1970s: Farming and Supporting Yourself

6-10

Chapter 006 Buying Meat to Eat

Shen Zhuo's family built a house on a flat piece of land on a slope, so they had a separate yard, so there was a long slope down from his house. Ye Xin was so exhausted when she came back from work a few days ago that she thought the slope was difficult to climb. Now she sat on the back seat of a bicycle and slid down all the way, which was really fast.

When they went out, it was also time for the production team to go to work. There were several educated youths among them. As soon as they heard the sound of bicycle wheels turning, they looked up and saw a gust of wind blowing past them.

Several people stared at the back of the car for a while before reacting.

Sun Weiqiang asked: "Is that Ye Xin?"

Zhao Zhonghua said: "It's her. Shen Zhuo should be driving her in front."

Sun Weiqiang asked again: "Are they going to the market?"

Zhao Zhonghua nodded: "It should be, I saw it the day before yesterday She asked for

leave from the captain. "Sun Weiqiang said dissatisfiedly: "In the past, when we went to the market to buy things, she would ask her to help her go. Delivery."

Liu Hongxia then answered: "She loves to take advantage of others. You don't know that, but you still want to ask her for help?"

Zheng Wenwenqi said: "Damn it! Are you engaged? Why are they going to the market together? They are hugging each other. They are so affectionate!" Zhao Zhonghua guessed

: "I don't know, maybe I think Shen Zhuo is too good to stop making trouble!"

"What's so good about him? A half-grown young man with no father and no mother. He's extremely poor. Looking at how skinny he is, he must not even have enough to eat!"

Zheng Wenwen disagreed: "No matter how poor you are, you still have one ." A bicycle? It's so convenient for people to ride to town. This is really good."

Sun Weiqiang curled his lips, "Huh, you women are just material!"

This was immediately retorted by the female educated youth.

...

In their eyes, they looked like they were "hugging and hugging each other" affectionately. In fact, Ye Xin was scared to death. The slope was so steep that she almost screamed.

Shen Zhuo Qingjun's face had turned red.

Just now, she suddenly put her arms around his waist, causing him to almost lose control of the car. So many people passing by saw it, and he didn't know how to laugh at them later.

After leaving the village entrance, he finally couldn't help but say, "Let go."

"Don't let go!" Ye Xin hugged his thin waist tightly, her voice trembling, "You, you drove so fast, you scared me to death. "

The brakes are broken, there's nothing we can do." Shen Zhuo explained that he didn't drive so fast on purpose, it was just like that when he slipped down the slope.

"What?!" Ye Xin was shocked when she heard that, and she didn't dare to let go, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that the car broke down? It's very dangerous to be on the road!"

"The car isn't broken down, just the brakes are broken. Just sit still and you won't Something will happen!" Shen Zhuo corrected, his tone unusually angry.

"The road is uneven, how can I sit still!" Ye Xin was really frightened, and the relaxed mood before going out was gone.

In fact, she was very embarrassed to hold him. She had never been in such close contact with a boy. But in the face of safety issues, she felt that these should be put aside first.

As soon as he finished speaking, the bicycle passed through a pit and bumped violently. Ye Xin let out a frightened "Ah" and hugged him tighter. She was really afraid that she would be knocked down. She wanted to cry but had no tears. What a broken road!

Since Shen Zhuo was held by her, he didn't dare to breathe hard. She tightened her arms and almost choked him.

I couldn't care less at the moment, so I focused on watching the road and avoiding potholes.

Ye Xin withdrew one hand and felt that his money was still in his pocket and had not been knocked out. He breathed a sigh of relief and hugged his arm back, feeling that his body was tense again.

She blushed slightly, and when she saw that the car was driving steadily, she said, "Don't think too much, I'm just holding you because I'm afraid of falling. This way, I'm more stable. I don't want to take advantage of you."

Shen Zhuo blushed. Face, wondering what advantage a boy could take advantage of, he said firmly: "Others saw it and gossiped."

Ye Xin said: "What's there to say? In their eyes, we are still an unmarried couple!"

Shen Zhuo pursed his lips . She pursed her lips and said, "What about in the future? It's bad for your reputation."

Ye Xin said nonchalantly: "It's not good if it's not good. Do I have any good reputation left?"

Shen Zhuo stopped talking and concentrated on pedaling.

After a while, I saw a few people walking with backpacks on their backs. They were also from Liangshuitang. They also went to the market and got up earlier than them. After all, it took two hours to walk and the mountain road was rugged. They usually walked together.

