As Song Yueying stepped out of the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw a familiar military jeep parked at the entrance. She stopped and turned to look at Qi Yanjue, who was carrying large and small bags as he came out.
Seeing her stop, Qi Yanjue walked over to her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"This car..." Song Yueying pointed to the Jeep, "Did you drive here?"
"Yes." Qi Yanjue nodded. "I had to go out for a while, and since no one was using this car today, I decided to take it out for a bit."
"He saw no one was using this car today, so he drove it out to use it?" Song Yueying blinked, looking at Qi Yanjue with a strange expression. "You don't seem like the kind of person who would abuse public resources for personal gain!"
"I'm definitely not that kind of person. Sending you back doesn't count as using it for personal purposes." Qi Yanjue didn't explain further.
He walked past her to the car, stuffed all the bags he was carrying into the back seat, closed the door, walked to the front, and opened the passenger door.
Qi Yanjue turned to look at Song Yueying and said, "Get in the car."
Even though Qi Yanjue didn't explain, Song Yueying understood what he meant by "not for personal use." This was the car that picked her and Qi Yanjue up when they came out.
It is only right to send her back now.
With a smile, Song Yueying said thank you and got into the car.
Qi Yanjue closed the car door for her, walked around the front of the car to the driver's side door, opened the door, got into the driver's seat, quickly started the car, and drove away.
Even in the county town, there are very few cars; I didn't even encounter a single car on the road.
The car quickly left the county town. Qi Yanjue glanced at Song Yueying. He saw her staring out the window, lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Qi Yanjue asked.
Hearing his voice, Song Yueying looked away and turned to look at Qi Yanjue. The wheel had just driven over a pothole, and the car lurched.
Song Yueying's body jolted slightly before settling back into her seat.
"Hold on tight," Qi Yanjue reminded her.
"I want to sit still too," Song Yueying said irritably. "But the car... the car doesn't have seatbelts, and the road... the road is uneven. How am I supposed to sit still?"
Qi Yanjue really couldn't answer this question, because he couldn't solve any of them. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll drive slower."
When he said that, Song Yueying felt like she was being unreasonable.
Although she didn't mean to be unreasonable, the lack of seatbelts in the car and the uneven road were not problems that could be solved in a short time.
Isn't her complaining about this just making things difficult for Qi Yanjue? He kindly drove her home, and instead of being grateful, she started complaining. That's really going too far.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to blame you." Song Yueying lowered her head guiltily.
"I know." Qi Yanjue held the steering wheel with one hand and reached out to hold Song Yueying's hand with the other. He said gently, "Holding my hand might make you feel better."
Song Yueying was stunned for a moment, looked up at Qi Yanjue, and then looked at his hand holding the steering wheel with one hand.
"Are you sure you can control the steering wheel with one hand? If there's a sudden situation, can you react in time?" Song Yueying asked, frowning.
She can't drive, but she's ridden in cars quite a lot, so she knows the basics of driving.
"No problem." Qi Yanjue gave her a reassuring look, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "Don't worry, I'm a very good driver, there won't be any problems."
"Nothing is absolute. You should just focus on driving." Song Yueying pulled her hand away from his.
Qi Yanjue did not object to her words and gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
"What were you thinking about just now?" Qi Yanjue asked again after not getting an answer before.
Song Yueying replied, "I was thinking, with all the things you bought today, the people at the supply and marketing cooperative were looking at you with pity. They must be thinking you married a spendthrift wife."
"You're already wasting money by buying so little. The people at the supply and marketing cooperative have probably never seen such a spendthrift before." Qi Yanjue smiled and glanced at her. "You're not a spendthrift wife."
"Have you ever seen anyone more wasteful?" Song Yueying asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ve met several,” Qi Yanjue replied. Song Yueying became interested. “Where did you meet them? What were their characteristics?”
“That’s someone else’s wife. You can’t talk about someone else’s wife behind their back,” Qi Yanjue replied seriously.
This is really… Song Yueying instantly deflated and rolled her eyes at Qi Yanjue. People at this time were generally very conservative, and it was indeed not appropriate to talk about other people's wives.
"Don't overthink it. In my eyes, you're not a spendthrift wife. What others do doesn't matter." Seeing that she didn't speak, Qi Yanjue assumed she was still struggling with this.
“I know!” Song Yueying said proudly, “I gave Grandpa Zhao three formulas for making pills, and Grandpa Zhao gave me a lot of money and tickets.”
“These money and tickets are a deposit. I will receive income after the pills are manufactured and put on the market.”
"I can earn my own money, so of course I'm not a spendthrift wife."
