Everyone sat together. "Auntie, I'm not eating the pancakes. I'll have seafood for this meal."
"Will that be enough to fill you up?"
"Hehe, Auntie, you live by the sea and don't care about these seafoods, but we who live far from the sea have rarely or never eaten them."
"Then you should eat more."
Zhang Hongmei picked up a fish and put it in her bowl. Although there were no seasonings, it was exceptionally fresh. After finishing one, she ordered another.
Then he put down his chopsticks and started to deal with the small crabs. After eating one, he felt there wasn't much meat and it was too much trouble, so he switched to the blood clams. Wang Dehai pushed the garlic sauce towards Zhang Hongmei, saying, "Girl, these shellfish taste good with garlic sauce."
Zhang Hongmei didn't care about her tone anymore. She ate them one after another.
Finally, after eating my fill, I looked at the empty shell next to me and felt embarrassed.
"Uncle, I'm full, thank you for your hospitality."
"It's alright, don't be so polite. I'll take you there by donkey cart after I finish eating."
"Thank you, uncle. I'll sell you all the dried goods you have later. Also, auntie, what's the garlic sauce made with?"
"It's just soy sauce, vinegar, and a few drops of shrimp oil."
"Uncle, I'd like to buy shrimp oil."
“Okay, I have two jars at home.”
"Great! Then sell me a jar." Zhang Hongmei remembered that shredded radish and peanuts were...
It can be soaked in shrimp oil, and you can also add kimchi.
After dinner, the family helped load the car. Zhang Hongmei also bought 50 jin of dried shrimp from Wang Dehai's family, plus 100 jin, as well as shrimp oil and more than 10 jin of dried squid.
She gave Wang Dehai fifty yuan, and then he gave her some fresh cockles as a bonus.
They returned home with a full load. Wang Dehai drove Zhang Hongmei to the county town.
"Uncle, stop at the supply and marketing cooperative for a moment."
Zhang Hongmei bought fifty meters of plastic film and twenty snakeskin bags from the supply and marketing cooperative. She used them all herself and returned the rest to Wang Dehai, since she had spent money on them.
It was already 2 PM when I arrived at the post office. I had to hurry, as the jailer was watching over me. If I was late, my next attempt would be in vain.
"Comrade, I would like to mail a package."
"Here's a form. Fill it out yourself. You can write, right?"
"Yes, comrade, I need eight forms."
The staff member gave Zhang Hongmei a surprised look.
Zhang Hongmei quickly explained, "Comrade, it's like this, I'm mailing seafood from here to my hometown. We live far from the sea, and we've never even heard of some of these products. I wanted the elderly in my family to taste the fresh seafood."
"Okay, here you go. Xiao Liu, go help pack it up." Since Chinese people value filial piety, the staff felt a good impression of Zhang Hongmei when they heard it was for their elderly relatives to try.
The same food was prepared for the old lady and Liu Maocai. Ten catties of dried shrimp, five catties of dried shrimp shells, ten catties of kelp, five catties of dried squid, and five catties of dried cockle meat were prepared for each family, totaling thirty-five catties. A note was also written for Liu Maocai, detailing how to prepare each type of seafood.
"Comrade, may I borrow your scissors?" Zhang Hongmei wrapped each type of scissors in plastic film, then put them into a burlap sack, and then wrapped the burlap sack in plastic film as well. Finally, she put them into the post office's special parcel bag.
With the help of the staff and Wang Dehai, the three of them worked very quickly.
The same amount was given to Huang Ying, but double the usual amount. There was a note inside, half of which was addressed to the leaders of the power supply bureau. Since they had helped a lot and promised to treat Da Shan and the others like family, they would treat them as relatives.
The old principal, Li Juying, Wang Hongxi, the homeroom teacher Chen Sheng, and the principal each received ten catties of kelp and five catties of dried shrimp. That was all. This way, about half of the dried goods collected were gone.
The final postage was 21.5 yuan. I finally left the post office an hour later.
"Uncle, thank you so much. I'm sorry to have troubled you for so long."
"It's alright, young lady. Where should we send the rest?"
"Uncle, you're going to the retirement home. Won't it be too late for you to get back?"
"It's alright, we're not going out to sea today."
"Thank you so much." Zhang Hongmei thought to herself that there were still quite a few snacks in the car, and she would take them back to Wang Dehai to try when they arrived. He had delayed his voyage because of her.
The donkey cart was moving at a reasonable speed. Two hours later, we arrived outside the retirement home, but because there were soldiers guarding the entrance, we could only stop at the gate.
"Comrade, I am Zhang Hongmei. Please help me call Zhang Shouyi's driver, Xiao Li, to come out."
"Hold on."
A short while later, Zhang Hongmei saw Xiao Li running out.
"Where have you been? Your boss is very worried."
Zhang Hongmei didn't answer, but just smiled and said, "This is what I got. Can I bring it in?"
"Please go in first, I'll take care of the rest."
Zhang Hongmei looked at Zhang Shouyi waving to her from afar and waved back.
"Xiao Li, give this uncle two boxes of the snacks we brought."
"yes."
"Uncle, I have to go in now. I'll come back to the village to find you when I have the chance."
Wang Dehai was actually a little frightened. This young girl was also a leader? He saw that others treated her with great respect.
Wang Dehai shook his head and waved his hand, "Don't be so polite." He couldn't say anything else.
"Then we'll see you later, Uncle." Zhang Hongmei entered the gate, and Zhang Shouyi came to greet her.
"Are you so happy you've forgotten all about home?"
"Did your PE teacher teach you Chinese? Your description is not accurate at all. I came back on my own initiative, and I wasn't late, was I?"
Brother Zhang, I bought lots of delicious food. I'll cook it for you when we get home.
Looking into the little girl's bright eyes and her joyful face, all of Zhang Shouyi's anxiety vanished.
Zhang Shouyi rubbed Zhang Hongmei's head and said with a smile, "Go inside, hurry up and wash up, you smell like the sea."
Zhang Hongmei raised her arm and smelled it. "It really is! Let me tell you, the seafood is so delicious, so authentic. I'd love to stay here for a while."
"You're not going to school anymore? Why don't you come and stay here during the summer vacation? I'll make arrangements for you."
"No, I've already made plans for my summer vacation. Besides, I don't need you to make those plans; that would be too restrictive."
The two chatted and laughed as they entered the room. Someone on the second floor next door lowered the curtains at a window.
Zhang Shouyi glanced back, squinted, and then turned back to continue listening to Zhang Hongmei's day's events.
"Brother Zhang, how about we have Xiao Li send the seafood I bought back tomorrow? Otherwise the whole truck will smell fishy."
"No need to send it. If you need anything else, have Xiao Li buy it tomorrow. You can buy more if you want, and I'll arrange for a car to take it back."
"Isn't this wrong with you?"
Zhang Shouyi was truly satisfied this time. He hugged Zhang Hongmei tightly and released her when she began to struggle.
"Hongmei, why are you so kind? Don't worry, I'm fine. You can be a little more selfish and domineering in the future, you don't have to be so understanding."
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