It was past noon when Su Huaiyuan arrived at the Hospital, breathlessly carrying six lunchboxes packed in a cloth bag.
Braised pork, stewed pig trotters, stir-fried cabbage, and three boxes of white rice.
One look at these dishes and it was clear they were bought from the National Restaurant, which Qiao Jiuru had, of course, instructed him to buy.
They would be sent down in a few days; if they didn't eat well now and get their bodies in good shape, how would they cope with the upcoming changes?!
Anyway, what went into their mouths was theirs.
This was Qiao Jiuru's profound realization; if she weren't currently tied up, she would definitely buy more to store in her space and take it out whenever she wanted to eat.
“We’ll handle the discharge procedures after we finish eating.”
Now, whatever Qiao Jiuru said went; Su Huaiyuan was only responsible for listening and doing as told, as his wife would not deceive him anyway.
The couple naturally fed their two grandsons first; only after they were full did the rest become available for the couple to eat.
The two children naturally couldn't eat that much, only finishing one box of rice, leaving enough for the couple to eat.
Just as Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan started eating, Su Ze, who had just gotten off work, also rushed to the Hospital to pick them up; when he saw his parents eating and his sons already full, he… was so hungry.
“We’ve already eaten, you can go back, don’t worry about us.”
“We’ll take Dabaobao and Xiaobao home after we finish the discharge procedures; you go to the National Restaurant and buy two meat dishes to take back and eat with Wanwan.”
Qiao Jiuru poured half a box of braised pork into the half-box of stewed pig trotters, freeing up two lunchboxes for her eldest son, then took out money and tickets to instruct him.
Su Ze: “…”
His mother had already eaten at the National Restaurant for two days; something felt off.
It wasn’t that his mother was stingy, but rather that she was very careful not to seek special treatment.
“Mom, I’ll go handle the discharge procedures first, and then go buy it later.”
Although he was very confused, Su Ze would never go against his mother, after all, she was not an unreasonable person.
Moreover, she was giving him money and tickets for him to buy meat dishes, so what was there to complain about?
Having said that, Su Ze turned and left to handle the discharge procedures.
Furthermore, the discharge procedures were handled quickly; just as Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan finished their meal, he returned carrying a large bag of medicine and nutritional supplements.
“Mom, Uncle Zhang prescribed us some medicine and nutritional supplements.”
Su Ze was surprised when he paid for and received so much medicine and nutritional supplements, but he didn't think Uncle Zhang was prescribing them indiscriminately.
Qiao Jiuru was pleasantly surprised to see so much medicine and nutritional supplements; she knew in her heart that Zhang Hong had understood their intentions and had been very effective in handling things.
“Alright, perfect, let’s go back together.”
The two little ones didn't have much stuff, and it was packed up in no time.
Su Huaiyuan and his son Su Ze wrapped Dabaobao and Xiaobao in swaddling blankets respectively, then each carried one, while Qiao Jiuru carried the lunchboxes, medicine, and nutritional supplements.
After the family left the Hospital, when they passed the National Restaurant, Qiao Jiuru still had her eldest son go in and buy two meat dishes, while she and Su Huaiyuan carried the children and slowly walked home, pushing their bicycle.
As soon as they returned to the Teachers' Family Dormitory, they were met with another wave of well-wishes; Qiao Jiuru naturally handled this situation, saying everything that needed to be said and not a word that didn't.
After Zhou Wanwan finished preparing lunch at home after work, she had been waiting at the doorstep; seeing her in-laws and sons return, she quickly stepped forward to greet them.
“Wanwan, we ate at the Hospital before coming back; Xiao Ze bought meat dishes at the National Restaurant, so the two of you eat by yourselves, and let your father take Dabaobao and Xiaobao for their nap.”
“Tonight, Uncle Zhang and Uncle Lu are coming over for dinner, so I need to go out and buy groceries for the evening.”
After the family entered the house, Qiao Jiuru sent the two children to her and Su Huaiyuan’s room, then told Zhou Wanwan to go eat lunch.
Su Huaiyuan had already known that Zhang Hong and Lu Baoguo were coming that evening, so he readily followed the arrangement to take the two grandsons for their nap.
After giving instructions, Qiao Jiuru grabbed two cloth bags at home and immediately set off.
Because Su Huaiyuan still had classes in the afternoon, she had to rush back to take care of the children before he went to work.
Qiao Jiuru, riding her bicycle in a hurry, first went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, which was about half an hour’s drive from Beijing University; she had many things to buy, so she had to scatter her purchases.
Brown sugar, salt, pastries, White Rabbit creamy candy, biscuits, matches, toothpaste and toothbrushes, needles and thread, soap, cigarettes—she bought everything, whether it required tickets or not.
Although the items she bought were numerous and varied, they weren't expensive things, and almost everyone in Beijing could afford them, so it wasn't particularly attention-grabbing.
After buying these items, Qiao Jiuru then went to the grain store and directly collected the remaining monthly quota for her family: thirty catties of fine grain and fifty catties of coarse grain.
After buying the grain, Qiao Jiuru rushed home.
However, when she passed through an empty alley on her way, she secretly and quietly reached into the rice bag and took away half of the grain, as well as half of the items bought at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
In those years, almost everyone knew what a family possessed.
She didn't want people to know she had bought so many things at once; since she had a place to hide them, it was best to remain low-key to avoid a lot of trouble.
