“Wife, what are they so happy about?”
Zhao Tiezhu had heard his sisters’ excited voices. Just as he saw Lin Qiaoyun walk in, he couldn’t help asking.
“Oh, I promised the girls that I’d build each of them a small room of their own.”
“Huh? But the house has enough room right now.”
“It does for now, but that might not be the case in the future. You’re already married, so let’s not even talk about Second Brother and Third Brother yet.
“What about Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, and Sixth Brother? Aren’t they going to get married? When they do, won’t they need proper rooms?
“And Big Sister and the others are already seventeen. They’ll be getting married soon too. There’s no way I’m just going to marry them off carelessly.
“If I can’t find good families for them, I’m planning to bring in sons-in-law instead. As long as they have good character, that’s enough. Besides, our family doesn’t need their children to take our surname, so it shouldn’t be hard to find someone willing, right?”
Zhao Tiezhu was a little stunned by his wife’s way of thinking.
“You mean you’re planning to keep all the sisters at home?”
“Of course. Like princesses in the old days. Just bring the men into the family. Besides, with such a capable eldest brother like you and an eldest sister-in-law like me, there’s no way we’ll let them live difficult lives.”
“Oh. If you don’t mind, then I don’t mind either. I just don’t know whether Father and Mother will agree.”
“Didn’t your family say that I’ll be the one making decisions from now on? What?…”
“Yes, yes, yes. You’re in charge. None of us have any objections.”
“That’s more like it. People always say the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. I’m doing this for their own good. Life is going to become very difficult in the future. What if they marry into a bad family and end up going hungry? What if they’re beaten? What if they can’t give birth to a son?”
Thinking about how girls were treated in this era, Lin Qiaoyun felt that it would be better to keep these younger sisters at home.
She could let them leave after life became easier.
When she thought about the coming years of famine and the chaotic decade that would follow, she felt her decision was absolutely right.
As for everyone else, she didn’t care.
She only cared about the people she could see and protect.
Looking at his wife, Zhao Tiezhu felt a complicated mix of emotions.
He lifted her onto his lap and settled her comfortably there.
“Wife, you’re still young. Don’t worry about so much. If anything happens, you can always talk to Father and Mother.”
“What? Are you worried I can’t manage this family properly?”
Zhao Tiezhu pinched her soft little cheek.
“What an ungrateful girl. I’m saying this for your own good. If you like being in charge, then from now on, everything in this family will be up to you. I’ll be under your management too.”
“Of course you’ll be under my management. From now on, I’ll be the one making decisions in this family.”
Lin Qiaoyun’s domineering side was on full display.
“Yes, you’re in charge. But shouldn’t you manage your husband now? Your husband is leaving tomorrow.”
When Lin Qiaoyun saw the look in his eyes, she knew there was no escaping tonight.
But she wasn’t afraid.
After all, this man was incredibly patient. Even with his wife sitting in his arms, he could still restrain himself.
Zhao Tiezhu carried her onto the bed.
Lin Qiaoyun thought he was about to do certain husband-and-wife things again.
Instead, after putting her on the bed, he simply began explaining all the matters that needed attention after he left.
Just as Lin Qiaoyun had said.
There was no rush regarding Second Brother and Third Brother’s marriages.
Those would probably have to wait until they could come home.
What needed discussing now were Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, and Sixth Brother.
They were already twenty-two years old.
They had enlisted at eighteen and had already served for four years.
The army had retained all of them.
He planned to write to them and ask them to take leave at different times so they could return home and meet potential marriage partners.
Lin Qiaoyun also felt Zhao Tiezhu’s arrangement was very good.
Six men from the family were serving in the military.
If one brother came home every couple of months to visit family, there would always be at least one brother at home throughout the year.
Mm. Not bad.
At least there would always be someone available to do work around the house.
Zhao Tiezhu was thinking about helping his younger brothers find wives.
Lin Qiaoyun, meanwhile, was thinking about having enough laborers for household chores.
Still, she took his words to heart.
Whenever one of the brothers came home, she would ask Mother Zhao to arrange blind dates for them.
She felt there was no need to worry about finding wives.
In another couple of years, a sack of millet would probably be enough to marry a woman.
Finding a good girl, however, would be more difficult.
But that depended on fate.
The husband and wife held each other and whispered together all night.
Neither of them even knew when they finally fell asleep.
The next morning, they got up before dawn.
They thought they were already up very early.
But when they entered the kitchen, they found Caihua and Jinhua already making pancakes.
More than a dozen eggs had been boiled for Zhao Tiezhu to eat during the trip.
They had also prepared over a dozen pancakes for him to take along.
Lin Qiaoyun felt that these three older sisters were truly obedient and hardworking.
Zhao Tiezhu’s luggage had already been packed the night before.
It consisted of a single military backpack.
Now, as he prepared to leave, he also had another large bag filled with food.
One bag hung in front of him and the other on his back.
After breakfast, Lin Qiaoyun and Zhao Tiezhu set off on a bicycle.
The bicycle had been purchased yesterday at Lin Qiaoyun’s request.
She was even planning to buy another one.
The three older sisters attended high school in town.
The three younger brothers were in middle school.
Soon she would be attending school herself.
The Zhao family already had one old bicycle.
With the newly purchased one and another bike in the future, there should be enough for everyone.
After arriving in town, Lin Qiaoyun reluctantly saw Zhao Tiezhu onto the bus headed for the city.
She waited until the bus disappeared into the distance before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
“Oh yeah! The tiger’s away, and the monkey becomes king! Hahaha…”
As soon as she got on her bicycle, Lin Qiaoyun headed off in search of the town’s black market.
She wanted to see what kinds of goods were being traded there.
It didn’t take long for her to find it hidden inside an alley.
She tossed her bicycle into her space, then put on a hat and a face mask before entering.
Today, Lin Qiaoyun was dressed very plainly.
Black pants.
A military-green jacket.
With the hat and mask on, honestly, nobody would have recognized her.
She made a circuit around the black market.
Whenever she saw someone selling grain, she bought it all.
After one round, she had only managed to buy two sacks of mixed grain.
There was rice, flour, cornmeal, and all sorts of miscellaneous things.
She didn’t bother separating them.
As long as they were edible, that was enough.
In the end, she also bought a sack of sweet potatoes.
Every time she filled a sack, she carried it out of the market.
After a while, she came back again.
Nobody found it strange.
Everyone operated that way.
When she spotted someone selling large pumpkins, she didn’t hesitate.
She bought all dozen or so pumpkins in one go.
After finishing her purchases, she took five wristwatches out of the nostalgic supermarket inside her space.
She didn’t have many of them.
Probably only fifty or sixty in total.
Trading a few for some cash should be easy enough.
She knew that buying a watch from a supply and marketing cooperative required both a watch coupon and 120 yuan.
Since she didn’t require coupons, she planned to sell hers for 160 yuan each.
As soon as the watches appeared, interested buyers quickly came looking for her.
Mainly because Lin Qiaoyun was being far too high-profile.
When other people sold things, they practically hid them inside their clothes so nobody would see.
She, on the other hand, simply held the watches openly in her hand and wandered around the black market.
It was almost impossible not to notice her.
Still, nobody said anything.
In this era, people generally preferred not to meddle in other people’s business.