The cold winter is here, and November is usually a time of heavy snowfall. However, this year's snowfall is less than in previous years.
The heavy snow fluttered on the ground and turned directly into water. Due to the temperature, the roads leading into the mountains were all frozen.
While the sun was out, Lu Shiyi drove with Qishe to the supply and marketing cooperative. Hutou had called yesterday and agreed to deliver the food to the foot of the mountain tonight.
"Tuan Lu, this road is frozen at night. If you don't drive well on the ice, the car will slip." Qi She sat in the back seat.
Before Qishe got into the car, Lu Shiyi reminded him that only Su Jin could sit in the passenger seat.
"If you're not careful, you'll bump into the trees nearby. In winter, you can only go out during the day." Lu Shiyi pointed to the streetlights on the side of the road. "So that we can have lights when we go into the mountains at night. In winter, the light is not enough."
"Tuan Lu, has the mountain been closed at this time in previous years?" Qishe had not been to the border of the northeast for many years, and this was the first time he saw the winter at the border.
Qishe wondered whether to go on patrol at the border where his former comrades had served.
"Tomorrow morning at 5:30, follow Zong Li and his team to patrol, and stay at the sentry post at night." After Lu Shiyi found that the Qi snake had come to the farm, he became absent-minded and instantly understood what he was thinking.
"Captain Lu, I'm sorry to trouble you, Commander. I've been living alone since everyone in my family died." Qi She felt sorry for the elder. As the head of the snake group, Qi She could retire with the elder and stay with the elder as a guard in the future.
"When the elder retires, it's time for you to leave the Snake Group. Do you want to continue serving in the team like me, or go to the elder's side?" Lu Shiyi asked Qi Snake, "You only have six months to consider. If you want to continue serving, you need to train someone to take care of the elder."
"Black Snake and I always followed the elders, and they took care of us. Besides, our families are all gone," Qi Snake explained casually, but his eyes were red. "During the war to defend our country, Black Snake and I were both in Yanbian. Eagle Country's planes bombed our homes, and neither of us could escape."
Lu Shiyi gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, feeling sad, and for a moment he didn't know how to comfort him.
"You will follow the elder in the future. At least you will have an elder in your family." Lu Shiyi looked at Qishe, "Wait until we return to Beijing together. The elder's family compound is on the right side of my grandfather."
Looking at the situation at home in the imperial capital, Qi She clenched his right hand several times and finally stared at the rearview mirror.
"Captain Lu, the family compound in the imperial capital is currently in chaos. The old men left there, and the compound has been locked up. Some old men were sent to the farm here, and the logistics personnel will distribute the houses as soon as possible."
The staff in the family compound were replaced in batches, and everyone left very quickly.
"I know!" Lu Shiyi smiled bitterly. "Achang and my former classmates and childhood friends all lived in the same courtyard. Nowadays, few families are still there. Some have moved to other retirement homes, and some..."
The car soon stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative. Lu Shiyi and Qi She got off the car together. Qi She started buying things with the tickets. The supply and marketing cooperative had a complete range of goods. Qi She had exchanged her tickets for military tickets in advance.
The sales clerks saw Lu Shiyi coming again and greeted him one after another. Some even asked why Su Jin didn't come with them.
"It's too cold. I can't take Hanhan out anymore. My wife and son won't come until spring." Lu Shiyi handed Su Jin's shopping list to a familiar salesperson, "Please buy all of these for me."
"These are defective items that don't require tickets. Do you want to buy the ones that require tickets, or those?" The salesperson gave Lu Shiyi a choice. If it was Su Jin, he would have taken him to the back.
"Let's get a defective one, so I don't have to buy it back and Xiao Jin will still blame me!" Lu Shiyi pulled his bangs helplessly.
Qi She looked at Lu Shiyi in surprise. In the imperial capital, the whole Lu family was rich and powerful, so they would never say such a thing.
"Then come with me. This person came with you, so come along and take a look." The salesperson was unusually good-tempered. "Most of these defective products have inconspicuous flaws that don't affect their use."
Lu Shiyi gave Qi She a look, and Qi She followed Lu Shiyi to the warehouse at the back.
In less than half an hour, Lu Shiyi and Qi She bought everything they needed.
"Tuan Lu, is this how my sister-in-law buys things?" Qi She sat in the back seat and looked at Lu Shiyi in surprise.
"Xiao Jin thinks the ticket can be lent to others, so we should save as much as possible." Lu Shiyi told Qishe, "We can't go back yet. We need to go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables for winter storage."
"Tuan Lu, we have already bought the winter vegetables, why do you need to buy some more here?" Qishe asked.
"Yes, the logistics department can't buy much. If we divide it among each family, there shouldn't be much left." Lu Shiyi whispered to Qi She, "But the families of the farm can't come down the mountain often. The amount of winter vegetables we bought is too large, and it's inconvenient to transport them into the mountains."
Qi Snake walked on the street and looked at the many winter vegetables placed on both sides of the road.
"Didn't they say there wasn't enough food?" the Qi snake wondered.
"Every household's private plots cannot be used to grow grain, but you can grow vegetables and sell them. After exchanging the money, you can buy grain." Lu Shiyi told Qi Snake.
Lu Shiyi stopped in front of a stall and talked to the stall owner. Qishe saw that Lu Shiyi gave the stall owner three food coupons for 6 kilograms of fine grain, and then exchanged all the cabbages on the stall.
"Six catties of fine grain can be exchanged for 200 catties of coarse grain," Lu Shiyi told Qishe. "Originally, the ratio of fine grain to coarse grain wasn't this high. Due to the food shortage, fine grain is even more difficult to obtain."
Following Lu Shiyi's instructions, Qishe hurried to another stall, which was full of potatoes.
"Stall owner, how many fine grain coupons do I need to exchange for these potatoes?" Qishe looked at the stall owner's potatoes, which weighed over a thousand kilograms, and murmured in his heart.
"Twelve kilograms of fine grain coupons will be enough. I'll bring them to your car." The stall owner chuckled. "I know the guy you were standing next to. He's from the armed forces."
Qishe thought that there were many people in his family, so buying more potatoes could serve as food.
Lu Shiyi stood next to the jeep and placed the things he bought on the passenger seat. Half of the trunk was filled with cabbage and the other half was prepared for potatoes.
"Put the potatoes here." Lu Shiyi pointed to the open space on the other side.
The stall owner put the sack of potatoes on the cart and greeted Lu Shiyi, while Qi She took out the grain coupons from his pocket.
"Military food coupons? Actually, one kilogram less is fine." The stall owner smiled innocently, "For every 10 kilograms of military food coupons, you can get an extra kilogram of fine grains."
The stall owner planted potatoes on all his private plots. Except for the potatoes left at home, he wanted to exchange the rest for other coarse grains.
In November, the commune opened a market, where nearby villagers could exchange a lot of food, so that everyone could survive the winter within the scope of their rights.
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