Eating melons and raising children in the period literature

Yang Qingqing got up early again. This was her first day at work.

The weather is sunny and there is a breeze, everything is so beautiful

The formalities had been completed yesterday. Yang Qingqing went directly to Yue Mei's counter and stood there, waiting for the supply and marketing cooperative to open.

At this time, a woman in her 30s with triangular eyes and a flat nose who looked difficult to get along with came over and pointed at the counter selling daily necessities and seasonings and said, "Newcomer, go to the counter over there, and leave this to me."

"Excuse me, who are you? This is my first day here. Yesterday the director asked me to get familiar with the place first. I won't go here without the leader's consent."

"Who am I? What do you care who I am? He must be someone more powerful than you. I have already talked to the director. You can go there today." He acted as if it was his own fault and was unreasonable.

"Really? But I only learned about the prices and items here from Sister Yue Mei yesterday. I haven't learned about that. I don't know if I need to be responsible if there is a problem. Then I can't go there. When the director comes, I will go find her myself, okay?" Yang Qingqing still said in a gentle and reasonable manner, as if she didn't mind her unreasonable behavior at all, but in fact she had already scolded her back in her heart.

If it wasn't his first day at work and he didn't know anything, she wouldn't have spoiled him! You see, he's the kind of guy who only bullies the weak and fears the strong.

"You are such a troublemaker. I told you that the director agreed." The woman shouted loudly, as if she was afraid that others couldn't hear her.

"What did I say, what did I agree to?"

"Hello, Director Yao. Yesterday I asked you for help with the daily necessities counter. Didn't you say that I could find someone myself? I'm looking for this young comrade. He's young and can definitely work efficiently."

"I asked you to find someone who can help you, but I didn't ask you to find someone new who doesn't know anything. If something goes wrong, will you be responsible or will she be responsible?"

"Very good, she agreed. Is she responsible if there is any problem? Does she know about the counter you bought? If there is a problem, I will not only look for her, you will also be responsible. Do you agree?"

"How is that possible? If she has problems, it must be her own fault. What does it have to do with me?"

"Director Yao, I didn't agree to help this lady. I just came here and just learned a little yesterday. I haven't figured out this counter yet. I think I should do my job well first. Only in this way can I live up to the trust of the organization."

"Okay, you're right. You should do your job well before helping others. You heard it, go ask others. You're also a veteran employee, don't let any problems arise."

After the initial episode, Yang Qingqing carefully studied what Sister Yue Mei told him yesterday. In the morning, only two people came to her counter to buy things, so it was quite quiet.

During the lunch break, Yang Qingqing went to the state-owned restaurant to eat a bowl of noodles and then returned to the supply and marketing cooperative. She saw several people in the supply and marketing cooperative chatting together.

"Hello, I'm Yang Qingqing, who's covering for Sister Yue Mei. I'll treat you to some candy."

Yang Qingqing handed two candies to each person, and everyone became more enthusiastic when they saw Yang Qingqing.

"Sister, you look young, who are you to Yue Mei? I'm Yan Chunnan, the wardrobe salesperson over there. You can call me Sister Yan or Sister Chunnan."

"I am Yue Mei's cousin. I just graduated this year. My grandfather and Yue Mei's grandfather are cousins. Our family lives in Majiawan now."

"So that's how it is. I said I've never heard Yue Mei mention such a pretty girl before."

Yang Qingqing had agreed on this statement with Yue Mei, and was afraid that others would ask about it, but she didn't expect to use it on the first day.

"How old are you? I'm 18 this year, and my name is Yao Hongxia. I was the youngest person here before you came, and now there's finally someone younger than me."

"I'm 16 this year. Can I call you Sister Hongxia from now on?"

"Great, I'm a sister now. I'm finally not the youngest anymore."

Yao Hongxia looked like a very simple and straightforward girl, with a bright and elegant appearance. Yang Qingqing liked her very much at first sight.

"I'm at the bicycle and watch counter over there. I can come visit you sometime later."

"Okay. We can play together sometime."

Later, Yang Qingqing learned that Yao Hongxia was Director Yao's niece, her father was the deputy director of the county steel plant, her mother was the director of the trade union, and her brother was a soldier. Usually, people in the supply and marketing cooperative coaxed her and would never confide in her.

