Chapter Thirteen: Iron Pillar Delivers Supplies

Back home, Zhang Huacheng handed the shoes to Wang Lin.

“Mine?” Wang Lin exclaimed with delight, then asked, “How much did these cost? Why didn’t you buy fabric and cotton to make them yourself?”

No fabric coupons left…

Zhang Huacheng had thought of that too, but there were no fabric coupons available. He took out two pairs of socks and handed them to her. “Here are socks for you and Dou Dou. Don’t look at mine; they’re on my feet.”

He lifted his foot to show Wang Lin.

“For Dou Dou!”

Dou Dou reached out her little hand to grab them.

“I’ll keep them for now, to wear during the New Year!” Wang Lin said happily, about to put them away in the trunk, but Zhang Huacheng stopped her.

“The New Year is still far off. Put these on now—the new cotton shoes will keep you warm. I’m going to my parents’ house. Dou Dou’s shoes and padded jacket should be ready, so let her go out and play!”

The little girl was so pitiful, never able to leave the house.

“Okay!” Wang Lin nodded happily.

“Tiezhu, you change into your own shoes and come back after lunch.”

Zhang Huacheng gestured to Tiezhu, but before he left, he had to make sure Tiezhu switched back to his old shoes, or else his father would snatch the new ones. Even though Tiezhu had big feet, his father was still capable of doing that.

Tiezhu nodded and quietly slipped back home after changing his shoes.

As expected, he still got beaten by his father.

“Getting beaten every day isn’t a solution,” Zhang Huacheng said with a headache. Tiezhu’s father was like a wild beast—he even got angry over something as simple as lighting the kang stove.

But Tiezhu was tough and thick-skinned, used to the beatings.

Dou Dou’s shoes and padded clothes were ready. Zhang Huacheng’s mother came over holding the little girl, along with Hualing. They turned Dou Dou over and over; aside from being a bit large, there was nothing wrong with the clothes.

“Hualing, this is for you,” Wang Lin said, handing her a new red hair ribbon.

“Ah, thank you, sister-in-law!” Hualing happily tied the ribbon onto her head, seeing that Wang Lin had one on hers.

Dou Dou got off the bed and wobbled, then took a tumble on the snow-covered ground, but the little girl giggled nonstop with joy. Xiaoya guarded her like a little hen.

“Brother, I heard from Xiaoya that your family has meat to eat. I want to eat meat too,” Hualing teased their second brother as he began cooking.

“There’s nothing else, but there’s meat. We’ll eat here at noon. Let’s see your brother’s cooking skills!” Zhang Huacheng said happily, ready to show off.

“Great!” Hualing was overjoyed.

At the mention of meat, two little heads immediately popped up at the door.

There was about a pound and a half of meat left at home. Zhang Huacheng planned to let Tiezhu take a pound of pork, so he cut half a pound and made a pot of pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli, accompanied by steamed rice.

“You’re about to get married and still acting like a child!” their mother scolded as she sat on the kang, watching Hualing jump around.

Hualing immediately went quiet.

“Mom, let’s cancel the marriage between Chen Qiuyang and Hualing,” Zhang Huacheng said, thinking of Chen Qiuyang, who was already on the verge of disgrace.

“What are you talking about?” his mother glared at him.

This marriage wasn’t something that could be canceled on a whim. Besides, they had already accepted the thirty yuan betrothal gift from the Chen family, all of which had been spent on treating Zhang Huacheng’s father.

“Can it be canceled?” Hualing’s big, bright eyes sparkled with hope.

“Yes, trust me. I promise to cancel the marriage. You don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Zhang Huacheng said firmly, seeing that his sister also wanted to break it off.

Dinner was served: fragrant pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli and steamed rice, filling the home with a festive atmosphere.

Their mother stubbornly refused to eat but couldn’t resist Zhang Huacheng’s insistence. She nibbled at the food in small bites, occasionally tapping Xiaoya, who liked to snatch meat from others.

There weren’t enough bowls at home, so Zhang Huacheng ate from a plate of pork and cabbage over rice.

He called Tiezhu over, who also took a plate and squatted by the stove to eat.

“Brother, I noticed you bought something nice for sister-in-law!” Hualing whispered, reluctant to go home after eating.

“Shh!”

Zhang Huacheng knew exactly what she had seen.

“Wow!”

Hualing had seen the copy of Dream of the Red Chamber. She had already decided to come over from tomorrow morning so she could read with sister-in-law early.

There were some characters she didn’t recognize yet and could ask her sister-in-law about them.

