“Su Ze, are Mom and Dad not up yet?!”

At 6:30 in the morning, Zhou Wanwan got up and washed up, only to find that it was her husband who was making breakfast.

She found it rather odd.

Usually, it was either her mother-in-law or father-in-law who prepared breakfast, but today, neither of them was around.

“They went to the black market. Said they wanted to trade for some good stuff and ration coupons to help Da Bao and Xiao Bao build up their strength.”

Su Ze had already been told by his parents last night.

They were planning to go to the black market for the next few days to stock up on supplies and save some coupons.

So he took the initiative to make breakfast.

When Zhou Wanwan heard that her in-laws had gone to the black market, she didn’t think too much of it and hurried to help with breakfast.

Su Ze had made congee, boiled eggs, steamed buns, and a plate of pickled vegetables.

Simple, effortless, nutritious, and filling.

“Wanwan, give me the bankbook later. I’ll withdraw some money at noon and send your parents some money and supplies in a few days.”

Su Ze spoke casually while eating breakfast, discussing this with his wife—it was one of the tasks assigned to him.

“Alright, I’ll give it to you in a bit.”

Zhou Wanwan was touched when she heard that he was going to send money and supplies to her parents and agreed without hesitation.

Neither she nor Su Ze ever had to hand their salaries over to his parents-in-law; all the household expenses were covered by them.

And Su Ze always handed his salary over to her, never questioning how she used it.

This was the first time Su Ze had ever asked for the bankbook, and it was to spend money on her family.

When Qiao Jiuru got home, it was just about time for her eldest son and daughter-in-law to leave for work. Su Ze didn’t even have time to talk to his mother before rushing off.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao were still sleeping. Since toddlers sleep a lot, she peeked in on them, then had breakfast herself.

Just after finishing breakfast and cleaning the dishes, the two little ones woke up. Qiao Jiuru dressed them, washed their faces, and then brought them to the table to eat.

The kids were just over a year old and couldn’t eat on their own yet, so she fed them.

After feeding them, she sat them on small stools to play with toys and rushed into the kitchen to prepare two large bowls of dough—one for the hidden kitchen in her space, and one to keep outside.

Then she began tidying the living room, discreetly storing anything not used daily into her secret space.

Besides the sentiment that “even broken furniture is worth something,” she wasn’t about to let anyone else take advantage.

At noon, when Su Huaiyuan, Su Ze, and Zhou Wanwan returned from work, Qiao Jiuru had not only finished making lunch, but had also already fed Da Bao and Xiao Bao.

The children ate steamed egg with minced meat, half a bowl of rice, and half a bun. The adults had rice, stir-fried pork with potatoes, stir-fried pork with cabbage, and egg drop soup.

“Huazhu and Xiaofeng will be home tonight. I’m thinking of slaughtering the chicken that Brother Zhang brought over this afternoon.”

She didn’t plan to just kill the chicken Zhang Hong brought, but also a couple of their own chickens at home, to stash away in her space while she had the chance.

She had already tested the storage function of her space: everything kept fresh. She had previously stored steamed buns and hot water inside—it hadn’t gone bad or cooled down at all.

So starting today, she would begin preparing bland dishes or semi-finished products to store in her space.

In addition, she planned to go out at noon to buy some pots, tableware, small clay stoves, thermoses, work gloves, and fabric.

“Mom, I don’t have many classes this afternoon. I’ll come back early to help.”

When Zhou Wanwan heard her mother-in-law planned to slaughter chickens, she didn’t think she was being extravagant—only thought about coming back after work to help.

“Alright.”

During the lunch break, Zhou Wanwan took the initiative to put the kids down for a nap, so Su Huaiyuan didn’t have to.

With someone watching the children, Qiao Jiuru and Su Ze went out separately.

Qiao Jiuru took the cloth coupons, sugar coupons, and industrial coupons she had gotten at the black market and went further out from the capital to a department store for a big shopping trip.

She had enough cloth coupons to buy twenty-seven feet of fabric—enough to make two adult outfits. No questions asked—she bought them directly.

She also bought all sorts of little necessities like candy, biscuits, salt, matches, thermoses—items that didn’t require coupons.

If anyone asked, she just said there was a happy occasion at home. The only unusual items she bought were the fabric and thermoses. Everything else was common household needs, and the staff at the department store all had their own inside sources anyway, so no one was jealous.

After leaving the department store, she found a secluded place and stored everything in her space. Then she went to a smaller supply cooperative and bought another round of small items—brown sugar, biscuits, pastries, salt, White Rabbit candy, fruit candies, matches, work gloves, and the like.

Although Su Ze hadn’t gone with his mother, he knew exactly what she was up to.

After going to the bank, he withdrew all the money from the bankbook and then headed to the department store to buy brown sugar, biscuits, White Rabbit candies, fruit candies, and work gloves—anything that didn’t require coupons.

Then he headed straight to the post office.

Before he left, Zhou Wanwan had packed a cloth bag and a few pairs of cotton shoes she had made for her family, knowing he would be sending things.

Qiao Jiuru, upon learning that Su Ze was mailing supplies to Zhou Wanwan’s family, even added various pills that Zhang Hong had procured to include in the package.

In the end, aside from all these supplies, Su Ze also included 300 yuan in cash, two jin of grain coupons, and a few industrial coupons—just in case.