Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 445 - 336: The Experience of a Rush Purchase (Part 2)

He hurried over to National Day. From afar, he saw Mr. Zhang already standing by the cart waiting.

"Dad, why did you come over? Take a rest, let me handle it. It’s almost our turn, it won’t be long now." Zhang Guoqing placed the things down, took an old quilt from the cart, and spread it over the cart, letting him sit down. Then he ran forward to greet Zhou Jiao and the others.

Zhou Jiao idly listened to Zhao Yuanyuan’s chatter, paying attention to the chaotic and mixed discussions within the nearby crowd. This family plans to exchange one jin of rice for seven jin of sweet potatoes, while another advises exchanging for corn, which can be mixed with some dried wild vegetables. Undoubtedly, these are life experiences from the elderly, and she needs to remember these little tips well.

There’s also an old lady with a mysterious expression talking about how someone’s daughter-in-law quarreled again, boasting about how filial her own daughters-in-law are and the gifts they gave during the New Year.

Some young women nearby excitedly talked about how fortunate they were to have bought a lot before the new year. They engaged in topics about the newly added egg tickets.

In front, an unfamiliar elder lady, or perhaps should be called grandma, whom Zhou Jiao could not determine the age of. She looked back with a worried face, occasionally glancing enviously at Zhou Jiao and the others.

Zhou Jiao couldn’t bear to look at the woman’s cracked hands, noticing the cloth shoes on her feet were worn and patchy, with the faded fabric sewn into a deformity. She instinctively looked ahead of the woman, seeing a couple who distanced themselves disdainfully.

The couple wore patched clothes, and Zhou Jiao couldn’t see any reason for them to look down on others. Did they really think that hanging a broken pen on their chest made them cultured and entitled to judge others?

Her gaze returned to the elder lady in front, and Zhou Jiao reflexively gave her a smile. The lady was excited but hesitant to speak, tightly gripping her ration book.

Just then, a commotion of curses came from behind, and Zhou Jiao turned around to look.

Not far away, a family using brick stools as markers had returned to queue. As the grain store was about to open, some who had been enduring the cold wind in line were unhappy about them cutting in, and within a few words, the unreasonable ones were publicly scolded.

"You need to rush to work, but who of us didn’t take a half-day leave? Go to the back and queue up!" shouted a big sister with one hand on her hip, pointing angrily at them.

The onlookers in the crowd, thinking it wasn’t lively enough, fueled the fire with laughter: "Didn’t you see the ladies directing you? Better go find your own man for support!"

"Whose kid are you? Living too comfortably, huh?..."

With so many people, each shouting, the words were yelled. If it weren’t winter, with everyone dressed like bears, the temper would have been hot in summer and there wouldn’t have been less fighting.

A few old men and women said a few words and pushed away a few who were cutting in, finally calming the unexpected commotion.

Zhou Jiao saw most of the onlookers regretting they couldn’t continue watching and looked down, chuckling.

After much difficulty, waiting for the store to open, people surged forward, each shouting and quickly holding up their books. The people further back followed, squeezing forward.

Zhao Yuanyuan angrily shouted, "What’s the hurry? In a rush to reincarnate? Queue up! Quickly queue up!"

At this moment, a middle-aged man walked out of the grain store, loudly commanding everyone to line up and come one by one. Only then did the crowd quiet down.

Zhou Jiao gestured to Mr. Zhang, who was squeezing over here, indicating that it wasn’t their turn yet and for him to stay outside. He looked at the line ahead, then at the one behind, shook his head with a smile, and walked away.

Seeing this, she laughed heartily, estimating that Mr. Zhang, like her, found shopping in queues quite novel and the bustling crowd truly lively.

When Zhang Guoqing came over, he saw Zhou Jiao squeezed in the crowd, looking around foolishly laughing non-stop. He quickly squeezed over to relieve her, pulling Zhao Hongbing, who was watching the excitement, and sent the two young girls back to accompany Mr. Zhang.

Zhou Jiao shook her head repeatedly, pulling Zhao Yuanyuan as they stepped out of the line, standing on tiptoes to look inside. Inside, the staff was moving quickly, urging people to step aside after receiving their rations.

Seeing it was almost their turn, Zhou Jiao quickly pulled Zhao Yuanyuan closer to Zhang Guoqing and the others. Just then, the elder lady from earlier quietly called out, young girl, young girl.

Zhang Guoqing promptly said, "Auntie, speak a little louder, my wife can’t hear you. Do you have something to say? You can tell me too." After speaking, he saw her smile awkwardly and remain silent.

He looked at Zhou Jiao with a puzzled expression, were they acquainted?

"Aunt, what’s the matter? Do you know me? If you have something to say, you must be quick, it’s our turn," Zhou Jiao suspected she might be asking to borrow money and quickly said.

The woman saw Zhou Jiao smiling widely and nodded repeatedly, "I know your mother-in-law. Was that your father-in-law just now?"

Zhou Jiao nodded with a smile. Noticing the woman wasn’t flattering, she was very curious why she was trying to establish a connection. Logically, Xiao Wu, her mother-in-law’s own son, should be the one the woman wanted to approach.

The woman saw it was almost her turn, looked around, and whispered, "Tell your mother-in-law to be wary of her old friend deliberately coming over to cry poor." After saying this, she immediately stopped speaking and squeezed forward.

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao couldn’t help but laugh, looking at Zhang Guoqing—she knew his hearing was excellent and he must have heard what the woman just said. She saw him shake his head with a smile. The two shared a knowing smile, not pursuing the matter further.

Half an hour later, Zhang Guoqing loaded the rations for three families. The nearby processing point was overcrowded, and the elder woman from earlier was still around. Not wanting to interact with these people, he left Zhao Hongbing and the siblings, pulled the cart, and left.

Seeing Mr. Zhang’s puzzled expression, he didn’t elaborate, just smiled and said the family wasn’t short on rations currently and would process them next month together. As for what the woman said earlier, he didn’t take it to heart. Whatever her intentions, given his mother’s stingy nature, wishing the whole family would save money and barely eat, no one crying poor would succeed.