Chapter 48
After leaving the samples in the office, Zhou Jiani went back to the lobby to shop.
There are a lot of people today. The counters are crowded with people. Iron clamps are flying all over the sky above our heads, and the sound of crackling is endless.
Passing by the needlework counter, Zhou Jiani stood on tiptoe to look inside, squeezed for more than ten minutes holding her money and ticket, and grabbed a particularly thick blanket.
In winter, whether you put it under your body or on top of a quilt, it will keep you warm.
I passed by the shoe cabinet and picked out a pair of rain boots to take back to the countryside.
I went to the stationery store and bought a fountain pen, two bottles of ink, two ballpoint pens, a few erasers, pencils, a few notebooks, and two pencil sharpeners.
She can use it when reviewing her lessons.
I also bought a flashlight, a pack of candles, and a dozen plastic rubber bands. When I got home, I wrapped them in scraps of cloth and sewed them together to tie my hair.
I also bought a lot of other daily necessities.
I carried it out and found a corner away from people, put it in the warehouse, and took out the thermos to drink water.
Last night, while my parents weren't paying attention, I took the cup to the kitchen, washed it, and filled it with water from the thermos at home. It's been almost twenty hours now, and the temperature is just right for drinking.
After drinking the water, he put away the cup and went back home, carrying a woven bag to continue shopping. He bought tin thermoses, bamboo thermoses, enamel products, small cotton handkerchiefs, a broom to sweep the kang, a bamboo hat, and an ordinary large basket.
I queued up to grab things and queued up to pay. I was busy for two hours, going in and out several times. In the end, the thick stack of tickets in my hand was reduced to a thin stack. I left with a feeling of unsatisfied.
Before going home, he took out the things he had brought for Sun Ping and Wang Liping, still holding a piece of meat in his hand. When he got home, he put the things down, took the glass bottles that he had emptied and washed in the past few days, and went out to the factory again.
We have to inform Director Huang that the food will arrive tomorrow.
When I was almost at the factory, I grabbed a red envelope and was stunned when I saw the note on it: Withered vine opening handkerchief.
Zhou Jiani was attracted by the word "handkerchief" and thought that the group leader was also going to start a group purchase of small handkerchiefs. It took her a moment to realize that the "withered vine" was herself.
Her nickname is 'The old tree sprouts again when the vine is dead'.
Was this a private call?
Zhou Jiani found it interesting.
I clicked into the warehouse and took a look. I didn't take a picture of the tin thermos. For other items that had been grouped together, you can directly use the previous pictures and information.
There are not many pictures of patterned bamboo hats. I took some photos secretly when I bought them at the supply and marketing cooperative this morning, avoiding the staff. Even though there are no close-up photos, they can still be used.
This morning, the supply and marketing cooperative and the second department store just purchased bought, now have 14 enamel basins, 15 enamel pots, 11 kang sweeping brooms, 15 patterned hats, 21 small handkerchiefs, 6 bamboo thermoses, 7 iron thermoses, and 5 baskets.
If there is stock, then let’s open it, and she has a new purchasing demand.
She sent out red envelopes: small handkerchief group
This time I opened a small handkerchief, an enamel basin, an enamel pot, a kang sweeping broom and a patterned hat. I will save the two thermoses and the basket for next time.
The patterns on these two hats are very beautiful, with a touch of ethnic style. They are priced at 19.9 per hat, and a sentence is abruptly added in the introduction: (Looking for stewing cups, toilet paper, and sanitary napkins).
She knew about the thermos cup in her previous life, but she had never used it. Today, when she was using the thermos cup, she suddenly remembered that there was such a little thing.
I operated while walking, and finally set up the group. I arrived at the factory gate, said goodbye to the guard, and entered the factory.
She went straight to the factory committee. Director Huang was not in the office at the moment, so Zhou Jiani went to her mother's workshop. Yu Huifang came out wearing a work hat and overalls and asked with a smile, "Nini, why are you here at the factory?"
