Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 379 - 290: Before Returning to Beijing

Days went by, and with Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang stationed in the village, the courtyard in the county town returned to tranquility.

Zhang Guoqing and his wife, Zhou Jiao, after a period of review, faced their first exam since arriving in this world.

Last night, a heavy snow had covered the three snowmen in the yard, and Zhang Guoqing was carefully restoring their shapes. These three snowmen were the creations he and Zhou Jiao spent an entire afternoon building yesterday.

From the yard came the sound of knocking on the door, along with the loud voice of Zhao Yuanyuan shouting.

Zhang Guoqing checked the time and rolled his eyes to the sky — this girl had taken a liking to his home, his wife, and his son. All that talk about girlfriends and girls’ privacy, he found most annoying!

"Stop shouting, come on in. It’s still early for school. Why did you get up so early?"

Zhao Yuanyuan rolled her eyes at him and quickly walked toward the main house, saying as she walked, "My mom asked me to remind you to bring the grain passbook to the grain station tomorrow. Don’t forget like last time. How can you be so silly? Forgetting to claim your monthly ration? And don’t forget to order Ping’an’s half-pound of milk. It’ll be just right for Jiao Jiao. Be sure not to give it away to someone else."

"Busybody..." Zhang Guoqing muttered under his breath as she entered the living room.

He had actually forgotten to claim the rations the first time, fortunately Aunt Wang from the neighborhood committee reminded him.

With the grain passbook, he and Zhou Jiao each had twenty-eight pounds of rationed grain, plus their son’s seven pounds, totaling not even seventy pounds. Not to mention each person only got three pounds of white flour and one pound of rice, with the rest being semi-finished corn and sweet potato dry goods. Once bought from the store, they still had to process it at the grain processing point.

It’s a pity his big brother’s grain store wasn’t in this neighborhood. Last time, he braved the wind and snow, waited over six hours in line, and was frozen stiff. This month, he had already arranged with the neighboring residents to buy together.

"The milk has already been ordered. Why did you come so early? Have you eaten?" Zhou Jiao came out and heard Zhao Yuanyuan’s voice. That loud voice had now become something even Ping’an was used to.

"Not yet. I’ll ask Aunt Fen to make less. Later Qing Lin and the others will bring buns over." After saying this, Zhao Yuanyuan hurried to the kitchen.

The Aunt Fen she mentioned is a distant cousin of Zhao Dashan. The type you’d meet once in eight lifetimes.

Her husband passed away young, leaving her to raise a posthumous child. Now her son is in the provincial city studying with Zhao Hongjun at university, leaving her alone back home.

This time Zhao Dashan returned to the neighboring province to visit his parents and, upon seeing her, remembered her son is in the provincial city too. After talking, he brought her to Zhang Guoqing’s home to help.

Publicly, she was said to be Zhou Xiaozheng’s cousin there to take care of the children. Privately, they agreed she would help in the short term, and if suitable, they would decide at the end of the year when her son came to the county during his holiday. Should there be no surprises, she would be taking care of Zhang Guoqing’s family until they returned to Beijing.

She has been here a week now, and Zhou Jiao is quite satisfied with her. She’s efficient, clean in her work and most importantly, discreet and tight-lipped.

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao had already discussed with Zhao Dashan not to mention salary, offering her one lump sum as a hardship allowance yearly instead. Comparatively, Aunt Fang likes it here; she has a private room, doesn’t have to worry about food and clothes, and, moreover, Zhao Dashan mentioned that her son could stay here during winter and summer holidays. Each month, she would also get two days to visit her son in the provincial city.

Aunt Fang came out of the kitchen and said, "Alright, I heard. There’s still white flour left from last time. Next time, tell them not to buy from outside; if they want something, I can make it."

These past two weekends, Li Qinglin and Zhang Yuntao, along with Zhao Yuanyuan, used improving life and boosting grades as an excuse to stay in the courtyard instead of going home. Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao didn’t mind them, as they brought their own rice and vegetables, and there was no forcing them away.

In less than half an hour, Li Qinglin and the others ran in, shouting they were freezing, and rushed into the yard. Upon seeing the snowmen in the yard, they burst into laughter. Filled with excitement, they tossed their buns to Aunt Fen, not fearing the cold, and the three of them grabbed shovels and started piling snowmen.

"You all stop playing, come eat, and head to school. Time’s running out." Aunt Fang finished preparing the porridge and seeing the buns getting cold, ran into the yard to shout.

After breakfast, leaving the child with Aunt Fang, Zhang Guoqing and the others headed to school. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The county high school was just across the street, a straight walk less than ten minutes from the courtyard. On the way, Zhang Yuntao kept winking at Li Qinglin, and the two often burst into laughter.

The group hadn’t reached the school gate yet when they saw students who had entered high school in previous years gathering at the gate.