Ma Cuixia nodded and said, "Sister-in-law, I'll head home in a bit. When I send letters or packages to them, I'll ask her about this. Isn't Xiaoman about to get married? Her father and I were just thinking of asking that friend to help us buy a Shanghai Watch! Oh, by the way, gather up the surplus wild game and mountain goods your family can't finish, and send them to me all together. I'll pay you the market price. City folks have such a hard time even getting a bite of meat. Over in the Capital, the monthly meat ration per person is just four ounces—not even enough to get stuck in our teeth here."
"Why talk about money? Talking about money makes it too formal, doesn't it?" For her, as long as they could buy the wool blanket they needed to repay others, those wild game and mountain goods counted as part of the thank-you gift. After saying this, Ma Dajie went off to gather the items, filling up over half a burlap sack.
Ma Laoda also pulled out a roll of banknotes.
