When they returned home, the whole family was excited.

Seeing the two of them enter, Mother Wang Qiuju hurriedly asked, "What did the doctor say? Is there any major problem?"

"No, the doctor said it's just malnutrition. We just need to give him some supplements in the future and he'll be fine."

Yang Guangzhi sat on a stool and said while picking up a bag of dried tobacco.

He opened the matchbox and looked inside, "Oh, no more matches. Second Brother, bring the box of foreign matches."

Yang Xiaomei reluctantly put down the new cloth and ran to the kitchen, quickly returning with half a box of matches.

She handed it to him and said, "This is the last box, so be frugal. There's none left at the agency store."

"No problem, I'll go to the village tomorrow. The supply and marketing cooperative in the village should have some. Zhang Laohan doesn't want to stock too much."

As he spoke, he took out some matches from the opened box and put them into the empty matchbox.

Then he threw the rest back and gestured to take it to the kitchen.

At this time, Wang Qiuju finally asked him, "Where did you get this cloth? How many cloth tickets did it cost?"

"Hehe! Look, these are all big bills, no need for tickets!"

"Wow, is it real?"

Wang Qiuju checked it under the dim light of the kerosene lamp.

After looking for a while, she looked up in surprise, "Oh, this is just like the good cloth sold at the supply and marketing cooperative! You can't tell if you don't look closely."

But she thought of something and asked him, "How much did you spend on this? So much cloth!"

"13 yuan and 2 fen!"

Yang Guangzhi also felt a little embarrassed. He bought so much on impulse.

"What? 13 yuan and 2 fen? Are you crazy? How can you spend so much money on these things? Are the children not going to school anymore?"

Wang Qiuju's voice raised eight degrees.

Yang Xiaole shook his head beside them. He said it was all good on the way, but he only exchanged the gold for 13 yuan, and the cloth was given by someone else.

In the end, he told the truth.

As they were talking, Big Brother came back from outside.

"Dad, we returned the donkey to Second Uncle Qingwu."

After Yang Xiaogang finished speaking, he thought of something and asked him, "By the way, Dad, Fifth Brother said you went to Grandpa's place. What happened? Did something happen there?"

"Oh, your Uncle has come back! Didn't they tell you?"

Yang Guangzhi took a puff of dried tobacco and smiled.

"What? Uncle has come back? Where is he?"

"Big Brother is still alive?"

Both Big Brother and Mother were surprised.

Seeing their expressions, Yang Guangzhi smiled happily, "Yeah, I just went there and saw that Big Brother sent a letter, but it seems like he can't come back for now."

Wang Qiuju showed a happy smile and said, "That's great. From now on, you'll have two brothers. Let's see if they dare to bully you."

Yang Guangzhi didn't say anything about his wife's attitude.

"By the way, Dad, Little Tiger overheard outside just now. How should we explain the cloth tomorrow?"

Wang Qiuju and Yang Guangzhi looked at each other, with worry in their eyes.

There must be a source for this money, right?

Yang Xiaole shook his head and took out the certificate of merit, saying, "Mom, don't listen to Dad's nonsense. He just wants to show off in front of you and say that he specially bought the cloth for you! This is my reward for being brave and righteous."

After speaking, he placed the certificate of merit on the table and said to Big Sister, "Read it to Mom!"

It was a hassle to get this thing, but it was just to shut the mouths of outsiders and prevent the family from gossiping.

Curiously, Yang Xiaomei took it and started reading, "Comrade Yang Xiaole, in recognition of your brave and righteous act, Xidan Department Store in the capital..."

After finishing reading, she said in surprise to Wang Qiuju, "Mom, it's real. Look, this is Third Brother's reward. It even has a seal!"

"Go away, it knows me, but I don't know it!"

Wang Qiuju didn't know how to read, but seeing her husband's expression, she knew something was going on.

But she didn't ask right away, she would ask slowly when there was time.

With this certificate, she felt more at ease.

"Alright, put it away. When the New Year comes, I'll make a set of clothes for each of you. Hmph, since there's no pork, we'll wear new clothes."

"Mom, this cloth is thin, not suitable for winter clothes. It's almost autumn now, so let's make autumn clothes! Otherwise, why did we buy it?"

Yang Xiaole said beside them.

Find the original at " pa𝑤read.com ".

What's the point of buying cloth if they don't wear it?

Wang Qiuju didn't respond and, under the expectant gaze of everyone, put the things away.

"Are you hungry? I'll go get something to eat. I guess there's porridge in the pot for you when you come back. It's still warm!"

