When she woke up again, the sky outside was bright. Chen Lishu grabbed a pajama top and put it on. After opening the curtains, she went to the outer room to reheat the food she had eaten yesterday.
Unexpectedly, when she offered it to 'the King', it glanced at it, then turned away with a look of disgust, its plump round hindquarters swaying as it sulkily returned to its own bed.
"Alright, you'll have to bear with this meal. I'll go to the city tomorrow to see if they sell small fish and buy some for you."
Upon hearing the word "fish", the cat king's pointed ears twitched involuntarily.
After eating, Chen Lishu began to continue with the cotton lining. In the afternoon, Lin Xiaoyue came over. The two chatted and worked, and it wasn't until the men were about to get off work that Chen Lishu finally finished sewing a single mattress. Lin Xiaoyue also went home to cook.
After seeing Lin Xiaoyue off, Chen Lishu tidied up her things and started cooking.
The next day, as soon as Gu Xingdong left, the cat king began to scratch at the door, its grating sound making it impossible for her to sleep. She had no choice but to get up and put on clothes.
"I really owe you two from my past life. One is never full, and the other is a little greedy cat." Chen Lishu shook her head helplessly and began to prepare breakfast.
After one person and one cat had breakfast, Chen Lishu got dressed and went out.
"Eat, eat, eat, you're like a starving ghost all day. How much can my son earn to feed you like this! You're pregnant, it's like you're carrying a golden egg, doing nothing all day. What bad karma did our old Wei family do to marry someone as unlucky as you."
Hearing her mother-in-law's scolding, Wang Yufeng stopped her chopsticks, looking wronged as if about to cry.
"Who are you putting on this act for? Complaining to Gangzi behind my back, you're quite capable. And there's still a pile of clothes to wash, so hurry up and wash them. You've only been in the city for two and a half days, and you think you're a city person? Do you have that kind of destiny?"
Wang Yufeng dared not reply, so she bit her lip and got up. Her eyes flickered involuntarily when she saw Chen Lishu coming out of the building opposite.
"Mom, I'm going downstairs to pick up the clothes I hung out to dry."
Although the temperature was low in winter, and clothes hung out would freeze stiff, they would still dry if left out for a couple of days.
Old Mrs. Wei snorted with half-closed eyes and carried her bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen.
Chen Lishu had already walked quite a distance when she suddenly heard someone call her from behind. She turned around to see that it was Wang Yufeng.
"Sister-in-law, is something wrong?"
Wang Yufeng, supporting her slightly visible belly, stepped forward and took out fifty cents from her pocket. She said carefully, "Sister-in-law, you're going to the city, right? Can you help me bring back two catties of酥饼 (taosu bing)?"
Chen Lishu raised an eyebrow at her words, her gaze falling on the fifty cents in her hand. She smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, you probably don't go to the city often. Taosu bing costs seventy cents a catty, and you'll also need six liang of grain coupons."
Wang Yufeng awkwardly tugged at the hem of her clothes. "My mother-in-law is very strict and doesn't give me enough to eat. The money and coupons are all with her. I don't have that much money on me."
If she had no money, she could have just said so. What did it mean to say nothing at all? Chen Lishu's smile faded slightly. "After all, you're pregnant. You should talk to Brother Wei about this."
Her money and grain coupons weren't blown in by the wind; they were earned by Gu Xingdong's hard work.
Wang Yufeng moved her lips and said with difficulty, "How about you help me bring back fifty cents worth, Sister-in-law? I'll owe you the grain coupons for the advance payment."
"Okay," Chen Lishu nodded.
After all, they lived in the same courtyard, and since she had already said that, Chen Lishu took the fifty cents from her hand and turned to leave.
She took the bus to the city. The cat king was quite lucky. When she arrived at the food store, there was still a palm-sized fish left. Thinking it was better than nothing, Chen Lishu bought it, and then bought a block of frozen tofu.
Tofu was also supplied with coupons at this time. In the city, each person could only get two blocks per month. Fortunately, Gu Xingdong was in the army, so there was no shortage of these coupons.
Since there was meat at home, Chen Lishu didn't buy any more. However, since there were few vegetables in winter, she thought of sprouting some garlic sprouts and bean sprouts herself. So, she bought some soybeans and garlic.
After buying what she wanted, Chen Lishu went to the food counter again to buy fifty cents worth of taosu bing for Wang Yufeng, paying for four liang of grain coupons herself.
After everything was bought, Chen Lishu took the bus back to the military compound.
Wang Yufeng had been keeping an eye on Chen Lishu's movements. As soon as she saw her, she immediately found an excuse to go out.
When she saw the fish and vegetables in her hands, a flash of jealousy crossed her eyes.
"Thank you, Sister-in-law."
Smiling, Wang Yufeng took the taosu bing from Chen Lishu's hand and left impatiently. She stood at the entrance of the building and found a spot out of the wind, eating all four or five pieces of taosu bing in one go, choking on them.
After parting ways with Wang Yufeng, Chen Lishu went straight home. As soon as she opened the door, 'the King' eagerly rushed to greet her. When it smelled the fishy scent, it immediately meowed excitedly and circled around Chen Lishu's feet.
Chen Lishu first cleaned the fish, then steamed it. After it was out of the oven, she took half of it and put it in 'the King''s bowl, putting the rest away for the time being.
Glancing at the time, it was almost noon. Chen Lishu made herself something simple to eat, and then soaked the garlic and soybeans she had bought in water.
After searching for a while, she couldn't find anything suitable for sprouting garlic sprouts. In the end, she had to use a water basin from home and go to the yard to collect soil.
After everything was done, in the afternoon, Chen Lishu continued to finish the unfinished quilts, neatly wrapped them in a cloth bundle, and put them into the cabinet.
Because the weather was too cold, she didn't go anywhere for the next two days. Besides playing with the cat at home, she spent her time knitting trousers for Gu Xingdong.
Since her rebirth, she had been busy every day. It was a bit unaccustomed to suddenly have quiet time, but all her money had been invested in that batch of clothes. Without money, she couldn't do anything.
Glancing at the almanac hanging on the wall, she thought that Lin Qi should have received the items by now. She wondered how his sales were going. It was really inconvenient without a phone.
Lin Qi had indeed received the items, and he had sold all the clothes in just two days.
The matter began the day before. After Lin Qi received the clothes, he planned to go directly to the staff family quarters to stake out. However, before he even got there, he saw two people privately selling goods being caught by people wearing red armbands.
After the year-end grain distribution, people from the villages wanted to go into the city to exchange for things, and the red armbands in the city also began to increase.
Lin Qi thought about it and directly carried his goods back home. It was not advisable to stay put in the city. If he were caught, his goods would be confiscated, and he couldn't afford to gamble. For safety, he decided to do the opposite. He took a few clothes and went to the surrounding affluent brigades to sell them.
The villages were relatively safe, and after the work points were settled before the New Year, people had spare money in hand, so their desire to buy things would definitely be higher.