Zhou Jiani came over and asked her mother to help ask those who ordered the woven baskets first if they didn't want any of them anymore. She also wanted to inform those who ordered the dozen or so later that they would have to wait for the next batch of goods. If there were any returns early on, they could be put on the waiting list later.
If there is any extra, she will move it to the second department store.
Yu Huifang shouted, "What? Did you also negotiate with the Second Department Store?"
Zhou Jiani: ...
He escaped from Comrade Yu Huifang before everyone gathered around to watch.
Back at the factory committee, Director Huang had returned and mentioned the vegetable issue. Director Huang quickly said, "I've already informed the canteen. They can easily handle several hundred kilograms of vegetables. I'll go and tell them later."
After that, he asked about the report, saying, "I heard you reported it to the police?"
Zhou Jiani nodded seriously. "The goods were due tomorrow, but they wouldn't give in. I discussed it with the neighborhood committee and then reported it to the police."
Director Huang nodded and said, "Your commune also takes this very seriously. The commune director even called to explain the situation personally."
It's really strange. Even though the leaders have approved of this, I don't know who it is who insists that there is something wrong with Zhou Jiani and keeps pursuing her, even reporting her to the police.
Reporting is for mutual supervision. No one can tolerate deliberate disruption.
Zhou Jiani borrowed the factory's phone and called the First Department Store to confirm the procedure for receiving the goods tomorrow.
After leaving the factory, Zhou Jiani went to Teacher Meng Wen's house again and informed Teacher Meng that she would return to the team after finishing her work the next day and the day after tomorrow. She left her address for future communication.
Come out and find a place to deal in honey.
Without a ladle, I picked up the jar and filled two bottles with it. Then I packed up the jar and put it in the warehouse. I wiped the bottles clean with wet wipes, screwed on the lids, put them in my bag and carried them home.
On the way, her cell phone vibrated. A group leader sent her a red envelope and responded to her request for something: Braised Mingwei Houtian.
Zhou Jiani almost laughed out loud.
Although it was brief, she understood it. It meant that the thermos cup would be on the list tomorrow, and toilet paper and sanitary napkins would be on the list the day after tomorrow.
The goods she ordered have not been fully arranged yet, and the small brooms have not been shipped yet.
After arriving home, he went out to get some honey and feigned surprise, saying to Jiang Xinfeng, "Grandma, I met a honey seller and I bought some. You and my parents can make a bowl of honey water to drink every day. By the way, try not to let Jiaping and Jiaan drink this. They're young, so it's okay for them to drink it occasionally. Drinking too much is not good for them."
Jiang Xinfeng also said happily: "Oh, this is hard to touch. When you leave, take a bottle back and drink it."
Zhou Jiani waved her hand: "I'll go to the honey seller tomorrow. I'll buy two more cans tomorrow. If I can't buy it, we'll talk later."
While having dinner in the evening, Zhou Wanli asked his daughter if she was ready to go home.
"If I can't leave tomorrow, the day after tomorrow will be about the same." Zhou Jiani could see that her family was reluctant to let her go. Yu Huifang kept putting meat into her bowl. She smiled and said in a sly way, "Just think of it this way. I'm just going out of town to work. And now I have business dealings with the provincial capital. Who knows, I might be able to come back often in the future."
When the family thought about it, they found that this was indeed the case, and the sadness of separation eased a lot.
Jiaping and Jiaan were also reluctant to leave her. The food at her sister's place was exceptionally good, and it seemed that her sister was much more generous than before she went to the countryside, always buying delicious food for them.
Zhou Jiani gave her father the receipt from the photo studio. The photos would take a few more days to be developed, so she developed two copies at the time and would send one to her when the time came.
