CH 112

Lin Lan crossed her hips and instructed the men and children to  place the food and household items that they had brought home into designated spaces.

“The food tank,well, it’s just such a small tank, so I think we can put it in the house. Cover it with a gasket to prevent mice from looting it.”

“Let’s put the other one in that basin, there’s nothing else, I guess…”

“As for these… hmmm… let’s pile them up…in the kang’s storage area”

The family was given a semi-large tank and a small tank. It wasn’t enough to store their food though as only two large tanks would seemingly be sufficient.

In addition, they would have to buy a few basins— one for the water tank, one as a well scooper…

If this was the case, she had to buy an entire set of household items.

Han Qingsong watched her pondering here and calculating there as she thought about what else was there to buy. She looked completely absorbed in her task, and under the dim light, those black yet bright eyes were very beautiful.

He couldn’t help but feel a little confused at the way his heart was reacting.

Lin Lan turned her head to meet his eyes and smiled sweetly at him, “The day after tomorrow is a sale, so let’s get a bulk of goods home.”

She smiled so beautifully.

This was the first time she smiled at him so nicely.

Han Qingsong suddenly felt a tightness in his throat and panicked with thirst, so he hurried to drink some water.

Lin Lan counted again, “I still have to collect cloth tickets and cotton tickets. Oh, also the fabric store to get some cotton. The blankets at home and the childrens’ clothes all need a fix up. Dawang’s have gotten too short for him, so we might as well get a new one. Then, his can be mended and given to Erwang, Erwang’s will be given to Sanwang’s and henceforth. As for Xiaowang, his blanket can be altered into some pants…”

Han Qingsong didn’t know why the obviously useless muttering of Lin Lan’s seemed so appealing to him. It was something that he couldn’t get enough of.

The next day, when Lin Lan went to work, she discussed with the advanced women who were more talkative, such as the Women’s Director, whether she could use the cloth tickets and cotton tickets that her family would distribute at the end of this year to exchange for some of the other tickets lying around.

“I’m not afraid of the jests. I just separated from my core family, so everything is pretty much tattered. The days are getting colder, so I’m worried that my kids do not have proper cotton clothing to keep themselves warm once the snowfall starts. If anyone is willing to lend some to me right now, I will return the tickets to you at the end of the year.”

Lin Lan knew that according to her previous popularity, it was impossible to borrow from the whole village. So, she had no choice but to speak up.

The Director of Women saw that she was very sensible now. Coupled with the way that she treated people with vast differences from before, she was very happy. The Director felt that Lin Lan was well-educated and her face was bright, “Qingsong’s family, you can leave this matter to me. I won’t be able to get a bulk, but seven of your clothes are something that I can handle.”

“Thank you, sister-in-law Huaihua,” Lin Lan quickly thanked.

Compared with previous years, the current economy has improved significantly. In the past, an adult would issue cloth tickets of three to five feet a year, which was not enough to make clothing for one person. Now, the adults make one zhang(1) of cloth a year and there would still be a surplus after making one piece of clothing. Hence, the families would usually band the leftovers together for future use.

(T/N: one ‘zhang’ would equivalent to about 3.3 metres)