Chapter 8 Food, Clothing, and Blankets 2
After moving the first day's 80 bags of rice, my exhaustion reached a new level.
While sprawled on the sofa, I couldn't help but Google how many bags of rice a normal person can transport in a day, and the answer was 200 bags.
Looking at the answers on Baidu, I feel like I'm not going to die.
The physical pain seemed to have lessened somewhat.
I don't know if I was too tired or too sleepy, but I fell asleep right away.
The next day was another nightmarish experience.
On the morning of May 22, the delivery guy called my phone non-stop.
I have countless packages to pick up, and the delivery guy told me to hurry up and take them back because the delivery station can't hold them all.
But I still had 40 bags of grain that I hadn't moved, and I tearfully begged him to give me one more day.
The delivery guy finally softened and just told me to go earlier tomorrow.
At noon, I left a bag of rice and a bag of flour on the ground, and moved all the rest of the food to the basement.
Wrap all the grains in plastic sheeting and secure them with tape.
This allows the grain to be stored for longer, preventing insects and moisture.
There wasn't anything urgent to do in the afternoon.
I could have gone to pick up the package, but given my current physical condition, I wouldn't be able to unload it from the truck anyway, so I decided to just give up and rest for the afternoon.
As soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, I drove my little truck to the Cainiao Post Station.
I can't remember how many packages there were, I only remember the delivery guy's legs flashing like a blur as he threw countless packages, big and small, into my truck bed.
I looked at him with an apologetic expression and explained that these were all donated items to the children.
The young man was so exhausted that he felt like he had no will to live and didn't care which school the donation was for.
The van was eventually crammed full, with some packages even piling up on top of the cargo bed.
Luckily, I had the foresight to bring hemp rope and plastic sheeting.
He covered the entire truck bed with a plastic sheet and tied it several times with hemp rope before he felt safe enough to drive the small truck home.
Otherwise, who knows how many supplies would be lost during the bumpy journey, and then it would truly become a donation of charity.
After arriving home, I slowly unloaded the truck and began to organize the pile of supplies.
I haven't sorted out the bunch of stuff I bought at the general store last time, so I'm going to sort it out together with these.
Leave one set of bedding and other linens in each room, and keep one set of four-piece bed sheets for use.
Keep enough clothes to wear, and one of each kind of tool and kitchen utensil.
Take the rest to the basement.
The quilts, pillows, and cotton-padded clothes were compressed into very small sizes and packed tightly in several layers of plastic for easy transport.
I plan not to unpack it if I'm not using it. Storing it like this will prevent it from getting damp and attracting insects.
The shelves are for storing food, small tools, and valuables; I don't plan to put bedding, clothes, or other items on them and take up space.
I group clothes, bedding, shoes, and other items of the same type together, attach a sticky note to each item, neatly stack them in a corner, and wrap them in a large piece of plastic sheeting.
Items that are frequently used, such as underwear, socks, gloves, and masks, are placed in large storage boxes, labeled with sticky notes, and placed in easily accessible locations.
The tools I bought from the general store were packed in boxes provided by the store.
I simply put the two boxes of tools on the bottom shelf, so it's very convenient to grab them whenever I need them.
It was 7:00 PM by the time everything was packed away.
I feel like my physical fitness has improved; I didn't feel tired at all after storing such a large amount of stuff.
Another night without dreams.
The next day, I got up to go to the town market, which was held every Saturday.
I want to buy five buckwheat hull pillows; they won't deform no matter how long they're used to.
I also want to buy a few thick cotton-padded trousers made by people in the countryside.
Although thick and bulky, it provides excellent insulation; you can't buy such thick cotton pants online.
The market was very lively and crowded.
They quickly found a stall selling buckwheat hull pillows.
A pillow costs 25 yuan, and you can fill it with as much buckwheat hulls as you want.
I packed three high pillows and two low pillows, which cost 125 yuan.
Five large cotton-padded trousers cost 300 yuan.
I suddenly saw a really big snow shovel. It's so convenient for clearing snow, so I bought five for 150 yuan.
Although the market was bustling, it didn't do much to help me stockpile supplies for the apocalypse, so I reluctantly prepared to leave.
At the entrance to the market, there are vendors selling brine, which is an important ingredient for making braised tofu.
I remember when I was little, my grandma often made tofu herself. I would scramble to drink the soy milk while waiting to eat the hot tofu.
The brine was a whole block as big as a primary school student's schoolbag, caramel-colored, and looked a lot like a big block of maltose.
When I was little, I thought it was candy and cried and begged for it.
My mom grabbed me and said this stuff is poisonous, and you can only put a small piece in it when making tofu.
As I reminisced about the past, I prepared to go forward and buy some braised food.
How wonderful it would be to be able to eat homemade tofu in an extremely cold, post-apocalyptic world!
I asked the old lady how much the braising liquid cost, and I said I'd take the whole thing.
She looked at me in surprise and said, "Child, you don't need much to make tofu, why did you buy so much brine?"
"My family often makes tofu, so buying more will save me from having to make a trip so often."
The old lady carefully instructed me on how much brine to use when making tofu.
I listened carefully; I definitely needed to understand this knowledge.
At her urging, I bought half a block of braising liquid. She said that half a block of braising liquid could make a hundred or eighty batches.
Cost 160 yuan
Since you've bought the braising liquid, you absolutely must also buy soybeans.
I went to the grain and oil store and bought 300 jin of soybeans.
Soybeans can be used to make tofu, stir-fry with raw soybeans, or make soybean flour. There are many ways to prepare them, and you can buy more than you can eat.
Since we're already here, we might as well buy other grains as well: 300 jin of millet, 300 jin of mung beans, and 300 jin of glutinous rice.
Seeing that I was buying things generously, the shop owner recommended, "This sorghum rice is also quite good, would you like some?"
No, no, no, I shook my head like a rattle-drum; I hate eating sorghum rice the most.
My stomach feels uncomfortable every time I eat; the food is hard to eat, chew, and swallow.
The total cost of the mixed grains was 4,000 yuan.
When I paid the bill, they gave me some small packages of cornmeal, buckwheat flour, and Job's tears to take home and try.
No wonder the boss lady makes money; she's so generous.
So far, we've bought almost all the food items.
After driving home, I moved all the grains to the basement, just like I had done with rice and flour before.
By 5:00 PM, all the items had been put away properly.
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