Chapter 158: Encounter in the County Town
As luck would have it, I ran into an acquaintance.
Oh, they are not really acquaintances, just two female educated youth at the educated youth site.
He had just walked out of the brigade headquarters with the letter of introduction, and before he had time to put it in his pocket, he ran into Xu Wenfang and Zhang Yun.
"Secretary Lu!"
Before he could speak, Zhang Yun called him, her eyes fixed on his hand: "Secretary Lu, you're here to get a letter of introduction. Are you going into the city?"
Lu Dongping hummed, moving aside to make way for the two of them. He was a cheerful person, but that didn't mean he had endless things to say to everyone, especially women. Since he was married, it was naturally impossible for him to have anything to say.
He doesn't talk to people, but they keep talking to him.
When he was about to go to the third grade classroom to see Wen Wan, Zhang Yun called him again: "Hey, Lu Dongping, when are you going into town? This Sunday? Let's go together, so you can have some company."
Lu Dongping looked back at her and said, "I'm going with my wife. I don't need anyone else to accompany me."
Zhang Yun: ——
A sneer came from the side, and when she turned around, Xu Wenfang had already entered the house.
It was a small matter, and Lu Dongping didn't take it seriously at all. He stood outside for a while during the third grade class. He had come from the commune and had picked up a package from the capital at the post office. He wanted to say hello to Wen Wan, but it seemed like an inconvenient time; she was in class. Lu Dongping didn't have time, and he didn't know how long the class would last.
Listening to the gentle voice, he suddenly felt a little envious of the students sitting in the classroom.
In the classroom, some people were sitting upright and listening to the lecture, while others were sneaking around and looking around. He was seen by the students inside as soon as he showed his face.
Wen Wan was calling on students to answer questions at that time. She saw students in the last two rows raise their hands, which was rare. She raised her hands and called on a student to answer the question.
The child stood up and yelled, "Teacher Wen, your boyfriend is out there looking for you, he's been waiting for you for a long time!"
Wenwan:——
All the children in the class looked outside.
Wen Wan knocked on the desk with her teaching stick and said, "Go stand at the back and copy the question you just asked three times in your homework book."
(ΩДΩ)
When the get out of class was over, Wen Wan left the classroom and Lu Dongping had already left.
After borrowing Lin Chenghai's bicycle, the two of them went out early on Sunday.
The weather was a bit cold, so Lu Dongping put on the new sweater that Wen Wan had knitted for him.
Wen Wan was also wearing a sweater, carrying the army green canvas bag she had carried when she came here, a camel-colored tweed coat, and a thick red scarf wrapped around her neck. The bicycle blew up gusts of cold wind, and she huddled into the scarf like a quail, leaving only her head exposed.
She came here to buy something and also wanted to ask when the bathhouse in the county town would open.
Around October 1st, she could still rub it at home with hot water, but after that, it was too cold.
After asking, I learned that the bathhouse will be open after the Frost Descent Day. She didn't bring any soap, shampoo, etc. today, so she lost a lot.
"Or, let's go to the department store and buy some more. We'll need them anyway, and they're consumables, so they won't go to waste."
Wen Wan's eyes lit up and she nodded hurriedly: "Then buy two towels, and you have to wash them too."
Lu Dongping had known how particular she was about personal hygiene when they were dating, and he'd grown accustomed to it. There were towels at home, Wen Wan's own, bought when they got married. For a typical family in the production brigade, having two new towels would have been a luxury, but for Wen Wan, it felt perfectly normal. She could go even further, with a constant supply of milk powder and malted milk, snacks and candy, and soap, vanishing cream, and shampoo. She rotated through several handkerchiefs, and even used purchased toilet paper when she went to the bathroom, rather than using corn husks, which they used to soften.
There was also a basin at home that she kept alone. At first, Lu Dongping didn't know what it was used for. After they got married, he found out that it was used for washing herself. There was also a separate towel -
Lu Dongping felt that he would never meet anyone more particular than his wife in his life.
"I won't take a bath this time. Today's weather is fine for me. I can just boil some water at home and take a bath. When it gets colder, around the ninth lunar month, we'll bring everything with us and go to the bathhouse."
Wen Wan didn't force him to go into the bathhouse. As long as he paid attention to hygiene, she didn't care how he washed.
After placing the bicycle against the wall and locking it, the two of them entered the department store.
The entire county's food, drink, and toilet needs are all provided in this place, so it is always bustling no matter when you come here.
This time it was the end of the month, when the workers in the factory used their tickets and food coupons to collect daily necessities, and it was especially crowded inside.
Wen Wan looked at the long, crowded line of people in front of her and pursed her lips: "It seems that we came at a bad time."
"It's okay. Since we're here, what do you want to buy? We can buy the same things one by one."
