Liu Changhe glanced at Zhang Hongmei with surprise. "You should tell everyone yourself."
"Elders in the village, I'll take 200 jin of this meat with me, and save the rest for the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"These two hundred jin are for gifts. As everyone knows, I traded about one hundred jin of cornmeal for the job that Brother Dashan and his ten men did this time. Of course, I also promised to give them pork."
Li Cuihua stepped forward and said, "Take them all, it's fine. Everyone has helped you, a child, so much. Nobody is ungrateful."
"Yes, you'll be going to university soon, and there will be a lot of expenses. Why don't we buy a place in the city? People still owe your parents their pension money."
Zhang Hongmei felt particularly comfortable looking at everyone's sincere expressions.
"It's alright. It's not like we can have meat for the holidays, so everyone should eat it. I have to leave soon, so I'll have to trouble anyone to see me off."
Liu Changhe stood up and said, "Dad, go hitch up the cart and take Hongmei to the city. Also, let Hongmei take all the mooncakes after they've been distributed. We can't leave her alone. Otherwise, no one will treat you well."
"Uncle, I'll go hitch up the cart right away. Anyone who wants to send something for their child, please finish your meal and go home to pack. You can bring it to me later."
"Grandpa, you still have oxcarts in our village? I thought we'd have to carry them all the way back to the city."
"You silly girl, hurry up and eat. Your great-grandmother wants you to come over."
"Okay."
After finishing her meal, Zhang Hongmei went to the old lady's house.
"Great-Grandma, what do you need me for? Uncle, you're here too?"
"Yes, here's your money back. The village sold vegetables for a thousand, and your great-grandmother gave you another thousand. Here's what's rightfully yours, because your school expenses are high."
"Grandma, there's no rush. Just give me a thousand first, and I'll be fine. If I really pass the exam, I won't leave until after the New Year."
“Okay, Changlin, just give her a thousand for now.”
Zhang Hongmei took the money and said, "Grandma, I'm leaving now. My uncle probably won't be back until dark tonight."
"Go ahead, I'm waiting for you to get into the capital university."
"I understand, the pressure is immense."
"Stop fooling around and let's go."
Sitting on the oxcart, Zhang Hongmei chatted with her uncle, "Uncle, I have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative in the township later. I promised the saleswoman there that I would deliver mooncakes to her."
"Well, you're really popular, you always have people helping you wherever you go."
"Hehe." Could Zhang Hongmei really say that she and Xiao Jiang were on the same wavelength? Delicious? That's something she probably can't say.
Zhang Hongmei took out a small cloth bag and then took out two pieces of bean paste, two pieces of peanut paste, and two pieces of chestnut paste from a newly woven willow basket. That was all she could give.
They then took out two more cloth bags and gave five yuan each to the principal and five yuan each to Li Juying, and put them aside.
Zhang Hongmei jumped off the oxcart and rushed into the supply and marketing cooperative before it had even come to a complete stop.
He handed the cloth bag to Xiao Jiang and said, "Sister Xiao Jiang, please try it. I still have two more places to deliver to. I'll come see you again next time I come back."
Without waiting for Xiao Jiang's reply, she ran out. She went straight to the township government and ran inside, saying, "Aunt Li, here are some mooncakes, please try them. I have to go now, I'll come back to see you when I have the chance."
After saying that, she ran off. Li Juying watched Zhang Hongmei's retreating figure with mixed feelings. This child is so kind and grateful. She hadn't really helped her much, but this child had never forgotten her.
When Zhang Hongmei arrived at the school, she said a few words to the principal, handed him the mooncake, and left.
It's still hot now, and I'm worried the pork will spoil, so we have to hurry.
When they arrived at the county middle school, they hurriedly gave Er Ya and Zhu Zi the mooncakes that Li Cuihua had given them, and filled four mooncakes of each kind with fillings. They handed them to Er Ya and ran off.
I saw Wang Hongxi as soon as I came out. Luckily, otherwise, at the speed of the oxcart, the meat would have spoiled.
"Uncle Village Chief, the bus is almost here. Should I take the bus? It's too hot, the meat will spoil."
“Okay, I’ll push my bicycle up too, and we’ll give you a ticket.”
There weren't many people taking the bus at this time, so we loaded all the baskets and bicycles onto the bus and bought four tickets.
The ticket seller's eyes were fixed on the basket of meat, so she came over and started chatting with Wang Hongxi.
"Hey, is this meat meant to be sold in the city? Could you spare a few pounds for me? My child is in school, and I'd like to give him some extra nutrition."
"Hehe, comrade, this meat is for visiting relatives."
Zhang Hongmei thought that she might need to use the bus again in the future.
"Auntie, if you want us to get off at the post office in a bit, go there first if you can find a scale."
The passengers on the bus were getting anxious. "We want to buy some too."
"I'm sorry, this is for a relative. If you want to buy it, we'll definitely bring a scale. I'm selling it to this lady because my child takes the bus every week and will need her care in the future. Please understand." What a joke! If they wanted to sell it, would they have gotten a chance to sell it here?
The passengers were all deflated. Yes, they didn't even bring scales; they weren't selling meat at all.
"Thank you so much! I'll go borrow a scale and come find you right away."
I got off the bus directly at the post office entrance.
The ticket seller and the driver came over to help.
Zhang Hongmei entered Huang Ying's office. "Sister Huang Ying, hurry up and ask for leave. I brought you 100 jin of meat this time. You can decide how to divide it yourself. Oh, and you'll need to find a scale yourself."
"Really? It's really pork?"
"Wild boar meat. Sister Huang Ying, I brought two hundred catties of meat this time. I'll give you one hundred catties, keep twenty catties to send to your uncle, and I'll use the rest."
"Okay. Hurry up, I'll get some people to carry it to the backyard. The front yard will be snatched up soon. Xiao Li, Xiao Liu, hurry up and go out to help, move everything to the backyard."
Actually, everyone was listening intently. As soon as they heard that they all had a share, they immediately became motivated. Wang Hongxi didn't even have to do anything; these people just threw all the baskets into the mix.
Someone pushed the scale over, and Wang Hongxi cut a large piece of meat from a basket, weighed it, and found it weighed 25 jin (12.5 kg).
The other basket contained 100 jin (50 kg), which was handed directly to Huang Ying and then left unattended.
Zhang Hongmei took out a cloth bag and picked out ten pieces of each kind of filling. Forty mooncakes and twenty-five catties of meat—this was quite a generous gift.
Then they packed another forty pieces, which were for Huang Ying later. They also had Wang Hongxi cut off a large piece, which weighed twenty-six jin, and that was for Huang Ying.
A separate piece, weighing about ten pounds, will be given to the ticket seller and driver later.
"Uncle Village Chief, could you help me load the mooncakes and the remaining meat onto the cart? I'll take them home first. You can just wait here to collect the money. I'll be right back."
"Okay, don't rush."
"How can I not be in a hurry? I still need to deliver gifts to Brother Jianshe's superiors."
Zhang Hongmei pushed the car into the yard, unloaded the two baskets, and put them away; otherwise, they would spoil and be a waste.
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