Chapter 44
Ye Qingzhi had been in the family compound for so long, and this was only her fourth time in town. The winter in the Northwest was really too cold. Unless it was necessary, she really didn’t want to go out.
She first took Gu Yao and the others to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, like pots and pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, as well as the hats, scarves, and leather boots they urgently needed.
“It’s fine to buy the pots and pans later. Let’s go and buy the scarves and hats first,” Gu Yao said, sniffing and rubbing her hands.
The winter in Nancheng was also cold, but a cotton-padded jacket and pants were enough to withstand it. The winter in the Northwest was different. The wind was biting. If you didn’t wear a hat, your scalp felt like it was going to crack.
Gu Yao directly put on her scarf and hat and let out a long sigh of relief. “Things with fur are warm, but the price is a bit expensive. Sister-in-law, if we have our own leather custom-made, will it be cheaper?”
A pair of children’s leather boots cost several yuan, and this scarf and hat also cost several yuan.
A few yuan here, a few yuan there, added up to dozens or even a hundred. No matter how high the salary was, you couldn’t spend it like this.
Ye Qingzhi knew that she was heartbroken about the money, but these were necessities for survival. No matter how expensive they were, they had to be bought.
“Of course, it’s cheaper to have your own leather custom-made. Li Jiang is also going hunting in the mountains today. With his ability, he can definitely catch a lot of prey. It should be no problem to make a set for your family. If not, you can borrow some from the old families in the family compound and return it to them next year,” Ye Qingzhi said, helping to come up with an idea.
She wasn’t just talking nonsense. Fur clothes were durable. Those military wives who had been with the army for many years had all saved up some leather.
Fur was not good if it was stored for too long. It just so happened that some of the new military wives didn’t have any, so the old military wives would lend their fur to the new ones and have their men go hunting in the mountains to repay the debt the next year.
Li Jinfeng had borrowed a few pieces of leather from Li Guifang before. This time, with the hunt, she might be able to return some of it.
“You already know where to buy things. You can take your time looking here. I’ll go and check out the tofu stall,” Ye Qingzhi said, nodding at them and preparing to leave.
“Alright. Thank you so much for your trouble today, Sister-in-law. If it weren’t for your help, we wouldn’t have known where to buy them,” Gu Yao said gratefully, walking Ye Qingzhi to the door.
“You’re being a stranger. I’ll be going now. We’ll meet where we got off the bus later,” Ye Qingzhi said, waving her hand and turning to leave.
It was Zhao Lan who had brought her to these places. At that time, she had been so enthusiastic, but now they were just nodding acquaintances.
“Master Liu, I’d like to order two blocks of frozen tofu. Is that alright?” Ye Qingzhi asked in a low voice.
This place was remote, and there were many ethnic minorities. Because of this, the management was relatively loose.
For example, this tofu. In other places, you needed tofu tickets, but not here.
The farmers here would plant some soybeans by the fields and then trade them with Master Liu for tofu, one catty of soybeans for one catty of tofu. Slowly, Master Liu was able to save up a lot of soybeans and sell them to those who didn’t have any.
Master Liu still remembered Ye Qingzhi and asked with a chuckle, “Well, is the frozen tofu alright?”
“It’s very delicious, so I’ve come to order again. I want two blocks this time,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile, nodding.
“I have some in stock. Two blocks, right? I’ll go and get them,” Master Liu said, quickly packing up and running in to get the frozen tofu.
Of course, it was good to have it in stock. Ye Qingzhi asked for two blocks. One block was forty catties, so two blocks were eighty catties. Frozen tofu was one cent more expensive than fresh tofu, so 0.18 * 80 = 14.4. Ye Qingzhi thought the price was alright.
Eighty catties of frozen tofu. If it weren’t for the strength she had developed from working back home, she really wouldn’t have been able to carry it.
“Sister-in-law, what did you buy? It’s so heavy,” Wang Heng said, seeing Ye Qingzhi come over. He quickly took her basket. His hand was pressed down, and he almost couldn’t hold on.
“Frozen tofu. The few children at home all love to eat it, so I bought a little more,” Ye Qingzhi said. After putting the things away, she told Wang Heng and continued to browse the market.
The pears, jujubes, and green onions she had bought last time were all gone. She wanted to see if there were any more. If there were, she would buy some more.
She didn’t find any green onions, but she did find some yellow chives, two bundles in total, and also about three or four catties of dried red jujubes. Ye Qingzhi asked for the price and simply bought them all.
