In the fiery red era of the heavens, refrigerators are refreshed daily.

Chapter 64. Surprise and Awe

Mrs. Feng stopped crocheting, smiled and nodded, saying gently, "You've had a hard day, Mingming."

Even Yang Yongkang and his son Yang Guanghui, who were engrossed in the game of Chu and Han in the corner, were startled by the commotion. They raised their heads in unison, their gazes passing over the chessboard and landing on the tall, returning figure.

Chen Weihong quickly closed the magazine, hugged it tightly to her chest, and her clear gaze followed Yang Guangming without blinking.

Sunlight instantly became the undisputed focal point of the courtyard.

With a gentle and polite smile on his face, he met everyone's gaze, slowed his pace slightly, and paused briefly in the center of the courtyard.

"Thank you all for your concern! Master Zhou is doing quite well inside." His voice was clear and resonant, reaching every corner. "Sister-in-law Zhou is feeling much better, and her back injury is healing slowly. Little Bao has had his formula and is sleeping soundly, his little face is rosy."

"The food is plentiful!"

He continued to respond to Li Guihua's earlier joke, with sincere praise, "Mrs. Zhou has excellent cooking skills. The braised pork is so rich and flavorful that it melts in your mouth! The pickled bamboo shoot soup is also delicious! Director Han and Sister Zhang are here, chatting and creating a great atmosphere."

As he spoke, he naturally stepped aside to let a neighbor who was pushing his bicycle home late at night pass.

The military satchel on his shoulder swayed slightly as he spoke, its bulging shape naturally attracting more curious glances.

Li Guihua's eyes swept over the area like searchlights, and even Zhang Xiuying couldn't help but take a second look.

"Mingming, this satchel is packed full. What good things are inside? Is it a return gift from Master Zhou's house?"

Li Guihua finally couldn't suppress her curiosity and asked directly, half-jokingly and half-probingly, while involuntarily leaning forward.

Yang Guangming's smile remained unchanged, his tone relaxed and natural, as if he were talking about the most ordinary little thing:
"Oh, sister-in-law has a sharp eye. Nothing special, just running errands for a colleague, carrying some odds and ends, and some miscellaneous items from my own home."

He cleverly used vague words like "little things" and "miscellaneous items" to gloss over the matter, and then turned his attention to Zhang Xiuying, "Mom, I'll go upstairs to put some things down first. I've been running around all day, and my feet are a little sore."

"Okay, okay!" Zhang Xiuying immediately understood and quickly replied, then gave the surrounding neighbors an apologetic smile, "Everyone, please enjoy the cool breeze. I'll go upstairs with Mingming for a bit."

She keenly noticed that her son seemed to have no intention of showing off the contents of his handbag in front of everyone in the courtyard.

Li Guihua wasn't about to let this opportunity pass. Her shrewdness and natural instinct for "good stuff" made her immediately follow: "Wait for me! I'll go see too. Is there anything I can help you with?"

She nimbly sprang up from the small bamboo chair and followed closely behind Zhang Xiuying.

The three of them went up the narrow, steep, creaking wooden stairs one after the other.

Zhang Xiuying and Li Guihua followed Yang Guangming into his small front building.

The old wooden door creaked shut, shutting out the noise in the courtyard and the countless probing eyes.

Inside, a 15-watt incandescent light bulb cast a dim, yellowish glow, a stark contrast to the bustling activity downstairs. At the small square table, Yang Guangming placed his heavy military satchel down. Zhang Xiuying eagerly approached, while Li Guihua craned her neck, her eyes glued to the satchel's flap.

As Yang Ming carefully lifted the layers of the handbag flap, revealing its contents—

"Oh my! Mother's winter vegetables!" Li Guihua was the first to exclaim in surprise, her eyes wide open as if she had seen a treasure from Arabian Nights.

She stared intently at the bottle of peanut oil, its golden sheen gleaming alluringly under the dim light, and the bag of White Rabbit milk candy with its sharp edges and familiar red, blue, and white design. Her voice was shrill and distorted with excitement.
"Peanut oil! White Rabbit candy! This...this much! How...how did you get all this?"

Zhang Xiuying also gasped, instinctively covering her mouth with her hands, then tremblingly reaching for the bottle of oil, her voice shaking with disbelief:
"Mingming...you...what is this...?"

Her gaze swept over the two large rolls of rice-scented food wrapped tightly in yellow straw paper on the table, and her breathing became rapid. "This...this is rice noodles? How come there are so many rice noodles?"

Seeing his mother and sister-in-law so shocked they were almost speechless, Yang Guangming already had a plan in mind.

He picked up the bottle of peanut oil and a pound of White Rabbit milk candy, and explained in a calm tone:
"Mom, sister-in-law, don't worry. These two things are a thank-you gift from a colleague. It's the colleague who helped me with the formula."

His family is indeed well-off, and he's a very considerate person. Knowing that I had solved a major problem for him—two pounds of milk powder every month, for at least six months—he felt really bad and insisted on giving it to me.

He said it was just to add a little something to the house, to sweeten the little one's mouth, a small token of his appreciation, and that I absolutely shouldn't refuse.

He paused, picked up the two large, heavy rolls of rice noodles, and continued:
"The fact that these four kilograms of rice noodles came about was quite a coincidence."

While helping my colleagues with their baby formula, I met a few new friends. They have connections and can get their hands on some unplanned supplementary foods, like this rice noodle dish.

I realized we hadn't had rice noodles in a long time, and refined grains are always more palatable than coarse grains, so I asked them to make some. The best part is, we didn't need any other ration coupons!

He emphasized, holding up three fingers, "Only 35 cents per pound! Much cheaper than the ghost market outside, at least half the price! The key is that it's from a special market, so there's no need to worry!"

"Three and a half cents!"

Li Guihua's voice suddenly rose, filled with the ecstatic joy of finding a gold ingot. She snatched a roll of rice noodles, weighed it in her hands, and then brought it to her nose to take a deep sniff of the pure, unmistakable fragrance of rice.

"Good heavens! It's really only 35 cents?"

In the ghost market outside, if you ask around, you won't find this kind of top-quality rice noodles for less than seven or eight cents!
They also had to live in fear of being caught by the police!
"You...your connections are truly...truly brilliant! Our luck is about to change!"

Her gaze towards Yang Guangming was filled with sincere admiration and an indescribable sense of awe, as if her brother-in-law possessed the secret art of turning stone into gold.

Zhang Xiuying held the bottle of peanut oil in both hands, her eyes welling up with tears of emotion, her fingers stroking the cool bottle repeatedly.
"Good...good! We really are capable! We helped them, and they know how to be grateful! This peanut oil...do you know how much it costs outside? And you need oil coupons! You can only get a little bit during holidays!"

Normally when I'm cooking, I only dare to dip the tip of my chopsticks into a tiny bit of lard to scrape the bottom of the pan... This bottle of oil will last me for months!

(End of this chapter)