Dear friends, if you have any monthly passes, could you please save them for me until the end of the month? The editor notified me that it will be available around the 28th, could you please vote for me?

Zhang Hongmei discovered that Sun Changquan had only booked a room and then left shortly afterward; it's true that cats have their ways and dogs have theirs.

I reckon he went to the black market at this time. Since he's gone, I won't go through the black market route. I'll go to the plastic pipe factory tomorrow morning to take a look.

But I don't know where the factory is. I went out to find a waiter to listen to his voice.

After chatting for a while, we finally learned the address of the plastic pipe factory. It wasn't far; it was only a 20-minute walk from the hotel.

The next day, Zhang Hongmei came out and found that Sun Changquan had already left, so she walked to the factory.

It was early morning, and Zhang Hongmei was looking around at the entrance, only to find it full of workers. She figured they couldn't get much. It wasn't until she saw someone carrying a briefcase that Zhang Hongmei approached.

"Hello, comrade. I have something to ask you."

The thin, middle-aged man with glasses looked at Zhang Hongmei and asked, "What is it?"

"Comrade, can our pipe factory sell plastic pipes to individuals for five cents each?"

"No, you can't ship without the approval slip."

Is there really no other way?

"Really, no."

Looking at his thin face with prominent cheekbones, Zhang Hongmei suddenly thought of a dangerous plan for herself.

"Could you introduce me to the factory manager?"

"I am the factory manager."

"Can we find a secluded place to talk?"

What exactly do you want?

"Can we exchange it for grain?"

"Trade it for grain? Do you have any grain?"

"A bit of a stick, dried pumpkin."

"Come on, let's go to my office."

Upon arriving at the factory manager's office, Zhang Hongmei looked at Song Weiguo with difficulty. "Manager, I need at least 10,000 meters of 5-point plastic pipe. I wonder if you can provide it to me?"

"Young lady, you've got quite the nerve. Ten thousand meters is our daily output. You just said you could trade it for grain. I wonder how much grain you're planning to trade for these ten thousand meters?"

Zhang Hongmei kept calculating in her mind. According to the price at the agricultural machinery station, 10,000 meters would cost 3,000 yuan. The price of grain certainly couldn't be based on the grain station's price, nor could it be based on the black market price.

"Factory manager, could I borrow your phone? I need to notify my elders at home."

"Sure, the phone is right there. Go ahead and make the call. Long distance calls will be transferred."

Zhang Hongmei dialed Liu Changhai's office number. "Third Master, this is Hongmei. I'm at the pipe factory right now. I'd like to exchange the pipes for some corn and dried squash."

As Liu Changhai listened to Zhang Hongmei's words and the old woman's words brought back by Xiao Wu on the other end of the phone, his heart was in turmoil.

“Hongmei, your great-grandmother said that you are in charge of everything.”

"Third Master, I just don't know how much grain it will take to exchange for this pipe."

"The price for the corn will be the same as the price we pay in the village."

"I understand, then I'll let it go." Zhang Hongmei didn't dare to say more, unaware that anyone was listening in.

"Don't get upset whether it works out or not, your family supports you."

"Okay, I'll let it go."

Zhang Hongmei put down the phone and said, "Factory manager, I'll trade you three thousand catties of corn with pits and one hundred catties of dried squash."

Liang Zhongguo looked at the girl in surprise. How old was she?

"I need to discuss this in a meeting. You can wait here."

"No need, I'll wait outside." I dare not stay in the factory manager's office.

I sat in the gatekeeper's room and chatted casually with the gatekeeper, talking about nothing of substance.

An hour later, someone came to call Zhang Hongmei to the factory director's office.

"Little girl, can you make that decision?"

"Yes, if you agree, the food will be delivered first."

"Can I ask you what you need such a long tube for?"

“The main river in the village has dried up. There are pools of water in the mountains, but they are too far away. Time is of the essence, and we are waiting for this little bit of water to plant our crops. So we came up with this solution.”

"But without power, how can it get into the water?"

"It should work, water flows downhill. Even if this method doesn't work, it's still worth it to have something there."

"I think the diameter of the pipe you requested is too small."

"There isn't much water in the pool, and the pipes are too thick, so there might not be enough pressure."

"One last question, is 10,000 meters enough?"

"It's not enough, but that's all the capacity we have."

"Okay, we've discussed it in a meeting and agreed. You can go and prepare the food."

"Thank you for your help, factory manager."

"You're welcome. But if I were to say we really can't survive the fall, could you sell us some grain?"

"I can't be sure about that, but I can guarantee that as long as there's a harvest and our villagers don't go hungry, we will definitely sell to you."

“Okay, if you can give me an extra thousand catties of corn, I’ll give you an extra five thousand meters. Also, you know that pipes that are too long are not good to use; the longest they can be is only one hundred meters.”

"I know, it needs to be 100 meters long each, but what about the connectors?"

"I'll send you 100 meters of pipe with a diameter of 4 points."

"Thank you. I'm Zhang Hongmei from Liujiatun, L County, T City. We need 15,000 meters of pipe. When can we expect to receive it?"

"You can take the pipes away whenever you deliver the grain."

"Okay, I still need to use the phone."

“Okay, my name is Liang Zhongguo.”

"Thank you, Director Liang."

Zhang Hongmei dialed Liu Changhai's number again, "Third Master, it's 15,000 kilometers away, could you find a car to come over?"

"Okay, I'll have Xiao Wu set off right away. He should arrive this afternoon. Where do I need to find you?"

“I’m staying at a hotel, come find me there.”

Zhang Hongmei hung up the phone and ignored Liu Changhai's operations. "Director Liang, I'll head back now. I should be back by tonight."

"Okay, I'll wait for you tonight."

Zhang Hongmei left the factory and wandered around the streets. The main problem was that there was nowhere to store the four thousand jin of corn.

They walked further and further, almost out of the city, and found a nice place: a dilapidated temple. After looking around, they decided this was the place.

Back at the inn, I went into my spatial dimension and packed the corn and two bags of dried squash, more than enough. I didn't dare put the bags in beforehand; I just planned to go in and release them before they arrived.

I slept in the hotel in the afternoon. I was all ready and just waiting for them to arrive.

When they arrived, Zhang Hongmei was still asleep. When Xiao Wu saw the sleepy-eyed Zhang Hongmei, he knew she was still a child.

Zhang Hongmei knew she had to leave that very night, but Sun Changquan was still there. With no other option, she wrote a note and slipped it into his room, telling him that she had found the plastic pipe and would be leaving that night, and that he should go home and wait for her.

Zhang Hongmei led them to the dilapidated temple. "Let me go in first and see if they are ready?"

He handed over the food bags he had prepared before coming out to give them to Xiao Wu and the other two.

When the truck arrived at the plastic pipe factory, the workers had already gone home. Liang Zhongguo was still waiting for Zhang Hongmei to come. It wasn't until all 151 bundles of plastic pipes were loaded onto the truck that Liang Zhongguo truly realized what was happening.