Help others? It's better to help yourself - Chapter 2

Little did Xu Jing’an know that in the middle of the night, she suddenly remembered.

No wonder she found the name “Xu Duoduo” familiar; it turned out she had crossed into the book!

*“A Little Sweet in the 60s”* is a book about Xu Duoduo’s life after marriage. The heroine lives with her husband Xu Jianguo’s family. Although there are occasional conflicts and difficulties, it remains full of happiness.

Xu Duoduo was born into a family that favored sons over daughters. Fearing that her family might sell her off when she married, she quickly sought a partner once she started working.

She didn’t want any of the bride price given by the groom, whether money or goods, because she couldn’t take them with her. Her natal family was already reluctant to part with her, so Xu Duoduo wanted the groom to give her a formal job instead.

This way, she could gather the bride price from other sources to give to her parents. The groom’s family could either make her current temporary job permanent or offer her another formal position, while she would give them her current temporary job in exchange.

Debts outside could be paid off slowly after she started working; wouldn’t her future earnings still go to her husband’s family?

Moreover, finding a job was difficult! With so many children in each family, getting a job with her husband’s family first would benefit her own small family in the future.

Ultimately, she chose Xu Jianguo. His younger sister, who happened to be lucky, got a permanent job at the National Cotton Factory, even in the publicity department, which was a good position.

Xu Duoduo sold her temporary job without her natal family’s knowledge. With money and a job secured, it was so blissful—everyone who knew about it would say, “Xu Duoduo is really lucky!”

The book barely mentions the younger sister in high school and focuses on how in 1968, the government enforced a policy requiring everyone to send someone to the countryside. Xu Jianguo’s sister—Xu Jing’an—went to the countryside.

Now that she was Xu Jing’an, the sweetness she felt while reading the book had turned into bitterness.

It was sweet, but the sweetness belonged to others, while she was left with bitterness!

She lacked the strength to knock down trees, the ability to hunt wild game, and she wasn’t good at arguing. She didn’t even dare to venture into the black market.

Xu Jing’an was an ordinary person—not attractive (unable to attract soldiers, rough men from the village, or high-quality male educated youths with backgrounds), weak (unable to carry even 50 pounds of rice), timid (afraid of bugs, and snakes, and never killed a chicken), and clumsy (averse to arguing with educated youths and villagers, too exhausting to even imagine).

Going to the countryside was unthinkable; it was too harsh!

After deciding firmly, Xu Jing’an lay back down and carefully reviewed the details about herself in the book, then exhaled slowly.

Hearing Xu’s mother get up, she realized it was already morning.

The house was bustling again, with some going to work and others going to school.

During the school lunch break, Xu Jing’an took the opportunity to relax a bit. She carefully planned what to do the next day, reviewing the steps repeatedly to avoid any mistakes.

Before afternoon classes, Xu Jing’an hurried to the teacher’s office to ask for leave.

Xu Jing’an knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Upon entering, she saw her homeroom teacher, Ms. Tang, pouring water into a teapot.

“Ms. Tang, I’d like to request a morning off tomorrow.”

Ms. Tang asked, “Jing’an, what’s the matter?”

“Tomorrow is the 2nd!”

“Oh right, there will be queues to buy things. Okay, I understand.”

Xu Jing’an thanked her politely. “Thank you, Ms. Tang. I’ll be leaving now.”

With the shortage of goods, buying anything required standing in line. Sometimes, even with vouchers, it wasn’t guaranteed that one could get the goods.

Today, the 1st, was the day when wages and vouchers were distributed at the factory. Everyone needed to quickly buy their supplies the next day.

Each person had a monthly ration, and waiting for the next month’s rice was inevitable.

To get finer grains, meat, and other good things, families would queue up overnight. If they went late, they wouldn’t be able to buy anything.

In such cases, leave requests were always approved, whether for school, factory, or government work, because everyone needed to eat.

As soon as the school bell rang, Xu Jing’an rushed out. Upon arriving home, she put down her schoolbag, quickly lit the coal stove, and began cooking.

As workers from the mechanical factory came back, the apartment building started to buzz with activity—fetching water, doing laundry, and general noise.

Aunt Wang, chatting with others, looked up and saw Xu’s mother. The two families lived door-to-door and were very familiar with each other.

“Is Jianguo’s mother back?”

Xu’s mother replied, “Yes, I’m back. Aunt Wang, are you washing clothes for the children?”

Aunt Wang, speaking loudly about her grandson, said, “Yes, these days he’s been so mischievous. In no time, you can’t even tell what color the clothes were originally!”

Xu’s mother quickly entered the house, placed the lunch box from the mesh bag on the table, rolled up her sleeves, and went into the kitchen, asking, “How’s the cooking going?”

Xu Jing’an said, “Mom, the rice is ready, just need to stir-fry the vegetables. You can rest for a bit.”

Xu’s mother, feeling tired too, said, “Okay, I’ll sit and have some water.”

Seizing the moment with no one else around, Xu Jing’an said, “Mom, today Wang Jingjing mentioned some inside information: tomorrow at 10 o’clock, the supply and marketing cooperative will have defective fabric, but each family can buy a maximum of 3 feet.”

Xu’s mother was pleased, “Good, then don’t worry about things at home. Go early tomorrow morning to queue up; the cooperative Wang Jingjing mentioned is far from our home.”

“Okay! Mom, give me the household registration book, I’ll need it tomorrow. Don’t forget it in the morning rush.”

Xu’s mother got up and went back to the room, “Wait a moment, I’ll get it now.”

Xu Jing’an took the household registration book from her mother and quickly put it in her schoolbag, feeling relieved.

“Is the meal ready?” Xu’s father asked as he entered.

Xu Jing’an replied, “Almost ready, Dad. Just another 10 minutes or so.”

“Hmm,” Xu’s father washed his hands, and Xu’s mother handed him a towel.

“Let’s wait, the kids aren’t back yet! The eldest must be working overtime; his workplace is busy and the pay is low.”

As they talked, the second child, Xu Jingping, and the fourth child, Xu Jianxie, returned.

Xu Jianxie, the youngest, asked immediately, “Mom, is the food ready? I’m starving!”

“It’s ready, just waiting for your eldest brother. We’ll start eating soon.”

“You don’t have to wait for him; he went to see his girlfriend,” Xu Jianxie said as he drank from his tea mug.

“How do you know?” Xu Jingping asked curiously.

Xu Jianxie looked up and saw everyone in the room looking at him.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Xu Jianxie said, “I ran into him after school today. He told me directly to let you know not to wait for him.”

The eldest son was no longer young. Now that he was dating, marriage wasn’t far off.

No matter how you looked at it, this was a good thing worth celebrating!

Xu’s father smiled and nodded, “Let’s eat!”