MAC’60s Chapter 60.2

Even if she didn’t have a son, at least her sister was capable!

Even if something happened on her side of the family, as long as Wang Lingling was around, she would still be able to hold her head high!

Speaking of it, Wang Pingping’s behavior was quite something. When Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan both ran into trouble, Wang Pingping didn’t even dare to return to her maternal family after hearing the news. As for Wang Yaocong and Wang Yongshun, who were in jail and being sent to labor camps, she didn’t even prepare a bundle for them, let alone visit them.

Those who knew the truth would say that the two daughters of the Wang family were heartless and cold-blooded.

No matter what, that was her real father, and all these years, Wang Yongshun hadn’t been too harsh on them. But when the family fell into hard times, they didn’t even show their faces. That was really disheartening.

Wang Pingping, eager to take advantage of the opportunity, proposed that she and her husband would help Wang Lingling collect grain, and they were enthusiastic about it. Eventually, the Li family agreed to this plan.

They were all set to make a huge profit.

Seeing that Wang Lingling was so determined, Li Qing didn’t say anything else.

The two of them pushed the cart back, and not far along, they saw the patrol team, which scared Wang Lingling. The two of them anxiously took a long detour to get onto the main road.

On the way back, they were still walking, as the two baskets of grain Wang Lingling bought had already weighed down the cart. Li Qing was also carrying one on his back. After a short distance, Li Qing began to struggle and asked Wang Lingling to push the cart.

Wang Lingling cursed the eunuch-like man in her heart, but with just the two of them, she had no choice but to take over. The two of them switched off pushing the three baskets of grain back home.

Once Li Qing unloaded the grain, he immediately went to the inner room to drink water. Wang Pingping saw Wang Lingling off, and as she returned, she was called by Old Lady Li.

“Third daughter-in-law! Go cook! Make some white noodles.”

Wang Pingping hurriedly replied and went to the kitchen. She then reported to Old Lady Li, “Mom, we don’t have any white flour left!”

Old Lady Li immediately felt annoyed. This daughter-in-law was so dim-witted: “Are you blind? Isn’t there some in the side room? Do I need to tell you exactly where it is?”

Wang Pingping pulled her hand back, wanting to explain that the flour Wang Lingling bought was meant for resale. This grain was for making money, not for personal use. Moreover, the grain was jointly bought by both families, so how could it be considered for the family’s personal consumption?

However, after hesitating for a moment, Old Lady Li urged again: “Hurry up! The family will be back for dinner soon!”

Wang Pingping had no choice but to swallow her complaints and take the scoop and basin to fetch the flour.

At this moment, Li Ying followed her into the side room, pointing and commanding: “Sister-in-law, you’re too stingy. Why are you only scooping this little bit for noodles? Scoop more, we’ll make wide noodles for dinner.”

Wang Pingping had no choice but to scoop another large ladle full.

Li Ying watched as her sister-in-law scooped the flour, then hummed a little tune as she went to Old Lady Li’s room.

“Mom, luckily I went over, or else sister-in-law would have only scooped a little. We probably would have had just watery noodle soup for dinner.”

Li Ying told Old Lady Li what had happened, and Old Lady Li spat and rolled her eyes: “That eggless little whore, always worthless!”

Old Lady Li didn’t think there was anything wrong with using the grain meant for sale for family meals. How many people were there in her house? Even if they ate some, how much could they consume? Besides, she had spent the money, so why couldn’t she improve the family’s meals? She had decided that from now until the wheat harvest, her family would eat white flour every day! She’d make sure the younger ones were well-fed!

Li Ying complained, feeling quite pleased with herself as she flopped onto the kang and reached for the sunflower seeds on the table.

Li Laotai looked at her daughter with loving concern: “Did you go find Yuejin? What did he say?”

Li Ying snorted: “He pushed it off, said the shop’s busy lately and we can talk about it later. Mother, what do you think Yuejin is thinking? Does he not want to marry me?”

Li Laotai slammed the table: “That can’t be! How long have you and he been seeing each other? How could he not marry you? If that gets out, people will laugh at us! You must push him again. His house is already set, we’re just going to do the wedding at his restaurant, what’s the harm in that?”

Li Ying: “But he’s pushing it off! He says he doesn’t have time to handle the wedding, do you think we’re asking for too much?”

Li Ying was a little uneasy: “There’s no family in our town that’s having a wedding with more than ten tables… and we want four cold and eight hot dishes.”

Li Laotai raised an eyebrow: “What’s wrong with that? Our family has a lot of people, and so do our in-laws. Ten tables might not even be enough! And we’re doing it at Yuejin’s restaurant because he has one, otherwise, we could do it in the county to show off to all our relatives! You’re marrying well!”

Li Ying puffed her chest with pride upon hearing this.

Yes, even including all the distant relatives, she was the one marrying the best!

Her partner was a great chef, had skills, a job, and even got a house! How old was he to get a house already?

He was even better off than some people in the county.

Li Ying: “You’re right, mother. We didn’t even ask for the ‘three turns and one honk’ dowry, and now he’s pushing. If he won’t do it, then I won’t marry him! Who’s going to beg him?”

Li Laotai quickly tried to persuade her: “Nonsense, how can you say you won’t marry? Yuejin has a good background, he’s probably just a bit proud. You should coax him, hurry him up before the wheat harvest, wouldn’t that be perfect? Don’t be foolish.”

Li Laotai knew very well that Yuejin was an excellent match. He had a house, a job, and money. It was said that he had many brothers, but none of them would be a burden to him. He worked in town, so it was like living separately from his family. His parents lived in the countryside, so they wouldn’t come to live with him.

