.”

For someone used to working on the farm, walking this distance wasn’t a problem. In her hometown, traveling to a town was much farther. She was concerned if Jiang Suihan’s frail body could handle it.

Going to Xici Village today took almost an hour by bike. If they walked, Jiang Suihan felt a bit nervous. She wasn’t afraid of walking, but worried about lacking stamina and inconveniencing others.

Jiang Suihan didn’t make a decision immediately. “I’ll think about it at home and give you an answer tomorrow. Well then, Sister-in-law, I’ll head back now.”