Chapter 241: Seventies Treasure Appraisal System (15)

One week later, Qin Zheng was sent by the factory leadership to Shanghai City to haul machinery, and he had to leave at the crack of dawn.

Xie Yang had packed food for his long journey a day in advance.

Over the past week, every morning after sending Qin Zheng off to work, she would go to the morning market to buy groceries, and occasionally she would go to the black market to try her luck, bringing back meat, vegetables, and grain that didn't require coupons.

Every day she lit the stove to cook—

She stir-fried a pot of salty and fragrant meat floss; deep-fried a pot of crispy fish using freshwater grass carp; simmered a pot of peanut and diced meat sauce that was perfect with rice; and finally, she baked two batches of white flour flatbreads that would keep well and boiled a pot of shepherd's purse and fresh meat dumplings.

She left only a small portion of the sauce and crispy fish at home, while the rest, along with the large jar of deep-fried hairtail she had made earlier, were all packed into Qin Zheng's duffel bag.

"Wear the two new undershirts I made for you when you go out; leave the old ones at home to wear."

"The drive is long, but don't forget to drink water. Regardless of whether you've reached your destination or not, take a break every three or four hours..."

Xie Yang exhorted him while packing his luggage.

The profession of a driver is not only hard work, but if one isn't careful, it also takes a toll on the body.

In order to keep to the schedule, they wouldn't dare drink much water on the road, fearing they would need to use the restroom.

But how can a person go without using the restroom for long periods? Over time, the kidneys would develop problems.

"Did you remember what I said?"

Xie Yang turned her head to look at the man, and the next second she was scooped up by the waist, his scorching breath accompanied by light, scattered kisses landing on her face.

"I remember it all."

Although he loved listening to his wife nag, he had to leave early tomorrow morning; a moment of intimacy is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and he would have to rely on the memories of tonight for the next ten days or half a month.

"..."

That night, Xie Yang felt like she had become a salted fish, or perhaps a flatbread, being flipped over and over without end.

The latter half was almost a blur, and she didn't even know when she had fallen asleep.

She only knew that when she woke up, the bed beside her was already cold, the sun was bright outside the window, and the man had long since driven off to Shanghai City.

A note was left on the writing desk.

The brushwork was sharp and vigorous, just like his angular and rugged face, but the lines between the words were filled with warmth:

He urged her to take good care of herself, to buy whatever she wanted to eat, and not to save money, as he could afford to support her.

Xie Yang curled the corners of her lips and tucked the note into the drawer.

With only her left at home, the food situation became much simpler.

There was still some refined broth left, and a single ladle was enough to boil a pot of noodles or cook a pot of porridge.

There were still plenty of eggs at home, the Mao Mao vegetables planted on the balcony were growing extremely well, and the vegetable seeds brought back from her maiden home had sprouted green shoots over the past few days; the ones with short growth periods would be ready to eat in a few days, so Xie Yang couldn't be bothered to go out and buy groceries.

Seeing that after Qin Zheng left, 208 no longer wafted out the enticing aroma of meat and fish, the neighbors in the Family Building finally breathed a collective sigh of relief.

For the past few days, 208 had wafted out the rich aroma of meat and fish every day, making them crave it so much that they ate through more of their rations than usual, and they couldn't help but spend all the meat coupons they had saved up—what a sin!

Those who felt it most deeply were the neighboring households, especially He Ximing, who finally didn't have to smell the appetite-whetting aroma while eating meals bought from the Canteen, only to be scolded as "heartless" by his wife with red eyes for eating two taels more than usual.

She complained that she couldn't eat due to morning sickness, yet he, on the other hand, had a bigger appetite than before.

Could he be blamed for that? If anyone was to be blamed, it was Qin Zheng's wife for being so unreasonable.

Come to think of it, why hadn't he noticed before that Qin Zheng's wife was so good at cooking? Was she really just lazy, rather than incapable of cooking?

He Ximing was just asking casually, but Bai Xiuyuan thought he was implying something about her.

