After leaving Li the carpenter's house, Zhuang Zhimeng realized that there were no pots, knives, jars, or water vats left. She quickly asked Tian Cuie, who happened to have some in the village.

Tian Cuie led them over again, saying, "This is the only place in the village that sells these things. They have iron pots here, and it's a legal business. Everyone in the village knows this. All the others were confiscated before, in support of national policies." As they walked, she explained the village's situation to Zhuang Zhimeng and the other woman.

Zhuang Zhimeng ordered an iron pot, knives, three small jars, two large water vats, and two medium-sized jars for making sauerkraut. She also paid a deposit for three sets, agreeing to move them over after she moved.

"Aunt Tian, ​​I see that the homestead we were allocated is quite large. We're thinking of setting aside a plot in the backyard to grow some vegetables. Do you have any seeds? We'd like to exchange some with you." Zhuang Zhimeng had thought that the educated youth settlement also had private plots, but they didn't dare to eat too much, and there weren't many kinds of vegetables, for fear of running out.

“Yes! I have a lot of different kinds of vegetables in my garden, and I happen to have some leftover seeds. It won’t hurt to share them with you.” Tian Cuie had wanted to take care of this young educated youth anyway, and it wasn’t a big deal, so of course she agreed.

“We also want to exchange for some chicks. When they grow up, they can lay eggs and we can eat meat. We educated youth don’t have much good food to eat.” Zhuang Zhimeng felt sad again when she thought about not having meat or eggs to eat.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you. If I find any suitable chicks, I'll bring them back for you."

Tian Cuie understood them. The educated youth had it tough too. Their work points weren't even enough to feed themselves. If they came from poor families, they might not even be able to afford meat!

“Aunt Tian! We each need three chicks, one male and two females. Can everyone in our village raise that many?” Zhuang Zhimeng said happily.

"It's alright! In our village, each person can only raise a maximum of two chickens, and there's a culling rate, so raising one more chick won't be a problem."

"That's wonderful! Aunt Tian, ​​thank you so much for your help today." Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia both felt a little guilty.

"It's alright, it's alright! You kids are new to the village, so we have to take good care of you," Tian Cuie said.

Tian Cuie went home, while Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia returned to the educated youth settlement. They arranged to meet Tian Cuie later to exchange vegetable seeds.

On their way back, Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia discussed what they could exchange for it.

"I'll use half a pound of white sugar!" Zhuang Zhimeng said.

"I also have some local specialties I brought from home, cheese candy. I'll take half a pound of that too." Jiang Yanxia thought the cheese candy was delicious and presentable.

After discussing it, they took their things and went to find Tian Cuie.

"You're here! Perfect timing, I've packed everything for you. There are vegetable seeds and some seasonings too. If you need more, you can buy more at the supply and marketing cooperative later," Tian Cuie said, handing them a cloth bag.

I took the bag and saw that it contained: seeds of tomatoes, green beans, eggplants, potatoes, water spinach, Chinese cabbage, white radishes, peppers, loofah, pumpkins, cucumbers, and other vegetables, as well as root vegetables such as scallions, ginger, and garlic, and some common seasonings.

Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia were deeply moved and quickly handed the things they were carrying to Tian Cuie: "Aunt Tian, ​​thank you so much! We really need these things! This is our token of appreciation, please accept it. We feel at ease taking these seeds as a token of our appreciation!"

Tian Cuie didn't expect them to actually bring something. After all, the vegetable seeds weren't worth much money, so she didn't pay much attention to them.

After some back and forth, Tian Cuie had no choice but to accept it. Zhuang Zhimeng had said that if they didn't accept it, they would find someone else to exchange it for.

“Once your houses are built, I’ll teach you how to grow vegetables. If you want eggs, you can trade with the villagers. There are wild fruits on the mountain that you can pick and eat. There are also some mountain products that taste good; you can go and pick them yourself. Our village’s mountain is quite big, and there are many good things inside. These few months are the season for them to ripen, so you can go up the mountain for a stroll when you have time. Just don’t go too deep into the mountains; there are large wild animals there, and it’s too dangerous,” Tian Cuie said to Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia.

After thanking Aunt Tian, ​​Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia returned to the educated youth settlement.

When Su Mengmeng returned, he told her what she had ordered.

"Okay! Great! You guys decide how to arrange it, I agree to everything. We'll see how much the money is later and give it to you together." Even close brothers should keep clear accounts, Su Mengmeng had no objection.

“Yes, yes! Zhimeng, you can calculate how much it is in total. I'll calculate it for you too, and you can pay the rest later,” Jiang Yanxia said.

“Okay! I’ll calculate the price later and let you know.” Zhuang Zhimeng didn’t have any objections.