Shen Zhuo didn't squint his eyes, just pretending that he didn't see their appraising eyes.

After that, there was almost no one around, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But then he didn't care about her anymore, because the road was indeed uneven, with ups and downs, uphill and downhill, so he had to concentrate on pedaling.

When encountering one or two big slopes, Ye Xin took the initiative to walk down. He was so thin, so he didn't dare to tire himself out.

However, he still sat on the back seat of the bicycle most of the time. Shen Zhuo rode steadily, and the mountain breeze blew on his face in the early morning, which was quite comfortable.

After about forty minutes, they arrived in the town. It was already bright and the sun was getting hot.

There are about twenty brigades below Hongze Town, and each brigade has many small brigades, that is, villages. People from each village come to the market, so there are a lot of people. From a distance, you can see people coming and going. lively.

Shen Zhuo stopped the car with one leg, and after Ye Xin came down, he pushed the car inside.

Ye Xin followed him, looking excited. Looking left and right along the way, I looked at this simple and lively market, which was very novel.

The streets are full of small stalls set up by fellow villagers, selling straw sandals, brooms, etc., as well as many bamboo products such as baskets and backpacks. In Ye Xin's opinion, they are exquisite handicrafts, but in this era, they are real daily necessities.

There are also some agricultural and sideline products, such as vegetables, fruits, etc. Although it was a planned economy at this time, agricultural and sideline products were still allowed to be sold. Food and industrial products were strictly controlled.

Shen Zhuo saw her walking around and looked at it with great interest. He didn't know what to see, so he asked: "Where to go first?"

Ye Xin came to her senses and said: "Let's go to the post office first!"

She had to take out the money first. Only then can you buy as much as you want.

Shen Zhuo then took her towards the post office. When he arrived at the door, he let her in, while he pushed the bicycle at the door. The bicycle was a valuable item and could not be left behind, as it was easy to lose.

Ye Xin said: "I want to write a letter inside, please wait for me for a while!"

Shen Zhuo nodded, pushed the car to the shadow next to the door and waited for her.

Ye Xin hadn't written a letter before, firstly because she didn't know whether to reply, and secondly because she didn't have letter paper. She has thought about it now. Although the original owner's family favors sons over daughters, and her parents and younger brothers are not good, her sister Ye Huan still cares about her a little. She guessed that the thirty yuan this time was sent by her sister.

In this case, Ye Xin thought it would be better to write a letter back to reassure her sister that she would not waste other people's money in vain.

There were not many people at the post office, so Ye Xin spent money to buy letter paper, envelopes and stamps. There is a table and several chairs here. There are pens on the table for people who come to handle business.

Ye Xin sat down and wrote a letter.

She thought clearly and wrote fluently. She first explained that she had received everything she sent this time and there was nothing missing.

Then she briefly talked about her three months of life here, saying that Liangshuitang is a place with many mountains and rivers. The busy conditions of growing rice are not as difficult as those in the city, but she can bear it and gradually get used to the life of farming.

Finally, she solemnly thanks her sister. She received the thirty yuan remittance note and is going to take it out to buy some supplies. But she said that she knew it was not easy for her to save money, and she would send it back when she has money at the end of the year, or when her sister needs it.

After a few minutes of writing, Ye Xin looked at it and frowned a little.

There is a difference between her handwriting and that of the original owner. I wonder if she will be suspected.

I wanted to add that I had done too much farm work, and my hands were sore or had calluses that affected my writing. It was just a cover-up, and I didn't have three hundred taels of silver here, so I finally put down the pen.

When the ink was dry, she folded the letter, put it in an envelope, affixed the stamp, and it was done.

I posted the letter, successfully took out the thirty yuan on the remittance slip, and walked out of the post office.

She walked towards Shen Zhuo: "Have you been waiting for a long time?"

Shen Zhuo leaned against the wall and waited while holding his bicycle. When he saw her coming out, he stood up straight and shook his head, "Where are you going next?"

Ye Xin said hesitantly: "You Should I go to the meat farm to buy meat first, or go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy the kerosene lamp? If I buy the meat first, will it go bad? The weather is so hot."

Shen Zhuo quickly gave a suggestion: "If you want to buy meat, do it early . It's almost sold out."

Ye Xin immediately nodded: "Let's go to the meat farm!"

