Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 257: The Problem Is Not Scarcity, but Inequality

Chapter 257: Chapter 257: The Problem Is Not Scarcity, but Inequality

Since the start of the twelfth lunar month, the sound of drums in Kao Shan Village hasn’t stopped.

Huangyang arrived on Little New Year’s Eve, which is the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month.

Once this day is over, it’s truly a countdown to the New Year, and Wen’s mother and the others stopped practicing and started getting busy preparing for the New Year.

In times of resource scarcity, even during the New Year, what a farming family can prepare is limited.

Everything required coupons; luckily, Kao Shan Village had the autumn hunt, the New Year’s pig, and winter fishing. They managed to stockpile a bit of meat for the festival.

Wen’s mother had a bit of a hamster-like quality, wanting to stash home anything good she saw, and Yi Chichi was generous with spending money, so the mother and daughter-in-law had accumulated quite a few good things.

While other families were meticulously calculating for their little bit of meat, the Wen Family fried meatballs, opened the marinating pot, cooked malt sugar, popped rice, and even made rice crispy treats using popped rice and syrup.

No matter if it was opening the oil pot or the marinating pot, the smell was overwhelmingly strong. When the wind blew, it might not be fragrant enough to carry for ten miles, but the surrounding neighbors could definitely smell it.

Those with good relations would come over asking about the flavoring, and Wen’s mother would directly push Yi Chichi out, saying she prepared the seasonings.

Giving them away was impossible, there were no extra ingredients to give; she had to work quite hard to gather enough marinating ingredients.

But she could help marinate for them; they just needed to bring over the meat to be marinated and some firewood.

As a result, the Wen Family kitchen fire never went out, causing the indoor temperature to rise sharply. Qin Jiu’s cat, Little Tangerine, named Meow Meow, couldn’t stand the heat and occasionally ran out to blow cold air and cool down.

The aroma of marination didn’t stop until the night before New Year’s Eve.

After seeing Grandpa Liu off with a big marinated pig head, Yi Chichi took a deep breath and collapsed into a chair, "Finally, we’re done."

Wen’s mother stuffed a chopstick of pig’s ear into her mouth, smiling as she said, "I thought you might give them the marinating juice to do it themselves."

"I thought about it, but it’s not appropriate."

Everyone wants to take it easy, and she did too, but it wasn’t something she could do, "Giving away the marinating juice would end up being a thankless task."

"Why?"

Beside, Qin Jiu, munching on pig’s tail with delight, looked up, mirroring the curious look of Da Li and Little Tangerine at his feet, who were also nibbling on pig’s tail.

"The marinating juice needs water, it needs more ingredients; if not added, it will eventually dry out, and those after won’t be able to marinate anything."

Qin Jiu suddenly understood, "I get it now; this is a classic case of being concerned not about scarcity but about uneven distribution."

Yi Chichi remained silent, while Wen’s mother couldn’t help but laugh, "That’s not how you use that phrase."

"Pretty much the same meaning."

The kid was quite sensible, and then, like a mischievous husky, he approached, handing out pig’s tail to feed the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"Auntie, Grandma, have some pig’s tail."

With the pig’s tail right at their mouths, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law couldn’t help but open their mouths to accept it with a smile.

Seeing that he wanted to feed them more, Wen’s mother quickly stopped him.

"You eat it yourself, your aunt and I need to clean the kitchen and prepare dinner."

Yi Chichi hurriedly nodded, "That’s right, take Da Li and go out to play."

"No, I want to stay with you guys."

Alright, stay then.

So, the trio, Old Song, and the two cats kept themselves busy in the kitchen, chatting and laughing.

Since tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, when they would have a family reunion dinner, to save trouble, they had a lighter meal tonight: a bowl of dough slices, pig’s ear, and rehydrated black fungus as side dishes.

The three of them ate to their heart’s content, bellies rounded.

Then—

"Aunt, I want to go back and accompany great-grandfather tonight."

