Reborn as a Tough Army Wife-Chapter 33 Going to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative

Fang Pingying put on her plaid dress, leaving it unbuttoned for fear it was too tight. Underneath, she wore a dacron blouse she usually wore on the outside, which caused no trouble.

Entering the kitchen, Luo Honglan was already rinsing rice to make porridge.

Luo Honglan, in fact, was wearing two layers of clothes, but her outfit had several small patches on it, and it obviously seemed a little too big, as if it wasn't her own.

Fang Pingying, thinking of taking her to town later, said to her, "After we eat, your older brother will stay home to keep an eye on things, and we'll go buy things in town."

Luo Honglan, hearing they would go to town, was very happy and looked at Fang Pingying with a smile, "Really, sister-in-law? You're taking me to town?"

Fang Pingying smiled and ruffled her hair, "Silly girl, you've never been to the county, but haven't you been to town either? You're so happy over a trip to town."

Luo Honglan peeked out into the courtyard and whispered, "Actually, it's been a while since I last went. When we need to buy things, it's usually mom and dad who go. I have to stay home to watch the house. And I have food and clothes at home, so there's nothing I really need to buy. Mom doesn't usually let me wander around."

"Well, think about it, is there anything you want to buy in town? If there is, we can buy it all at once." Fang Pingying asked her while adding some water to the pot, waiting for Luo Honglan to put in the rice to cook the porridge.

Miss Fang has a pretty hair clip, she said she bought it in town. I want to buy one too," Luo Honglan tilted her head to think, then smiled contently like a child, "The hair clip isn't expensive, only twenty cents. I have my own money."

"If you like it, buy it," Fang Pingying replied, then pointed to her clothes, asking, "Do you have other clothes? You should change into something else when we go out."

"Yes, I'll change before we leave," Luo Honglan nodded quickly.

Fang Pingying smiled in response and then helped Luo Honglan with the breakfast.

Since there were no leftovers from last night, they had to make fresh porridge in the morning.

Under Fang Pingying's management of the meals, the household did not eat as lavishly as before. The rice porridge did not contain meat, only some greens and fresh corn kernels.

Additionally, Fang Pingying took some fermenting cornmeal from the house and kneaded it into some cornbread.

Having green vegetable and corn porridge with cornbread for breakfast was not only frugal and nutritious but would still be considered a decent breakfast even decades later.

The Luo Family members didn't say anything upon waking; they could all see that, although the house used to eat lots of meat, it was because Zhou Yunmei was too lazy to make proper meals, always making do in a hurry.

To avoid trouble, she would prepare a whole day's worth of meals early in the morning, and if the weather was not too cold, she would often not bother reheating the food for lunch and dinner, just eating it casually.

But ever since Fang Pingying came to the household, although they ate less meat, whenever she had time, she would put in the effort to prepare meals, and the food was naturally tasty with effort spent on it.

After getting used to it, the family no longer had complaints about the meals.

Before, even though Fang Pingying was the one cooking, Zhou Yunmei was the one managing the meal budget. Seeing Fang Pingying saving a considerable amount of food money for the household every day, Zhou Yunmei was usually in a good mood and happily praised Fang Pingying for being skilled in household management. She would also hint at Fang Xiu that being a daughter-in-law required being careful with money.

Now, it was Fang Pingying's turn to manage the money, and she inevitably started feeling dissatisfied with the meal arrangements again. But since nobody else in the family complained, she didn't feel it was her place to say too much. Only when she was in a bad mood or disagreed with Fang Pingying would she find an excuse to make a fuss.

After breakfast, Fang Pingying swiftly cleared away the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, then took some money from the house, ready to go to town to shop.

Seeing Luo Honglan come out of the house in a change of clothes, Fang Pingying suddenly remembered that she wanted to ask Zhou Yunmei for some fabric to make clothes, so she went to Zhou Yunmei's room to ask her, "Mom, do we have any unused new fabric at home?"

Zhou Yunmei, still bearing a grudge over the money issue mentioned by Fang Pingying, answered with a cold face, "What do you need fabric for?"

"The seasons are changing, and I was thinking of making a new set of clothes for Zhiyong. Apart from the military uniforms he brought back from the army, he doesn't have any decent everyday clothes," Fang Pingying deliberately mentioned making clothes for Luo Zhiyong first, to gauge Zhou Yunmei's reaction. If Zhou Yunmei agreed readily, then she would bring up that she also wanted to make clothes for herself.

If Zhou Yunmei wasn't even satisfied with making clothes for Luo Zhiyong, there was no point in mentioning her own needs.

After asking her question, Luo Dashan, who was sitting on the kang, hurriedly intervened, "Yes, yes, when you two got married, many relatives gave fabric as a token of affection. Take some and make a set for yourself and Zhiyong, those pieces of fabric are just lying around..."

Before Luo Dashan could finish, Zhou Yunmei began to berate him, "What do you mean 'yes'? Those fabrics were given as gifts by others, and when the time comes, we need to return the favor. We aren't as well off as we used to be; it's not like we can take out money to repay these favors whenever. With just those few pieces of fabric, if we use them all up for ourselves, what will we do when we need to return the favor later?"

Hearing this, Fang Pingying didn't say much. She replied with a light smile, "It's okay, mom, if you need the fabric, then keep it for yourself. I just came to ask. If there isn't any, I'll just buy some in town later. Either way, clothes are a necessity."

Fang Pingying hadn't really expected to get any fabric from Zhou Yunmei; it was more of a formality, to prevent Zhou Yunmei from grumbling later, accusing others in the family of being wasteful with money while she herself hadn't made any effort to save.

Truly, if this is what Zhou Yunmei meant, that the fabric was for maintaining relations, Fang Pingying didn't mind, since she'd have to spend money to buy fabric later anyway. Whether she bought it now or later, it made no difference, and Fang Pingying wasn't one to be petty about that bit of fabric.

After saying her piece, Fang Pingying called for Luo Honglan and headed for the town.

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The town was far from as bustling as it had been before. Added to that, it wasn't market day, and aside from a few people living around the town who passed through for errands, there was hardly anyone else to be seen.

Only the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had its doors open for business.

Fang Pingying, with Luo Honglan in tow, made straight for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. They first went to the food counter and bought some honey, inquired about fresh lemons—the Cooperative said they didn't have any, and didn't even know what lemons were.

At that time, compared to several decades later, honey wasn't expensive; two yuan bought a large bottle, and the vendor even claimed it was local wild honey with high purity.

Fang Pingying didn't know much about these things, and since she wasn't particular when making hawthorn jam, she felt it was suitable and made the purchase.

After buying the honey, Fang Pingying took Luo Honglan to the counter specializing in girls' hair accessories, chose a few hairpins and elastic bands for her, and spent only several cents. Fang Pingying paid for them.

The young girl happily held those hairpins, chuckling, "Sister-in-law, you're so good to me. I've never had such nice things from my mom in all my years. Everything I wear or use is hand-me-downs from my sister."

Fang Pingying patted her forehead and smiled, "You can't let these words slip at home; mom would be upset."

Luo Honglan stuck out her tongue and whispered, "I know, I'm just telling you secretly."

"Come on, I'm going to buy some fabric to make clothes. Come with me," Fang Pingying said, pulling Luo Honglan toward the fabric counter.