“Sister-in-law, you’re here? Have you already bought the frozen tofu?” Gu Yao asked, seeing Ye Qingzhi and quickly calling out to her.
“Master Liu has some in stock. I bought two blocks. What about you? What did you buy?” Ye Qingzhi asked curiously as she packed her things.
“I bought some potatoes and apples. Sister-in-law, do you know where to buy cabbage and radishes?” She had asked the people at the supply and marketing cooperative. This month’s supply was already gone, and she had to wait until next month.
“You don’t have to buy radishes and cabbage here. You can go to the logistics department and ask the procurement department to help you buy some,” she said. The army bought in large quantities, and the price was much more favorable than at the supply and marketing cooperative.
After a walk around, Ye Qingzhi noticed that someone was sneakily entering a large courtyard. When they came out, their bags were bulging.
Could that be the black market?
She didn’t dare to go alone, and Gu Yao and Li Yang were not here. She looked around. It was not far from the parking spot. She simply ran to find Wang Heng.
“The black market?” Wang Heng looked at his clothes. “If I go over like this, they’ll definitely run away.”
Ye Qingzhi slapped her forehead. That was true. Did she have to give up this time?
“Sister-in-law, it’s too dangerous for you to go in alone. Why don’t you wait until Brother He has time and have him take you?” Wang Heng was afraid that Ye Qingzhi would go to the black market alone. If something happened, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Brother He.
“Don’t worry, I know what’s important,” she said. If she had been bold, she would have gone in just now. Why would she have come to find Wang Heng?
She couldn’t go to the black market, and she had already browsed the outside. There was nothing she wanted to buy. She might as well wait here for Gu Yao and the others to come back.
“Wang Heng, where is your hometown?” It was a bit awkward for the two of them not to talk. Ye Qingzhi started with the most common question.
In fact, she already knew Wang Heng’s basic information. The first time she had come to the town, Zhang Dama had asked all the way, almost asking the color of Wang Heng’s underwear.
If she remembered correctly, Wang Heng was twenty-two this year, his hometown was in Dong Province, he was over 1.8 meters tall, and besides his parents and grandfather, he also had an older brother and sister, and a younger sister. He himself was not yet married, and his family was very anxious.
“Sister-in-law, I’m from Dong Province,” Wang Heng said, thinking that Ye Qingzhi had not heard because of her carsickness, and answered honestly.
“Dong Province is a good place. I’ll come to your house to play when I have the chance,” Ye Qingzhi said, turning her head and seeing Gu Yao and the others come back. She waved at them. “What else did you buy?”
“I bought whatever I saw that was useful,” Gu Yao said, putting the things away and giving two apples to Wang Heng. “Thank you for waiting for us for so long, Squad Leader Wang.”
“You’re welcome. I can’t accept this,” Wang Heng said, stuffing the apples back.
Gu Yao tried to stuff them back several times but was refused by Wang Heng. He only said that it was what he should do.
Ye Qingzhi remembered that when she had given Wang Heng jujubes and pears, he had said “thank you, Sister-in-law” and had accepted them. It seemed he treated her as one of his own.
Back at home, looking at the pile of things on the ground, Ye Qingzhi was taken aback for a moment. She had said she would only buy frozen tofu, but in the end, she had bought a whole bunch of other things.
But it was fine. They were all for eating and using, and the family really needed them.
“Mama, what is this?” Ye Anmin asked, pointing to the yellow chives curiously.
“This is yellow chives,” Ye Qingzhi said. Seeing the few children’s confused looks, she suddenly realized that their hometown did not have yellow chives, so the original host should not have known them. She immediately smiled and explained, “The old folks here say that this is just chives, chives that have not been exposed to the sun.”
“Will chives turn into this if they don’t get sun?” The few children gathered around curiously.
“Yes. This is my first time seeing it too. I’ll stir-fry this yellow chives with eggs for lunch later. You can try it. If you like it, I’ll buy more next time,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.
The few children helped Ye Qingzhi move the frozen tofu to the backyard, and then put the other things where they should be. It was almost time to make lunch.
Ye Qingzhi mixed the flour, preparing to make hand-pulled noodles. Although she knew Gu Yao would not come, she still had He Jingyan and Ye Anmin go and call her.
Sure enough, the two brothers returned empty-handed, and each was stuffed with a handful of candy.
“Ma, we didn’t want it, but Auntie Gu insisted on giving it to us,” He Jingyan said, handing over all the candy.
