Hearing that, Political Commissar Zhang leaned over to take a look and immediately spotted the two packs of Peony-brand cigarettes. He picked them up at once.
“Lu Huai really knows what he’s doing! He actually brought me two packs of good cigarettes! Good, good, good!”
Huang Qiuying was still looking through the basket. When she saw the Friendship cold cream and the floral water, she couldn’t put them down.
Then she looked at the beautifully packaged pastries and the already-opened but still mostly full bag of White Rabbit candies, clicking her tongue in amazement.
“As expected of a rich young lady. She’s way too generous!”
As she spoke, she looked up at Political Commissar Zhang and snatched the cigarettes back from him.
“You’re not seriously planning to smoke these, are you? I’m taking everything back to them right now! These gifts are far too expensive — we can’t accept them!”
Political Commissar Zhang grabbed her arm.
“You’re usually pretty smart, so why are you acting foolish today? If you return the gifts, what will the two of them think?
“Look at them today — it’s obvious their relationship has improved. Your younger sister-in-law brought gifts because she wants to get closer to us. If you send everything back, wouldn’t that basically be rejecting them?”
Huang Qiuying thought about it and realized he had a point, though she still hesitated.
“But this is just too valuable…”
“It’s fine. Their vegetable patch is barely hanging on anyway. You can just bring them some vegetables every few days.”
After thinking it over, Huang Qiuying could only agree.
She sat back down again, sighing emotionally.
“Who would’ve thought? She went back to Shanghai once, and when she came back, she’d completely changed!”
Political Commissar Zhang had his own suspicions, but he didn’t say them aloud. Instead, he grinned at Huang Qiuying.
“Wife, so… does that mean these two packs of Peony cigarettes are mine now?”
Zhang Jianjun hurriedly chimed in too.
“Mom, can we eat the White Rabbit candies and pastries?”
Zhang Jiandang and Zhang Jianye also stared at Huang Qiuying eagerly.
Huang Qiuying glared at the father and sons.
“You lot really can’t keep good things around! The second you get something nice, you just have to eat or smoke it all immediately!”
Even as she complained, she still handed one pack of cigarettes to Political Commissar Zhang and gave each of the three boys two White Rabbit candies.
“Save the rest. Two candies a day.”
The three brothers stuffed the candies into their pockets, but none of them left.
Zhang Jianjun grinned at her.
“Mom, open the pastries and let us see!”
Zhang Jianye, the youngest, not even six years old yet, ran over and hugged Huang Qiuying’s leg.
“Mom, open the red package! Big Brother said there’s a ‘meat’ character written on it, so there must be meat inside!”
Kids in those days all craved meat.
Huang Qiuying sighed inwardly and finally opened the fresh meat mooncakes.
Inside were eight neatly arranged mooncakes, each one as big as Huang Qiuying’s palm.
She took one out and cut it into eight pieces.
She and Political Commissar Zhang each ate a small piece, while the remaining six pieces were divided equally among the three boys.
Everyone carefully took a bite.
The next moment, all their eyes lit up.
There really was meat inside!
Savory and fragrant!
And the crust was so flaky it crumbled everywhere!
It was a flavor they had never tasted before.
The three boys held the pieces carefully in both hands, afraid even a crumb might fall to the ground.
After cautiously taking two bites, the brothers suddenly ran off while Huang Qiuying wasn’t paying attention.
How could something this delicious be eaten in secret?
Their friends absolutely had to watch them eat it!
By the time Qiao Zhenzhu and Lu Huai returned home, it was the hottest part of the day.
But Lu Huai couldn’t sit still.
“Zhenzhu, take out the clothes you’ve worn these past few days. I’ll wash them all together. The weather’s good, so they’ll dry quickly.”
There were several movable bamboo clothes racks in the yard, perfect for drying laundry.
Qiao Zhenzhu didn’t stand on ceremony. She directly took the clothes out of her space and even brought out laundry detergent along with them.
One advantage of the plains was this: endless single-story homes, each household spaced far apart, giving everyone excellent privacy in their own courtyard.
Even using her space in the yard didn’t risk being seen.
Lu Huai first filled two large basins with clean water before moving a small stool under the shade of the cherry tree. Sitting there with a wooden washbasin, he carefully scrubbed the clothes one piece at a time.
Qiao Zhenzhu didn’t go inside either. She sat beside him, though the small stool under her wasn’t exactly comfortable.
“Is there a market town nearby? Can we buy things there? Do they sell reclining chairs?” she asked.
Lu Huai kept washing as he smiled and answered.
“Yeah. There’s a big market every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. It’s not too far away, and they sell all sorts of things. I’ll take you there when the time comes.”
Qiao Zhenzhu calculated the dates. Today was the twelfth, so the next market day would be in three days.
“That works out perfectly! Once we visit this market, I can peacefully wait to give birth. Oh right — I’m giving birth at the hospital!”
She’d heard older people say that many women in this era gave birth at home.
Even with her abilities, she had no intention of delivering at home.
It wasn’t safe, and it wasn’t sanitary.
Lu Huai turned to look at her, his expression suddenly serious.
“Of course you are!”
Childbirth was dangerous enough already. There was no way he’d let her deliver at home.
Seeing the firm look on his face, Qiao Zhenzhu finally smiled in satisfaction.
“This yard… this yard is way too empty. We should really plan it out properly later,” Qiao Zhenzhu said.
“Plant more fruit trees, maybe some flowers and plants too. The area in front of the main hall should be paved with stone slabs — otherwise it’ll be inconvenient when it rains or snows. And let’s build a grape trellis against the eastern wall. It’s too late for this year, but next spring we’ll be able to eat grapes.”
Though the summer afternoon was hot and the cicadas buzzed nonstop in the trees, Lu Huai felt no irritation at all. Instead, he was in an unusually good mood.
He hadn’t studied much and couldn’t come up with beautiful poetic phrases.
If he really had to describe it, he could only say this:
It felt peaceful.
Solid.
This was exactly the kind of life he wanted.
After rinsing the clothes clean and wringing out the water, Lu Huai hung them one by one on the bamboo drying racks.
A gust of wind blew through, making the clothes sway gently.
Qiao Zhenzhu and Lu Huai exchanged a glance before getting up and heading back inside together.
Lu Huai still cleaned up the west room.
Even if nobody lived there, it couldn’t be left filthy.
There was still some rice, flour, and coarse grains in the kitchen, along with oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
That meant they could finally start cooking for themselves tonight.
The west side room had three sections, one of which was the woodshed, packed full of firewood.
All of it had been bought by Lu Huai.
He didn’t have time to chop wood himself, and there was no way he could count on the original host.
Fortunately, firewood wasn’t expensive. He bought a little extra every month, and over time it had accumulated into a whole roomful.
Watching Lu Huai carry firewood into the kitchen, Qiao Zhenzhu smiled and asked him,
“Are winters here especially cold? Do you need a lot of firewood?”
“Yeah, very cold. We’ll fill the other two rooms too, and that should last us until spring next year.”
Qiao Zhenzhu nodded knowingly.
“Once I finish my postpartum recovery, it still won’t be cold yet. Then we can go into the mountains together. My space can store a lot of firewood!”
Since they’d be burning it for years anyway, there was nothing wrong with preparing more in advance.
“Alright! We’ll do everything your way!”