Chapter 57: Daily Life at the End of the Year

Wen Jiajia was fine, but Sha Yue next to her was blushing.

“Hey! Why are you asking that?” She whispered, covering her cheeks with both hands. Her face, from ears to neck, was red.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s a normal human need. Since you’re here, you might as well take something with you,” Wen Jiajia said with a straightforward attitude. This was her first time back, and unlike the military hospital, where doctors often made jokes after several visits, the doctors here weren’t used to that yet.

Sha Yue never expected Wen Jiajia to be so “bold.” In an age where discussing sex was taboo, she was unaccustomed to handling things related to “sex” so openly, even though she often used vulgar language around Wen Jiajia.

But this embarrassment didn’t last long and was replaced by worries about her pregnancy.

“I need to take my mother home,” she said. “It seems we still need an elderly person to help out at home.”

Wen Jiajia nodded in agreement. At that time, there were no nannies or confinement nannies, so dual-income families really had to rely on family members for help when giving birth.

Wen Jiajia counted on her fingers and said enviously, “We have a holiday on February 8th, right? If you can hold on for another half a month, you could rest for several months. Have you found a replacement?”

Sha Yue took out the candy she had brought from her pocket. Just as she was about to eat it, she remembered the doctor’s advice and put it back. “I’ve found a replacement, Feng Yu’s daughter, from my office.”

Wen Jiajia was a little surprised. It seemed that Sha Yue and her sister-in-law didn’t have jobs.

Noticing Wen Jiajia’s expression, Sha Yue couldn’t help but laugh. “Haha, the work in our office isn’t for just anyone. The person needs to have at least graduated from junior high school and know how to organize information.”

Wen Jiajia smacked her forehead. “I forgot.”

As they talked, the two arrived at the pharmaceutical factory.

Passing by the large bulletin board, the most eye-catching thing was the newspaper featuring Wen Jiajia’s article.

Sha Yue was proud, so she stopped and pulled Wen Jiajia under the bulletin board to admire it for a long time. Then she said, “It’s a pity you don’t live in the city. Believe it or not, if you apply, the factory will definitely allocate a house to you within two years.” Points were also awarded for the two reports.

There are many pharmaceutical factories in the country. Their factory is among the best in the city and province, but it doesn’t compare with the major factories in the northeast and southwest. In the northeast, for example, there are four pharmaceutical factories far ahead in terms of area, number of employees, and overall strength.

However, they don’t have an employee who can appear in the newspaper twice a year, so their pharmaceutical company still receives considerable attention.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful.

If the house were divided now, it would likely be demolished in a few decades. She might receive sky-high demolition fees and potentially earn enough to buy two houses.

In contrast, military housing, even if divided, would still belong to the military. Any future demolition wouldn’t affect the families living there.

But her regret was fleeting. Wen Jiajia was genuinely uninterested in living in the factory.

That evening, before heading home, Wen Jiajia stopped by the state-owned restaurant and asked the chef to help buy a chicken.

She couldn’t bring herself to kill her own chickens, as they had just started laying eggs. It seemed too cruel to kill them for meat.

She knew it would be difficult to buy chickens in the village, especially with the holiday season approaching.

A few days ago, she confirmed her suspicions.

Wei Dai said, “I asked five households, and none of them were willing to sell. Even old hens that rarely lay eggs are kept for their New Year’s Eve dinners.”

If chickens were scarce, ducks were even more so.

However, Wei Dai suggested they could try catching wild ducks. If that didn’t work, they could buy some. So Wen Jiajia wasn’t in a hurry.

The chef, Mr. He, felt that Wen Jiajia was quite generous with her payments, so he agreed to help. He also advised, “You’re buying chickens for the New Year, right? If you buy them now, you’ll need to raise them for a while, which will waste a lot of vegetables and food.”

Wen Jiajia sighed heavily. “There’s no other choice, Master He. It’s hard to buy at the end of the year. Prices will be high then, and the increased cost might even surpass the value of the vegetables and grains we feed them now.”

Master He smiled and agreed. “That’s true.”

