Under the arrangement of Wu Jun and Lu Shiyi, two trucks took the families into the city for three consecutive days to buy winter supplies. Lu Shiyi accompanied Su Jin into the city every day. Su Jin found that the supply and marketing cooperative had been selling winter-stored cabbage and accumulated sauerkraut.
She compared the prices and directed Lu Shiyi to move the cabbages. Many family members did the same, and all the cabbages in the supply and marketing cooperative were sold out in a short time.
The nearby residents couldn't help but look over curiously. It was obvious that these bosses were soldiers, standing there straight.
The logistics department will deliver winter vegetables to the family compound of the armed forces department in the county town. It was the first time I saw military families come to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy winter vegetables.
"Minister Lu," the director of the supply and marketing cooperative came out and saw Lu Shiyi standing in the team and immediately went to meet him. "The amount of vegetables stored for winter this year is not very large. You guys..."
"The farm was robbed while we were out training. All the winter vegetables that the family members had put on the drying platform were stolen." Lu Shiyi said the excuse that Lin Zitao had come up with.
They said they had been robbed and that life was difficult in the nearby village, so they might have had some bad intentions towards the farm.
This not only satisfies the reason why everyone rushes to buy things, but also keeps the farm's secrets secret.
"Minister Lu, since this is the case, I will apply for winter supplies from above. However, Political Commissar Lin must give me a certificate so that the supplies can be distributed as soon as possible." The director is a veteran and knows that some things cannot be disclosed to outsiders. If there is a shortage of something due to military reasons, the higher-ups will distribute it directly.
Because the mountains in Northeast Province are closed due to heavy snow, the authorities will have to make special arrangements and transport supplies from surrounding areas of Northeast Province.
"That's no problem. We'll give you the certificate when we come tomorrow." Lu Shiyi told the director.
The people around who still had supplies at home came out of the team and prepared to buy more in a few days.
The director noticed the behavior of the nearby residents and smiled, "Minister Lu, those who have things in their homes will leave first. You can buy the things first, and they can come to the supply and marketing cooperative anytime."
"Thank you!" Lu Shiyi said gratefully after hearing the director's words.
Su Jin found that there were fewer people in the team, and the family members only bought the winter vegetables needed by each family, unlike in the past when they would buy more.
After the director left, Su Jin tidied Lu Shiyi's clothes.
"Ayi, is this director easy to talk to?" In the supply and marketing cooperative, some tellers looked arrogant. How come the director was so easy to talk to?
"This director is a retired soldier. The situation here is different from the outside. After the mountain was closed, nothing can be transported in. The surrounding supply and marketing cooperatives take advantage of the opportunity before the mountain is closed to meet the needs of the army and their families as much as possible." After Lu Shiyi came here, he learned about the rules here after being informed by Captain Wu.
Su Jin looked across at the supply and marketing cooperative. Many people who had come to the cooperative with bags in their hands went straight home after chatting with their neighbors.
The team members with red armbands walked in the middle of the street, and the nearby houses closed their doors, worried that the team members with red armbands would enter their homes.
"The situation is getting worse again. People here don't dare to look the red armband team members in the eye." Lu Shiyi whispered in Su Jin's ear, "Go to the post office as soon as you buy things, and call home to ask if the New Year's goods are ready."
Lu Shiyi sent two large packages some time ago, which contained a lot of New Year's goods for his family. He didn't want his elders to queue up in the cold wind to buy things.
Fortunately, the military mail delivers packages every day, and large packages are stored outdoors.
While entering the city, Lin Zitao went to the Armed Forces Department to get the telegraph machine he had applied for. Now when he made a call, the sound was intermittent and the signal had been affected.
After ordering the winter vegetables, they went to the table on the left side of the supply and marketing cooperative's entrance to pay the money, wrote their own names, and waited for the military truck to arrive. The team members would then deliver the purchased winter vegetables back.
The two of them entered the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a lot of seasonings at the seasoning counter. After paying the bill, they put them into the bamboo basket that Lu Shiyi brought with him.
The post office was not far from the supply and marketing cooperative. After she entered the post office, she found it very busy. Some educated youth and people living nearby were mailing things home or picking up packages sent by their families.
Lu Shiyi pulled her and the two of them went to the phone booth to make a call together.
Lu Bairen was opening the package sent by the young couple. He looked at the bag full of frozen meat and his mouth twitched.
"Did the brat send all the meat back?" Du Ruo looked at the nearly 100 kilograms of frozen meat and asked the guards to freeze it all outside.
"Ayi and Xiaojin sent this to you as a gift to our elders," Du Ruo consoled his wife. "We'll divide it among the other families. Each family doesn't have much left."
"My dear, let's send some more money and tickets to Ayi. Xiaojin just gave birth and can't work for the time being." Lu Bairen said coldly, "That brat is always calculating."
"Dad, I have another package!" When Mr. Lu received the package today, his head started to ache.
"Tear it down!" Lu Bairen was annoyed at the two brats. "These are over a hundred pounds of meat. I see there's beef, wild boar, mutton, and roe deer meat. You can take some back later."
"No, we'll all eat at home. My wife's cooking isn't very good." Father Lu immediately shook his head. After opening the sack, he found a piece of paper on top. "Ayi wrote a list for two packages."
Lu Bairen took the list and took a look at it, a smile on his face: "Old lady, Ayi went to Northeast Province to serve in the army for a few years, but after we got married, he prepared New Year's goods for us. There are four sets of clothes for each of us, as well as some roasted nuts and dried fruits..."
As Lu Bairen spoke, bags of things were taken out of the sack.
"It must have been prepared by Xiao Jin. A Yi certainly wouldn't have taken care of it so thoroughly." Lu Bairen looked at the large and small cloth bags on the ground. Inside were grains, dried fruits, dried vegetables, bacon...
Lu Bairen instructed his father and two guards to move the things outside to freeze them when he remembered the phone ringing.
Du Ruo answered the phone and a smile immediately appeared on her face when she heard Lu Shiyi's voice.
"You little brat, did you send all the food from home? Xiaojin just gave birth. I'll ask your dad to send the money and tickets over later. Don't send meat home anymore." Du Ruo started muttering as he came up.
Lu Shiyi put the phone next to Su Jin's ear and listened. His mouth twitched. Du Ruo liked him the most and gave him delicious food every time he came home. Now, he also recommended the two of them.
"Grandma, I saved some food for the New Year. Ayi went into the mountains to hunt, and we have been stockpiling meat since the beginning." Su Jin heard Du Ruo's voice and chatted with her happily.
The smile on Du Ruo's face deepened. "Xiao Jin, how is Hanhan? Has he gained weight? Your grandpa found some milk powder coupons and will give them to you later. Remember to replenish your nutrition."
Lu Bairen stood aside, listening attentively to what the other side said about Hanhan's situation. The old man wanted to see Hanhan very much, but he couldn't leave the imperial capital privately.
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