"We can't do it here. You have to go to the county seat or the provincial capital. But the phone call to Hong Kong Island is not cheap. It costs hundreds of yuan per minute. If you really want to contact your mother, I suggest you write a letter."
Hundreds of yuan per minute?
The high cost immediately made Hua Qingqing back off.
She only had a few thousand yuan in her savings. How many minutes could she talk? It was more cost - effective to write a letter!
Leaving the post office, Hua Qingqing rode her bike straight to the county seat.
The main purpose of coming out today was to solve the problem of picking up the package.
It was almost noon now. She would go to the county seat, have a meal at the state - run restaurant, buy something at the supply and marketing cooperative, and by the way, take a look at the overall environment of the county seat. She hadn't looked carefully when she went to treat her injury the other day.
China started its reform and opening - up policy in 1978. Last year, the country opened four special economic zones. The spring breeze of development was about to blow across the whole country. It was a pity that this wave of development was still a bit far from where she was now, so she could only take it step by step.
In her previous life, she had snatched the family fortune from her patriarchal father and expanded the group. Since she loved making money, now that she had encountered such an era full of opportunities, she was definitely going to make a career for herself.
It was noon when she arrived at the county seat. Hua Qingqing was so hungry that she felt dizzy. Without hesitation, she headed straight for the state - run restaurant.
Oh, there were quite a lot of people.
Hua Qingqing looked around. There were several big characters on the wall that said "Develop the economy and ensure supplies." There was a menu on the small blackboard below. Today's offerings included fresh meat dumplings, sweet - and - sour yellow croaker, and stewed chicken with mushrooms...
Just as she was about to look further.
A loud voice came from the front.
"There are still three servings of fresh meat dumplings!"
Hua Qingqing suddenly looked up and without hesitation squeezed in. "I'll have one serving of fresh meat dumplings, one serving of sweet - and - sour yellow croaker, and four white flour buns. Pack the buns!"
The waiter was a young man. Hearing the voice, he glanced at Hua Qingqing and wrote something on a piece of paper.
This waiter looked so distinctive. He was very thin and looked like a monkey, especially when he looked down on people with his eyes.
Wasn't it said that nine out of ten people who worked in state - run restaurants were fat?
"One jin of meat ticket, two liang of grain ticket, and one yuan."
Hua Qingqing handed over the tickets and money together, then found an empty table and sat down, sucking on a milk candy while waiting for her food.
She had to buy a few clothes later. The clothes the original body wore were all hand - me - downs from her siblings, and one of them was an old patched dress of Granny Fang.
How could she bear this?
The dumplings and the white flour buns packed in oil paper were served together.
The dumplings were quite big. Their plump skins were thin and filled with a lot of stuffing. When Hua Qingqing was halfway through eating the dumplings, the sweet - and - sour yellow croaker was served. It was a long fish that had been deep - fried and then drizzled with sweet - and - sour sauce. It was very appetizing.
After Hua Qingqing was full, she took the buns and left, heading for the supply and marketing cooperative.
Passing by a certain intersection, she saw a familiar figure enter a pitch - black alley. This person looked exactly like her good - looking but useless eldest cousin, Yu Linsen!
Hua Qingqing stopped her bike, squinted her eyes. It was Saturday today. If this guy didn't go home, shouldn't he be at school? Why was he here with a bunch of hooligans?
Tsk tsk, it seemed that the eldest cousin, who was rumored to be a good student, had some problems.
Hua Qingqing didn't go in. She pedaled away.
After strolling around the county seat a bit, she didn't see any self - employed business people. It seemed that everyone was still observing the policy. The situation in the provincial capital should be much better, right?
Hua Qingqing came to the supply and marketing cooperative and saw her eldest cousin Yu Linxiu organizing things behind the counter.
