Daily Life in the 70s-Chapter 179 Behind the Scenes

"Fine, it’s Du Juanjuan.

Just had a quarrel with herself yesterday, and today she has the gall to come over to borrow things?

"Sister-in-law, Camp Commander Shao and your Shen Ying get along really well, so you see..." However, Gao Hong was still speaking.

Yang Peimin looked at her with a half-smile, "Since you’re aware of the good relationship between our men, why didn’t I see her come over herself?"

Under her gaze, the little courage Gao Hong had mustered shrank back.

"I, I don’t know..."

"Alright, sister-in-law, I’m really starving, so I won’t bother you anymore. Let her come over and speak for herself if there’s anything to say. Skulking around like this just makes you look small."

Gao Hong glanced at her and ultimately dropped her head in disappointment.

Yang Peimin didn’t concern herself with her emotional face and smiled as she showed her out, thinking that anyone willing to run errands for others should be prepared for rejection.

Gao Hong went downstairs and then returned home, where Mrs. Cui, seated on the bed picking beans, opened her eyes to look at her, "What’s wrong? You’ve been bustling into other people’s houses since the crack of dawn? Did you earn yourself some breakfast money?"

Gao Hong silently grabbed the half-eaten steamed bun from the table and started eating.

Mrs. Cui wasn’t pleased with her attitude. "I’m asking you, what’s with playing dead? Who are you showing that to? I’m asking why you went out first thing instead of doing work at home?"

"Nothing, just exchanged a few words with the Shen family’s sister-in-law." Gao Hong stuffed the steamed bun into her mouth and chewed; the promise she’d made to Yang Peimin about going into town that afternoon was true, but so was having no money in her pocket, and the household’s supply of grain and condiments was almost gone, too. She had thought they could last another month, but ever since her mother-in-law and two little nephews arrived, the food had been disappearing alarmingly fast.

And her sanitary tissue had run out, another thing she needed to buy. But asking her mother-in-law for money would at best yield enough for food. Before her mother-in-law’s visit, her husband had sent more than half of his wages home, and what was left just barely covered their living expenses—there wasn’t a penny to spare. After her mother-in-law’s arrival, the wages her husband had just earned were also handed over to her mother-in-law, who took charge of the budget.

Her mother-in-law was shrewd, keeping exact track of every grain consumed at home and allotted for their eating habits; she had already calculated their needs. Now, if Gao Hong asked for extra money to buy sanitary tissue, she would definitely be rebuked because her mother-in-law was extremely frugal. The older generation didn’t use such paper, instead using ash mixed with old cloth.

So when her mother-in-law asked her that question, Gao Hong instinctively did not want her to know.

But Mrs. Cui just looked at her coldly, making her daughter-in-law’s scalp tingle, before she finally said icily, "Useless trash, you can’t even handle this simple task. Even if money was laying on the ground, you wouldn’t pick it up. You might as well go bang your head against the wall and die. You even thought about hiding it from me, thinking about swallowing it all by yourself, didn’t you? Truly blind as a bat, my son married such a selfish creature!"

Gao Hong was startled, raising her head to stare at Mrs. Cui, her speech becoming stammered, "Mo-mother, how did you... how did you find out?"

Mrs. Cui snorted, then scolded, "That Shao family bride told me all about it, said you were utterly useless and a waste of a good-looking face. I thought you didn’t seem like a fool, but you act like one when you do anything."

Mrs. Cui, for the loss of that five yuan that seemed to have sprouted wings and flown away, also began to beat her chest and stomp her feet in frustration. She knew that Du Juanjuan had told her this out of a desire to see her dumb-witted daughter-in-law chastised, which was really unreasonable, to discipline one’s own over someone else’s affair.

But as much as Mrs. Cui knew this was the case, let alone Du Juanjuan being angry, she herself was fuming. That crisp five yuan could buy forty or fifty kilos of grain, enough for half a month’s worth of meat. How could she not be angry? This family-wrecking creature couldn’t even speak clearly, such a person was truly a waste of food.

The angrier she got, the more vigorously she scolded. She reached for the water cup by the bed to hurl it, but Gao Hong managed to dodge just in time—otherwise she would have had a bloody hole in her forehead.

"Mother, I’m sorry, I’m useless... why don’t you go talk to Sister-in-law Shao again, ask her, ask her to give us back the five yuan. This time, this time let mother talk..." Gao Hong hastily stood up, pleading urgently.

Seeing her first attempt was ineffective, and as she was looking for something else to throw, Mrs. Cui heard her plea and set down what she was holding, glaring at her, "Do you think I didn’t go earlier? But before I could finish speaking, she walked away. No, you’re right though, isn’t she just looking to borrow that set of cosmetics? I’ll go and borrow them for her and get her to give me the five yuan. If she doesn’t give me the money, I also won’t hand over the cosmetics. Isn’t she just afraid to borrow stuff from others? It’s her own lack of wit, to have even thought of asking you..."

This time Gao Hong didn’t dare to speak, quickly gathering up the laundry and going downstairs to wash.

Because she talked with Gao Hong, Yang PeiMin was late to the canteen and they had already run out of buns and porridge, leaving only sweet potatoes. With no other options, she took two. She thought that sweet potatoes were only tasty when roasted or cooked into a sugary liquid; these boiled ones lacked a satisfying texture. This food was filling to eat but left one hungry again very soon after.

So, she decided to eat at the canteen before heading back.

As she passed the bustling laundry area downstairs, Luo Dahua, who had just finished her washing and was carrying her clean laundry back, saw her and greeted, "Sister-in-law, good morning, have you had breakfast?"

Yang PeiMin smiled and nodded, "I’ve eaten. Do you need help carrying that?"

Luo Dahua waved her off with her free hand, "It’s nothing, don’t tire yourself out for me."

After a couple of pleasantries, and ensuring no one else was around, she whispered, "About that matter with Mr. Wen, I also overheard a bit. I have no idea which heartless person spread it around, but if I find out who, I’ll slap them right across the face. They just wanted the pleasure of gossiping and now I’m like a villain everywhere I go."

Yang PeiMin understood her meaning, she came to explain herself. That day in her own dorm, only four people including herself saw Dahua with the makeup, and anyone outside who knew about her makeup skills must have heard it from one of those three. And the person behind the scenes spreading rumors about Wen Qing being shameless must have used this makeup gossip that started in her dorm as a foundation.

Honestly, she knew in her heart that the Red Army wife and she herself must have mentioned it to others – this wasn’t a secretive or scandalous matter, and she never said it was not to be shared. If she herself found some novel thing while out and about, she too would be eager to share it with friends. It was human nature, so she had no one to blame.