Chapter 9 – After Getting a Wife

The supplies Chen Rou stored in her space weren’t actually few, but the problem was that many of them couldn’t be taken out.

This time, she had been reluctant to exchange her noodles for money to buy cotton, but there was no other way. Without buying cotton, there would be no way to get through this winter.

As for money, Chen Rou didn’t value it too much. Compared to money, she preferred grain. In the apocalypse, food was hard currency.

But it was different in this era. The current hardship was only temporary. The good days would come during peacetime. In peaceful times, many people did business, and doing business required capital.

That was why the money at home needed to be saved.

As for noodles, they were too rare and precious—better saved for occasional consumption. She had only collected two boxes in her space, and there was still quite a bit left.

The key point was that with this round of grain distribution, there was enough food at home to last until next year. So she exchanged a bit of food for money and managed to bring back three catties of processed cotton.

Because the package was large, others were curious on the way back. She didn’t mind telling them that she had spent a lot of money on cotton to make a quilt; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to survive this winter.

She even complained to some of the young ladies and married women that the newly distributed money was already nearly spent.

Others also agreed, lamenting that things in the city were just too expensive.

This time, Chen Rou bought two pieces of fabric—one piece of cotton cloth intended for making two sets of inner cotton clothing for Han Guobin, and the other to be saved for making summer clothes next year. It was enough for two garments—one for each of them.

She also bought a half-catty bag of brown sugar, a small pot, and a large ceramic bowl.

As for salt, she didn’t buy any because she had it in her space. What she was using now was the fine salt from her space.

Since she had to spend money, she didn’t buy much else. Once everything was sorted, Chen Rou started making the quilt.

Adding in the cotton leftover from before, which was less than three catties, it totaled nearly six catties. In this harsh winter, such a quilt wasn’t really warm enough, but at times like these, wasn’t everyone just making do?

Besides, she wasn’t the only one in the bed. With two people sharing the quilt, it would still be quite warm.

Chen Rou mixed the cornmeal into dough and then started sewing the quilt.

At this time, Han Guobin was still busy. He had to turn the soil and plant winter wheat. Only after the winter wheat was fully planted could he take a break.

But resting meant no more work points, so Han Guobin was working very hard, earning full points every day.

When he got home, it was almost six o’clock. Chen Rou had cooked a pot of braised meat and beans, with steamed corn buns placed on a bamboo steamer above it.

The quilt was also just finished. When she saw him come in, she smiled and said, “Come over and take a look at our quilt. It should be warm enough for this winter.”

As soon as Han Guobin looked at it, he could tell it was made with great care. He sincerely said, “Wife, you have such skillful hands.”

Chen Rou smiled and said, “We don’t need the quilt just yet, so I’ll put it away for now. You go get ready for dinner.”

“I’ll take a bath first,” Han Guobin said.

His wife liked cleanliness, so after working, he bathed in the river every day.

“The weather’s getting cold. If you’re going to bathe, just do it at home. I’ll boil some water for you,” Chen Rou said.

“It’s still okay for now,” Han Guobin replied.

He took his clothes and went to bathe. When he returned, water was still dripping from his hair. Chen Rou had already set the dishes on the table and asked, “When will the team slaughter the pig?”

“As soon as the team leader and the others return from the county, they’ll do it,” Han Guobin said.

After handing in the grain, they also had to attend meetings and whatnot. There was a lot going on. Once everything was settled and they came back, it would be time to slaughter the pig and divide the meat.

As the team record keeper, Han Laosan (Han Guolin) had also gone to the city. That was quite an honor.

No wonder Father Han and Mother Han were so biased toward him. After all, Laosan had a junior high school education, and his writing skills were solid. He wasn’t afraid of being looked down on wherever he went.

For people around Han Guobin’s age—especially in their village—having a junior high education was impressive.

Even Han Guobin himself had only studied for a few years before being forced to work.

Since she knew they’d be slaughtering a pig soon, Chen Rou didn’t use much meat this time—only about half a catty. Just enough for today and tomorrow. Then they’d wait for the distributed meat.

Sure enough, within a couple of days, the meat was distributed. This time, after delivering the required amount to the commune, the rest was kept to reward the villagers.

Aside from the pig slaughtered earlier, they could now butcher three pigs. They still needed to save some for Chinese New Year.

The village had over a hundred households. Even though the household count was low, most households had over a dozen members under one registration. Households like Chen Rou and Han Guobin—just a husband and wife—were rare.

Even Han Dage (Han Guowu) and his wife had two sons, making them a family of four, and that was still considered a small household.

There were many large families in the village.

Of course, in those big households, conflicts between brothers were common.

This time, every household received a decent share of meat. Chen Rou and Han Guobin brought a wooden basin to collect theirs.

Zhou Zhen and her husband Ma Dafa were also there, lining up together. Zhou Zhen said, “Keep an eye on the meat from the pig’s hindquarters. I took a look—it’s extra fatty this year. Should be able to render a lot of lard. We’ll need that to last until next year.”

