Chapter 264 Cuihong's Origins

After the grain was delivered, shoes and daily necessities were delivered. I saw her sticking out her butt and rummaging around in the sack like a groundhog.

She kept pulling out this and that, and Cuihua and Cuihong stared at her with wide eyes, unable to help but ask questions.

"Why did you bring back so much stuff this time? Did you strike it rich?"

Xiao Jiu finally straightened up and placed a stack of cloth into Tang Cuihua's hands.

"Big sister, you're engaged now. Here, take all this fabric. Make whatever you want, make plenty of clothes. The fine cotton here can be used for underwear. Oh, and I also bought you underwear and panties, and..."

When Tang Cuihua saw the cloth, she panicked. "My God, how much did you spend? You need cloth coupons to buy cloth. Where did you get these coupons?"

"No need for tickets. My classmate's mother works in a textile factory. I'll use my connections. You can use it without worry. If you need anything in the future, just let me know and I'll buy it for you."

Cuihua's eyes welled up with tears because of Xiaojiu's seemingly casual but actually heartfelt words. Even Cuihong, who had only vaguely understood the meaning but could not quite grasp it, couldn't help but choke up and say something.

"Just take care of yourself. You don't need to buy us this or that, or give us gifts. How much money would that cost you?"

Cuihong rarely spoke so much. Thinking that she had never shown any appreciation to her younger sister, she released a large amount of seafood in front of her. Each piece was fresh and translucent, as if it had just been caught. Moreover, compared to the sizes sold on their side, Cuihong's seafood was obviously much larger.

Before Xiao Jiu could even get a good look at the types of seafood, Cui Hong brought out a bunch of fruit. Some of the fruit she recognized, and some she didn't, but like the seafood, they were all surprisingly large and incredibly fresh!

“You can have them all. I have plenty of these. Tell me when you’re done eating them while you’re drying them, and I’ll put them out for you again.”

“I used to keep things to myself, but now that you’re not hiding anything from me, why should I hide anything from you? We sisters can exchange supplies and live better than anyone else.”

Xiao Jiu stared wide-eyed at the seafood and fruit in front of her, suddenly becoming curious about her fourth sister's identity.

So she grabbed her fourth sister's hand, touched her vocal cords, and asked, word by word.

"Fourth Sister, I've always wanted to ask you, where are you from? A fishing village by the sea? Why do you have so much seafood and fruit?"

After repeating it three times, Cuihong finally understood what she meant and immediately explained.

"Our place is much more backward than yours. It has forests, grasslands, and the sea. I am a mermaid from the sea."

When I first came here, if I hadn't received this body's memories, I probably wouldn't even know how to speak your language.

Fortunately, I can't hear and don't need to speak, but we sisters sometimes need to communicate and talk.

So over the years I have been observing your speech, learning from your exchanges, and even reading and writing.

And within my capabilities, I will learn as much as possible.

Xiao Jiu scratched her ear in astonishment: "Mermaids? What kind of society is that? Could it be some kind of fantasy world?"

After listening to Cuihong repeatedly, she replied, "I can't really say. I only know that these are all stored in my own space. There are also many pretty things that I've collected. Do you like this? When I was a merman, I used to cry from cuteness to tears. I've collected so many since I was little, and there are also other dragon people's. We exchange them to play with based on their different colors!"

When Cuihong grabbed Xiaojiu's hand and stuffed a handful of pearls bigger than her thumb into her hands, she was so excited that she almost knelt down before her sister.

Pink, yellow, green, blue, black, purple—good heavens, how can there be so many colors of pearls? Even if this isn't a fantasy world, it must be some kind of magical third space that only appears in novels, right?

What did Fourth Sister just say? Was it because she used to cry a lot?

"Can you still cry now? Try it."

After understanding what Xiao Jiu said, several invisible black lines appeared on Tang Cuihong's forehead.

"I'm a human now, so stop fantasizing. I don't have any. If you think it's not enough, I'll just grab another handful for you."

The generous fourth sister then filled all her pockets with beautiful, multicolored pearls, each one large, round, and translucent.

The little wine-loving boy looked left and right, even wanting to take it outside to look at it, but was stopped by Tang Cuihua, who couldn't help but laugh.

“Your fourth sister gave this to you, how could it be fake? Hurry up and put it away. Besides these, your fourth sister has a lot of beautiful corals and all kinds of seashells, but it’s not appropriate to take these out now. You two sisters can study them when you have time later. It’s dawn, and they’ll wake up in a little while.”

At Tang Cuihua's prompting, Xiao Jiu accepted the treasures given to her by her fourth sister, and her fourth sister unceremoniously put everything she brought back into her spatial storage.

Xiao Jiu thought for a moment, then took out a lot of frozen food, including hot pot meatballs, hot pot base, seasonings, pastries, various frozen meats, fresh vegetables, grains, cooking oil, sesame oil, sesame paste, etc. Basically, she took out anything that she didn't have at home.

