Grandpa He didn't say anything, but let her into the yard. After a while, he came out of the house and gave her a small yellow croaker: "Look how much you can exchange these for."
He Wan weighed the gold bar in her hand, feeling that she didn't have enough things in her space to give it to him: "Grandpa, you're giving too much. I don't have that much stuff on me."
Grandpa He waved his hand at her: "The things are good, but they're not as valuable as grain these days. Just give me what you think is fair."
He Wan thought for a moment and said, "Uncle He, I'll give you two bags of milk powder, a few pounds of pork, a bag of rice, a bag of flour, and some fruit as well. What you give me can supply you with food for a year. I'll come and bring you some food every now and then."
"That's not right, young man. Don't let yourself get ripped off. You gave us quite a bit last time."
He Wan smiled but didn't answer, and gave her everything in the basket.
Then, when no one was around, he went outside and brought in two bags of grain for her.
Seeing that Grandpa He was unemployed and Grandma He was seriously ill, they gave him some of the monthly ration coupons they received and twenty yuan.
After seeing her off, Grandpa He and Grandma He hugged each other in the yard and silently shed tears: "We've met good people."
"Yes, we've met some good people. Hurry up and get the things inside before they get discovered."
He Wan couldn't get any wine tickets from Grandpa He, so she went to Director Jin at the vegetable station.
Director Jin wasn't home this time, so it was his wife, He Wan, who said, "Sister-in-law, this time it's mostly grain, not much meat. There's milk powder and brown sugar. If you have any liquor or cigarette coupons, I'll take them all." Then she added softly, "If you have any old items, I'll take them too."
Upon hearing this, Old Jin blinked and said, "Do you accept coins?"
"Receive it."
As expected, Old Jin's family actually brought out two coins from the house for her, with the names of coins from the most recent dynasty written on them. He Wan frowned: "Sister-in-law, these are from too few years, they're not worth much."
Old Jin's family said, "It should be worth at least a dollar or two. My husband, Old Jin, has been collecting these things for many years. They were all lost, and now we only have two left."
He Wan thought it was a pity, but she still reluctantly said, "Alright, I'll give you two catties of rice for each kind."
"Okay, cut me another three pounds of meat."
When He Wan left Director Jin's house, she had an extra wine coupon, two cigarette coupons, and a soap coupon in her pocket.
As for those two copper coins, we'll have to go back and check how much they're worth to Lao Yun.
Besides this place, she also went to Sister Chen's place. She remembered that Sister Chen had given her several wine tickets last time.
Sigh, she really had to run herself ragged trying to get Lao Yun to meet her in-laws.
As it turned out, she was right. Sister Chen worked at the winery, and last year her daughter-in-law gave birth and bought her pig's trotters.
"Sister Chen, I have some baby formula here, do you want some?"
Sister Chen's eyes lit up: "I want it, how much is a bag?"
"Five yuan a bag."
"It's so expensive, can you give me a discount, miss?"
He Wan chuckled: "Sister Chen, to tell you the truth, my father likes to drink, and I want to get some wine coupons."
"Wine vouchers? How about wine?"
"What kind of liquor does Sister Chen's factory sell?"
"I have some Wuliangye at home."
"Sure, but I still want a few wine tickets."
Sister Chen didn't say anything, but took her to her cellar: "Girl, my husband likes to hoard liquor, not just Wuliangye, but all kinds of liquor on the market. How about you take a few bottles and exchange them for two bags of milk powder?"
He Wan's eyes lit up. "There's such a thing? Of course it will work!"
I looked through the pile of liquor with a flashlight and instantly realized how ignorant I was.
What did she see?
The various brands of wine are still piled up in the cellar, case by case.
Seeing He Wan's puzzled look, Sister Chen smiled and explained, "My husband and I both work at the winery. He's a master brewer who's worked his whole life, and storing this wine didn't cost us much money."
"Oh, then I'll choose."
"Choose one."
In the end, He Wan picked out two bottles of aged Moutai, Wuliangye, and a kind of liquor called Laijiu from the wine cellar. She only knew that Moutai was expensive, and she only took the older ones from the others.
Finally, they gave Sister Chen two packets of milk powder, two pounds of brown sugar, a chicken, three pounds of pork, and ten pounds of millet.
After finishing this transaction, He Wan went to the post office. She hadn't been there all winter, for three or four months. She hadn't had time to come and collect her pension, which was twenty yuan a month. This time, she received a total of eighty yuan, along with four industrial coupons, dozens of kilograms of grain coupons, several kilograms of meat coupons, coal coupons, cloth coupons, and oil coupons. She could use these to exchange for goods later.
In addition to these, she also received a package mailed to her by Uncle Gu.
He Wan found a secluded spot and entered the space. She opened it and saw that it must have been mailed by Uncle Gu during the Chinese New Year. Inside were a pound of brown sugar, canned goods, several meat coupons, a small women's military overcoat, and a letter.
He Wan smiled after watching for a while. Uncle Gu had helped her rent out the house to a local magazine for ten yuan a month. He only rented the front yard, leaving the back yard for her to stay in when visiting relatives or going home.
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