The Eldest Sister is Like a Stepmother [60’s]

Lin Yiyi doesn’t want to go to Brother Wang’s place to buy groceries recently. It’s not fun to eat, but it’s fun to spend money. If you buy something casually, it will go to the teens or 20s. The speed of making money can’t keep up with the speed of spending money. , people will become stingy. In addition, there are soybean sprouts, mung bean sprouts, baby corn, potatoes, eggs at home, so she doesn’t want to go shopping.

Modern people say that money is not saved, but earned. But this is wrong in this era. The old saying that money depends on saving is still true. At least in this era, money depends on saving.

The bean sprouts that were distributed on October 1st, Cui Ping came to pick them up early on October 4th, and when Cui Ping came to pick them up, Lin Yiyi returned the remaining two pounds of bean sprouts to her: “Sister Ping, Here are the remaining two catties of soybeans, and this time the four catties of bean sprouts.”

Cui Ping looked at Lin Yiyi, she did not speak carefully, but of course Cui Ping understood. She said, “Sister Yiyi, are you not growing bean sprouts?”

Lin Yiyi said: “Yes, my man blames me for only caring about growing bean sprouts every day, and he doesn’t let me send it.”

Cui Ping: “…Sister Yiyi, let’s not talk secretly, it’s not bad for you to make four pounds of bean sprouts from a pound of soybeans, don’t you think? But I think it’s fair, otherwise how could I let you? What about working in vain? Take some benefits and help me continue to grow bean sprouts, aren’t we all good? “

Lin Yiyi: “Why don’t you talk to my man? He is the master of our family.”

Cui Ping: “…Well, I’ll talk to him.”

Lin Yiyi added: “If Sister Ping wants to eat bean sprouts, she can exchange vegetables with me in the future. Half a catty of vegetables is a catty of bean sprouts. I can do that, but I can only exchange one catty for a week.” It’s not that she really wants to exchange with Cui Ping, but because Cui Ping’s man is the director and doesn’t want to make the relationship deadlocked.

Cui Ping said warmly, “That’s good, thank you, sister Yiyi.” This tone was a bit perfunctory, and it seemed that she was angry.

As soon as Cui Ping left, Grandma Wang came again: “Daughter, let me change your bean sprouts. How about half a catty of vegetables and a catty of bean sprouts?” As for a pound, replacing half a catty of vegetables for a catty of bean sprouts is equivalent to one dollar a catty. Grandma Wang died of joy, “My daughter, I’ll change it once a week, not too much.”

Lin Yiyi thought for a while. She said polite words to Cui Ping, but she didn’t expect that Grandma Wang would hear her. Grandma Wang also took care of her during this time. So she nodded and said, “That’s fine, it’s only once a week, it’s only one kilogram each time.” Grandma Wang’s vegetables were also bought from Brother Wang’s place. She and Grandma Wang were there for friendship. Affect Brother Wang’s business.

Grandma Wang hurriedly said, “That’s great, can you change it today?”

Lin Yiyi: “…Yes, I sent a few pounds today to prepare myself to eat.”

Grandma Wang: “Wait… Can you change any vegetables?”

Lin Yiyi: “Yes.”

Grandma Wang ran home, and when she came again, she brought a handful of spinach: “Daughter, here, half a catty of spinach, I bought this from Xiao Wang, and I bought it before dawn today. “This handful of spinach can only be eaten for one meal, and a pound of bean sprouts can be eaten for three meals. Grandma Wang is happy and does not want it.

Lin Yiyi didn’t weigh it, so she could only take a quarter out of a basket of bean sprouts, and the basket was four pounds: “Grandma Wang, I didn’t weigh it, so I roughly grabbed it. Two, that’s too embarrassing.” But it should only be more or less.

Grandma Wang: “It’s okay.” Anyway, she took advantage of it.

After changing things with Grandma Wang, she brought Fifth Brother Lin to Brother Wang to say hello and talk about Cui Ping. Brother Wang didn’t care about this matter. How could Cui Ping’s petty troubles affect his business? It really doesn’t matter that he buys a few pounds of bean sprouts less, anyway, there are not enough to sell every day.

Lin Yiyi came back from Brother Wang’s place and brought some leeks and peas.

