Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 654 Lantern Festival
A few days later, it was July.

Qin Huairu's due date is less than a month away.

It's rare that the first day of March is the Lantern Festival.

Unfortunately, there is no holiday for the Lantern Festival.

"Did you bring the purchase voucher?"

"bring."

"Where's the money?"

"Of course I brought it. I'm not stupid, so please stop asking me that kind of question, okay? You're so smart!"

Xu Sinan looked at Bai Xiuwen unhappily. Did he really think she was a fool?

Bai Xiuwen chuckled: "Alright then, let's go!"

"Let's go!" Bai Chi shouted excitedly.

The three of them walked outside together.

Where are you three going?

"Uncle, today is the Lantern Festival. Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy candy and glutinous rice balls."

"It's the Lantern Festival, hey, I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it." Yan Bugui hurriedly packed his things, pulled Yan Jiedi, who insisted on going out, and they went to the supply and marketing cooperative together.

The three of them stepped on the snow that had just melted a lot, and the road was covered in dirty mud from being trampled by people.

It suddenly snowed early yesterday morning, but fortunately the snow was light and it stopped in a couple of days.

On the way, I ran into a few acquaintances from the courtyard; they were all going to buy things.

Upon entering the supply and marketing cooperative, Bai Chi pulled the two of them straight to the sugar counter.

Starting last year, sugar was purchased fairly with ration coupons, with each person receiving 2 ounces per month, choosing between fruit candies or brown sugar, which was imported from Cuba.

Living in Beijing, they are much happier than most people.

You can't even get this in rural areas.

"Hello, I'd like to buy 6 liang (2 grams) of brown sugar." Bai Xiuwen handed over two food purchase vouchers and the money to the sales clerk.

Bai Xiuwen and Xu Sinan are now two separate companies, so they naturally have two separate grocery purchase permits.

The sales clerk deftly weighed out the brown sugar, while Xu Sinan and Bai Chi looked toward the pastry counter on the side.

Pastries have been available for purchase in limited quantities since 1959 with vouchers, but now they are supplied by coupons, with one coupon per person per month.

Purchases were made with ration coupons, and additional grain coupons were required.

Bai Xiuwen couldn't understand why he had to pay extra for grain coupons when buying pastries.

Life was already tough enough, and now they were charging extra for grain coupons. He'd rather raise the price than waste the extra coupons.

"What? Are you envious?"

"No, no," Xu Sinan and Bai Chi shook their heads repeatedly.

His tone was weak, and his eyes remained fixed on the pastry display case without moving.

"Buy whatever you want to eat; it's a holiday, so buy something to liven things up."

"No need, candy is enough." Xu Sinan refused without even thinking.

Xu Sinan's repeated rejections only fueled her and Bai Chi's desire.

Bai Xiuwen smiled slightly, put away the weighed brown sugar, and headed straight for the pastry queue.

"Hey, why are you queuing up? You really don't need to buy anything."

"Since we've already lined up, we might as well buy some."

"Thank you, brother. You're so kind," Bai Chi said happily.

Xu Sinan remained defiant: "I don't need it, just buy it for Xiao Xiaobai, that way we can save some food."

"It's nothing, just a few grain coupons. Neither of our families is short of them. We haven't even finished the grain we bought for the New Year," Bai Xiuwen said generously.

"Besides, it's a holiday, so it's okay to eat it once in a while."

It was precisely because he had enough grain reserves that he dared to buy it.

Seeing Bai Xiuwen's determined look, and with a bit of a craving, Xu Sinan didn't refuse: "This is a one-time thing, don't do it again."

"Yes, yes, yes," Bai Xiuwen said with a smile.

"Here, put the candy away." Bai Xiuwen handed the brown sugar from his pocket to Bai Chi.

Bai Chi carefully wrapped the candy and put it in her pocket, covering it with her little hand, as if afraid it would be stolen.

There were quite a few people in line, and Bai Xiuwen chatted with Xu Sinan while waiting.

Suddenly, Bai Xiuwen, with his sharp eyes, noticed someone acting suspiciously in the queue, doing something he didn't know.

The man appeared to be older, dressed in a patched black mandarin jacket that was slightly faded, and wore a jade thumb ring on his thumb. His attire suggested he was quite wealthy.

As a result, the young man who approached him was completely unaware of his surroundings and did not notice that the latter had taken his tickets and money from his pocket as if taking something out of a bag.

After succeeding, the perpetrator looked around cautiously to make sure no one had seen them.

But when he saw Bai Xiuwen, their eyes met and he immediately realized something was wrong and ran away.

"Stop thief! Where do you think you're going!" Bai Xiuwen shouted, looked around but couldn't find a suitable tool, so he immediately gave chase.

"My money!" The young man reached into his pocket and found it empty, then shouted and chased after him.

There were many people at the supply and marketing cooperative, and Bai Xiuwen only had to chase for a few dozen meters before catching up.

"Thief, you dare to run!"

After catching up, Bai Xiuwen delivered a flying kick to the man's lower back.

"Ah!" With a scream, he slid several meters as if he had fallen face-first into excrement.

Finally, it slammed into the container with a 'thud'.

