It was the first day of the new lunar month again, the time when every household received their rations. This time, Buling was assigned to line up for the grain, along with Sangshen Tie and others.
In the early hours of the morning, three people rode two bicycles toward the grain station.
The grain depot was located at the easternmost edge of the county town, a twenty-minute bike ride away. When the three arrived, the queue had almost stretched out of the town.
Sangshen told Buling to wait aside, while he and Tiehe lined up.
If he weren't worried that Xiao Hei Niu wouldn't agree, he would have just bought it for her directly, saving her the trouble.
Bling didn't argue with them, but watched the two bicycles from the side. Although bicycles now have a stamp on them when they're bought, there are always people who find ways to remove the stamp and resell them.
As dawn broke, the grain station opened, and the line moved quickly, soon reaching Sangshen and Tiehe. The two exchanged a few words with the staff, who then brought out the grain. Their expressions were somewhat grim, but they accepted it nonetheless.
Then, the two walked over to Bu Ling's side.
Seeing the amount of food in their hands, Buling knew what was going on: "Is that all?"
Keep in mind that they bought enough food for seven people, but what the two of them carried only looked to be about 100 jin (50 kg).
Tiehe's face darkened: "Each person is limited to fifteen jin (7.5 catties), and it's all coarse grains." The jin refers to gross weight, not net weight.
"Only fifteen pounds?"
"The staff said there will be a batch of returned grain in the middle of the month, and we'll come back to buy it then," Sangshen explained.
Bu Ling frowned. She'd eaten the returned grain before—no, the original owner of this body had eaten it. Just thinking about the taste made her feel nauseous.
The grain sold back to us tasted terrible. It was all roasted in large ovens, so it was not only coarse but also bitter and hard to swallow.
Sangshen wanted to say that he would definitely not let her go hungry, but there were too many people around, so he swallowed his words.
At this point, no amount of frowning from Buling could change anything.
"Let's go. We'll be passing by the supply and marketing cooperative soon. I'll go in and buy a big vat. Can you help me carry it?"
"become!"
"Why not!"
Afterwards, the group tied the grain to the back of Buling's bicycle and headed back.
The supply and marketing cooperative, grain station, and non-staple food station were all located on the east side of the county town, so they could pass by them on their way home to their hometowns.
Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Buling stopped the car and asked the two if they wanted to go in and have a look around. Tiehe declined, but Sangshen enthusiastically followed along.
The supply and marketing cooperative was just a large room that sold things like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, needles and thread, and a few other items like lunchboxes and flashlights.
Bling headed straight to the corner, where several jars of various sizes were placed. Since she was alone, she didn't buy any too large ones, just a medium-sized one; there wasn't much else to choose from.
After selecting the mulberries, Mulberry willingly acted as the porter, carrying them to the counter to pay.
She also bought some fruit candies that didn't require coupons; she bought two jin (1 kg), and the two jin she bought at the department store earlier were almost gone.
Hmm~ Most of it was given to classmate Jiang Shitou.
After looking around and finding nothing she needed, she left the supply and marketing cooperative. Sangshen followed her out, handed the jar to Tiehe, and then went back inside.
"I'm just buying something, I'll be right there!"
Mulberry said it would be quick, and indeed it was quick; in a short while, he came out, but empty-handed.
"Where are the things you bought?" Buling asked疑惑地.
"Oh, it's in my pocket," Mulberry replied casually, showing no intention of taking it out.
Bling wasn't that curious. Seeing him return, she said, "Let's go!"
On the way back, Buling carried the grain, while Sangshen carried Tiehe, who sat with his back to the back seat, holding a jar in his arms.
Back at the courtyard house, no one else was home yet. Tiehe first took the jar to Buling's room and placed it next to the cupboard as she requested. Then, taking his own 45 jin of grain, he clapped his hands and went back to the backyard.
Sangshen didn't stay long. He took his grain back to the house, told Buling, and rode off on his bicycle.
Around 10 a.m., Aunt Tian and Aunt Zhao returned, both sweating profusely. Bu Ling immediately handed each of them a bowl of mung bean soup, which she had just started making when she got back; it was perfect for them to drink at this time.
The two groups exchanged their purchases. They heard that each person was only rationed fifteen jin of grain, and their brows furrowed so deeply they could kill flies. But there was nothing they could do; after the money and goods were exchanged, they went home to rest.
Buling also tidied up the vegetables and grains she had bought, locked the door, fastened the safety bolt, and then lay down on the bed to rest.
The safety bolt was described by Bling and had someone make it for her. After it was installed, Bling felt much more at ease; at least the door wouldn't be pried open so easily.
Buling slept straight through until the afternoon, only to be woken up by the noise outside. She opened her eyes, roused herself for a moment, washed her face, and opened the door.
Seeing Brother Wu and his family standing outside, she raised an eyebrow. This family had moved into Sister Lu's parents' house for almost two months because of Sister Yuanyuan's job. Were they finally back?
Grandma Wu was holding her eldest grandson in the yard, calling him her "darling," saying, "You've gotten so thin! Grandma will stew some meat for you."
Little Wu Xiaoqiu has indeed lost a lot of weight. Her chubby cheeks, which were previously pampered by Aunt Wu, are now sunken in, making her look quite pitiful.
Not only Wu Xiaoqiu, but Brother Wu and Sister-in-law Lu have also lost a lot of weight.
It's obvious she suffered a lot at her parents' home.
Bu Ling was just watching for the fun of it; her sister Yuan Yuan wasn't the naive and innocent girl she used to be.
After watching for a while, she found it extremely boring, shook her head, went back inside, and decided to make herself some cold noodles. She would make cornmeal noodles, secretly add some wheat flour, fry some peanuts, stir-fry some chili oil, and slice some cucumber. It would be absolutely delicious in the summer.
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