He wrote three letters: one to Er Ya, asking her to tell the old principal that her great-grandmother and her parents were doing well; another to thank Wang Hongxi; and the third to tell Da Shan Circuit that it must be renovated.
I wrote a letter to Song Zigan, only a hundred words long, just to encourage him to study hard and that I would be waiting for him at the Capital University.
The last letter to Chen Sheng was to let him know that he was doing well in the capital, serving as class monitor and running for vice president of the student union.
After writing the three letters, I put them in envelopes and rode my bike to the post office.
I bought three stamps, affixed them to the mailbox, and rode my bike to the supply station.
I bought two pounds of bean curd sheets and one pound of tofu. I wanted to make tofu with scallions, but there were no scallions available, so I used regular scallions instead.
We were out of eggs, but we bought two pounds of vermicelli.
After getting home, I lazily lay on the bed and read a book.
It's getting dark, and I'm not hungry. Besides, I'm all by myself. I'll eat rice when I get hungry later.
I'm really getting better at managing my finances; I can't bear to throw away food anymore.
Zhang Hongmei felt that cooking in winter was a waste of heat, so she asked someone to install underfloor heating in her bedroom during summer vacation.
It was completely dark when I finally went into my spatial dimension to take a shower, read, and go to sleep.
Zhang Hongmei is now repeatedly flipping through the textbooks, which are all unfamiliar to her, so she can't afford to mess things up.
I got hungry, went out of my space, cooked some rice, ate a bowl, and then went back into my space.
The next day, Sunday, Zhang Hongmei lazily stayed in bed, not wanting to get up or do anything; just lying there was the best thing for her.
Zhang Hongmei didn't get up until her back started to ache from lying down. It was almost nine o'clock, and it was still rice porridge. She would have to eat another meal for lunch, and then there would be no leftovers.
I rode my bike to the supply station again and finally bought some eggs. I've accumulated over ten pounds of eggs in my storage space. I saw that I didn't buy any mung bean sprouts, since I still have two pounds at home. I was thinking that since Liu Jingze was here today, I wanted to eat spring pancakes with mung bean sprouts, but since I'm cooking for myself, if I make too many, I'll have to eat leftovers for several meals, and if I make too few, I won't be able to cook.
I bought two pounds of bean curd sheets. I didn't prepare any in this space, so I can save them for later.
When I got home, I lay in bed reading like some kind of animal.
By the time I got hungry, it was already past 1 p.m., and it was still rice porridge. This time there were no leftovers, and I finally finished it all. I'll give it to Wang Xiaoshun next time; I never want to eat leftovers again.
Of all the people eating, only Wang Xiaoshun wasn't picky. And since he ate a lot, giving him the food was definitely the right choice.
With nothing to do, after spending all day at school, getting up early and staying up late, I just want the weekend to come quickly, but I'm not used to having a full day of rest.
I decided to ride my bike to the Overseas Chinese Store to take a look. I still had some Overseas Chinese coupons on hand, so I could see if there was anything I needed.
When I got to the store, I bought two croissants, a box of chocolates, and a bucket of coffee. I don't actually like coffee, but I wanted to try it out.
I was riding my bike past the place where I had hot pot last time, so I immediately stopped. I wonder if I can still buy sesame seed cakes at this time?
If I can buy it, I won't eat in the cafeteria; I'll eat sesame seed cakes and drink milk powder instead.
He knocked on the restaurant door and said, "Comrade, could I buy some sesame seed cakes?"
A young man opened the door. Zhang Hongmei heard the manager's voice from behind, "Chunwang, who's here?"
"Manager, a young girl wants to buy some sesame seed cakes."
The manager came out and saw Zhang Hongmei. He paused for a moment, then immediately smiled broadly. "Comrade, the sesame seed cakes you ordered will be ready in no time. How many do you want?"
"Hello manager, could you sell me twenty sesame seed cakes?"
"Okay, sit down and wait a moment. Chunwang, go pour this lady a glass of water, and I'll get you some sesame seed cakes."
"How much is a sesame seed cake, manager?"
"You don't need to worry about this. The boss instructed that you don't need to pay for it."
“That won’t do. If the leader comes and buys it for himself, you can do it for free. But if I come by myself, you have to charge me. If you don’t charge me, I won’t take the pancakes either.” Zhang Hongmei’s attitude was very firm.
The manager thought for a moment and said, "Alright then, just give me eight yuan for twenty sesame cakes. Chunwang, take the money."
Zhang Hongmei happily went home with two wrapped sesame cakes, deciding not to eat at the cafeteria tomorrow.
I ate one while it was still hot when I got home; it was spread with sesame paste. The sesame seeds on the outside were even more fragrant.
The next day at school, I ran into Liu Jingze. "Brother Jingze, I brought some sesame cakes. I'm not going to the cafeteria for lunch. Do you want some?"
"Keep it for yourself, you don't like the taste, do you?"
"Hmm, I've had enough. Let's change things up."
Zhang Hongmei didn't go to the cafeteria this week. The cafeteria only charges meal tickets; you get a ticket if you don't eat. This saved her a lot of money.
No one came over for dinner this Saturday. Zhang Xingguo went to his troops, and Zhang Shouyi had guests to entertain.
This is good; I feel like I can go out and explore.
Remembering Aunt Feng at the end of the alley, I decided to go ask her. I wanted to go to the market to buy some cages and baskets, but it was too inconvenient because I always had to use cloth bags to buy things.
Zhang Hongmei knocked on the door. "Oh, it's Hongmei. What brings you here?"
"Aunt Feng, I just wanted to ask if you know which market is around here today? I need a basket and I'd like to go to the market to take a look."
"Keep walking east along the main road ahead; there's a market day under the overpass today."
"Okay, thank you, Aunt Feng."
"Don't be so polite. If you're going, hurry up, or all the good ones will be taken."
Zhang Hongmei went home, slung her bag over her shoulder, pushed her bicycle, and set off.
It's about a 20-minute walk from home. I only realized how crowded the capital is when I got here.
I pushed my cart into the crowd. It was really lively; I started browsing from stall to stall.
I saw someone selling bamboo mats, so I stopped and bought two for two cents. I also bought a cooking broom and a broom for eight cents.
Continuing on, I saw an elderly woman selling embroidered curtains. They looked particularly beautiful, with a pattern of magpies perched on branches. However, the fabric was too thin, suitable only for summer.
"Auntie, how much are these curtains?"
"Two yuan. I sewed this all by myself, little girl, take a look."
"Auntie, do you still have curtains like these?"
"Yes, I brought it with me today. It has a bamboo forest design and is three meters wide. It costs five yuan. Let me show you."
The curtains and door curtains are made of the same material, cotton fabric from a home textile company, which is quite dense and also quite thin.
Zhang Hongmei looked at them and thought both were acceptable, so she took out her money and bought them.
The old lady also took out a square cloth, wrapped it up, and handed it to Zhang Hongmei.
I continued walking. I saw someone selling eggs, which was great! Two whole baskets full, weighing more than ten pounds each.
"Auntie, how much are these eggs?"
"Eight cents each. Although they are more expensive than those at the supply station, they are bigger. I've bought a whole cage of them."
"If I buy them all, can you give me a discount?"
“This really won’t do. I’m saving the eggs to buy notebooks and pens for my child. If you want them all, I’ll give you both cages.”
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