At noon, Lin Yiyi cooks stir-fried spinach and scrambled eggs with chives. The staple food is white steamed buns, and their family has a little more flour.

She just finished her meal, and saw Jin-woo returning with a large package. Lin Yiyi: “What is this? It’s a big package, it looks heavy.”

Xiao Yu: “I don’t know. There must be milk powder. The things sent by comrades in Inner Mongolia were sent to the Public Security Bureau, and they haven’t been unpacked yet.”

Lin Yiyi went to the room and brought a pair of scissors: “Quickly disassemble, including such a big one, shouldn’t it be milk powder?”

Jin Yu said, “I don’t know either.”

After Xiao Yu took the package apart, Lin Yiyi was stunned: “Oh my God, Brother Yu, what kind of revolutionary comrade are you? You’re so polite.”

It is indeed polite, the other party sent four cans of milk powder, not to mention that the fifth brother Lin can drink for four months, although the milk powder in this year’s can is only 450 grams, and there are two air-dried legs of lamb, for the convenience of storage, in During the drying process, the salt is a little more than usual. So after receiving the lamb shank here, it is still in good condition, and there is no sign of mold.

Two legs of lamb, including bones, weigh about 6 pounds. Air-dried meat accounts for the weight, and only four pounds of fresh meat can be air-dried to produce one pound of dried meat. So I have to say, Jin Yu is a comrade in arms.

Jin Yu said, “Revolutionary comrades-in-arms, the kind of brothers in life and death.”

Lin Yiyi: “Then we have to return the gift, otherwise it would be too rude.”

Jin-Woo: “What?”

Lin Yiyi thought about the things at home, but there seemed to be nothing good: “Jerky shrimp and Fuqiang powder?” This is the only thing that can be obtained, “Rice?”

Jin Yu: “Then let’s have dried shrimp and Fuqiang powder.”

At noon, when Jin Yu went to work, he went to the post office and sent 5 catties of Fuqiang powder, 2 catties of dried shrimp, and a milk powder remittance slip for 20 yuan.

The Lin brothers didn’t come to the county this week because they were very busy with work. On Monday, Grandma Wang came to exchange bean sprouts with Lin Yiyi again.

In a twinkling of an eye, it was the end of October. This month, the brothers of the Lin family had never been here. It is estimated that they were too busy in the field to leave. Lin Yi also survived for a month by relying on yam, baby corn shoots, and bean sprouts. In the month, except for the 2 catties of eggs, she basically didn’t buy any dishes. She felt very relieved, but the bean sprouts were doing tricks. Now she can make several dishes with bean sprouts. But her budget-conscious life is already the best in the eyes of others. At least she has white rice and white steamed buns to eat, so Jin Yu won’t be full, but there are seven full, and she herself can be full.

She knows that some vegetables can be saved, but some things cannot be saved, such as eggs. So I still need two catties of eggs a month, and steamed egg custard every day to replenish my body. It’s really the age that has affected her values. She used to buy things without reason, but now she has to break every dime away.

At the end of October, Lin Yiyi’s second short story between black and white has a manuscript of 100,000 words that is true and false, and the manuscript of the Republic of China novel of 5,000 words has been written. When she went to send the manuscript, she also took this month’s manuscript fee. , 70,000 words get 140 yuan, 5,000 words get 5 yuan. A total of 145 yuan, plus the previous 77 yuan, there are 222 yuan, Lin Yiyi opened an account for herself in the bank, and deposited 222 yuan, which is her private money. As for the usual expenses at home, of course, it uses Jin Yu’s money. Jin Yu’s monthly salary is 80 yuan, which is enough for their monthly expenses.

As for the county newspaper office, Lin Yiyi did not write this month. In the face of difficulties, she still chose reality. It was important to send the manuscript to the city publishing house to make money.

In early November, the weather was getting colder. Lin Yiyi didn’t have any clothes, and Lin Daya’s clothes couldn’t keep warm at all, so she wanted to buy herself sweaters and padded jackets. As for knitting sweaters, she didn’t have the ability. No, whether it’s a sweater or a cotton-padded coat, you can only rely on Brother Wang.

