I can travel back and forth in 1986

Chapter 13 Winning Over

Chen Lirong is gone, and the excitement is over.

The aroma of the ribs stewing in the pot made the villagers watching the spectacle swallow hard.

"Dequan, Xiuying, has your family struck it rich?" someone joked.

Zhang Dequan smiled憨厚ly, "It's all thanks to Lao Yao, he bought it."

Seeing this, Lan Xiuying considered that they were all fellow villagers and greeted them warmly.

"Why don't we all come in and have a seat? The meat will be ready soon, let's all have a taste?"

The villagers watching the spectacle exchanged glances; who wouldn't want to eat meat?

But today is the day that the youngest member of Dequan's family is going home. What's the point of these outsiders going there to freeload a meal?

Even if you're really craving something, you still need to be discerning.

"Xiuying, we appreciate your kindness. Hurry up and cook dinner. Xiaochuan has finally come back, why should we join in? We need to go back and prepare dinner too."

After exchanging a few jokes, they took one last, reluctant look at the stove in front of the thatched shed, emitting the aroma of meat, and prepared to head back.

Zhang Beichuan felt the cigarettes in his pocket, handed them to Zhang Dequan, then ran to grab a handful of milk candies and quickly walked out.

"Dear uncles, aunts, and elder brothers, I'm back this time, and I'll be relying on you all a lot in the future. I didn't bring much with me in the rush, just a cigarette and some candy for the kids back home."

In Shihe Village, half of the villagers share the surname Shi, while the remaining half are mostly migrants who moved here a long time ago, including less common surnames such as Zhang, Li, Wang, and Zhao.

To completely isolate Zhang Dezhong's family and deal with Chen Lirong's family, it is necessary to win over everyone who can be won over, and these villagers may be useful later.

Several farmers' eyes lit up. They usually grew their own tobacco leaves and rolled their own cigarettes. Those who were better off would occasionally buy a pack of cheap cigarettes for a dime to improve their taste. They couldn't bear to smoke this expensive cigarette with its fancy packaging.

What's more, there's also White Rabbit milk candy, something children don't see all year round.

"Oh dear, I can't accept this..."

They were polite with their words, but they had already taken the money with their hands.

"Of course," Zhang Beichuan said with a smile. "When I'm not home, I'll have to ask everyone to help take care of my third brother, third sister-in-law, and my nieces."

"Of course! Dequan and Xiuying are a good couple; we're all from the same village, so we'll definitely help them if we can!"

Everyone accepted the cigarettes and candy, feeling relieved. After exchanging a few more words and jokes, they dispersed in twos and threes.

Back in the thatched hut, Lan Xiuying began to serve the prepared food to the table one by one.

A pot of braised pork ribs with green beans, a plate of stir-fried pork with chili peppers glistening in oil, a plate of stir-fried greens, and a pot of white rice.

This is a spectacle that ordinary families only see during festivals like Chinese New Year.

The three little girls stared longingly at the meat on the table, their mouths practically watering.

"Eat up." Zhang Beichuan first put a piece of pork rib on each of the three girls' plates, then put some meat on Zhang Dequan and Lan Xiuying's plates. "Third brother, sister-in-law, you should eat more too."

"You eat too, you eat too." Lan Xiuying's eyes were a little sore. How long had it been since she had eaten meat so heartily?

Zhang Dequan shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth. The ribs were stewed until tender and flavorful, the oil and meaty aroma melting in his mouth. He swallowed and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Youngest brother, thank goodness you were here today. Otherwise, given Chen Lirong's temper, she would have made a scene until dark."

"We're all family, no need for such formalities." Zhang Beichuan waved his hand, looking at his "mother" who was avoiding his gaze.

The little girl was afraid that her parents would hold her accountable for what had just happened, so she ate her meat silently, her cheeks bulging.

Lan Xiuying naturally noticed the eldest girl's cautious manner, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she put a piece of stir-fried pork with chili peppers into the girl's bowl.

It had been a long time since they had eaten meat so heartily. The three little girls ate until their faces were shiny with oil, and each of them ate a large bowl of white rice.

Before long, Zhang Beichuan and the other two had finished eating.

There were still some leftover bits of stir-fried pork with chili peppers on the plate on the table.

Seeing that the three little girls still wanted to eat more, Lan Xiuying immediately took away the plates, not daring to let them continue eating.