Wen Wan looked at the two long lines at the counter she had been to before and felt a little discouraged. "I want to buy some cloth, Mom and Dad. Chun'e and Donglin both have new clothes, but you haven't. And at home, I want to make clothes for my dad. He always sends me things, and I don't know if he keeps any for himself. Although he can sew and mend, he can't make clothes. My mom used to make clothes for me when she was alive. I've made clothes for so many people, but I've never made clothes for him."
The voice was still soft, but Lu Dongping could sense a hint of sadness in it, as well as the words, "When my mother was around." So, she was a child with only a father but no mother?
She told Lu Dongping all about the good things in her family and never mentioned her mother's death. Lu Dongping always thought that a girl as delicate and soft as her must have been raised by her parents, but he never expected that she was actually a motherless child.
The practitioner quietly squeezed her hand and stood behind her and said, "Then go line up and buy the one that suits you."
Following the line, Wen Wan heard the chatter of the women in front of her. She turned her head and said softly, "Lu Dongping, am I particularly extravagant and don't know how to live?"
Lu Dongping shook his head decisively: "Isn't the purpose of making money to be spent? I will work hard to make money."
His salary had already increased in the first half of the year, to 19 yuan, but he hadn't told his family about it. He still received 10 yuan a month, leaving the remaining 9 yuan undiminished to Wen Wan. He also occasionally earned extra money from scavenging in the mountains or trading in the county, which he saved for future needs. Wen Wan herself earned over a dozen yuan a month, a combined income of more than 10 yuan, a high figure for the two of them, unique in the entire Xihe Brigade. He went to the city once every one or two months, buying only essential items, which was enough to support his family.
Wenwan smiled, her eyes sparkling like stars.
The line was too long. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't easy to come here and it wasn't easy to borrow someone's car, Wen Wan really didn't want to queue any longer.
I don’t know if there will be any suitable cloth when it’s my turn. I really want to cut in line or rush to the front.
Then I heard a surprised voice: "Dongping? You came to the city to buy something!"
Lu Dongping turned around and looked in the direction of the voice. It was Li Chunshu, who was in the queue next to him with a girl with short hair and an oval face. It seemed that they were also here to get some cloth, otherwise they wouldn't be queuing here.
Lu Dongping responded. This cousin was an honest man, with a completely different personality from Li Guifang.
"You, bring your partner here to buy things?"
Li Chunshu's eyes swept over Wen Wan, and he nodded with a simple smile: "My mother gave Jiahua cloth coupons and asked her to come here to buy cloth to make clothes. It's been a while, and the factory is not busy today, so I accompanied her out to buy cloth together." The girl next to him gently pulled him and secretly looked at Lu Dongping and Wen Wan.
Lu Dongping asked, "Has the date been set? When is it?"
"It's the eighth of this month, next Wednesday. I just happened to run into you here. Tell uncle to come early, on the second day of the New Year. If you all come, it will be more lively with more people."
Lu Dongping nodded. "I'll tell them." As for when to go and how many people would go, that was none of his business. He had to be at the commune on Wednesday anyway, Wen Wan had to be at school, and Lu Chun'e, Lu Donglin, and Lu Dongfu all had to go, so none of them could go.
What is the more people there are, the more lively it is? This statement may be believed by only Li Chunshu himself.
Li Guifang was such a stingy woman. If both families brought their families along for the feast, she'd probably end up causing trouble with her uncle. If they really wanted to have a lively party, why not schedule it on Sunday? Wouldn't they be worried about too many friends and kids coming?
The team walked sometimes fast and sometimes slow. After a while, Lu Dongping and Wen Wan moved to the front and put some distance between them and Li Chunshu.
Li Chunshu's boyfriend, Wang Jiahua, finally found an opportunity to ask Li Chunshu, "Chunkushu, what happened just now?"
Li Chunshu said, "That's my third uncle's son, Lu Dongping. The one in front is his wife, Wen Wan. They live in Xihe Brigade, Ganling Commune."
Wang Jiahua looked at the two men's backs thoughtfully. "I remember that Ganling was full of mountains, but they both looked so well-dressed. They didn't look like mountain people at all."
Li Chunshu smiled and said, "Some people in the mountains have had good lives. He works as an officer in the armed forces department, and his wife is a substitute teacher in an elementary school. They both eat public food, so naturally they are better off than others."
Wang Jiahua looked down at the two wrinkled cloth coupons in his hands and felt a little uncomfortable.
They were eating public rations, didn't they also eat public rations when they worked in the factory? The Li couple both worked in the steel mill, and Li Chunshu and she worked in the textile mill. Not counting herself, there were three people in the Li family who were eating public rations, but they were given five yuan and coupons for four feet of cloth for their marriage.
She looked at Lu Dongping, who was wearing brand-new pants and a brand-new sweater. Wen Wan was wearing a woolen tweed of a style she had never seen before. Was life in the countryside better than in the city these days?
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