Lin Guoqing took the money but did not leave immediately. Zhuang Zhijie enthusiastically escorted him out of the food station and stuffed a 2-liang food coupon into Lin Guoqing's hand at an angle where the staff could not see.
Lin Guoqing opened his eyes, then looked at Section Chief Zhuang with a confused look on his face.
"Section Chief Zhuang, what are you doing..."
"This is the extra reward I just applied for you in the finance office.
It's supposed to be eggs, but you're just trying to make things worse!"
Zhuang Zhijie signaled him to put it away quickly. They were really short of mushrooms these two days, and Lin Guoqing came quickly and was introduced by his cousin, so he should give him an extra ticket.
Although this food coupon was obtained through application, it wasn't completely in accordance with the rules. Furthermore, this was only a one-time event; the next time someone came to deliver mushrooms, they wouldn't have this benefit.
There were many people at the food station and they were all gossipy, so he was afraid that it would cause trouble.
Lin Guoqing quickly put it in his pocket, but his attention was attracted by another point.
"Poultry eggs? Chicken eggs? Is there a reward for delivering these?"
"Yes, poultry eggs, including chicken eggs, duck eggs, and goose eggs, are not only paid according to the unified purchase price, but also awarded with 2 taels of grain coupons per catty. Just like the kind you just took.
Our food station offers a lot of rewards. For every live pig delivered, you'll receive a "feed ticket." With this ticket, you can go to your local grain station and buy 100 jin of rice bran at a reasonable price. This is the best pig feed. In addition, you'll receive 3 shichi cloth tickets.
Zhuang Zhijie was very proud when he talked about the generosity of their food station. Then he asked Lin Guoqing,
"Don't you know? Don't you have any in your city?"
Lin Guoqing: ...He really doesn’t know.
He didn't know whether there was any in the food stations in their city, but there was definitely none in the county.
No one in the village had ever mentioned that there was such a ticket. Generally, the village’s self-produced products were either sold directly to the supply and marketing cooperative in the town, or taken to the brigade to help transport them out.
The price was not high, and those who were smart would rather walk a few kilometers to the county to exchange food coupons or money privately with others.
Either their city is stingy, or everyone is very isolated from information, or... this little bit of money was taken away by the middlemen.
Zhuang Zhijie gave him a sympathetic look and said,
"We supply vegetables to many factories and restaurants every day, and we also sell them to residents. Just send us whatever you want, and we'll take it."
"Do you accept live chickens too?" Lin Guoqing rubbed the food coupon in his trouser pocket lightly with his fingers.
"Of course we do!" Zhuang Zhijie laughed, pointing to the sign above his head. "This is a food station! Even if we don't sell vegetables, we still have to buy poultry!"
After getting the approval from the head of the purchasing department, Lin Guoqing felt much more confident and bold. He even said to Zhuang Zhijie when he said goodbye that they might meet again soon.
Zhuang Zhijie expressed his welcome.
Lin Guoqing felt a lot more relaxed carrying the empty basket.
Seeing that it was still early and thinking that I would have to take Ye Juncai and his friends' car back later, I stopped someone to ask for directions and found the nearest state-owned canteen. I spent ten cents and two taels of food coupons to buy three sesame pancakes, two salty and one sweet.
He wrapped the sweet one and put it in the basket, then covered the basket. He took the remaining two in his hands, returned to the food station, found a place under the shade of a tree, and sat down to wait for Ye Juncai and the others.
By the way, I took out the two sweet potatoes I brought from home.
It was such a hot day that the sweet potatoes were not cold even in his pocket. They were warm and sticky. After Lin Guoqing finished them in a few bites, he felt a sticky feeling in his throat and wanted to vomit.
Forget it, just hold on a little longer, there will be water to drink and food to eat when you get home.
Lin Guoqing originally thought that he would have to wait for more than half an hour, but in fact, it only took about ten minutes before Ye Juncai and his team's car arrived.
Lin Guoqing quickly ran over and got into the car, handing over the cake in his hand.
"Juncai, Brother Liu, here! You must be hungry after running back and forth all afternoon."
Ye Juncai quickly pushed it back, "Hey, why did you buy this for us? It's not easy for you to make some money!"
Just now, after Lin Guoqing got off the car, Brother Liu said to him that as a farmer who works hard in the fields, he should not compare his living standards with others when chatting with them.
Just like the previous statement about having a bicycle, who doesn't want a bicycle? Doesn't Lin Guoqing want one? Is it because the bicycle isn't good enough?
Even when he later said he wanted to buy a tricycle, Brother Liu felt that he was just trying to be brave and afraid of being looked down upon by the two of them. Brother Liu felt that it was mainly because Ye Juncai had started it wrong!
Brother Liu would occasionally go shopping for groceries, so he was familiar with the prices. He gave Ye Juncai some basic knowledge and learned that the retail price of one kilogram of mushrooms in the supply and marketing cooperative was about 20 cents. If Lin Guoqing sold it to places like food stations and supply and marketing cooperatives, the price would only be lower.
"Comrade Lin's basket of mushrooms, even with the two baskets, probably only weighs 10 kilograms! His family painstakingly cultivates mushrooms for months, and all he earns from running back and forth all day is two yuan! How can he buy a tricycle with anything?"
Ye Juncai was deeply shocked. Such a big basket, such a big basket, and the total cost was only 2 yuan?
Last month was his birthday, and his mother gave him a watch, saying it cost 125 yuan.
His son is 10 years old this year and has his own independent room. Because the weather is hot this year, he installed a floor-standing electric fan in his room last week, which cost 340 yuan.
And his wife bought some new leather sandals yesterday, they said they were the latest style, they cost 21 yuan a pair,
Ye Juncai is obviously one year older than Lin Guoqing, but he has never suffered hardship or dealt with farmers. He is as naive as a fool.
Suddenly, such a tragic contrast appeared before him, and he instantly fell into deep self-blame.
And now, Lin Guoqing, who only earned two dollars, still has to send him cakes?
"No, no, Comrade Guoqing, I can't accept this cake from you!"
Everyone was shouting "Comrade Guoqing is here", and Ye Juncai's resolute tone, as if he was taking the oath of enlistment, immediately confused Lin Guoqing.
If Lin Guoqing knew what Ye Juncai was thinking, he would probably be speechless.
Although his family's situation is indeed far worse than Ye Juncai's, it is not really that pitiful.
Lin Guoqing insisted on giving the cake, but Ye Juncai refused to accept it. He pushed it back and forth several times, which made Lin Guoqing anxious.
"Oh, I bought all the food, it would be a waste if you don't eat it!"
"You can eat them yourself! Or take them back to your family. You have to spend food coupons to buy these two cakes!"
Ye Juncai felt sorry for Lin Guoqing when he spoke about it. Brother Liu had just said that rural planning was different from urban planning, and farmers had very few food coupons. How much did Lin Guoqing spend to repay them for the ride?
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