After going there, she found that there were indeed a lot of people but not much meat. She had to remind her, otherwise her trip would have been in vain. No one was queuing up at this time, so she quickly squeezed in.

Fortunately, everyone didn't buy much. She finally bought a piece of pork belly, and she spent all the one-pound meat tickets in her hand. A pound of meat didn't look like much, so she wrapped it in leaves and put it in her backpack with great care.

Then he and Shen Zhuo rushed to the supply and marketing cooperative.

There are more people in the supply and marketing cooperative, and even if Ye Xin is small, it will be difficult to squeeze in.

After finally chatting with the salesperson, Ye Xin hurriedly told her what she needed. When everything was ready, she put it into her backpack, paid and squeezed it out quickly. She was so hot that she was sweating and her cheeks were red. All of them.

Walking up to Shen Zhuo, she bumped the basket and said excitedly: "Let's go to the place selling agricultural and sideline products!"

Shen Zhuo wanted to let her carry the basket for herself first, but she was already interested. He rushed ahead, so he had no choice but to push the car silently to keep up.

Looking down the side selling agricultural and sideline foods, I saw someone selling eggs, with about twenty eggs left. Ye Xin had quick eyesight and bought them all immediately!

One pound of meat is not enough for two meals. Eggs can also replenish the body, so of course you have to buy them!

She quickly looked to the side to see if there was anyone selling eggs or duck eggs. She finally came over to buy more.

But obviously these were in short supply, and she was lucky to be able to buy more than twenty eggs, so she had no choice but to give up. However, when she saw some sellers of dried vegetables, Ye Xin hesitated and didn't buy it. Although vegetables were also lacking, dried vegetables were still delicious stewed in winter.

Then I saw some large and small clay pots, which were also made by the villagers themselves. Seeing that there was still space in the backpack, Ye Xin bought a large one and a small one so that she could pickle vegetables for herself in the future.

Carrying the basket on my back is really not light now.

Shen Zhuo silently watched her buying this and that, and finally couldn't help but say, "I'll carry it."

Ye Xin wiped her sweat, straightened her back and said, "No, I can carry it, just watch the car. " . Now let's go buy the seeds and go back after buying them!"

The seeds are nearby, and they are also considered agricultural and sideline products.

Ye Xin squatted down and selected a lot, including cabbage, eggplant, radish, tomatoes, green beans... there were many types and quantities. Because she bought a lot, the stall owner told her in detail how to plant, whether to raise seedlings, whether to set up a trellis, what month to plant, etc. when she asked, Ye Xin tried her best to write it down.

Shen Zhuo frowned, do you want to buy so much? How long will it take to plant this? There is just such a big land behind his house.

When she was thinking about it, she saw that she had already paid for it readily.

He thought silently, forget it, just use her money to buy whatever she likes.

Ye Xin put a large bag of seeds into the clay pot in her backpack, and was about to say that she could go back when she suddenly thought that the brakes on Shen Zhuo's bicycle were broken, and quickly asked if there was any repair place in the town.

Shen Zhuo wanted to say that it didn't cost money to repair it, that it could be used and couldn't break her, but thinking that she was so scared, he pushed the cart to repair it without saying anything.

Ye Xin breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Okay, you can go back!"

But after taking a few steps outside, she suddenly smelled the aroma of food. She looked around and saw a family a few dozen meters away. At the state-owned hotel, his eyes lit up and he said to Shen Zhuo: "Wait for me here, I'll buy something to eat!"

It was too late for Shen Zhuo to persuade her, and she had already run away with the basket on her back.

Not long after she entered the restaurant, she ran out again with two steamed buns. Panting, she walked over and handed one to him: "Eat the meat buns!"

Shen Zhuo pursed his lips and didn't take the buns. She brought her backpack over and said, "You can eat it yourself, I'm not hungry yet."

"How can that be done? You still have to take me back. It will be heavier than when you came back, and it will be very strenuous." Ye Xin couldn't help but put the A bun was put into his hand, "One for each person, eat quickly!"

He took a bite of his own, and then narrowed his eyes with satisfaction. Although the service attitude of state-owned restaurants at this time is not very good, the portions of the food are still sufficient. The buns have thin skin and plenty of filling, which is delicious.

Shen Zhuo looked at the bun in his hand and had no choice but to lower his head and eat it.

After finishing the meal, Ye Xin clapped her hands and said, "It's too hot. Go home quickly and don't spoil the meat!"