At that time, family compound usually consisted of three rooms, with the main hall in the middle for living on either side, and a small courtyard with the kitchen and woodshed on either side. The old lady was the only one at home, so she took care of them and asked them to sit in the main hall. She also poured each of them a cup of hot water from the thermos to warm them up.

After finishing her work and sitting down, the old lady asked Professor Dong, "Sister, you said you were looking for someone. Who are you looking for? I retired from this factory and I know almost everyone here. Just tell me their name and I'll tell you where they live."

Professor Dong replied calmly, "Auntie, my cousin's name is Yao Cuifen. Her husband's family is from Zhuimazhuang Brigade, Poqian Commune. She has two children, the older one is 15 this year. She and my brother-in-law both work in a textile factory."

The old lady thought about it and realized that there were several people named Cuifen in the factory, but the children’s ages did not match those of her in-laws.

"Miss, we don't have the person you mentioned in our textile factory. Did you remember the work unit wrong?"

"Ah? There's no such person? When she went back to her parents' home, she said she worked in a textile factory?"

Professor Dong’s performance was so wonderful that Guan’s father and his wife watched her performance silently.

"You must be mistaken. There's no one in this factory that I don't know. There really isn't such a person."

"What should I do? How can I find her in such a big county? I thought I could find her here, so I brought all these things with me, but in the end I didn't find her and have to carry her back. Oh, I don't even know how to explain to the villagers."

"What are you carrying? The backpack looks really heavy."

"Our village is at the foot of the mountain, making it easy to get up there. For the past few months, the villagers have been eating cornmeal mixed with wild vegetables and bark powder to save some food. Chinese New Year is just two months away, and thinking the city is also short of food, the villagers pooled some money and sent us to ask my cousin to trade with the factory for something for the New Year."

The old lady slapped her thigh, jumped up from her chair excitedly, grabbed Professor Dong's hand excitedly, and said kindly, "Girl, don't look for your cousin anymore. Let me see what you brought."

Professor Dong exchanged glances with Guan's father. "The sheep has fallen into the trap!" After pretending to be embarrassed and considering it for a while, Guan's father opened the basket in front of him. The old lady took a look and rubbed her eyes in disbelief. After confirming that it wasn't real, she reached out to the towel wrapped around the eggs in the basket.

A beating heart, trembling hands.

Alas, food is so scarce now, no wonder the old lady is so excited.

As Guan's father helped to take out the things and put them on the table, the old lady calmed down. She whispered to Professor Dong, "Miss, what do you want to change?"

"Auntie, our village is too remote. It's not easy to come to the county. Every family in the village is short of clothes and daily necessities. Please give us whatever you think we have. We are not picky."

"Okay, okay, my second daughter-in-law is pregnant and needs nutrition, and my eldest grandson, who is 8 years old, also needs nutrition. So, I want two bags of noodles, two bags of millet, two bags of rice, five apples, half a potato, two bags of dried noodles, all the eggs, and five salted duck eggs. My two daughters-in-law have some unused clothes, as well as my son's. I also have some defective cloth, which I'll give you. I also have two pairs of new Liberation shoes issued by the factory, which I'll give you, and 15 yuan. How about that?"

"Yes! Auntie, you can give it as you like. These are collected by everyone in our village. We are not selling them, we just want to exchange them for something to celebrate the New Year."

"I understand, I understand! Aren't you my sister's niece? You came to give me something."

As she said this, the old lady happily went into the house and rummaged through the drawers and cabinets looking for clothes.

The first order opened smoothly and it was a big order, which is good.

(The value of the exchanged items may be somewhat unequal. This is set as the first order only for sales purposes. There will definitely be profits in subsequent transactions.)