It was early in the morning, when the genius was slightly bright, Grandma Wang and Lin Yiyi went to Brother Wang’s together, Xiao Yu also went with fifth brother Lin, and let his wife go alone, he was not at ease.

Brother Wang made a lot of money with the bean sprouts recipe in the past two months, and he sold the bean sprout recipe to the black market in other counties, so don’t look at the bean sprout recipe he bought for 1,000 plus a house. It’s not like that.

Brother Wang: “What do you want to buy today, Miss Yiyi?”

Lin Yiyi first picked two catties of eggs, plus residents’ benefits, three catties of eggs a month, just one a day. Then I picked two kilograms of radishes and two kilograms of taro: “Brother Wang, do you have a ticket here? I want to buy sweaters and cotton-padded clothes… My family has three and a half children, a three-year-old child, and four elders.” As for Xiao Yu , There is a military coat in the closet, which is still new and warmer than a cotton coat, so she just wants to buy him a sweater.

Brother Wang: “Sister Yiyi, you either don’t do it, or you have a big business. I have this sweater ticket, but I don’t have cotton clothes, only cotton. You also know that this year, there is not much cotton flowing out. It is a good year. Cotton is also not cheap. Although this cotton is not a necessity now, the price is not cheap. It costs 5 yuan for a pound of cotton, what do you think?”

Grandma Wang: “This is incredible. An adult’s cotton-padded coat costs 2 pounds of cotton, and a half-sized child also needs a pound and a half. You have to buy a lot for every girl.”

Lin Yiyi did the math, the four elders of the Xiao family, plus himself, the fifth younger brother of Lin, and the three younger brothers of the Lin family who have been very good recently, there are a total of 9 people with 17 pounds of cotton, plus the family quilt to come with a 6-pound quilt: “I want 23 pounds of cotton.”

Brother Wang: “Sure, or the newest cotton this year, 23 catties of cotton costs 115 yuan, how many sweater tickets do you need?”

Lin Yiyi: “Two.”

Brother Wang: “I’ll give you 2 yuan for a sweater ticket, 2 yuan for 4 yuan, plus 115 yuan for cotton, plus 20 yuan for vegetables, a total of 139 yuan.”

Grandma Wang looked at her flesh and said, “Daughter, you really know how to buy it.”

Lin Yiyi smiled: “My man’s salary is not enough. I haven’t covered my hands yet.” Comrade Xiao Yu’s salary of 80 yuan a month is gone, but he bought it for his grandmother and parents, so it’s not a loss.

When Xiao Yu saw Lin Yiyi come out, he was stunned: “What did you buy?” Don’t look at 23 catties of cotton, but only 23 catties, but cotton is light, and a catty of cotton covers a lot, not to mention 23 catties.

Lin Yiyi said, “This is the cotton used to make cotton coats for everyone. This year’s new cotton will be made for grandparents and parents.”

Jin Yu’s heart moved: “Okay.”

Grandma Wang: “I said, Comrade Xiao Yu, our daughter is a good and filial daughter. You have to be nice to her, otherwise my old woman will talk about you.”

Jin-Woo: “You’re right.”

Grandma Wang said again: “One by one girl, let me introduce you to a place to make cotton-padded clothes. There is cloth there, but you can add the money for the cloth, and you don’t need a ticket.”

Lin Yiyi was very surprised: “Is there a place?”

Grandma Wang: “Of course there is.” Grandma Wang, as a person who has been in the county for decades, knows a lot about these places, “I tell you, the people who make the clothes get the fabric from the garment factory, and they are all some Defective fabrics were taken out by others…”

In fact, Lin Yiyi felt that she was lucky. She met such a good neighbor as Grandma Wang. If it weren’t for Grandma Wang, she would not have integrated into the life of the county so quickly.

the next day

Grandma Wang took Lin Yiyi to the clothing store.

Coincidentally, the clothing store that makes clothes is also in the old alley, not far from Lin Yiyi’s yard. The old tailor who made the clothes was an aunt in her forties. She was quite familiar with Grandma Wang. She was a tailor when she was young. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, her family also opened a tailor shop, but at that time the tailor was her father, and then her father died. Now, she inherited the tailor shop. Later, when the tailor shop disappeared, she made it at home. Now her daughter is also making clothes with her. Her daughter is 25 years old and her craftsmanship is also very good.

