My Courtyard Shelter

Chapter 34: The Wave of Price Hikes

Wang Xiujuan shot Mrs. Xu a withering glance, then ran her finger across her cheek and teased: “If you’re having a ‘hard’ time with your family’s circumstances, then what about us ordinary folks—aren’t we all going to be unable to make ends meet?” She then pointed at Xu Dong and his wife, who were tending their vegetable garden: “Look at that vegetable garden—it’s so big. What other family is as extravagant as yours? And yet you’re still whining to me about being poor?” Mrs. Xu gave an awkward smile, then retorted, “Your family isn’t exactly an ordinary one either. Hu Kai is a department head, isn’t he? I heard he’s about to be promoted to the district level soon?” “The official document hasn’t even been issued yet!” That said, Wang Xiujuan’s face was radiant with uncontrollable joy and pride. As soon as Mrs. Xu saw the look on her face, she felt a pang of envy. She casually said, “Congratulations,” then steered the conversation toward how to grow vegetables. “I didn’t expect your son, Xu Dong, to know so much. With this lousy weather—it’s so cold at night, and this courtyard is drafty—you really can only grow some cold-hardy vegetables.” Wang Xiujuan came from a rural background; she’d worked the fields with her parents when she was young, and later went on to study agriculture and forestry at a vocational college—farming was her specialty. “It’s hard to grow anything else!” Xu’s mom said, at a loss for words. “Actually, it’s not impossible. You could build a better-sealed greenhouse in the vegetable garden. If that doesn’t work, a simple plastic tunnel would do in a pinch,” Wang Xiujuan suggested. “Forget it. I’ve finally had a bit of peace and quiet—I don’t want to go through all that trouble,” Mrs. Xu said, rejecting the idea without a second thought upon hearing how much work it would entail. Wang Xiujuan thought it was a shame: “It’s up to you. I was actually hoping to borrow your vegetable garden to grow some strawberries, but I guess that’s not going to happen.” “Why grow strawberries? Isn’t it better to just buy them at the market? They’re bigger, too!” Wang Xiujuan, in a rare moment of explanation, said, “When you grow them yourself, you can eat them with peace of mind—without all those nasty hormones.” “What do you mean? They put hormones in fruit too?” Mrs. Xu was completely taken aback. She’d only ever heard of hormones in pork and beef—she never imagined fruit would have them too. “What do you think? These hormone-treated fruits might be fine for us adults, but it’s different for children—they’re still growing, so it’s best to limit their intake,” Wang Xiujuan explained in detail. Mrs. Xu immediately took this seriously. Her triplets were already on the frail side—what if they ate fruit laced with hormones? That would be disastrous. After seeing Wang Xiujuan and her granddaughter off, Mom Xu quickly called Xu Dong over. “Mom, what’s up?” Xu Dong brushed the dust off his clothes and wiped the sweat from his forehead—it was almost evening, yet the temperature hadn’t dropped at all. Mom Xu quickly handed him a towel, then relayed Wang Xiujuan’s suggestion, adding that she fully agreed with it. “Building a greenhouse would work, but with supplies so scarce on the market right now, let’s wait a while before we do that!” Xu Dong said after thinking it over. As for a vegetable greenhouse, he wasn’t considering it for the time being. For one thing, it was too ugly and didn’t match the style of the Siheyuan; for another, with so many kids at home—all at that age when they’re a handful—the plastic sheeting wouldn’t last long anyway. “It’s up to you!” After planting the radishes, Yang Lina quickly washed up and headed out with Mrs. Xu to buy groceries. Nowadays, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went out grocery shopping every other day. Since the panic-buying frenzy had ended, improved transportation conditions had led to a significant increase in the supply of vegetables in the capital region, greatly alleviating the “vegetable shortage.” However, meat was still in severe short supply—a rare find. The two women first went to the nearest farmers’ market, where there were many vendors and a wide variety of goods—making it easier to find rare items than at a large supermarket. As they walked through the market, Yang Lina couldn’t help but complain, “Vegetable prices have gone up again. I remember the last time I was here, cucumbers were still 3. 3 yuan per jin, but now they’re almost 4 yuan.” “Potatoes have gone up to 4. 2 yuan. I won’t even dare to peel them anymore,” Mrs. Xu said, setting down the potatoes she was holding and joining in the grumbling. The potato vendor couldn’t help but interject, “It’s not like we’re the ones raising the prices—the wholesalers raised them, so we have no choice but to follow suit.” “Sigh, I wonder when this will ever end?” Mrs. Xu sighed. “Well, you’ll have a long wait then. It’s definitely not going to happen in the first half of the year—we’ll just have to see how the second half goes,” the vendor replied. Yang Lina seized the opportunity to ask: “What if it still doesn’t rain in the second half of the year?” The vendor spread his hands. “If that happens, forget about vegetables—we might not even be able to put food on the table.” Perhaps spurred by the vendor’s words, Mrs. Xu bought twenty jin of potatoes in one go, not worried about not being able to finish them—after all, potatoes keep well. Carrying the potatoes, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bought some other vegetables as well, but they didn’t see a single strand of pork. Refusing to give up, the two walked around the market several times before finally striking gold. “Sir, how much are the pork shanks?” Mrs. Xu asked immediately. “Eighty… per jin. They just arrived from out of town. Quantities are limited—if you want some, buy them now. They’ll be gone before you know it,” the vendor replied lazily. Mom Xu flew into a rage the moment she heard this: “What? There’s not a single bit of meat on these bones, and you still dare to charge so much?” “That’s the going rate. I had to pull some serious strings to get these pork knuckles. If you’re not going to buy them, don’t block the way for others.” As soon as Mrs. Xu hesitated for a moment, a wealthy middle-aged woman snapped up the entire batch of pork knuckles. “That really gets my blood boiling!” Even after leaving the market, Mrs. Xu was still fuming. Yang Lina gave a wry smile and tried to console her: “Mom, don’t get so worked up. It’s no big deal if we didn’t get those pork knuckles—we’re not exactly short on meat at home. Let’s not be the ones to get ripped off.” “It’s not these bones that are making me angry—it’s your dad. If it weren’t for him, our yard would still be hanging with meat!” Mrs. Xu said, looking dejected. Yang Lina felt just as regretful, but she couldn’t say that out loud. “Dongzi already said there’s still a batch of cured pork and ham in the basement. After all, we’re not short on meat at home.” “Dongzi really thinks ahead. Your dad just doesn’t have what it takes. From now on, we’ll have to listen to Dongzi,” Mrs. Xu concluded. Yang Lina naturally agreed without hesitation; after all, for her and her husband, this arrangement had nothing but benefits. Afterward, the two went to a nearby supermarket. It had been nearly half a month since the panic buying had subsided, yet many of the shelves were still completely empty. This time, they got lucky and snagged a turbot weighing just over three jin, and they also bought a case of “Lao Binggun” ice pops. After all, “summer” had arrived, and the Ke Ke sisters had been clamoring for ice cream for ages—unfortunately, the supermarket only carried the “Lao Binggun” brand. In the end, the turbot cost 188 yuan, while the “Lao Binggun” hadn’t gone up much—50 yuan for a case. Back home, Xu Dong was fertilizing the grapevines. The vines, which normally bloom in April or May, are now laden with grapes the size of peas; they’ll likely be ripe by next month. In addition, quite a few of the potted flowers and bonsai in the yard had died—they probably couldn’t adapt to the current climate. As for the ones that survived, Xu Dong planted them along the edge of the vegetable garden. That way, once the greenhouse is finished, it will truly live up to its name.