Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 111.2

“That’s right!” Song Hongmei replied with a look of dissatisfaction and turned to Eldest Uncle Song, who was driving. “I told you earlier, we should have bought it sooner—before the price went up!”

“You kept saying there was no rush. Well, now look! They knew we had to buy it and wouldn’t budge on the price.”

It seemed like she was blaming him for not bargaining well enough.

Then she turned back to Mao Li, looking quite proud. “But he was asking for too much! I bargained with him for a long time, and in the end, he added five yuan but threw in a pack of golden ingots and a stack of US dollars. Those alone would cost five yuan each. Now, our grandparents can travel abroad in the afterlife.”

Well then.

Sun Yanyan’s prepared remarks instantly got tangled up in her head.

She sat there, feeling stifled, but at least her mother-in-law was there.

Mao Li chimed in with a bit of flattery, “Hongmei, you really know how to bargain. Everything is so expensive now, living in the city is tough, prices are rising so fast, even buying groceries costs a fortune…”

She thought that if this conversation continued, it would make sense for them to take more vegetables back to the village. However, while the Song Hongmei agreed, she didn’t fully go along with it.

Song Hongmei nodded, “Isn’t that the truth? The price of eggs has gone up so much. When I make my pancakes, with flour, eggs, scallions, and ham, I barely make any profit even at four or five yuan a piece.”

“Sister-in-law, it’s not that I want to criticize you, but the kids are under a lot of pressure these days, and you should think about saving more.”

“Last time I went to your house, it was quite tidy, but that balcony isn’t being used to its full potential!”

No one was better at saving money than Song Hongmei, “Let me tell you, get a few empty oil bottles, dig up some dirt from the community, and plant some garlic sprouts and green onions. They’re lovely!”

“The green onions I use for my pancakes, most of them are homegrown.”

“Our old neighborhood doesn’t have much management. If there’s no room at home, you can line up a few bottles along the walkway outside! If the neighbors want some, let them pick a few stalks. It’s not a big deal, and you save a bit of money. Green onion bulbs don’t cost much…”

Mao Li was speechless.

She no longer had the desire to continue the conversation.

The group hurried along in silence, and by the time they arrived back at the old home, it was already past nine, almost ten o’clock. Wu Lan and Wang Lifen were busy preparing vegetables.

With eleven mouths to feed and another two families to accommodate, they needed a lot of food, and it wasn’t an easy task.

Eldest Uncle Song smoothly parked the car at the gate. Sun Yanyan got out and noticed that Uncle’s house looked much the same, without much improvement from the money they’d earned.

The courtyard seemed to have changed, but at the same time, not really. The only noticeable addition was three little local dogs with tiger-striped fur.

“Oh my,” she exclaimed in fake surprise, “Aunt, why do you have these local dogs?”

Wu Lan welcomed her with a smile and casually replied, “Qiao Qiao found them by the roadside. We needed a watchdog, so we’re keeping them.”

Sun Yanyan laughed, “Aunt, Qiao Qiao is still young. These local dogs could be mixed breeds, and who knows how big they’ll get?”

“If you really want a dog, spend a little money on a pedigree. A wolfhound, for example, isn’t too expensive. I know someone selling them; five to six hundred yuan for one…”

Wu Lan laughed heartily, “You young people care so much about breeds. Even Tan Tan said these little dogs weren’t good enough and went out to buy a few for three thousand yuan…”

A few…

Though she didn’t know what kind, suddenly spending that much money on dogs and keeping so many of them, it seemed like their family had truly become prosperous. Sun Yanyan felt uneasy.

Meanwhile, Eldest Uncle Song and Zhu were delivering the meat and oil they had bought to the old courtyard. Mao Li wandered around this side of the yard.

Noticing several large iron pots by the kitchen filled with bundles of vegetables and lettuce, she exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my, we’re all family. Why so many vegetables? Isn’t that too much?”

She then hurried over to Wang Lifen’s side, “Mom, at your age, you should be enjoying life at home, not doing chores…”