“Sure—let’s go buy some.” With their pockets full, money wasn’t an issue.
They picked up a bottle of vinegar, a jar of bean paste, and a bag of chicken bouillon.
“Let’s go check out the meat. If it looks good, we’ll grab some. The weather’s cooling down—it’ll keep for a day or two.”
A while ago, you’d still break a sweat running around outside, but now she was already wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a thin padded jacket.
It was called a padded jacket, but it was really just like a regular coat—the cotton inside was so thin it was barely there.
“Yay!” Lin Xiaohe figured that if prepared food was on sale, maybe meat was too—and even cheaper.
Sure enough, there was discounted meat—but only the ugly leftovers that nobody wanted: misshapen cuts, all fat.
Others might turn their noses up, but she loved it!
She didn’t just like it—she loved it. She grabbed a few bags and started loading up.
Even Xiaogu was startled, her voice stammering.
“S-Sis, are we buying this much?!”
“It’s fine—since when have we ever had too much food back home? We’ll trade some to Aunt Xiang’s family, some to Er Ya Jie’s, some to Granny Zhao’s.
They’ll probably want some for relatives and friends too—once we spread the word, it’ll all be gone.”
Lin Xiaohe was cautious, only trading with the families they had close ties with.
Just in case.
Otherwise, she could have bought out the whole meat section.
“Okay—I’ll help you pack!”
They filled four bags, which came out to 20 jin on the scale.
“Making sausages this early? Seems a bit soon,” the cashier chatted as she stuck on the price tags.
“No—just using a lot at home.” Lin Xiaohe was now smooth enough to come up with an excuse without batting an eye.
“I see.”
The tags were all on, so they didn’t chat further.
With so much meat, they couldn’t carry anything else—time to head home.
“Wait—didn’t we come here to buy grain?”
Lin Xiaohe thought for a moment, then shrugged. Whatever—they’d do it tomorrow.
Walking past the grain and oil shop, they saw it was already closed.
The lights were on upstairs.
Chen Fang happened to be pulling the curtains and spotted them—she waved them over.
“What are you two doing out so late? Hey—don’t leave. I’ve got something for you.”
Yesterday, she’d asked a relative for her daughter’s outgrown clothes.
Her own family and her sister-in-law’s only had boys—no girls’ clothes.
She’d gone through them, picking out what was good.
That relative had three daughters and was fairly well-off, buying her kids nice clothes.
A piece of clothing might last one season at most—it’d definitely be outgrown by the next year.
These two girls were dressed in rags, patched all over—she had no idea there were still places this poor.
She’d only seen clothes like that in old documentaries about remote mountain villages.
By now, poverty alleviation had been going on for years—how could there still be places this poor?
But it wasn’t something she could ask.
The first time she’d seen these kids, they were buying medicine—both parents bedridden, leaving only the children to run errands. Better not bring up family matters and stir up painful memories.
“These are clothes my relative’s kids outgrew. See if they fit—if they do, keep them.”
Her relative really doted on her daughters—bought them tons of clothes every year. Many looked brand-new, with two still having their tags on.
A whole snakeskin travel bag full—she’d picked out long pants and long sleeves suitable for these two.
Lin Xiaohe peeked through the open zipper and her eyes went wide.
All clothes!
Every piece looked like something city kids would wear.
Xiaogu’s eyes were full of longing—then she glanced down at her own gray, patched clothes.
Her expression turned bashful.
Seeing their reaction, Chen Fang didn’t say more.
“If you can use them, take them. They were going to be thrown away anyway—if they’re useful to you, they haven’t gone to waste.”
From what Lin Xiaohe had gathered so far, people here were well-off.
Nothing like back home, where clothes went through three years new, three years worn, three years patched, and then passed down to younger siblings for a few more years.
“Thank you, Aunt Fang—we’ll take them.”
“Don’t mention it—just keep them.”
She made a mental note to go back for winter clothes later.
The relative was her younger sister—she’d been a rebellious teen. Her grades were decent—not top-tier, but she could’ve been at the top of an ordinary high school. Instead, she insisted on dropping out and going to work.
The family tried everything—scolding, beating, locking her in her room. But she’d picked the lock and run off.
By the time they found her, she was already apprenticing at a nail salon.
Seeing how determined she was, they let her experience the hardship of working—thinking she’d come running back to school.
But half a year later, she’d gone from apprentice to store manager.
She refused to go back to school.
A couple years later, she opened her own shop—now she owned over a dozen chain nail salons, supposedly a popular internet-famous brand.
The sisters struggled just to carry all that stuff home.
“What have you two been running back and forth for tonight?”
Liu Yuexiu was usually asleep by now—she’d forced herself to stay awake.
“Nothing much—we bought some things. Mom, things over there are so cheap at night! Even things already cheap are 20% off.”
Xiaogu chattered excitedly. “Oh, and we bought a roast chicken—let’s eat it together!”
Xiaoman was fast asleep at the foot of the bed.
But the moment the roast chicken came out, she woke up—and before she could speak, the drool started flowing.
“Pfft—little glutton, hehe.” Xiaogu tore off a drumstick and handed it to her.
“Sis, I’m saving the other drumstick for you.”
She tore off both wings and drumettes and handed them to her parents—things they could eat with their hands, so they didn’t need feeding.
She broke off half the chicken breast for herself.
“Sis, stop tidying up—come eat first! Finish it while it’s still warm—it’s already cooling down.”
“Coming!” Lin Xiaohe was looking through Aunt Fang’s clothes—there really were a ton.
Most of them would fit her and her sister—some a bit big, some a bit small, but they’d make do.
“We won’t need clothes for years—there’s a whole bag full. Enough to last us a long time.”
“What clothes?” Liu Yuexiu asked curiously.
“It’s the shop owner at the grain and oil store—the one who bought our wild greens the first time, super nice. We passed by her shop today and she gave us a ton of clothes.”
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