After Jiang Jiyuan and the others left, Song Yunqiao went out as well.
While cooking earlier, she noticed there weren’t many eggs left at home. She didn’t feel like going all the way to town, so she decided to visit Aunt Liu’s house—the same place she had exchanged eggs with before.
Standing outside the door, she called out a few times before Aunt Liu came to open it.
“Oh, it’s Comrade Song! Come in, come in!”
Aunt Liu greeted her warmly. And why wouldn’t she? Song Yunqiao was generous and straightforward. Ever since she came, she had been exchanging all her eggs from Aunt Liu’s household.
Inside the courtyard, Song Yunqiao said, “Aunt Liu, I want to exchange some eggs again.”
“Alright! I’ve saved up more than twenty. How many do you want?”
“I’ll take them all.”
Hearing her usual straightforward answer, Aunt Liu happily went to pack them up.
She moved quickly and soon came back out. Song Yunqiao also took out the money she had prepared in advance. After a bit of small talk, she left with the eggs.
In this era, there wasn’t much entertainment, so anything that happened spread quickly. Aunt Liu didn’t personally tell others about the exchange—but her neighbor saw it. The two families didn’t get along, and that neighbor was jealous that people often came to Aunt Liu to trade eggs. Because of that, she often spoke badly about her behind her back.
Aunt Liu used to argue, but later she simply stopped caring—knowing it was just petty jealousy.
Song Yunqiao put the eggs away and started kneading dough. She planned to steam white buns for dinner. She hadn’t had white flour buns in a long time. Since there were many people at home, she used up all the white flour she had, planning to make both plain buns and sweet ones.
That evening’s dinner was millet porridge, white flour buns, and a cold dish she prepared herself.
Everyone in the Jiang family ate very comfortably.
Ji Peilan was briefly stunned when she first saw the meal. She didn’t expect Song Yunqiao to use white flour. Coming from hardship herself, she knew how precious it was—but then she thought of Song Yunqiao’s background. She probably used to eat even better things. So she said nothing.
In truth, Song Yunqiao marrying into their family was already a compromise for her. Eating a bit better wasn’t a problem.
Jiang Jiyuan looked at the food and silently made up his mind.
The two younger boys didn’t think much—they just focused on eating.
After these two meals, Jiang Jijing even felt that having a sister-in-law wasn’t so bad after all.
As for Jiang Jianan, he felt even more so. She would occasionally give him snacks, speak gently to him, and most importantly—he thought she was the prettiest person he had ever seen.
Song Yunqiao had no idea that just two meals had already “won over” her two young brothers-in-law.
That night, Ji Peilan called Jiang Jiyuan aside and quietly handed him a roll of money.
“Mom, what are you doing?” he asked, refusing to take it.
“Take it. Go to town when you have time and buy some rice, oil, and other essentials.”
Ji Peilan felt the current supplies wouldn’t last long with the way Song Yunqiao cooked.
Afraid of misunderstanding, she quickly added, “Don’t overthink it. I don’t mean anything else. Yunqiao is a good girl—you should treat her well. Spending a bit of money isn’t a problem. If she spends, then you just work harder. A family being harmonious is what matters.”
Jiang Jiyuan originally worried his mother might think Song Yunqiao was too extravagant, but that wasn’t the case. He finally relaxed.
“You keep the money. I still have some.”
“Take it,” Ji Peilan insisted and simply shoved it into his hand before leaving the room.
..
Meanwhile, Song Yunqiao was also reflecting in her room. She wondered if her white flour buns had shocked the Jiang family—whether they thought she was too wasteful or didn’t know how to manage a household.
But then she dismissed the thought.
She wasn’t short on money anymore. After finally moving out of the educated youth dormitory, she didn’t want to continue suffering by eating coarse corn buns every day. At most, she would cover household food expenses herself. She had enough money.
The confidence came from the fact that Uncle Song had sent her a passbook worth 1,000 yuan. With that much money, she could afford to be a little bold.
..
When Jiang Jiyuan returned to the room, he saw Song Yunqiao sitting there with a slightly worried expression.
Seeing him come in, she gathered her thoughts.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Go ahead,” he said, sitting down.
She hesitated. “Did Aunt say anything about the food I made today?”
“She did,” he answered honestly.
Song Yunqiao immediately said, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle all the food from now on. Rice, oil, flour—I’ll cover it all.”
“My mom gave me money,” Jiang Jiyuan said, taking out the roll Ji Peilan had just given him.
“???”
Song Yunqiao looked confused.
He explained, “She was worried the household supplies wouldn’t be enough, so she gave me money to buy more.”
“She didn’t blame me?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Why would she blame you?”
Song Yunqiao finally relaxed. “I thought she’d say I was too wasteful and didn’t know how to manage things.”
“Don’t worry,” Jiang Jiyuan said suddenly, seriously, “from now on, I’ll make sure you can eat white flour buns every meal.”
Song Yunqiao almost blurted out that in the future everyone would eat white flour buns every day and even get tired of them—but she stopped herself.
He didn’t know that future.
So to her, his words sounded strangely warm.
“Then… when you go to town, can I come with you? I want to eat meat,” she said.
Immediately after saying it, she regretted it. She had just talked about white flour buns, and now she was asking for meat—how greedy did that sound?
But Jiang Jiyuan didn’t mind at all.
“No need. It’s a long walk. You’ll get tired. Just tell me what you want—I’ll bring it back for you.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
It was the first time Song Yunqiao had seen him smile. He usually kept a stern face, the kind that could make children nervous.
Seeing him smile made her smile too—completely unaware of why he was smiling in the first place.
After the conversation ended, she went to wash up. While he was out, she quietly took out her private savings and placed several large banknotes on the table.
When they got married, he had given her a 100-yuan bride price, not to mention the clothes he had bought for her. She figured he probably didn’t have much money left, so since they were buying supplies, she should contribute too.
That night, they slept as usual—each on one side of the bed, keeping a respectful distance.
But after falling asleep, Song Yunqiao rolled over unconsciously and ended up beside him.
Jiang Jiyuan felt her move closer. Without hesitation, he gently pulled her into his arms.
He only held her—nothing more.