It's not daybreak yet.
Jiang Wanyue was awakened by the knock on the door.
It was Tian Youliang who called her to get up and go to the intersection to pick up the tractor.
She quickly washed her face, tied her hair, straightened her clothes, and opened the door with all her energy.
She didn't have a watch and asked quietly what time it was.
"Four thirty." Tian Youliang said as he walked, "Your father-in-law, Lao Song, is an activist. We agreed to deliver the fish to the county at eight o'clock. I guarantee that he will be here at five or six o'clock. Let's go there early and wait by the roadside. Let them eat something first, so they don't get hungry like we did yesterday."
Jiang Wanyue nodded.
It was still dark at this moment, the street lights were out, and the street was pitch black.
But at this time, the city was slowly waking up. There were cleaners pushing carts to transport garbage on the streets. There were scattered people walking on the streets, and it was unclear whether they were going to school or work. The lights in the state-owned restaurants were also on, and they were preparing breakfast.
Tian Youliang took the food coupons to the state-owned restaurant to buy breakfast, ate with Jiang Wanyue, and then carried a few portions and walked towards the suburbs.
They had agreed on the phone last night that they would meet on the road two hundred meters away from the printing factory.
I stood on the side of the road for a while, as the sky gradually darkened and gradually dawned, I finally heard the rumbling sound of the tractor.
Tian Youliang immediately walked to the middle of the road, raised his arms high, waved and shouted, "We are here, stop, stop!"
The tractor slowly came to a stop.
The driver was Tang Guohui, a man who had met Jiang Wanyue once before. He was a tractor driver in the commune and did odd jobs on a daily basis.
There were two people sitting in the back of the truck.
One is Zhao Xiangyang, the accountant of the brigade.
One is Principal Zheng.
Selling fish in the team naturally had nothing to do with Principal Zheng, but Jiang Wanyue, as a primary school teacher, purchased a mimeograph machine and a thousand sheets of mimeograph paper for the school. As the principal, he fully supported it and came along with all the school's funds.
"Come, eat something first."
Jiang Wanyue placed the breakfast in her hand on the platform next to the truck bed.
Several people got up in the middle of the night and took a two-hour drive to get here. They were indeed hungry and immediately started to eat voraciously.
After eating, Tang Guohui drove the tractor again and headed towards the printing factory.
It was just after six o'clock when we arrived at the printing factory, which was still quite early, and the tractor was parked at the gate waiting.
It was not until the sun came out, around seven o'clock, that people came to work at the printing factory. However, the people who came to work did not recognize them and did not let them in.
The group was not in a hurry until the director of the office arrived. Jiang Wanyue immediately went to greet him: "Director, good morning!"
The director was riding his bicycle. He was startled when he saw her suddenly appear. Then he laughed and said, "It's Teacher Jiang. Are you here to bring me some fish?"
There were a total of ten kilograms of fish in the printing factory, not a lot, just two big grass carps with grass ropes tied around their gills. Tian Youliang and Principal Zheng each carried one and walked over.
"Director, thank you so much!" Principal Zheng put down the fish and shook hands with the director. "I want to thank you on behalf of the children. Thank you for selling the mimeograph machine to us. From now on, the children can finally use printed test papers. There is nothing better in the world than this!"
The director said in a serious tone, "This is what we should do. Children are the future of our country. It is my honor to contribute to their education. Come, let's go and take a look at the mimeograph machine first!"
The group walked in, went to the warehouse, and took out the mimeograph machine. The director demonstrated on the spot how to use it and also gave them some tools.
Then both parties pay.
Principal Zheng paid thirty yuan for the mimeograph machine.
The director paid five yuan for ten kilograms of fish.
Then drive the tractor to the paper mill next door.
The paper mill was already open for business at this time. The security guard recognized them and brought the people from the logistics department out directly.
The paper mill asked for thirty kilograms, and after weighing, the settlement came to fifteen dollars.
At the same time, Principal Zheng bought a thousand sheets of mimeograph paper. This kind of paper was very cheap, costing only twelve yuan in total. At this point, all the money that the school had just earned was spent.
Just as I was about to rush to the textile factory, the logistics director of the paper mill hurriedly said, "Teacher Jiang, do you have any extra fish? Several of our comrades' families have given birth and want to buy some fish to increase their milk production. Some employees also have family members who need fish soup to replenish their bodies. I decided to buy a few dozen kilograms in the name of the company and give them as welfare to the comrades whose families are in need."
Accountant Zhao Xiangyang came out immediately: "Yes, we brought an extra 100 kilograms."
He had been an accountant for many years. Every time the brigade sent something, he, the accountant, had to follow along. Sometimes there would be shortcomings here and there, so he developed the habit of bringing a little extra of everything. He specially asked someone to catch an extra 100 kilograms of fish and load it onto the truck. Now, it came in handy.
The logistics director asked for fifty kilograms on the spot, and this time, twenty-five more dollars were added to the account.
Around nine o'clock, the tractor arrived at its last stop, the textile factory.
As soon as the guard saw Jiang Wanyue, he came up to greet her warmly: "Teacher Jiang, Secretary Tian, Director Qian of our labor union is waiting for you."
As he spoke, he pressed a button and opened the factory gate to both sides. The tractor drove in and then drove to the door of the logistics canteen.
There were actually a lot of people in the cafeteria, all of them were middle-aged women in their fifties and sixties.
Jiang Wanyue asked out of curiosity, and it turned out that everyone in the staff quarters knew that the factory would have fish, so they came here early, and when the canteen killed the fish, they would take some fish innards home to eat, and stew them with some tofu. It was considered a delicious dish... However, tofu was hard to buy these days, and the tofu shops were closed during non-festival periods. If there was no tofu, they would just use radishes.
The canteen chef brought out a large scale and started weighing the fish.
The union distributed a total of 250 kilograms of benefits to outstanding employees, and the provincial textile factory provided a total of 600 kilograms of fish as extra meals.
After the weighing was completed, Director Qian brought the factory accountant to settle the bill.
Settlement of the bill was the responsibility of the accountants of both parties. Jiang Wanyue took a few steps back but someone pulled her sleeve.
She turned around and saw that the person pulling her was Aunt Wang, whom she met at the black market last time. This lady also gave Yingzi three sweaters.
She remembered that the place where Aunt Wang lived before was the textile factory’s staff quarters.
"Big sister, so this fish was bought from your brigade." Aunt Wang smiled and lowered her voice, whispering, "Can you get me some fish separately? It's okay if the price is a little higher."
Jiang Wanyue herself had no money left, so she was planning to find an opportunity to go to the county town to sell things.
She nodded and asked, "Do you want a large quantity?"
Aunt Wang nodded and said, "The brown sugar noodles you sold last time are better than those sold in department stores. People in the compound always ask me where I bought them. If you have extra, bring them all here. There are many people in the textile factory's family compound, so I'm sure we can buy whatever you have."
With these words, Jiang Wanyue felt relieved.
However, she had already missed a lot of classes at school and couldn't go this weekend, so she made an appointment to go next Sunday.
While chatting with Aunt Wang, a problem suddenly occurred on the checkout side - Jiang Rongjun could not be contacted.
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