Lin Yiyi told the old tailor about the body shapes of the elders and four younger brothers in the family, and then chose sapphire blue fabric for the four elders and army green fabric for the four younger brothers. The cotton-padded coats are all 2kg of cotton. My three younger brothers use 1.5 jins for their cotton-padded coats, and I use the remaining half a catty to make them a pair of trousers. Half a catty of cotton, cotton pants, and a six-jin quilt, a total of 23 catties of cotton, how much?”

The old tailor: “It costs 10 yuan to make a quilt, excluding the quilt cover. You have eight adults and one child. The adult’s top is 3 yuan, and the pants are 15 yuan. I will give you the child’s set for free. 40 bucks.”

Lin Yiyi paid the money and felt that once she returned to before liberation, her family’s brother Yu’s salary for two months was all spent today. But it didn’t feel enough: “Auntie, do you have cotton pants and cotton sweaters here?”

The old tailor: “The fabric is here, you can choose the fabric yourself, and I will make it for you.”

Lin Yiyi chose cotton, which is soft and comfortable. She chose light gray: “Just this style, I want six sets.” Two sets are for herself, you can wear them interchangeably, two sets are for Xiao Yu, and two sets are for Xiao Yu. Brother Lin. Lin Wudi is young, and the fabric is really economical.

Old tailor: “One set is 2 yuan for children, 2 sets are 4 yuan, adults are 5 yuan for a set, 20 yuan for four sets, a total of 24 yuan. Girl, considering that you bought so much, the clothes and pants will be torn later. , as long as you don’t need fabric, or just some rags, I can fix it for you three times for free.”

Lin Yiyi: …it feels a bit like after-sales service in later generations.

Lin Yiyi: “Thank you auntie, by the way, auntie, I can do the cotton-padded clothes later, you can do the cotton-padded pants and cotton-padded sweaters for me first, and the children and I will do it first, and my man’s can be after us. He has a good physique and is not afraid of cold. .”

The old tailor: “Got it, you have two sets and the child’s two sets. You can come and get them in three days. My daughter and I will drive you first.” In this age, some people hid their money to buy food, so they made clothes There are very few people, and because of this, they have time to be Lin Yiyi’s.

Lin Yiyi: “Thank you so much, that’s great.”

After coming out of the tailor, Lin Yiyi felt distressed about the money, but also happy that she finally had clothes to wear. However, the salary of Jin Yu for two months, plus the remaining money, only 23 yuan is left over 200 yuan, and it only starts this month.

Grandma Wang is no longer going to say anything. She already knows that the girl beside her is a big spender.

It was Tuesday when I received the residents’ welfare in November, so Xiao Yu sent 4 catties of Fuqiang powder and 1 catty of meat back to Xiao’s house, but Lin Yiyi didn’t go. Because it’s too much trouble at night. However, she asked Jin Yu to deliver food to the younger brother of the Lin family.

No, Lin Yiyi didn’t go back, the younger brothers of the Lin family finally couldn’t help it, and the strike came to the county seat.

On this day, Lin Yiyi just came back with the cotton sweater and cotton wool pants, when he saw the three squatting in front of his yard. The three boys lost a lot of weight, and they were darker than before. With three baskets, the whole person is powerless.

Lin Yiyi: “The army.” She didn’t see them for a month, but she found that she still misses them, maybe she was used to them before.

Lin Dajun raised his head suddenly: “Sister.” Seeing Lin Yiyi, Lin Dajun’s eyes were red, “Sister, we miss you.”

Lin Yiyi: “…Why didn’t you come? Sister misses you, everyone who misses you has lost weight and has no appetite for food every day.”

Lin Dajun: “…” He saw that his sister was fat.

Lin Yiyi: “Sister thought that you can’t sleep and you are thin, but elder sister thinks this is not possible. If elder sister loses weight, you must be worried, so elder sister made cotton jackets for you, thinking about the warm clothes you wear in winter, elder sister’s When the mood is good, when the mood is good, people will grow flesh.”

Lin Dajun: “…” Wait, he seems to have heard something important.