Qi Yanjue looked at her in surprise and asked with some concern, "You've produced three formulas for making pills all at once. What will you do if you want to make pills in the future?"
If she's not making pills, is she going to make those... little round balls that can knock out a whole bunch of people?
Qi Yanjue personally believes that, for her safety and the safety of others, it would be better to produce fewer of those small round balls that can take down a group of people.
It's incredibly destructive.
"I can make pills whenever I want." After saying this, Song Yueying seemed to remember something and looked at Qi Yanjue with a strange expression. She asked softly, "You don't think..."
"I only have three formulas for making pills, right?"
“Of course not.” Qi Yanjue shook her head; she still had the recipe for making the small spheres.
Qi Yanjue's expression struck Song Yueying as odd, but she didn't delve into it. She simply stated frankly, "The formula I gave to Grandpa Zhao is more suitable for the military."
"One formula is for repairing old and hidden injuries, another is for stopping bleeding and relieving pain, and the last one is for promoting wound healing."
These medicines are exactly what the troops need most. When Grandpa Zhao received the prescription, he became very excited.
"Moon Shadow, thank you." Qi Yanjue said sincerely.
“You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t provide the formula for free,” Song Yueying said. “I’ve already agreed with Grandpa Zhao that I will receive 20% of the profits once the pills are on the market.”
"Grandpa Zhao actually agreed to give you 20% of the income." Qi Yanjue was somewhat surprised.
Song Yueying asked, "Isn't it reasonable for me to get 20% of the revenue from the formula I provided?"
"Of course," Qi Yanjue said with a smile, praising her. "My little wife is very capable and good at making money. I might have to rely on you to support me in the future."
"No problem." Song Yueying smiled, her eyes crinkling, and reached into her pocket to pull out a wad of cash and bills, handing them to Qi Yanjue. "Here you go."
He glanced at the money and receipts in her hand; they were the same money and receipts he had given her at the supply and marketing cooperative. Qi Yanjue frowned and asked, "I gave them to you so you could spend them, why are you giving them back to me?"
"I'm not returning it to you," Song Yueying said, shaking her head. "I'm giving you some pocket money."
"Pocket money?" Qi Yanjue looked at her in confusion.
"Yes, it's pocket money." Song Yueying said, "I'll manage the money at home from now on, but you can't be without pocket money. I'll give you some money every month as pocket money."
"Okay." Qi Yanjue understood now and was happy.
The car couldn't get into the village, so Qi Yanjue unloaded the things from the car, took Song Yueying home, and then left.
Wang Qianqian and Song's mother marveled at the things she had bought.
Wang Qianqian stared at Song Yueying thoughtfully for a while, then asked, "Teacher, you bought so many things, didn't Comrade Qi say you were being wasteful?"
"No." Song Yueying shook her head.
Song's mother said, "Qianqian, don't worry about Xiaoyingzi. Xiaoqi treats her very well and won't say she's a spendthrift."
"Mom is right." Song Yueying gave her mother a thumbs up.
Song's mother happily carried the things back into the house.
Hearing Song's mother say this, Wang Qianqian felt relieved and helped Song's mother move the things. Walking into the house, Song Yueying saw a large pile of wood ear fungus and mushrooms on the floor of the main room.
Song Yueying turned to look at her mother, "Mom, didn't you say you were going up the mountain to pick some mushrooms to eat? Why did you pick so many?"
"I didn't intend to pick so many," Song's mother explained somewhat awkwardly. "Seeing so many wood ear mushrooms and fungi on the mountain, they would have gone bad if I hadn't picked them."
"It would be such a waste if it broke."
“You’re right, it’s a pity to break it, we should pick it up.” Song Yueying nodded in agreement.
Seeing that her daughter agreed with her, Song's mother happily grabbed her hands and said, "I knew you were the best, Xiaoyingzi. We think alike."
“But we can’t possibly eat all this wood ear mushrooms and fungi. They’ll just go bad if we leave them out for too long.” Song Yueying frowned, pondering what to do with the wood ear mushrooms and fungi.
She turned to look at Wang Qianqian.
Wang Qianqian quickly waved her hand and said, "There are only two people in my family, so we can't eat too much."
"What should we do then?" Song's mother was conflicted.
"How about we sell it at the commune?" Wang Qianqian suggested.
Song's mother's eyes lit up, but she immediately waved her hand and said, "No, no, selling things privately will get us arrested. We can't break the law, or we'll be arrested."
“I think Xixi is right,” Song Yueying said to her mother. “Mom, people get arrested for buying and selling illegally. We’re selling mountain products that we picked up ourselves from the mountains.”
