After finishing his sentence, Song Zigan left. Actually, he had come to ask Zhang Hongmei if she could get some grain.
But how could this little girl have such abilities? Right now, I have food stamps but can't exchange them for food.
Grandpa and Grandma are reluctant to eat every day, saving it for themselves, but I can't eat it either. They are old and in poor health, and Dad isn't home. I can't let the two elderly people ruin their health, so I always decline when it's time to eat.
Song Zigan thought to himself, "If there were plenty of grain, this problem wouldn't have occurred."
But with disasters everywhere, where am I supposed to get food? I went to the black market yesterday, and cornmeal is now five yuan a pound. An ordinary worker only earns about twenty yuan a month, which isn't even enough to buy three pounds of cornmeal.
In this way, he managed to buy three jin of cornmeal from the three black markets in the city.
No, I have to go back and ask Zhang Hongmei. Maybe she really does have it?
Song Zigan came back and knocked on the door again. "Hongmei, come out for a moment. I have something to ask you."
"What's wrong?" Zhang Hongmei asked as she came out the door.
"Hongmei, is it possible to get some grain? I spent all day on the black market yesterday and only managed to buy three jin of cornmeal. It cost five yuan a jin, and it wasn't even pure flour; the wheat bran was mixed in."
Looking at the simple and honest young man, Zhang Hongmei decided to trust him this once.
"If you can get some broken rice, I'll save you two bags, two hundred pounds, that'll be three yuan a pound."
"Really? Rice?"
"Yes, really. You can ride your bike over tomorrow night to carry it."
"Isn't three pieces too few? Can you even get that many?"
"Don't ask anything else."
"I understand. I'll come over at eight o'clock tomorrow night. Wait for me."
"Okay, don't worry, I promise I won't go on this business trip. You should go back now."
Song Zigan walked briskly home. He had finally gotten some grain, and it was fine grain—rice! He hadn't had any for over a year.
Although these two hundred jin cost six hundred yuan, it's four hundred yuan less than what I prepared. I wish Zhang Hongmei could give me three hundred jin.
I'll definitely save the best things for her in the future. She's such a good friend; that's the kind of loyal friend you should make.
It was already five o'clock. Da Shan's father and Liu Maocai got up, and Zhang Hongmei started cooking. Tonight, she made steamed buns with a mixture of wheat, radish, and eggplant stewed with rice noodles.
If you really don't know what to eat, something too good is hard to explain and can easily be misunderstood, while something too bad makes you feel bad.
Liu Maocai watched Zhang Hongmei cook and said, "Hongmei, I'm going to check on your brother Jianguo in a bit; he'll be off work soon too."
"Sure, I made a lot of steamed buns, take a few to him."
"Okay, he hasn't been back for more than half a year. I wonder how he is?"
"It's okay, he's fine. I brought him food a while ago and I thought he'd even grown taller."
"Thanks to you, I can still visit him from time to time."
"It's okay, I live nearby. Besides, I can only go and bring them some food."
"Sending you food is the best thing right now. Otherwise, my Dashan would keep praising you."
"Hehe, it's nothing."
The food was ready, and Liu Maocai took the four steamed buns, a lunchbox of vegetables, and a cucumber that Zhang Hongmei had prepared for him and went to the cotton mill. Da Shan's father went with him.
“Hongmei, your uncle doesn’t need to wait for us to eat when he comes back. You two eat first.”
"Hehe, my uncle has the final say."
"Mao Cai, let's hurry back. We still need to familiarize ourselves with the route before it gets completely dark."
"Okay, let's go by bicycle. We'll just take a quick look and come right back."
After they left, Zhang Hongmei chopped a bowl of pickled vegetables, mixed them with minced garlic and vinegar, and ladled out the broken rice porridge from the pot, waiting for them to come back for dinner.
Another hour passed, and Zhang Hongmei heard the sound of a car, until Liu Aimin returned.
As soon as the door opened, Liu Aimin jumped out of the driver's seat. "Hongmei must have been waiting anxiously. Seeing her old comrade-in-arms, she chatted for so long that she forgot the time."
"It's alright, Uncle. My third uncle and the others went to see Brother Jianguo. I estimate they should be home soon."
"Take me to recognize the road in a bit."
"Let's go after we finish eating. My three uncles will come along too."
"Okay. Let's wait for them."
Just then, Liu Maocai and the others rode back.
"Big brother, Jian Guo doesn't know what we've come here for."
"That's for the best. Knowing too much won't do any good. Let's eat quickly and go take a look in a bit."
"Is Hongmei far from here?" Liu Maocai asked while washing his hands.
It would take about forty minutes to walk there.
"Why don't you ride your bikes? It's your Uncle Aimin who's driving anyway. We don't know the way, so it's fine."
"Sure, I'm fine with anything."
After finishing her meal and cleaning up, Zhang Hongmei sat on the back of her bicycle and gave Liu Aimin directions. They arrived in twenty minutes.
Liu Aimin walked around the winery once, and then they returned.
"Uncle, Third Uncle, I'll be there at 10 p.m. You can arrive at midnight. Don't worry about me, I'll wait for you there after I pay."
"Zhong, be careful yourself."
"Don't worry, there won't be any problems."
Zhang Hongmei rode her bicycle a short distance out, then got the car out and drove it around the winery a few times. Luckily, it wasn't raining, or she was afraid she would miss her train.
Around 11:40, Zhang Hongmei packed up the car, opened the door and put all the grain at the entrance, then locked the door and waited on the side.
Liu Aimin and his group arrived at 5:00 noon. They parked the car and, by the moonlight, began loading the truck.
Zhang Hongmei was responsible for pulling the bags for them and helping with their shoulder poles.
One hundred and sixty bags were packed in just one hour.
"Hongmei, you should go home now. We're leaving. I'll return the car tomorrow and then go straight home. You don't need to worry about it."
"Okay, Uncle, please drive slowly."
When Zhang Hongmei returned home, she finally felt relieved.
The three men entered the village before four o'clock and gathered strong laborers to unload the truck.
When Liu Aimin got home, he said, "Grandma, this time there are 150 bags of corn, five bags of soybeans, and five bags that I haven't found yet. I think they're probably rice. Liu Maocai is watching them."
"So many? Did that girl not say anything?"
"No. He didn't say anything."
"If they didn't say anything, they didn't say anything. Anyway, this kid should have contributed money this time. We'll talk about it later. Let Liu Changlin keep a record of the expenses."
"Okay, Grandma, I'll return the car in a bit and be home by tonight."
"Go ahead, be careful."
Zhang Hongmei went into the space as soon as she returned, took a shower and went to sleep.
When I got home from school, I was too lazy to cook. I ate some fried rice and drank a cup of yogurt, then waited for Songzi to finish.
Song Zigan arrived five minutes before eight o'clock. He saw four bags of "Hongmei" in the warehouse and asked, "Could you give me three bags?"
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