That made him a perfect match.

There was no need to interact much with the in-laws, and since they lived nearby, they could easily go to his restaurant anytime. It had many advantages.

That’s why Li Laotai didn’t insist on the ‘three turns and one honk’ dowry. She was afraid that this good match might be lost.

But for the wedding, it had to be grand—it was different from asking for a dowry.

Just thinking about all the relatives’ envy and compliments made Li Laotai full of energy.

“Our family isn’t short of dowry money. Your sister-in-law said that after the wheat harvest, we can sell all the grain in the storeroom. I’m just hoping you marry well, and that life will get better…”

Perhaps because she saw their family’s life starting to improve, Li Laotai rarely spoke sweetly to her daughter, which made Li Ying nod repeatedly.

“Mother, I understand! Don’t worry, even after I marry, I’m still your daughter, I’m still from the Li family.”

She even lied to Yuejin, saying she had a formal job. After marriage, who would she rely on if not her family?

The mother and daughter excitedly imagined a bright future, full of energy!

Wang Ying returned from the county, first visiting Xu Shuang to pass on what Chen Dong had said to him.

“Master said you should send him more dried vegetables in the next few days. After the wheat harvest, stop. This year’s harvest is poor, and there might be a grain shortage in the city.”

After hearing this, Xu Shuang nodded. He had already sensed something was off recently.

In the brigade, the impact wasn’t that significant since the Seventh Brigade planted crops on time, and even if there was a bad harvest, it would only affect a little. But the town was feeling it. Recently, even buying vegetables had become expensive.

The vegetables at the vegetable stand came from nearby communes, but recently, some farmers must have realized something was wrong and started drying their vegetables, so when the supply from the stand was low, prices rose.

Xu Shuang thought for a moment and said: “How about we go up the mountain again in a few days?”

They had not had much rabbit meat since the New Year; it was scarce, only hunted when Wang Ying went up the mountain to gather herbs. They hadn’t caught fish recently either.

Summer wasn’t like winter—fish had a strong smell and were easy to detect when cooked.

But now, Xu Shuang couldn’t worry about that too much. Food was everyone’s priority at all times.

Once the double harvest was over, their brigade would not be short of food, but other brigades might be. The worry was that if things got chaotic, many things would be out of control.

“We should catch some fish and rabbits, prepare them, and I’ll send some to Aunt Su,” Xu Shuang arranged. His Aunt Su didn’t live in the same brigade, so he wasn’t sure if the disaster would affect that area, but he needed to visit.

Wang Ying readily agreed: “Okay, I’ll prepare early.”

Waiting until the double harvest was too late to prepare, and by then, they would already see the outcome of the harvest. By then, people’s hearts might have already wavered.

After discussing the important matters, Wang Ying took out the sewing machine voucher: “Ta-da\~”

Xu Shuang took the voucher and flipped it over: “This is the sewing machine voucher.”

The front read “Butterfly brand sewing machine,” and the back said “One machine per voucher, expires after use.”

Xu Shuang: “Go back and ask our mother when we can buy it.”

A sewing machine was a rare item; there were not many in the entire commune, and they would have to let Xu Laotai go pick it herself.

Wang Ying carefully put the voucher away: “Got it. Now we just need a radio. I didn’t expect radios to be even harder to find.”

The ‘three turns and one honk’ dowry was something she had initially thought was the hardest to find, but in the end, the radio was the most difficult to get.

Xu Shuang: “It’s only a matter of time. If it doesn’t work, I’ll talk to my master. We’ll add more money, and by this winter, I’ll make sure you get to listen to the radio.”

Without a radio, a whole winter would indeed be hard to get through.

After a few words, Xu Shuang noticed it was already the peak meal time. He was busy heading to the kitchen to work and asked Wang Ying what she wanted to eat.

Wang Ying waved her hand: “I’m not eating here. I’m going home.”

The pork ribs Xu Shuang made yesterday were still there. Xu Laotai had already said she would prepare a pot of pork ribs with potatoes, corn, beans, and eggplant. Wang Ying was eager to get home to eat the ribs, so she wasn’t eating at the restaurant.

Wang Ying hurriedly said goodbye to Xu Shuang. As soon as she entered the brigade, she heard Wu Guihua’s loud voice.

“Stop talking, everyone! We’ve invited several little actors to perform today. They are all your own children, so make sure you listen carefully!”

Wang Ying stopped her bicycle and stood aside to watch the excitement.

She saw a little boy with a runny nose, nervously pulling another little boy forward.

The small children were shouting and scolding.

“You little brat, I’ve told you so many times! No drinking cold water! There are worms in that cold water! They’ll crawl into your little thing, and then you won’t even be able to pee! Look at you, drinking untreated water and getting a stomachache…”

The other child being pulled along was very young, about three or four years old. He wasn’t walking very steadily.

He was holding his stomach with both hands and in a babyish voice complained: “Ow, ow, mom, my stomach hurts…”

Wang Ying laughed so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. Meanwhile, another slightly older girl came up.

“Mom, I’m back from the fields!”

She said as she pushed her slender figure forward, sticking her belly out: “Hurry up and serve me food!”

A few kids were performing on stage, while the parents in the audience were all blushing.

One woman, trying to make shoes, nearly poked herself with the needle: “I never did that!”

Another woman, who seemed to be the mother of the runny-nosed boy, laughed uncontrollably. The child was imitating her so perfectly it made her feel both embarrassed and angry but also unable to stop laughing.

“Tian Gusheng! Just wait for it!”