Lin Sijun: “Sister, have you made us a padded jacket?”

Lin Sanjun also looked at Lin Yiyi in surprise.

Lin Yiyi: “I have made cotton clothes and pants, one set for each person. My sister spent all the dowry and manuscript fees. This is not enough. I borrowed some from your brother-in-law. You know, I will make one set for each of you at one time. My brother-in-law also has ideas, so my sister can only borrow money from him and pay it back to him when there is a manuscript fee next time.”

Lin Sijun: “Sister, you are so kind, I haven’t worn new clothes for several years.” As he spoke, he touched his eyes, his eyes were red, and his voice was choked up.

Not only him, but also Lin Dajun and Lin Sanjun. When my parents were alive, they did not have cotton-padded clothes and trousers to make together. They were all made by the younger brother and the older brother.

Lin Yiyi: “Okay, let’s not talk about this, why are you here today, come in quickly.”

Lin Dajun: “We returned the food that you asked my brother-in-law to send to my aunt. We were busy on the ground this month, so we didn’t come to get the food. We borrowed it from my aunt. Yesterday, the brigade sent some food, and we brought it.”

Lin Yiyi: “Why did you distribute food yesterday?”

Lin Dajun: “If we don’t send it, everyone will starve to death. The team leader distributed 50 catties of grain to each household. Our family has 20 catties of corn and 30 catties of sweet potatoes. We left 30 catties in the countryside and brought 20 catties back. “

50 catties will have to survive the new year, and the next batch of grain will be available until the harvest season in April, but now it is only November, and there is still half a year, so some people, a family only has 5 catties of grain a month. Thinking of it this way, whether it is the younger brother of the Lin family or the Xiao family, they are now happy.

Lin Yiyi: “Then my sister will give you a good supplement today. You can stay here for a few more days before leaving.”

Lin Dajun: “We have to hurry back. Things in the fields are not yet ready. We have to work for a month, and we will not be free until December.” They also wanted to stay for a few days. The way, October and November are the busiest times, and the other half of the boys are also on the ground.

Lin Yiyi: “The elder sister will cook you something delicious at night, and you will leave tomorrow.”

Lin Dajun: “Hey.”

For dinner, Lin Yiyi made white steamed buns, boiled rice and sweet potato porridge, and the dishes were green stir-fried bean sprouts and braised radishes. Not only was there enough rice, but also enough vegetables, so that the younger brothers of the Lin family had enough to eat.

The next day, the brothers of the Lin family went back. Because they left 30 catties of food when they came, they didn’t need to bring food when they went back. They only carried two catties of soybean sprouts, one catty of yam, six white steamed buns, and a stack of air-dried mutton. , a small bowl of milk powder.

In mid-November, Lin Yiyi received another letter from the city’s publishing house. This time, the money was more than the last time, because the publishing house printed stories between black and white, human traffickers and real and fake daughters, a total of 200,000 words, but not enough. Knowing what the sales would be like, so I printed 5,000 copies first, and the fee for the number of copies was 918 yuan, minus the 200 yuan that had been remitted, and then added 718 yuan. He also told Lin Yiyi that there would be no writing fees in the future, only the printing fee, and the printing fee would be settled every two months.

Lin Yiyi was a bit silly with a remittance slip of 718 yuan. No wonder some people said that in this era, you can buy a set of courtyard houses in old Beijing.

Lin Yiyi immediately took out the 718 yuan and put it in the bank. The deposit became 940 yuan, and she was about to become a thousand yuan household. Being rich, of course we have to celebrate. Lin Yiyi extravagantly scrambled eggs with cured meat, cooked soup with the bones of lamb shanks, and fried a bean sprout. The dinner was white rice and nothing was added.

However, she waited until seven o’clock and did not wait for Jin-woo to come back.

Lin Yiyi’s intuition was a little wrong. She picked up Lin’s fifth brother and went to the Public Security Bureau. Only when she got to the door of the Public Security Bureau, she saw several women crying over there. Lin Yiyi felt that something had happened.

She walked into the police station.

There are also police officers at this point, so it can be seen that the matter is not trivial. As soon as Lin Yiyi entered, the male policeman inside asked, “Little girl, what’s the matter with you?”