Returning to the Village
"Great Aunt, is this enough?" Gou'er handed the two bags of milk powder to Ling Chengyan.
Ling Chengyan glanced at the doll head drawing imprinted onto the bags and the corner of her eye twitched. She took out the milk powder bag from the department store and compared it to the new ones. It was exactly the same.
Seeing this, she suspected that the milk powder in the black market was being supplied by the department store.
"Good enough," she said. Ling Chengyan nodded her head in approval.
Gou'er handed the change back to Ling Chengyan. "A bag of milk powder costs 3.80 yuan. This is the rest of the money."
Ling Chengyan bought it for 1.80 yuan in the department store. She thought that it would be good enough if she could buy it for 5 yuan in the black market, so she gave Gou'er 10 yuan. She didn't expect the black market price to be much lower than expected.
Ling Chengyan arched her eyebrows and pushed away the change. "You can take it."
Ling Chengyan finished the rest of her soup and wiped her mouth. She picked up Xiao Tian and left Da Xiong's house.
The three brothers were stunned. Xiao Xi, who was busy in the yard, saw the change in Gou'er's hand and immediately rushed out the door.
After Ling Chengyan left the house, she carried Xiao Xing and went into an alley. Xiao Xi chased after her, but she couldn't find Ling Chengyan and the other two. After a few moments, she silently went back.
Ling Chengyan carried Xiao Xing and Xiao Tian in her arms and walked to the department store.
Using money and food tickets, Ling Chengyan bought a can of wheat milk essence and two bags of biscuits for Xiao Xing. The little girl was terribly thin. It was obvious that she couldn't keep up with normal foods and drinks anymore, so she needed to be nourished.
Hearing noise on the other side, Ling Chengyan asked around and found out that the textile counter was selling defective fabric, and customers didn't need to pay using cloth tickets.
There was no queue, and everyone was squeezing around desperately, trying to get to the front. The people who got to the front were able to buy the fabric being sold.
In terms of strength, Ling Chengyan was confident that she would be unmatched.
The non-staple food counter was still being watched by Zhou Hongyan. Ling Chengyan and Zhou Hongyan were probably considered friends now, even if they had a fight. She placed Xiao Xing on the counter and asked Zhou Hongyan to look after her. She wasted no time in running off to grab the fabric.
In less than ten minutes, Ling Chengyan returned with four rolls of fabric consisting of different colors each. When rolled together, the amount was quite substantial.
With so much fabric, she could make two new sets of clothes for the children and herself. Thanks to this, Ling Chengyan's mood was much better now. She returned to the non-staple food counter to pick up Xiao Xing. She flashed a rare smile and thanked Zhou Hongyan.
After Ling Chengyan and her children walked out of the department store, Zhou Hongyan took a long time to come back to her senses. That woman had bought so much fabric at once. Even if the fabric was being sold at a lower price, it would still cost more than ten yuan. Adding on the wheat milk essence and biscuits she had bought previously, it was a total of twenty yuan.
'She was just a farmer's wife, where did she get so much money? Don't tell me she resorted to improper activities?'
Ling Chengyan didn't know that she was being suspected. She got on a tractor with the children before leaving the country. They went on their way back to the commune.
The tractor would jolt a bit at times, but it was much faster than a cart.
The three of them got off the tractor at the commune and took a cow cart for some distance. When they finally arrived at the village, the sun had not set yet. It hung red in the West, like a boiled salted egg yolk.
It was the beginning of February, the soil was just beginning to thaw and soften, and the farmers were getting busy.
Not all of them had started work yet, but they had already organized a group of people to transport fertilizer into the land. This was done so they could immediately level the land for spring plowing as soon as the soil thawed.
When Ling Chengyan and her children entered the village, they were just in time for when the farmers got off work. A group of men from the brigade at the village entrance had already put down their farm tools and vehicles, preparing to go home for dinner. Upon seeing the three of them coming back, a tall and strong man in his thirties walked up to them.
"Uncle." Xiao Xing called out crisply to the man.
"Eldest Cousin." Ling Chengyan followed suit. This must be Wang Futang's eldest son.
"The three of you are finally back. Mother has been talking about you all day. Big Brother was just about to go home when he realized you had arrived, so instead, he went to pick you up." A younger man chipped in as he walked over. He reached out to pick up Xiao Xing, putting her on his shoulder.
"Third Uncle, hehehe! I'm so high up!" Xiao Xing was so happy that she laughed while grabbing the man's ear.
This was Wang Futang's second son. He was the third child in Wang Futang's family.
"Little girl, be gentle, don't pull off your Third Uncle's ears..."
"Third Brother, be more careful. Do you think Xiao Xing is some sort of monkey? Don't drag her around like that!" Wang Lianqi scolded.
Wang Lianfa didn't seem to mind it at all. He agreed with a smile and ran home with Xiao Xing.
Wang Lianqi acted like a big brother and asked Ling Chengyan about Xiao Tian's condition. Ling Chengyan didn't beat around the bush and only gave a brief answer.
Wang Lianqi's face was filled with embarrassment. He coughed and said, "It's our fault for not taking care of everything."
"Eldest Cousin, you don't have to blame yourself. You and Uncle are also in a difficult position," Ling Chengyan said.
After all, they were merely her uncle and cousin. It was not right for them to interfere in her matters.
Wang Lianqi looked at the thin and weak woman and suddenly realized that his family didn't seem to know enough about her. This cousin-of-law of his was really understanding and magnanimous.
Unfortunately, his fourth brother was sent to prison due to bad luck, and his second uncle and second aunt were unreliable...
Upon returning to the main house, Wang Lianfa had already rolled up his sleeves and was working hard to clear the manure.
"Xiao Xing is in the room with Mother." Seeing the two of them come in, Wang Lianfa smiled, flashing his white teeth.
Ling Chengyan nodded and followed Wang Lianqi into the main house.
"Hurry up and let the child rest. You must be tired after a long day." Qu Cui came up to her.
After taking the swaddling clothes, Qu Cui walked into the inner room, muttering, "Sigh, such a poor child. She's been running around all day…"
"Yan'er," Qu Cui called out and handed a tea jar to Ling Chengyan. "Here, have some water. How's the child? What did the doctor say?"
Ling Chengyan repeated the doctor's words and added, "The doctor gave us a certificate. I bought a bag of milk powder and used it to make milk for Xiao Tian."