A few years later, when the craze reached its peak, many families realized that while it was glorious, there was really nothing substantial to show for it. Some of the children who were doing well would occasionally send things back home.
However, these were all city kids who had never done farm work. It was already quite difficult for them to support themselves in the countryside. Almost every family had several relatives in the countryside, so they were all familiar with rural life. They knew what rural life was like and were more aware of whether their own children could survive and how they would fare.
Everyone knows that it's not easy to endure the hard work in the countryside; just filling one's stomach is a challenge, let alone anything else, and saving up anything is even more difficult.
Otherwise, so many educated youth wouldn't have cried and begged to return to the city, going to great lengths and scheming, only to be framed, harmed, and persecuted in the process.
This period had only been going on for a few years. Some of the educated youth who went to the countryside early in the morning still maintained some enthusiasm, while others had exhausted it all. However, they still had hope for life and had not yet reached the point of despair of being abandoned by life, society, and the country.
It is still in a relatively peaceful phase.
So when they heard this simple young girl utter such high-sounding words, none of them laughed or thought much of it, after all, everyone has their own ambitions.
"Little sister, you are truly ambitious and courageous to come to this unfamiliar place all by yourself."
But don't worry, the people of Anji County are all wonderful; you'll see in time.
"You're sending this back to your parents and family, right? Look at this, these are all things that members of various communes brought over to exchange. Look, they're all good stuff."
She glanced at them briefly; they were all mountain products, basically things she could trade in the village. She didn't plan to go all the way back to bring them back, but since she'd come across them, she picked some out to mail to Zhu Yan and Chen Hongjun later. The end of the year was fast approaching, and she figured she'd only be out mailing bean buns once more.
"Sister, is this wood ear fungus?"
"Yes, this is a specialty of a commune down below. They grow this kind of wood ear mushroom on the mountain behind them, and the quality is much better than that of other places."
Look how dry it is! Just this handful is enough to make a small basinful. It's quite a lot!
This is good!
There is none in Liujiatun.
"Sister, I'll listen to you. I don't know what to mail yet. Let me see if there's anything good I can bring some to them too.
How many do you have? Can you sell them all to me?
"If we go back, it'll be difficult to divide among so many of us."
The sales clerk hadn't expected it to be such a hot item, and immediately bought it all.
Seeing their hesitation, Jian Dan didn't press them. She simply slipped a handful of fruit candies into the hand of the nearest person and whispered,
“Sister, I won’t cause you any trouble. How much can you give me? I’m going to mail it home so my family can try the specialties of Anji County.”
The sales clerk subtly tightened her grip on her hand, then glanced back at her colleague.
"Little sister, it's fortunate that you came late today. The few meals you ordered for the leader's family have already been picked up. Even if you had come yesterday, I wouldn't have dared to give them all to you."
After a brief listen, I understood: fruit candy is so effective?
Several people helped her load the various items onto the car, while she followed behind carrying a bag of dried mushrooms. As they reached the door, she secretly slipped a small net bag into the car.
"Sister, this was mailed from my home. Give it to the child to sweeten their mouth."
Today's shopping was enjoyable; it was simple yet not stingy.
Watching the oxcart depart, Lin He glanced at the net bag and was immediately startled. She turned and went back behind the counter.
"Come here quickly, come here quickly!"
The group of people were all surprised when they saw it.
"This was given to you after you counted the number of people?"
“It should be. We don’t have such juicy oranges here. Quick, put one away for each of you. Take them back and give them to the children to sweeten their mouths.”
Old Man Liu looked at the large and small jars tied to the cart, then at the young educated youth swinging his legs in front of him.
"You're really buying them? And so many?"
He simply said "Ah."
"Then I need to buy a jar to pickle sauerkraut, right? If I don't buy one this year, I'll have to wait until next year. I might as well buy one early so I can use it sooner."
Third Master, wait at the post office up ahead, I need to mail this.
The old man glanced back, picked it up, weighed it in his hand, and immediately knew what it was.
"These are wood ear mushrooms you bought?"
"Oh, what a coincidence! I didn't see any in our village?"
"Is this the wood ear fungus from Chengjiabao? This kind of thing grows on the back mountain of their village."
"Third Master, you knew about this?"
"Ha, what secrets could such a small place hold? Chengjiabao's wood ear mushrooms are famous throughout the county, but it's not easy for you to come across them."
"Whoa!"
Go ahead, I'll be waiting for you over there.
Jian Dan carried the dried mushrooms into the post office, but didn't mail them all. Zhu Yan and Chen Hongjun each mailed about four or five pounds, and kept the rest. She was there to visit the countryside, and she only wanted them to try this stuff for the novelty; too much wouldn't be good.
As they walked back, the air gradually turned cool, and the old ox quickened its pace.
By the time we arrived at the commune, it was already getting a little dark.
Seeing that the post office and supply and marketing cooperative were empty and probably about to close, Jian Dan still made a detour to the post office. Sure enough, Zhu Yan's second shipment of cloth had arrived. The staff had seen that the package was too big and they hadn't found a suitable vehicle to deliver it, so it had been sitting there for several days. As soon as they saw her in person, they didn't care about closing time and immediately processed her paperwork and even helped her carry it to the vehicle.
Upon seeing the large tank on the truck, their gaze towards Jian Dan changed instantly, taking on the look of 'Whose spendthrift child is this?' However, they happily threw the package out before leaving get off work and locked the door.
The state-run restaurant must have been serving dinner time; the aroma wafted far and wide. After all, it was a commune, and even in poverty, it was still better than the village.
She simply bought a few vegetable buns. They were on the road at noon, and by the time they arrived in the county town it was already past noon. She had forgotten all about it. Neither of them had eaten lunch, and now, smelling the aroma, their stomachs were rumbling.
He handed over the oil paper wrapping, then took a big bite himself.
"Third Master, have something to eat. It's my fault, I forgot about lunch."
After several encounters, the old man became less polite, took the steamed bun, and opened it. Inside were five vegetable buns, fresh out of the steamer, still steaming and glistening with oil. Just looking at them made his mouth water. The child next to him was eating them with relish. The old man gritted his teeth, picked one up, and started eating.
I was really hungry, so I swallowed the first bite without even tasting it. I breathed a sigh of relief, and my stomach felt a little fuller. Only then could I savor the second bite. Hmm, this is cabbage, and it seems to have some minced meat in it, plus quite a bit of oil.
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