Overeating can cause indigestion, and if you haven't eaten oily or fatty foods for a long time, eating too much at once can easily lead to stomach upset, which would be a waste of food.

"Lili, your dad, your uncle, and I are going to the county town tomorrow. The three of you will stay home and look after the house. Save the rest of this for noodles for lunch tomorrow."

The little girl, who had looked slightly disappointed, immediately smiled upon hearing this.

"it is good."

After dinner, Lan Xiuying was busy cleaning up the dishes, and the three little girls also gathered around the stove to help.

That night, Zhang Beichuan and Zhang Dequan squeezed into one bed, while on the next bed, separated by a curtain, Lan Xiuying and three maids huddled together.

That night, no one could sleep, whether it was because they had finally eaten meat after a long time or because they had hope for the future.

Lan Xiuying was an impatient person. Once she made up her mind, she woke Zhang Dequan up at the crack of dawn the next day.

"Get up quickly, we need to go to the county town to find Baojun today."

Zhang Dequan sat up groggily. He had been thinking about selling lighters all night, feeling both surprised and excited, and hadn't slept well.

He rubbed his eyes and saw that his wife had already prepared breakfast—a few sweet potatoes and a dish of pickled vegetables.

The three little girls were also awake, sitting on the bed in a daze, not fully awake yet.

"Where's Ogawa?"

"He woke up a while ago. I saw him go out for a walk just now." Lan Xiuying gestured towards the dirt road outside the house.

Zhang Beichuan did get up early, partly because the bed he slept in last night was as hard as a stone slab, and partly because he was thinking about his lighter business.

With manpower initially secured, the next steps are to consider how to sell, to whom to sell, and how to procure goods in bulk.

Hearing a noise inside, he turned and went in.

"Good morning, Third Brother and Sister-in-law."

"Okay, good morning," Lan Xiuying replied. "Let's eat early then, and then we can go to the county office to run some errands."

The three of them quickly finished their meal, and Lan Xiuying instructed the three maids to watch the house and not to run around.

"Don't worry, little sister, I've got your back. We can handle all the chores around the house!"

Looking at his mother, who was acting like a little adult, Zhang Beichuan smiled and said, "I also brought back bananas and grapes yesterday. Remember to eat them during the day."

Yesterday, the three little girls were completely captivated by the White Rabbit candy and meat, and didn't even think about the fruit.

Hearing Zhang Beichuan say this, the three of them's eyes lit up, and they turned to look at their mother, Lan Xiuying.

"Mom, can we eat bananas and grapes?"

In Lan Xiuying and Zhang Dequan's minds, bananas were something only high-ranking city officials could afford; they were considered treasures.

Yesterday afternoon she roughly counted them; there were about ten bananas and a large bunch of grapes, which she put into the cupboard.

"What are you eating? You look like a banana! You eat all the good stuff at once, saving it for later."

Looking at the three little girls pouting, Zhang Beichuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Sister-in-law, let them eat. It's too hot in this weather; bananas and grapes won't keep for long, and it would be a waste if they spoiled."

Hearing that such precious bananas couldn't be stored, Lan Xiuying felt extremely distressed.

She was planning to take the bananas to the brigade headquarters to find Shi Tiezhu after she finished her business and ask him to help her brother-in-law get a house site.

Regardless of whether the younger brother-in-law lives in Shihe Village in the future, or even if the two brothers build a house together, the homestead that the team is entitled to is rightfully his and he must receive it.

Moreover, my brother-in-law is so young, he'll get married someday. What if the woman likes this house?

Even if you don't build a house, you can keep the land for a vegetable garden and grow vegetables to eat all year round.

As her sister-in-law, she had to consider things from the front.

Moreover, her brother-in-law was unaware of the intricacies of the homestead, but she knew it very well.

The village approved the land for our house, but the town also had to approve it before it was considered ours. It took us almost half a year to go through all that.

If we could send Shi Tiezhu something decent, and he could make a few more trips to town, the approval process for the residential land would definitely be much faster.

That way, we can catch the end of the year when farming is less busy, and the two families can have a more spacious place to build the house together.

"Really, we can't release it?"

"Sister-in-law, it really won't keep, it'll really spoil if you leave it too long."

"Sigh, you three girls got off easy. The things are in the cupboard," Lan Xiuying said reluctantly.

Upon hearing that they could eat bananas, the three little girls' faces lit up with smiles.