Cuihong simply sat down and mechanically took out one item and put it away, not caring what it was at all. Anyway, with her older sister there, Xiaojiu would explain to her how to eat these things.

"I can tell, do you only have fresh produce and grains/oils there?"

Xiao Jiu nodded honestly, "Yes, that's all I have right now, so please eat as much as you like, don't be shy."

However, Cuihua touched her head and shook it.

“We all earned work points, including your seventh and eighth sisters. We took turns working in the fields to earn work points, and we exchanged the grain we were given for coarse grains.”

We do eat refined grains, but we only mix them into our lunch. If we ate them every day, at every meal, it would cause health problems.

"Grandpa and Grandma are doing a little better, they don't go out much. And since so many people in your family earn money and receive food rations, and they're sick, it's understandable that they should eat something good."

We're in a bad situation. We didn't have much of a foundation to begin with. So many people have starved to death in the village in recent years. Families with many members are constantly arguing, fighting, and dividing up their households over a single bite of food. It's even happened in the neighboring village that someone died.

So we dare not eat our fill, but we appreciate your kindness, little sister. As long as it doesn't affect our overall slimness and complexion, we'll supplement our diet appropriately. With the special treats you've given us, this is enough to last us six months, so please don't give us any more!

Xiao Jiu also accepted the gifts from her fourth sister. Seeing that there was nothing for her to do, Cui Hong helped by kneading the dough, rolling out the wrappers, and mixing the filling, preparing to make steamed buns in a little while.

"Go home and cook some rice porridge. Don't worry about the staple food. Once the steamed buns are cooked, take some with you. Look how much dough I made. When you leave this afternoon, you and Xiao An can each take some with you. Don't bother with anything else."

Xiao Jiu chuckled, "My brother made noodles last night; it's his specialty."

He used to only know how to steam buns, but now he can also make flower rolls and fried rolls, so you can leave him alone and let him do it himself.

Boys should do more chores too. The more he learns, the more comfortable my parents will be in the future.

Cuihua couldn't help but tease, "I think it's his future wife who's enjoying a good life, isn't it?"

Xiao Jiu wanted to help, but Cuihua refused, telling her to be in charge of tending the fire. Before long, all the older sisters got up.

When will my sister Cuilian be back?

“They work in shifts, and sometimes they get ten days or half a month off. My godmother was home a few days ago, but my godfather hasn’t had a break.”

Xiao Jiu looked at Tang Cuihua with a grin.

"Big sister, you've already found me such a good brother-in-law? Are you really sure? Is he good to you?"

"What's so good or bad about it? It's just living together as a couple, isn't it?"

I married him because I didn't want to be gossiped about, but what about him? Nobody wants to marry him.

We each have our own difficulties, which is why we've all come together.

This year we'll get to know each other better. If it's a good match, we'll get married; if not, we'll break up.

Anyway, there's still room to salvage the situation between engagement and marriage.

Cuihua's words are understandable. People in the 1950s and 60s would meet once, take a liking to each other, get married, and then live their lives in a daze.

Even if the shoes don't fit, unless it's absolutely necessary to push them to the brink of death, they will never break up.

She knew that her older sister had no other choice but to do this, but she also admired her for putting everything out in the open.

"So how is my future brother-in-law treating you?"

"He did tell me the truth: he was a bachelor with no savings and received a monthly allowance of fifteen yuan."

But he wants to keep this money to pay off his debts, and he'll try his best to pay them off before we get married.

His younger brother was strong and could earn work points, but no matter how hard the siblings worked during the famine years, they couldn't earn enough food to feed the three of them.

Taking his actual situation into consideration, the commune specially found him a craftsman in the next village who knew how to weave rattan baskets and bamboo baskets to be his apprentice.

Let him focus on learning from others. The commune will collect the baskets they weave and sell them on their behalf. They can earn a little each month—not ten or eight yuan, but five or six yuan at least.

Xiao Jiu clicked his tongue: "What can you do with five or six yuan? You might as well exchange it for grain!"

Tang Cuihua shook her head. "This... is already a favor from the commune. Luckily, only one leg is broken, the other is fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't have married him. Next spring, the brigade leader will arrange some lighter work for him so he can earn some work points to exchange for some coarse grains."

I'll observe them for a year during their mourning period. But I can already tell that this person isn't lazy. If he's also kind-hearted, then it's settled, and I won't hesitate any longer.

Was his leg injured by an explosion or a bullet?

Tang Cuihua shook her head. "How could he say something like that? But I've already told your fifth sister. When she gets back, we'll take a look at his original medical records and examine his leg to see if there's any chance of a cure. Even if it can't be completely cured, we can at least salvage it by 40 or 50 percent, right?"

"Sister... the possibility is very small. Unless there is some miracle, even my fifth sister would have a hard time doing it."

The orthopedics department at the military hospital is the most experienced, especially in treating soldiers like them; it's commonplace for them. If they all say it's impossible, then it's probably true.