Although she was disgusted with the eldest branch of the Yu family, there was still a good apple in a bad bunch. This eldest cousin was okay. Mainly, the other party was also exploited. Yu Linxiu had excellent grades, but after graduating from high school, she was arranged to be a temporary salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative. It was known that the college entrance examination had just been resumed, and this was the most suitable time to go to college.
It was a pity that the couple from the eldest branch of the Yu family had short - sighted vision. They exploited their good daughter to support their useless son. Her eldest cousin had taken the college entrance examination twice but still failed to get into college. He was a complete waste.
"Eldest cousin."
Yu Linxiu heard the voice and looked up, full of surprise.
"Qingqing, why are you here? Is there something wrong at home?"
Hua Qingqing shook her head. What could happen to the Yu family? They had paid back the money, and she had received the money. Everyone had a bright future.
Yu Linxiu let out a sound of surprise, put down the things and walked out from behind the counter.
"Qingqing, what happened to the wound on your head?"
There were few people in the supply and marketing cooperative at this time. Taking a short break wouldn't be criticized. Yu Linxiu took Hua Qingqing to the side and looked at her with concern.
Hua Qingqing directly told her about Su Qiang's incident.
Yu Linxiu covered her mouth in shock when she heard it. She never thought that so many things had happened at home during the time she hadn't been back.
"How's your head? What did the doctor say? When are you going back? Someone will come to relieve me from my shift later. I'll go back with you. I'll keep a piece of meat. I'll cook it for you to supplement your nutrition when we get back."
No wonder Yu Linxiu was different from the others in the eldest branch of the Yu family. She was willing to spend money on her siblings, and she spoke nicely. But she was too docile. She looked easy to bully.
Hua Qingqing smiled at her. "You work so hard. How can I spend your money? I came here today just to buy some meat and take it back. The police gave me the compensation from Su Qiang yesterday. I'm not short of money. Eldest cousin, tell me which kind of candy is delicious. I've been taking medicine recently, and my mouth tastes bitter. Oh, I also need to buy clothes. The clothes at home are torn. They've been used as rags for grandma."
Yesterday, besides repaying the money, Granny Fang had also returned some tickets. There were several cloth tickets. She planned to just buy a few sets of clothes instead of buying cloth because she couldn't make clothes.
Yu Linxiu was distracted by the topic. She introduced the most popular milk candies, fruit candies and other snacks in the supply and marketing cooperative to Hua Qingqing. Finally, she picked out two sets of clothes full of the characteristics of the era, very crisp, wrinkle - free and durable polyester shirts!
One was beige and the other was light blue. Both came with navy blue trousers. Hua Qingqing very generously took out the money and tickets to buy them.
There were also Friendship vanishing cream, clam oil, Volcano God mud mask, Fulimei facial cleanser... Great, she would take them all.
The original body had been working hard in the fields for years. Her face and hands were almost ruined.
By now, most of the medical compensation from Su Qiang was gone.
Hua Qingqing spent money like water. She had spent almost twenty yuan in the supply and marketing cooperative in a short time. Seeing that the other party's eyes were looking at other things.
Yu Linxiu felt a shiver down her spine and quickly stepped forward to stop her.
"Qingqing, what if you can't take all these things back later?"
Hua Qingqing thought it made sense. It would be really troublesome to carry goods while riding a bike, so she reluctantly stopped.
Yu Linxiu was relieved to see that she was obedient.
After the conversation just now, she felt that this cousin had changed. She was very different from before, but it was a good change. She was more natural and confident, and her eyes were full of energy.
In the end, Yu Linxiu still couldn't go back with her because the colleague who was supposed to relieve her from her shift had asked for leave. Yu Linxiu had to stay at her post.
Hua Qingqing sighed again that there was a good apple in a bad bunch. She hung the streaky pork that Yu Linxiu had insisted on buying on the front of the bike. A bunch of things she had bought were tied to the back seat. With a brisk pedal, she headed back in the direction of the Wuxing Production Brigade.
Alas, she really wanted a car and an assistant.
Now she had to carry everything by herself when shopping. How miserable!