Chapter 92: Joyful Shopping

As the car drove away, the large Zhang family group headed back into the courtyard. Zhang Mother led the womenfolk into Zhou Jiao’s room.

The moment they entered and saw Zhou Jiao, another round of laughter broke out.

Zhou Jiao glanced at everyone and asked Zhang Mother, “Mom, have they all left?”

Zhang Mother sat down on the kang and nodded. “Yes, they’ve all gone. Your mother took Xiaoxi with her, and they’ll be back tomorrow. Did Xiao Wu bring his clothes and everything?”

“It’s all ready. If he forgot anything, I told him to buy it there. He’s got all the tickets and documents. It should be convenient in the provincial capital, and with Grandpa there, he won’t have to worry about food or a place to sleep. Big Sis, Second Sis, you’re not going home tonight, are you?”

Zhang Meili looked at her younger sister. “No, we’ll leave early tomorrow. We brought all the kids over.”

Zhou Jiao looked at Zhang Mother and smiled sweetly. “Mom, since it’s rare for Big Sis and Second Sis to stay over, why don’t we have lamb soup for dinner tonight? What do you think?”

“Sure! I’ll make you some lamb noodles. Your dad says eating lamb warms you up, and we still have plenty at home. There’s lots of food in the house tonight, so we don’t even need to cook extra dishes.”

“Mom, we should at least stew a hen. Now that your son-in-law is visiting, you can’t treat him too simply.” She winked playfully at Zhang Mother as she spoke.

Zhang Mother chuckled. “It just so happens the hen is stewed and ready, but we haven’t touched it yet. Tonight, it’s for my son-in-law.”

Zhou Jiao looked around. “All the aunts and cousins went over to help today. Should I prepare something to send over? Mom, you’ll have to teach me—I don’t know about these things.”

Everyone turned to look at Zhang Mother, waiting for her answer. She thought for a moment. “It’s fine if you don’t send anything. Usually, whoever helps out gets to take home the leftovers. Today, I packed up all the untouched leftovers from the kitchen for them. If you feel bad, when Xiao Wu comes back, buy some candy for their kids. Don’t give too much, or next time when we help them, they’ll feel awkward. Just invite your uncles over for a drink tonight, and that’s enough.”

“Okay, I really don’t know these things. Mom, if you see me do anything wrong, please remind me. Also, if you have time, could you move those eggs outside into the kitchen? Tomorrow, I want to send some home with my sisters for their kids.”

Zhang Mother quickly shook her head. “No need, just leave them there. The weather’s fine, and if they want eggs, there are plenty at home. You keep yours for yourself—you’ll need a lot this month, and I’m worried there won’t be enough. Your sisters can’t take them, or people will gossip. Don’t worry about these things, just focus on your recovery. Later, I’ll bring over a jar to store some brown sugar for you so it won’t spoil. I’ll take care of everything for you.

Next year, when you set up your own household, you’ll have to handle these social obligations yourself. Do you know how much you’ll need to give out every year? Save these things for when someone in the village has a baby or a wedding or funeral—you’ll need to give gifts. Where will you get brown sugar then? When you got married, you only got two jin of sugar coupons. Brown sugar is even harder to buy; you need special coupons, and they’re not available in the countryside. When your two sisters-in-law had babies, they couldn’t even get brown sugar, even if they had the coupons. It’s a necessity—one month, they only had a jin, and everyone envied them. Now, even in the city, each person only gets four liang a month. Tell me, where can you buy it in the countryside?

Just keep it. In the past few years, except for grain and oil coupons, there were no other restrictions. But starting this fall, they added meat coupons, and in the city, there are now egg and sugar coupons too. Who knows what else they’ll add in the future? So, whenever you get something, save it. You never know when you’ll need a coupon again.”

Zhou Jiao secretly admired her mother-in-law—she really was wise with age. “Mom, will there still be a market this New Year?”

Zhang Mother nodded. “Yes, they say there will still be markets this fall and winter, but meat will be scarce. Once city folks buy, there won’t be much left. If we slaughter a pig, we have to sell half or even all of it to the commune in exchange for meat coupons. But the coupons aren’t worth it—they weigh the pig live, but the coupons are given by net weight. So we usually make cured meat. Now, people secretly raise pigs and sell meat on the sly. At the market, you can probably get everything except grain and meat. Last year, you could buy anything except grain. Once your confinement is over, you can go to the market.”

Lin Juhua looked at everyone and said to Zhang Mother, “Mom, are we slaughtering a pig this year? If so, we need to find a piglet soon, or else it’ll have to wait until next spring.”

“That’s true. Let’s not slaughter one this year. We’ll wait until you set up your own households, then do it. We’ll buy piglets in the spring—there’s nothing to feed them now. This year, see who in the village is slaughtering pigs, and arrange with them in advance. We’ll pay them when they deliver the meat.” Zhang Mother thought it over and decided to wait until next spring, letting her daughters-in-law raise pigs if they wanted.

Zhang Meihao sighed. “You don’t know how hard it is to buy things in the city now. Every month, you have to line up at two or three in the morning for your rations. Otherwise, you’ll only get the worst stuff or nothing at all. It’s not so bad in summer, but what about winter? My mother-in-law keeps saying that once Big Sis moves closer, we can help each other hold places in line.”

Huang Cuilan looked at Lin Juhua and Zhou Jiao. “Big Sis, you bought a house? When did you buy it? We didn’t even know. When are you moving? Let us know so we can help. Have you picked an auspicious day for warming the new house? We need to prepare.”

Zhang Meili smiled. “We just paid the deposit; tomorrow we’ll pay the rest and get the deed. No rush—there’s not much to move. The seller is only taking their clothes and food, leaving all the furniture. We’ll warm the house when Xiao Wu comes back. I’ll let you know, but you don’t need to prepare anything—just come and have fun.”

“See if your father-in-law is free tomorrow and invite him too. Even though you’ve split households, you still need to show respect. Let him know so he’ll be happy. When you have time, invite the old folks to stay with you.” Zhang Mother reminded her, then said to her daughters-in-law, “You don’t need to prepare much. I’ll take care of it. If anything’s missing, I’ll let you know.”

Huang Cuilan nodded at the other two sisters-in-law. “Let’s listen to Mom. Just follow city customs, don’t do it the village way, or Big Sis’s neighbors will laugh at her.”

Zhang Meili glared at them, her face serious. “Don’t you three make a fuss about city or village customs. We’ll do it the village way—don’t make my move so grand that people get jealous. If the neighbors are petty, we’ll just keep our distance. Mom, don’t listen to them. The family isn’t well-off; we rely on work points from the fields. Save what you can and leave more for my brothers. A married daughter is like water poured out—you can’t waste the family’s resources for appearances. Otherwise, I won’t accept it.”

Everyone laughed and nodded, agreeing to listen to her, but they still wanted to ask around about how things were done these days. Zhang Mother knew what to do—she wouldn’t make things too fancy, but she wouldn’t let her daughter suffer either. Her eldest daughter had it the hardest—back then, they had no money for a dowry, so she only got a gold ring. This time, she’d discuss things carefully with her husband. Everything at home needed money, and they had to stretch every penny."