On Yang Qingqing's first day at work, there were only a few people who came to visit her shop. There were two in the morning and no one in the afternoon. She just kept observing her current colleagues and got to know them basically.

Her colleagues were all relatively young. The oldest was a middle-aged woman at the bar, whom everyone called Sister Li. The next oldest was Yan Chunnan at the ready-made wardrobe counter. The others were about the same age, with Yao Hongxia being the youngest.

Everyone was polite to Yao Hongxia and greeted her with a smile. Two of them were very hostile to Yang Qingqing. They always looked at Yang Qingqing with squinted eyes or rolled their eyes.

One was Li Zhaodi, who had troubled Yang Qingqing in the morning. The other was Wang Meili, the woman who had recommended her sister-in-law to Yue Mei before. The two of them were always whispering to each other. Others were unwilling to contact them because no one had said anything to them that day.

Yang Qingqing had reason to suspect that Wang Meili was the one who instigated Li Zhaodi to cause trouble, but she didn't know what she said.

When Yang Qingqing got off work, there were no buses to take. He could only take a bullock cart back home. In fact, taking a bullock cart was not much slower than taking a bus, because bullock carts were on small roads, over mountains and hills, and were very bumpy. So most people took the bus back home. Only those who couldn't catch up would take a bullock cart. The bullock cart would go back at six o'clock in the summer, but Yang Qingqing couldn't catch up, so she made arrangements with the driver the day before. She would come ten minutes late and she could pay an extra ten cents for the fare. Only then did the driver agree to wait for Yang Qingqing.

When Yang Qingqing arrived at the parking place, there were only three people on the ox cart. They were chatting enthusiastically with the old man, but they did not urge the old man to leave quickly.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm late."

"I agreed to wait for you. We are all here. Let's go now."

On the way, Yang Qingqing thought about celebrating her first day at work. When she got home, it was already past 8 o'clock, and it was definitely too late to cook, so she took a roast chicken and sausages and put them in her small bag.

When Yang Qingqing got off the car at the entrance of the village, she saw her second brother waiting for her. He suddenly felt so happy, happier than going to work to earn money, because this was the first time someone came to pick her up.

Yang Qingqing seemed to have a lot to say along the way, repeatedly talking about her first day at work. The second brother did not interrupt her and listened patiently.

"Second sister-in-law, Wenjing, Wenxuan, Wenyuan, Wenqian, Wendan, Wenran, and little Wenjie. I'm back. Are you happy to see me? There's delicious food today! To celebrate my first day at work."

"What's delicious, aunt?"

“There’s something delicious!”

The children were very happy to hear that there was something delicious to eat. They asked a lot of questions, and Wenyuan was the happiest one.

"Qingqing, are you very happy today? I have never seen you so happy. You had a good first day at work!" The second sister-in-law teased her

"Sister-in-law, I'm really happy today. I brought back roast chicken and sausages to celebrate."

Yang Qingqing thought to herself, "I am not happy because I have a job, but because it feels so good to have my family care about me. But I can't tell you."

"Qingqing, don't buy things all the time. You're spending money before you even get paid. There's still a lot of time to come. Don't be extravagant. You should save money when you can."

"I know, second brother, isn't this the first day? Don't worry, I will definitely not waste it like this in the future."

Yang Qingqing thought to herself, "If I don't bring some meat back, you only have so much meat a month, how can you eat it? I'll have to wait until I get my salary to buy more meat, but it will take another month! We should eat meat at least twice a week. It's a pity that I can't expose the space, otherwise I can eat it every day. This is my last stubbornness."

"Brother, stop talking about me. I'm so happy today, how could you have the heart to ruin it! Let's eat. I was chatting with a colleague today and found out something. Do you want to know?"

"What's the matter? Judging from your appearance, it should be a good thing."

"Hey, our supply and marketing cooperative has defective products for sale every month. We can pick them first. This is something everyone knows. There is also a hidden benefit that I just found out about today."

"What's the matter? Tell me quickly, aunt, I want to know"

Wenyuan is impatient and immediately answered

"You can talk to your colleagues before the store opens, and they will keep the items you want. You don't have to rush to buy items that are often out of stock. Today, I saw a red thermos at the counter. Someone went to buy it, but the person said it was out of stock. After get off work, he gave the thermos to a colleague at another counter.

This way, I can order things in advance and not worry about running out of stock.”

"So that's it!"

