"Your grandma gave these to me a while back, and I’ve kept them hidden ever since. I’m giving them to you now, but don’t tell anyone. Don’t let others see you eating them either, lest the rest of the family covet them. If that happens, you won’t get to eat any."
The children were young, so Bai Jiu could still easily fool them.
The two children nodded heavily. "Don’t worry, Mom. We won’t say a word."
Only an idiot would say anything. If Grandma found out, she would definitely snatch their candy away to give to their young aunt. Then he and his sister would have no candy to eat.
"Then eat up." Bai Jiu looked at how their mouths bulged with the milk candy and kissed them both. What woman wouldn’t love such adorable children?
The two children didn’t just eat it themselves; they took out their candy to share with their mother. "Mom, you eat some too. You’re still sick, so you need to build up your strength."
Seeing how sensible they were, Bai Jiu smiled in gratification.
"Okay." She didn’t offer excuses about being fine or not liking sweets. Children needed to learn from a young age how to share their food with their loved ones. Of course, it depended on *which* loved ones. As for someone like Old Mrs. Song, hah, Bai Jiu wouldn’t even feed her shit.
The two children ate one piece but couldn’t bear to eat any more. Milk candy was a luxury; they couldn’t just finish it all in one sitting. It had to be savored slowly.
Seeing this, Bai Jiu felt relieved. Although candy was a good thing, eating too much would ruin their teeth. She had plenty of good things in her spatial dimension; she could easily nourish the two children more in the future. Looking at their scrawny little bodies, it was obvious they suffered from chronic malnutrition. They definitely needed to be properly nourished.
That afternoon.
The two children, Gao Xiuxiu and Gao Zhengyang, went back to the production team to work and earn work points. In this era, food distribution was tied to work points. The more work points one earned, the more food they would be allocated after the autumn harvest. Every year after the autumn harvest, once the public grain tax was paid, the production team would distribute the remaining grain to each household based on their work points. Families with few work points wouldn’t get enough to eat, so everyone had to go out and work.
Usually, it was rare for children as young as them to go out to work. But the Gao family was different. Never mind that they were only four years old; even if they had just learned to walk, Old Mrs. Song would have dragged them out to work. Of course, they only did light chores, earning one or two work points at a time.
Bai Jiu stayed home to rest that afternoon because of her fever. Old Mrs. Song, being the miser she was, refused to spend a single cent to buy Bai Jiu even a single pill, forcing her to just tough it out.
After the two children left the house, Bai Jiu took some antipyretics and anti-inflammatory pills out from her spatial dimension and swallowed them. She was absolutely starving. After taking the medicine, she took out some food. The original owner’s body had been deprived of fat and oil for a long time, so Bai Jiu didn’t dare eat anything too greasy right away. Otherwise, she’d end up with an upset stomach before her fever even broke.
She took out two large steamed buns and gnawed on them drily, washing them down with a carton of milk. Fortunately, no one was home; otherwise, it would have been quite difficult to explain the milk carton.
After eating and drinking her fill, she felt like she had been brought back to life. Thinking of the two children, Bai Jiu took some eggs out of her space. Right now, the whole family ate from the same pot. It was impossible for her to openly feed her children well; she had to do it in secret. Eggs were the most convenient nourishing food—she could even cook them just by soaking them in boiling water.
After taking the medicine, Bai Jiu slept for the entire afternoon. When she woke up, her fever had finally broken, and she felt much more refreshed. By the time she stepped out of her room, the sky outside was already growing dark.
Because of her huge argument with Song Caihua that morning, the older woman had forcibly kept the two children back, refusing to let them fetch Bai Jiu for dinner. But Bai Jiu didn’t care. She had her spatial dimension, which was stocked with plenty of delicious food. She truly looked down on the watery porridge the Gao family served anyway.
Turning back into her room, she took a large meat bun and some soy milk out of her space to line her stomach. Once she was no longer hungry, Bai Jiu planned to go out and check on the children.
