Around noon, just past twelve, Su Huaiyuan arrived at the hospital, panting heavily as he carried six lunch boxes wrapped in a cloth bag.

Braised pork, stewed pig trotters, stir-fried cabbage, and three boxes of white rice.

One look at the food and it was obvious it came from a state-owned restaurant—of course, that’s exactly what Qiao Jiuru had instructed him to buy.

They would soon be sent to the countryside.

If they didn’t eat well and strengthen their bodies now, how would they handle the changes ahead?

After all, once it’s in your mouth, it’s yours.

That was something Qiao Jiuru deeply understood.

If she weren’t so tied up right now, she’d definitely buy more and stash it in her personal storage space, ready to eat whenever she wanted.

“Eat first, then we’ll go through the discharge procedures.”

Right now, whatever Qiao Jiuru said was final.

Su Huaiyuan’s job was simply to listen and carry things out—after all, his wife wouldn’t lie to him.

Naturally, the couple first fed their two grandsons.

Once the boys were full, they finally got to eat themselves.

The kids couldn’t eat much—just one box of rice between the two—so the rest was more than enough for the couple.

Just as Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan had started eating, Su Ze, who had just gotten off work, arrived at the hospital to pick them up.

When he saw his parents eating and his sons already fed, he… suddenly felt very hungry.

“We’ve already started eating. You can head back; don’t worry about us. Once we finish the discharge process, we’ll take Dabao and Xiaobao home ourselves. Go buy two meat dishes from the state-owned restaurant and have dinner with Wanwan.”

Qiao Jiuru transferred half a box of braised pork into the half-full box of stewed trotters, freeing up two lunch boxes for her eldest son.

She then handed him some money and ration tickets and gave him instructions.

Su Ze: “……”

His mom had been eating at the state-owned restaurant for two days straight—something felt off.

Not that she was stingy, but she was always careful not to act like a special case.

“Mom, I’ll go handle the discharge paperwork first, then I’ll buy the food.”

Though he was confused, Su Ze never disobeyed his mother.

After all, she wasn’t the unreasonable type.

Besides, she was giving him both money and tickets to buy meat—there was nothing to object to.

With that, Su Ze turned and left to handle the discharge procedures.

The process was quick.

Just as Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan finished their meal, he returned with a large bag of medicine and nutritional supplements.

“Mom, Uncle Zhang prescribed us some medicine and supplements.”

Su Ze had been surprised when he received so much medicine and so many supplements after paying, but he didn’t suspect that Uncle Zhang had been reckless—he trusted him.

Qiao Jiuru was pleasantly surprised by the haul.

She understood that Zhang Hong had picked up on their unspoken message and had done an excellent job.

“Great. Perfect timing. Let’s head home together.”

The kids didn’t have much stuff, so it didn’t take long to pack.

Su Huaiyuan and his son Su Ze each wrapped a baby—Dabao and Xiaobao—in blankets, then carried one child each. Qiao Jiuru carried the lunch boxes, medicine, and supplements.

When the family left the hospital and passed the state-owned restaurant, Qiao Jiuru still made her eldest son go in and buy two meat dishes.

She and Su Huaiyuan carried the children and walked the bicycles slowly home.

When they returned to the teachers’ housing complex, they were met with another wave of well-wishers.

Naturally, it was Qiao Jiuru who stepped forward to deal with them—she said everything that needed to be said, and not a word more.

Zhou Wanwan, who had prepared lunch at home after finishing work, had been waiting at the door. When she saw her in-laws and sons return, she hurried up to greet them.

“Wanwan, we ate at the hospital before coming back. Xiao Ze is getting food from the state restaurant. You two eat by yourselves. Let your father take Dabao and Xiaobao for a nap. Uncle Zhang and Uncle Lu are coming for dinner tonight, so I need to go out and buy ingredients.”

Once the family entered the house, Qiao Jiuru brought the two children into her and Su Huaiyuan’s room, then let Zhou Wanwan go eat lunch.

Su Huaiyuan already knew that Zhang Hong and Lu Baoguo were coming that evening, so without a word, he went to look after the two grandsons for their nap.

After giving her instructions, Qiao Jiuru grabbed two cloth bags and set out again.

Since Su Huaiyuan had to teach in the afternoon, she had to be back before he left so she could take care of the children.

Riding her bicycle in a whirlwind, Qiao Jiuru first headed to the supply and marketing cooperative, which was about half an hour’s ride from Beijing University.

She had a long list of things to buy, which required stopping here and there.

Brown sugar, salt, pastries, White Rabbit candies, biscuits, matches, toothpaste and toothbrushes, sewing needles and thread, soap, cigarettes—whether they needed ration tickets or not, she bought everything.

Although she bought a lot of miscellaneous items, none of them were expensive, and people in Beijing could generally afford them, so she didn’t draw too much attention.

After finishing her shopping at the cooperative, Qiao Jiuru went to the grain store to collect the remaining quota of grain her family hadn’t used this month: 30 jin of fine grain and 50 jin of coarse grain.

Once she had the grain, she headed home.

But as she passed through an empty alley, she quietly reached into the grain bag and secretly stored away half of the grain and half of the supplies she had bought from the cooperative.

These days, everyone knew what everyone else had.

She didn’t want anyone to find out she had bought so much at once.

Since she had a place to hide things, it was best to keep a low profile—it would save her a lot of trouble.