Shen An Ning opened the luggage she brought. There was a thin quilt, several thin cotton clothes that were just right for her now, toothpaste and toothbrush, a few pieces of paper, soap, clam oil, vanishing cream, and Chunjuan Astragalus Cream. These were all prepared for her by her aunt. It was very complete.
While his younger brother and sister weren't paying attention, Shen An Ning took out some canned snacks from the space.
After opening the snacks and placing them on the kang, she also opened a can of food and found a spoon from her backpack. Shen Anning looked at her younger brother and sister and discussed with them, "You two eat at home and look after the house. Can I take advantage of my free time to go to the village carpenter and get some things for our family?"
Although the twins wanted to follow, it was not easy for them to leave someone at home. The door was not locked yet, so they had no choice but to let Shen An Ning go alone.
The carpenter's house was not difficult to find. In order to facilitate the transportation of wood from the mountain, his house was close to the foot of the mountain and close to the river.
When Shen Anning arrived at the carpenter's house, several people from the educated youth site had already started picking things there.
Seeing Shen Anning, Xu Hongxia waved for her to come over.
"Hey, An Ning, come here quickly and take a look. Uncle Wang's craftsmanship is really good. This cabinet and other things are very practical. I like them all. It's a pity that they can't be placed in the house." Xu Hongxia sighed with regret. Her parents both had jobs and were not short of money. It was because her younger brothers and sisters had just graduated from elementary school and she couldn't find a job, so she went to the countryside as an educated youth. Her family gave her a lot of money.
Seeing that the female educated youth looked a little conflicted, Shen Anning advised: "Just buy some practical things. I see that you didn't bring any basins, so remember to buy wooden basins." After Shen Anning's reminder, the educated youth picked out the things that they needed at the moment and were practical. Because there were several people buying a lot of things together, the eldest son of carpenter Wang Genfa helped them pull them back with a cart.
Seeing that everyone at the educated youth site had left, Shen Anning slowly began to pick things up. It would be easier for her to get things done when no one was around.
Looking at the remaining things in the house, Shen Anning looked up and asked: "Uncle, I want to buy a lot of things. Are all the furniture you have made here?"
Wang Genfa knew that there was an educated youth in the village who had built a house before he even arrived. He looked at Shen Anning and said, "You must be educated youth Shen, right? This room is made up of small items, and the warehouse next door is made up of large items. We've been busy raising seedlings recently, and there will be a lot of people getting married in two months, so we've made a lot of furniture in advance. Take a look first. If it's not enough, tell me your requirements and I'll make you new ones. It will only take half a month."
Shen An Ning picked and chose and bought two kang tables for dining, three wardrobes (one large and two small), a row of vertical cabinets, two long tables with high legs, six matching chairs, a grain cabinet for storing grain, a large bath tub, three wooden basins, two wooden barrels, and two racks that could hold the wooden basins.
Since she bought a lot, the carpenter uncle also gave her a shoulder pole, a chopping board, a pair of chopsticks and a chopstick holder.
After waiting for a while, the cart that was delivering things to the educated youth site came back. The carpenter uncle and his son helped to deliver it, and also helped to move the things into the house and arrange them according to Shen Anning's requirements.
This trip to buy furniture cost over fifty yuan. Not all of this money went to the carpenter; some of it was meant for the village. Wang Genfa knew that these educated youth had coupons, so although he felt a little embarrassed, he still offered to get a discount in exchange for some coupons. "Well, educated youth Shen, my eldest son is getting married in a few months. Do you have any cloth coupons or industrial coupons? Could you use these furniture coupons to pay for them?"
Shen Anning thought about it and didn't refuse. They had just arrived and had more or less some things in their hands. It would be a bit unreasonable to refuse. Besides, she had enough things. "Uncle Carpenter, I have two industrial coupons and no cloth coupons, but I have a piece of red cloth in my luggage that can make a dress, and a piece of army green cloth, which is enough for a shirt. If you like it, I will send it to you after I get my luggage back."
Wang Genfa was very happy to hear this, and immediately said that it would be a discount of six yuan, which would be considered as buying the two pieces of cloth and two industrial coupons. Currently, only workers have industrial coupons, and they are based on wages. In different places, ten or twenty yuan of wages are allocated to one industrial coupon per month, so it is very difficult for people in rural areas to buy thermoses and lunch boxes, which require industrial coupons.
After sending the people away, Shen An Ning looked at the furnished rooms. She and her sister An Xuan lived in the east and west rooms of the north house. The middle room was used as a living room. There was a row of vertical cabinets against the north wall, where some things could be placed on them, and some food and daily necessities could be placed in the cabinets.
A table and four chairs are placed in the main hall, where you can sit for dining or relaxing.
The north room in the east wing was for An Yu to live in. A table and two chairs were placed in the outer room for the twins to study. The bath tub and wooden basin were placed in the warehouse.
Looking at it this way, it seems that we are still missing a few small cabinets. We can put them in our respective rooms to store some things and wait until we deliver the cloth to the carpenter's house in the afternoon.
The pot in the kitchen is connected to the kang in the east room, and there are two stoves, one big and one small. The house is basically stocked with things, and she can wait for the remaining small items when she goes to town in the afternoon.
Just as I was thinking about how to get a bite to eat at noon, Xu Hongxia came over with food. "An Ning, come here quickly. This is your rations for this month. There are only ten days left this month, so the village approved ten kilograms per person. I sent it to you. Sister Wanli made you some corn cakes."
Shen Anning felt warm in her heart, "Thank you, Hongxia, I was just thinking about going to the brigade headquarters to take a look." Shen Anning took the food and looked at it. There were three pounds of white flour, seven pounds of corn and grits.
"Hey, the village chief said that we only have these few pounds of fine grains because we are educated youth. The villagers can only eat white flour and rice during festivals." Xu Hongxia was also very worried. The subsidy was only available in the first year. Now it is April, the autumn harvest is in October, and the grain is distributed in November. If they don't work hard in these months, they will have nothing to eat next year.
"Don't worry, as long as we work every day and don't slack off, we will definitely earn enough food to eat. Besides, if your family sponsors us a little more, we won't starve."
"I'm going to town to pick up my luggage this afternoon. Is there anyone from your place who wants to go with me?" Shen Anning looked at Xu Hongxia lying on the kang and handed her a piece of cow tongue biscuit.
"Go ahead. I also want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. The money and notes my parents gave me when I came here were too many things, so they didn't leave some daily necessities for me." Xu Hongxia didn't stay long and agreed to meet at the village entrance at two o'clock.
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