It’s still the early 1980s, and in a few years, the Planned Birth Policy will start. Qin Xiangnuan was born at the end of the seventies, living in the early eighties, by the time she gets married and has children, the Policy will be in place, and when the second-child policy is relaxed, she won’t be able to have children anymore.
She pinched her own face; she was only six years old, why think about such distant matters.
Living well now is actually laying the foundation for a good future.
Qin Xiangyang was also thinking about what his sister said. Yes, they need to get a stove, the water on the stove would always be hot, making it much more convenient for them to wash their faces and cook. However, they really don’t have much money, and his hospital fees were likely fronted by Uncle Hua. He didn’t know when he could pay it back.
"Brother, we have money," Qin Xiangnuan pulled out a small pouch from around her neck and stuffed it into Qin Xiangyang’s hands.
Qin Xiangyang felt the small cloth pouch in his hands. It was bulging, but he had no idea what was inside.
He opened the pouch; it was full of one-yuan bills and ten-cent coins.
How could there be so much? He felt like his hand was being scalded by the amount of money, how many yuan was this? "Nuannuan, where did you get this money from? Did you ask Uncle Hua and Aunt Hua for it?" He placed his hand on Qin Xiangnuan’s shoulder, but then his expression darkened as he had a thought—could Nuannuan have stolen this money?
"I earned it," Qin Xiangnuan raised her chin, "Brother, I earned it by selling pancakes. Everyone likes the pancakes I make." She pushed Qin Xiangyang towards the shop to buy a stove, "Nuannuan will take Brother to earn money."
And so, still somewhat dumbfounded, Qin Xiangyang was persuaded by his sister to buy a large stove, a small stove, pots and pans. They didn’t skimp on things like honeycomb coal, oil, salt, and also bought a big bag of flour. All this cost almost fifteen yuan. They also spent twenty cents on hiring a tricycle to pull all these things home, and the man even helped carry the items into their courtyard.
Qin Xiangnuan gave Qin Xiangyang five yuan and ten cents, instructing him to return the money to Aunt Hua. The five yuan was for Aunt Hua, and the ten cents was to buy some green onions. They didn’t have any land to grow crops. Even if the eight acres the Village Chief had divided among them would be theirs, with Guo Hua’s temperament, they were unlikely to plant anything soon as the fields were already sprouting with other crops.
By the time spring came around, she would ask the Village Chief to reclaim the land, and together with her brother, they would just grow some green onions. For everything else, she had other plans.
Qin Xiangyang had always thought that the medical expenses had been covered by Aunt Hua, but it turned out, his sister had paid them. However, he was clueless about where she got the money from. She kept saying she earned it, but how? Qin Xiangyang was totally bewildered.
But once he figured it out, he didn’t dwell on it. The first thing to do was settle the debts they owed. Otherwise, he feared he would have trouble sleeping at night.
Not long after, Qin Xiangyang returned with an armful of green onions. One could buy so many green onions for just ten cents, honestly, the Qin Xiangnuan of the future, where prices soared, was shocked. Back then, what could ten cents buy? Half a green onion, no, not even that, maybe just some green onion leaves.
Qin Xiangnuan neatly arranged everything in the kitchen. They had flour, oil, and the fire for the stove was started. The small stove wasn’t needed for now, but it would come in handy when they got a tricycle someday.