Xiuxiu looked back and forth at the spread. A twinge of heartache crept over her as she instantly regretted eating so much. If they had just rationed out all this delicious food, it could have lasted their family for several meals.
But hearing her mother’s reassuring words, she swallowed back what she had been about to say.
"I’ll listen to you, Mother." She really loved how her mother was now.
"Alright, I’ll boil some water in a bit so you two can take a bath. I even bought you new clothes today. You can change into them later," Bai Jiu said with a warm smile.
The two little ones were simply too adorable.
"Mother, I’ll help you!" The mention of new clothes instantly shifted their attention.
"Okay, you can help me tend the fire in a bit."
After resting for a short while, Bai Jiu cleaned the pot and started boiling water. She hadn’t managed to buy a proper bathtub, so she retrieved two large wooden buckets from her spatial dimension instead.
She had actually been quite surprised when she first stumbled upon them. She never expected that she would have stockpiled so many items back then. From large necessities to small knickknacks, she practically had everything. Even if she were to take her children and live off the grid deep in the mountains, the supplies in her spatial dimension could easily sustain them until the turn of the millennium.
Without a washbasin, the kids could just stand up to bathe. After all, the back of the kitchen faced the mountain, so no one could peek in anyway. It was fine for the two children, but as for herself, she still needed a proper bathroom. She figured she would visit the village tomorrow and ask the production team leader if someone could come over and help her build one.
She didn’t mind spending a little money to get it done.
Once the water was hot, Bai Jiu scrubbed the two children from head to toe. She didn’t throw away their old clothes, deciding to have them wear those as an outer layer. Having just split from the Gao family, she didn’t want the children to stand out too much. Flashiness would only attract thieves.
"Hurry onto the heated brick bed and get under the covers before you catch a cold," Bai Jiu urged the moment she finished washing Zhengyang.
She couldn’t afford to dilly-dally, or the water in the other bucket would get cold. She still had to bathe Xiuxiu.
A short while later.
"Mother, these new clothes are so warm and comfortable," Zhengyang cheered with absolute delight after changing.
This was the very first time in his life that he had ever worn brand-new clothes. Even Brother Erzhu didn’t have the kind of clothes his mother had bought for them.
"Of course they are. This is a newly arrived batch of goods from Lu Province, and I barely managed to snatch them up. I heard this is the only shipment they had, so there’s no telling if there will ever be any more," Bai Jiu said, having already thought up a perfect excuse.
The thermal underwear sets were solid-colored and made of pure cotton. They were form-fitting, so she wasn’t worried about anyone accidentally catching a glimpse of them. After all, Lu Province was the largest economic hub in Blue Country, booming with countless foreign trade imports.
It was just a pity that such premium goods weren’t naturally supplied to remote areas.
"Then I’ll have to be extra careful. What if I ruin them?" Zhengyang stroked the fabric on his chest, incredibly reluctant to risk wearing them out.
"Don’t worry. As long as you don’t tug on them on purpose, they won’t tear. They’ll only become too small for you as you grow," Bai Jiu said, thoroughly amused by his adorable expression.
Zhengyang’s thermal set was black, while Xiuxiu wore an outrageously bright, almost tacky shade of red. But in this era, bright red was considered a safe and common color to wear. They now had innerwear and padded cotton jackets, but Bai Jiu still needed to turn the raw fabric she had purchased into proper garments. Even simple, small padded coats would do, as they wouldn’t draw too much unwanted attention.
"Mother, what about yours?" the two children asked as they looked up at her. They both had fresh outfits, but they hadn’t seen a single piece of clothing for their mother in the pile.
"I have mine right here." She took out the down jacket she had worn that morning. "Look, I bought new clothes too."
Seeing that their mother indeed had something new, Zhengyang and Xiuxiu beamed. "That’s wonderful! We all have new clothes now."
Life truly was wonderful.
That afternoon, Bai Jiu told the two children to stay indoors while she planned to pay a visit to Aunt Peng. She wanted to take the fabric she had bought and have it tailored into clothes.
Aunt Peng lived nearby and used to have an excellent relationship with the original owner of Bai Jiu’s body. In the past, the kind-hearted woman had frequently helped out the mother and her two children.
Because Gao Zhijun was rarely home, only managing to return for a few days a year in brief, rushed visits, the couple hardly had time to speak to one another. As a result, the man was completely oblivious to the hardships his wife was enduring.
Seeing Bai Jiu’s struggles had reminded Aunt Peng of her own past, prompting her to offer whatever assistance she could. Of course, Aunt Peng was an excellent judge of character and didn’t just help anyone; after all, there were countless poor people in the world. If the original owner hadn’t been genuinely kind-hearted, Aunt Peng wouldn’t have given her the time of day.
"You two rest at home for now. I’m going to take a quick trip over to Grandma Peng’s house and ask her to help us turn this fabric and cotton into clothes," Bai Jiu said, bundling up all her recent purchases.
In the entirety of Gaocun Village, Aunt Peng and the production team leader were the only ones who owned a big-ticket item like a sewing machine.