A red mark immediately appeared on his forehead from the impact, making him see stars, but he stubbornly got up, still trying to escape.

"Thief, catch him!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crowd immediately surrounded them.

Seeing that he had nowhere to escape, the thief had no choice but to resign himself to his fate: "Young man, I haven't offended you, have I? You just wait!"

Bai Xiuwen sneered, "What? You want to get revenge on me?"

Then he looked at everyone and shouted, "Everyone, come and see! He tried to steal something but failed, and then he threatened me! Everyone, be my witnesses!"

A righteous man immediately stepped forward and confronted him directly: "You bastard, you steal things and you still think you're right? You even dare to threaten people? You've got some nerve!"

Once it happened, it happened again. Someone immediately kicked him in the butt.

The crowd attacked him fiercely!

"what!!"

"I was wrong! I was wrong!"

Soon, the thief's screams were drowned out by the punches and kicks.

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" The head of the supply and marketing cooperative rushed over and immediately dispersed the crowd.

But all they saw was the thief lying unconscious on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, blood streaming from his nose.

"Thank you, comrade." The person in charge clasped his hands in thanks to Bai Xiuwen.

"You're too kind," Bai Xiuwen replied, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

"My money, my tickets!" The young man looked at the pitiful state of Xiaotou, wondering if he could get his things back.

Upon seeing this, the person in charge immediately searched him and found his money and banknotes.

"These are yours, right?"

"It's mine, it's mine, thank you. If it had been stolen, I wouldn't know how to explain it when I got home," the young man said, still shaken.

He quickly thanked Bai Xiuwen.

At this moment, the police officers from the local police station arrived late.

Seeing that the thief was unconscious, they asked the police officers to take him away.

After understanding what happened, with witnesses and physical evidence at the scene, we quickly learned the whole story and then headed home.

Worried that the thief might retaliate after being released, Bai Xiuwen quickly asked, "Officer, what will be the thief's sentence?"

The person in charge deeply resented the thief. Fortunately, the thief was caught; otherwise, he would have certainly been scolded.

"Officers, you must sentence them severely, even if it's ten or eight years. These kinds of people are social parasites, and we must crack down on them!"

The police officers looked at each other, wondering how a thief could be detained for so long.

"At most, he will be detained for 15 days."

It's unlikely they'll put him in jail, since prisons aren't accepting people these days, and police stations don't want to take him in either. They'll probably just detain him for ten days or half a month as a warning.

"15 days? How can that be so short? He threatened me before. I'm worried that he'll retaliate against me and harm my family after he gets out!"

"Oh? Is that so? Tell me more." Immediately, Bai Xiuwen exaggerated slightly.

The policeman nodded: "Is that so? I didn't expect this thief to be so incorrigible. Don't worry, we will punish him severely."

"In that case, I think we should send him to a coal mine for labor reform?"

The other police officers immediately nodded in agreement: "Good idea, I agree, it just so happens that they are short-staffed there."

"Thank you for your help, officer."

"It's easy to talk about."

Everything was going well. The thief never expected that what was supposed to be a ten-day or two-week detention would turn into a carefree life because of his threats.

Once the police left, Bai Xiuwen also planned to leave.

The head of the supply and marketing cooperative quickly called out, "Comrade, wait a minute."

"Is there a problem?"

The person in charge said warmly, "Comrade, thanks to your help. If you hadn't caught the thief, I wouldn't have been able to handle this situation, and I would have troubled you. I feel really bad about it."

"By the way, you're here to buy pastries, right? Give me the tickets, I'll buy them for you."

"I can't accept that. I can just queue up myself."

"I'm so sorry, it's just a small favor, please accept it as my way of thanking you."

Bai Xiuwen was somewhat tempted. There were quite a few people queuing outside, and queuing would waste a lot of time.

"Then I'll have to trouble you." Bai Xiuwen handed over the tickets and money.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right back." The person in charge took the pastries and immediately went to get them.

Before long, the person in charge returned with a quantity that clearly did not match the amount on the pastry tickets.

"This won't do, this won't do!" Bai Xiuwen looked at the pastries, which weighed at least one and a half pounds.

"Take it. Consider the extra as my way of thanking you. Don't worry about it. Nothing will happen to you."

After some initial refusal, Bai Xiuwen finally had no choice but to accept it.

Both sides were very satisfied with the result.

"Let's go." He called Bai Chi and Xu Sinan, and the three of them went back together.

Return to the yard.

Xu Sinan then began making Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls).

The glutinous rice balls she made were not the small, industrially produced ones the size of pigeon eggs of later generations, but rather large, traditional handmade glutinous rice balls.

One is about the size of an egg, with a thick shell, and fits in a small bowl.

Bai Chi, a little foodie, can only eat two pieces before she can't eat anymore, either because she's full or because she's tired of them.

The little girl stood on the chair, craning her neck to watch Sister Xu make Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls).

Seeing Sister Xu mix lard, sesame seeds, and brown sugar together, it's no wonder it felt greasy after eating it.

"Alright, go ahead and do your work. You're just being clumsy and delaying me."

