"Say less, will you? Have you forgotten what happened last time?" Granny Ding quickly pulled her friend back when she saw Bai Jiu’s expression turn icy.
She didn’t want to be implicated. As long as she was standing right here, it was better not to argue. She couldn’t compare to Bai Jiu’s standing. Her son had warned her not to clash with the institute’s leaders; if they did, their family would be the ones to suffer. He was just a head chef. Even though he had some real skills, he was a nobody in front of these intellectuals.
Lin Po seemed to remember something, and she turned her face away for a moment.
Bai Jiu ignored them. There were two lines for staple foods, and it was soon her turn. Seeing that Bai Jiu had arrived later but was served before her, Lin Po grew disgruntled again. As soon as Bai Jiu took her groceries and left, Lin Po immediately cut into the line.
However, the other people in line weren’t pushovers, and someone directly told Lin Po off. Unfortunately, Lin Po was far more formidable. She scolded the young wife until the woman’s face flushed bright red, ultimately forcing the woman to let her buy her things first.
Bai Jiu and Aunt Xu had been busy all morning to get all their groceries. However, Bai Jiu was a bit disheartened because she couldn’t buy many of the ingredients needed for her favorite mooncakes. Helpless, she had no choice but to return disappointed.
"Aunt Xu, you’re really amazing," Bai Jiu said, jogging forward when she came out and saw Aunt Xu already waiting for her at the entrance.
"Ah, I’m just used to it." She had been snatching up goods like this for who knew how many years, so she was thoroughly accustomed to the chaos.
"Did you get everything?" Aunt Xu asked happily, seeing that her basket was full.
"Not yet. I couldn’t buy the fruits and lotus seed paste I wanted." A lotus seed paste mooncake without lotus seed paste had no soul.
"Those things are quite precious and rarely found around here. But it’s fine. If you really want to eat them, you can buy them at the mall outside. They’ll definitely have them, but you’ll need ration coupons—specifically, pastry coupons." Usually, buying snacks didn’t require pastry coupons, but for things like mooncakes, they were absolutely necessary. She wondered if these coupons would be distributed for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"I guess I’ll have to do that." She figured she would go out for a stroll when the time came, and if she found some, she would buy them and bring them back.
They had already agreed that their two families would make mooncakes together. Thus, after lunch, Bai Jiu went straight next door. Gao Zhijun had spent the entire morning tidying up the backyard and scrubbing the toilet. Seeing his wife head over to Aunt Xu’s place, he had no choice but to retreat to their own courtyard.
Busy at Aunt Xu’s house, Bai Jiu had no idea about his subtle disappointment. She watched as Aunt Xu sorted out every item, helping to wash the ingredients. They were so engrossed in their work that it was soon time for the children to get out of school. The mooncakes still weren’t done; they had only just finished categorizing the ingredients and setting up the appropriate items to steam or boil.
"Oh, it’s getting late. Bai Jiu, let’s continue this tomorrow. There are still two days until the festival anyway," Aunt Xu said, glancing at the clock as she passed through the main room. Fortunately, she had checked the time; otherwise, she would have missed the time to pick up the kids. "The children are about to finish school."
Bai Jiu hadn’t expected time to pass so quickly either.
"Alright, let’s go pick up the kids first." Bai Jiu remembered that her teacher was coming over for dinner tonight, so she wouldn’t have time to come back and help anyway. "Aunt Xu, I’ll come over tomorrow to help you with the rest. You won’t be able to handle it all by yourself. My teacher is coming over for dinner tonight, so I won’t be coming back over later."
If they were in a rush, they could have pushed through until night to finish making them, but there was no need to rush so frantically.
Hearing that Mr. Mu was coming over, Aunt Xu understood Bai Jiu’s intent. "Don’t worry, I won’t be able to manage this alone anyway. I’ll definitely wait for you to come over tomorrow so we can do it together." She knew exactly what Bai Jiu was worried about.
With that, Bai Jiu and Aunt Xu washed their hands and headed straight to the compound’s school to pick up the children.
Shu Kang was now in the first grade. He had started school a year late. It hadn’t been necessary originally, but according to Aunt Xu, an illness had delayed him, pushing him back a year. However, it was no real issue.
The kindergarten and the elementary school were right next to each other, although they didn’t share the same main gate. The middle school wasn’t located here; it was on the other side. There were only three schools in the research institute in total: a kindergarten, an elementary school, and a middle school. The students were all children from the compound and the nearby production brigades. Initially, they hadn’t accepted children from the outside. However, this place was simply too far from the city, not to mention the more hidden brigades. So, the leadership held a meeting and simply decided to accept the children from the surrounding area.
Zhengyang and Xiuxiu were already waiting for their mother at the school gate. Seeing her running over, the two said goodbye to their teacher and dashed out.
"Slow down, you two!" Bai Jiu called out immediately, afraid they would bump into someone or trip, given the large crowd of students and parents around them.
"Mom!" The two little ones acted as if they hadn’t heard her and made a beeline straight for her. They both threw themselves at Bai Jiu, hugging her thighs tightly.
"Mom, why are you late today?" Xiuxiu asked happily, looking up with a wide smile.
Zhengyang also tilted his head up and chimed in, "Yeah, Mom, what were you doing today?"
The two little ones were like an endless stream of questions, asking one thing after another. Bai Jiu patiently answered them both.
"I was making mooncakes at Grandma Xu’s house today and lost track of time. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. I promise to be on time from now on." Seeing that they were the last two left in their class, Bai Jiu felt quite guilty.
"Mooncakes?" Listening to her explanation, the two only registered the word ’mooncakes’.
"Mom, are the mooncakes done?" They really wanted to eat them. They had never tasted mooncakes before.
"Mom, what do mooncakes look like? Are they sweet?" Xiuxiu swallowed hard, her face full of longing.
Seeing her like this, Bai Jiu felt a sharp ache in her heart.
"They’re very sweet and incredibly delicious. Once I finish making them, Xiuxiu can eat as many as she wants, okay?" Bai Jiu squatted down and gently tapped Xiuxiu’s little nose.
Bai Jiu had never been a penny-pincher. Since she had money, she didn’t just improve her own life, but she also elevated the living standards of her two children and Gao Zhijun. The whole family not only wore new clothes and ate meat, but Bai Jiu had completely replaced their wardrobes from the inside out. Furthermore, for the start of the school year, she had bought them brand new backpacks instead of sewing them from old scraps of cloth at home. She had bought them directly, and they were the expensive, pretty kind.
Zhengyang’s was a vibrant blue, and Xiuxiu’s was pink. In this era, having colors like that was exceedingly rare. Just by virtue of their backpacks alone, the two of them had made quite a few good friends in their class. Of course, in their own words, their favorite person was still their older brother Shu Kang.
On the way home, Bai Jiu exchanged pleasantries with a few people she wasn’t very familiar with. Surprisingly, Xiuxiu and Zhengyang were much better at socializing than she was. They acted as if they knew everyone and could even call out people’s surnames—greeting an Aunt Li here and a Granny Gao there. Regardless, they were far more enthusiastic than their mother.
After sharing their school day with their mom at home, the two children told Bai Jiu and ran next door. Bai Jiu didn’t stop them; she only told them to play for a while and come back for dinner. The two happily darted out. They had primarily run off because they heard Shu Kang’s voice next door, realizing that Grandma Xu and Shu Kang had returned.
If they could hear it, Bai Jiu naturally could too. "Remember to come back early for dinner! Grandpa Mu is coming over to eat today, so you can’t make him wait!"
"Got it!" the two replied as they dashed out of the courtyard.