Chapter 24

The two children had gone to sleep, but Gu Qinghuan’s biological clock wouldn’t let her fall asleep at eight o’clock.

She was thinking about the things that were still lacking at home.

She decided to place an order at the vending machine first, hoping to bring it back from outside tomorrow.

First on the list was thick quilts for the winter. She would need to buy at least four bedsheets: two for this side and two for the Cattle Shed.

The old ones in the east room were no longer warm enough, and they were too thin.

Then there were the winter clothes, shoes, and socks. At least two sets of change for each of the children.

Cotton coats and pants, autumn shirts and pants, wool sweaters and woolen pants, cotton shoes, wool socks, hats, gloves, and even underwear.

Xu Huai’an would also need two sets. He couldn’t possibly stay in bed all the time.

Her relatives at the Cattle Shed also needed two sets each.

As for herself, there was no need to mention it. She had already dismantled her previous clothes, using them to patch her uncle’s clothes.

That was over ten sets of clothes, and just thinking about it made her feel exhausted.

She certainly couldn’t handle all of it alone.

Then there was her younger brother, who lived far away in Beijing. She wasn’t sure if he had thick clothes and socks for the winter, but at least he was the only son of her useless father, so he probably didn’t have to worry about food and clothing, right?

Oh, and the house needed to prepare a few locks: one for the main door, some for the rooms, and one for her food cupboard.

Winter was coming soon, and she had heard of cases in the past where people had starved to death. When people couldn’t get enough food, they would develop evil thoughts. What would happen if thieves came? Who would she complain to? Besides, there was Liu Guifang, a habitual offender.

Having roughly figured out what she needed to buy, Gu Qinghuan opened the Vending Machine to browse.

There were many types of quilts, such as cotton quilts, wool quilts, down quilts, soybean quilts, and silk quilts, all in a dazzling array.

The most common type in this era would definitely be cotton quilts.

She added four ten-pound cotton quilts to the cart, all in the largest size.

She also needed a few floral bed sheets with a distinct vintage style.

Next were the cotton clothes. She had initially planned to make them herself, but the sheer number—over ten sets—immediately discouraged her from trying. Summer clothes were fine, but winter clothes required cotton filling, and that was too troublesome.

With a trial-and-error mindset, Gu Qinghuan typed in: “Old-fashioned cotton clothes.”

She never expected it to actually be there.

A bunch of trendy Northeast-style floral padded jackets popped up. She didn’t know when these became popular, but they definitely seemed to fit the look.

They came in all colors—red, pink, green, purple, and more—small floral prints, and looked quite festive.

Wearing one of these and walking around the village, she’d definitely catch the eyes of everyone. She’d be the standout flower in Xu Family Village.

She added them to the cart without hesitation. However, she didn’t dare to buy the pink or red ones, so in the end, she chose a yellow one with blue flowers and a dark blue one with white floral patterns, both thicker versions.

There was also a dark purple one with small flowers, made of thin cotton. It was perfect for this time of year, especially since she no longer had any clothes at home.

To pair with them, she added two pairs of black old-fashioned cotton pants. That was it.

Luckily, the shop had children’s sizes as well. Gu Qinghuan picked a bright red one and a pink one for Bei Bei. A little girl should wear something more vibrant.

She also added two pairs of black pants for her.

As for Grandpa, Grandma, and her mother, she couldn’t buy such bright colors for them.

Gu Qinghuan tried typing in: “Middle-aged and elderly old-fashioned cotton jackets.”

This time, the results were exactly what she needed: more traditional styles, and there were both men’s and women’s options.

Gu Qinghuan found a store that looked reliable, and she quickly solved the clothing needs for Grandpa, Grandma, her mother, and Xu Huai’an.

Everything was in black and blue, easy to keep clean and not flashy.

She separately searched for padded jackets for Da Bao, buying one black and one blue for him.

The outside clothing was taken care of, now for the inner layers.

