Li Mancang had already explained the way to the county town in detail to Xu Jianguo last night.
After leaving the village, walk along the mountain road to the commune, and then walk north for another hour to reach Fu'an County.
Xu Jianguo carried a bamboo basket on his back to cover him when taking things out of the space.
After walking for more than 40 minutes, there was no one on the road. Xu Jianguo guessed that the autumn harvest was about to begin and all the villages should be very busy.
He took out a cup of space well water from the space, walked to the shade of a tree on the side of the road and rested for a while, and his strength was completely restored.
When Xu Jianguo arrived in Fu'an County, it was already past ten o'clock in the morning.
"Alas, my physical condition is still too poor." Xu Jianguo sighed.
After entering the county town, I couldn't help but frown at the scene around me.
Normally, the streets should be crowded with people at this time, but at this moment, there are only a few people on the streets.
Not only that, almost everyone he could see had a pale face and thin body, with weak steps, and looked like they were about to collapse at any time.
Looking at the buildings in the county town, you can rarely see houses with more than three stories. Low bungalows are scattered on both sides of the narrow and dilapidated streets.
In short, the impression Fu'an County gave Xu Jianguo was that it was poor and dilapidated.
This was an indescribable feeling. He originally thought that the county town should be prosperous and lively, but the scene of Fu'an County completely overturned his fantasy.
Xu Jianguo seemed to be walking aimlessly on the streets of the county town, but in fact he was looking for the black market that the villagers talked about.
The black market has existed for a long time, and many things that cannot be bought on the market can be bought here. It got its name because of its shameful nature.
In recent years, disasters have occurred frequently, and the planned economy has also been implemented. In addition to money, people also need various tickets to buy things, such as grain tickets, oil tickets, meat tickets, sugar tickets, etc.
Many families had money and tickets, but there was too little food in the grain stores and the supply could not meet the demand.
If you have money but no tickets, you can't buy anything at state-owned institutions such as grain stores or supply and marketing cooperatives.
Or people like Xu Jianguo who have no money or tickets but a lot of supplies.
The emergence of the black market provides people with a place to exchange money, tickets or various materials.
Xu Jianguo walked around and looked everywhere, going back and forth several times but still couldn't find the black market.
Before he knew it, Xu Jianguo arrived at the door of a state-owned restaurant. Without thinking much, he pushed the door open and walked in.
It was lunchtime, but there was not a single customer in this state-owned restaurant.
Just at the counter at the door, there was a waitress dozing off.
The waitress's head was nodding, and Xu Jianguo was frightened, fearing that she would accidentally break the glass counter in front of her.
Without giving it much thought, Xu Jianguo stood in front of the counter and said, "Hello, comrade, I want to have a bowl of noodles!"
Maybe the waiter didn't hear him or what, but he ignored Xu Jianguo. He had no choice but to say, "Comrade, you..."
At this time, the waiter raised his head and rolled his eyes at Xu Jianguo. "Isn't it just a meal? Why are you shouting?"
"You dozed off during working hours and you think you're right?" Xu Jianguo didn't tolerate her and spoke.
"What does it have to do with you whether I doze off or not?"
"What does it have to do with me? This is a state-owned restaurant serving the people. I came in to eat, and you didn't even say hello, but you're actually dozing off. I'm not upset, but you're the one getting angry first? Who gave you this bad habit?"
"No, I mean, how can you talk like that, kid?"
"That's what I said, what's wrong? If you don't agree, let's go to the street and let them judge it!"
Hearing Xu Jianguo say this, the waiter felt a little guilty and said, "I won't argue with you, a kid. What are you eating?"
Seeing that she had given in, Xu Jianguo didn't insist and asked, "How much are the noodles?"
"Vegetarian noodles are 0.2 yuan, and shredded pork noodles are 0.4 yuan."
He took out 20 cents and handed it to the waiter, saying, "A bowl of vegetarian noodles, please."
After receiving the money, the waiter did not withdraw his hand. "Where's the ticket? 2 taels of food coupons for plain noodles."
Xu Jianguo asked, "I don't have any food coupons."
When the waiter heard this, he immediately said, "How are you going to eat without a food coupon? Get out of here!" Then he stuffed 20 cents in his hand into Xu Jianguo's hand.
Seeing Xu Jianguo standing there, the waiter rolled his eyes at him, then walked out from behind the counter, pushed Xu Jianguo out, and said, "Where did you come from, you country bumpkin? You dare to eat in a state-owned restaurant without a food coupon?"
"What do you mean by a country bumpkin? Do you look down on farmers? Come on, say it again in front of everyone!" Xu Jianguo, who was kicked out of the door, gritted his teeth and shouted at the top of his voice.
When the waiter saw people gathering around him, a look of fear appeared on his face and his tone softened. "Go away. I can't sell anything to you without food coupons!" After that, he closed the door.
Seeing that there was nothing exciting to watch, everyone dispersed.
At this time, an old man in his fifties or sixties walked up to Xu Jianguo and whispered, "Child, are you hungry? I'll give you a pancake. You can't buy food in this state-owned restaurant without food coupons."
Hearing someone talking to him, Xu Jianguo turned around and saw the old man holding a black pancake in his wrinkled hands, about to hand it to him. He quickly said, "Grandpa, no need. You can keep it and eat it. I'll go around again."
Seeing that Xu Jianguo refused to accept it, the old man did not force him. He smiled, put the pancake in his arms and left.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
