“My pile is three yuan and seventy-five cents. Grandma, how much is yours?”
Ning Yi recounted the coins he had stacked in five-cent piles, then asked, barely able to contain his excitement.
“Mine is, mine is…”
“One yuan and sixty-five cents.”
Seeing that her grandmother had counted several times but still didn’t dare announce the amount, Ning Xin answered for her.
Then she did a quick mental calculation and gave the total. “Altogether, it’s five yuan and forty cents.”
After saying that, she took out the five yuan that Wang Jinying had given her earlier from her pocket.
“And this too, the money Auntie Wang gave me. She said it’s for her family’s future tea, to be deducted from this.”
Neither Ning Yi nor Old Madam Ning spared the five yuan a glance. They were both staring intently at Ning Xin’s face.
In unison, they asked, “How much? How much did you make in one morning?”
“Five yuan and forty cents. Plus the five yuan Auntie Wang prepaid, that makes ten yuan and forty cents in total.”
Ning Xin patiently repeated the number for them.
The room fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Old Madam Ning and Ning Yi sat there as if frozen in place, neither moving nor speaking.
After a long moment, a suppressed, silly chuckle came from Ning Yi’s direction. “Heh heh, heh heh…”
“I told you our Xiao Xin is the most capable! Grandma, wasn’t I right?”
That laugh seemed to unlock every joint in Ning Yi’s body.
After the initial shock wore off, he was now so excited he was practically dancing with joy.
“Look at our Xiao Xin, she can make this much money just selling water. What she earned in one morning is worth ten days of my work! I told you, our lives are going to get better and better. Dad wouldn’t have to worry. Grandma, you believe me now, don’t you? Even if I’m slow, we still have Xiao Xin!”
Listening to her grandson’s words, Old Madam Ning’s eyes inadvertently grew moist again.
But she knew this was a happy occasion, she couldn’t cry now.
So she shot Ning Yi a reproachful glare. “Look at you, so easily excited. Leaning on your sister for everything! Hurry up and help Xiao Xin put the money away!”
Then she turned to Ning Xin with a hint of worry. “Xin, are we selling the herbal tea again tomorrow? We don’t have any jasmine left at home.”
“Yes, we’re selling it,” Ning Xin replied decisively.
“Don’t worry about the jasmine. I already talked to those aunties and sisters-in-law today. They’re going to bring flowers and mint from their own homes. A small bowl of flowers or leaves can be exchanged for one cup of tea. I think people will start bringing them over by this afternoon.”
At that, she quickly added, “Grandma, you stay home this afternoon and collect them. We’ll owe them the tea and give it to them tomorrow. But be careful, only take about five or six bowls’ worth. It’s so hot out; any more than that won’t keep. Tell them to take numbers. The rest can come tomorrow or the day after.”
“I understand,” Old Madam Ning nodded.
Ning Xin then turned to Ning Yi. “Brother, can you take half a day off this afternoon?”
“Yes. What do you need me to do?” Ning Yi answered readily.
“I want to buy an insulated barrel, a big one, if possible. That way we can boil the water early and fill the barrel, so we don’t have to keep boiling water during the day. Also, do you know where to buy ice? If there is any, can we buy some? Then we could sell iced herbal tea.”
This time, Ning Yi didn’t agree immediately. He looked a bit troubled. “We could ask at the food factory about ice. Maybe they have some. I just don’t know if there will be any available, given how hot it is and how many people want it. As for the insulated barrel…”
He paused, then looked at Ning Xin. “Xiao Xin, do we have any industrial ration coupons left? I think we might need coupons to buy an insulated barrel.”
Ning Xin was taken aback. Only then did she suddenly remember that she was in 1980.
They were still in the planned economy era, not everything could be bought without ration coupons.
She had almost forgotten.
“How many industrial coupons would we need?” she asked tentatively.
“I don’t know. I’ve never bought one before. Just take whatever we have in our household supply booklet. If it’s not enough, we’ll figure it out then.”
After a few more subtle questions, Ning Xin learned that whether in the past or now, she had always been the one managing the household finances.
The grain ration booklet and the supply booklet were both in her bedroom drawer, along with the few dozen yuan in living expenses their father had left behind, all under her care.
That was why the old woman had put the day’s earnings in her room earlier.
Realizing this, Ning Xin didn’t linger in the living room. She went straight to her bedroom.
She rumgled through the desk drawer and, sure enough, found an unsealed envelope inside a notebook.
She poured out the contents and saw several small booklets.
She picked one up at random. On the kraft paper cover were the words “Non-Staple Food Ration Booklet.”
She picked up another. It was the “Household Coal Supply Booklet.”
The third one was the “Industrial Goods Supply Booklet.”
Ning Xin pinched it between her fingers. Her first instinct was that this didn’t look good.
She opened it and saw that the date on the first page was actually November 1980!
And it was only July right now.
Based on what she had learned, this meant that the household didn’t have a single industrial coupon available.
How could this be?
Ning Xin rummaged through the drawer again, trying to find any stray coupons that might have been left lying around. She didn’t find any coupons, but she did find an accounting notebook.
It seemed there was a reason Ning Xin’s father had entrusted the household finances to his daughter, at least, the original owner had been excellent at keeping accounts.
Ning Xin flipped through the ledger roughly and then stopped at the entry for April 18th.
The entry on that day read: “Exchanged 45 industrial coupons plus 50 yuan for one bicycle coupon.”
She immediately thought of the brand-new 28-inch bicycle Ning Yi had ridden out on that morning.
So, until November, the family wouldn’t have a single industrial coupon left.
What was she going to do about the insulated barrel?
Ning Xin took the supply booklet and went to knock on her brother’s door. Seeing the nearly depleted booklet, Ning Yi was equally speechless.
After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth. “Bring some extra money. Let’s go find someone first.”
Although he didn’t say much, Ning Xin immediately understood that her brother was taking her to the free market.
Since the government hadn’t yet taken a clear stance supporting private commerce, although spontaneous free markets organized by small vendors already existed, they were still semi-clandestine. They mostly operated in less conspicuous forms like morning markets and night markets.
As people’s standard of living improved, material demands were also slowly increasing.
Ning Xin believed this situation wouldn’t last much longer, the market economy was bound to get better and better.
After all, for things that couldn’t be bought with ration coupons but were still in demand, people were willing to spend a little more money to acquire them.
Ning Xin suspected that the bicycle coupon her father had obtained had likely come through such channels.