To please others? It's better to please yourself.

After clearing the table, Mother Shen held the banknotes, ration books, food ration books, and industrial coupons, and kept calculating.

Xu Jing'an picked up a ration book printed with Chairman Mao's instructions from the table: "...The issue of saving food must be taken very seriously. Rationing should be done according to the number of people. Eat more when busy and less when idle. Eat dry food when busy and half dry and half water when idle, mixed with sweet potatoes, green vegetables, radishes, melons, beans, taro and the like. This matter must be taken very seriously."

Shen He's family's household registration was separate from that of Shen's parents. They would buy groceries together each month, but they kept their own ration books, food ration books, and other receipts.

"Mom, is something still missing?"

"I calculated how much refined grain I could collect. After saving for several months, and taking into account next month's ration, I could collect at most 20 jin of wheat flour and 5 jin of millet."

"That's not enough. I have some more here. If that doesn't work, I'll borrow some from my workplace?" Xu Jing'an asked Shen's mother tentatively.

"No need, this is enough. Besides, how big will Zhuangzhuang's children grow? They still need to be fed with fine grains. With this much to eat, we live better than many people. What more do you want to enjoy during your confinement period? If the eldest daughter-in-law is not satisfied, then go find the eldest son. Don't talk to me!" Mother Shen said without pausing.

She doesn't interfere with how the eldest and second brothers maintain contact, become close, or exchange gifts (giving gifts to relatives and friends to congratulate them on happy occasions).

Despite the fact that the eldest son starts work early, Shen's mother always saved the money he sent back each month separately and never used her eldest son's money to spend on her younger son.

Similarly, the second child's family lived with the elderly couple. She never used the second child's things to compensate the eldest child, even though the eldest child was 35 years old when they finally had a child.

The elderly couple will help their children as much as they can. If they can't, it's because the parents are incompetent, and the son is just unlucky to have been born into a good family.

The couple never tries to control one child or use their parental status to suppress the other. They maintain clear boundaries between their parents and siblings, and still have genuine affection for each other.

Don't make a mess of things. In the end, the parents might feel relieved, thinking they've treated both sides fairly, but the truth is, they'll please neither side. Everyone will feel cheated and wronged!

What kind of life you want to live, what kind of person you want to become, you have to work hard for it. Even if a child isn't talented, their parents won't look down on them.

To be honest, when a child is born, all parents hope for is that the child is safe and healthy. As long as the parents are alive and breathing, they can support their son and feed him. That's all they can do; that's all parents can do.

June 76

Just as the second month of the lunar calendar began, Shen's mother packed the blankets and clothes she had prepared for her future grandson, and boarded the train to the military base with her personal belongings.

With Shen's mother gone, the three children became a problem. Mao Mao and Dou Dou were left unattended, and Zhuang Zhuang had no one to pick him up from school.

After discussing it, Shen's father agreed to take Zhuangzhuang to and from school. Xu Jing'an's workplace has a daycare center that pays 2 yuan per month, and she will take care of the remaining two children.

The small carriage that was ordered back then has reappeared. Every day on her way to work, Xu Jing'an pulls her two children along, and on her way home, she pulls them back.

Shen He is a mobile employee; when the unit is not busy, he helps with pick-up and drop-off.

This busy period lasted for more than three months. Then, Shen's mother called to tell her that Gu Panpan had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

Mr. Shen: "When are you coming back?"

Mother Shen: "With two children added at once, it's clear that my eldest daughter-in-law can't manage on her own. Let's wait until the children are older."

She had originally planned to come back after taking care of her eldest daughter-in-law during her postpartum period, but now she has to wait. If she doesn't lend a hand, it'll be her own son who suffers.

Her eldest son was away on a mission, which was definitely dangerous, even if he was in the barracks, he was busy all day long. There was never a moment of relaxation. She felt sorry for her son and wanted him to relax a bit!

Mother Shen felt that she needed to wait until the child was older and her daughter-in-law could manage the work before she could leave. She counted on her fingers and realized she would have to wait another year.

Although Mr. Shen missed his wife, he was even happier for his eldest son. Mr. Shen's wife was also getting on in years, and he was worried about tiring her out. Without saying anything else, he simply wanted to find someone to make a baby stroller.

We do have a small stroller at home, but it's quite old and we've had to share it with all three kids. This new stroller definitely makes taking care of the children much easier.

This person is Wang Gang. Wang Gang has honed his skills over the years.

"Gangzi—are you home?"

"Yes, yes," Wang Gang said as he hurried out of the house, his clothes still covered in sawdust.

"Have you been busy lately?" Mr. Shen offered him a cigarette.

Wang Gang took it, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke; "What are you busy with? I'm not busy. Don't you know my skills, Uncle? I don't have the ability to make large furniture, I only do small-scale work."

"Besides, once we get our hands on this thing, won't we use it for seven or eight years?"

The quality of products these days is unquestionable; anyone who makes products that don't last will have their reputation ruined.

Mr. Shen nodded, "That's true, after all, it's made of wood, so it's not very sturdy!"

"Uncle, is there something you need?" Wang Gang hoped that the other party had come to ask him for work, so that he could earn a few extra dollars each month to buy some good food for the children.

In recent years, the Shen family has ordered two different models of cars from him. Many people, after seeing them, have specifically requested the same models as the Shen family's.

Mr. Shen didn't mince words: "The army called today. My eldest son suddenly had two babies. Your aunt is helping out there. But she's getting old, so I was thinking of asking you to make another stroller and send it over, so your aunt can at least get some rest."

Upon hearing this, Wang Gang immediately congratulated Shen's father: "Uncle, this is great news! Congratulations! Okay, Uncle, don't worry, I'll get it done as soon as possible and won't delay you."

Shen's father gave Wang Gang the drawing of the cart and left without saying anything more.

Wang Gang took it and saw that it wasn't difficult; it was simply turning two single-seater bikes into a double-seater. With an extra basket for carrying things, half a month would be enough. If he worked quickly, he could probably earn half a pound of meat for his child. Thinking of this, he hurriedly started working on it before dawn.

Ten days later, Shen's father received two finely crafted cars. As usual, Shen He gave Wang Gang half a pound of pork.

Xu Jing'an took out two catties of brown sugar and three catties of millet that she had bought earlier, and Shen He found someone to exchange them for four bags of milk powder and sent them over along with the stroller.

It took Shen He half a month of repeated trips to buy this brown sugar milk powder. For some reason, brown sugar was in short supply at that time and kept getting out of stock.

Xu Jing'an was so attentive to Gu Panpan because when she married Shen He and had three children, Shen Yue, as her elder brother, had helped her a lot by sending her tickets.

Shen Yue is a soldier, and the tickets he sent were all military-issue, valid everywhere!

Each of the three children has a toy airplane, tank, and small sailboat that Shen Yue painstakingly assembled from bullet casings. Although Shen Yue hasn't returned in recent years, the children's longing and admiration for their beloved uncle have never diminished!

Zhuangzhuang needs to be touched for a while every day before he can sleep, and he won't let outsiders touch him at all.

Her relationship with Shen Hecheng and Shen Yue!

The child isn't just Gu Panpan's; it's also Shen Yue's. For Shen Yue's sake, the couple has to do their best!

For the two families to maintain a long-term relationship, they need to give and take turns.