"Okay, we didn't finish the corn cakes we brought. They'll go well with the porridge. Bring the soy sauce too."

They had already eaten lunch, so it was almost digested.

No need to give instructions, Wang Qiuju went into the house, and Big Sister naturally went to bring them porridge.

"Shout and sell, only the soy sauce is left!"Yang Guangzhi looked at the sauce bowl and chuckled.

The sauce was shrimp sauce, but now there was only sauce left, no shrimp. It was probably eaten by several people during the day.

It wasn't a complaint, just a casual comment.

After Wang Qiuju finished setting the cloth, she complained, "This shrimp sauce is delicious, but it also consumes a lot of sauce, and it's eaten too quickly. Third Brother, don't make shrimp next time."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaole shook his head.

He was really speechless.

But there was no other way, the sauce didn't just come with the wind.

The food supply was not enough, and they had to rely on fruits and vegetables. The self-sustaining land was only so big, and if it had to support the whole family's vegetables, the other things that could be planted were limited.

The yield of broad beans was low, and the sauce made from them had to last a year.

Eating too quickly was also not good.

He understood Wang Qiuju's words, but he just listened. If he really brought it back and didn't eat it, wouldn't it be wasted?

That was impossible.

When the food was served, the two began to eat.

Yang Guangzhi felt something was off and called out to Yang Xiaomei, "Second Brother, the dried radishes are not ready yet. Get some pickled radishes. They've been pickling for more than half a month, they should be ready. Also, get some chili and leeks, otherwise it's tasteless."

"Oh!"

Yang Xiaomei responded lightly and ran to get the pickles.

In a short while, she brought a pottery bowl filled with thumb-sized radishes, covered with white foam, and a sour smell hit their faces.

Yang Xiaole directly picked up a thumb-sized radish and took a bite.

The taste was sour and salty, and it was quite good.

These were the ones that were planted too densely before and were thinned out.

"Hmm, it's good, it's flavorful."

Yang Xiaole took a bite and nodded, then took a sip of porridge.

While he was eating, he felt someone tugging at his clothes.

Turning his head, he saw Fifth Brother looking at him expectantly, "Third Brother, where's my hair tie?"

Yang Xiaole was about to pretend to search for it, but then he remembered that Dad had searched his pockets today.

He immediately changed his words and laughed, "Wait a moment, let me finish my meal and I'll look for it. I forgot where I put it!"

Hearing his words, Fifth Brother pouted, "You definitely forgot."

After saying that, he ran off in a huff.

Yang Xiaole didn't pay him any mind. Kids were easy to coax. Once he gave him the hair tie tomorrow, he would be his dear brother again.

Big Sister looked at the newspaper-wrapped package on the table and asked curiously, "Dad, where did this brown sugar come from? We don't have any brown sugar tickets, do we?"

Yang Guangzhi took a bite of cornbread with his porridge, chewed it, and then looked at her, "Oh, the doctor at the hospital said he has... Xiaole, what's the disease called?"

He couldn't remember, so he asked his son.

"Hypoglycemia!"

"Oh, right, hypoglycemia. The doctor prescribed this sugar, saying it's for Xiaole to supplement his sugar."

After saying that, he added, "Don't blame me for being partial. This thing is like medicine for Third Brother, you guys shouldn't drink it in the future!"

The others were initially excited to see the brown sugar.

But now that they heard it was only for Third Brother to drink, they all pouted.

But knowing that this was Third Brother's medicine, no one said anything more.

"Does this sugar require a ticket?"

"No ticket? What's wrong? The doctor prescribed it, and I got it directly from the pharmacy!"

Hearing his daughter-in-law's question, Yang Guangzhi honestly explained.

"You didn't know to buy an extra pack without a ticket?"

Looking at his daughter-in-law's eyes, as if saying, how could she have married such a stupid man, Yang Guangzhi felt a little embarrassed and laughed.

That seemed to be the case.

Yang Xiaole stepped in to smooth things over, laughing, "Mom, you're overthinking. Now sugar and cotton are listed as strategic materials, how could they prescribe as much as they want?"

"Exactly, what do you know as a woman?"

Yang Guangzhi seemed to have found his confidence and said irritably.

But seeing his daughter-in-law's displeased look, he quickly changed the subject, "Xiaole, take your medicine after eating. Didn't the doctor tell you to take it three times a day?"

"Oh, okay! I got it."

Yang Xiaole agreed.

Seeing this, Wang Qiuju didn't say anything more.