Li Xu walked to the door of the supply and marketing cooperative and took a look inside.

You know what, when I entered the supply and marketing cooperative, I found that the counters were really high and most children couldn’t reach them.

If you sniff carefully, you can also smell a hint of sugar and a hint of mold in the air. You can't tell where this smell comes from.

It's still morning and there aren't many people inside. There are only a few people standing in front of different counters.

Li Xu walked a few steps and saw the counter selling pastries. His eyes were instantly fixed on the egg cakes and peach cakes inside.

“Gurgle…”

At this time, Li Xu's stomach made an inopportune sound.

The salesperson inside glanced at Li Xu and said, "Will you buy it? If not, go play somewhere else."

Li Xu thought to himself: "How can I bear this?"

He then wanted to shout "Buy it", but after touching the 27 cents in his pocket, Li Xu's face changed and he walked away in shame.

Li Xu didn't even dare to retort, for fear that the supply and marketing clerk would rush out and beat him. After learning from his memory that someone had been beaten for retorting to the supply and marketing clerk, Li Xu walked even faster, fearing that he would not be able to hold back.

In fact, Li Xu wanted to buy it, but the problem was that he couldn't afford it.

In this day and age, buying things not only requires money, but most importantly, you also need tickets.

You need food coupons to buy food, and you need pastry coupons to buy pastries. You need corresponding tickets to buy anything. There are also very few things that do not require tickets, and you cannot buy them unless you are an internal staff member.

After Li Xu took a look around, he gained a new understanding of the current scarcity of goods. He also had a vague idea in his mind.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Xu walked around the street for a long time and then walked back home.

"Second brother, you're back."

As soon as I entered the door, I heard the voice of my younger sister Li Ju.

"Yeah, little sister, have you been good today?"

"I'm a very good person. If you don't believe me, ask my sister-in-law." Li Ju raised her little head and responded with a hint of pride.

"Yes, Xiaoju is so well-behaved. Xiaoxu, have you heard any news about the job?" said Hu Guilan, who was sitting on a stool and sewing clothes.

"I've got some clues, but I'm still waiting for news from my friends." Li Xu answered casually.

"That's good. Once Xiaoxu gets a job, he can find a partner." Hu Guilan had a smile on her face.

Li Xu blushed when he heard this and replied:

"Sister-in-law, stop teasing me. I'm only 15 years old, still young. Besides, if I want to find a partner, I have to be the first one to do it."

Hu Guilan smiled and said:

"Not young anymore. Your brother and I were an accident. He insisted on waiting until he was officially married before getting married, and it was delayed until he was 20.

Your eldest sister is in her third year of high school this year, and her academic performance is still so good. Maybe she can get into college, and she will definitely find a good husband in the future.

When you get a job, you're already an adult. In the countryside, many people get married at 15 or 16."

"It's too early to talk about this now. We haven't even started yet. Let's talk about it after we have a job." Li Xu was a little overwhelmed and quickly changed the subject, "Sister-in-law, what are we having for lunch?"

"I'd rather eat porridge. The food at home is almost gone. Fortunately, I can get food coupons in two days." When the topic of eating was mentioned, the smile on Hu Guilan's face faded.

The 25th is in two days. This day of every month is when food coupons are issued. People with urban household registration can take their food coupons to collect food coupons for the next month. It clearly states how much coarse grain and fine grain each person is entitled to. Then they can take the food coupons to the grain store to buy food.

This is why rural people are now trying so hard to move to cities and obtain urban household registration.

After chatting with Hu Guilan for a while, Li Xu also took a stool and sat in the shade of the yard to cool off.

When it was time for lunch, Li Xu found that the "white rice porridge" he ate was almost the same as what he had eaten in the morning. The only consolation was that there were more rice grains in the porridge he ate at noon than in the morning.

Li Xu thought, happiness is indeed something that can be compared. With more rice, the porridge at noon seemed especially delicious.

Now there are only three of them eating lunch at home. The others bring lunch boxes to school or the factory in the morning to eat.

After eating the porridge, Li Xu returned to his room to take a nap to reduce energy consumption. Hu Guilan also took Li Ju to her room to sleep together.

When Li Xu woke up again, he was still awakened by hunger.

Li Xu lay on the bed looking at the ceiling, feeling the emptiness in his stomach. He thought, although I drank enough water, I'm not very hungry.

"Or just find a random excuse to take out the food first. Otherwise, we will have to live like this for about two years and will starve to death sooner or later." Li Xu's eyes were dull and he felt more uncomfortable the more he thought about it.

"Yes, let's do it. Anyway, I didn't steal or rob to get the food, so why should they care how I got it?" The more Li Xu thought about it, the more he felt that this method was feasible.

At this time, those who could get food without stealing or robbing were all capable people. Once they had it in their stomachs, no one cared how they got it. Li Xu's eyes gradually brightened.

"Well, let's do it!" Li Xu muttered to himself as he got up while encouraging himself.

Li Xu didn't know what time it was when he got up. The sun was still high in the sky, spreading light and heat to the earth unscrupulously.

Seeing that there was no one in the yard, he went into the kitchen, took a small sack of grain, and then left the yard.

There were almost no pedestrians on the street at this time, which made Li Xu even happier.

Li Xu walked around the street in the scorching heat, then found a shady corner not far from his home and sat down.

After sitting for a long time, Li Xu looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he took the 5 kilograms of rice he had received from signing in in the morning and put it into a sack.

Li Xu carried the rice and walked towards home with a smile on his face.

When I entered the yard, I saw Hu Guilan sitting in the shade again sewing shoe soles, and Li Ju sitting beside her watching.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Hu Guilan looked up and saw the sack in Li Xu's hand, and asked:

"Xiao Xu, why did you come back with a bag of rice?"

"Hey, guess what's in here?" Li Xu asked deliberately with the intention of showing off.

"I can't guess. It can't be loaded with food, right?" Hu Guilan also looked confused.

Li Xu laughed twice more before speaking, "Why can't it be food?"

Hearing this, Li Ju, who was listening to their conversation, immediately stood up and rushed over, wanting to see if what Li Xu was holding in his hand was food.

Li Xu opened the bag and showed it to Li Ju, who immediately let out a scream.

Hu Guilan also stood up and walked over. Seeing the rice sticking out of the bag, she was also surprised. She asked hurriedly:

"Xiao Xu, where did you get the food? Where did this food come from..."