During the New Year, everyone discusses what the supply and marketing cooperative will provide on certain days, and this is also the busiest time for the whole family. For example, going out early to queue; previously, Zhang Yu would lead Zhao Lei and the others to queue, and later, when Zhao Lei grew up, he would lead Zhao Hong to queue. Now it’s Zhao Hong leading Xiao Yi to queue to buy New Year goods, while Zhang Yu looks down at Zhao Xi, who is still sleeping soundly. "In a couple of years, when Xiao Xi grows up, she can join them to queue for New Year goods too." Our children are not spoiled at all. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveIＦire.net Xiao Yi looks down at his little niece, wondering when she will be able to help with New Year shopping. "Kids need to be nurtured from an early age." Zhang Yu waves a big hand, indicating that children need to be nurtured from a young age. "Right, right." Zhao Hong nods repeatedly, "Going out more, listening to the aunts chat and complain, you’ll learn a lot." Every time they queue to buy things, they hear a lot of gossip. Zhang Yu feels that in the times without the internet or phones, when people weren’t moving around in large numbers, gossip spread just . Anyway, it enriched Zhang Yu’s life of listening to gossip. If it weren’t for the fresh gossip every time, she wouldn’t be willing to queue for things. Now with Xiao Xi, she really hasn’t gone out to hear gossip for a long time and feels life is quite dull. "When you’re queuing, listen carefully to how everyone talks, and tell me about it." In the monotonous and dull times, listening to some gossip makes life flavorful. Xiao Yi kept Zhang Yu’s words in mind. When he first arrived, hearing Zhang Yu discuss the gossip she heard at home, he wondered how Zhang Yu could listen to such things. Just listening would be fine, but she even told Zhao Hong. Later, he gradually discovered that through Zhang Yu’s analysis and explanation, when he encountered similar situations and looked at things from a different angle, he’d find them completely different. He finally understood why his grandparents always looked at him with worried expressions. Indeed, he wasn’t handling some situations well, being a bit too naive. Though he hadn’t lived here long, he learned a lot from Zhang Yu. If Zhang Yu knew, she would boast, saying, "The young man is good, he’s catching on quickly, and soon he’ll grasp the essence." The neighbors watched Zhao Hong and Xiao Yi, just two young kids, go out to buy New Year goods and were astounded. "Isn’t your mother joining you?" The neighbor sincerely admired Zhang Yu, who was so relaxed that she let the children handle procurement. They didn’t dare let go of the responsibility, lest the kids stash things for themselves. "My mom has to take care of Xiao Xi." Zhao Hong and Xiao Yi discussed how they’d divide up the tasks. Yesterday, they had a lot of discussions and analyses at home on how to tackle issues, and soon they had figured out solutions. Zhang Yu really didn’t accompany the kids to buy New Year goods. When this news spread, the neighbors laughed, thinking Zhang Yu made great sacrifices for a "losing investment." Just two young kids, do they know how to buy New Year goods? Even if Zhao Hong had followed Zhang Yu before, she was only helping. While everyone was watching Zhang Yu with amusement, they realized that these two, despite being kids, bought more and better things. This angered everyone; compared to Zhao Hong and them, they were more surprised. Despite having more people helping them, they couldn’t outperform Zhao Hong. Some couldn’t understand and asked Zhao Hong how they managed their procurement. "We have some insight into the daily supplies, and we’ve studied the locations of each counter beforehand, then we look at the supply times." "Lastly, we decide based on the number of people queuing in each line." Zhao Hong gave a general idea. She wouldn’t explain in detail as it really takes a lot of brainpower. Everyone was stunned; they had never thought that buying New Year goods required so much thought. Looking at the surrounding neighbors, they were all equally bewildered; it wasn’t just them who were clueless. Luckily, they didn’t feel like fools for being unaware, though they realized they couldn’t manage to replicate Zhao Hong’s method. They couldn’t use their brain that way, but that didn’t matter; they could follow Zhao Hong’s method and try to make it work. "By the way, didn’t you need to go to the research institute?" Zhao Hong remembered Xiao Yi needed to visit the research institute. Last time he went, he got some rice and flour. Today, she heard there might be meat supply, and Zhao Hong was really looking forward to it. She thought, if there’s meat, maybe even cured chicken available, that would be perfect. But she couldn’t be greedy; those would be unexpected surprises. Xiao Yi nodded, put his things away, and pushed the cart out, "I’m off." "Be careful on the road." Everyone watched Xiao Yi’s disappearing figure, "Xiao Hong, is Xiao Yi going to the research institute?" "My sister-in-law had worked there for a while, and she gets some New Year benefits." Hmph, you all brag about the benefits you get from your units. Our family gets benefits too, but we boast subtly about the things we get. It’s not that Zhao Hong thinks her family is better, but by observing their faces, she can see their family meals are average. Ah, ah, ah, previously Zhang Yu mentioned Zhao Lei’s salary would go to her, making everyone envious. In the compound, where kids get married and start families without moving out, living with parents, handing over a salary, or even giving a living allowance, leads to endless complaints. Similarly handing over all salary, Zhang Yu raising one kid gets a full salary, which incites jealousy. To keep Zhang Yu subtle, everyone knows Zhang Yu’s yearly New Year goods can’t compare, not even a fraction compared to theirs. No one expected Xiao Min had New Year benefits, praying they weren’t too much. When Zhang Yu got off work, she noticed the courtyard was lively with everyone busy, each carrying things. Yet with such a small amount of stuff, they should finish quickly, not standing around wasting time in the cold wind. Zhang Yu didn’t understand why they wouldn’t stay indoors where it’s warm; thinking about it didn’t make sense, so she didn’t bother asking, and pushed her cart home. Zhao Hong timed it right, heated the stove indoors, and upon hearing noises at the door, she quickly rushed out, scooping up the soundly sleeping Zhao Xi. "Xiao Xi, you accompanied grandma to work today, such hard work." Zhao Hong heard Zhang Yu mention the importance of talking to Xiao Xi and reading to her, which would make her smarter. Though she didn’t understand why, it didn’t matter; Zhao Hong felt Zhang Yu knew best, so she followed her lead. Besides, she wanted to talk to Xiao Xi, discussing things she couldn’t share at school or elsewhere, without worrying about leaking any information.