"You and Mother can talk all you want, but can you not drag me into this?" Bai Xingguo said to his younger sister with a wronged expression.
Bai Xingbang looked back and forth between them with a smile before pulling Xiuxiu into his arms. He buried his face behind the little girl, struggling hard to hold back his laughter.
Bai Jiu rolled her eyes at her eldest brother. "Mother, don’t listen to him. He’s already twenty-seven; how can he not find a wife?" She was determined to find him a capable sister-in-law. It wouldn’t even matter if the woman had a fiery temper, as long as she had good character.
What Bai Jiu didn’t know was that many women actually had their eyes on her eldest brother. Unfortunately, he simply had no interest in marriage. Otherwise, some families would have been willing to marry their daughters off to him without even asking for a bride price.
Mother Bai looked at her son, then at her daughter. How could she not want her son to have a considerate and caring wife by his side? It was just that no family was willing to marry their daughter into the Bai Family.
"Let your brother handle his own matters. He knows what he’s doing," Mother Bai said. Seeing how stubbornly her daughter insisted on giving her the one hundred yuan, she had no choice but to accept it. "Alright, stop teasing him. I’ll take the money."
"Take these coupons too. There are food, meat, cloth, and industrial coupons. The family will need them." Bai Jiu had acquired a lot of coupons from the black market and couldn’t possibly use them all by herself.
"Alright, I’ll take them," Mother Bai smiled, her eyes turning red as she accepted the cash and coupons.
It was getting late. After boiling some water and washing up, the family prepared for bed. However, Bai Xingbang carried Zhengyang away. Since Bai Xingguo hadn’t managed to snatch up his nephew in time, he squeezed into his younger brother’s room under the guise of "keeping his nephew company." He was ruthlessly thwarted by Mother Bai, who wanted to sleep in the same room as her daughter so they could have a heart-to-heart chat. As a result, Bai Xingguo had no choice but to sleep in his father’s room.
On the heated kang bed, Mother Bai slept on the innermost side, Xiuxiu in the middle, and Bai Jiu on the outside. After Xiuxiu fell asleep, Mother Bai asked about her daughter’s life over the past few years. Bai Jiu mentioned separating from her in-laws, though she claimed it had happened shortly after giving birth rather than recently. She also showed Mother Bai her savings to set her mind at ease. After seeing her daughter’s assets, Mother Bai was indeed relieved and felt genuinely happy for her.
The next day, only Bai Jiu, her two children, and the sick Father Bai were left at home. Bai Jiu made breakfast, making sure not to shortchange herself on the food, as she intended to head out first thing in the morning.
Where to? To sort through the supplies in her space, of course. She didn’t plan to sell them, but rather to bring them out to improve her family’s living conditions. Since she had been blessed with such an opportunity, she certainly wasn’t going to let her family suffer. Furthermore, she planned to rely on her maiden family to transfer her household registration back to the city. She had no intention of ever living in Gaocun Village again.
However, she waited all morning without seeing her youngest brother return.
"Xiuxiu, Zhengyang, can you stay home and keep Grandpa company? Mother needs to go out for a bit," Bai Jiu said. Seeing that it was getting late, she decided not to wait any longer.
Father Bai had taken three doses of medicine and his fever had subsided, but he still looked completely drained of energy. It seemed this illness had taken a serious toll on his vitality.
"Where are you going, Mother? I’ll look after my sister and Grandpa at home," Zhengyang declared, patting his little chest.
Looking at his serious expression, Bai Jiu felt an overwhelming surge of affection for her precocious son.
"Alright then, Mother is leaving your sister and Grandpa in your care. You have to take good care of them," Bai Jiu smiled, looking him in the eyes and taking his words seriously. "But once I leave, you mustn’t open the door no matter who knocks. I’ll lock the front door from the outside with the padlock. If your youngest uncle comes back, he’ll open it himself."
With the door locked, everything should be fine. Besides, there was still an adult at home. Aside from the grain she had brought back yesterday, there was truly nothing of value in the house. Mother Bai had hidden the money, and no one knew where it was. They didn’t have to worry about thieves; everyone in the neighborhood knew the Bai Family’s situation. They couldn’t even afford a full meal year-round.
"Mhm, I’ll remember, Mother. You can go out without worrying. Just come back early and don’t let Grandpa go hungry," Zhengyang said wisely. He had really changed a lot; in the past, he would never have dared to speak to his mother like this.
"Alright, I definitely won’t let you go hungry. I’ll be back before long." Her main goal today was to buy some cloth and cotton. The family’s quilts had been used for who knew how many years; they were hard and no longer retained heat. She intended to completely replace the bedding. As for clothes, if she rummaged through her space, she could probably find some solid-colored garments that fit the style of this era.
Carrying the large bamboo basket from yesterday on her back, Bai Jiu left the house and secured the front gate with the padlock. Out on the street, watching the bustling crowds, she headed straight for the supply and marketing cooperative. She would first buy whatever was available; anything she couldn’t buy, she would substitute with items from her space. Either way, she was going to fill her basket to the brim.
What Bai Jiu didn’t know was that shortly after she left, a sneaky figure appeared at the entrance of the Bai family home. Staring at the heavy padlock on the door, the person spat on the ground before heading next door. It was none other than Old Mrs. Wang, who had been humiliated by Bai Jiu the day before.
"She clearly isn’t any good, dressing all garishly like that. Who knows what her relationship with the Bai Family is," Old Mrs. Wang muttered. "Hmph, whatever it is, if she doesn’t give me a share of that meat today, I won’t let this go!"
She had been caught off guard and intimidated yesterday, but she definitely wouldn’t let that happen again today.
"Mother, didn’t you go out to run errands?" Wang Pozi’s daughter-in-law asked in surprise as she watched her mother-in-law walk in. Usually, her mother-in-law wouldn’t return until mealtime once she left the house. Since Liu Zhaodi didn’t have a job and came from the countryside, she was deeply despised by her mother-in-law. She toiled like a beast of burden at home every day, yet never received a single word of praise. She strongly disliked this mother-in-law of hers. If it weren’t for... she would have found this life unbearable long ago.
"None of your business! Have you finished your chores? Are the clothes washed? Is the chicken coop cleaned?" Wang Pozi sneered, sharing a mutual distaste for her daughter-in-law. If it hadn’t been for the low bride price, she would never have found such an unpresentable wife for her son. Hmph, at least the woman was lucky enough to bear two grandsons for the family.
"Where is Hao?" Wang Pozi asked, glancing around the room.
Hao was the youngest son of Wang Pozi’s daughter-in-law, Liu Zhaodi. She also had an eldest son named Zhuang, who was eight years old and had gone to school early in the morning. Currently, only the three of them—the grandmother, daughter-in-law, and youngest grandson—were supposed to be at home.
"Hao went out to play. Why are you looking for him, Mother?" Liu Zhaodi asked curiously. Whenever her mother-in-law looked for her youngest son, it usually meant something good was about to happen. She didn’t care about her mother-in-law’s reputation outside; as long as she brought things back home, that was all that mattered. So, the moment she heard her mother-in-law ask for him, she immediately grew excited.
Wang Pozi knew exactly what her daughter-in-law was thinking. "If he’s not home, forget it. Hurry up and finish the chores, then go to the yarn factory to pick up our work quota."
Although they were city folks, their lives were quite difficult. They had a family of six, both young and old, but only the two men had official jobs. With just two people supporting such a large family, they were stretched incredibly thin.