She was going back to school at the end of August. To live and eat at the school, she needed food coupons. Because of these food coupons, Tang Cuimei didn't stay at home during the summer vacation. She worked as a caregiver at the county hospital. Surprisingly, because she knew medicine, she helped a lot of people. In just over a month, she actually earned more than 100 yuan.
She took all the money to the black market, exchanged it for food coupons, meat coupons, and grain, and then stored it in her warehouse for safekeeping. She knew there would be a disaster this winter, so she prepared more grain than food coupons. In case of a real crisis, even with coupons, it might be difficult to buy food, so hoarding grain was more reliable.
Once they got to school, the two sisters no longer had to worry about food.
Tang Cuixiang wasn't idle either. She was good at cooking, so the canteen asked her to work as a kitchen helper. Regardless of how many work points she would get each day, at least she could eat as much as she wanted, enough to fill her stomach. It was worth it to work so hard in the canteen in this hot weather. Even washing dishes was something she enjoyed.
In mid-August, the admission notice arrived, and I was overjoyed to finally be admitted to the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology, where I will be working in the military industry in the future.
Tao Ran performed well in the college entrance examination and was admitted to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which was established last year by the Capital Institute of Technology (later known as Beijing Institute of Technology). His future career path is in aerospace research. This major was jointly recommended by Tang Cuimei and Tang Cuixiang.
Even their beloved electromechanical engineering is a popular major in the aerospace and military industries. These two brothers are truly worthy of their name. Although they did not directly apply to military academies, both of these schools are among the future "Seven Sons of National Defense," so they are serving the country from the rear.
Compared to his two brothers, Zhou Yue was much more straightforward. He went through a series of physical examinations and political reviews beforehand. He originally wanted to apply to the Military Engineering Academy (the predecessor of the National University of Defense Technology), but at that time the school had very limited majors, and most of them were related to the military. So Zhou Yue finally chose the Air Force Department of Harbin Military Engineering Institute. He planned to become an air force pilot in the future. Of course, he would need to undergo more rigorous assessments after entering the school.
Every pilot is a treasure to the nation, and becoming a qualified pilot is more difficult than any other profession.
Three students from the family have gone on to university, all of them to military-related institutions. It should have been a time of celebration, but things were rather chaotic at the moment. The Tao family kept a low profile and only gathered the Tang sisters together for a meal. This was not only to celebrate the three children getting into their desired schools, but also to encourage Tang Cuimei and Tao Qing to achieve their goals in next year's college entrance examination.
Because they had to undergo military training at the school in advance, they started packing their bags and heading to their respective schools a week after receiving their admission notices.
Whether they go to Harbin or the capital, it's colder there than here. But they all got into major military academies, so they don't need to bring anything. The schools will provide everything for them. So their luggage is much lighter than that of other college students.
On the day she saw her three older brothers off at the train station, Xiao Jiu cried so hard that her snot got all over Zhou Yue's shoulder.
"Why didn't you cry this hard when I went to L City? Don't cry, I'll send you some delicious red sausage later."
"How can that be the same? That place is so close, they can come back whenever they want. But this time you're going to the far northeast, it's so cold there, who knows when you'll be back!"
"Of course I'll come back during the holidays,"
"Nonsense. It's not that easy for you soldiers to come back. I don't care. You have to write to me every month to let me know that you're all doing well."
As she spoke, she looked at Tao Zui and Tao Ran with teary eyes, which made the two brothers feel uneasy, so they quickly raised their hands to indicate their agreement.
With their assurances, Xiao Jiu finally let them leave. As she watched them board the train, Xiao Jiu couldn't help but shed tears again.
Zhao Lingli joked with her, "If you miss them, why don't you just buy tickets and go see them? It's not like we can't afford train tickets."
Unexpectedly, Xiao Jiu took it seriously. "Mom, are you serious? I can really go to the Northeast to find my brother and the others?"
Seeing that her daughter was serious, Zhao Lingli hesitated for a moment, "It's possible, but you can't do it alone. What if you get lost?"
"Isn't my aunt in Harbin?"
"Oh dear, your uncle has been transferred to a major city, he's no longer in Harbin,"
Afterwards, they quickly coaxed Xiaojiu home, believing that this was only temporary and that the girl would forget about it after a few days.
After the three brothers left, Tang Cuimei took Tang Cuixiang to study in L City. Before they left, Xiao Jiu secretly gave them ten catties of meat coupons.
"We need to use this hostage quickly, or it will expire."
She said this in case the two sisters refused. Tang Cuimei knew that this little sister was also a remarkable person, so she thought of repaying her in other ways in the future.
In fact, Xiao Jiu was no ordinary man. Occasionally, he would sneak into the county town to sell some grain and exchange it for grain coupons and meat coupons. He would take them out from time to time to improve the family's meals. The few pigs slaughtered in the village every year would probably only give each household less than a pound of meat. How could that be enough?
She was greedy but couldn't just take the meat out directly, so she always came up with all sorts of ways and excuses to exchange for meat coupons, buy meat to nourish her parents, and of course, she was also greedy herself. She always felt that the meat in the space was not tasty, and that hormone-treated pigs could not compare to the pork from domestic pigs nowadays!
Based on historical trends, this winter will face severe challenges, which is why Xiaojiu arranged meat tickets for the sisters in advance.
My brothers all went to military-related schools, where room and board were free, and they received stipends upon enrollment. This was a school they specifically chose to ease the burden on their families, so they didn't have to worry too much about food.
After my older siblings left, there was no land left in the family. The only land we could cultivate was the small plot in our own yard. All the other land was assigned to the production team, which then allocated and managed it.
Everything in the house, including farm tools and kitchen knives, was confiscated. It would be difficult for anyone to cook a meal in their own home.
If you want to boil water, and you don't have an iron pot, you can only use earthenware pots or similar containers to boil water and cook food.
Fortunately, the small restaurant was prepared and hid it in advance.
Even so, they were extremely careful. After eating three meals a day in the canteen, if they wanted to eat something at home, they had to climb up to the roof to take down the hidden ironware, use it, and then put it back up. After a while, they found it too complicated and became too lazy to bother.
Instead, she would sneak into her spatial dimension while working, where at least she had all her belongings, even firewood.
But every time she lit a fire, it would create a thick, smoky mess that lingered for a long time, making her feel embarrassed to cook in it.
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