Dalizhuang
With the captain's promise, He Wan went to Sixth Grandpa's place early this morning to buy a block of tofu.
Then he walked out of the village, and only after he was some distance away did he push his bicycle out and ride it all the way to the commune's vegetable station.
The commune was just a town, and the vegetable station in the town was not big. There were four platforms in the station, and the other people were in the back sorting vegetables or loading goods.
He Wan looked at the vegetables being sold. There were wild vegetables, cabbage, bok choy, potatoes, but very few other things.
Tofu and meat are also available.
There are quite a few people buying vegetables right now. It's only a little past nine o'clock, and the meat is almost all sold out.
A sales clerk noticed that she had been looking around for a while without buying anything, so she asked, "What are you doing? If you're not buying anything, hurry up and leave. This place is only so big; don't block the way for those who actually need to buy groceries."
He Wan wasn't angry. She took out two White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket, grabbed her hand, and asked, "Hello, comrade, I'm from Dali Village. Our village had a lot of leftover beans last year, and we'd like to open a tofu shop. I wonder if your vegetable station will buy them?"
The woman selling the candy twirled the candy in her hand, her expression immediately softening. She said, "It's from Dali Village, you know. I can't make that decision." As she spoke, she pointed to the back door of the vegetable station and said, "Go in through this door. There are two offices in the courtyard. They have signs on them. You'll have to ask our station manager."
"Thank you, ma'am."
As He Wan spoke, she walked towards the door, pushed open the back door, and entered a courtyard. There were two or three large greenhouses in the courtyard, filled with some vegetables. In the northeast corner, against the wall, were two houses.
One of them says "Finance," and the other says "Office."
He Wan knocked on the office door: "Come in."
There were a few desks inside, and three or four people.
He Wan didn't look at it much because she recognized the man from the house she had visited when she bought things in town last time.
Suddenly, a young, unfamiliar colleague walked in, and all the eyes of the office staff turned to her.
He Wan was not intimidated and quickly put on a smile, saying, "Hello, I am a sent-down youth from Dali Village. My name is He Wan. I would like to talk to our station chief about something. Is the station chief here?"
One of the staff members said, "The station manager isn't here." Then he looked at the leader next to him and said, "This is our Director Jin. You can talk to him about anything."
He Wan wanted to hear this: "Hello, Director Jin."
Director Jin stubbed out his cigarette, looked He Wan up and down, and saw that she looked about the same age as his child. How did she become an educated youth?
Are they sending people this young to the city to be educated youth now?
Unaware of Director Jin's thoughts, He Wan smiled and said to him, "Director Jin, our village of Dalizhuang stored some soybeans last year and wants to open a tofu workshop to generate income for the village. They asked me to inquire whether our vegetable station still buys tofu."
Director Jin then asked, "Young comrade, are you really an educated youth sent to the countryside?"
He Wan smiled and said, "Yes, I'm fifteen this year, a bit young. The brigade leader saw that we educated youth weren't very strong, so he told us to use our strengths—raising chickens, ducks, fish—and maybe open a tofu shop while also raising piglets. That's why he asked me to come and ask." She then took two pieces of tofu out of the bamboo basket: "Director Jin, take a look. This is tofu made in our village. Does it meet our station's standards?"
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