Chapter 11

Oh my goodness, where did Captain Lu get so many tickets from!

Jiang Chunzao stared wide-eyed in surprise at the pile of colorful tickets on the kang.

Having lived two lifetimes, Jiang Chunzao naturally recognized all the different types of tickets on the kang. The one on top was a grain ticket, valid nationwide; below that were sugar tickets and some snack tickets, while on the side were soap tickets, and at the bottom were…

Oh my! It’s cloth tickets and cotton tickets!

Earlier, Jiang Chunzao had been anxious because her family couldn’t gather enough cloth tickets and cotton tickets to make winter clothes, but now, seeing so many of them in front of her, she was overjoyed.

At this moment, Jiang Chunzao no longer cared about being surprised. She hurriedly picked up the scattered tickets and neatly stacked them. Sitting cross-legged, she carefully counted them. After finishing, she was shocked again.

Oh my, did she count wrong? With a stunned face, Jiang Chunzao was afraid she had miscounted, so she counted them several more times. Staring at the thick stack of tickets in her hands, she was stunned for a while before realizing.

This time, she had truly hit it big—she was a wealthy person now!

Not even counting the snack and sugar tickets, just the grain tickets alone added up to two hundred pounds, and the cloth tickets amounted to more than sixty feet! The cotton tickets weren’t a small stack either!

Jiang Chunzao held the thick stack of tickets in her hands, her face beaming with a smile so bright that her mouth couldn’t close.

~

No wonder Jiang Chunzao was so excited. You see, in those days, daily necessities, food, clothing, and other essentials, were mostly exchanged for tickets. For example, to buy food, you needed grain tickets; to make clothes, you needed cloth tickets; even to buy sweets or snacks, you had to use tickets!

Although life in the countryside was somewhat better than in the city, because you could raise chickens, grow vegetables, and supplement the household income…

When the chickens laid eggs, they could be exchanged for food or grain tickets at the market. The vegetables you grew could be eaten or harvested at any time, and it seemed like life in the countryside was better than that in the city.

However, rural people also had their difficulties. For example, most people in the cities had jobs, worked for the government, and received a regular salary every month. The units would sometimes provide additional grain tickets or cloth tickets to help with living expenses. But people in the countryside relied on working the land to earn work points. They earned only a small amount of money throughout the year, and not to mention the grain and cloth tickets, it was already hard enough to feed the family, let alone exchange tickets for them.

Take the Old Lu family as an example. Before the third branch of the family split off, Lu Lin sent most of his monthly salary of over 100 yuan from the army back home to his mother, who managed the finances for the whole family.

Although Lu Lin was a company commander and had a good salary, the Old Lu family was large, and the expenses were high. Plus, Mother Lu was biased, and with Father Lu no longer in charge, most of that 100 yuan ended up being spent on the families of Lu Dashan and Lu Ershan.

Jiang Chunzao and her two children didn’t eat well, let alone have money for new clothes. If Old Lady Lu found out that she wanted to buy something new, she would get scolded for half the day at home!

Luckily, Jiang Chunzao had a good maternal family. She had never suffered any hardship while growing up, and being used to not being mistreated, Jiang Chunzao started causing a scene at home when she saw Mother Lu’s favoritism.

Mother Lu, seeing the bold third daughter-in-law making trouble in front of her, started cursing at home, saying, “This money was earned by my third son! I can spend it however I want, what business is it of a wild woman like you to talk? Just go away!”

Jiang Chunzao, not one to back down, quickly shut Mother Lu up with a few sharp words.

“What do you mean I don’t have a say in the Old Lu family? I’m your legally married daughter-in-law, I’ve borne children for your family, so what’s wrong? In the end, the money my husband earned is ours, but we can’t spend it? There’s no family in the world that bullies people like this! I’ll go find the brigade leader to settle this!”

When Mother Lu heard that the third daughter-in-law was going to report her to the brigade leader, she panicked. Family matters should not be aired in public, especially since this issue was clearly her fault. And the bold woman wasn’t joking when she said she would go to the brigade leader!

In a panic, Mother Lu had no choice but to reluctantly agree to the third branch’s demands.

However, before the Old Lu family split, Jiang Chunzao and her two children had worn clothes full of patches. The two children would walk around the village in their ragged clothes, and the villagers would laugh at them, calling them little beggars.

Before she was reborn, Jiang Chunzao didn’t care much about whether her children had decent clothes. She was too focused on her own grievances to bother with her children’s well-being.

Thankfully, she had been reborn.

Every time she washed the children’s clothes and saw them patched up, she felt heartbroken. She blamed herself as their mother.

If she had only paid more attention to her children back then, cared more for them, they wouldn’t have been mocked as beggars in the village!