Qin Jiu, who had eaten his fill, wandered around the room, digesting a bit before starting to make requests.

Yi Chichi made a sound of acknowledgment, took clothes and dressed him, then dressed herself before extending her hand, "Come, Auntie will send you over."

It was already dark outside, and she wasn’t comfortable letting the kid go back on his own.

Qin Jiu chirped happily, stuffing his hand into hers. Yi Chichi greeted Wen’s mother before preparing to leave, only to be stopped by her.

"Tell the old man to come over tomorrow night for the reunion dinner."

"What if they don’t come?"

"Tomorrow night."

Wen’s mother winked at her, "It’s dark, you know? If they still don’t come, cry for them."

Yi Chichi... her mother-in-law was a bit wild.

"Got it, Mom, I guarantee completion of the task."

After solemnly making her promise, she and Qin Jiu headed toward the door.

As they walked, something pounced onto her leg, accompanied by a meow.

Looking down, she saw Little Tangerine clinging agilely to her leg, climbing up as if it were a cat tree, mewing non-stop.

Still a kitten, its cries were sharp and loud.

No squeaky voice present.

Yi Chichi frowned and bent over to pluck it off, "It’s cold outside, can’t you stay home?"

"Meow?!"

Little Tangerine didn’t struggle as she grabbed it, softly mewing at her, its big round eyes filled with clarity.

Yi Chichi sighed, asking Qin Jiu, "What do we do if it goes and doesn’t want to come back?"

"It’ll sleep with me."

"It doesn’t have food."

"Bring some with us."

Alright, ever since Little Tangerine came to the house, the two kids have barely been apart; it was okay for it to tag along too.

"You go pack Little Tangerine’s stuff."

"Got it."

Like a rabbit, Qin Jiu hopped back inside, quickly gathering Little Tangerine’s food, toys, and a small blanket just for it.

Da Li followed closely.

Yi Chichi carried Little Tangerine’s belongings in her hand, watching the harmonious interaction of the pair, and couldn’t resist voicing her thoughts to Da Li, "You don’t go home every day now; tomorrow’s New Year, shouldn’t you at least visit your parents?"

Da Li flicked its tail, too lazy to even dignify her with a glance, not even sparing a roll of its eyes.

Qin Jiu, bewildered, asked, "Aunt, who are Da Li’s parents?"

"Uncle Yaozi and Grandma Yaozi, of course."

Previously when Da Li didn’t go home, Uncle Yaozi was worriedly looking all over the village. Once he found out Da Li was staying at her place because of Little Tangerine, he stopped searching but would still bring it up.

Yesterday, while marinating meat, he even mentioned Da Li forgetting its parents once it had a partner.

"It should go visit them."

Qin Jiu stuffed Little Tangerine into Yi Chichi’s army coat pocket, bounced down to pick up Da Li, and advised earnestly, "Da Li, you can’t forget to go home when playing outside, or your family will worry."

Enjoying the human "palanquin," Da Li gave him a glance, then turned its head to gaze at the sky.

Following its gaze, Yi Chichi saw that the dark sky had started to snow again.

In the flashlight’s beam, fine snowflakes swirled and fell.

Uh-oh, looking at the intensity of the snowfall, it seemed tonight’s snowstorm would be significant.

Hopefully, the door won’t be blocked by morning, and I wonder if Grandpa and the others have enough firewood?

Upon asking, the old man said they did.

Yi Chichi was skeptical, "Really enough?"

"Truly enough."

The old man looked helpless, "To save firewood, we’re all sleeping in one room."

The kang was big enough to fit everyone.

As for having a female present, they could pull a curtain to separate Old Song and his wife on one side alone.

Northeast winters really couldn’t be too particular, otherwise, if the firewood ran out, they’d freeze to death—keeping warm was most important.

Yi Chichi, still anxious, touched the kang to check its warmth, found it scorching hot, the blankets warm and toasty, which only raised her concerns again.