Chapter 25

Er Bao swallowed the milk, then opened his mouth to show Ning Shu and Yi Bao: “Didn’t burn myself, it’s sweet and delicious.” It was so delicious that he almost swallowed his tongue.

“Are you sure you didn’t burn yourself?” Ning Shu held his upper and lower lips with both hands, carefully examining his mouth and tongue.

There was no redness indicating a burn, just a slight pink. Only then did she feel relieved. “Be patient when eating in the future.”

Actually, it wasn’t entirely Er Bao’s fault. When she drank milk tea before, she would also drink it directly once she got it, unable to tell how hot it was through the cup.

She would get burned when it reached her mouth and subconsciously swallow it all.

“I know, Mom. This thing called milk is so delicious. If I drink something so delicious, I will definitely grow tall.” Er Bao, having already drunk it, quickly stood up straight next to his brother.

“Mom, have I grown taller?” He stood as straight as a board, afraid of looking short if he didn’t stand straight.

But his words made Yi Bao, who had been worried about him being burned, anxious for a different reason.

He wasn’t anxious for Er Bao. “Hold on a minute.”

Yi Bao also picked up his bowl, blew on it to prevent himself from being burned like Er Bao, and then took a sip.

Compared to Er Bao’s quick sip just now, the milk had cooled a bit, so it wasn’t hot.

Yi Bao took a sip, and the sweet taste made him want to take another sip, but even though he was young, he had great self-control.

He stood back up next to his brother. “Mom, have I grown taller?”

Yi Bao was also very clever. If Mom said that drinking this milk would make you grow taller, and Er Bao drank it and then compared heights with him, that wouldn’t do. He wanted to take a sip too.

Ning Shu: “…”

“Mom, drink… drink…” Seeing both brothers had drunk without feeding him, San Bao, who was used to being fed by his brothers, was a little impatient.

He reached out his little hand to grab the bowl on the table.

“Okay, okay, San Bao will drink too.” Ning Shu grabbed his hand, held him in her arms, and sat him down.

She said to the two boys, “It’s not that quick. You’ll grow taller when you’re six years old.”

It was the end of September now, and there were still two months until 1971. Regardless of whether milk had an effect, the two boys would definitely grow taller, and the milk would last for two months.

But during these two months, there would definitely be more milk on the app.

“Six years old, six years old, I want to grow tall.” Er Bao sat on the stool and drank from his bowl again.

Compared to the gulp he had just taken because it was too hot, he now took small sips. “So delicious, I’ve never had anything so delicious.”

Seeing that there were only two bowls on the table, and none for Mom, Yi Bao thought for a moment, then went to get a small bowl, poured out most of his own bowl into it, and said, “Mom, you drink.”

Ning Shu was touched by Yi Bao’s thoughtfulness and pushed the bowl towards him. “I don’t like this, you guys drink.”

Er Bao, seeing this, also wanted to get a bowl, but when he heard Mom say she didn’t like it, he didn’t go.

Children don’t doubt adults’ words, especially when it’s their own mother.

San Bao, on the other hand, was the happiest drinker, gulping down the milk faster than eating porridge.

“Mom, what’s this?” Er Bao saw the small white pieces on the plate and picked one up with his chopsticks, shining even brighter in his mouth than before. “Mom, this is delicious too, so delicious, what is this?”

Yi Bao, hearing his brother say it was delicious, also went to pick some up. But he kept his ears wide open, listening to Mom’s words.

“This is tofu in chili sauce. It’s salty if you eat too much. You can only have a small bite with each chopstick, okay?” Ning Shu advised.

Tofu in chili sauce with porridge was a perfect match in her eyes, delicious.

“We know, Mom.” The two boys obediently replied.

“Mom, eat…” San Bao saw Mom didn’t feed him milk, so he pulled at her hand.

“Coming, coming…” Ning Shu quickly fed San Bao the milk.

After San Bao finished his bowl of milk, Ning Shu fed him some porridge. But he didn’t eat much before he was full.

Yi Bao and Er Bao had now found the soul of rice porridge with tofu in chili sauce. They had finished their milk and were now drinking the porridge.

After breakfast, Ning Shu took out an apple and a pear from the sack and handed them to Yi Bao. “Yi Bao, I’m going to the supply and marketing cooperative. If you and your brothers get hungry, eat the fruit. And don’t play with water and fire, understand? If you play with water and fire, I won’t give you any more delicious food.”

“We understand, Mom.” YI Bao took the fruit obediently and watched Mom leave the yard with his two brothers.

Ning Shu had a shoulder bag and a basket on her back. Although the basket was a bit ugly, Ning Shu liked it because it was very useful, especially when carrying things, it was really convenient and could be used as a disguise.

Early in the morning, Ning Shu woke up early. There weren’t many people on the road at this time, as most were still having breakfast.

Ning Shu didn’t encounter anyone along the way, and even if she passed by someone’s door, they were too busy with their morning routine to chat.

It wasn’t far from Qinglin Bay Production Brigade to the town, only about 40 minutes.

Normally, the original owner liked to go to the county town because the variety at the town’s supply and marketing cooperative was limited.

Ning Shu had recounted the vouchers last night before taking a bath and going to bed, and there were still 5 catties of sugar vouchers left.

She really didn’t expect the original owner to be so good at saving vouchers. Apart from the meat and grain vouchers sent by Lin Guodong this month, she had saved all the others.

The meat and grain vouchers couldn’t be saved because the original owner would go to the state-owned restaurant in the county town to eat, so she couldn’t save them.

Forty minutes later, Ning Shu arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative.

The supply and marketing cooperative, the commune, and the post office in the town were all adjacent.

