Starting a new chapter in life

Zhang Jingyan obediently went over to wash her face.

Jinghuan continued, "It's locked up. Our mom is really something. When we were building the warehouse, she insisted on building two rooms, one for storing firewood and the other for storing coal. I used to complain that we couldn't afford that much coal, so why build the warehouse like that?"

I never imagined we'd actually need it today. If we use this coal sparingly, and add the coal we buy from the village every year, it should last at least three years. Now I'm truly relieved; I'm no longer afraid of freezing.

Zhang Jingyan draped the cotton towel she was using to wipe her face on the basin stand, turned her head and laughed, "Three years? Who knows, you might get married next year or the year after, and you're still thinking about staying at home for three years?"

“What are you saying? Our mother is gone, and we have to observe three years of mourning. Only two years have passed, and now it’s just the two of us left in the family. I’m the older sister, so I have to take care of my younger sister. Who should I marry?” Zhang Jinghuan patted her arm and said.

"Sister, you'll be 21 by the New Year. If you meet the right person, get engaged first, then get to know each other better, and then prepare for the wedding. The time will be about right. Did the young man from the Peng family come to help this afternoon?"

“He came not long after you left, helped me shovel coal, and even climbed over the coal pile to lock the warehouse window. I gave him two eggs before he left, so I don’t owe him a favor,” Zhang Jinghuan said quickly.

Zhang Jingyan sighed: "Fourth Sister, the young man from the Peng family has feelings for you. What about you? Have you taken a liking to him?"

“Him? We grew up together. Apart from being a bit simple-minded, he’s a good person and hardworking. But when it comes to marriage, I’ve never really thought about it.” Zhang Jinghuan showed not a trace of shyness.

"Then Fourth Sister can think about it. If you are satisfied with him, I will give Chunlai a heads-up. When Eldest Brother comes back for the New Year, I will have Peng's younger brother talk to him. After all, it is a major event in marriage, and Eldest Brother needs to take a look. Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law will also need to help arrange the wedding."

Zhang Jinghuan nodded, "Okay, let's ask my brother's opinion when he gets back."

"By the way, sis, we got this coal thanks to Sister Liu from our canteen. I was only able to buy coal in the army because I joined the canteen. Tomorrow, could you go to the county supply and marketing cooperative and see what snacks they have and buy some? Chunlai and I are planning to pool our money to buy some for everyone. Could you help us with that?"

"Okay, I remember there are seven of you, right? Buy this amount?"

“There are seven of us in total, including Chunlai and me. We should buy tickets according to the number of people. It’s better to have more than less, otherwise it will seem stingy. I’ll go inside and get you the money and tickets.” Zhang Jingyan said as she walked into the house.

Zhang Jinghuan followed behind her: "I have the money, but I don't have the tickets. You'll have to pay for them."

“Okay, then buy more tomorrow, so my sister and I can have some at home. Otherwise, staying at home all day will make our mouths too idle and we'll easily get cravings,” Zhang Jingyan said with a smile.

Zhang Jinghuan pointed a finger at her forehead: "You always have so many fallacies."

The two sisters checked their ration coupons: three jin of sugar coupons, thirty jin of grain coupons, fifteen jin of oil coupons, and ten jin of meat coupons. "Sigh, you brought back vegetables from the canteen during the autumn harvest, which were quite oily, so we didn't buy much meat. But we only have this much. No wonder Chun said she didn't have any coupons today. We sisters don't eat or use much, so we've only saved up this much." Zhang Jingyan looked at the stack of coupons in her hand with some helplessness.

"You should be grateful. Who in the village has this many coupons? These were issued by the canteen. People in our village don't get many coupons all year round. Check the dates, use the ones that are about to expire first, don't let them expire. It's so hard to save up a few, it would be heartbreaking if they expired." Zhang Jinghuan said as he flipped through the coupons again.

After tidying up for a while, Zhang Jingyan handed the sugar coupons and grain coupons to Jinghuan: "Fourth sister, use these tomorrow to buy sugar cubes, white sugar, and brown sugar. You can decide what to buy. We'll use the grain coupons to buy snacks. We'll use the oil and meat when I'm on holiday and we go shopping for New Year's goods together."

Zhang Jinghuan took the tickets and nodded: "Okay, I'll do as you say. I'll buy them. How much money do you think I should bring?"

How much money do we have left?

"There's still 158.5 yuan left," Zhang Jinghuan replied, flipping through the ledger.

"Let's take eight yuan and fifty cents, keep it round. We'll get paid again before the New Year, so we'll have a surplus of one hundred and fifty yuan this year. We can use twenty yuan to buy New Year's goods, save one hundred, and the remaining thirty will be for our expenses next spring. That should be enough." Zhang Jingyan was also doing the math.

