Chapter 73 (Catching Bugs)
While eating, Yu Huifang brought up the last time she was reported and said to her daughter, "Someone really is deliberately trying to harm you? Why don't you just call and tell me? I'm going to the steel mill to make trouble for them."
Zhou Jiani did not mention the conflict with Zhao Weiguo to her family. They learned about the follow-up because the street office came to their home to tell them the results of the handling of Peng Zhen. Only then did her family realize that they were really going after their daughter and that it was caused by a personal conflict, which made Yu Huifang very angry.
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "The commune has already made the punishment. The one from the team has been sent to a farm for labor reform. After the reform is completed, he won't be returning to the Qianjin Brigade. He will probably be transferred to a more difficult place."
"You deserve it!" Yu Huifang said gritting her teeth.
Then, talking about how the steel plant handled Peng Zhen, the police found the steel plant leaders, who wrote two self-criticisms, one posted at the steel plant and one brought home.
Yu Huifang said somewhat aggrievedly, "The Subdistrict Office means that the other party has admitted their mistake and hopes to reach a settlement and let this matter go."
Zhou Jiani took it and glanced at it. There was nothing new in the content, nor did she sense any sincerity between the lines. She folded it up and put it in her bag, smiling: "Let's just leave it alone for now!"
She had promised last time that if there were any other follow-up matters, she would be willing to cooperate with the work of the subdistrict office, so she should give her face.
However, when the sideline business of the Qianjin Brigade creates brilliance, she will use this letter of self-criticism as a testimony and repeatedly criticize it. After all, it was just a small setback in the early stage of the business.
After putting away the letter of apology, Zhou Jiani asked her father to help ask Accountant Zheng from the factory for some books and materials on finance and accounting. If he didn't have them on hand, she would ask if he could recommend a channel or introduce someone so that they could contact them themselves.
In the afternoon, I went to Xinhua Bookstore and only bought the textbook "Basics of Accounting". Liu Tong regarded it as a treasure. After coming out, he asked her to help him find some related information.
Zhou Jiani thought of Zheng Kaijiang from the factory.
"Mom, take a pound of dried cowpeas from home and give them to Accountant Zheng. I'll send more next time."
Yu Huifang said angrily, "No need to re-send it. Why are you being so specific with your family?"
Zhou Jiani said, "People will give it to me when we get back."
Yu Huifang: "Then keep it for yourself."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "It's much easier for me to eat vegetables in the countryside than it is for you. Besides, we're also planning a greenhouse experiment. If it succeeds, our dinner tables will be richer than those in the city by winter."
Speaking of food, one would think of food. Jiang Xinfeng recalled an incident and said, "The last time Xiao Qiu and your team leader came to our house, after they left, I discovered several national food coupons under the tablecloth. I thought carefully, your team leader didn't go to the table, so it must be Comrade Xiao Qiu."
The other person put it down quietly. It was a genuine gift. It would be a bit inappropriate to return it after such a long time. So he said, "Go back and tell him, and also tell Comrade Qiu, that you don't have to be so polite in the future."
That time they cooked noodles and baked a stack of pancakes for them. Comrade Qiu must have felt bad for them and was worried about their food shortage, so he left the ticket for them.
Zhou Jiani was surprised. She didn't expect that Comrade Xiao Qiu had secretly slipped in the national food coupons. After returning, she asked Sister Zhao Mei to help make a pair of shoes for Comrade Xiao Qiu to express her gratitude. She would provide the cloth.
The twins were still thinking about the octagonal hat. Although they didn't have one, they could buy some in the dormitory area. After dinner, Zhou Jiani took half a pound of snacks and asked the twins to take her to the home of a friend who had an octagonal hat. She borrowed the hat and drew a sample picture based on it.
On the way back, the two of them stuck to their sister, one on each side. Jiaping asked, "Sister, how long will it take to finish?"
"It's hard to say. Let's see how the sister-in-law in the village works." Zhou Jiani said with a smile.
On the way, I ran into an aunt from the same dormitory area. She greeted me with surprise: "Jiani, are you back on business again?"
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Yes, I came back to deliver the goods to the department store."
"Can I still buy that basket from you?"
Zhou Jiani shook her head and said, "No, the signing of the formal contract is already on the agenda, and we have to abide by the agreement." She changed the subject and continued, "But other styles are possible, such as the one with hollow lace that I have at home now, but you have to wait a few days if you want it."
"Leave two for me." The aunt said hurriedly, "When they are delivered, ask your mother to tell me and I will come to pick them up at home."
"Okay, Aunt Qian."
After returning home with the twins, Zhou Jiani took the bath ticket and went to take a bath. When she came back to chat with her grandmother and mother, the two looked at the hat picture she drew and gave her a lot of flattery.
My granddaughter/daughter is good at drawing, and her paintings are good in every way.
Looking at the picture, Yu Huifang suddenly remembered and said casually, "I have a piece of green canvas at home, which I bought two years ago...but it's not suitable for making a hat."
Zhou Jiani's eyes lit up, and she hurried over to hug Yu Huifang's arm, saying, "Mom, I want it. I have a use for the green canvas. I don't want to make a hat, I want to make a backpack!"
"Then I have to go look for it. Oh, I forgot where I put the cloth..."
Yu Huifang got up to look for him. Jiang Xinfeng told her to go rest and said, "Let's get up tomorrow morning and check. There's no need to wait for your father. He doesn't know when he'll be back. Go lie down and rest your feet."
Zhou Wanli has not returned from Accountant Zheng's house yet.
Zhou Jiani returned to her little nest, closed the door from the inside, quietly drank a carton of milk, destroyed the packaging, stood up and quietly opened the half-closed door, sat back and retraced the hat pattern, reworking the details.
