But since then, every ti that male colleague sees her, he’s nose out of joint and eyes glaring, always opposing her.
The guy works in proctology and spends his days gossiping with a group of won behind her back. Now it’s clear who he’s taking after.
Thankfully, everyone else is sensible enough and doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong.
But this indirectly highlights how hard it is to raise a child in this era. Although she has stored all the valuables in her space, taking the milk powder out little by little and rationing food for two or three days at a ti, there are still people spreading rumors, saying it’s such a waste to give a child milk powder at a ti like this.
Regarding such rumors, she only finds them bizarre. How can you criticize us for feeding milk powder to such a tiny baby while your family is breastfeeding? She decides not to listen to outside gossip, focusing only on her work and ho, ignoring everyone else.
However, one noon, when she went to the canteen to get food, so people from the hospital inspection team suddenly approached her.
"Sorry, Comrade Ye Huan, we’ve received reports that there are issues with the source of your family’s milk powder. Please co with us for investigation."
Ye Huan: "...."
See, here co the people who can’t stand you succeeding, right?
Ye Huan hadn’t even started her al before she was taken to the political office. They didn’t say much to her, heading straight to her ho with a search warrant.
Ye Huan sat there expressionless, mocking to herself the prevalence of jealousy in this era. She also knew that feeding milk powder to an adopted child had drawn public ire, as so many were going hungry. In town, very few even managed to eat half their fill each al.
Milk powder is so expensive; not only do you need milk powder tickets, but you also need money to buy it.
In tis of material scarcity, milk, like other supplents, is extrely in short supply. When you can’t even afford grains, isn’t milk precious?
Back then, there were both canned and plastic-packed milk powders. She bought whatever she could. A little more of these milk powder tickets was procured by Tong Zhan through connections. She also bartered fruits for so of them. Of course, she didn’t miss out on asking around within her own unit either.
The reason for going through so much trouble back then was so that in situations like this, there would be so ground to argue with.
Five yuan could buy approximately 500 grams of milk powder (in a bag), while ten yuan could get 900 grams (a large iron can). In an era where the average salary was just twenty yuan, one child required about forty yuan worth of milk powder a month, using four milk powder tickets. No wonder people doubted the legitimacy of her milk powder source.
At this ti, no one has pity or sympathy for a family that can’t have children. Most just watch with schadenfreude, pretty much wanting to see how on earth your family is getting their milk powder.
Eventually, these people found nothing questionable in her ho. Everything was normal. Apart from the child’s items, she didn’t even have moisturizing cream for her face. And even if she did apply it, would she let them see it?
When eating fine white flour, she consud it from the space.
The mixed flour given to the nannies was also bought after queuing at the grain store.
Oil, salt, and vinegar were purchased monthly with the ration book according to regulations. When going to the canteen, the als were vegetable stead buns and pickled veggies.
Since giving birth to twins, Ye Huan had lost weight. Especially after entering 1959, she weighed only eighty jin, standing at one ter sixty. To Ye Huan, that already felt bone-thin.
By right, she should have been cautious enough, but in terms of milk powder, it was inevitably exposed.
Though they didn’t find anything in the dorm, they ca asking her about the origin of her monthly milk powder tickets.
She candidly replied, "Half were obtained through connections by my children’s father. The other half, I asked colleagues one by one through various connections. Oh, and my brothers helped out too. If you don’t believe , feel free to inspect my family’s letters to see if I’m lying. My eldest son, Zhuangzhuang, also got by like this back then. What my family eats is visible to everyone. What my husband eats, you can ask over at the munitions factory. Didn’t all the expenses just go towards the children? How could they be illegitimate?"
Letters that others could see naturally contained no secrets. Indeed, Ye Huan did ask her brothers for help, and so milk powder tickets were sent back, but the proportion was minuscule. Most were exchanged by Tong Zhan and herself. Supposedly illegitimate, rely because so relationships were unclear.
So, when the political office asked her to account for everything line by line, she simply looked them in the eye with calm determination.
"Sorry, but I won’t be accounting for this to you. Firstly, I’ve done nothing wrong, hard nobody’s interests, nor sought any benefit. I rely raised a child and incurred so debts of gratitude. Now, you want to account for everything line by line from 1956? I don’t have the ti, energy, or mory for that."
"Believe it if you will, otherwise, just fire . My child is on milk powder, so what? Why must my child suffer the sa as yours just because yours are having bran and vegetables? People took care of us, which is why we got milk powder tickets. Now, to clear my na, should I drag others down? Ha! That’s sothing I, Ye Huan, would never do. So, just get on with it, don’t waste words!"
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