Then I recited all the coupons I had just received, except for the meat coupons, based on the ones I had just received from the purchasing station and the subsidies I had received. I added, "I almost forgot, I also need a picture of the leader in a frame of the same size, and a new calendar for next year. That's all."

Gu Cuicui was surprised that this educated youth, Li, bought so many things and asked in astonishment, "Do you have a ticket?"

"Isn't that obvious? What are you going to buy if you don't have a ticket! Honestly, don't waste time, hurry up, you know what time the oxcarts go back to the brigade!" she said, somewhat angrily.

"Okay, okay, Li Zhiqing, don't worry, I'll calculate the total cost for you."

"Then hurry up, honestly!"

He stood there for a full 10 minutes, waiting for Gu Cuicui to finish calculating the bill. Wasn't she supposed to be a high school student? Why was she taking so long to calculate the bill? Could she be lying? But wait, didn't Aunt Zhou say she had seen her high school diploma?

Could it be that her grades weren't as good as her mother always boasted about? Seriously, isn't this a lie? I even kindly tried to find her a job, and now I'm just making a fool of myself! I guess I can't do this kind of thing again. I need to write to my older siblings and get their opinions. I feel so cheated, sob sob, I want to cry!

I was thinking about how to tell my older siblings when I heard...

"Li Zhiqing, besides the corresponding receipts, you need to pay a total of 38.76 cents."

Did you calculate it correctly?

Upon hearing my question, Gu Cuicui blushed and said, "That's the number."

"Okay, here are the corresponding receipts. Keep them safe and check if anything is missing. They won't accept them once you leave this room."

"There's definitely no mistake."

"Just count it carefully," she said, then took the money out of her pocket—actually, from her spatial storage—and counted out 38.76 cents. She gave it to him and asked, "Did you count it carefully?"

"You don't need to tell me, it's clear nothing's missing."

"That's fine. Here's the money; make sure you count it carefully."

"Fine, I'll order then!" Gu Cuicui said angrily.

A short while later, I heard someone say, "The money is correct. Take your things and you can leave now."

I glanced at her but left without saying a word. If I weren't in a hurry, I would have definitely given her a piece of my mind today. What kind of attitude was that? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got, and the angrier I got, the more I thought about it. But that didn't slow me down. I hurried towards the outskirts of the city. There wasn't much time left; the bus was leaving in less than 10 minutes.

Standing by the oxcart, Chen Junjie anxiously asked Chen Enpeng, who was standing next to him, "Pengzi, do you think Mianmian has run into some trouble? Why isn't she back yet? The cart is about to leave."

"Don't worry, maybe something happened. They'll be here soon."

"Then we can't just have someone else deliver a message or something?"

"What's the rush? Look, here we are."

Then Chen Junjie ran up to her and said, "Mianmian, what happened? Why are you only coming back now? Did something happen?"

"We'll talk about it later, let's get in the car first."

"All right"

"Grandpa Huang, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"I didn't wait; you came back right when it was time."

"Has something happened to Mianmian?" Chen Enpeng asked.

Don't even mention it.

"What's wrong?" Chen Junjie asked.

Then, while sitting on the oxcart on the way back, he recounted what had happened at the supply and marketing cooperative. He then heard Chen Junjie say, "Isn't she a high school student?"

"yes"

"Then why is it so difficult to do the accounting?"

"Who can argue with that?"

"Perhaps it's because my grades are just average."

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Is it really that serious? Don't you know how many points the worst student in your class usually gets?"

"It shouldn't be this difficult to calculate, right?"

"I don't know then. By the way, Mianmian, do you think she was right?"

Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?

"Of course it's the truth."

"Actually, she got it right the first time, but she wasn't confident, so she calculated it twice more, and coincidentally, the last two times she got the same result."

"So in the end, she collected the money using both methods."

"Yes"

How much difference?

"About the same, a difference of 1.24 yuan."

Wow, so many!

"It's alright, I guess."

"Then this money..."

"Jiezi, are you stupid? If the accounts don't match up, we'll just find the person who made the mistake and make up for it."

Sure enough, Sun Yingying, who was doing the accounts, was furious. She checked the accounts at least five times, but they were still wrong. Finally, she went to the director and handed her the account book, saying, "Director Li, the accounts were correct before lunch break, but they are wrong after we started work in the afternoon. There's a difference of 1.24 yuan."

"How much?" Li Guifen asked.

"1.24 yuan"

Who's on duty at noon?

Gu Cuicui

Go and get me a list of what she sold this morning.

"OK"

They arrived shortly after and gave her the details. After checking the accounts, Li Guifen took Sun Yingying to Gu Cuicui and asked directly, "Gu, how much did you sell and how much cash and receipts did you receive this noon?"

"What's wrong, Director?" Gu Cuicui asked, puzzled.

Answer my question first.

"A total of... 38 yuan and 7.6 yuan (for men)."

Several people have come to buy things.

There is only one.

"It's just me. You know that other person too, it's Li Mianmian, the educated youth from our brigade."

"Oh, I see. Did she say anything?"

Gu Cuicui then repeated exactly what I had said after I entered the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Xiao Gu, she kept reminding you and asking if you calculated the accounts correctly. So how did you calculate them?"

"The first time I calculated it, it was 40 yuan; the second and third times, it was 38.76 fen each time."

"And then you received 38.76 cents."

"yes"

"Then calculate it again."

"What's wrong, Director Li?"

"You'll see when you calculate it, Xiao Sun. Just watch her calculate."

Gu Cuicui didn't understand what was going on, but she still did it. When she got the result of 40 yuan, she was surprised.

Li Guifang didn't ask her, but instead asked Sun Yingying, "Was Xiao Sun's calculation correct?"

"Yes"

"Does the account reconcile with the one you received this afternoon?"

"It all makes perfect sense now."

"Alright, I understand. Xiao Gu, since you miscalculated the accounts and collected the wrong money, and now that the accounts are reconciled and the matter has been clarified, you'll have to make up the missing 1.24 yuan."

"Director, I..."

"You all go ahead and get busy."

Gu Cuicui couldn't understand why she would make a mistake. She had calculated the accounts correctly the first time, so why were she wrong the second and third times? She just couldn't figure it out. But the facts were right in front of her, and there was no way around it. She had to pay the 1.24 yuan herself; she definitely couldn't let the company pay it, nor could she let Li Mian pay it.