Chapter 159: Chatting about Children

Department stores don’t sell children’s sweaters and pants yet, but the weather will be cold in two months.

Li Xinyue genuinely doesn’t have time to knit these things.

It would be best if she could find someone to help.

She doesn’t know many people, and if Qian Sanni could help her, it would be her best choice.

After listening to this, Qian Sanni thought for a moment and finally agreed.

“Don’t mention a few yuan per piece, I’ll knit them for you for ten yuan a month.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll work hard to knit them.”

Li Xinyue has some understanding of Qian Sanni’s character.

For ten yuan a month, she will definitely knit more than four pairs of children’s pants.

She should take care of her more in the future.

“Okay! That’s settled, a deal is a deal!”

Qian Sanni was happy and immediately got up: “I’ll go back and get my knitting needles, I also have a knitting book.”

What?

So good?

Li Xinyue was also happy: “Okay, bring them, I’ll also look at some patterns.”

The two families are only separated by Sun Weigang’s family, and they both have a common corridor, so even if it rains, their clothes won’t get wet.

Soon, the two women were huddled together looking at the knitting book.

Chen Mingchuan didn’t come back for lunch, he sent Liu Qiang to deliver food.

“He’s not coming back to eat?”

“Sister-in-law, the battalion commander has a meeting at noon, he said he’ll be back for dinner tonight.”

He’s really busy, just back in the unit and already having a meeting at noon.

Li Xinyue gave Liu Qiang a jar of spicy minced meat sauce and asked him to put it in the canteen, whoever likes it can take it.

This shocked Liu Qiang!

Sister-in-law is so generous!

Who wouldn’t like to eat this?

Even the ants on the ground would climb up to grab it, right?

“Thank you, sister-in-law!”

Li Xinyue smiled: “What are you thanking me for? If your battalion commander doesn’t come back to eat in the future, just get two taels of rice.”

What?

So little?

Liu Qiang thought: Is sister-in-law worried about not having enough to eat?

“Sister-in-law, eat as much as you want, we each have more than four taels of rice per meal, we won’t miss your three taels.”

Is that what she meant?

Li Xinyue shook her head repeatedly: “No, no, my ration book has arrived, I have thirty-seven jin a month, it’s not a small amount.”

“Yier has twenty kilograms a month, we can’t finish it all.”

“Just get me four taels of rice per meal, I really can’t eat that much, don’t waste it.”

Okay.

It’s good that sister-in-law isn’t worried about everyone not having enough to eat, the battalion commander has 52 kilograms of grain a month, and he’s often not in the camp.

“Then okay, I’ll get you three taels of rice tomorrow at noon.”

Okay, if she refuses again, this young man will think she’s worried about not having enough to eat.

“You’re working hard, Xiao Liu.”

“Not hard, sister-in-law, I’ll go now.”

Li Xinyue nodded: “Okay, go, come back and get the meat sauce when you finish it, if it’s gone, we’ll go up the mountain!”

Liu Qiang: “…”

Could it be that the wild boars on the mountain are raised by sister-in-law? She can hunt them whenever she wants?

“Hahaha…”

Seeing Liu Qiang’s embarrassed expression, Qian Sanni burst into laughter: “Xinyue, Xiao Liu is scared by you! He must be thinking: Are the wild boars on the mountain raised by his battalion commander’s wife?”

Li Xinyue: “…”

Although I didn’t raise them, they’re like my family’s, as long as I lose some of my vitality…

Let’s not talk about it, people will think I’m a ghost if I say it.

“Would you like to eat together?”

Qian Sanni immediately said: “No, no.”

“Wang Hao will bring back food from my house later, we’re not cooking, we’ll get it from the office kitchen, there’s enough to eat.”

Since she wouldn’t stay, Li Xinyue gave her a small jar of spicy minced meat sauce: “Try this.”

Qian Sanni knew that Li Xinyue’s food was particularly delicious, and immediately took it with a smile.

“Then I won’t be polite, but my family has vegetables, don’t go buy any.”

Li Xinyue readily agreed, “No problem, that’s settled.”

Qian Sanni smiled and left, saying she would come back after her nap.

Li Xinyue was about to take a nap herself when a group of soldiers arrived.

They carried and lifted things to the door.

“Report! Sister-in-law, good! It was Old Wu, the squad leader, who told us to deliver these. My name is Liu Zhengrong!”

Seeing the things in their hands, Li Xinyue understood, “Wu Weiguo’s family is discharged from the hospital?”

“Yes, sister-in-law.”

So soon?

Li Xinyue immediately invited them in.

She directed them to place the sewing machine beside the sofa and the workbench by the window.

Scissors, chalk, needles, thread, measuring tape, and an iron were all neatly packed in a basket.

“Put this here.”

“Okay.”

Once the things were in place, they left.

Li Xinyue found a stool to sit down and began to fiddle with the sewing machine.

After her nap, Qian Sanni came back.

Seeing the cut fabric on the table, she gaped, “Goodness, you’ve already started?”

Li Xinyue nodded, “Yeah, we didn’t bring many clothes when we came. What if it gets cold suddenly, my son won’t have anything to wear.”

Qian Sanni looked at the corduroy fabric on the table, her face full of envy, “You’re so generous, corduroy is not cheap.”

Li Xinyue chuckled, “It’s not cheap, but it’s durable.”

“Children are small and love to crawl on the ground. If the fabric is too poor, it won’t last long.”

That was true, boys were much more mischievous than girls.

Wang Lijuan’s son was much more wasteful of clothes than her daughter.

“Xinyue, you have such nimble fingers, you can sew clothes.”

Li Xinyue smiled, “Rural children have to learn to sew clothes, otherwise they won’t have anything to wear.”

“I can’t compare to you city girls!”

Qian Sanni’s face twitched, “Alright, what’s wrong with me being a city girl? Besides having a city residence permit, what else do I have?”

“Xinyue, people in the countryside can at least work in the fields and earn work points, but city people have no jobs, they will really starve to death!”

That was true.

Finding a job in this era was like climbing to the sky!

Parents could substitute their jobs, but if there were too many children, there wouldn’t be enough jobs for everyone!

“Thankfully, the country has started family planning, otherwise the population would explode! There are too many people now!”

Yes, Qian Sanni agreed.

Her name was Sanni because she had two older sisters, one older brother, and a younger brother and sister.

With six siblings, her parents were not yet retired. To substitute for her brother and sisters’ jobs, they both claimed illness and retired early.

By the time it came to her and her younger siblings, there was no one to substitute for them.

“Yeah, if this one in my belly is a boy, I won’t have any more! A son and a daughter are enough!”

Such advanced thinking?

Li Xinyue laughed, “It’s easy to give birth, but hard to raise.”

“As the old saying goes: A son who is not taught is like a donkey, a daughter who is not taught is like a pig!”

“Donkeys can still pull a mill, pigs can still be eaten. Disobedient children only have the ability to anger their parents to death!”

“It’s better to have one or two and raise them well, cultivate them into capable people, than to have a bunch of them.”

“Sanni, believe me: Our Party, our government, our country, will definitely find a way in the future!”

“As long as our children are capable, they won’t have trouble finding jobs!”

Right, what’s the point of giving birth without raising them?

Are there not many rebellious children in this world?

Qian Sanni felt that Li Xinyue was absolutely right, her eyes suddenly lit up, “Xinyue, really? Will there really be such a day?”