“Sis, let’s get some more of this candy—it looks delicious.”
Xiaogu pointed at one of the bins, her eyes glued to it.
The candies were round, wrapped in transparent paper in all sorts of bright colors.
Lin Xiaohe glanced at the price—7.80 yuan per jin—not too bad.
“Alright, grab some.”
“Yay!”
After getting the candy, they reached the end of the aisle and turned around—on the other side, it was all jelly.
Prices varied widely—the cheapest were only a little over 4 yuan per jin, while the most expensive were dozens.
“Sis, it’s cheap, but it’s heavy—a handful probably weighs a jin.”
Xiaogu only took a few, just to try the taste.
Next to it were all kinds of spicy sticks and dried meat—the faint aroma made them stop in their tracks.
“Sis, look at this—it looks so good!”
Xiaogu pointed at a transparent pack of spicy sticks. Through the packaging, you could see the red oil coating them—clearly delicious.
“Let’s get some then.” It wasn’t expensive—9.90 yuan per jin. She grabbed about ten packs—probably a little over a jin.
Comparing the price to wild greens, nothing seemed expensive anymore.
“That’s enough, that’s enough—let’s go.” Xiaogu saw her sister still reaching for more and pulled her away—no more buying.
They checked out and spent about 30 yuan total.
“Sis, are we going home now?”
“Not yet—let’s go buy some bowls. Using bamboo bowls all the time isn’t ideal.”
Since they had time and were already here, they might as well stock up on everything the household needed.
“Where do we go?”
“The shop across from the grain and oil store has them. Let’s ask the price—if it’s too high, we’ll look elsewhere.”
She’d noticed it the first time they bought salt, but back then her pockets couldn’t afford it.
Now that they had more money, it was time to get everything.
The shop owner remembered the two kids—they’d bought a ton of salt last time.
When she saw them walk in, she greeted them warmly. “Back again! What are you after this time?”
“Boss, we want to buy some bowls for home use. Do you have any in the old styles? Our family’s used to those.”
The shop owner paused for a second, then nodded quickly.
“Of course I do! Not just earlier styles—I’ve got stuff from the 60s and 70s too.” Though her shop wasn’t huge, she had quite a collection—whatever you needed.
She pulled out two yellow enamel bowls. “Like these?”
“And these too.” She brought out a few wide-mouthed bowls—grayish-white with blue floral patterns.
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes lit up. “Yes, yes—those are the ones! How much are they?”
“Same price—small ones 5 yuan, big ones 8 yuan.”
The shop owner thought of something and brought out a few enamel basins. “How about these? Great for storing lard. These ones with the big red flowers are nice too.”
Lin Xiaohe loved them more and more—these were all good finds!
“How much are these?”
“20 yuan each. If you buy a few, I can round off the total.”
She liked this one, she liked that one—before she knew it, she’d picked out two basins for lard, ten bowls (five large, five small), and two shallow enamel plates at 15 yuan each, perfect for serving dishes.
“Oh, quite a haul! I’ll knock off the odd change for you.
That’ll be 130 yuan total, little girl. I operate on thin margins—can’t budge much more.”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t haggle further and paid promptly.
One basin for lard, and the other could double as a soup tureen.
The shop owner even threw in two ladles and a few pairs of chopsticks—nothing valuable.
They headed home; they couldn’t carry any more.
They’d barely put things away when someone called from outside.
“Xiaohe, are you home?”
“Yes! Auntie, what brings you here?”
“I brought you some firewood. I went up the mountain today and gathered some—figured you could use it.”
Huang Hong smiled and carried two bundles of firewood inside.
The ancestral hall had a room on each side, with the middle once used for ancestral tablets. The tablets were gone, but Lin Xiaohe didn’t dare cook there. She cooked in the left room and slept in the right.
Though they were rooms, they had no doors and were connected.
“I’ll leave these here. There are a few more bundles at the door—I’ll bring those in too. No need to take them inside—they won’t fit anyway.
I’ll stack them by the gate so they’re easy to grab. It hasn’t rained in so long, they should be fine outside.
Next time you run out, just let me know. Xiaogu’s still too little to gather much firewood.”
Without waiting for a reply, she went out and brought in more firewood.
“Sis, I feel like Auntie’s changed so much—she’s so decisive now.”
“Isn’t that a good thing.”
Huang Hong was also mulling it over. Was there something about living in the old house? Everyone who left seemed to do better.
Especially Third Brother’s family—she’d never known he had such black market connections. Now he was making a killing even while bedridden.
The things her daughter brought home yesterday had shocked her.
Even in good harvest years, she wouldn’t have expected to see such grain right in front of her.
Her daughter said she’d traded the gold ring and jade bracelet for it—Huang Hong felt like she’d taken advantage.
Those things weren’t worth much these days.
But the family truly needed the grain, so she tried to help in whatever way she could.
So she’d gone up the mountain early this morning, gathered firewood, and brought it all here.
She set the wood down and left without looking back.
Lin Xiaohe couldn’t even stop her.
“Auntie, why are you leaving? Let me give you something—I’m not going to eat you!”
“You’re always so polite. I just brought some firewood—no need to give me anything. I’ve got to go—kids are waiting at home.”
Huang Hong was afraid she’d offer her things. No matter how strong a kid was, they couldn’t outmatch an adult. She pulled her sleeve free and walked off without looking back.
Lin Xiaohe scratched her head—if she wouldn’t take it, could she just bring it over instead?
“Sis, I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?”
“Stir-fried pork with dried bamboo shoots.”
They’d bought quite a bit of meat a couple days ago—there was still a little left. It wouldn’t keep in this weather, so they’d cooked it all the night before.
The meat was fatty, so it rendered a lot of oil and could last a couple days.
There wasn’t much left—they’d finish it tonight.
Perfect for stir-frying with bamboo shoots.
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