At dawn today, after much painful reflection, I've decided to persevere!
"Anything is fine with me, you can all stay at my place. I don't have that many blankets. And are you going to carry this fish over?"
"No, taking an oxcart to the village?"
"That's alright, otherwise it would be too tiring."
Zhang Hongmei loaded twenty fish into the container and also gave the key to Liu Jingze.
“Brother Jingze, come back before the admission notice arrives. Tomorrow is the Little New Year.”
"Okay, I'll come back with you tomorrow."
Liu Jingze carried a basket and went to the brigade headquarters to find Wang Hongxi and the others.
Liu Jingze helped them pack the baskets and weighed them; this was no easy task.
“Jingze, put the basket on the oxcart and ride your bicycle.”
"Okay, having a bicycle is still convenient."
The group packed up and set off.
They arrived at their destination before 2 PM, thanks to that old ox. Although the four of them didn't ride in the oxcart, and the three of them had to push it from behind when they encountered icy areas, it was still much better than carrying everything on their backs.
The fish were weighed at home; these six baskets weigh 1,300 jin (650 kg), so each fish weighs about eight jin (4 catties).
When they arrived at the open space to wait for the car, Liu Changlin didn't leave; he helped with the moving around for a while.
The car arrived shortly afterward, and even the driver got out to help. They put everything in the back of the car so that someone wouldn't have trouble getting on if they needed to.
Six baskets counted three people's tickets, so Wang Hongxi bought a total of six tickets.
As for Liu Jingze, he also bought two tickets. The ticket seller must have recognized Liu Jingze. "Young man, isn't that girl here?"
"No, she's at home."
"Hey! I still want to meet the top scholar and ask her how she studies so well? How did she learn it?"
Wang Hong smiled and said, "It's a good idea to ask this young man! He was admitted to the Capital University last year."
"Oh my god, it's you, young man! Can you tell me about your study methods? My child is about to enter his second year of high school, and I'm worried that he won't get into university."
"Auntie, we told them about this learning method at school a few days ago. Just have your child do what we say."
Also, I left them my notes and books. Don't worry, as long as you work hard, you'll definitely succeed.
"You are such good children, you didn't keep anything to yourself, I understand."
"Sister, I brought you the fish, two fish weighing seventeen pounds and two ounces. That's twenty-five yuan and fifty cents. Just give me twenty, that's fine. You've helped us so much, we don't know how to thank you enough, but these belong to the government and we can't make the decision."
"It's alright, that's how it should be, brother, keep this twenty-five."
When the bus arrived in the county, three people got on. They kept looking into the basket, but no one dared to say anything.
Liu Jingze: "Comrade, can you wait five minutes for me?"
"It's alright, go ahead, these are students from our Capital University." The ticket seller was saying this to the other passengers on the bus.
Liu Jingze quickly found the principal, gave him some instructions about the fish, and left.
"Hey girl, we're getting off at the post office."
"Okay, don't worry."
When the car arrived at the post office, there was another round of trouble. It wasn't until then that all seven baskets were finally carried down.
The sight of seven large wicker baskets lined up in a row in front of the post office was quite impressive.
Huang Ying was informed as soon as they got off the bus that their fellow villager from yesterday had arrived. She was quite puzzled; hadn't they agreed to come tomorrow?
"Uncle, what brings you here today?"
"The driver and ticket seller helped out today."
"Then let's hurry up and go into the backyard. I'll go get our boss."
Wang Hongxi and Da Shan's father each carried a basket and followed Huang Ying inside. Liu Maocai didn't move. "Jingze, I'll keep watch. You go in and check the accounts."
"Fellow villager. This fish is so fresh and delicious. Huang Ying, have two people stay in front, and the rest of you come over here. Bring the scale over here too."
One basket of carp and one basket of grass carp, each with thirty fish, weighing a total of 250 jin (125 kg) including the baskets, were eventually skinned.
The post office leaders are on one side, Huang Ying is in charge of registration, Da Shan's father is in charge of delivering carp, and Wang Hongxi is in charge of grass carp.
The distribution was completed in twenty minutes, and no one complained, because the fish were all about the same size, and they were taken from top to bottom.
"Huang Ying, hurry up and lead the villagers to the accountant to get their money. I think they still have to deliver fish."
"Yes, boss."
Wang Hongxi received 637.5 yuan from the accounting office, said goodbye, and left.
“Jingze, keep this money for now. Let’s split up. You know the power supply bureau, so you and Maocai can go there to deliver it. I’ll go to the food supply station, otherwise they’ll be closed and we’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
"Okay, Uncle, I'll give the fish that Hongmei gave to Huang Ying first, otherwise it'll be too much trouble to carry it back and forth."
Liu Jingze called Huang Ying over and said, "Comrade Huang, this is a New Year's gift from Hongmei. Please accept it. That girl is afraid of riding in cars, so she didn't come. I'll also take the New Year's gift from the leaders of the power supply bureau with me when I deliver the fish there later."
"Thank you, Hongmei. Also, please come over before you leave tomorrow and take the newspaper I left for her."
"Okay, I'll come over tomorrow."
Wang Hongxi had already made all the arrangements, tying two baskets to the back of the bicycle. Liu Maocai pushed the bicycle, while Liu Jingze carried the baskets he had brought, and the two headed towards the post office.
Liu Jingze did not go in directly, but instead found the gatekeeper and asked him to call out Dashan and the others.
Wang Hongxi hurriedly arrived at the non-staple food supply station in just over half an hour. The leader was pleased, as the fish had almost caused a conflict that day, but in the end, the silver carp sold for 1.5 yuan per jin.
The delivery today was a real lifesaver. Without any nonsense, they took out the scale and weighed both baskets. One basket weighed 210 jin (140 kg), and after peeling, it weighed 192 jin (54 kg). The other basket weighed 195 jin (52.5 kg), for a total of 397 jin (128.5 catties), which is 595.5 yuan.
Wang Hongxi took the money and left in a hurry. When she arrived at the post office, the leader was chatting with Liu Jingze outside the door.
"I'm sorry, boss, I'm late."
"It's okay, we'll just push it in and weigh it."
"These two baskets weigh 406 jin. I'll issue a receipt, but you'll have to come back tomorrow to collect the money. The accountant will be off work by now."
"Okay, leader, we're leaving now. We'll visit the village again sometime."
The four of them went to a restaurant and ate steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat, water, and vegetables, and each had a bowl of vegetable soup.
“Jingze, we’ll stay at the hotel for one night. Here’s the note. You can go get the money tomorrow. We’ll take the early bus back and bring the fish from the cotton mill over too.”
"Okay, then I'll head back."
We made quite a bit of money today, totaling 1,842 yuan.
This is a lot of money. Liu Jingze returned to Zhang Hongmei's house and boiled a large pot of water. The house had been uninhabited for several days and was quite cold. There was nothing he could do but keep the kang (heated brick bed) warm.
The room won't warm up in a short time.
The water boiled, and after washing my hair and quickly drying it, I lay down on the kang (heated brick bed).
School's out for break, and Chen Sheng should be home by now, so I won't be able to deliver it to him. I'll just deliver it to the one living in the dorm first. As for this one, I'll just leave it in the snowdrift at home for now.
I wonder if Hongmei's admission notice has arrived yet?
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