So when she arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, she naturally also saw the commune and the post office. Seeing the post office, she remembered to ask Lin Guodong for bicycle tickets.

She had originally thought it would be embarrassing to ask for the tickets directly, so she had planned to send something over.

But now she felt completely comfortable because she had already repaid him with 180 bottles of milk for his son.

So, Ning Shu decided to buy candy and then write a letter to Lin Guodong to ask for bicycle tickets.

She didn’t know how many catties of chestnuts would be exchanged today, plus later Lin Xiaoshan would dig wild vegetables and bamboo shoots to exchange for sugar.

Ning Shu decided to buy some more Candy.

So, she used all five catties of sugar vouchers. She bought four catties of fruit sugar and one catty of brown sugar. She could have bought White Rabbit milk candy, but since there was milk at home, she didn’t need it.

After buying the sweets, Ning Shu had no desire to buy anything else and went straight to the post office.

When she was almost at the post office, she thought again. It was embarrassing to ask for the bicycle tickets directly because she had paid the price of 180 bottles of milk.

But the problem was, Lin Guodong didn’t know about the price she paid, so… she was worried that he might not give her the tickets if she asked for them directly in a letter.

She still had to make some effort.

So, Ning Shu found a corner where no one was around, opened the app again, and found that there were still tofu in chili sauce and crab paste on the app.

Tofu in chili sauce and crab paste could be stored for a long time and were easy to mail, but tofu in chili sauce cost 11 yuan per bottle, and crab paste cost 27 yuan per bottle.

So, she eliminated the crab paste, which was too expensive, and spent 44 yuan. She bought four bottles of tofu in chili sauce and planned to mail two bottles to Lin Guodong later.

This way, her face would be saved, right?

The remaining two bottles would be slowly eaten by Yi Bao and Er Bao, who seemed to like them.

However, the app balance had decreased from 173 to 129.

Carrying the tofu in chili sauce, Ning Shu arrived at the post office and said, “Comrade Zhang, I want to mail a letter. I forgot to bring the letter I wrote. Can you give me paper and pen to write a letter?”

The post office staff member was called Zhang Min, and she knew Ning Shu.

“Comrade Ning is here…” She gave Ning Shu paper and pen and saw the glass bottle in Ning Shu’s hand.

“Are you going to mail something?” She had seen Ning Shu come to pick up packages every month, so she couldn’t forget.

“Yes, I’m sending it to my husband in the army,” Ning Shu replied.

Zhang Min was surprised. Had the sun risen from the west? In the past five years, she had only seen Ning Shu come to pick up packages, never to send one.

This was really rare. What kind of magical thing could it be that Ning Shu could send it out? It must be very special.

So, Zhang Min curiously took a closer look. Now she could see clearly—it was two bottles of tofu in chili sauce.

In the 1970s, tofu production was not stable due to the long fermentation period and technological reasons.

This indirectly indicated that there was not much tofu available in the market. Generally, for items that had been launched but had low production, they had one common characteristic: they were not cheap.

Therefore, tofu was now sold by weight.

Of course, Ning Shu didn’t know these details.

Thinking of her mother, who had a poor appetite recently, Zhang Min asked, “Comrade Ning, do you have any more of this tofu in chili sauce?”

Ning Shu asked, “What is it, Comrade Zhang?”

“Well, my mother hasn’t been eating well recently, she can’t eat anything. I thought tofu in chili sauce is good for appetite, and I wanted to buy some, but there hasn’t been any available at the supply and marketing cooperative recently, so…”

“I do have one bottle left,” Ning Shu said. The app’s quirk was that whenever something was extracted, the same kind of item would always be extracted, so when she extracted the tofu in chili sauce just now, all four bottles were extracted, and the remaining two bottles were still in her bag.

“Then, Comrade Ning, can you give me that bottle?” Zhang Min asked urgently.

Although they were in a public place, a transaction involving a bottle of tofu in chili sauce wouldn’t be considered speculation or profiteering, even if it involved money. Moreover, Zhang Min had said she would return it, so Ning Shu would pay what she had paid for it.

This way, it wouldn’t be profiteering. Besides, Zhang Min was buying tofu in chili sauce because her mother had a poor appetite.

“Well, this was a gift from a friend in Shanghai, so I’m not sure about the price… What do you think?” Ning Shu was a bit embarrassed. Mainly because she didn’t know the price.

Zhang Min thought for a moment. “In that case, Comrade Ning, you sort out your affairs first, and we’ll go to the supply and marketing cooperative later to ask about the price of tofu.”

Saying they would go to the supply and marketing cooperative to inquire was just for show, as she knew the price of tofu in chili sauce.

“That’s fine.” Ning Shu quickly wrote the letter, wrapped up the two bottles of tofu in chili sauce, and wrote Lin Guodong’s address on them.

The original owner remembered Lin Guodong’s address very well, as she checked it every month.

Seeing this, Zhang Min quickly packaged the items. Ning Shu’s package was ready, and Zhang Min asked a colleague to help check it. Then, she and Ning Shu left together.

Instead of going to the supply and marketing cooperative, they went to the back door of the post office. “Comrade Ning, can I have a look at your tofu?”

“Of course.” Ning Shu unscrewed the lid, and the fragrance of the tofu in chili sauce wafted out. It was a reunion for Ning Shu with this fragrance, and it was truly delightful.

Zhang Min couldn’t help but admire, “The fragrance of this tofu in chili sauce is so strong, even stronger than what I used to buy at the supply and marketing cooperative. It’s really different, just like something from Shanghai.” Especially the white and tender color and the scent of the wine, “Are these grains of fermented rice?”