After paying, Wen Jiajia prepared to leave. It gets dark quickly in winter, so she needed to head out of the city to avoid the evening rush.

“Hey! Wait, if there’s a goose, would you buy it?” Master He called out.

Wen Jiajia waved her hands. “No, no, I can still manage with chickens, but I really can’t afford to raise geese.”

It wasn’t about the food. It was just that the noise from geese might be heard even in the staff quarters.

“Okay,” Master He said, waving his hand.

Wen Jiajia pedaled her bike as fast as she could. Dusk was falling, and she felt a bit anxious as it was getting dark.

As she left the city, the road was relatively empty.

Wen Jiajia didn’t stop, despite the discomfort from the bike seat. As she neared the halfway point, more people began traveling along the same route.

“Jia Jia, you’re slower than me today.” The speaker was an older woman in the army who worked in a textile factory.

Wen Jiajia smiled and replied, “I was delayed for a while after work.”

The older woman glanced at the front basket of Wen Jiajia’s bicycle and then at the back seat.

Wen Jiajia knew exactly what she was looking for—she was checking to see if there was any food.

Wen Jiajia’s reputation for buying food had spread throughout the family compound.

Some people said she ate meat every week, others claimed she frequently went to restaurants to bring home large meals, and some said she had multiple sets of clothes and shoes, changing them daily. There were also rumors that she often bought candies and biscuits from department stores.

She didn’t quite fit the image of someone known for thriftiness and diligence!

Most of what was said was true, and Wen Jiajia couldn’t deny it.

But who had spread such detailed information?

After a moment’s thought, she realized it must be someone from her daily travels. Only those who traveled with her regularly would know what she bought.

Yet, it was strange. She didn’t always reveal what she purchased, but somehow people seemed to guess correctly. Wen Jiajia couldn’t figure out how they did it.

This time, she hadn’t bought anything, so she held her head high and let them look as they wished.

As she rode in front, a few people followed behind.

When they reached the entrance of the army compound, she turned around with a smile and said jokingly, “I didn’t buy anything today—no meat, no biscuits, nothing at all.”

“…”

Some of the people behind her looked indifferent, some were skeptical, and others smiled awkwardly and asked why she brought it up.

Wen Jiajia had sharp eyesight and, with the help of the bright moon, observed their expressions.

After some thought, she said calmly, “Oh, I’m just joking with you comrades. Does it bother you?”

She wasn’t embarrassed. Her main trait was her straightforwardness. However, the people she spoke to seemed quite embarrassed.

“I don’t mind. There’s nothing to mind,” one person said, sounding a bit guilty.

Wen Jiajia nodded with a slight smile and continued on her way.

She suspected she knew who the gossiping culprit was and decided to avoid them in the future.

When she got home and saw that it was dark, she knew Wei Dai hadn’t returned yet.

He was always busy and idle at the same time, something Wen Jiajia had grown used to. She threw her backpack on the sofa and began cooking.

The two children heard the noise and came out of their room.

As soon as the door opened, the sound of the radio reached Wen Jiajia’s ears. “Still listening to it? How long have you been listening?”

“Auntie,” the two children called out as they ran to the kitchen. Wen Chun replied, “I just heard it.”

Wen Jiajia believed them, as the storytelling channel they liked didn’t start until six o’clock.

Wen Xuan looked up with anticipation. “Aunt, what are we having for dinner tonight?”

What to cook? There was no meat.

Wen Jiajia drained the rice and put it in a pot to steam. She also cut some pumpkin and stir-fried it. The pumpkin she grew this year was sweet and sticky, tasting better than the baby pumpkin she would grow decades later.

She decided to stir-fry a plate of pickled cabbage. As for the soup, she wouldn’t cook it. The winter melon soup these days was so greasy it couldn’t be more so.

However, there was only winter melon soup and mushroom soup—no other options. Not to mention the two children, neither Wen Jiajia nor Wei Dai were particularly thrilled about having it.