Halfway through her sketch, she heard the door open. It must be her father who had returned. Before she could get up and leave, Yu Huifang came over and knocked on the door. She opened it, poked her head in, and said with a smile, "Your father is back." She then handed her a piece of green canvas and said, "Is it enough? If I had known, I would have bought more two years ago."
She bought this piece of army green canvas with the internal tickets issued by the factory two years ago. This was the least expensive piece. If she had known that her daughter would want this one day, she would have used all the internal tickets to buy this piece of cloth.
Zhou Jiani took it, unfolded it, and shook it, then said with a smile, "That's enough, enough to make two bags." She said firmly, "I'll make two and give you one when the time comes. It'll be convenient to carry things when you go out."
Zhou Wanli came over and handed his daughter two textbooks and four frayed notebooks, saying, "Accountant Zheng said he'll ask for you later."
Zhou Jiani took it and looked at it. There was a notebook with her study notes for "Basics of Accounting". She smiled and said, "Thank you, Dad. Thank Accountant Zheng for me too. I'll give him a basket next time and have the village reimburse him."
"Go to sleep! Don't you have to get up early tomorrow to see someone off at the station?" Yu Huifang scolded again, "Next time you come back, tell us earlier and invite our fellow villagers to your home for a meal. You said we're locals, so it's inappropriate for you to bring people here and not invite them over for a meal."
"I know, Mom. I mentioned it, but they felt embarrassed to disturb you so they didn't come." Zhou Jiani smiled and pushed her parents to go rest. She came back and flipped through the books and notes.
Books are secondary. She thinks the essence is in the notes, which can be regarded as a treasure book for learning.
Liu Tong got the book today. Although he was very rare, you could see that he was struggling. He was well prepared to go back and study hard. Now with the learning experience in this notebook, he can save a lot of effort.
At six o'clock the next morning, I took three steamed buns, three two-grain flatbreads, and a lunch box of vegetables and rode my bike to the guesthouse near the station.
Liu Tong and Zhang Laosi looked more energetic after a night's rest. Seeing Comrade Xiao Zhou bring some dry food from home, he immediately felt bad. Liu Tong said, "I heard from the captain that your family spent a lot of money last time. You people in the city pay food per person, it's not as convenient as our village. You have to keep these food coupons."
Zhou Jiani blinked and smiled, "I won't accept the food coupons. When we get to the county, please help me go to the county supply and marketing cooperative to see if there's any green cotton cloth. If there is, please buy some for me. This will be considered as my hard work fee."
She took out a book and notebook from her bag, handed it to Liu Tong, and said with a smile, "Here, the Accounting Bible!" She added, "I'll ask the village to give me a few baskets for handling official accounts. I'll use them to repay the favor."
Liu Tong took it and flipped through it. His breathing became tighter, his eyes red with excitement. He looked up and said, "Comrade Xiao Zhou, thank you so much. This is truly a treasure."
Zhang Laosi didn't understand. When Liu Tong said it was accounting study materials that couldn't be bought in bookstores, he nodded and said, "This thing is precious!"
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "We can discuss this with the village and make it public property."
She then took out the hat design she had drawn and the blue cloth she had taken from the warehouse on the way here, and asked them to help take it to Zhao Mei. She said, "Make a few of these hats. If you can buy green cloth, make a few of both. If not, just make the blue ones and embroider the five-pointed stars with red thread. You don't know, my two younger brothers are always making trouble at home, and I was thinking that I couldn't buy any, so I asked Sister-in-law Zhao Mei to help make a few. At least it means something."
He gave me some cloth coupons and money, and said, "If there's any green cloth in our county, buy some. Besides making hats, I'll send the rest home when I get back..."
After hearing the second half, the two thought that Zhou Jiani's family also needed green cloth, so she bought more, so they didn't ask any other questions.
However, Xiao Zhou's words also reminded them that if they had green cloth, they would buy a piece and make a hat like this for their children at home in advance. They also asked Zhou Jiani if they could use her picture.
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Of course, I also drew it by imitating other people's hats."
But Liu Tong still stuffed the food coupons into the hands of Zhou Jiani. Compared with her help, the trip they made to the supply and marketing cooperative was nothing to mention.
After dinner, they checked out of the hotel and sent them to the station. Zhou Jiani gave them some tips on anti-theft in the car. She only turned around and left after the car started and left.
Today, she went out riding her mother's bicycle and strolled around the neighborhood. When she came across a supply and marketing cooperative, she went in. When she saw a place that looked like a black market, she would first find a corner to put away her bicycle, and then carefully go in and take a look around.
After working all morning, she managed to collect a lot of things.
There was a pile of various bills, including two milk powder bills. In addition, there were 15 kilograms of flour, 10 kilograms of rice, 2 kilograms of soybeans, 3 kilograms of beef, two beef shanks, a chicken, and 20 eggs.
She kept the eggs and rice for herself, and during this period, she took advantage of the convenience of the thermos cup to eat a lot of them privately.
Keep the flour as well. You can cook it yourself after you move back home. Then mix it with cornmeal to make steamed buns.
I brought the soybeans, beef, ribs and the chicken home and started eating meat for the next two days.
She plans to buy some milk powder. Although it is baby milk powder, it can also provide nutrition for the old and young in the family.
Next time I come back, I will take the milk powder box away, find a chance to buy some milk powder from the group, remove the packaging and use the current milk powder box.
After the experience of neighbors gossiping last time, Zhou Jiani packed the things in woven bags this time so that no one could see what she bought.
But when I stew meat at home, I still can’t cover up the aroma.
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