Wang Xiujuan rolled her eyes at Xu Ma, and at the same time scraped her face with her fingers, teasingly:
"Your family's conditions are very difficult. Then wouldn't it mean that ordinary families like us wouldn't be able to survive?"
Then he pointed at Xu Dong and his wife who were planting vegetables:
"Look at this vegetable garden. It's such a big area. Which family is as luxurious as yours and still complains about being poor?"
Xu Ma smiled awkwardly, and then replied: "Your family is not an ordinary family, right? Zhang Kai is still the director. I heard that he will be promoted to the district soon?"
“The documents haven’t been officially issued yet!”
Even so, Wang Xiujuan's face was filled with uncontrollable joy and pride.
Xu's mother became sour when she saw the other party's face. She said "congratulations" casually, and then changed the topic to how to grow vegetables.
"I didn't expect your Xu Dong to know a lot. In this crazy weather, it's too cold at night, and the yard is prone to drafts. It's true that we can only grow some cold-resistant vegetables."
Wang Xiujuan was born in a rural area. When she was young, she farmed with her parents. Later, she was admitted to a junior college and majored in agriculture and forestry. Farming was her special skill.
"I want to grow some vegetables, but why is it so difficult?" Xu Ma was speechless.
"Actually, it's not impossible. You can build a better-enclosed greenhouse on the vegetable garden. If that doesn't work, building a vegetable greenhouse will work," Wang Xiujuan suggested.
"Forget it, I finally calmed down for a while and I don't want to bother anymore." When Xu Ma heard that it was such a trouble, she refused without thinking.
Wang Xiujuan felt it was a pity: "It's up to you. I originally wanted to borrow your vegetable garden to grow some strawberries, but it seems that's no longer possible."
"What kind of strawberries are you growing? Why don't you just go to the market and buy them? They are quite big!"
Wang Xiujuan gave a rare explanation: "If you grow it yourself, you can rest assured that you can eat it without so many messy hormones."
"What do you mean, fruits also produce hormones?"
Xu’s mother was greatly surprised. She had only heard that pork and beef had hormones before, but she didn’t expect that fruits also had hormones.
"What do you think? It's okay for us adults to eat these steroid-infused fruits, but children are different. They are still developing. Who knows if there will be any sequelae, so it's better to eat less." Wang Xiujuan explained in detail.
Xu's mother immediately took it seriously. Her triplets were already weak. If they ate fruits containing hormones, would it be okay?
After seeing off Wang Xiujuan and her grandson, Xu Ma quickly called Xu Dong to her side.
"Mom, what are you doing?"
Xu Dong patted the dust on his body and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was almost evening, and the temperature didn't drop at all.
Xu Ma quickly handed over a towel, then explained Wang Xiujuan's suggestion and expressed her agreement.
"It's okay to build a greenhouse, but there is a shortage of supplies in the market now, so let's wait for a while!" Xu Dong thought for a while and said.
As for the vegetable greenhouse, I will not consider it for now. Firstly, it is too ugly and does not match the style of the courtyard. Secondly, there are many children in the house, at the age when dogs hate cats, and the plastic film is not durable.
"It's up to you!"
…
After planting the radishes, Yang Lina simply washed herself and then went out to buy vegetables with Xu Ma.
Now every other day, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law go out to do some shopping.
Since the panic buying ended, and with the improvement of transportation conditions, the supply of vegetables in the capital area has increased significantly, which has greatly alleviated the "vegetable panic".
However, meat is still in short supply and hard to come by.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law first went to the nearest vegetable market. There were many vendors in the vegetable market and they sold many things. It was easier to buy rare items than in big supermarkets.
While shopping all the way, Yang Lina couldn't help but complain: "The price of vegetables has gone up again. I remember that the last time I came here, cucumbers were still three yuan per pound, and now they are almost four yuan."
"The potatoes have become 4.2 yuan, and I don't dare to peel them anymore." Xu Ma put down the potatoes in her hand and complained.
The potato vendor couldn't help but interjected: "It's not us who want to raise the price, it's the wholesalers who have raised the price, and we can only follow the increase."
"Oh, I don't know when it will end?" Xu Ma sighed.
"Then you can wait. The first half of the year is definitely out of the question. Now let's see what happens in the second half of the year?" the vendor replied.
Yang Lina took the opportunity to ask:
"What if it doesn't rain in the second half of the year?"
The vendor spread his hands and said, "Don't talk about vegetables then, maybe even eating will be a problem."
Perhaps stimulated by the vendor's words, Xu's mother bought twenty kilograms of potatoes in one go. She wasn't afraid that she wouldn't be able to finish them all. The potatoes lasted well anyway.
Carrying the potatoes, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bought some other vegetables, but there was still not a single hair on the pork.
Unwilling to give up, the two wandered around the market for several times and finally got lucky.
"Boss, how much does the tube bone cost?" Xu Ma asked immediately.
"Eighty...a pound. It was just shipped from outside. The quantity is limited. If you want it, buy it quickly. If you want to buy it later, you won't be able to buy it anymore." The vendor replied lazily.
Xu's mother became angry when she heard this: "What? There's no meat on your bones, how dare you sell them so expensively?"
"The market price is this. I got these tube bones with great help. If you don't buy them, don't block others."
After Xu Ma hesitated for a moment, the tube bone was completely rounded by a wealthy aunt.
"I'm so angry!" After leaving the vegetable market, Xu's mother was still indignant.
Yang Lina smiled bitterly and persuaded: "Mom, don't be angry. It doesn't matter if you don't want to buy the pork ribs. There is no shortage of meat and potatoes in the house. We shouldn't take advantage of it."
"I'm not angry about this little bone, I'm angry about your dad. If it weren't for him, our yard would still be full of meat!" Xu's mother said with a lonely face.
Yang Lina also regretted it, but she couldn't say that, "Didn't Dongzi say that there is still a batch of bacon and ham in the basement. After all, there is no shortage of meat at home."
Xu's mother felt a lot relieved all of a sudden, and she wasn't too angry anymore. She couldn't help but sigh:
"It's better that Dongzi thinks far ahead. Your dad can't. He doesn't have the ability. Our family will have to listen to Dongzi in the future."
Yang Lina naturally agreed. Anyway, this matter was of great benefit to the couple.
Next, the two of them went shopping in a nearby large supermarket. Almost half a month had passed since the panic buying spree, and many of the shelves inside were still empty.
This time I was lucky, I caught a turbot fish weighing over three pounds, and also bought a box of popsicles.
After all, "summer" is here, and the Coco sisters have long been clamoring for ice cream. Unfortunately, the only brand in the supermarket is Lao Popsicle.
In the end, the turbot cost 188 yuan, while the old popsicles didn’t go up much, at 50 yuan per box.
Back home, Xu Dong was fertilizing the grapevines. The grapevines that originally bloomed in April or May are now full of large pea fruits, which are expected to mature next month.
In addition, many of the bonsai flowers and trees in the yard have died, and they may not be able to adapt to the current climate. As for those that survived, Xu Dong planted them on the edge of the vegetable garden.
In this way, when the greenhouse is completed one day, it will be worthy of its name.