A jinx, me? But I bring good fortune to my whole family!

Sister-in-law Hongxia plopped down on the stone bench in front of the state-run restaurant, slapping her thigh in anger. "What bad luck I've had to run into that shrew Liu Guihua! I had that piece of cloth in my hand, but she snatched it away. Look at my hand, that old woman even scratched it!"

She held the back of her hand up to Su Xiulan's eyes and saw a red mark on it, from which blood was still seeping.

"Isn't this just too much?"

Su Xiulan frowned, took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped Hongxia's face. "It's alright, we can just buy more cloth when we run out."

"What are you buying? It's rare to find these scraps of fabric that don't require coupons. To buy fabric properly, you need coupons. My husband can't even save a few yards of fabric all year round. He saves them all for the kids to make single-layer clothes."

Sister-in-law Hongxia sighed, looking dejected. "Oh well, we can only go back and take apart our old clothes, mend them, and make do for the New Year."

Just then, a sharp voice, like a rooster crowing, came over.

"Hey, isn't this Hongxia? Why are you sitting here sunbathing? Didn't you get any fabric scraps? Don't you want to go home and make clothes for your child?"

Liu Guihua walked over, carrying a bamboo basket and swaying her hips like a water bucket.

A corner of floral cloth peeked out of the basket; its bright colors were so striking that Sister Hongxia's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Liu Guihua proudly lifted the basket higher. "Oh dear, although this fabric is substandard, the pattern is really nice. I can make a smock for my daughter, and there'll be some left over to make shoe uppers. Some people are just too slow; they can't even catch up with the good stuff."

"Liu Guihua, don't go too far!"

Sister-in-law Hongxia jumped up, looking as if she wanted to rush up and tear the other person apart.

Su Xiulan grabbed Hongxia's arm, pulled her back, and stuffed a stack of things into her hand.

"Sister-in-law, it's not worth getting upset with this kind of person. You'll only hurt yourself. I was just thinking of getting some new clothes made for Nuannuan and the men in the family. Here, take these tickets and help me decide what to buy."

Hongxia's sister-in-law felt a thick mass in her palm, and when she looked down, her eyes widened in disbelief.

Good heavens, a huge wad of colorful bills! The one on top was actually a ten-foot-long nationally valid cloth ration coupon. Below it were meat coupons, grain coupons, and two sugar coupons.

"Xiulan, this...this won't do, this is far too expensive."

Now you need coupons to buy anything, and people in their village don't have many coupons to their name all year round. Without coupons, they can only buy expensive things on the black market. She doesn't know where Xiulan got these coupons from; she's never seen so many coupons before.

"Sister-in-law, we're practically family, just take it."

Su Xiulan smiled and placed the ticket in Hongxia's hand.

Sister-in-law Hongxia's hands were trembling. These coupons were burning hot, like scalding yams. "But your family isn't having an easy time either. Jianguo still needs medical treatment. A few days ago, you didn't even have any food. Keep these coupons for yourselves."

Su Xiulan grabbed Hongxia's hand with surprising strength, "You know my family isn't doing well. If it weren't for your help, my child and I would have starved to death long ago. This is just a small token of my appreciation. If you don't accept it, I won't dare to come to you if my family has any difficulties in the future."

"Besides, I also want to go and buy some fabric. My taste isn't as good as yours, so I'll have to rely on you then."

"By the way, sister-in-law, don't you have a sewing machine at home? Could you please help me run errands?"

Sister-in-law Hongxia then accepted the gift, stuffed it into her pocket, and said, "I'll teach you how to use a sewing machine."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you. I'll shamelessly tag along and take advantage of your generosity today! Let's go shopping and make those gossipy old women furious."

The two people led Nuannuan away, and Nuannuan followed with her short legs, not forgetting to make a face at Liu Guihua.

[Hey, you naughty mother-in-law, watch out, you might get poop on your head!]

Liu Guihua was furious. The woman's clothes were tattered, so how could she have so many bills? They must have said that on purpose; they definitely didn't want to buy anything.

