And then, before she knew it, Chiang Xiao had spent all that money, including the few dollars Niu Guiying had compensated her with, all gone.
Such an impulse was indeed very hard for him to calm down.
Ge Liutao also worried about Chiang Xiao all night yesterday. After Chiang Songhai left home for the market, she waited half a day without seeing him return, nor did anyone send any message. That’s when she finally felt relieved.
Because if something had happened to Chiang Xiao, he would have surely sent word.
No news is good news.
So, at noon, she cooked herself a bowl of porridge so thin it could almost be used as a mirror, drank it, and peacefully went back to sleep. But this sleep lasted nearly three hours.
Just as she woke up, she heard a knock on the door.
Ge Liutao hurried to open the door.
When Chiang Songhai and Chiang Xiao entered, they didn’t bother to say anything and pulled her into the main room right away.
What they didn’t see was that, over at the Old Chiang family’s place, Song Xiyun happened to come out with a small bamboo basket, presumably on her way to pick green beans in the field. She caught sight of the neighbors and her eyes roved around.
Second Uncle is back from the big market? And why is he with that damned girl, Chiang Xiao?
Did they make a good amount of money from selling herbs this time and bring back a lot of stuff?
Song Xiyun carried her basket to the entrance of the Chiang family’s house, stretched out her hand to push the gate, but it didn’t budge.
Morals! It’s broad daylight, everyone’s at home, and they’re still locking the door? What do they have to hide?
What a pity that her man had told her to stay at home today; otherwise, she too would have gone to the big market. She had heard that there was an old man who sold sugar dumplings at every big market session. Those sugar dumplings, plump and white, soft and aromatic, rolled in sugar and sesame powder smeared with sweetness, were said to be delicious.
Song Xiyun had a sweet tooth and had been thinking about those sugar dumplings.
Given how Chiang Songhai doted on his granddaughter, if he really made some money, wouldn’t he have bought her a few dumplings?
Thinking this way, Song Xiyun became even more restless.
She turned around and went back to her home, walked over to the shared wall between the two homes, and brought over a bamboo chair.
On the other side, after being pulled into the main room, Ge Liutao remained stunned.
"Grandma, look at how much stuff I and Grandpa bought!" Chiang Xiao put down the burlap shoulder bag, helped her grandfather take off the carrying basket, and removed the cloth that covered it.
And then they began to take out items one by one.
Chiang Songhai, who still held ten pounds of rice in his hand, pushed it towards her and opened up the sack.
The sight of the shiny rice instantly widened Ge Liutao’s eyes.
"Didn’t we agree to buy just two pounds to tide us over?" Ge Liutao’s voice trembled a little. The rice they bought was certainly not the best quality, and buying two pounds would be about all they could manage; the family had saved up quite a few grain coupons, but they had no money.
How had they ended up bringing home this whole large sack?
Chiang Xiao said, "Grandma, Grandpa made some money! Look, we have these items too." She took everything out of the carrying basket and placed it on the dining table, covering the entire surface.
"Three pounds of old flour, three pounds of pork belly, and three pounds of ’oil helper.’" Chiang Xiao looked at the goods, pulled Ge Liutao closer, and meticulously listed them for her. "We even bought some seasonings."
In fact, Chiang Xiao felt a bit apprehensive and even a little guilty towards her grandparents.
If she hadn’t bought paints, brushes, and paper, they could have brought back much more than just this little rice and flour; even ten pounds of rice made her feel guilty.
Compared to the money she had spent, these foods really didn’t seem to be worth much.
With this in mind, she pulled over the shoulder bag, opened it to show her grandmother the contents, and said with some remorse, "Grandma, if it weren’t for these things I wanted to buy, our family could have bought at least thirty pounds of rice. Are you mad at me?"