These few people who were left behind were very happy. Although they were stopped by market management and the prices couldn't be raised, it was good that their goods could be sold.
Tian Jing first inspected the grains. One portion was millet weighing five to six catties, another was black flour weighing about ten catties, another was cornmeal weighing fifteen to sixteen catties along with five to six catties of corn bran, one portion of broken rice which contained quite a bit of gravel.
Tian Jing frowned. Too much gravel, it's hard to pick out! The last portion was reddish-brown sorghum flour weighing seven to eight catties. It was said that sorghum flour wasn't very tasty.
Seeing Tian Jing frown, Xiao Hu carefully asked, "Xiao Tian, are you not satisfied?"
"Yes," Tian Jing nodded in disappointment. "The grains are too little, and not quite to my liking."
She wanted to buy a lot, so she wouldn't have to leave the mountain again. She also wanted to properly nourish this body.
Xiao Hu thought for a moment and lowered his voice, "Then, can I get you twenty catties of white flour and thirty catties of rice?"
"Okay, okay."
Tian Jing nodded happily and even stood on her tiptoes to pat Xiao Hu on the shoulder, "Comrade Xiao Hu, you have a bright future."
Xiao Hu, being patted on the shoulder and praised by such a young girl, felt a surge in his heart, even though others watching found it amusing.
The expert praised him. "Then wait, I'll call someone to deliver it right away."
"Alright, go ahead."
The conversation between the two left the sellers stunned. Looking at the girl's attire, she wasn't much better off than them. Her shoes were already revealing her toes, yet she treated the market administrator like a subordinate. Could it be that her family had connections?
After Xiao Hu whispered a few words to the guards, he returned.
Tian Jing was looking at the fabric and shoe soles.
The shoe soles were good, and the sizes were quite complete. She picked two pairs of shoe soles for everyone in the family.
But most of the fabric consisted of small scraps of cloth, a foot or two long, with only a minority being hand-woven coarse cloth.
Coarse cloth could be bought in the village, so there was no need to travel so far to buy it.
Since she didn't want the fabric, the seller of the fabric left first. Li Zhengguo merely accompanied them, remaining silent, letting Tian Jing make the decisions.
Ouyang Lei arrived very quickly. After first buying all the grains Tian Jing had chosen, he waved his hand and let the sellers leave.
He handed the money and coupons in his hand to Tian Jing. "Xiao Tian, count it."
Tian Jing carefully counted. Including the money for the grains just bought, it was exactly right.
Among the coupons, Li Zhengguo's requests were all there, a good amount of industrial coupons, as well as cotton coupons, kerosene coupons, oil coupons, water bottle coupons, soap coupons, washing soap coupons, match coupons. In short, the most needed coupons for daily life were all present.
Tian Jing nodded at Ouyang Lei. "It's correct."
The grains that Xiao Hu had people deliver also arrived. Li Zhengguo put them into his back basket, and Tian Jing counted out money to give to Xiao Hu.
Xiao Hu didn't want it. Tian Jing glared at him. "I praised you just now, is your brain not working properly again? Can I take advantage of you for free?"
Xiao Hu scratched his head. "Then it's five mao per catty, no coupons."
Five mao per catty? The coarse grains she bought earlier were also five mao per catty.
Tian Jing gave him a sidelong glance, counted out forty yuan, and handed it to him. "I'll take advantage a little, no coupons, eight mao per catty."
After that, regardless of what Xiao Hu and Ouyang Lei thought, she began to organize the money in her hands.
Forty yuan for Xiao Hu, plus over twenty yuan for the coarse grains, and then over nine yuan for the eight pairs of shoe soles. In an instant, nearly eighty yuan was spent.
If she hadn't sold the ginseng, the 150 yuan she brought would definitely not have been enough.
Calculating the items she still needed to buy, it would cost at least one to two hundred yuan. So she counted out 400 yuan, rolled the money in the cloth that had been wrapped around the ginseng, and handed it to Li Zhengguo.
Li Zhengguo took it and tucked it into his chest. He had already packed the eighty to ninety catties of goods.
Tian Jing waved goodbye to Ouyang Lei and Xiao Hu. "We're leaving."
After the two left, Ouyang Lei patted Xiao Hu on the shoulder. "Watch your mouth, keep it shut, or else, hmph."
"Yes, Boss," Xiao Hu breathed a sigh of relief. His boss wouldn't send him to a remote place or silence him.
They returned to the archway. Li Zhengguo pulled Tian Jing, urging her to walk faster. "Don't waste time, let's send these things back first, then go to the supply and marketing cooperative."
The two quickly returned to Old Man Song's courtyard.
Old Man Song was eating his meal with a bowl in his hand. He was surprised to see them return. "So fast?"
"We need to make another trip, sending this batch back first," Li Zhengguo explained, transferring the items from his back basket into the basket on the handcart.
After organizing, covering it with a thin quilt, and pushing the handcart to the shady spot by the wall, he took Tian Jing and left again.
Old Man Song smiled and shook his head. Li小子 was different after marrying a wife; he knew how to buy things for the family.
Li Zhengguo first took Tian Jing to the state-run restaurant. It was mealtime, and out of the four tables, only two were occupied.
On the blackboard by the small window, the day's offerings were listed: shredded pork noodles for one mao five fen, plain noodles for eight fen, poached egg for eight fen, steamed bun for three fen, egg drop soup for five fen.
Compared to the prices of grains on the black market, eating at a restaurant seemed more reasonable. Why weren't there many people eating?
Li Zhengguo tugged at Tian Jing, signaling her to look at the waitress, who had a dark expression.
Tian Jing snapped back to attention. "Three bowls of shredded pork noodles with poached eggs."
"Sixty-nine fen plus six liang of grain coupons," the waitress said, extending her hand.
Tian Jing took out a handful of money and coupons from her pocket, counted them, and handed them to her.
Seeing that the two could indeed produce the money and coupons, the waitress's attitude improved. "Sit over there and wait. Come to pick up your noodles when I call you." Su Dan Novel Network
"Thank you, Sister." Since the waitress's attitude was okay, Tian Jing didn't mind acting cute and smiling.
The waitress's expression softened even more. "You're welcome."
Li Zhengguo led Tian Jing to a table to sit down, but his eyes were fixed on one of the two occupied tables. Seeing that the person eating there was looking over again, he glared fiercely back, scaring the man into lowering his head and continuing to eat his noodles.
Tian Jing looked back but didn't see anything. She turned to ask Li Zhengguo, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, it's just that someone noticed you taking out money just now."
"Oh." Tian Jing responded calmly. It was indeed nothing; if they dared to come forward, she dared to beat them.
Soon, a voice called out from the window, "Shredded pork noodles are ready."
Li Zhengguo held Tian Jing back and went himself, making two trips to bring back three bowls of noodles.
The bowls were large, and the noodles were not pure white. They tasted quite good, likely due to being organically grown.
Tian Jing was full after one bowl. Li Zhengguo ate two bowls without changing his expression. Tian Jing worried he hadn't eaten enough. "Are you full? Do you want another bowl?"
"I'm full. Let's go buy things quickly."
Li Zhengguo led Tian Jing around to the large courtyard behind the supply and marketing cooperative, where the warehouses and offices were located.
"Aren't the offices already closed?" Tian Jing asked suspiciously.
Li Zhengguo mysteriously pulled her further inside. After passing the two-story office building and the tall warehouse, a row of low houses appeared.
He stopped at the door of one of the rooms and knocked.
"Who is it?" a male voice asked from inside the room.
"Me," Li Zhengguo replied softly.