"You actually compare me to that woman next door? Do you know she is famous in our brigade for being lazy and gluttonous!"

"I was just asking."

"Hmph! That just shows you're thinking about it! Are you blaming me for not getting up early to cook for you lately, making you go to the Canteen yourself, and having you bring food back from the Canteen at night? You have an opinion, right?"

In the past, Bai Xiuyuan would never have dared to speak to her husband like this.

But now she was pregnant and was the great contributor to the He family; if she didn't fight for her rights now, when would she?

Her eyes red, she recounted her grievances: "Do you think I don't want to cook for you? But I'm with child, and I feel nauseous the moment I touch cooking fumes. It's bad enough that you don't comfort me, but you deliberately compare me to the neighbor. Do you have a conscience... sob..."

"That's not what I meant."

What could He Ximing do? He could only coax her patiently; after all, she was carrying his own flesh and blood.

Xie Yang was completely unaware of the inner struggles of the neighbors in the building.

She had caught up on sleep for several days, finally making up for the sleep lost when Qin Zheng was home and kept her up all night.

With the added benefit of the Physical Fitness Potion detoxifying and improving her physique, her skin was rosy and glowing with health.

For the next few days, she rarely went out, sleeping until she woke up naturally every day. After getting up, she would boil a bowl of egg noodles for herself, or eat a piece of biscuit or sponge cake with Malt Extract. After eating, she would wash clothes and tidy up the room, and in the afternoon, she would sit in front of the sewing machine to sew clothes.

With the two pieces of floral polyester fabric Qin Zheng brought back, she made a small round-neck, waist-cinching dress with one, and a puff-sleeve, stand-up collar shirt with the other.

There was also a piece of military green Khaki Cloth at home, which she used to make a pair of cargo pants for Qin Zheng.

Seeing that there were many fabric scraps at home, she picked out some with nice patterns to make a patchwork handbag for herself, and used the rest to tie a new mop.

Every two days, she would go to the bathhouse to bathe, and by the way, check if there were any dishes she liked at the Canteen; if not, she would go home and cook for herself.

Today she finally finished making all the clothes, and having nothing to do, she planned to go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the morning and the Recycling Station in the afternoon.

The broth had long since been used up; the deep-fried hairtail had been taken away in a large jar by Qin Zheng, and the rest was almost eaten; there was only one egg left, and she also needed to replenish some rice, flour, grain, and oil.

Xie Yang tucked away her money and coupons, slung the newly finished patchwork handbag over her wrist, and rode her bicycle out.

Arriving at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she first checked to see if there were any fresh seafood.

If she could encounter the small Zhoushan hairtail like last time, she would buy another ten or eight catties.

However, fresh seafood that didn't require coupons was hard to come by, and she wasn't so lucky this time.

But seeing there was Salted Kelp, Xie Yang weighed out two catties, and she also bought half a catty of salty Dried Shrimp.

In addition, she weighed out a block of firm tofu and two catties of eggs.

Then she rushed to the Pork counter and bought the last pork bone that didn't require a coupon.

Since there was only one bone, she couldn't be bothered to make broth, but stewing it with kelp and tofu would be just fine.

Turning a corner after leaving the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, there was a grain and oil store with a small blackboard hanging on the doorpost, on which was written "Today's supply: cornmeal, dried sweet potato slices."

One jin of Grain Coupon could be exchanged for three jin of these coarse grains, but a grain ration book had to be presented.

Xie Yang carried her grain ration book with her.

She took it out from her patchwork handbag and handed it to the clerk, then counted out ten jin worth of Grain Coupons and the corresponding money and passed them over:

"Comrade, I would like to buy four jin of Rice and four jin of Fuqiang flour; please help me exchange the remaining two jin for four jin of cornmeal and two jin of dried sweet potato slices."

After the clerk verified the grain ration book, they efficiently packed the rice and flour for her.

Xie Yang had only brought two grain bags with her, so she paid a twenty-cent deposit, borrowed two old cloth grain bags from the grain store, hung the four bags of grain in two pairs on the back seat of her bicycle, and rode back slowly.