Zhang Hongmei naturally had no objection. "Sure, I'm not hungry. I just ate at my great-grandmother's house. Aunt Wang, you can just cook whatever you want."
"Okay, got it."
Zhang Hongmei watched as the rain outside intensified and became a little worried about Shi Tou and the others. However, driving in the rain was difficult, and getting stuck on the road would be a real problem.
"Hongmei, what's wrong?" Wang Ying came in and saw Zhang Hongmei frowning.
"It's nothing, I'm just worried about the children who are going to school."
"I think you're just worrying unnecessarily. It still rains when you're not around."
"Yeah, I was overthinking it. Okay, I'm going to read now."
Zhang Hongmei entered the house, picked up a book, and immediately got into study mode. Now that she'd be staying home for a few more days, she'd have to work hard studying downstairs.
Around 7 p.m., the rain stopped outside, and Wang Ying and Wang Xinyi went to bed and the house became quiet. Only then did they enter the space.
The next morning, Zhang Hongmei went out for a stroll. Despite the terrifying-looking sky yesterday, the rain was actually not heavy.
The village was unusually quiet; everyone must have gone to work in the fields. Zhang Hongmei really disliked walking in the mud on rainy days, so she decided to go home and read.
Wang Ying didn't care about any of that. "Hongmei, I'm going to work. You stay home and read."
Wang Xinyi also stood up. "Hongmei, I'm going to help out at the cafeteria. You can lock the door at home."
"Okay, I'll be home. Will you be home for lunch?"
"No need, we'll eat in the cafeteria. You should go too when it's time," Wang Xinyi refused Zhang Hongmei's suggestion, wanting to give her a quiet space so she could study in peace.
Zhang Hongmei didn't go to the cafeteria for lunch. Instead, she took out a meat bun, ate it, and continued reading. The fertilizer would arrive the day after tomorrow, and she would be busy then, so she probably wouldn't have time to read.
When they both returned in the evening, Wang Ying chattered on and on about what she had done in the fields that day. Both of them were tired and went to bed early.
The next day, Zhang Hongmei took a walk around the yard and found the mud less sticky on her feet. She changed her clothes and went to work in the fields. The village's three old oxen were all pulling plows; half of the 100 mu of vegetables had been planted yesterday, and today was the other half.
Wang Hongxi has a good head for business. Yesterday, he planted 20 mu of cabbage on 50 mu of land. Since it's not the season for planting cabbage for winter storage, he intends to sell the small cabbages. He also planted 10 mu of radishes, presumably to sell radish greens, and 5 mu of scallions, with scallion seedlings planted on those as well. The rest of the land was planted with green beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
Today's plan was to plant potatoes, but since they probably wouldn't have enough, Liu Maocai went to the warehouse to look for leek seeds.
When Li Cuihua saw Zhang Hongmei coming over, she said, "Go back to your studies. We don't need you here. Didn't you see we still have time to rest?"
Zhang Hongmei looked at it and found that it was indeed the case, so she said goodbye and went back.
The next morning, Wang Xinyi made rice porridge for Zhang Hongmei. After they finished eating, Zhang Hongmei drove to the city. She parked the car in front of the supply and marketing cooperative and waited for the fertilizer factory's truck.
Waiting in the car is boring, so I'll calm down and read a book.
Zhang Hongmei was feeling hungry, but they hadn't arrived yet, and she didn't dare leave, so she took out a piece of bread to eat and secretly drank a bag of pure milk.
Looking at the time, it's already one o'clock. The supply and marketing cooperative is quiet now, so I decided to go and take a look.
Zhang Hongmei happened to meet with the local leaders. "Isn't this Liujiatun?"
"Hello, leader."
"You're here to buy something? There's not much going on at this hour."
"I'm just taking a look."
The two greeted each other, and then the leader left.
Zhang Hongmei looked around but still didn't find anything. However, she did see some plastic buckets for sale, all of them large, 20-pound buckets, which was exactly what she needed.
"Comrade, how many plastic buckets do you have? Can you sell them all to me?"
"Three yuan each, twenty in total."
"Can you sell them all to me?"
The sales clerk saw the manager talking to this young girl, so she didn't make things difficult for her.
"Okay, I'll issue you a receipt."
"Comrade, may I use the restroom?"
"It's right at the back door; you'll see it as soon as you go out."
When Zhang Hongmei returned, the salesperson found a rope, strung the twenty plastic buckets together, and Zhang Hongmei, without paying attention to anything else, went out horizontally.
When they got to the car, they untied it again and loaded it onto the car. They even secretly put away ten more, and just like that, the back of the car was full. This was exactly the effect Zhang Hongmei wanted.
Zhang Hongmei continued reading on the bus until she got hungry again. She glanced at the window and saw it was almost six o'clock; the supply and marketing cooperative was already boarding up the windows. Why hadn't they arrived yet?
Zhang Hongmei was getting a little anxious. There shouldn't be a situation where they don't come. It depends on who invited them. Zhang Shouyi has spoken, so no one should go back on their word.
I'll just wait patiently. It's seven o'clock, it's already dark, and there's not a single pedestrian on the street. That's fine, I'll just grab a meat bun, eat it, and then go for a stroll.
Around eight o'clock, two beams of light appeared in the distance; we had arrived.
Zhang Hongmei quickly flashed her headlights a few times to the other driver, and only got out of the car after receiving a response. She thought to herself that it was like a secret code.
The truck stopped next to Zhang Hongmei, and a young man jumped out.
"You're Zhang Hongmei from Liujiatun?"
"Yes, comrade, is the truck carrying five tons of fertilizer for Liujiatun?"
"Yes. This road is so difficult to travel. Sorry for being late."
"It's alright, comrade. You haven't eaten yet, have you? Why don't you come to my house for dinner? My house is in the city, just a ten-minute drive from here."
"Thank you so much, comrade. I haven't eaten all day."
"Alright, I'll lead the way."
When Zhang Hongmei arrived at her doorstep, she invited the driver inside, thanking him for the electric lights.
"Comrade, no one lives in the house often, and there are only noodles, so we can only cook noodle soup."
"Okay, this is good food."
Zhang Hongmei picked a large scallion from the yard, lit a fire to boil water, and put noodles in as soon as the water boiled.
I also found Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies, and garlic. I minced the scallions and garlic and set them aside.
When the noodles are half-cooked, scoop them into a large bowl and a smaller bowl, add salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, and then add the broth from cooking the noodles.
Top the noodles with chopped scallions and garlic. Heat oil in a small pot until it smokes, then add Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili flakes. Pour the hot oil over the noodles, and your modified version of oil-splashed noodles is ready.
The young driver, who had been watching from the side, finally caught a whiff of the aroma.
"Agreed, here's your noodles. Is that enough?"
"That's enough, that's enough, it smells so good, I won't be polite anymore." After saying that, she picked up her chopsticks, lowered her head, and started eating heartily.
Zhang Hongmei also picked up her bowl of noodles and quickly started eating. It tasted really good.
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