Zhang Jinghuan nodded: "Okay, let's save 100 this year, and with what we saved before and what Mom left us, we'll have 700 yuan, which is quite a lot."

"Don't worry, sis, neither of us is lazy. We'll make a good living. When you get married, I'll give you five hundred yuan as a dowry. That's the first of its kind in our village. It'll make you stand tall in your husband's family." Zhang Jingyan teased her.

The two sisters, filled with hope for the future, went back to their rooms to sleep.

The chill in the air was more pronounced as they woke up early. The two sisters ate a quick breakfast by the stove in the kitchen. Jingyan wrapped a scarf around herself and went to work, while Jinghuan also bundled herself up tightly. She put her money and ration coupons separately in the pockets inside her cotton-padded coat, slung a basket over her shoulder, locked the courtyard gate, and headed straight for the county town.

After the autumn harvest, everyone received their grain and money. Some families who doted on their children would come to the county town to buy some candy to sweeten their kids' mouths, so the supply and marketing cooperative was still quite busy.

Zhang Jinghuan walked for more than half an hour before arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative. After looking around, he bought one and a half jin of sugar cubes, half a jin of white sugar, and one jin of brown sugar, using up all his sugar coupons. He spent one yuan and fifty cents. At that time, besides White Rabbit milk candy, this kind of plain candy was the most popular among ordinary people.

They're round, yellow, green, and orange—the colors are quite nice. They're not packaged; they're just placed directly into kraft paper, folded, and wrapped up. It's simple and straightforward, and of course, the price is affordable.

While White Rabbit candy is delicious, it's too expensive. The money you'd spend on a pound of candy could only buy less than half a pound of White Rabbit candy, so Zhang Jinghuan felt it was unnecessary and not worth it.

Seeing that there were vendors selling steamed egg cakes and fried dough sticks, I bought three jin of each, spending three yuan plus five jin of grain coupons. Jinghuan's heart was pounding when she spent the money; it was really expensive.

Seeing that the basket was almost full, I prepared to go home. Just as I reached the door, I saw someone writing on the small blackboard at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative: Newly arrived small apples and oranges, two cents a pound, no coupons required, limited supply, while supplies last.

She quickly stepped forward and asked, "Comrade, where can I buy these apples and oranges? Are you sure you don't need coupons?"

The man had just finished writing when he straightened up, glanced at her, and pointed in a direction. “You’re asking at the right time. Look, these were just brought in from out of town, still fresh. They were just put on display. Go pick one.”

"Thank you, comrade," Zhang Jinghuan said, and headed straight in that direction.

Walking to the corner of the supply and marketing cooperative, they saw baskets of apples and oranges laid out there. As soon as the lids were opened, Zhang Jinghuan pulled a bag from under the baskets and stepped forward, saying, "Comrade, are these all two cents a pound, no coupons required?"

The person removing the lids from the baskets looked up. "Yes, there are only a dozen or so baskets of apples and about twenty baskets of oranges. It's not a large quantity. How many do you want?"

"Ten catties of each," Zhang Jinghuan said through gritted teeth, weighing his own abilities.

"Can your cloth bag hold twenty pounds?" the seller asked.

Zhang Jinghuan pulled another cloth bag from under the basket and handed it to the salesperson: "Two should be enough."

The sales clerk took the bag and started filling it. When it was almost full, she weighed it, picked out a few items, weighed it again, raised the scale high, and handed the bag to her: "Twenty pounds, four yuan."

Zhang Jinghuan handed over the money, took the bag, carried it to a corner, tied the two bags together, swung it over her shoulder, and slung the pastry basket over her arm. When she turned around, she saw that the fruit stall, which had been empty a moment ago, was now lined with a long queue. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she had been quick and left the supply and marketing cooperative.

It took only half an hour to get there, but it took an hour to get home after stopping and resting. Once I got inside and unloaded the fruit, I was completely exhausted and lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed), not wanting to move.

He lay there for a while and fell asleep. When he woke up, it was getting dark. He immediately got up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and went out to fetch firewood. Zhang Jingyan had already pushed the door open and came in. "Sister, are you going to start a fire to cook?"

"Yes, I was a little tired after coming back from the supply and marketing cooperative today. I said I would lie down for a while, but I fell asleep right away. I just woke up."

"That's perfect. I brought back some food, it's still warm. You can eat first, and then we can boil some water to warm the kang (heated brick bed). You don't need to cook anything else." Zhang Jingyan handed over the lunchbox.