Thinking of this, she took two quick steps, passed the group, and entered the supply and marketing cooperative first.

Nuannuan walked slowly, and when the three of them went inside, they saw Liu Guihua chatting with the sales clerk, showing off the different items she had just snagged.

"Comrade, get me ten feet of Dacron! The military green one, it's a nice color, perfect for making clothes for my man, he'll look very smart."

Sister-in-law Hongxia's loud voice made the glass on the counter vibrate.

The sales clerk glanced at her lazily, without even looking up, and said, "Dacron requires fabric coupons. Do you have any?"

"Of course I have one! Here you go!"

Sister-in-law Hongxia slammed the brand-new ten-foot cloth ration coupon onto the counter, making a crisp sound, louder than firecrackers during the New Year.

Liu Guihua was about to make a sarcastic remark, but when she saw the national cloth ration coupon, she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue, her face turning as red as a pig's liver.

"Also, weigh me two jin of refined flour and one jin of brown sugar! Oh, and that piece of pork belly is good too, cut me two jin, the fatty kind!"

Sister-in-law Hongxia rattled off a string of names in one breath. Her domineering manner made one think she was the wife of some high-ranking official.

The sales clerk looked up this time, her previous slackness gone, and she quickly started taking things.

Seeing all those exquisite items being packed into the basket, Liu Guihua's eyes reddened with anger, and her voice was sour, "Oh, Hongxia, you've struck it rich? Did you steal these tickets? Or are you just involved in speculation?"

"Liu Guihua, watch your mouth!"

Hongxia glared at her coldly, secretly pleased with herself and brimming with confidence. "Look at how familiar you are with this. I bet you're the one doing the speculation. Why don't we go talk to the Revolutionary Committee? These tickets are all gifts from friends, they're legitimate. If you're jealous, find a relative with tickets too. Oh, how could I forget that? Your family only knows how to take advantage of you, they won't leave you a single thing."

"You..." Liu Guihua was struck on a sore spot, her hands trembling with anger. "I'm going to report you! I'm going to the Revolutionary Committee right now!"

"Go ahead! It can grow on your body, I'm not tied up."

Hongxia rolled her eyes at him, grabbed Su Xiulan, and left. "I'm innocent, I have nothing to fear, what are you got to be afraid of!"

Su Xiulan picked up Nuannuan and couldn't help but smile as she looked at Sister Hongxia's fierce appearance.

Go to the Revolutionary Committee to file a complaint? Who's afraid of who! If they don't catch us red-handed, those people can't wrongly accuse ordinary people.

The three of them left the supply and marketing cooperative, their baskets were so full they could barely hold any more.

Besides fabric and flour, Su Xiulan also bought a bag of fruit candies to sweeten the children's mouths. Nuannuan was nestled on Su Xiulan's shoulder, happily munching on a milk candy.

[It's so sweet! Much sweeter than the grass roots Xiao Lü gave me!]

Inside the space, the little green creature's whiskers trembled.

[That's a spirit plant! Don't you understand spirit plants?! You ignorant human brat! A treasure that countless people would kill for!]

The road back to the village was difficult to travel; the snow had stopped, but the ground was very slippery. Carrying dozens of kilograms of things, Su Xiulan and Sister-in-law Hongxia hadn't walked far before sweat beaded on their foreheads.

"I should have brought a sled too," Sister Hongxia said, panting, as she lifted her basket higher. "Carrying such heavy things in this snowy weather is going to break my back."

"Sister-in-law, take a break." Su Xiulan found a sheltered earthen slope and put down her basket.

Nuannuan obediently took out a water bottle from her bosom, "Your Majesty, drink water. Mommy, drink water."

The water was warm, with a drop of spiritual spring water added. After drinking a few sips, the two felt a warm current flow into their stomachs, and their fatigue immediately dissipated.

"This water is so sweet, did you add sugar?" Sister Hongxia smacked her lips. "I feel so energetic again."

Just then, the sound of a car came from behind.

The little green jeep drove back and slowly stopped beside them.