Chapter 84

None of them settled the account; they locked the gate and rushed out for breakfast.

Li Xuewu, who had returned home early the night before, unhitched the cart, glanced at the child sleeping in Liu Yin’s arms, exchanged a few words with his mother-in-law, and went to sleep.

siluke.

All units were off on Sunday, no need to rise early.

His elder brother and sister-in-law’s units were the same—they usually read late into Saturday and slept in the next day.

On Sunday, none of the Li family worked, so only the elderly grandmother and the mother-in-law rose early.

The mother-in-law, as usual, scooped out the ash from the stove, lit the pot to warm water for the horse.

The grandmother rose early, stepped outside for a stroll—not far, just circling the courtyard, greeting a few other elderly men and women who had also risen early.

This group of early-rising elderly women did not include Jia Dongxu; if she could rise early, she wouldn’t have relied entirely on her daughter-in-law to support the whole household.

Li Xuewu had planned to sleep in, but at seven o’clock, Liu Yin got up.

Seeing her son sleeping like a child, she placed the baby, who had slept in her arms all night, into Li Xuewu’s quilt.

Li Xuewu, half-asleep, looked at the child staring at him from inside the quilt, mimicked a tiger’s roar, and pulled the child into his arms.

“Gegé gé~”

Seeing the child laugh, Li Xuewu made even more exaggerated faces and imitated animal sounds.

Li Shun, awakened by the child’s laughter and Li Xuewu’s noises, got up, put on his clothes, stepped off the kang, walked to Li Xuewu’s head, and lifted the gauze to check.

“The swelling’s gone. Wash off the ointment soon—don’t leave it on too long.”

As soon as Li Shun finished speaking, the child in Li Xuewu’s arms reached out with a tiny hand to grab Li Shun’s.

“Grandpa hold you? Come here, to grandpa.”

Saying this, he picked up the child and rocked him gently.

Li Xuewu could no longer sleep, so he got up and tidied himself.

He removed the gauze from his face, touched his cheek—it was indeed no longer swollen. He washed off the ointment with warm water; the skin beneath had returned to normal.

His old man’s skill really was unmatched; he glanced at the ointment now dark red, guessing the bruising had fully dispersed.

By the time Li Xuewu finished, the grandmother had taken the child from Li Shun’s arms and was feeding him the rice gruel Liu Yin had just made.

Seeing Li Xuewu done, the grandmother said: “We need to find a wet nurse—rice gruel still lacks nutrition.”

Liu Yin added: “There’s no postpartum woman in this whole area—it’s hard to find one.”

Li Xuewu nodded: “No rush—I’ll go out and look right away.”

Without eating breakfast, he mounted his big-wheel bicycle and rode off as Liu Yin called after him.

Li Xuewu pedaled fast; when he reached the alley entrance of Wen San’er’s house, he caught up with four men leaving for breakfast. Since he hadn’t eaten either, he joined them for buns.

During the meal, they didn’t mention last night’s events, but Li Xuewu told them the baby needed formula or milk.

“Milk’s impossible to get, but formula’s no problem, Brother Wu. Eat up—I’ll go find someone to exchange tickets.”

After finishing his bun, Old Biao set down his chopsticks, hopped onto Li Xuewu’s bike, and rode off.

Before Li Xuewu and the others had even finished eating, Old Biao rushed back, breathless.

He slipped a formula ticket and a baby-bottle ticket into Li Xuewu’s pocket under the table.

“This is all I’ve got for now—it should last a while. I’ll go scour the market tonight. If my niece goes hungry because I didn’t hold onto the market, I might as well quit this line.”

Formula was always scarce, and the corresponding tickets were rare. The market for them was small, and most people couldn’t afford them—so people had to trade among themselves, and sometimes still couldn’t get any.

Li Xuewu patted Old Biao’s shoulder, stood up, and walked out.

Between brothers, never say thank you—that’s an insult.

