“Xiao Ze, after you get off work, go to the National Restaurant and buy two meat dishes. I’ve put the money and food stamps inside. Tonight, Uncle Zhang and Uncle Lu are coming over for dinner.”
Qiao Jiuru handed the cloth bag containing two lunchboxes to her eldest son, Su Ze, who was about to go to work with Zhou Wanwan.
The National Restaurant again?!
However, Su Ze heard that two familiar uncles were coming for dinner tonight, so he didn't think much of it.
In those days, it was quite rude to have guests over without meat dishes. Their two sons had been sick these past few days, and the family hadn't had time to queue up for meat, so they could only spend a bit more money to buy it from the National Restaurant.
“Lao Su, after you get off work, go buy a roasted duck to bring back. It’ll be a good supplement for everyone.”
In the afternoon, Su Huaiyuan also had classes to teach, so Qiao Jiuru assigned him a task.
Su Huaiyuan had no objections. He took the money and food stamps from his wife, picked up the cloth bag and lunchbox, and went to work.
Suddenly, only Qiao Jiuru and her two still-sleepy grandsons were left at home.
The two children hadn't slept enough and probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon, so she took out five catties of flour and started proofing the dough.
Afterward, she took out the small clay stove from home and started a fire. She then took out the millet she bought from the black market, washed it, put it into a small clay pot, and placed it on the small clay stove to slowly simmer.
Once the millet porridge was boiling, Qiao Jiuru washed four eggs and threw them in.
“Grandma.”
“Grandma.”
She had just finished these tasks and hadn't yet decided what to do next when she heard childish calls from the room.
Dabao and Xiaobao were awake!
Before the two little ones fell asleep, they had been told that Grandma was looking after them these days, and they just needed to call for Grandma when they woke up.
Sure enough, as soon as the two little ones called for Grandma, they really saw Grandma enter with a smile.
The two little ones didn't cry or fuss. After seeing Grandma get up, they immediately obediently crawled out of their quilts and reached out for a hug.
Qiao Jiuru's heart softened. She quickly put on their small cotton jackets one by one, then led them to pee and drink water.
The millet porridge and eggs weren't ready yet, so Qiao Jiuru gave each of them a biscuit, letting the two little ones sit on small stools and slowly nibble.
After the two little ones finished eating, she took out two comic books for them to pass the time, while she turned around and went into the room to tidy things up.
Qiao Jiuru secretly put summer clothes and shoes, some unused pillowcases and duvet covers, and other items not yet needed into her space, avoiding the two children.
If it wasn't still winter and cotton quilts were still needed, she would have wanted to stuff them into her space too.
She had also taken advantage of the house being empty earlier to put all the food, goods, and some medicines bought from outside at noon into her space. What was currently in the house was the unfinished food bought previously.
“Lao Lu, Dabao and Xiaobao were discharged from the Hospital today. I told Xiao Ru and Huaiyuan that we’d eat at their place tonight.”
Zhang Hong made a phone call to the Mechanical Factory Director's office before getting off work.
“Alright, I happen to be going on a business trip in a few days, so it's a good chance to see the two children.”
Lu Baoguo immediately agreed to his old friend's phone invitation without hesitation. He had been so busy that he hadn't been to Sister Qiao's house in a long time.
“Then it’s settled, you must come, and we’ll have a few drinks.”
It was inconvenient to talk on the phone, so Zhang Hong could only remind him not to break the appointment.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell my wife in a bit.”
Lu Baoguo didn't think much of it. After speaking, he hung up the phone, tidied up his office desk, and prepared to take a stroll around the factory before heading home after work.
Qiao Jiuru saw that it was almost time for everyone to get off work, so she started peeling potatoes, washing cabbage, and cooking rice, just waiting for people to come back before stir-frying the dishes.
After finishing these preparations, she kneaded the proofed dough for a while, rolled it into a long strip, and then cut it into small pieces. After cutting thirty pieces, she started steaming them, quietly putting the rest into the kitchen in her space.
In no time, she had used up five catties of flour, and there were over a hundred small steamed buns in her space, just waiting for her to have time to steam them.
As soon as he got off work, Su Ze rode his bicycle to the National Restaurant to pick up the meat dishes, while Zhou Wanwan went home to help.
Su Huaiyuan also went straight to buy a roasted duck after work. Unfortunately, he could only buy one openly, and he had to use the excuse of having guests at home to buy it legitimately. Otherwise, he and his wife would have bought ten or eight of them.
Anyway, now that they had the space, no one would know if they put things inside.
Especially since the 'down to the countryside' movement couldn't be changed, both he and Qiao Jiuru wouldn't feel at ease without preparing more food and supplies.
Sure enough, when Su Huaiyuan and Su Ze returned with the roasted duck and meat dishes, those with keen noses, who spent all day watching other people's family quarters, all knew about it. Of course, they also knew that the Su family had guests tonight.
A factory director of the Mechanical Factory and a director of a nearby Hospital, these two were old friends of the Su family, and everyone in the school and family quarters knew about it.
Not long after the Su family father and son returned, Zhang Hong and Lu Baoguo also arrived, one after another.
Zhang Hong rode his bicycle, with a cloth bag containing about twenty to thirty catties of grain on the back seat, an old hen in the basket, and two sea fish, weighing three to four catties each, hanging from the handlebars.
Lu Baoguo also came by bicycle, with two catties of White Rabbit milk candy, two cans of malted milk essence, thirty eggs, and a piece of cured meat weighing about two catties in his basket.