Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 243 - 0243 Careful Arrangements 3_1

Chapter 243: Chapter 0243 Careful Arrangements 3_1

After having breakfast, Feng Qingxue helped him arrange his stationery, expressing admiration for the extent of his connections, which made his plans feasible.

"What reason do you give for bartering goods with them?" She suddenly blurted out.

Whatever the cause, there must be a reasonable explanation, right?

Lu Jiang stretched lazily, "Isn’t there an obvious reason right before us? Do we still need to find additional reasons?"

Feng Qingxue was taken aback, "Obvious?"

How could she have missed it?

"My wife is pregnant, needs to receive adequate nutrition and our home is facing a shortage of supplies. I have no choice but to seek their help."

Lu Jiang finished the last letter to a available comrade, put down his pen, folded the letter, turned and gently touched Feng Qingxue’s hand with his. The silky, tender touch enthralled him, and he couldn’t help stroking it again and again.

Feng Qingxue glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and slapped his hand away.

"There’s a difference between asking for help and bartering, okay? Ajiang, are you still confused from last night? Asking for help means asking them to give us supplies, but bartering involves an exchange of goods. We agreed to barter with them to explain the source of our space supplies, but we can’t take advantage of them and should try to help them as much as possible. If you write asking for help, what reason do we have to send them stuff? I won’t take such an advantage, as you said, no one has an easy life."

"Ah, my wife is truly smart!"

Upon hearing Lu Jiang’s praise, Feng Qingxue’s sidelong glance became even more slanted, "Spit it out!"

"Actually, it’s very simple. I’ll just say our hometown’s harvest was relatively plentiful and I’m able to save some military grain tickets every month. Therefore, I can exchange some grains for their local specialties to supplement your nutrition. To put it bluntly, everyone is drooling over non-staple food, but what we lack the most is grain. It is most appropriate to exchange grain for their specialties."

At the same time, he was afraid that using non-staple food and other supplies for exchange would arouse their suspicion.

Grains were different. He could send a few pounds of fine grains to those who need them and more coarse grains to others. This way, they could feed themselves or their families while Feng Qingxue could calmly use the supplies from the space without having to find other excuses.

Lu Jiang was meticulous. He knew whom he was contacting personally, but they didn’t know each other.

For those who were familiar with each other, Lu Jiang chose not to contact them, fearing that they would share information amongst themselves.

Feng Qingxue thought about it and laughed, "That’s right, we don’t really care about what they can send, we just need the excuse that they would send something. A trade once or twice a month is enough."

"Right! You just rest in the room; I’m going to go cook the mutton."

"I’m perfectly fine and not tired, why should I rest? I’ll go with you."

The mutton had been soaked in well water since last night and changed water three to four times. Now, with all the blood drained, they cleaned it and peeled off the white layer of mutton fat, chopped the rest into large pieces, added bones and meat into a large pot, poured in clean water, skimmed off the foam after bringing it to a boil on high heat, and then added slices of ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and star anise, and let it simmer on low heat.

Feng Qingxue cut the dried pork lard into small pieces and rendered them into oil in a small pot. At the end, she took out the slightly charred golden oil residue and poured the oil into the oil jar, which filled up two and a half jars.

Feng Qingyun and Guan Yu, who were playing in the courtyard, came over after catching a whiff, "Sister, are you cooking lunch already?"

"You little foodies!" Feng Qingxue picked up a chopstick to grab a few pieces of hot oil residue, dipped them in white sugar and fed them, "We’re having mutton for lunch, it’s being prepared right now, don’t be so eager!"

"Got it!" they responded cheerfully, so looking forward to lunch!