Li Xuewu went to the largest supply and marketing cooperative in the neighborhood. As soon as he entered, he saw a bustling crowd of men and women browsing goods in each section, while clerks shouted: “Buy if you’re buying, don’t keep picking—don’t buy, move aside and let others through!”

Li Xuewu squeezed up to the counter and laid his tickets on the surface.

“Give me a can of formula and a baby bottle.”

The clerk took a can of powdered milk in a tin box and a glass baby bottle from the shelf, placing them on the counter—the bottle’s cap was inverted, the nipple still attached.

“Only the Great Wall brand whole milk powder left—produced by the Daxing Grassland Yakkesi Dairy Factory. Price: 1.2 yuan per can. Bottle: 2 jiao. Total: 1.4 yuan.”

Li Xuewu placed down 1.4 yuan and began packing the formula and bottle into his cloth bag. Then the clerk reminded him: “Comrade, you’ve got an extra watch ticket here.”

Li Xuewu took it and realized—he’d forgotten: his adoptive mother had given him one before his mission, and it had been sitting in his pocket all along.

He’d packed the formula—now it was time to buy the watch. Could he let his adoptive mother’s watch ticket go to waste?

He might forget it again someday. He was careless enough already—losing it would be a pity.

Besides, having no timepiece was inconvenient. His life was slowly getting on track—he couldn’t afford to lack a sense of time anymore.

Li Xuewu pushed through the crowd to the watch counter—this area was nearly empty.

He lowered his head, studying the glass display. Inside, the watch styles were few.

He quickly settled on an imported Seima all-white steel shockproof watch—the strap came in either steel or leather.

As he stared, suddenly a voice came from in front: “Xiao Ting, your boyfriend’s here!”

The clerks all turned to look at Li Xuewu, then burst into loud laughter.

Li Xuewu was utterly confused.

What the hell?

Buy a watch and get a girlfriend thrown in?

Are there promotions now?

Only when Li Xuewu saw the female clerk, blushing as she playfully tussled with the older woman in front, did he realize what was going on.

It was the same female clerk he’d teased when buying his bicycle.

Seeing her approach, the teasing older woman playfully stepped aside, moving to another counter to take her shift—but still watched the scene with the other clerks.

The female clerk stood behind the counter, cheeks flushed.

“Buying a watch? Which one?”

Li Xuewu smiled: “Last time I married a bicycle blindfolded—can I pick this watch now?”

The female clerk’s usual sharp-tongued demeanor kicked in; though still blushing, she retorted: “How slick-tongued you are! Are you buying or not? If not, don’t block the space!”

Li Xuewu extended his hand, saying: “Let’s get acquainted—I’m Li Xuewu, security officer at Hongxing Steel Mill.”

The female clerk pretended calmness as she shook his hand, then said: “I’m Lin Tingting, clerk at the supply and marketing cooperative.”

As soon as she spoke, she quickly pulled her hand away.

A low laugh rose from the other counter.

Did the women here have no entertainment?

Why do they always love watching young men and women court each other?

Earlier, when Lin Tingting had bantered with Li Xuewu, the other female clerks had teased her, even planning to ask which family the young man came from, so they could arrange a match for her.

Li Xuewu paid no mind to the glances and laughter from the other counter—he was facing away, and besides, his face was thick enough to grin as he pointed to the Seima watch and told Lin Tingting to bring it out.

Lin Tingting knew Li Xuewu had bought a bicycle; she hadn’t expected him to buy a watch too. Of the “three turns and one sound,” he already had two—this was clearly a well-off young man.

Lin Tingting unconsciously began thinking in his interest: “This watch is imported—it needs a ticket like domestic ones, plus an extra thirty yuan. The Red Flag, S-Hai, and T-Jin brands over there are only 120 yuan—same thing to wear.”

Li Xuewu placed the watch ticket and 150 yuan on the counter, saying: “A wife should be someone you truly like—settling for less won’t last.”

“Good intentions met with ingratitude. I’m not even going to argue with you.”

Still, she took his ticket, processed the payment, and handed him the receipt.