Chapter 525: Gossip Survival System (24)

Huang Dama from the packaging workshop brought over a jin of hazelnuts: "Xiao Xie, these were sent by my maiden family; have them for the New Year."

Clerk Wang from the Propaganda Section brought over a bag of honey dates: "My eldest sister is with the troops at the frontier; she just sent these a few days ago, have them to sweeten your mouth."

Old Chen from the Sanitation Section had his son deliver a bottle of homemade fermented bean curd sauce.

Big Sister Han from the Union had just ground beans and made tofu at home, so she carried over a slab of frozen tofu directly.

Even Luo Caifeng from the same compound brought Xie Yang a pair of shoe soles she had stitched herself.

She and her husband were both employees at the Mechanical Factory; when they went to collect their New Year supplies, they naturally heard the origin of this batch of goods, so when she got home, she took a pair of shoe soles she had stitched in her spare time and made a trip to the Xie Family.

In her previous plane, Xie Yang had also worn stitched shoe soles; they didn't tire the feet on long walks, and when it was hot, they were breathable and didn't make the feet sweat.

She asked Luo Caifeng: "Auntie Luo, if your family has any extra shoe soles, I can trade things with you for them. Tell me what you need, and I will provide the cotton cloth for the backing myself."

Luo Caifeng happily agreed: "That's great, they're just shoe soles, right? The warehouse hasn't been busy lately, so I can stitch them while I'm at work. Also, if you have any extra meat coupons, could you spare me a few? My three boys at home are so meat-starved they're jumping all over the place..."

She and her husband, one in the Warehouse Management Section and one in the Loading Team, only received six liang of meat coupons combined each month, which was less than what Xie Yang received alone.

Her three growing boys clamored for meat every day, and six liang of meat coupons couldn't even last them a month.

"I should have some meat coupons."

Xie Yang thought for a moment and said that, at the very least, she hadn't used this month's meat coupons yet.

The other coupons had all been spent while preparing for the New Year.

Luo Caifeng immediately ran home, brought back the other two pairs of newly stitched shoe soles she had, and gave them all to Xie Yang.

"I'll stitch more later; do you want them indefinitely, or just a few pairs?"

"You can give me any extras you have. For now, I only need the sizes for me and my grandmother; when my younger cousin grows up, we'll add his size."

Grandma Xie also knew how to stitch soles and make shoes, but firstly, she was old and her eyesight was poor, and secondly, she had to look after the little cousin now, so she couldn't do this kind of work that required patience and sitting for long periods.

With ready-made soles, it wouldn't take much effort to just make the shoe uppers.

Of course, the family didn't need this many soles, but she could hoard them; what if she traveled to another backward plane in the future?

Luo Caifeng nodded happily upon hearing this: "Good, then I'll stitch them whenever I have time."

Even though she had to work during the day and could only use her lunch and evening hours, a pair of soles could be finished in a week or two. If the warehouse wasn't busy and she brought them to the factory to stitch, she could finish in five or six days.

Spending a little spare time to earn two liang of meat coupons—that was a steal!

"Mom, who are these people? Why are they all coming to give things to the Xie Family?"

Wang Lin returned from school and saw several groups of people coming in and out of Xie Yang's house; they all brought things in, set them down, and left, not looking like they were there to give New Year gifts or trade for New Year supplies.

She put down her schoolbag and, while holding a tea mug and drinking water, looked toward the Main Room through the window again and again.

Niu Cuifen was cooking and sighed upon hearing this: "Your dad's unit issued New Year supplies; they said it was thanks to Xie Yang this year that all the Formal Workers were issued a live chicken, so those who live nearby have all come to thank her. By rights, our family should also send her something, but your brother's wedding is right around the corner, and our family... plus the New Year gifts your eldest and second sisters brought, every bit has a use. I was just telling your dad, maybe we should just let it be."

Wang Lin's eyes rolled: "Mom, where are the wedding candies for Brother's wedding? If nothing else, would it matter if we gave out one or two more candies? Why don't you spare a few, and I'll take them to Xie Yang?"

Niu Cuifen glanced at her sideways, thinking she couldn't guess her daughter's intentions; was she still thinking about the Xie Family's big pomelo?

"Forget it! The wedding candies are already counted and bagged; there are no extras, don't cause trouble."

Wang Lin pouted, and just as she was about to complain, the door curtain was lifted, and her brother led his bride-to-be home for a meal.

"Who upset our future college student? Looking so unhappy." Wang Tao held his partner's hand as he walked home, in a good mood, and seeing his younger sister pouting, he teased her with a grin.

"Who else! It's you!" Wang Lin glared at her brother, "For your wedding, Mom emptied her pockets; she won't even spare enough to trade me a pomelo."

"A pomelo?" Lou Xuefang's eyes lit up, "We can still buy pomelos here?"

She had seen them where she was sent as an Educated Youth, but they were all collective property; when they ripened, they had to be sent to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and even in a good harvest year, if a few were left for the village to distribute, it wouldn't be the Educated Youth's turn. If you wanted to eat one, you still had to pay money or trade goods with the villagers.

She was strapped for cash and wasn't favored at home, and after being sent to the countryside, she couldn't even get enough to eat, so where would she have spare money or goods to trade for fruit that didn't fill you up?

So, in the six years she was in the countryside, she had seen pomelos but never eaten one.

"Who said it was bought?" Wang Lin said sourly, "It was sent by their relatives in the south, a big bag; I reckon there are ten or twenty of them!"

"Whose relatives? So generous!" Lou Xuefang asked curiously.

Wang Lin pursed her lips toward the middle household in the Main Room: "Who else, the Xie Family! They get big packages every few days; their New Year supplies must be so piled up there's no place to stand. Just an old lady and a pair of grandchildren, they probably can't even finish eating it all every day, yet they're so stingy, not even sharing a bit with us old neighbors of many years..."

"What are you saying! Don't always run your mouth with nonsense." Niu Cuifen finished stir-frying the vegetables and set them on the table, glaring at her daughter.

Wang Lin curled her lips and said nothing more.

Lou Xuefang, however, glanced through the window at the household her sister-in-law mentioned; it was brightly lit, looking much brighter and warmer than the cramped Side Room of the Wang Family.

Two days before the Laba Festival, the sound of festive suona horns rang out in the Number 8 Compound.

Wang Tao was getting married.

There wasn't enough room for a wedding banquet in the house, so Niu Cuifen and her husband set up two tables in the Courtyard.

One table was for relatives and friends, and one was for Wang Tao's leaders and colleagues from his unit.

As for the neighbors in the Dazayuan, they only invited Second Uncle and the other elder, while the other families were just given a few wedding candies.

In this day and age, no one had extra tables, chairs, benches, pots, or pans; for weddings, everything was borrowed from neighbors and friends. So, before six in the morning, the Wang Family was already busy with people coming and going, and quite a bit of noise could be heard from the Courtyard from time to time.

Xie Yang had originally wanted to take advantage of Sunday to sleep in, but now she couldn't.

"Yang Yang, why not sleep a little longer on Sunday?"

Grandma Xie was old and didn't need much sleep; she woke up around five o'clock. After getting up, she shoveled some charcoal into the stove, and once the fire was roaring, she added a ladle of water to the soup pot, warmed it up, and scooped it out for her granddaughter to wash her face.

"I'm up since I'm awake."

Xie Yang went to the kang in the main room to check on the fermented glutinous rice she had made a few days ago; it had already produced liquid.

"Grandma, let's cook fermented glutinous rice with eggs for breakfast today."

"Alright."