Lu Fangfang inquired about the address of the state-owned seed store and then led Wang Shufen there.
On the way, Lu Fangfang sold her braid.
Her braids were very long, but her hair quality was a bit poor; she sold them for a total of three cents.
Not a lot, but not too little either. If you were buying meat, you could get three ounces of it.
When they arrived at the state-run seed store, Lu Fangfang took out a piece of paper torn from her notebook and bought the vegetable seeds listed on it one by one.
Sure enough, the state-run seed store in the county didn't have a complete selection of vegetable seeds, and the two of them only managed to buy a little over half of them.
State-run seed shops simply don't carry seeds like celery, water spinach, or cilantro.
However, the two also had an unexpected discovery: Lu Fangfang found sunflower seeds in the shop.
The thought of eating sunflower seeds made her swallow hard.
The sunflower seeds smell so good, she gets hungry just thinking about them, but it's not easy to buy sunflower seeds these days.
After all, even staple foods are rationed now, so where would we find snacks like sunflower seeds?
Even in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, they only supply a little bit during the Chinese New Year. As for small counties in the Northwest, Lu Fangfang doesn't even expect to be able to buy any.
If you want to eat sunflower seeds, it's more reliable to grow your own, since she has the means to do so.
After discussing it with Wang Shufen, the two decided to temporarily add sunflower seeds to the vegetable seeds they bought.
In addition, Lu Fangfang also found cosmos seeds in the store.
Seeing that the price wasn't too high, she bought some herself, intending to grow them for fun.
After paying for the seeds, the two left the state-run seed store.
Wang Shufen looked back and felt somewhat dissatisfied.
This time when she came to the county town, she not only failed to buy goose eggs and chicken eggs, but she also didn't expect that she couldn't even buy all the vegetable seeds.
"This county is really small, not even as big as my hometown's county town. There's nothing here."
"Sister Shufen, how about we go to the countryside sometime? Maybe we can find some there."
"That's all we can do," Wang Shufen sighed.
However, things were hard to buy in the countryside during that time. According to regulations, private individuals could not buy or sell things; they could only sell to the government.
If you don't know each other, the other party might not be willing to take the risk of selling to you.
Wang Shufen thought of the military wives in the family compound, wondering if any of them raised geese or ducks. It seemed she would have to ask them when she got back.
After buying the vegetable seeds, the next step is to get all sorts of farm tools.
The two returned to the department store. Lu Fangfang was initially quite excited, but she was disappointed after browsing for a while.
Although it's called a department store, she felt that there probably weren't even a hundred kinds of goods in the store.
There's no way around it; the county town is just too small. If you want to buy things, you still have to go to the department store in the city.
"Sister Shufen, let's go take a look at the shoes."
When they arrived at a shoe counter, Lu Fangfang pulled Wang Shufen over.
After taking a closer look, I realized there weren't many shoes on the counter, and not much to choose from; most of them were yellow rubber shoes.
"Comrade, how much is a pair of size 37 yellow rubber shoes?"
"Three dollars and three cents."
Lu Fangfang: "..."
Good heavens, the price of two pairs of yellow rubber shoes is equivalent to the price of the cow skeleton she just bought.
It has to be said that industrial products in this era are really expensive.
Wang Shufen was also astonished when she heard the price of the shoes.
Back in her hometown, she made her own shoe soles and shoes, which saved her a lot of money.
"Get me a pair of size 37 yellow rubber shoes."
Despite her heartache, Lu Fangfang counted out three yuan and three fen and handed it to the sales clerk.
There was no way around it; her shoes were worn out, and she had to buy new ones.
After buying the yellow rubber shoes, when passing by the fabric counter, Lu Fangfang hesitated for a long time while touching the fabric coupons, but ultimately did not buy any.
Sigh, she has no income now and really can't bear to spend any more money.
After wandering around for a while, Lu Fangfang finally arrived at the place selling farm tools. Now she had no choice but to spend some money.
A sickle, one dollar and sixty cents.
A hoe, one dollar and one cent.
A shovel, a piece of paper.
This is the price for the tool head only, but it doesn't include the wooden handle; you'll have to buy the handle separately.
Compared to rubber boots, these farm tools are relatively inexpensive?
Anyway, after buying everything, Lu Fangfang felt extremely distressed. She had already spent thirteen yuan on this trip to the county town, which was far beyond her budget. Of all the items she bought, the vegetables were the cheapest.
Holding a few farm tools, she didn't spend any more money.
After strolling around for a while, the two decided to head back.
She didn't realize it while shopping, but once she left the department store, Lu Fangfang discovered that it was getting late.
She checked the time; it was exactly eleven o'clock.
The two walked back and found their sister-in-law already waiting in the military vehicle. They quickly loaded the farm tools they had just bought onto the vehicle.
When Sun Manling saw the two return, she got up to help.
Seeing what the two had bought, she was a little surprised. "Sister-in-law Shufen, Fangfang, you two bought so many farm tools. Are you planning to clear land and start a farm?"
As soon as Sun Manling said this, the other sisters-in-law looked over curiously.
"Yes, Fangfang and I are planning to clear some land and plant some things."
Wang Shufen nodded, not caring about what others thought.
With her husband's salary as a political commissar, supporting the family would be a piece of cake, and they could even save a few hundred yuan a year.
But she didn't want to just sit idly by and wanted to do something herself.
At this moment, other military spouses on the bus asked, "Sister-in-law, aren't you tired? Wouldn't it be better to take care of the children in the family compound?"
“Sigh, my daughter and son are all grown up now, so I don’t need to watch over them every day. I just love the harvest season.”
Wang Shufen smiled innocently, and then said nothing more.
Beside her, Lu Fangfang nodded in agreement.
She also wanted to find something to do, otherwise she would be bored to death staying in the family compound all day.
Of course, it's also to make some money.
After putting away their farm tools, the two waited in the car for the military wife who had not yet arrived.
Lu Fangfang sat in the car, basking in the sun, and soon felt sleepy.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a scream suddenly rang in her ears, "Oh my god!"
"What...what is this? Who bought this? It almost scared me to death."
The long-faced woman, who had just climbed onto the military vehicle, looked at the cow spine, which was as tall as a person, with disgust.
The bone was so big, and it was covered in red blood. She was startled when she climbed up.
After taking a closer look, she said irritably, "What a waste! Has she never been born to gnaw on a bone? Buying so much, can we even finish it all? Aren't you afraid it will spoil?"
“Sister Shulan, there’s more than just this spine on the truck. Look at that sack in the corner, it’s full of bones too.”
Li Shulan turned her head and saw a bulging burlap sack.
She looked at the sack, then at the spine as tall as a person, then back at the sack, then back at the spine, and was completely dumbfounded.
Buying so much at once, are you buying it for the group?
Remembering what she had just said, she quickly added, "Ahem, bones are cheap and don't even require coupons. People who buy them are really thrifty. These bones are the best to gnaw on. I love gnawing on bones."
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