After talking about the photos, Zhou Jiani dropped another surprise on her parents, whispering, "I've asked Qiu Zeming to help me secretly buy some food from a fellow villager. I don't know how much food it will be. We'll bring it back quietly at the entrance of our dormitory around five in the morning, and try not to alert the neighbors."
The adults in the family immediately became excited.
Afraid that her parents would argue over the money and tickets again, Zhou Jiani said bluntly, "Wait until I ask Qiu Zeming how much money he spent and the tickets, and then I'll ask you for them."
Yu Huifang said happily, "Okay, okay, that's great, Nini, please be sure to ask for their permission, don't let them suffer any loss."
Of course, the family was short of food, but the couple were both working and had high incomes, so they would buy some food privately. Therefore, they would not go hungry, but they still lived frugally.
It would be great if we could collect some money from the countryside now.
Zhou Wanli also said: "I will go out and wait at five o'clock tomorrow morning."
Zhou Jiani said, "Our captain said he'd give me an extra ration for my trip, and it'll be delivered tomorrow. This doesn't conflict with our monthly allotment; it's a separate reward from the village. Don't push me to take more back. I have enough food, and if I'm really short, I can always find a fellow villager to exchange it with. It's very convenient."
Yu Huifang didn't bother to be polite with her daughter.
Jiang Xinfeng warned her two grandsons: "Don't go out and make noise. If you go out and make noise, you'll get beaten when you come back, okay?"
The two boys nodded quickly.
Zhou Jiani added, "Don't give out the baskets our factory needs piecemeal. Let everyone come to our house at noon to pick them up. Hand over the money and receive the goods. Go according to the list we had before. Cross out the ones you've taken. There won't be any extras."
The dozen or so who came later will be batched next.
After dinner, I chatted with my parents and grandma in the living room for a while. After a while, I went back to the house to pack my things. I also took some autumn and winter clothes, the cotton boots I bought last year, etc., and packed them up.
I was so busy that after I finished packing the things I wanted to take away, I looked at the tour group that was leaving in the afternoon and found that they were all sold out.
Before falling asleep, she was still thinking about how much food Comrade Xiao Qiu could help her get and how to tell the team leader and others.
In fact, it was very common for educated youth to help their families get food in rural areas. As long as the business was not overly ostentatious, village cadres would not interfere.
So Zhang Baosheng probably won’t say anything.
As a result, at 5:10 the next morning, Zhang Baosheng got off the car at the dormitory door. He turned around and carried down half a bag of sweet potatoes and said, "Comrade Xiao Zhou, these are the sweet potatoes you asked for."
Zhou Jiani:!!!
Zhang Baosheng actually followed me here directly?
Over there, Qiu Zeming began to unload bags from the car: corn, raw wheat, and sorghum.
Finally, he took out a separate bag, which was the food subsidy given by the village to Zhou Jiani for her business trip.
Zhou Jiani felt a little embarrassed and quickly introduced him to her parents to hide her embarrassment: "Dad, Mom, this is our team leader, Comrade Zhang Baosheng."
Zhou Wanli and Yu Huifang hurried over and shook hands with Zhang Baosheng enthusiastically, expressing their gratitude without asking for anything in return, and strongly invited him to visit their home.
This was Zhang Baosheng's first time in the provincial capital. He looked nervous and awkward. He refused repeatedly and spoke incoherently, looking at Qiu Zeming for help.
Qiu Zeming came over to say hello: "Hello uncle, hello aunt."
Zhou Wanli shook hands with Qiu Zeming and said with a smile, "Comrade Qiu, nice to see you again. You must be exhausted from this night, right?"
"Luckily, there were beddings in the car, so I slept all the way."
Yu Huifang hurriedly said, "Comrade Xiao Qiu, I've prepared breakfast. Let's go home with your captain and the driver to have something to eat and have a good rest."
I didn’t invite everyone to my home because I was worried about the bad influence, but this time there are a lot of people, so I just invite them to have a meal at my home.
