Two Jin of Eggs Were Good Stuff Too?

"Oh, Xiao Liang, the neighborhood office sent me to look after you, not the other way around!"

"You didn't need to bring anything. Just coming over was enough!"

"Are those eggs?"

"Take them back, quickly!"

Aunt He, He Ting, was in her thirties and looked like an ordinary housewife.

Liang Xin was full of questions when he saw how she was dressed.

Hadn't he been reborn in modern times?

And what was with that outfit?

Why did it feel like something out of an old movie?

Then he looked at the other people in the shabby little house.

There was He Ting's husband, Jiang Mingjun, their eldest son Jiang Jianguo, Jiang Aiguo, and the little girl he had just met, Jiang Xinxin.

When the little girl had called him to dinner, she had only pushed the door open and poked her little head through.

Only now did he get a good look at what she was wearing.

Unless this family was playing some kind of game, their clothes were way over the top.

They all had patches!

The younger they were, the more patches they had.

What year was it? Who still wore patches?

Liang Xin suddenly remembered something and looked down.

Well, would you look at that? He had even more patches on his own clothes!

W-w-wait, had he transmigrated to a time of poverty?

Liang Xin was a little panicked!

He had heard that during those special years, people often starved to death.

He...

Oh, right, he had a system. He had nothing to fear!

Even if he only got one yuan a day.

He could still buy several jin of rice with that.

No need to panic, no need to panic.

At least he wouldn't starve to death.

"Aunt He, you know my situation. I just started working, and I live alone, so I don't have many expenses."

The words came naturally to Liang Xin.

As he said them, he was momentarily stunned.

They had triggered some memories.

He really was here alone, but that didn't mean he had no family.

On the contrary, he had quite a big family!

He originally had rural household registration, and his home was only a few dozen li from the capital.

Both his parents were alive, and he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters.

There were seven people in his family, and he was the eldest.

What a huge family! Before Liang Xin was reborn, he couldn't even imagine a family with five children.

How did they feed them all?

And that wasn't all. Those were just the people in his immediate family.

His grandparents on both sides were all still alive!

The older generation had piles of children. What a big family that made!

"Oh, you child! Even if you're earning a wage now, you can't spend it like that."

"You should be more frugal. Never mind taking money home to honor your parents, you should at least think about getting married someday."

"All right, all right, Aunt He, I was wrong. I won't do it again."

Once she started lecturing him, she just wouldn't stop.

He was scared and quickly surrendered.

Still, he felt good about it.

He could tell that Aunt He genuinely cared about him.

Someone else wouldn't have bothered nagging him like this.

It was fine if you knew she meant well, but if you didn't, she might end up offending you instead.

"Be good and take these eggs back."

"Aunt He, I already said I wouldn't do it again. Can't you let it slide this time?"

"He Ting, since Xiao Liang brought them as a gesture of goodwill, just accept them. Give him the money and coupons."

He Ting's husband, Jiang Mingjun, spoke up then.

Watching the two of them push the eggs back and forth had made him a little impatient.

Besides, eggs really were good stuff.

The supply of goods had been getting tighter and tighter lately.

The monthly grain ration had dropped from one jin a day to eight liang, and the proportion of fine grain had fallen even further.

They were terribly short of nutrition.

The adults could manage, but the children were still growing.

Looking at his three children, especially his little daughter's thin face, Jiang Mingjun felt a terrible ache in his heart.

Two jin of eggs wasn't much, but there were more than twenty of them. If each child had a boiled egg every day, they would last a week.

They would give the children a little extra nourishment.

Xiao Liang had indeed only just started working. Although a first-year apprentice earned only eighteen yuan a month, that was plenty for one person.

Unlike their family, where two people worked to support five and occasionally had to help out their elderly parents and relatives.

So things were still a bit tight.

Hearing her husband's words, He Ting thought for a moment. Although she felt a little embarrassed, she did as he said.

She went into the inner room, found some money and egg coupons, and pressed them into Liang Xin's hand.

"Xiao Liang, I'll accept the eggs, but you have to take the money and coupons. Otherwise, you can take the eggs back too!"

Her family had both money and coupons, but they couldn't buy eggs!

The supply and marketing cooperative hadn't had any in stock at all these past few days.

Even though she worked there, there was nothing she could do!

Liang Xin smiled wryly and had no choice but to accept the one yuan and the coupons for two jin of eggs.

Like Liang Xin, He Ting worked in the supply and marketing cooperative system. By rights, they should never have been short of supplies, no matter who else was.

But that depended on them breaking the rules.

And lately, because supplies were tight, the higher-ups had been conducting stricter inspections.

Just last month, a senior director in their department had been investigated. The howling wind and crying cranes, the grass and trees all turned to enemy soldiers-everyone had been frightened into behaving.

They would probably stay that way for at least a few months.

So even though they worked in the supply and marketing cooperative system, it wasn't easy for them to get supplies anymore.

Well, it also had something to do with the fact that they were both ordinary employees at the bottom.

As the saying went, "If you don't take and I don't take, how can the commissioner take?"

But now even the commissioner didn't dare take anything, so how could minor clerks like them get their hands on anything?

He Ting held the cardboard box of eggs, a smile spreading across her face.

"Xiao Liang, wait a little longer. I'll steam an egg custard too."

[You have earned He Ting's gratitude and gained 5 Level-Up Experience]

The sudden voice left Liang Xin a little bewildered.

The system could level up too?

Then what would happen after it leveled up?

More importantly, couldn't it make things clear? How many experience points did it need to level up?

Ten? A hundred? Or ten thousand?