Fifth Brother, Don't Run Away From Home

When Mom heard that Liang Xin was going to eat at the canteen, her heart ached for him too.

Her son had endured a long, tiring journey to get back, and he had been gone for so long. She wanted him to have something good to eat too.

When Liang Xin saw that Mom had finally agreed, he smiled.

Sure enough, the conclusion he had drawn from his memories was correct!

Half a jin was the most Mom could accept right now!

"Mom, wait, there's more."

"More? Did you empty out the whole supply and marketing cooperative?"

Naturally, she was only joking, and expressing her surprise.

She really hadn't expected her son to bring back so much after going to work at the supply and marketing cooperative!

Was the supply and marketing cooperative really that awesome?

Liang Xin took five more small paper packages out of the box.

"Mom, this is five jin of rice."

"Rice? Why did you get rice? One jin of rice can be exchanged for two jin of coarse grain. Wouldn't ten jin of coarse grain have been much better?"

"Mom, hear me out."

"I'll be coming home often from now on, and I'll bring things home often too."

"So don't scrimp on the things I bring back. Use them when you need them, and eat them when you should!"

"I know you must have all eaten at the canteen by now, but you definitely didn't eat your fill."

"Mom, make plenty. Let's have a reunion meal together as a family, a good meal!"

"Let's call it a celebration of me eating from the public bowl, and our family finally turning its fortunes around!"

When Mom heard Liang Xin's words, a feeling welled up in her heart, and she didn't know how to express it.

Her eyes merely reddened, as though she were about to cry again.

Turn their fortunes around?

Their family had been poor and hard-pressed all their lives. Were their fortunes really about to turn around?

Liang Xin couldn't understand how deeply those words had touched his mother.

He only saw that Mom looked ready to cry again and scratched his head in frustration.

Had he said something wrong again?

Ah, women really were made of water. Why did they cry at the drop of a hat?

At that moment, Dad spoke up. "Go on, do as Eldest said. Let's have a good meal together as a family. Eldest is right, this really is something worth celebrating!"

"All right."

Mom wiped the corners of her eyes, gathered up the things, and called Second and Fourth to help her in the kitchen.

In those days, girls had to follow their mothers and help with work from a young age.

They learned basic tasks like cooking and cleaning.

Otherwise, they would have a hard time getting married when they grew up.

There was a saying that a woman never had to worry about finding a husband.

That saying wasn't wrong.

But did anyone really think it didn't matter whom they married?

Did they really think marrying someone like Liang Xin, who had a steady job, and marrying the village simpleton

were both the same?

"Eldest, are the benefits at the city supply and marketing cooperative really that good?"

It was Dad who asked.

Five jin of fatty pork, half a jin of three-layer pork belly, and five jin of rice.

Measured in money, those things were worth four or five yuan.

The important thing was, in the current circumstances, could those things even be measured in money?

Especially those five jin of fatty pork.

To put it bluntly, if Liang Xin asked around in the city,

someone would probably buy it even for ten yuan!

Yes, Liang Xin had heard from his coworkers that meat had apparently been driven up to more than two yuan a jin on the black market, which had been booming lately!

Black markets had existed since ancient times.

In the past, they had mostly traded in high-end or prohibited goods.

They were small in scale, and few people went to them.

But now that supplies were scarce, things like grain had begun appearing on the black market too, so more and more ordinary people were coming into contact with it.

There was no help for it. They were hungry.

As long as there was grain, who cared where it came from?

"Dad, I didn't know the benefits at the supply and marketing cooperative were this good until I started working there."

"But none of this can see the light of day. We can't let anyone know."

"Mm, I know. I won't tell anyone."

"Third, use your head and don't tell anyone either! And Fifth, Fifth, you... forget it."

Fifth was only a little over three. What did he know?

If they wanted him to understand anything, talking wouldn't get through to him. Usually, he had to get a spanking before he remembered.

But Liang Xin had just come home today. It wouldn't be right to spank Fifth, would it?

Besides, Fifth hadn't done anything wrong. How innocent he would be, getting a beating for no reason.

His arrival had been an accident to begin with, and he was being treated like this too. When he grew up, what if he found out about all of it,

and then remembered how he had been beaten for no reason since he was little?

Wouldn't he get so angry that he ran away from home?

Liang Xin chatted with Dad, telling him about some of what was going on with him in the city.

After a while, the meal was ready.

Third, Liang Wei, set up the low table the family ate at.

It was one of the few pieces of furniture in the house.

It was just a folding four-legged base with a tabletop on it.

Then Second and Fourth brought out the food.

The rice had been cooked with the rice Liang Xin had brought home.

To be honest, his family hadn't eaten rice in half a year.

The last time had been during the New Year, when the village had distributed grain to everyone.

And there was only one main dish.

A big platter of stewed green beans.

It really was a huge platter, probably several jin.

With half a jin of meat mixed into it, the meat was hard to find!

At that point, Dad spoke up. "Liang Xin, go invite your grandpa and grandma over."

"They dote on you the most. If they knew you were back, who knows how happy they'd be."