On the day they went to the county town, the educated youth got up earlier than usual to go to work, and dressed themselves up neatly and presentably.
Lin Zhiheng and Zhang Kangmei did not go; they only made a list of things and asked someone to take them back.
The county town was neither too big nor too small, with only one tram line. Most people in the town traveled on foot, with a few riding bicycles. People from the countryside came to the town by horse-drawn carriages or mule carts, and occasionally a tractor could be seen.
Niu Erdan drove the educated youth directly to the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative in his tractor.
The supply and marketing cooperative looked quite large, with two floors, but the variety and quantity of goods supplied were rather scarce.
Putting everything else aside, even when Qin Hanshu wanted to buy vinegar, the salesperson told her that it was sold out and that they wouldn't be restocking until early next month. The only thing left was something called vinegar essence.
This is a purely industrially produced food, and it tastes terrible.
Qin Hanshu did not buy it.
She had all the necessary oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar in her storage space, but she wanted to buy some to cover up the situation. Since she didn't have any, she decided to give up on that idea for now.
After looking around, there wasn't much to buy at the supply and marketing cooperative.
When they arrived at the county's educated youth office, the educated youth all received subsidies—five industrial vouchers and some non-staple food vouchers.
Finally, Qin Hanshu bought a pound of fine salt, a bottle of soy sauce, a pound of steamed egg custard, two aluminum basins for the kitchen, and three large enamel bowls.
There's no need to buy an iron pot. The Party Secretary specifically instructed us before we arrived that if anyone needed an iron pot, the team would have it made at the commune's blacksmith shop. All we needed to do was pay two industrial coupons and three yuan. Qin Hanshu had already paid the money and coupons.
The others went around to different parts of the supply and marketing cooperative to make purchases. Qin Hanshu took a look around and then went out with her things.
"Comrade Erdan, where should we go to buy grain?" Qin Hanshu asked.
Niu Erdan laughed and said, "Let's go to the grain station to buy grain. When they come out, I'll take you all with me."
Every time a new educated youth arrived, they would carry grain coupons with them and go to the county town to buy fine grains to eat. Niu Erdan got used to it.
He also knew that the food coupons would soon run out, and these educated youths would have no choice but to honestly earn work points.
Seeing that the other educated youths showed no sign of coming out, Qin Hanshu looked around listlessly.
Suddenly, she remembered that she had seen a scrap metal recycling station on the tractor just now, right on this street.
Qin Hanshu said something to Niu Erdan and then headed towards the scrap yard.
There was a long line in front of the recycling station, and everyone's hands were full.
At this point, people's income is fixed. If you want to earn more money, besides saving, you can find the "junk" at home and send it to the recycling station.
Ordinary families don't have that many "junk" items to sell. Most of the people in line had some strange and unusual items. Qin Hanshu even saw someone holding a pair of worn-out slippers trying to sell, but was scolded and sent away by the staff.
Qin Hanshu walked straight past the line and asked the old man at the window, "Grandpa, where is the place to sell things?"
All recycling stations both buy and sell.
The old man looked up at Qin Hanshu and pointed behind him.
Qin Hanshu thanked him and then headed towards the backyard.
The person guarding the backyard was an older woman. When she saw Qin Hanshu come over, she pointed directly at the things in the yard and said, "That pile is 20 cents each, that pile is 50 cents each, that pile is 2 yuan each, and the books are 5 cents each."
At first glance, it was all junk, divided into three piles according to the size of the items, with the books placed separately.
Besides Qin Hanshu, there was only one middle-aged man rummaging through the pile of books.
I'd heard before that some people specifically go to flea markets to hunt for old items. But Qin Hanshu wasn't there to hunt for treasures; she was there to see if she could find any useful tools.
She wanted to cultivate a vegetable garden in the courtyard and plant some trees.
The only tools I have in the space are a hammer and a shovel; I need to find something that can dig.
However, her gaze was first drawn to a pile of broken wood.
It's likely that the wood was left out in the yard for a long time without any shelter, and after being exposed to the sun and rain, the surface of the wood has rotted a bit.
Looking at the pile of broken wood, Qin Hanshu had an idea.
She observed her surroundings.
There is a door in the backyard, leading to a long, narrow alley. Beyond the alley is the main street that the junkyard's main entrance faces.
The alley was a dead end, deserted.
Qin Hanshu asked the older woman, "How much is this pile of wood?"
The broken piece of wood was not included in the three piles of items that were priced.
"You want it?" The older woman glanced at Qin Hanshu. "Five yuan, you can take it all."
After saying that, the old woman, as if afraid that Qin Hanshu would think it was not worth it, added: "That wood is only rotten on the outside. If you remove the outside, it can be used to make furniture."
Qin Hanshu nodded, but didn't say whether she wanted it or not for the time being.
She rummaged through the junk again for the tools she wanted, but unfortunately, she only found a broken saw with a rusty blade.
I did find a ceramic tripod stove, but it was missing a leg. If I leveled it, it should still work. It can burn coal, firewood, or charcoal.
The stove wasn't expensive, only 50 cents.
The middle-aged man who was picking out books had already left sometime earlier. The aunt on duty said impatiently, "How much longer are you going to pick books? I'm waiting to go home for lunch."
There are few employees at the scrap yard, and only one old lady lives in the backyard. She has to lock the door when she goes home for dinner.
Qin Hanshu quickly said, "That's good. Auntie, I'll take that pile of wood and this stove. It'll cost 5.5 yuan in total, right?"
The woman's expression softened a bit. "Yes."
Qin Hanshu handed the old woman 6 yuan and said with a smile, "Could you please help me move that pile of wood to the alley entrance at the back gate? I'll be waiting for my friend to pick me up there."
There was too much wood for Qin Hanshu to move by herself.
The older woman was counting money when she suddenly smiled and said, "Okay! I'll help you carry it."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