Although meat would be distributed again before the New Year, after that, the workload would decrease, and many households would be reluctant to use the lard. They’d store it in solid form to save for the busy season in spring.

Chen Rou had already planned accordingly and agreed with Zhou Zhen’s idea.

Zhou Zhen said enviously, “You two have it good—now that you’ve split off, you can live your lives how you like.”

Chen Rou whispered, “Isn’t your place pretty cramped too? No plans to move out?”

Zhou Zhen understood what she meant and lowered her voice, “You know how my mother-in-law is—she wishes she could keep us in her palm and mold us however she likes. How could she possibly let us split off? In this regard, your mother-in-law is way better.”

“Yeah right, she just didn’t want us leeching off my third uncle and kicked us out in a hurry,” Chen Rou replied.

Zhou Zhen said, “How did your third uncle manage to land that partner? She works at the township supply and marketing cooperative, has a steady salary every month—such good conditions.”

“Probably because my third uncle is good-looking?” Chen Rou said casually.

Han Laosan, Han Guolin, was indeed good-looking—especially with his refined appearance, always with a pen in his shirt pocket. As the team’s record keeper, he looked clean and presentable. He would borrow the brigade leader’s bicycle when going out, coming and going like the wind.

Plenty of young women from both the village and outside would blush when they saw him.

Of course, it was surprising that a man like him, with a proper job in town, could actually win over a respectable young woman. Word had it that the girl’s family was quite well-off too.

“Han Guolin is indeed good-looking,” Zhou Zhen acknowledged.

Chen Rou, however, was unconvinced. She still thought her own Guobin was the best—especially sturdy. He could lift her with one arm and hold her like that for ten minutes without even breaking a sweat.

No joke—she’d tested it. He spoiled her too. The two of them would often play around like kids inside the house.

Of course, if she got too mischievous off the bed, he’d definitely make her pay for it once they got on it at night.

The more she spent time with her man, the more she realized—he wasn’t as simple and honest as he looked on the outside.

While the two women whispered among themselves, Han Guobin and Ma Dafa were chatting behind them as well, mainly about checking the mountains for wild game now that the winter wheat had been planted.

But Han Guobin refused. He didn’t like going with others. Every winter, he ventured into the mountains alone, bringing dry food and staying for two or three days at a time. When he came out, he’d always bring back a good haul of wild animals.

He didn’t want to share—he wanted it all for himself. Especially now that he had a wife, he needed to earn money and give her a good life.

Before long, it was Chen Rou’s turn. As expected, she asked for a slab of pork fat first—no way was she going to let one household hoard it all. There was a limit based on household registration, but Chen Rou requested the maximum allowed.

Han Guobin had high work points, and she had worked hard during the second half of the year too. So besides a one-jin-seven-liang piece of pork fat, she also requested other cuts of meat.

Before coming, she had asked Han Guobin what he wanted to eat. He said pig ears—cheap and tasty—so she got a piece. There was still some weight allowance left, so she added a piece of pig’s trotter too.

They still had peanuts at home, and braising the pig’s trotter with peanuts would be just perfect.

Altogether, it was quite a bit. After greeting Zhou Zhen, she left with Han Guobin to head home.

“Guobin and his wife are really living a better and better life now,” an older woman commented, watching the cheerful young couple carry their basin home with smiles. She was Han Guobin’s second aunt, a sister-in-law of Han’s mother.

“No kidding. Guobin earns full work points every day, and his wife has wised up now. When she’s not working in the field, she’s managing the household. And when she does work, she earns four or five work points too. I reckon she won’t be lagging behind for long,” another older woman chimed in.

Women generally didn’t have as much physical strength as men. A woman who could earn five work points was already doing extremely well—there was no comparing to men.

Of course, during autumn harvest, the work points increased for everyone—both men and women could earn more than usual.

Han Dajie, Chen Rou’s sister-in-law, also saw this and started grumbling internally. Did that second wife get possessed or something? She’s like a whole new person now.

She used to just be a pretty face without much brains. But now, she seemed quite capable—just look at how she had her husband wrapped around her finger. Word was that even her mother-in-law hadn’t gotten anything out of her recently.

Soon it was her turn. When she saw that her meat share was less than the second wife’s, she immediately got upset. “Why does my family get less than the second family’s? I work too!”

“Guowu doesn’t earn as many work points as Guobin. I did the math—he’s behind by quite a bit,” the person distributing meat replied.

“Well, I definitely earn more than the second wife!” Han Dajie protested.

“You do earn a bit more, but not by much,” the meat distributor said, checking the register. “Earlier, your sister-in-law didn’t earn much work points, but during the autumn harvest, except for three days off, she earned six work points every single day. She’s one of the top female workers in the whole team. The team even gave her a bonus of ten work points as a reward. You’ve been getting four work points, and you took five days off…”

Han Dajie was a bit embarrassed. “Alright, alright, I was just asking.”

Then she took her basin and left.

Later, Zhou Zhen told Chen Rou what had happened, but Chen Rou didn’t pay it much mind.

She knew exactly what kind of person that sister-in-law of hers was.