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After the two had made their purchases at the supply and marketing cooperative, they squatted inside, savoring the warmth of the heater within, until it was time to meet Uncle Yougen; only then did they sling their bundles over their shoulders and depart.
Shen Yunfang had initially intended to treat Dashuan's wife to a nice meal in the county as a gesture of her gratitude, but they were thwarted by the lack of Food Coupons and had to remain subdued.
With hunger gnawing at their bellies, they braved the biting wind and made their way back from the county to Gaijiatun.
Then each returned to their respective homes to fill their bellies.
Upon arriving home, Shen Yunfang placed jars and bottles on the stove without unpacking the cloth and cotton. She planned to drop by her uncle's house while out feeding the sheep for the production team, to ask her aunt to make her a cotton-padded jacket.
Although the Wang Family's matriarch had offered to make a jacket for her, Shen Yunfang reflected and decided that with her own uncle and aunt nearby, it wouldn't be proper to have outsiders make her clothes. Thus, she declined the Wang family's kind gesture.
First, she sat the pot of rice on the stove to heat, then she went to the west room to check the situation.
The fire in the kang was not yet out, so she added some firewood, looked at the chives and earthworms, and saw that everything was normal. With that, her mind was put at ease.
Over at the Wang Family, as soon as Dashuan's wife got home, she ate the wowotou that had been kept warm in the pot and gossiped with her mother-in-law about how Yunfang was clueless about running a household.
"Mom, you have no idea, Yunfang is just hopeless at managing a household. This time she went and bought two whole pounds of salt. Who knows how long it'll take to use all that up," she said.
"What, is she planning to pickle vegetables?" The mother-in-law scooped out a pickled vegetable ga da for her daughter-in-law.
"That's not possible, what time of year is it now? There are no veggies left to pickle," said Dashuan's wife, shaking her head.
The mother-in-law seemed thoughtful, "Well, not necessarily."
"What do you mean, not necessarily?" Dashuan's wife detected that her mother-in-law had more to say.
"Guess what I saw at Yunfang's house today?" the mother-in-law asked with a mysterious air.
How could Dashuan's wife guess? She shook her head in cluelessness.
"I'll tell you, when I went over to Yunfang's place today, I saw the girl had spread a layer of soil inside her house and was planting chives on it," revealed the mother-in-law about what she had witnessed.
"Oh, planting chives on the ground?" After finishing her meal and washing the dishes and chopsticks with the still-warm water from the pot, Dashuan's wife headed inside.
The mother-in-law followed her, continuing the topic, "That's right. I saw the chives already half a finger tall. Looks like in a few days she can start cutting them."
Dashuan's wife's eyes lit up at the news, "Really? Mom, does it look difficult? If it's doable, let's try planting some at home too." Home-grown chives in the dead of winter would be quite the rarity.
If they could quietly sell them in town, her daughter's medicine money for the coming year would be secured.
"It didn't look hard. I've been pondering it since noon. I noticed she just lit some firewood in the house, which probably warmed it up and made the chives grow," the mother-in-law was pleasantly surprised when she saw the chives and considered the prospect of growing them herself a good one.
"Really? Then later on I'll go talk to Yunfang about it, get some pointers from her, and we can try growing chives too. Even if we can't trade them for money, having them for our own consumption would be nice," said Dashuan's wife, stirred with excitement. She had just sat down on the kang, but now she rose impulsively, eager to discuss the matter with Yunfang at once.
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Thinking about how delighted her daughter would be if she could taste dumplings filled with chives and egg, she couldn't help but smile at the thought.
"Shh, keep your voice down, this kind of talk isn't something you can just carelessly blab about. If someone overheard, our family would be done for." The moment Wang's wife brought up the matter of selling things for money, Wang Da Nai'er immediately became nervous and started looking around to make sure there were no outsiders before she felt at ease.
If outsiders came to know about it, they would surely be accused of speculating and profiteering, subjected to a public shaming parade, and then the entire family would not be spared from misery.
Having momentarily regretted slapping her own mouth, Dashuan's wife still consoled herself, "It's fine, mother, we are in our own home, who else could hear us? Xiaojuan is still little, she won't pick up on our words."
"Even so, we must never, ever bring up this matter again."
"Alright, I'll listen to you, I'll remember this, I definitely won't mention it again," Dashuan's wife stated as she got off the kang bed and picked up her cotton shoes, preparing to leave the house.
"Hey, hey, you child, I haven't finished talking yet, where are you going?" Wang Da Nai'er quickly grabbed her daughter-in-law.
"I'm going over to Yunfang's place to find her and discuss if we can also grow chives in our family. After all, they started doing it first, we should at least ask her about it if we're going to proceed."
"Ah, child, you're always in such a hurry. I haven't even finished speaking," Wang Da Nai'er sighed, "At first, I thought it was feasible, but upon further thought, I realized our family probably can't grow chives."
"Why not, what's going on?" Dashuan's wife couldn't accept it. She hadn't fully digested the good news she just heard when her mother-in-law was already saying it's not possible. It was such a let-down.
"Don't rush, listen to me explain." Wang Da Nai'er glanced back at her little granddaughter, who was quietly playing by herself, before turning back to continue, "When I was in that girl Yunfang's room, the dampness was heavy in the air. Then it dawned on me, isn't it obvious, growing chives not only requires heavy fertilizer, but also plenty of water. Otherwise, planting them would be futile, as they wouldn't grow at all."
Dashuan's wife nodded in agreement, already aware of these facts.
"Think about it, with our adobe house, if it's always that damp inside, the house wouldn't last a few years before collapsing. What would we do if that happened? Where would we live? Which is more important?" Wang Da Nai'er sighed deeply.
Stunned, Dashuan's wife stood and pondered for a long while until finally, she slumped down onto the edge of the kang, dejected. Yes, in comparison to the house, those chives really did seem insignificant.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were experiencing the disappointment that followed their initial excitement, both appearing listless. Then, without further conversation, they just watched Xiaojuan play.
It was only after Wang Da Nai'er remembered something else that she restarted the conversation, and the atmosphere in the room finally returned to normal.
"Oh, right, when I was at Yunfang's place, I also saw a jar on the kang. I sneaked a peek inside and it was filled with smelly soil. What a peculiar thing for that girl to have, don't you think?"
"Hmm, quite strange," Dashuan's wife answered, clearly distracted.
Observing her daughter-in-law like this, Wang Da Nai'er felt some regret. What a fast talker she was, she lamented. Knowing full well they couldn't grow chives, why did she have to talk about it in front of her daughter-in-law, dampening her spirits like this? Ah, it was all her fault.
"Ah, let's not talk about that anymore. Check if Dashuan is almost home. You've been out all day. Rest on the kang for a while. I'll go heat up the food for Dashuan. He can have a hot meal when he gets back." The old lady got down to put on her shoes.
"Mother, you don't have to, I didn't get tired at all since I came and went by horse-drawn carriage. I'll heat it up, you take a rest," Dashuan's wife finally returned to her senses.
No matter how difficult it was, as a mother, she needed to stay strong for the sake of her daughter.