Malted milk certainly isn’t cheap.
Sister-in-law Zhao sulked and said no more.
The sister-in-law didn’t ask if the other items were being distributed evenly to her, but whether the items were expensive.
"What about the canned fruit?"
"What about White Rabbit milk candy?"
Was this sister-in-law doing this on purpose?
"Sister-in-law, it’s not that I don’t want to share some things with you, but that you don’t want them."
Uncle Zhao, who was driving the ox cart, also heard their conversation.
His gaze fell on Zhao Tianxiang’s leg, noting that it had not been long since the division of the family, and already there had been an accident.
Now, simply by looking at their female comrades’ clothes, one could tell which family was living better and which was poorer.
"Thank you, sister-in-law, for thinking of us," Zhao Tianxiang, Brother Zhao, felt as though his sister-in-law was putting him on the spot.
But indeed, they couldn’t afford malted milk and such.
People continuously arrived, but they had to wait for everyone who had gone out earlier to return, which took another fifteen minutes.
"Educated Youth Yun, you see, you bought quite a lot, didn’t you?"
Xiaoxiao looked at the other person and answered, "The New Year is coming, and it’s rare to come to town, so I started preparing the new year goods. What about you, aunt, what did you buy?"
"There’s so little that doesn’t require coupons, I bought a jin of hard candy..."
Once off the ox cart, Xiaoxiao headed straight home with her basket on her back.
Xiaoxiao saw there was an extra person in the house.
Xiaoxiao looked at them, took out a bag of fruit candy, poured out half, "Da Bao, take your brother and deliver this jin of fruit candy to your eldest uncle."
She handed the remaining jin of fruit candy to Er Dan.
"Take it, this fruit candy that doesn’t require a coupon isn’t expensive, consider it a New Year’s gift from your sister-in-law."
Er Dan pulled out a yuan from his pocket and tried to hand it to Xiaoxiao.
"You can’t pay for candy that your sister-in-law gives you, keep it."
Xiaoxiao turned to Da Bao and Xiao Bao, "You guys hurry up and deliver it."
"Sister-in-law, then I’ll go back first." He held his money carefully, knowing his sister-in-law and Third Brother took good care of him.
He thought about how, with Third Brother gone, his sister-in-law’s home must be short on firewood, and the homestead left behind by Third Brother would need tending.
This was a child full of gratitude.
After sending them off, Xiaoxiao took out items from her basket one by one.
If these were for the new year, she still prepared some for her parents-in-law.
Pastries and candies, along with a bottle of liquor.
There were glass bottles of erguotou online that, when soaked in water, allowed the label to be peeled off easily.
Two jins of egg cake, a bag of sugar, a five-jin bag of noodles, and she also brought a bottle of oil.
Da Bao and Xiao Bao came back, bringing with them 50 cents.
"Come on, let’s take the New Year goods to your grandmother."
What New Year’s goods?
The three of them, mother and sons, carried baskets towards the Zhao Family Mansion.
"Educated Youth Yun, are you going to deliver food to your mother-in-law?"
Some people saw Xiaoxiao coming back with a basket on her back and knew without looking that it was full of things.
They wanted to ask what things?
"Educated Youth Yun has been to town a few times to buy stuff, and she always delivers some to the Team Leader’s home."
"Didn’t you say before that Educated Youth Yun was unfilial? Now that they’ve split up, she often sends things to her in-laws’ home."
"Before, when she sent things, it was something the two married brothers’ families would share, of course, she’d be reluctant."
When they reached the old house, Mrs. Zhao was preparing to cook and saw them arrive, not to mention with a basket in hand.
"Mother, I’ve come to bring you the New Year goods."