Heaven never fails those who take the initiative, and Xia Wenhua's trip to Anshi Daily was a complete success.
Liu Tao valued her article highly and immediately approved that Xia Wenhua's article would be published in the next issue of the newspaper, which is next Monday, two days from now.
Having received a positive answer, Xia Wenhua was relieved.
After returning to the factory to wrap things up a bit, the week's work was finished.
Tomorrow is Sunday, a day off, and Pei Ying will have to go back to work the day after tomorrow.
Xia Wenhua had promised to celebrate with Pei Ying before she went to work, and she hadn't forgotten.
When she left home today, she carried a full bag of money and coupons, and rushed straight to the grocery store as soon as she got off work.
The supply and marketing cooperative has a wide variety of goods, but it is also very popular with people every day.
Not only workers from Anshi go there, but people from several surrounding counties also go to the Anshi Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy things. They can probably buy daily necessities, but it's basically impossible to buy meat after get off work.
The grocery store only supplies goods to local urban residents and factory workers, and it only opens in the afternoon. If you leave work early, there is still a chance to buy something.
Xia Wenhua was fast; there were quite a few people who arrived before her.
When she arrived, one and a half of the two pigs that were all allocated for the day had already been sold, and now only a small portion remained, with most of the fat meat still sold.
There were two elderly people in front of them. They picked and chose for a long time, but seeing that there were too many bones and lean meat left and not a single piece of fat, they hesitated for a long time and neither of them bought anything.
"We only have this many meat coupons a month. Our whole family depends on these coupons to survive. If we buy back all the lean and bony pieces, we'll be starving." The old lady who had put down her hand sighed, no longer looking at the pork, and turned to look at other things nearby.
The people behind her nodded in agreement: "You're right. We're late today, but we'll come earlier next time. We still want the fatty cuts."
People haven't even solved the problem of basic food and clothing, and everyone is starving. Right now, people's first need is to eat their fill rather than eat well, and fatty meat with lots of oil is the most popular choice.
In later generations, pork ribs and lean meat, which were more expensive than fatty meat, were not exactly unwanted, but their market value was clearly not as good as that of fatty meat.
Young people might buy some lean meat if they're craving it, but for these thrifty elderly people, they'd rather go without meat than waste a single meat ration coupon on lean meat.
Xia Wenhua was really afraid that they would buy up the last bit of meat. Seeing them leave, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward.
"Comrade, I'll take the rest!"
Upon hearing this, the two elderly women who had just moved away immediately turned around to see which spendthrift son it was.
Xia Wenhua looked young, dressed in a bright green shirt and black pants, looking very capable, like a young person who had just started working.
"You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Young people don't live like this."
"Who can argue with that?"
The two people made a few comments, one of envy and the other of disdain, but it had absolutely no effect on Xia Wenhua.
Besides the pork, there were a few chickens on the side.
The working hours of the grocery store are not fixed; they always close up shop early when they sell out.
If Xia Wenhua actually buys it, the sales clerk can go home, so the sales clerk quite likes customers like Xia Wenhua.
Ignoring the two elderly women's complaints, she asked while picking up the bags, "Comrade, are you sure you want all of these?"
Xia Wenhua nodded: "I'll take them all. Could you please chop the ribs for me? My knife isn't very good at chopping."
It's definitely a seller's market now; normally, salespeople wouldn't care about these things.
We'll sell you what we need to sell, and how you eat it when you get home is your business. Nobody's willing to do anything extra for you.
It's just that people don't usually sell much; it's basically equivalent to chopping it into pieces.
Xia Wenhua ordered a lot, which saved her a lot of trouble, and the sales clerk's attitude was also quite good.
"Okay, comrade, settle the money and the ticket, and I'll chop it up for you while I'm at it."
Xia Wenhua ordered another chicken, some dried goods, and paid with the money and coupons.
The sales clerk, who was able to leave work early, was beaming with joy. After collecting the money and tickets, she picked up a large cleaver and chopped up all of Xia Wenhua's ribs in a few swift strokes.
Before handing it to Xia Wenhua, she specifically asked a question.
"Comrade, is this okay? If it's alright, I'll install it for you."
"Okay, okay, please pack it for me, thank you." Xia Wenhua glanced back; the main group hadn't arrived yet, so she urged the sales clerk to pack it up.
These days, people aren't really buying things; they're practically scrambling for them.
She bought everything herself before the rest of the group arrived; if the others caught up, they might just take things from her bag.
Because she bought too much that others couldn't buy, which would be a very common thing in later generations, those who didn't buy it could just buy it next time, but that's not possible now.
If someone really does catch you in this situation and insists that you are selfish and don't unite the masses, it could cause a huge uproar at your workplace.
Xia Wenhua didn't want to cause herself any trouble, and the sales clerk understood what Xia Wenhua meant, so she quickly pulled down the bag and packed it up.
After the two finished their transaction like thieves, seeing that people were about to arrive, Xia Wenhua quickly grabbed the items and walked forward.
Sure enough, soon they heard a sound coming from behind.
"Gone so soon? What happened?!"
"I should have come earlier, I didn't buy anything."
Some people muttered a few complaints and left, while others, being a little smarter, grabbed two elderly women standing nearby and asked them questions.
"Auntie, have you been here the whole time? How come your things sold out so quickly? When did you sell out?"
The two older women didn't buy it earlier, saying that Xia Wenhua simply felt that young people didn't know how to manage their money and wanted to persuade them to do good.
If they were to return the item and have it bought by someone else, it would definitely cause controversy, and they wouldn't do something like that.
"We don't know either."
"That's right, there are probably a lot of people here today."
The two laughed it off, quickly bought what they needed, and left.
These days, there's never enough of anything you can buy. Whenever something is out of stock, everyone will subconsciously grumble a bit. Once they know there's no meat left, the grocery store will gradually empty out, and the sales clerks will be able to leave work early.
Satisfied with the meat she had bought, Xia Wenhua boarded the bus on her way home.
Xia Wenhua made an extra trip to the grocery store, so she got home a little later than usual.
On the way home, I saw Pei Ying and her two children standing at the intersection waiting for me from afar.
Xia Wenhua quickened her pace. When she got closer, the child recognized his mother and rushed forward to hug Xia Wenhua's leg tightly.
"Mom, you're finally back."
We miss you so much.
Pei Ying silently took the things from Xia Wenhua's hands, and the smile on her face never faded as she listened to the conversation between the mother and her two children.
A peaceful and tranquil life is the best life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