Jinghuan took it. "Okay, I'll eat first. By the way, look at the basket, it contains sugar and pastries. I've used up all the sugar coupons, five jin of grain coupons, and another four yuan and fifty cents. Oh, and I was lucky today. Just as I was leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, some fruit arrived. I bought ten jin of each of apples and oranges. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so tired from the short walk. They're so fresh."

As she spoke, she picked up a pair of chopsticks and started eating rice. "Mmm, Chef Lin's cooking skills are really good. The dishes smell so good. If Mom were still here, she could definitely eat three big bowls."

As Zhang Jingyan spoke, she looked through the items. "As the old saying goes, no journey is easy without a light load. We're about six miles from the county, carrying over twenty or thirty pounds of stuff, how can we not be tired? But this fruit is really fresh."

My mother worked hard and suffered her whole life, but she didn't get to see her old daughter fulfill her filial duty. If she knew I had this job, she would definitely be happy.

"Sister, we still have some brown sugar at home. I'll give this pound to Sister Liu first. I'll bring the pastries and fruit candies with me, as a treat for everyone, along with Chunlai. Fruit is scarce here in the dead of winter, so we'll keep them for ourselves. Hmm, I'll pick a few of each kind later and leave some for our older brothers. If we see more fruit later, we'll buy more."

"What about Third Brother..." Jinghuan asked hesitantly.

"Hmph, ever since our mother passed away, my eldest and second eldest brothers have known to come and visit us every year. As for him, we're all from the same village. When we first started working, we couldn't keep up and were all exhausted to the point of tears. Did he lend a hand? After work, he runs away faster than a rabbit. Is he holding a grudge against me for taking over our ancestral home?"

Doesn't he even consider that if he gets the house Mom left behind, where will my sister and I go? Live with him? Struggle to make a living under his thumb? We'd be bullied to death. He's forgotten his mother after getting married. Forget it, I don't want to talk about him anymore. It makes me angry.

Sister, let me tell you, if he comes looking for you in the future, don't forgive him just because you're soft-hearted. Before you soften your heart, think about how he angered Mom back then. Mom didn't agree to him marrying that woman, saying she was too cunning and that Third Brother was too honest and not suitable.

He was so insistent on marrying her, even at the cost of separation from the family. He got his wish, but after the separation, he complained that Mom wouldn't live with him and refused to leave him the old house. Didn't he realize that if his wife were someone Mom liked, would she have had to live with her youngest daughter? Back then, everyone in the village gossiped about it. He didn't even care about Mom, let alone us sisters.

Jinghuan looked at his sulking sister, swallowed the food in his mouth, and nodded: "Okay, don't worry, I remember. If he comes to me with something, I'll ask you what to do. If all else fails, there are still my older brothers. I know my own problems and I will never make decisions on my own."

Jingyan looked up at her fourth sister under the lamplight and smiled: "Fourth sister is very good, gentle and kind, but she doesn't have much of a say. In the future, you really need to find someone with a bit of backbone, but not someone with a bad temper, otherwise you'll get bullied."

Thinking about it this way, Peng isn't so bad after all. At least we know each other well, he has a mild temper, and he wouldn't hit anyone. But don't worry, sis, if he ever dares to bully you in the future, I'll teach him a lesson. With my reputation for fighting all over the surrounding area since I was a kid, I can definitely protect you.”

Jinghuan smiled as she ate, her eyes crinkling: "Yes, my little sister is the best. From now on, I'll rely on you to protect me."

After Jinghuan finished eating, the water in the pot boiled, and the kang (heated brick bed) warmed up. The two sisters tidied up and washed up, then went back to their rooms to sleep. She was really tired after walking and carrying things all day, and she slept soundly that night...

The next morning, when Jinghuan woke up, Jingyan was no longer home. After washing up, she lifted the pot lid and saw two sweet potatoes and an egg still warm inside. She smiled and said, "Jingyan's cooking skills are only good enough for dishes that don't need seasoning. What will she do after she gets married?"

As she spoke, she took the sweet potatoes and eggs out of the pot and sat down at the small table in the kitchen to eat breakfast. Now that she had bought enough coal and there was no work to do in the village, she was a restless person and decided to give the house a thorough cleaning.

He entered Jingyan's room first, and seeing that apart from the sleeping area, the rest of the room was covered in dust and hadn't been cleaned, he shook his head helplessly.

Her younger sister is capable and hardworking, but she just doesn't like cleaning and her cooking is terrible. But in today's society, these are the two most important requirements that a husband's family has for a daughter-in-law. In the future, her sister can't marry far away; she should stay at home so that her mother can come over every few days to help her clean the house. That way, no one will dislike her sister.

While thinking, she didn't stop working. The originally dusty house gradually became bright and clean in her hands. Finally, she sprinkled some water on the red bricks, and the house was clean.