Rebirth in 1980: The Farm Wife Makes a Comeback
Chapter 309: Everyone’s Here

Chapter 309: Chapter 309: Everyone’s Here

Qin Xiangnuan carried the vegetables into the kitchen, washed them, sliced the meat, her movements were labored yet methodical. Right, she had forgotten—inside her backpack, there was twenty thousand yuan, the rent from leasing those two shops.

The rent was exorbitantly high, 500 yuan per month for each room, a total of 1000 yuan. Although it was the same rate as the shops near the market where she sold vegetables, the market’s shops were more than double the size of the ones near the train station; therefore, the rent in the latter location was indeed high.

A lease was signed for five years, as the tenants needed to renovate, which also involved money. So, the contract was lengthy. She was simply renting out an empty house; renovations would cost money as well. One of the reasons she settled for five years was because it was the late ’90s to the early 2000s, where rent wouldn’t change much. The changes would come after the year two thousand, and that’s when they’d discuss rent adjustments. She had taken twenty thousand yuan, half as a security deposit, the other half as rent. All of a sudden, she had twenty thousand yuan in hand, which she had placed in her backpack and forgotten. Tomorrow, she would need to make a bank trip to deposit this money. These past two years in Capital City had been good to her; her market booth had never missed a day’s business. In a year, she earned almost ten thousand yuan. She didn’t spend much elsewhere, as Jian Zhiqing, her co-tenant, took care of purchasing everything, such as vegetables. As a result, she had little to spend, and most of her money was saved. The account book showed an increasing balance; she made two thousand after buying the Hutong house and now added another twenty thousand, which was close to thirty thousand in total. This amount was a fortune in the present but would mean nothing in the future.

Thus, she pondered on how to spend the money.

Maybe invest in gold, she mused while wrapping dumplings. In the future, the price of gold would continue to rise to four hundred yuan per ounce, and money would depreciate quickly, especially a few decades later when 100 yuan would no longer buy much—not even a decent piece of clothing.

Steam bun baskets stacked on the stove as she cooked a pot of eight-treasure porridge, filled with assorted beans, jujubes, lilies, and lotus seeds—ingredients she enjoyed, and Jian Zhiqing liked them as well. Whatever she cooked, he usually gave face and would eat two or three bowls, and soon, Jian Zhiqin and the young Taotao might come over, so she made plenty to avoid running short later.

The steamed buns were cooked in bamboo baskets, seven or eight at a time, ready to be served with the basket too.

"Sister, I’m here," as expected, the door burst open with a bang.

It was Jian Zhiqin’s voice first, followed by another voice,

"Sister, Taotao is here," said in a milk-soft tone. At over four years old, he was still chubby and cute with little arms and legs.

"Sister," Taotao ran in and hugged Qin Xiangnuan’s legs tightly.

"Will there be buns to eat today? Brother said there would be buns to eat, Taotao wants to eat buns."

"Alright, you’ll have buns shortly," Qin Xiangnuan bent down to pick up Taotao, realizing he had grown heavier; she could barely lift him.

Taotao clapped his hands with delight, his small mouth uttering, "Taotao wants to eat ten buns."

Qin Xiangnuan pinched his chubby cheek, "Alright, ten for you. Go have your fill," knowing well it was just a childish jest. His little belly couldn’t possibly handle ten; the buns were small, but two or three and a bowl of porridge would be enough for him.

She handed the little chubby boy over to Jian Zhiqing.

For him, Jian Zhiqing was not just a cousin but also a caretaker. Frankly, Jian Zhiqing was over twenty years older than Taotao and old enough to be his father. Since the birth of Taotao, Jian Li had been busy, leaving Jian Zhiqing responsible for the child.

Hence, to Jian Zhiqing, Taotao was both a cousin and like a son.

He looked after the two youngest ones in the family, and his childcare skills were plentiful.

Qin Xiangnuan brought out several baskets of buns from the kitchen, one for each person, and a bowl of eight-treasure porridge. As for Conghua, she received a well-cooked pig trotter, gleefully grabbing it in her mouth and walking away without paying any heed to her owner, heading straight for a good gnaw.

Jian Zhiqing put a bun on Taotao’s small plate, letting him grab and eat it himself, and placed a small spoon in his little bowl. Taotao clumsily spooned food into his mouth without needing assistance, although half of the porridge wound up on the table. Yet, with his big eyes darting about, he kept shoveling food into his mouth, quite content with feeding himself.

The Jian family’s children were all raised to fend for themselves from a young age.

While Taotao was surnamed Qiao, he still had the Jian family’s blood running through him.

Jian Zhiqing patted Taotao’s little head, "Eat up, or there will be none left."

Taotao’s eyes widened in alarm; his tiny hand reached out and stuffed a bun into his pocket.

Jian Zhiqing’s eyes narrowed slightly as Taotao’s grip relaxed, and with a big bite, he clamped down on the bun, determined not to share. Such a little one had already learned to protect his food.

Looking at the two children, a big one and a small one fighting over food with their little hands was like a comedy—a tug-of-war that resulted with both their bellies filled to the brim.

In the end, Jian Zhiqing, with a dog and two young ones in tow, went outside for a stroll to help digest their heavy meal.

By the time they returned, Qin Xiangnuan had prepared hot water to wash Taotao’s hands and feet. Jian Zhiqin, of course, took care of himself. Before winter set in, Jian Zhiqing had a bathhouse in the yard expensively repaired and installed with a soil heating system. It wasn’t very warm, but it saved a trip to a public bathhouse when heating up for a bath. Besides, with so many people crowding the bathhouse, getting clean was like going to war, surrounded by a sea of naked bodies—an experience unknown to those who’ve never used a public bath.

It was a blessing to have the private bathhouse, saving Qin Xiangnuan the ordeal of jostling in a communal washroom. Li Li and Mao Xiaomei would come once a week, and Qin Xiangnuan didn’t mind, it just cost some coal, which wasn’t expensive, and she wasn’t stingy.

"Let’s go, chubby," Qin Xiangnuan lifted Taotao, but she almost couldn’t for he was far too heavy; it had been a while since she engaged in farm labor and felt out of strength.

But then suddenly, the weight in her arms lightened as Jian Zhiqing had already picked up the little chubby boy and playfully pinched Taotao’s fleshy feet.