Chapter 24 People from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative
Cheng Qiao smiled. This secret couldn't be kept hidden after all. She wasn't living alone, and she wanted her future mother-in-law to enjoy a peaceful life. She couldn't hide it without Li Huan's help.
Li Huan found a sack, put the things Cheng Qiao pointed out into the sack, then locked the door and prepared to leave.
But Cheng Qiao stretched out her hand. Li Huan sighed and handed over the key obediently. It seemed that he had to be more careful in the future, otherwise he would lose a lot of money by getting Cheng Qiao involved.
The two went to the state-owned restaurant, and Cheng Qiao saw the dishes served today written on the blackboard, including braised pork, carrot and pork belly, scrambled eggs with green onions, tofu, stir-fried vegetables, and three-fresh soup.
There were quite a lot of staple foods, including rice, noodles, pies, dumplings, steamed buns, basically everything that could be expected. She took out her money and tickets and ordered all the meat dishes and a few vegetables as well.
She also ordered a serving of dumplings, steamed buns, pies and rice, which made the fat waiter look up at her. He was about to curse, but was silenced by Cheng Qiao's next move.
Cheng Qiao looked around and saw that there was no one else except Li Huan, so he quickly took out ten White Rabbit milk candies from the bag and placed them on the inside of the counter.
"Sister, my family is about to harvest in autumn, and I want my mother and sister to eat better, so I want to buy more to bring back."
The fat waiter was a foodie. When he saw the White Rabbit candy, his throat moved, and his chubby hands quickly rolled the candy into his pocket, then he put on a smiling face.
"Okay, that's eight dollars and twenty cents in total, one pound of meat coupons, and two and a half pounds of grain coupons. If you don't bring enough lunch boxes, you can borrow them here. The deposit is five dollars. Do you want them?"
"Yes, yes. Thank you, sister. I'll bring you some egg cake when I come back to return the lunch box."
"Sure, sure."
Li Huan couldn't help but smile when he saw how Cheng Qiao had established good relations with the arrogant waiter in such a short time. His wife was really amazing.
After lunch, Li Huan originally wanted to let Cheng Qiao sit on the front of the bicycle and take her back to the hospital, but Cheng Qiao refused, saying it was too conspicuous.
At Cheng Qiao's insistence, Li Huan first sent the things back to the village, and then returned to the hospital. As for Cheng Qiao, she was basically fine and could walk back to the hospital slowly by herself.
Li Huan nodded in agreement helplessly. He watched Cheng Qiao walk steadily towards the hospital before he hurried to the village. He wanted to come back as soon as possible to accompany Cheng Qiao.
When Cheng Qiao saw Li Huan leaving, she ran to the supply and marketing cooperative. She wanted to know what the cooperative was selling so that she could transfer the things in the grocery store.
There were much fewer people in the supply and marketing cooperative than in the morning. Cheng Qiao walked in and looked at the basically empty supply and marketing cooperative. She was speechless. Is the purchasing power of people nowadays so strong?
Seeing that there were still rubber shoes on the cabinet, she hurried over, pointed at the shoes and asked if she wanted a ticket. If she needed a ticket, she couldn't buy them.
The salesperson took a look at Cheng Qiao and was frightened by the thick gauze on her head. This girl was injured, but she still came out to buy things. She must have a reason to buy something.
"My mother is going to the fields to harvest the autumn harvest, and I want to buy her a pair of rubber shoes."
"This pair has some defects, so I don't need a ticket. But it's a size 35. I don't know if your mother can wear it."
"Yes, it can be worn. My mother's shoes are exactly size 35. Thank you, sister."
The salesperson was already in her thirties, and when a young girl called her "sister", her mood naturally improved. She turned around, took off her rubber shoes, put them in a shoe box, and prepared to issue the invoice with a smile on her face.
"Three dollars and eighty cents. Do you have money?"
"Bring your sister, give you money, and this too."
Cheng Qiao had a pink and blue hairpin in her hand. It was the most popular butterfly hairpin of that era, and it cost fifty cents each.
The salesperson's eyes lit up. She had been thinking about this hairpin for a long time, but was reluctant to give it up because it was too expensive. She didn't expect that the girl in front of her would be so generous to give it to her.
"My last name is Qiu, Qiu Min. Come see me when you are free."
"Well, Sister Qiu, my last name is Cheng, Cheng Qiao, I'll come and play with you later."
In this way, the two of them established a revolutionary friendship. Cheng Qiao walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative with rubber shoes in his hand with cheerful steps, returned to the ward, changed into hospital gown, and went straight to bed.
When Li's mother saw Li Huan coming back with so many things, she looked at him worriedly, not knowing how to start the conversation. However, Li Huan smiled:
"Mom, this is Cheng Qiao's gift to you. You and Li Le can eat it. These are Cheng Qiao's dowry. I will send them to the educated youth camp when she comes back."
Li's mother's eyes lit up, the Chen family had received the compensation.
"Mom, the Chen family paid 700 yuan in compensation. I applied to the village chief for a piece of land behind our yard. After the autumn harvest, I asked the villagers to help build a house."
"No, you're going to use Cheng Qiao's money like this, and mother doesn't agree."
"Mom, this is what Cheng Qiao meant. Our yard is too shabby. If I get married, my eldest brother will have no place to live when he comes back at the end of the year."
Li's mother remained silent. There were only one main room and two guest rooms in the house. She and Li Le shared one room. If Li Huan got married, their eldest son Li Bing would have to sleep in the main room.
"I still have three hundred dollars here. Why don't you use this money to build a house? I absolutely won't allow you to use Cheng Qiao's money. This is the money she exchanged for her life and the rest of her life."
Li Huan laughed. He would never use Cheng Qiao's money. But now he had to use Cheng Qiao's money because he had no money left and he had to hand it all over to Cheng Qiao.
"Mom, Cheng Qiao will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. You can bring the betrothal gifts to propose marriage at noon. I will go to the fields."
Mother Li nodded and said that she would clean the bicycle thoroughly and prepare rice and noodles when Li Huan came back tomorrow.
The next morning, Li Huan sent Cheng Qiao back to the educated youth center and went back. Cheng Qiao looked at the empty educated youth center and hurriedly tidied up her cabinet and bed.
Han Chunmei was the first to return to the educated youth camp. It was her turn to cook today. When she saw Cheng Qiao coming back, she ran over and asked, "Oh, how is your head now? Does it still hurt?"
Cheng Qiao smiled and nodded. Of course it hurt. It was so painful to have a hole in the forehead.
"This Chen Chunhua, she has the best relationship with Xu Laidi, you have to be careful of her in the future."
"Thank you, Sister Chunmei. As long as her family has money to compensate, we can do it again."
"What nonsense are you talking about, girl? This is your own flesh and blood. I wonder if the wound will be big enough after the gauze is removed. Otherwise, your face will be disfigured."
Cheng Qiao nodded. She was not afraid of being disfigured, but she was afraid that Li Huan would be harmed by Xu Laidi again, so the most urgent thing was to get rid of Xu Laidi.
"Sister Chunmei, what are you eating today?"
"What else can we eat? It's just corn paste with some wild vegetables and a few sorghum cakes. Now we don't ask for good food, we just want to be full."
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