Now, she was thinking of finding a chance to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to get some fabric to make her children new clothes. But in order to get fabric, she needed cloth tickets, and although she had Lu Lin’s salary, without cloth tickets, it was useless.

Jiang Chunzao, feeling frustrated, had even considered secretly going to the black market to buy fabric for the children. No matter what, she wanted them to have new clothes!

Now, things were different. She had 60 feet of cloth tickets in her hands. Not only could she make new clothes for the children, but there would be enough for winter clothes for the whole family, including her parents and Grandpa Lu!

Jiang Chunzao was overjoyed. Humming a little tune, she neatly stacked the tickets back into the iron box and quietly hid it away before resuming her packing with a sense of relief.

Jiang Chunzao’s good mood lasted all the way until lunch. That morning, she had asked Lu Lin where the cloth tickets came from, and he had told her that he had traded for them with his comrades in the army and reassured her that she could use them without worry.

Hearing this, Jiang Chunzao felt at ease, and her mood improved even more. In her excitement, she decided to make new clothes for the children, and also to make a new cotton-padded coat for her parents and Father Lu.

The children, thrilled at the news, happily followed Lu Lin outside to play.

It was the height of summer, and the sun was blazing outside.

The brigade leader had instructed the villagers to stop working early, worried that someone might accidentally work too long in the heat and collapse from exhaustion. To avoid people overworking and getting sick, it was better for them to rest.

When the villagers heard the brigade leader’s instructions, they hurried home, eager to get out of the heat and rest.

Father Lu and his family were also heading home. When they reached the alley, they ran into Lu Lin, who was returning with the two children.

Father Lu, who hadn’t seen the children for a while, was a little sentimental. Hearing the children call him “Grandpa” in sweet, innocent voices made his old face break into a smile. The old man was about to give the children something to eat, but after patting his pockets, he found he had nothing on him.

Mother Lu, who was cooking at home, saw this scene and muttered a few words. Her remarks made Father Lu grumble in irritation as he headed back inside.

Lu Lin, knowing his mother’s temperament, didn’t take offense. He smiled and asked his father for his measurements.

Grandpa Lu, puzzled, asked, “Why do you need my measurements?”

Lu Lin explained with a smile: “Dad, Chunzao wants to make you a cotton-padded coat for winter, so I thought I’d ask you for your size.”

What?

The third branch is going to make him a coat?

Father Lu was both surprised and touched. Rubbing his calloused hands together, he repeatedly said: “Chunzao has such a kind heart, that’s enough for me. I’m just an old man; who cares about what I wear? If there’s extra cloth, make sure to make something for Shitou and Moli instead.”

Little Moli, who was only three years old, heard her grandfather’s words and raised her small face, sweetly saying: “Grandpa, Mommy said, the flower fabric for Brother and Moli’s new clothes belongs to Mommy, but the fabric for your coat belongs to Grandpa, so Moli and Brother can’t have it!”

“Brother and Moli want to be as good to Grandpa as Mommy and Daddy are,” Meili sweetly added.

Xiao Shitou nodded vigorously from the side.

Moli’s sweet words brought tears to Father Lu’s eyes. He could only mutter, “Good kids, good kids. Our Moli and Shitou are both good kids.”

Seeing that his children were growing up well, Lu Lin smiled and, following the children’s words, gently persuaded his father. Old Man Lu understood that his son’s family was showing him respect, so, he happily accepted it.

—

After chatting with his father for a while, Lu Lin noticed the sun was about to reach its peak, so he gathered the children and they headed home. When they arrived, Mother and Jiang Chunzao had already finished preparing lunch.

The table was set with plump, white steamed buns, and Jiang Chunzao, smiling, carried the dishes from the kitchen. Upon seeing the father and children, she happily said: “Come on, it’s time to eat! After lunch, let’s get ready and head to the county to take a family portrait.”

A family portrait?

Mother Jiang, who had been carrying a bowl of egg soup, came out of the house just in time to overhear and immediately began speaking up.

“Taking a family portrait is so expensive! Our village party secretary’s family took one recently, and that little photo cost them fifty cents! Fifty cents! Why waste money on that? There are better ways to spend it!”

Jiang Chunzao realized her mother was worried about money again, so she laughed and replied:

“Mom, we can’t save on the fifty cents for the photo. This family portrait will be a keepsake for when the kids grow up. Just imagine, if Shitou and Moli grow up and want to see what they looked like when they were little, what am I going to tell them? How would I explain it to them?”

Lu Lin also agreed, saying it was a good idea to take a family portrait.

Seeing the children’s eager expressions, Mother Jiang softened and smiled: “Alright then, let’s go ahead and take that family portrait!”

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