Chapter 14: Mom, Is This Candy Sweet?

After gathering all the items and tallying the expenses, it came to twenty yuan!

From the perspective of Tang Jiancheng’s future era, this was truly a bargain; money was really worth something back then!

But in that time, twenty yuan was a substantial sum—after all, a worker’s monthly wage was only about ten to twenty yuan.

He packed everything into a basket, but a large bundle of cotton couldn’t fit, so he had his eldest and second sisters carry it together.

Both sisters were delighted.

Their father not only bought many urgently needed household items but, noticing their eyes constantly drifting toward the candy counter, didn’t scold them. Instead, he bought them a huge bag of sweets!

Suddenly, they felt completely enveloped by happiness. If not for their usually shy nature, they would have wanted to hug their father and kiss him.

Leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Tang Jiancheng went to the vegetable market.

Though called a market, there was actually only one store selling produce, and even that was allowed only due to its connections with the grain depot, the cooperative, and the local township. The sign was amusing: Supply and Marketing Cooperative Branch No. 2, Specializing in Vegetables and Fruits!

Tang Jiancheng had no interest in the backstory of this shop; as long as there were vegetables for sale, that was enough.

He bought quite a few white radishes, Chinese cabbage, greens, green beans, garlic sprouts, and carrots.

There weren’t many vegetables to choose from, as it was the deep winter with heavy snow, and many crops were out of season.

In this era of scarcity, Tang Jiancheng wasn’t picky—just having food was enough.

He bought another large bundle of goods for just two yuan eighty cents!

He couldn’t help but marvel again at how valuable money was back then!

Returning home and opening the door, everyone was stunned.

Yuan Yuezhu was also at Tang Jiancheng’s house. Liu Fangfang was the mother-in-law, and since their families lived so close, even though Yuan Yuezhu felt a thousand points of displeasure toward Liu Fangfang for having another daughter, she still maintained the necessary facade.

Moreover, Yuan Yuezhu was a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart and truly sympathized with Liu Fangfang deep down.

But as the mother-in-law, she had to be strong and formidable; otherwise, how could she fight for her son’s interests? How could she make Liu Fangfang obediently continue bearing children until a son was born?

At that moment, seeing Tang Jiancheng bring back such a large haul, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Did you rob the supply and marketing cooperative?”

Tang Jiancheng smiled and said, “No, these are just essentials. We’re really short of things at home.”

“Rice and vegetables are one thing, but why buy so much cotton? And these two bolts of cloth, the cotton shoes—what’s all this? Candy?!”

Yuan Yuezhu pulled each item from the basket, commenting on each, then finally held up a bag of candy and exploded, “You really must be burning money! These things are expensive and not food. Why buy them?”

“Are you planning to feed these to those unprofitable children? Do they deserve it? They’re outsiders anyway, so why be so good to them?”

The children’s eyes were all fixed on the candy in Yuan Yuezhu’s hand.

Hearing her words, each child lowered their head, but none dared to argue.

Tang Jiancheng snatched the candy from her hand and said calmly, “Mom, please don’t call them unprofitable children in front of the kids anymore. No matter what, they are my children. Even if they turn out ungrateful in the future, I accept that.”

Then, a loving smile appeared on his face as he handed each child a piece of candy.

“Besides, as long as we treat them well, the children can feel it. Especially girls—they naturally have more emotional depth and sensitivity than boys. When they grow up, I’m sure I’ll be the happiest father in the world.”

“After eating candy, remember to brush your teeth, or you’ll get cavities and lose them!”

He said this while noticing several candies still in his hand.

Yuan Yuezhu remarked, “Go ahead and spoil them; you’ll regret it someday...”

Before she finished, Tang Jiancheng unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth. “Mom, isn’t this candy sweet?”

Embarrassed by his gesture, Yuan Yuezhu’s face flushed red, and she instinctively swatted his arm, spitting out, “You naughty child!” Yet secretly, she felt deeply touched.

Ignoring her, Tang Jiancheng unwrapped another candy and gave it to Liu Fangfang.

At first, Liu Fangfang refused, but Tang Jiancheng held the candy to her, looking at her with such gentle eyes that she couldn’t help but open her mouth and accept it.

“You’re being good now!”

His words made Liu Fangfang blush so fiercely she wished she could disappear.

Yuan Yuezhu couldn’t bear to watch any longer and quickly slipped away. “You’re home, so you take care of your wife and children yourself.”

Tang Jiancheng chuckled and immediately started cooking.

“Dad, I—I can cook too,” the eldest sister said thoughtfully.

Tang Jiancheng was delighted, ruffling her small head. “Alright then, you cook, I’ll prepare the dishes.”

“Dad, we can wash the vegetables too,” piped up little Qi, ever the lively one with a flair for grabbing attention.

“Good, then let’s all wash the vegetables together.”

Tang Jiancheng took out the white radishes and Chinese cabbage and gathered the children to wash them.

Immediately, the vegetable-washing scene turned chaotic, like a battlefield. At first, everyone washed seriously, but soon it turned into playing with water, laughter growing louder as their clothes became soaked.

Tang Jiancheng put on a stern face. “No mischief! Otherwise, no more candy!”

His words held great weight; the children quickly became obedient.

After washing, Tang Jiancheng cut three pounds of wild boar meat into thumb-sized chunks—no bigger, since there were so many children, and big pieces wouldn’t be enough for everyone.

He first fried the boar meat in oil to bring out the flavor, then added the white radishes to stew. When almost done, he added the cabbage.

A large pot of cabbage and radish stewed with wild boar was ready.

“Time to eat!”

At his call, eight children quickly sat at the table, each with a big bowl, waiting for their serving of food, much like a scene from a kindergarten lunch in future times.

Liu Fangfang, holding little Jiu, sat down as well. Seeing the large pot of white rice, she frowned and said, “Jiancheng, eating plain white rice every day won’t do. Soon, they’ll be ruined!”

“The children are too thin. They need to eat more to grow taller and stronger.”

Tang Jiancheng first served Liu Fangfang a large bowl of rice, then the eldest sister, second sister, third sister, and so on. “If you finish, we’ll just buy more.”

“Have you struck it rich? Even wealthy landlords don’t eat like this!”

Though Liu Fangfang spoke sharply, seeing the eager eyes of the children waiting for their food still made her heart ache.