"My little sister pooped, and the room smells awful. It makes me want to throw up. Ugh." As she spoke, Tian Tian frowned, pinched her nose with one hand, and fanned her nose with the other.
It's so vivid and lifelike; the imagery comes to life instantly.
Fang Qiao found it amusing and carried the steamed buns into the house, saying, "I'll go take a look."
She placed the steamed buns on the table in the dining room before going into the inner room.
Inside the house, Xiao Jing had already changed An An's diaper, and the old diaper was crumpled up and thrown into the ceramic basin on the floor.
Hmm... the smell is quite strong.
Fang Qiao moved the ceramic basin to the yard, then opened the window of the inner room to let the smell out, and said to Xiao Jing, "Xiao Jing, put An An in the crib, come out and eat first, then wash later."
"good."
Xiao Jing did as instructed and put An An into the crib.
An'an was already awake, and it wasn't safe for her to stay alone in the inner room, so Fang Qiao moved her, along with her crib, to the dining room. The crib had wooden wheels underneath, so it was a bit heavy to push, but not too difficult.
After securing the crib, Cheng Baidong had already arranged the steamed buns and vegetables.
There was hot water on the stove, so Fang Qiao added it to the pot and quickly stirred in half a bowl of white flour paste. In just two or three minutes, the white flour dumpling soup was ready.
The chef at the pharmaceutical factory canteen was quite skilled; both meat dishes tasted good, while the two vegetable dishes were rather bland and not very oily, though not bad either.
Fang Qiao ate a large bowl of porridge with shepherd's purse buns.
After the meal, Xiao Jing said to Fang Qiao, "Sister-in-law, when you and your brother went to the cafeteria to get food today, Sister Guizhi from the west came to our house and asked if you wanted to go to the black market to buy some things tomorrow."
"A black market?" Fang Qiao raised an eyebrow, a curious expression on her face. "Anyone around here?"
Back in the countryside, there was a street in Chengnan Hutong that could be considered a black market, but it was shut down by the Red Armbands before it could take off.
Later, she went to the countryside, but because she was short of money, she stayed on the farm and rarely went to the city.
I only vaguely heard that the street behind the county hospital in the city was...
However, after marrying Cheng Baidong, she discovered that it wasn't what she had imagined at all.
It was just a run-down street, with two or three people squatting at intervals along the roadside. They would observe you for a while before sneaking up and asking, "Hey, little sister, do you need any grain? We have wheat flour, cornmeal, and mixed grains."
It's not impressive at all; it's more like being a thief.
However, the county was poor, and everyone was struggling to afford food. The black market sold nothing but grain, with nothing of value.
The capital city is so big, and there are many wealthy people.
So the black market in the capital must be different from that in the countryside, right?
Fang Qiao thought expectantly.
However, when Fang Qiao went with Sister Guizhi the next day, she discovered that the black market in the capital was no different from the one in the county, except that it had a wider variety of goods.
They all acted furtively, almost like thieves.
The only difference was that the county's black market was located on a run-down street, while the one Chen Guizhi brought her to was in a small grove of trees.
The grove of trees is right next to two intersecting paths, and not far ahead is a crossroads, a maze of roads leading in all directions. There are even lookouts here. The place is open and spacious, and when someone in a red armband comes, they shout loudly, and you can hear them from half a mile away, making it especially convenient to run away.
Chen Guizhi came to the black market to buy a sewing machine.
Her younger brother from her maternal family in the countryside is getting married soon, and the bride's family specifically requested a sewing machine.
However, sewing tickets are expensive, and a factory only issues a few a year, so ordinary workers never get one.
Unable to buy it through normal channels, her family asked her to help them search the black market in the city and try their luck.
Chen Guizhi and Fang Qiao parted ways at the entrance of the black market, agreeing to meet again there in half an hour.
Fang Qiao came to the black market mainly to familiarize herself with the area; she didn't have anything she wanted to buy at the moment.
However, since Chen Guizhi mentioned sewing machines, Fang Qiao also wanted to buy one.
Although she doesn't know how to sew, Xiaojing does.
In another six months, An'an will be learning to sit and crawl. From six months old, it's the time when she goes through the most clothes.
Ready-made clothes in department stores are too expensive. It's more cost-effective to buy fabric and make clothes yourself. Having a sewing machine makes making clothes much, much faster.
Fang Qiao planned to ask about the situation after meeting up with Sister-in-law Guizhi later, and if the price was right, he would buy one.
The black market in the capital city indeed had a wide variety of goods.
In addition to various grains and fruits, there are also many vendors selling live chickens and ducks.
In addition, there were CDs and tapes smuggled from the south. Fang Qiao glanced at them and saw the cover of a Hong Kong singer who would become famous for her sweet voice and become popular all over the country a few years later.
However, this is only 71 years.
Fang Qiao couldn't help but sigh, "The capital city truly lives up to its name; it's so trendy!"
Fang Qiao wandered around the black market, bought two pounds of fruit, and then bought some rice, vegetable and fruit seeds from a seed vendor. He planned to take half of them home and plant them in the yard, and the other half in his space.
Before long, it was half an hour before I met Sister Guizhi.
Fang Qiao started walking back. When she arrived at the agreed place, Gui Zhi had not yet returned, so Fang Qiao leaned against a tree with a net bag of fruit in her hand and waited.
She was getting increasingly bored while waiting, when suddenly a tentative male voice came from beside her: "Xiao Qiao? Is that you?"
Fang Qiao turned her head in confusion.
She noticed a young man pushing a slightly worn bicycle with two dark green woven bags strapped to the back seat staring intently at her.
He had a buzz cut, a square face, a high nose, thick eyebrows, and big eyes; Fang Qiao found him somewhat familiar.
But I couldn't figure out who it was for a long time.
She frowned. "I'm sorry, I've been working in the countryside for several years, and I've almost forgotten everything from before, so I didn't recognize you. You are..."
“Xiao Qiao, this is Jin Xin! We’re neighbors living in the same alley. Think about it carefully,” Jin Xin reminded her.
"It's you! I remember now." As soon as Jin Xin said the name, Fang Qiao immediately remembered!
Because Jin Xin was the first person in that alley to get rich.
Although they were the same age, Fang Qiao only remembered his name but forgot what he looked like because he had moved away from the alley in the early 1980s in his previous life.
Looking at it now, I can still vaguely recall what it was like to play together when we were kids.
So, if you put it that way, could we barely call them... childhood sweethearts?
"Xiao Qiao, it really is you! I thought I was seeing things." Jin Xin said with a smile, "I heard from my mom a few days ago that you came back from the countryside. Congratulations, you've finally overcome your hardships."
"Thank you." Fang Qiao nodded slightly and asked in a friendly manner, "Why did you come all this way? This place is quite far from the south of the city."
“Let’s do some business.” Jin Xin patted the woven bag on the back seat of the car: “There are too many people waiting to be assigned jobs in the city. I’ve been waiting for more than half a year and haven’t found a suitable job. I might as well come out and resell some mountain products to make a little money. My uncle is in the Northeast and happens to have a source of goods.”
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