Zhao Lanxiang went to Qinghe Town to buy a catty of pork. The grain depot received a new batch of Fuqiang flour, and the townspeople lined up before dawn. Zhao Lanxiang couldn't buy any more after she finished shopping. She had enough money in her pocket, but she had nowhere to spend it. This made Zhao Lanxiang, who was used to buying whatever she wanted in the future, quite uncomfortable.
Zhou Jiazhen said, "We don't have any more Fuqiang flour. Can we buy something else?"
A trip to the county cost 30 cents, and a round trip cost 60 cents. She couldn't bear to waste this money. She felt bad for Zhao Lanxiang.
In the end, Zhao Lanxiang didn't care about the quality of the flour and bought a bag of Fuqiang flour. The country differentiated the quality of flour according to the gluten content and fineness. Fuqiang flour was the best, equivalent to No. 1 flour, followed by Fuqiang flour.
She gave the 30 catties of food coupons to the salesperson. In addition to the money and food coupons, she also handed over a small notebook to the person in charge of the grain depot.
In the 1970s, there were no open and aboveboard food sales in the market. Everything was bought and sold by the country. Non-agricultural households in the towns were allocated food based on the number of people. Rural households were allocated food at the end of the year by the production team. Before going to the countryside, Feng Lian was worried that her daughter's salary might not be enough to feed herself, so she gave her daughter her grain and oil supply.
She was given 35 catties of grain every month, and the treatment was very generous. Ordinary townspeople received 30 to 35 catties of grain every month. Feng Lian's school was very fortunate, and the old staff received an increase of 5 catties of grain every month.
Last month, Zhao Lanxiang used up 30 catties of grain. After eating 20 catties, she saved up another 10 catties. The surplus of 5 catties of grain and oil was lent to Zhou Jiazhen.
Zhao Lanxiang's act of buying 30 catties of flour in one go made Zhou Jiazhen gasp.
Zhao Lanxiang was undoubtedly the most extravagant rich person Zhou Jiazhen had ever seen. Every time she bought grain, she didn't even blink an eye. She was also extravagant in everything she ate. Every time she came to town, she would buy pork, and she loved to buy lean pork. One had to know that fat meat was much more valuable than lean meat. Fat meat could be extracted for oil, and it was delicious. It was crispy and tender when fried, and it was very fragrant. However, Zhao Lanxiang insisted on buying pork and oil separately. He was too particular.
However, when it was time to buy pork, the extravagant "rich person" Zhao Lanxiang discovered that if she continued to eat meat at the same speed as yesterday, she would soon run out of meat coupons sent by her parents. Her brows furrowed slightly.
In fact, it wasn't that Zhao Yongqing and Feng Lian didn't give enough, but Zhao Lanxiang's appetite was no longer the same as before. After coming to the countryside, she would eat some meat every now and then to satisfy her cravings. For Zhao Lanxiang, who ate meat for every meal in the future, it was obviously frugal. However, compared to the 18-year-old Zhao Lanxiang who was used to the lack of resources, it seemed extravagant and wasteful.
When Zhou Jiazhen saw Zhao Lanxiang walking towards the grocery store again, he quickly stopped her. "Why are you still buying pork? Have you finished all the pork from yesterday?"
Zhao Lanxiang replied, "I've finished all of it."
Although it pained her to spend so many meat coupons, the gluttonous worm in her stomach was already clamoring. People lived in this world for the sake of eating. She had three meals a day. In the past, the 18-year-old Zhao Lanxiang hadn't seen the world. Now, Zhao Lanxiang was an old person who had experienced decades of changes. The conservative and frugal nature in her bones had long been thoroughly changed by the spirit of the new era.
In the end, she boldly bought … half a catty of pork, half a catty of pork intestines, and half a catty of pork trotters.
Zhou Jiazhen watched "Extravagant Zhao" buy all the pork and then turn to the supply and demand cooperative to buy some cloves, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon … and other spices. She also bought some soy sauce, white wine, aged vinegar, and so on. Zhao Lanxiang steadily folded the shopping list and put it in her pocket. There were too many things to buy, and she was afraid that she would forget them.
In her previous life, although Zhao Lanxiang was a person who didn't do household chores, in order to curry favor with Jiang Jianjun, she became a virtuous and virtuous military wife. She worked hard on her cooking just so that he could have a delicious meal when he returned home. As time passed, calluses gradually formed on her hands and her palms became rough. No one in the courtyard didn't say that the food she cooked was good. When the oil heated the food and put it in the pot, the fragrance from the kitchen attracted people from all directions.
Later, Zhao Lanxiang married He Songbai. The He family had a gluttonous older sister, and the two of them just happened to be together. On the weekends, the He family's kitchen would be filled with the fragrance. He Songbai had fattened up a lot because of her.
She listed more than 30 spices on the list, but she could only buy a small portion of the spices on the list after searching everywhere. Zhao Lanxiang wasn't discouraged. After all, the economic conditions and resources in the county were far inferior to those in the city. It was good enough that she could buy half of the spices.
Zhao Lanxiang returned with a rewarding trip this time. Zhou Jiazhen also bought two feet of homespun cloth to make summer clothes. Her family's conditions couldn't be compared to Zhao Lanxiang's, but she had a good mentality. After so many years in the countryside, she had saved a small sum of money and didn't have to worry about food and clothing.
However, Zhou Jiazhen, who had never been depressed before, was about to reach the age of marriage. This was the first time she was worried.
Did she really want to take root in the village?
She glanced at Zhao Lanxiang, who was carrying bags of various sizes back to the brigade with satisfaction. For the first time, she envied her youth and vitality.
…
Zhou Jiazhen helped Zhao Lanxiang carry a bag of flour back to the He family's old house. Zhao Lanxiang took out the wild fruits that San Ya had left for her to reward Zhou Jiazhen. This kind of dark purple fruit was called a twist. When it was ripe, it was sweet and delicious. It could be found all over the mountains. San Ya would bring back a bag of it when she went to the mountains to gather pigweed. San Ya, who didn't have any sugar to eat, treated it as a precious treasure. Every year, she hoped that summer would come faster so that the twist in the mountains would ripen faster.
It was obvious that Zhou Jiazhen loved this kind of fruit. She was pleasantly surprised and ate a big handful of it. She didn't care that her fingertips were stained with its juice. After eating, she licked her lips in satisfaction.
"How did you get it? I went to the mountains to gather firewood a few days ago, but I couldn't find it. Someone plucked it bald."
Sister He and San Ya, who were used to gathering pigweed in the mountains, were familiar with the treasures in the mountains.
Zhao Lanxiang just smiled and poured a glass of water for her.
Zhou Jiazhen gulped down two big bowls of water and burped. "Although the He family is a little poor, I didn't expect that these old houses would be so decent. Although you don't like what I say, the He family is really … "
As she spoke, she walked out of Zhao Lanxiang's room. She suddenly realized something and shook her head.
At this moment, Zhao Lanxiang was about to wash the pig intestines by the well when she was surprised to see a man squatting in the plot to water the vegetable sprouts. The pea sprouts crawled all over the fence and covered his tall and thin body.
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