As soon as she stepped out again, she ran into Eldest Sister-in-law Gao. Sorting through the original owner’s memories, Bai Jiu realized that this sister-in-law was truly the perfect successor to Old Mrs. Song—they were exactly the same.
Upon seeing Bai Jiu, Eldest Sister-in-law Gao immediately began to sneer, "Hah, Bai Jiu, you look perfectly fine to me. You seem quite energetic. You really went to great lengths just to avoid going to work. If you ask me, anyone who avoids work and drags the family down wouldn’t have the thick skin to come out and eat."
Eldest Sister-in-law Gao assumed Bai Jiu was coming out at this hour to head to the kitchen for food.
At that moment, Gao Yulan walked over from who knew where. "What are you doing here, Eldest Sister-in-law Gao? Where’s the steamed egg custard Mom asked you to bring? What’s there to talk about with this thick-skinned woman? All she does is eat without doing any work." After saying that, she rolled her eyes at Bai Jiu.
Gao Yulan was extremely displeased with Bai Jiu. It was all this bitch’s fault! Because of her, their mother hadn’t been able to give away that money-losing wretch, Gao Xiuxiu. Otherwise, she would have pocketed twenty yuan. She could have bought herself a pair of small leather shoes in addition to eating meat.
Bai Jiu stared at the two of them coldly. "When it comes to being thick-skinned, I really can’t compare to you. Even if I just eat and don’t work, I have every right to do so. My husband brings home a monthly allowance of forty yuan—is that not enough to cover my food and drink here? As for you, you don’t have a man to support you, yet you laze around all day without doing a stroke of work. How do you have the nerve to eat at home? You actually have the gall to criticize me? Who do you think you are?"
Bai Jiu had nothing but contempt for Gao Yulan. The girl idled around at home from dawn to dusk. Even the youngest, Xiuxiu, went out to work, yet this woman had the audacity to lie on the heated brick bed all day long. Those who didn’t know better would think she made her living on her back.
Gao Yulan was notoriously gluttonous and lazy at home. However, she didn’t think there was anything wrong with her behavior, sporting a look of absolute entitlement.
"My parents earn work points to support me. Mom said I don’t need to work in the fields. If I get tanned and ugly, I won’t be able to find a good husband. Mom is still counting on me marrying a city man!"
Her words were truly infuriating.
"The paltry amount of work points your parents earn is barely enough to feed themselves," Bai Jiu retorted. "Support you? Hah! You’re just leeching off our two households. Which of the things you eat and use wasn’t earned by the third and first branches of the family?
"And of course, there’s the allowance my husband earns. You sure have a lot of nerve running your mouth here. Starting tomorrow, if you don’t work, don’t eat. No family keeps a freeloader around.
"Even my Xiuxiu and Zhengyang know they need to go out and earn work points. What about you? Lying around the house all day. Forget about marrying into the city—with the way you do nothing but eat, even us country folks wouldn’t be willing to marry you."
How arrogant could this woman be? She had absolutely no self-awareness. Marry a city man? She ought to take a good look in the mirror. Although being plump was considered a sign of good fortune in this era, very few were as fat as she was. Her wide, flat face was simply disgusting to look at.
Gao Yulan was flushed with exasperation from Bai Jiu’s scolding. "Bai Jiu, you’re just a bitch! My parents are the ones in charge of this family. They haven’t said a word about it, so what right do you, an outsider, have to lecture me? It’s not your place to call the shots in this house!"
She pointed her finger and stomped her feet, shouting a torrent of curses at Bai Jiu.
Bai Jiu wasn’t afraid of her in the slightest. Swatting away the pointing finger, she laughed. "It may not be my place to call the shots in this house, but you’re eating the food I earn and spending my husband’s allowance. Are you telling me I can’t even say a few words about it?"
"You bitch! Even my parents don’t say anything to me. Who the hell do you think you are to lecture me? I’m spending my brother’s money, so it’s none of your damn business! I don’t need you meddling!" Having said that, Gao Yulan raised her hand to slap Bai Jiu across the face.