Qiu Zeming smiled and said, "Auntie, you don't have to be so polite. I'll help you deliver the things up. You can skip the meal. We still have to rush to the First Department Store. After unloading the car, the driver still has a task to do."
Zhou Wanli went to the front of the car and handed the driver a pack of cigarettes, said a few polite words, and invited him to get out of the car and go upstairs to eat. The driver took the cigarettes and waved his hand to decline the invitation. How could he have the nerve to accept it alone if Comrade Xiao Qiu outside didn't nod?
Yu Huifang was about to exchange pleasantries when Zhou Jiani said softly, "Dad, Mom, while no one is around, take the food back first and then come back to get the basket."
Then he whispered, "Mom, why don't we just serve it out and let everyone eat in the car."
She noticed that Zhang Baosheng was a little reserved and couldn't move freely when talking to her parents.
Zhou Jiani stayed to accompany Zhang Baosheng, while Qiu Zeming helped to bring back food and weave baskets.
After they left, Zhang Baosheng finally relaxed his nerves and said to Zhou Jiani, "Comrade Xiao Zhou, that bastard...that bastard who reported us isn't causing any more trouble, right? Do the police have any leads?"
Yesterday afternoon, Secretary Li from the commune went to the team to inform them that the police had been notified in the provincial capital and that they had called the commune to investigate the situation.
Director Zhai felt that this was a good handling of the matter, as the neighborhood committee had given a reasonable explanation. However, the whistleblower was still relentless, and he was worried that he was really trying to sabotage the cooperation, so he contacted the commune police station.
Zhang Baosheng had not originally planned to come along for this delivery. He was planning to wait until the formal contract was signed, but after all the commotion, he felt a little uneasy. Besides, since he could go with the truck, he didn't need a ticket, so he just came along.
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "The police haven't contacted me yet. They're probably still investigating. Don't worry. We called the police just to seize the initiative. Now we're actually hoping he'll make a move. Otherwise, he'll be hiding in the dark and it'll be hard for us to find him."
He added, "Captain, what a coincidence! I had just finished talking to Comrade Xiao Qiu on the phone that day and hadn't even left the factory when the second report call came in. The comrade who answered the phone said it only took a few minutes. If I had left later, I might have received the report call myself."
"Well, it's just that the comrades at the factory won't tell me who it is. They say someone reported it and they have to keep it confidential." Zhou Jiani didn't want to cause trouble for Shao Kangwei and said, "I don't know if the police have investigated the Second Spinning Factory yet. I hope the police can help us get some clues."
If the police intervene, it won't be Uncle Shao's deliberate snitching.
Shao Kangwei was on duty the day before yesterday and rested yesterday. Any progress should be made today.
Zhang Baosheng frowned and nodded. He instinctively thought that the person who called to report was in the provincial capital, so he didn't think much about it.
At this time, Yu Huifang and the others came back, carrying a pot and a few large bowls, and invited everyone to eat.
Zhang Baosheng took one look and said hurriedly, "Comrade, you can't do this!"
"Well, what's so special about a simple meal?" Yu Huifang said with a smile, "Captain Zhang, don't be so formal. When I have some time off, I might come to visit your team. Then I won't be polite to you."
Zhang Baosheng hurriedly said, "You're welcome anytime, anytime."
Yu Huifang got up early in the morning to make toppings, cooked a pot of noodles, and poached four eggs. She had originally thought it would be just Qiu Zeming and the driver, so two eggs would be perfect for each. But now that there was one more person, she was worried it would be difficult to divide them, so she scooped out one egg and gave each of them one.
Afraid that this pot of noodles wasn’t enough, I also added a few of the sesame cakes my daughter bought yesterday.
While he was busy, Zhou Jiani saw Comrade Xiao Qiu winking at him and walked over.
Qiu Zeming whispered, "You've been reported? Was it Zhao Weiguo?"
Zhou Jiani raised her eyebrows.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
