Zhang Hongmei then informed Liu Maocai and Wang Hongxi that no one was restricting her from going out now, but they still had to do what needed to be done.
After all that fuss, it was already 10 o'clock, so I leisurely set off on my bike.
I was drenched in sweat when I arrived in the county. Luckily, I was wearing a straw hat. I was already quite dark inside, and I couldn't get any darker.
The school also provides two meals a day, with a one-hour break at noon. Zhang Hongmei arrived just in time, at exactly 12:40. There were only twenty minutes left before class started.
The security guard already recognized Zhang Hongmei and didn't stop her; in fact, he helped watch over her car.
We found Er Ya's dormitory; everyone inside had just gotten up.
"Hongmei, what brings you here?"
"It's almost the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I brought you some mooncakes. You ate a few, and you came to school today."
Let's eat this for the next few days. This bag is for Brother Zhu; could you deliver it to him for me? I need to go to the city to give some to Third Master.
The three people in the dormitory secretly swallowed when they heard that the sweet smell they had just smelled was from mooncakes.
"Okay. When are you coming back?"
"I'm going back tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you to come home."
Zhang Hongmei discussed with the gatekeeper that she would leave her bicycle at the school and come back to ride it tomorrow.
It was already past five o'clock when we arrived in the city. Considering that Liu Changhai and the others had already finished get off work, we decided to deliver it to Liu Jingze first, since he lived at school and there was no fear of being alone late.
Zhang Hongmei had passed by the high school gate before and knew where it was.
When I arrived at the high school gate, I asked the gatekeeper, "Sir, could you please call Liu Jingze? He's a second-year high school student."
"Okay, you wait and see."
Liu Jingze hadn't eaten yet and was washing up in his dorm when he heard that a girl was looking for him. He was quite puzzled. Who was it?
There were only three people in the dormitory; the rest had dropped out. When the remaining two heard that a girl was looking for them, they immediately yelled, "Liu Jingze, who's looking for you? Come on, we'll go with you."
"Hey, you busybody, let's go!"
"Really? Who is it? Could it be Zheng Xiaoran from our class?"
"I don't know either, don't talk nonsense."
The three arrived at the door, and Liu Jingze was stunned. How could it be her?
The other two were stunning. Although they looked young, they were tall, both around 1.6 meters. Most importantly, they had delicate features. Although they were a bit dark-skinned, it didn't detract from their beauty at all.
When Zhang Hongmei saw Liu Jingze come out, she said, "Brother Jingze, Grandma asked me to bring you something."
"Hongmei, are you all alone?"
"Hmm." Zhang Hongmei handed him the cloth bag in her hand.
“Brother Jingze, these are mooncakes we made ourselves. I brought them for you to eat. I just got off the bus and I’m going home now.”
Liu Jingze casually took the bag and asked, "How are you getting home so late?"
“I have a house in the city. I’ll go back there for one night, and then I’ll go deliver some things to Third Master tomorrow before heading back.”
"Can you go back the day after tomorrow? Let's go together."
"Heh, you think I don't know the way home?"
"No, it's just that I'm going back home for the holiday the day after tomorrow, so we'll have each other company."
"Alright, I'll wait for you for a day."
Zhang Hongmei's words "waiting for you" ruined Liu Jingze's entire life, even though the "waiting" she meant was different from the "waiting" he envisioned.
"Jingze, how about we get to know each other?"
"Hello, sister, I am Zhou Pengfei, Liu Jingze's classmate and roommate."
"Hello, little sister. I'm also Liu Jingze's roommate. My name is Li Zhiguo. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello, I'm Zhang Hongmei, a girl from the same village as Liu Jingze. Brother Jingze, I'll head back now. Let's meet at the Jiefang Road bus stop at 7 a.m. the day after tomorrow."
"Do you have a lot of rooms at home? I'll come to see you tomorrow night?"
“That works too. My house is at the end of Fuxing Road. It’s just me, so it’s easy to find.”
"I've got it. I'll come see you tomorrow night. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
I want to eat meat, do you have any? "No, I'll make you pancakes instead."
"Okay, I'll take you back."
"No need, what are you worried about? Don't worry, I come to the city often. I'm leaving now!"
As Liu Jingze watched Zhang Hongmei's departing figure, he felt a pang of sadness for some reason.
"Liu Jingze, you're so unfair! Why didn't you introduce us to the girl in detail?"
“You two shut up. This girl is all alone now. Her parents both died for the country.”
Both fell silent. At their age, they were full of youthful passion and had an instinctive admiration for soldiers. Neither of them had the heart to tease them anymore, but Zhang Hongmei's image was etched in their minds.
The next morning, Zhang Hongmei waited for Liu Changhai at the main gate of the municipal government.
"Hongmei, is something wrong? What brings you here?"
"Third Master, I brought you mooncakes. They were made by my Third Aunt, and they're delicious."
"Come on, let's go inside and talk. Take the things Xiao Wu prepared back with you later."
"Okay, but I'm not leaving today. I'll go back with Brother Jingze tomorrow."
"Jingze?" Liu Changhai was taken aback.
"Yes, he said he's going back to celebrate the holiday."
"Then go back and tell your great-grandmother that I will be home on the night of the holiday."
"Okay, Grandma will eat an extra bowl of rice if she hears that."
The two walked and talked until they entered the office.
In fact, Liu Changhai is only in his forties, just like Zhang Hongmei's father. Some people peeked in and thought she was Liu Changhai's daughter.
"Hongmei, have lunch in the cafeteria. The food there is pretty good."
"No, I still need to go shopping at the building. I've run out of brown and white sugar at home. I also need to deliver mooncakes to Brother Jianguo. Third Master, is there anything else?"
"I'm fine. Here, take this. These are special tickets, so you can save money when you buy things."
"No, I have a special ticket for the army, which was sent back by Brother Er Lengzi."
"Take it. What's my excuse for not giving it to you?"
Helpless, Zhang Hongmei took a stack of colorful bills and said, "Third Master, I'll go find Uncle Wu and have him send the things back to my house."
"You have a lot of stuff, I'll have Xiao Wu take you to the car tomorrow."
"No need, Jingze is coming to stay at my place tonight, he'll be there."
Zhang Hongmei met up with Xiao Wu and said, "Uncle Xiao Wu, please take me home."
"Okay, let's go."
Zhang Hongmei hitched a ride with her and even took her to the department store.
I counted my coupons: ten jin of brown sugar coupons, six jin of white sugar coupons, and a lot of cloth coupons. I spent them all today, provided I could actually spend them.
The good news is that all the tickets have been used up, and it's time to make clothes again. We didn't buy polyester fabric, so we had to buy cotton fabric, and we also bought ten meters of denim.
The counter also sells mooncakes; they have rose-flavored ones. I asked the salesperson, and they said you need a special mooncake voucher to buy them. Where can I get a mooncake voucher?
The sales clerk was tempted by the special grain coupons for the military in Zhang Hongmei's hand.
"Girl, I have mooncake vouchers."
Zhang Hongmei immediately understood: "I'll exchange it with grain coupons, but how exactly do I do that?"
"A mooncake costs two ounces, and can be exchanged for half a pound of grain coupons."
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