"If you don't buy it and then resell it, you won't get caught."
"But who would buy these wood ear mushrooms and fungi?" Wang Qianqian asked, frowning.
“Go to the black market, there will always be someone to buy it.” Song Yueying almost subconsciously thought of such a place. She had heard a lot about what the black market was like at this time.
She hasn't visited the black market since she transmigrated, so this is a good opportunity to check it out.
"Tomorrow, Qianqian and I will go sell these wood ear mushrooms and other fungi together," Song Yueying decided.
Neither Song's mother nor Wang Qianqian objected.
In the evening, Song Yueying invited Wang Qianqian and Wang Aimin to stay for dinner, citing the excuse of wanting mushroom soup. The couple did not refuse and ate dinner at Song Yueying's house.
The next morning.
Song Yueying and Wang Qianqian each carried a basket on their backs and set off for the commune. Before her transmigration, Song Yueying's daily life was taken care of by servants, and she had never experienced anything like this before.
So she was excited from last night until this morning.
On the way to the commune in an oxcart, I ran into Wang Muxiang, who was also going to the commune. She was talking to several aunties and female educated youth.
"Selling grain?" The young female educated youth in a red shirt and black trousers looked at Wang Muxiang in surprise. "Aunt Wang, are you going to town to sell grain?"
"If you sell your own grain, what will you eat?"
“Yes, the grain distributed according to work points is not even enough for our own families. If you sell it, what will we eat in the future?” the young female educated youth in the floral top asked.
An auntie said, "You two young educated youths, you've been busy with the double harvest in the fields lately. You don't know what's happening in our village, that's why you're acting so strangely."
Song Yueying had met both of these young female educated youths before; they were Zhang Fen and Li Li.
“Oh dear, if my family needed money, or if my husband was injured and needed medicine, I wouldn’t have to go to the commune to sell grain!” Wang Muxiang said, looking at Song Yueying.
"Why are you looking at her? Did she ask you to go to the commune to sell grain?" Zhang Fen, a former educated youth, suddenly asked.
Everyone turned to look at Zhang Fen, then cautiously glanced at Song Yueying. Some even took a step back, afraid that they might be caught in the crossfire if she started hitting someone.
Song Yueying felt baffled by Zhang Fen's hostility towards her.
She had never offended Zhang Fen, nor had the original owner of this body. So where did Zhang Fen’s hostility come from?
Unfortunately, at this point, everyone fell silent.
The oxcart swayed and rattled until it reached the commune. Song Yueying and Wang Qianqian, carrying baskets on their backs, headed to the black market. Because they didn't know where the black market was, they took a roundabout route.
Fortunately, they eventually found the black market.
After paying, the two entered the black market, observing as they walked. There were quite a few people selling things at the black market, and quite a few buying things as well. They found a spot to set up their dried mushrooms and fungi.
Since it was a place that couldn't be seen by others, both the seller and the buyer spoke very softly.
After waiting for a while and no one came to ask, Song Yueying said to Wang Qianqian, "Qianqian, you stay here and watch over things. I'm going to buy some things."
“Teacher, this is the black market. You can’t run around alone. What if…” Wang Qianqian grabbed Song Yueying’s wrist and looked at her disapprovingly.
"It's alright." Song Yueying patted Wang Qianqian's hand. "I'll be back soon after I buy the things."
“It still won’t work.” Wang Qianqian shook her head. “How about this, teacher, you stay here and tell me what you need to buy, and I’ll go and buy it for you.”
“You stay here and watch over things, I’ll go buy them,” Song Yueying said. “If you leave me here, I won’t know how to sell them! Besides, I don’t know how to use a scale.”
"..." Wang Qianqian was speechless. She now deeply regretted suggesting that these wood ear mushrooms and fungi be sold.
"Alright, alright, you stay here and watch over things. I'm going to buy some things. It's a pleasant decision." Song Yueying broke free from Wang Qianqian's hand and turned to leave.
"I'll be back soon."
Wang Qianqian watched with worry as her figure disappeared into the crowd.
As soon as she was out of Wang Qianqian's sight, Song Yueying seemed to switch into shopping mode.
Aside from live animals, they bought almost anything they could find: rice, salt, oil, sugar, eggs, wheat flour, cornmeal, noodles, cloth…
After wandering around for a while, I bought a pretty much everything, more than I bought at the supply and marketing cooperative yesterday.
Goods sold on the black market are more expensive than those sold at supply and marketing cooperatives, but the advantage is that no coupons are required.
Song Yueying had tickets, but she couldn't spend them recklessly.
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