After that, everyone lost interest. The family didn’t have much to buy from the county supply and marketing cooperative, so the village supply and marketing cooperative was enough for the family’s daily life.

Yang Qingqing actually just made up an excuse about what she saw today. She wanted to find a reason to buy things from the county in the future. She could get many things from the supermarket space in the future, and she didn't have to buy them at all. She had a reason to get things better.

After dinner, Yang Qingqing took Wen Jing and the other four children back to their home.

"Wenjing, auntie has started working today. Are you going to eat at Grandma Ma's house in the future? If so, auntie will send your rations over."

"Aunt, I'm ten years old now and can cook for myself. We don't need to eat at Grandma Ma's house anymore. This way, Grandma can save a lot of trouble."

"Actually, the reason I asked you this is because I think it's not good for you to go to other people's houses for dinner every day. I was thinking whether I could cook it in the evening and you could heat it up and eat it during the day. I was just afraid that you wouldn't be happy about it, hahahaha."

"Aunt, let's eat at home. Many girls my age in the village cook for the whole family. We can cook for ourselves. Aunt, should we grow some vegetables in the yard? That way it will be more convenient for us to eat."

"Growing vegetables! I haven't even thought about it. Let's grow them when Auntie is resting. Let's make it every night, and you can heat it up the next day. Let's start today. What do you want to eat?"

"Aunt, we can eat anything. You've worked hard. You should rest early. I can make corn porridge."

"That's right, auntie. I'll help my sister light the fire tomorrow. We can just eat porridge."

"Brother, I don't want to eat porridge anymore. I want to eat meat. Sister wants to eat meat too, right?"

Wen Yuan took Wen Qian's hand and said

"Wenyuan, we have already eaten a lot of meat. We can't eat it every day. Many people in the village can't even get enough porridge."

Wen Jing watched Wen Yuan's gentle persuasion

"Okay, you are all good kids. Children should not think too much. We can eat whatever we want, but we can't tell anyone. Not even your uncle. Otherwise, how about we not have any delicious food?"

"Really? I definitely won't tell you."

Wen Yuan rushed over and hugged Yang Qingqing to express his opinion

The others also looked at Yang Qingqing with surprise.

"Really? You have to keep it a secret. Otherwise you'll be criticized. If someone reports you, you'll be sent to a labor camp. You'll have endless work to do every day, and you'll be beaten, scolded, and starved. Got it?"

Yang Qingqing deliberately made the matter sound very dangerous, because she was afraid that someone would really pay attention to the child's careless words and threaten the family. This way, at least the children would be more careful about what they say.

"Then you will eat whatever I cook in the future. Don't tell anyone what you eat every day. Only the few of us will know, not even Wen Dan and Wen Ran. Is that okay?"

"Okay!" Wen Yuan agreed without even thinking about it. Wen Jing and Wen Xuan were a little hesitant.

"Aunt, is this a bad idea? He is my second uncle after all. Wendan and Wenran are very kind to us."

Yang Qingqing was very happy when she saw that the children all thought Wen Jing’s words made sense, and they were all people who knew how to be grateful.

"It's okay. I won't treat your second uncle's family unfairly. He is also my second brother! Don't worry. Don't think too much. I'll go boil some water, take a bath, sleep, and cook tomorrow's meal."

"Okay, Auntie."

Yang Qingqing didn't know what to cook. She had promised Wenyuan that they would eat meat. But she didn't want to make it complicated. There wasn't much left at home. There was only some bacon left.

He thought about it and thought of a dish of bacon fried with garlic sprouts. But there were no garlic sprouts, but there were green onions at home, so this dish should be OK. She fried a large plate. She also took 8 large black rice steamed buns from the supermarket, which looked very similar to the steamed buns mixed with black flour now. The ones in the supermarket were softer and more delicious. The ones now were hard to swallow and especially irritated the throat.

Yang Qingqing finished cooking and prepared half a lunch box of food and a steamed bun for herself for tomorrow's lunch. She saw some colleagues eating at the supply and marketing cooperative today. She thought about bringing her own lunch as well. This way she could avoid many problems.

It was already 3pm when Yang Qingqing lay down. She had to get up at am the next morning. She was upset just thinking about it. She used to go to bed at am and get up at noon the next day. Now she really goes to bed early and gets up early.

Before she went to bed, she always felt that she had forgotten something, but she just couldn't remember it. Then she fell asleep in a daze.