Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 584 - 464: Gathering Around the Hearth with Wine

As the end of the year approaches, with youngsters from various families returning to Beijing for the New Year, Zhang Guoqing is becoming increasingly busy. Every day after work, the Zhou Family never lacks for small companions visiting.

Many activities involve going out for social engagements or teaming up to watch movies, ice skate, and occasionally, have a friendly match.

Initially, Zhou Jiao would accompany him to the gatherings. But over time, she grew impatient. The whole day was spent on idle chat, with the boys drinking and bragging, and the girls fluttering around like butterflies in competition.

——A good girl like her, so full of positive energy, couldn’t possibly fall into such ways.

When Zhou Jiao wanted to get something done, she found that she really had no place to show her talents. Her father was busy leaving early and returning late, her mother was even busier leading the team rehearsing New Year programs, and her son ran off to the nursery every morning full of energy.

The family’s clothes just passed the winter, and Zhou Jiao had already prepared everything. In the past, there were still markets to stroll through, but now everywhere she went, there was a shortage of supplies.

The Big Courtyard was still doing alright, with supplies from the military farm and ranch, barely able to hold up. The situation outside in the real world wasn’t as optimistic.

A female classmate invited a few of the girls to visit her home. Just one afternoon, Zhou Jiao heard a lot of gossip from people in the same courtyard about what couldn’t be bought, like some items that required queuing from the dead of night until the next afternoon just to buy a few ounces.

What made Zhou Jiao particularly awkward was towards dusk, when the classmate’s mother returned from work to see her and a few others, the look on her face was quite complex — luckily, no one planned to have dinner at someone else’s house.

As a result, during this time, Zhou Jiao didn’t even want to answer the newly installed phone at home, fearing someone might suddenly invite her out. She wasn’t accustomed to visiting with food stamps, eating the neck-choking cornmeal.

It was during this chat among the girls that she learned that many classmates, finding the car fare expensive, stayed at school to find various jobs to earn money to support their families.

So, Zhou Jiao was even more reluctant to invite people over, and naturally, felt embarrassed to accompany them visiting places. Sometimes, the gap between each other is too wide, and barriers are easily formed.

Feeling extremely bored, Aunt Chen’s family sent a message saying there was something up, asking if she could take a day or two off. Before Aunt Chen could speak, Zhou Jiao immediately decided to let her go back.

Aunt Chen was moved to tears, making Zhou Jiao feel a bit guilty. What a beautiful misunderstanding, without Aunt Chen at home, she could freely exhibit her culinary skills, couldn’t she?

Aunt Chen happily trotted off with a bag of rations, while Zhou Jiao merrily started simmering supplements, preparing a feast to welcome the family for dinner.

All afternoon, Zhou Jiao busied herself enthusiastically, with the storeroom filled with more food. If not for worrying that Aunt Chen would find things amiss in a couple of days, she would have stuffed the storeroom full.

When Old Mrs. Cheng came knocking, she was a little surprised to see Zhou Jiao opening the door.

"Aren’t you supposed to be doing rough work, child? Where’s Aunt Chen? Why are you doing it?"

Zhou Jiao looked at her old clothes and smiled sheepishly, "Auntie, I didn’t do much work, just cooked. Aunt Chen has urgent matters at home, so I let her go. Come in and taste my cooking."

The old lady tapped her forehead with concern, "Silly girl, cooking doesn’t require wearing this ragged outfit. Who are you trying to fool? Go inside and have a rest."

With that, the old lady pushed her into the living room with affection.

"Auntie, I really didn’t do heavy work. Just wrapped some dumplings and sticky bean buns. At this time, if we were in the Northeast, we’d probably be preparing things for the New Year with the village. Not sure if they’re eating pig slaughter dishes yet."

Old Mrs. Cheng listened, amused and exasperated. Just because she was from the South didn’t mean she didn’t know what pig slaughter dishes were, which were mainly pig offal with sauerkraut, perhaps adding blood sausages and meat bones. Was it worth the child’s fascination?

"Don’t you avoid offal? Tonight, we’ll cook pig slaughter dishes ourselves; I’ll have the family maid bring over some meat. She can prepare pig slaughter dishes like an expert, satisfying your craving all at once."

Zhou Jiao definitely did not want the old lady to relay messages over the phone. Nowadays, calls weren’t direct dialing like later generations; they had to go through the switchboard operator to connect to the Cheng Family’s phone. Doing so meant there could be no secret to share.

"Hehe, I didn’t set out to eat pig slaughter dishes. In this cold weather, it’s best suited for hot pots to swish lamb slices. Tonight you shouldn’t go home. Later I’ll have Uncle and Uncle Cousin all come over. Tonight let’s gather and warm our spirits."

Old Mrs. Cheng smiled and nodded. The child wanted some excitement, bringing the two families together. Just nice, she could deliver some of the refined grains recently distributed.

Compared to supplies from her nephew’s house, the old lady was more confident. She, her husband, and their eldest son all received quite a bit of refined grain monthly. How could her nephew alone compare with her family?