After the meal, Zhang Huacheng told Tiezhu to put on the new shoes, then handed him a cloth bag.

Inside were twenty jin of coarse grains, some dried sweet potatoes, two packs of peach crisps, and a pack of sugar. On top was a pair of new cotton shoes.

He lent Tiezhu a bamboo basket, placing the meat at the bottom, then stuffed the bulging cloth bag inside, covering it with some firewood.

“Give this money to your mother. Buy more coal for the winter,” Zhang Huacheng said, handing over five scattered yuan.

Tiezhu nodded and pocketed the money.

Tiezhu’s mother had remarried to the Fuzhuang Brigade. Compared to Chentang Sanliqu, Fuzhuang was far worse off. Chentang Sanliqu had a small brick kiln, which brought them higher income.

Of course, most of the benefits went to the Chen family.

After ensuring Tiezhu arrived safely at Fuzhuang, Zhang Huacheng quietly returned home. He planned to borrow a gun from his great-grandfather when night fell.

The fish and crab business was stable, but Zhang Huacheng felt he was earning too little.

Tiezhu arrived at Fuzhuang Brigade, covered in deep winter snow. At noon, only a few people were outside.

He searched for a long time before finding them.

Wang Fugui was chopping firewood inside, while his wife silently counted grain rations by the vat, sighing quietly.

They clearly didn’t have enough grain to last.

“Daddy, hungry!” a small boy curled up on the kang shouted.

Wang Fugui looked up at the food basket and thought, “Xiangyu, why don’t you get something for the children to eat?”

The three children kept crying for food, but the family’s grain wouldn’t last through this year. They didn’t even have enough coal to burn, and the red willow roots at the foot of the mountain were barely yielding any.

He didn’t dare borrow from the brigade because, no matter how hard he worked, he wouldn’t be able to repay by next year.

Zhao Xianglan hesitated, then carefully took out a small wild vegetable dumpling from the basket and broke it apart for the two children.

“Mother, there’s someone outside!” one of the children suddenly cried.

The two kids gobbled down the wild vegetable dumplings at once. The youngest suddenly saw someone standing outside the fenced yard, peering in.

“Who?”

Zhao Xianglan looked up, stunned when she recognized the visitor, then hurried outside.

Wang Fugui also saw him. He had met Tiezhu before, but for him to come in this bitter cold winter, he must be starving and looking for food.

“Tiezhu, why are you here? Come in quickly!”

“Mother…” Tiezhu scratched his head and entered the yard with his head lowered.

The three children on the kang jumped down to see, two of them naked from the waist down except for the youngest sister.

“Tiezhu’s here! I’ll boil some water for you,” Wang Fugui said awkwardly and went to boil water.

“Are you hungry? I’ll get you some wild vegetable dumplings,” Zhao Xiangyu, equally flustered, went to fetch the dumplings.

“Brother!” the youngest girl recognized Tiezhu and called out sweetly.

The two other kids imitated her perfectly.

Tiezhu smiled and scratched his head, then said, “Mother, I’ve come to deliver grain. I’m not hungry.”

He hurriedly removed the basket.

Wang Fugui and Zhao Xianglan, who were about to boil water, froze in disbelief. Did they hear correctly? Delivering grain? Chen Youde sent Tiezhu to deliver grain??? Why?

How could Chen Youde have asked Tiezhu to bring grain?

Tiezhu pulled out the cloth bag hidden inside the basket and took out the pork at the bottom. The pork, half fat and half lean, stunned the couple, and even the three children’s eyes widened.

“Meat!”

“I want to eat meat!”

“Meat!”

The children grew excited.

“Tiezhu, where did this meat come from? Has your brigade started distributing pork?”

Zhao Xianglan was surprised.

“No, this is from my brother. He asked me to bring it to you,” Tiezhu hurriedly shook his head. Their brigade hadn’t slaughtered any pigs yet; the pigs were all terribly thin.

“Which brother?” Zhao Xianglan wondered, trying to think of who else it could be.

“Hua Cheng.”

“Ah? Little Hua Cheng?”

When she heard Zhang Huacheng’s name, Zhao Xianglan was even more puzzled. Where would little Hua Cheng get meat from?

But when Tiezhu unwrapped the cloth bag, not only she but also Wang Fugui were at a loss.

Inside were cotton shoes, peach crisps, sugar, and beneath all that, grain and dried sweet potatoes…

Peach crisps and sugar were rare treats, seldom seen in Fuzhuang Brigade.