The pickled cabbage was stir-fried with chili peppers, making it sour and spicy, with crisp stems and juicy leaves. The tangy and spicy flavors hit the palate first, but after the initial kick, the natural sweetness of the cabbage came through.

It paired exceptionally well with rice.

After finishing one bowl, Wen Jiajia was tempted to have a second, but feeling about 70% full, she put down her chopsticks and decided not to eat more.

The same applied to the two children. Wen Jiajia monitored their food intake carefully—enough to eat but not too much.

The two girls, however, often ate more than necessary because they liked to use the excuse of being full to ask Wen Jiajia for digestive tablets.

It was both irritating and amusing. She felt like taking them to task for it, if only to teach them a lesson.

After dinner, before Wen Jiajia could clean up, Wei Dai came home with slightly damp hair.

Wen Jiajia quickly grabbed a dry towel to dry him off and then rushed to boil ginger soup.

“Did you get wet today? Why are your hair and clothes damp?” Wen Jiajia asked with a frown. “How can you get wet in the middle of winter? Change your clothes first. The thermos has hot water I just boiled. Use both bottles to wash up…”

Before she could finish, Wei Dai came up behind her.

He leaned his head close to her ear, his warm, moist breath tickling her cheek.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t stand it and pushed him away. “Go on, go on, or you’ll catch a cold.”

Wei Dai replied with a grin, “Don’t you want me to take a shower with you?”

Wen Jiajia turned around and kicked his calf. “When have I ever asked you to take a shower with me?”

It was just that she had encountered a moth in the bathroom a while ago—one larger than her palm with big patterned eyes—that had frightened her so much she could no longer bathe alone.

That day, she had screamed so loudly that it startled everyone in Beishan, who thought something terrible had happened, only to discover it was just a moth.

As a result, Wen Jiajia had unwittingly contributed to Beishan’s hot news for several days. The phrase “afraid of moths” had become firmly associated with her.

Wei Dai looked at her with a half-smile, making her blush. She pushed him out of the kitchen in frustration.

“Go on! You’re just showing off. If you keep nagging, don’t expect me to make ginger soup for you,” Wen Jiajia warned, raising her eyebrows. She had originally planned to add brown sugar to the soup but decided against it now.

However, when Wei Dai carried two thermoses to the bathroom, Wen Jiajia eventually added brown sugar to the pot.

She made the ginger soup thick by adding more ginger, and only felt satisfied when it made her eyes water from the strong smell.

After taking a shower, Wei Dai drank the thick ginger soup without any visible reaction to its spiciness. Wen Jiajia observed his face closely but couldn’t detect any signs of discomfort.

She felt disheartened. Apparently, his thick skin had eliminated any micro-expressions of discomfort.

Wei Dai used up both bottles of hot water, so Wen Jiajia had to boil another half pot of water.

Fortunately, the charcoal fire in the stove was still burning. She stirred the firewood in the charcoal pile a few times and closed the stove door. With a “boom,” the firewood ignited and began to burn fiercely.

The strong fire made the water boil quickly.

Wen Jiajia filled up two thermos bottles, then took out the hand warmers, filled them up, and stuffed them into the quilt.

She asked Wei Dai, “Do you need more hot water?”

Wei Dai replied, “I asked Xie Yang to bring back half a bag of winter bamboo shoots. I’ll peel and cook them after dinner.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised. “It’s so cold here with all the snow, and there are still winter bamboo shoots?”

Wei Dai laughed and said, “Of course not. There aren’t as many as in our hometown.”

In her hometown, during the New Year, it was bamboo shoot season, and the mountains were filled with winter bamboo shoots. Sometimes, you could dig up two or three bags in a single morning.

But here, getting half a bag from morning to evening was considered very good, especially compared to the bamboo shoots in her hometown during an off-year.

Wen Jiajia said, “Then I’ll go get it from Xie Yang.” She didn’t want to wash the dishes.

Wei Dai didn’t mind. After finishing his meal, he washed a few bowls, helped her scoop water from the pot into the bathtub, carried it to the bathroom, and then added some firewood to keep the water boiling.