She searched for old-fashioned autumn clothes and woolen clothes.

There was everything.

She was grateful for the vending machine from Yama; otherwise, she would still be struggling to make clothes, knitting sweaters. Especially knitting sweaters—one at a time, how long would that take?

It was just so convenient. The sweaters and pants made by the machines from the future were soft, comfortable, and cheap. They were way better than the ones she made herself.

Gu Qinghuan quickly added two sets of autumn shirts and pants, two sets of wool sweaters and pants, and three pairs of wool socks for each person to the cart.

She couldn’t forget the underwear, either. For the men, it was just three pairs of briefs, but for the women, in addition to the briefs, she also needed to prepare bras.

The little camisoles that the original owner used before were unbearable; they had several holes. She had thrown them away and was now wearing her own old underwear.

She only needed to prepare two sets of underwear for Grandma and her mother, choosing a type of bra that wasn’t too flashy, just a simple vest-style one, which was better than the little camisoles and not too advanced for the time.

Finally, there were the shoes, which were easier to handle.

She directly searched for “old-fashioned handmade cotton shoes.”

There were so many choices—styles for men, women, and children, all kinds. They were incredibly cheap, especially with future-era stores where a pair of cotton shoes cost just nineteen yuan and included free shipping.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t mind the cost. She picked two pairs for each person, so they could rotate wearing them.

Thanks to her natural sewing skills, Gu Qinghuan could quickly gauge everyone’s sizes, and she made sure to buy slightly bigger ones. There shouldn’t be any problem with sizes not fitting.

As for the locks, she searched for “old-fashioned padlocks.”

She chose a big lock for the main door and then bought a few smaller locks for the room doors and cupboards.

After clicking on the shopping cart and confirming the order, she saw the total amount: two hundred sixty-five yuan and eighty cents.

It didn’t sound like much, but considering her entire savings was only three thousand yuan, she had already spent quite a bit.

Xu Huai’an’s two years of relief money added up to only three hundred sixty yuan, and now she had already spent more than two hundred sixty. No matter where, money just didn’t last long.

But this was necessary.

With the winter warmth taken care of, she felt a little lighter in her heart.

She started to feel a headache again, thinking about what to send to her uncle’s family tomorrow.

These days, people’s hearts were hard to predict. She didn’t know how much of the stuff she sent would actually make it to her uncle’s hands.

They were sent to a remote area, and any family packages had to be signed for by the village officials before being passed on to them.

If they were fortunate enough to encounter a kind person, things would go smoothly. But if the person was mean-spirited, they might just not get anything at all.

This was why she had disguised the military coat as ragged and torn.

After thinking it over, Gu Qinghuan decided to send some things over first to test the waters. If her uncle and his family managed to receive them, she would send more later.

She could skip sending fine grains; those would be too obvious. She prepared ten pounds of black flour and ten pounds of corn flour.

Then, she ordered a box of five-pound packs of rye small steel bars from the vending machine.

They were essentially whole-wheat meal replacement biscuits, commonly known as adult teething sticks.

They were sugar-free, not very tasty, but they were very filling and could stave off hunger.

The key was that they looked unappetizing, dark, and ugly, which she figured would make the villagers unlikely to keep them.

With food and clothes covered, she still needed to prepare some money for them.

Gu Qinghuan thought for a moment, then took out fifty yuan, sewing it into the lining of the military coat.

If her uncle and aunt received it, they would definitely open and check the items, and they would likely find the money.

She still didn’t feel completely safe about the clothes, so she bought a bottle of prank stink spray and sprayed it generously on both garments. Soon, the entire room was filled with the foul odor.

It was so strong that it made her eyes water. Now, it should be safe.

Gu Qinghuan folded everything up, packed the food and biscuits together, and prepared to send them out tomorrow when she went to the county. 

She could have sent them from the town, but since she was going to the county to pick someone up, she decided to take the items with her.