Seeing that Bai Xiuwen was not only busy but also making things worse, Xu Sinan immediately pushed him away with her elbow.

"Hehe~" Bai Xiuwen knew he was in the wrong but didn't care. He glanced at Bai Chi to the side.

Do you know why glutinous rice balls are called glutinous rice balls?

"I know, the soup is inside the ball, it's delicious," Bai Chi said simply.

"Eat, eat, all you ever do is eat," Bai Xiuwen said helplessly.

"Tangyuan symbolizes family reunion and happiness. Eating tangyuan also means that the family will be happy and together in the new year, you know?"

"I understand," Bai Chi replied casually, his eyes constantly fixed on Sister Xu's hand.

"Fine, you can eat it then." Bai Xiuwen didn't mind.

After working on it for a while, I finally finished making the glutinous rice balls.

"It's ready, we'll eat this tonight."

Xu Sinan put two in Bai Chi's bowl, and then served Bai Xiuwen and herself.

Bai Chi looked at the three in their bowls and the two in his own. His eyes darted around, and when Sister Xu wasn't looking, he served himself another one.

"If you can finish it, then take some more." Xu Sinan tapped her head.

"I can finish them! I used to be able to eat two, and now that I'm all grown up, I can definitely eat three!" Bai Chi said confidently.

"Okay, you eat it. Don't make us eat what you can't finish," Bai Xiuwen said.

"Okay."

Bai Chi took the bowl and started eating, but he could only eat two before he couldn't eat anymore.

He immediately looked up at the two of them with a pitiful expression.

The two exchanged a smile and, with perfect understanding, turned away from Bai Chi.

Bai Chi looked down at the perfectly round glutinous rice balls, pouted, and took a big, small bite, breaking the skin.

"what!"

"I can't eat anymore!" Bai Chi ran towards the two of them with a bowl in his hand.

"Sister Xu!" Xu Sinan kept turning around, but refused to face Bai Chi directly.

"Brother!" Bai Xiuwen exclaimed as well.

"Ah!" Bai Chi was about to cry.

"Alright, alright, give it to me." In the end, Bai Xiuwen couldn't bear to see his sister cry, so he softened.

Xu Sinan seized the opportunity to lecture him: "This is what happens when you're greedy. Will you dare to be greedy again?"

"I won't dare, I won't dare." Bai Chi shook her head repeatedly, put down her chopsticks and ran away. She never wanted to see Yuanxiao again.

Bai Xiuwen ate three of them but also felt a bit choked; they were too greasy to eat.

"Give me something to eat," Xu Sinan said.

"Okay." In the spirit of not wasting food, the two exchanged bowls.

Xu Sinan didn't mind that it was half an hour, but after a few bites she felt it was too greasy and couldn't eat anymore.

Seeing the two of them so affectionate, Bai Chi's stomach worms started growling again: "Eat it! Eat it!"

"What, you want to eat again?"

"I'm hungry again!" Bai Chi rubbed his round belly, as if to say that he was indeed hungry.

"Okay, then you can eat them all."

Seeing that there was only a little bit left, Xu Sinan gave it all to Bai Chi.

The little girl stuffed her mouth full, gritted her teeth, and ate the last bit, vowing in her heart that she would never eat so much again; it was too uncomfortable.

There was joy and harmony on one side, and joy and harmony on the other side as well.

"Come on, let's eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls). Everyone gets one."

Yan Bugui served the glutinous rice balls to the table and distributed them equally to everyone, so that everyone received the same number of rice balls.

No one has more or less, not even him and the third aunt.

"It's all divided up, everyone eat, eat it while it's hot." Yan Bugui was the first to pick up a spoon.

Compared to the Bai family eating large glutinous rice balls, it's more cost-effective for their family to eat smaller ones, as everyone can have some.

While it cannot be guaranteed that everyone will be able to eat their fill, at least everyone's appetite will be satisfied.

The family was happy and harmonious, and no one argued or fought over anyone.

"It's so delicious!" This is the best food Yan Jiedi has ever eaten since she became interested in food; it's even better than candy.

"Eat it while it's good," the auntie said, adding that eating more was out of the question.

The courtyard was filled with a joyful atmosphere, as everyone ate glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival, creating a warm and cozy scene.

Aside from one family, it's really hard to guess whose family it is; their husband just died.

"Why are you eating so much, you good-for-nothing? Give it to your brother. Only when your brother is well-fed can he be the pillar of the family. What's the use of you eating so much?"

Madam Jia looked at Xiao Dang, who still wanted to make more money.

"Mom, Xiaodang is so small, how much can she eat?" Qin Huairu said unhappily.

"I don't care, my precious grandson wants to eat, and no one can take it from him."

Banggeng looked at Xiaodang smugly and took away the last of the glutinous rice balls.

"Sigh~" Qin Huairu sighed helplessly, scooping out the last glutinous rice balls from her bowl: "Come on, Xiaodang, eat Mommy's."

Xiao Dang didn't have the courage to refuse, so she ate the glutinous rice balls her mother gave her with tears in her eyes.

"Hmph!" Madam Jia glared at Xiao Dang and continued eating.

(End of this chapter)