Ye Anmin also took them out, saying that his younger brother also had a share, and everyone would eat together.
“Take it. Your papa and Uncle Li Jiang are on good terms,” Ye Qingzhi said, counting them. There were twenty in total, exactly five for each person. Gu Yao must have given them according to five per person.
They had hand-pulled noodles for lunch. Ye Qingzhi also stir-fried a plate of yellow chives with eggs. Besides Yangyang, who did not like green onions, the other few all liked the yellow chives.
In the afternoon, Ye Qingzhi was wondering what to eat for dinner when Gu Yao had already prepared the food and came to call them to her house for dinner.
“You just arrived. You must still have a lot of places to tidy up. Let’s do it another day. When you’ve tidied up, I’ll come again,” Ye Qingzhi quickly refused.
“We’ve already tidied up. The food is already prepared, and I’ve also told Brother He. Don’t cook tonight. Just come to my house to eat. If you don’t come, you’re treating me as an outsider,” Gu Yao said seriously.
Since she had said so, they had to go!
Ye Qingzhi had thought there would be others, but it was just their family. And the food was very rich.
She had originally wanted to help, but they had already washed and cut all the vegetables, just waiting for He Qiming and the others to come back and stir-fry them.
Around five o’clock, Li Jiang came back, a little disheveled. Seeing Ye Qingzhi and the few children, he said with a smile, “Brother He went home to change his clothes first. He’ll be here in a bit.”
“What happened? Did you run into a fierce beast today?” Gu Yao asked with concern, seeing the blood on Li Jiang.
“It’s alright. I’ll go and change my clothes,” Li Jiang said, rubbing his hands. He had just arrived in the Northwest and had not been through the drought-resistance training yet. He was really a little cold.
After eating at the Li family’s house and returning home, Ye Qingzhi learned from He Qiming that they had run into a large wolf pack today, and two young soldiers had been slightly injured.
“Are you alright?” Ye Qingzhi asked quickly.
He Qiming shook his head. “I’m fine. After leading the team today, I won’t be going into the mountains anymore.”
It was good that he wasn’t going into the mountains. It would save her from being on pins and needles all day.
The next day, He Qiming received a letter. Ye Qingzhi did not open it. Even as a married couple, they had to respect each other’s privacy.
When He Qiming came back from work and read the letter, it turned out that there was a lead on the herbs he had asked someone to look for.
“Qingzhi, we’ve finally found the last herb,” He Qiming said, handing the letter to Ye Qingzhi.
These herbs were actually not that precious, it was just that because of the current environment, they were not easy to buy.
Now that they had found the place of origin directly and had asked someone to buy them from the villagers, if it was winter, they could be sent over after being processed.
As soon as these herbs were gathered, He Qiming took Ye Qingzhi to find Old Hu to have the medicine prepared.
Chinese medicine was indeed good for conditioning the body. Ye Qingzhi had only been drinking it for half a month, and her hands and feet were not so cold anymore, and she felt much more relaxed. But this medicine was also really hard to drink. When she thought of the taste of Chinese medicine now, she couldn’t help but shiver.
“Old Hu, can this medicine be made into pills?” Ye Qingzhi asked carefully.
Otherwise, a bowl of medicine a day was worse than sleeping in separate beds with He Qiming.
“Yes, Chinese medicine is too bitter. My wife can’t even eat after drinking it every time. Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?” He Qiming did not know that his wife wanted to sleep in separate beds with him.
Old Hu glanced at Ye Qingzhi. “It was originally meant to be made into pills for you. One a day is enough.”
“Thank you, Old Hu,” Ye Qingzhi said happily.
One small pill a day, she could do that.
When the two of them were going back, they ran into Bai Xue at the door. Her face looked a little haggard, and she was much thinner than before.
“Are you sick?” Bai Xue asked, looking at Ye Qingzhi.
She looked a little fatter than when she had first arrived, her face was rosy, and her eyes were bright. She did not look sick.
“I’m not sick. My hands and feet get cold in the winter. Qiming was worried and brought me for a pulse check and got some medicine to condition my body,” Ye Qingzhi said, nodding at her. “We have something to do, so we’ll be going now.”
Looking at their backs, she thought that they had been married for several months. Could it be that she was getting a pulse check because she was not yet pregnant?
Bai Xue sneered. That’s right. With four children at home, and none of them hers, Ye Qingzhi had to hurry up and have a child to tie down He Qiming.