Chapter 75: Vegetable Procurement

"Is there something up?"

An Yinan looked at the Accountant and the Scorekeeper; the Captain extinguished his Tobacco Pouch and told the Scorekeeper to open the door to let the smoke out.

"Nothing, they are all tight-lipped."

Fine, since the Captain had said so, she had no more reservations; in any case, she was just the one threading the needle, and whether the matter succeeded or not was up to them.

"Today I went to the County..." She omitted the direct mention of the State-run Restaurant, then brought up the matter of Shitou Village, though she specifically mentioned Shitou Village speaking out to stop the surrounding villages from supplying vegetables to the State-run Restaurant.

She did not want Quanshui Village to fall into a dilemma; some things had to be made clear in advance to avoid doing a bad deed with good intentions.

"Old Shitou is a bit spineless!" The Captain sneered, "Do you have the demand and prices from the State-run Restaurant side?"

The Accountant and the Scorekeeper were both a bit excited; they all grew quite a few vegetables at home, just so that when grain was scarce, they wouldn't go hungry, and boiled vegetables could also fill the gap a little.

"I have them." An Yinan handed over the menu.

The Captain glanced at it, got the gist of it in his heart, and then handed the menu to the Accountant. The Accountant looked at it quite carefully and specifically copied it once before handing the menu to the Scorekeeper.

"What are your thoughts, you two?" The Captain looked at the two of them.

"This is a good thing; it can let the villagers sell the vegetables they grow themselves, otherwise everyone secretly goes to the Black Market." This matter was usually understood without being spoken of, as everyone lived that way, but now with this State-run Restaurant business, it could actually be brought out into the open.

"Do we need to guard against Shitou Village?" An Yinan saw the attitude of the few, they were prepared to take on this matter, but Shitou Village was a hidden danger after all; if they played any tricks, it might be hard to deal with.

Upon hearing this, the Captain said, "Shitou Village? He wouldn't dare to come and prick me."

"Haha, if it were other villages, we might guard against them, but that bunch of cowards in Shitou Village who bully the weak and fear the strong—ten years ago, they bullied a girl from our village, and the Captain led everyone to charge over directly and smashed half of Shitou Village. Since then, they haven't dared to stir in front of Quanshui Village." The Accountant said, laughing heartily, thinking of that time, how high-spirited they were.

"There's such a thing?" The Scorekeeper was as confused as An Yinan; he was young and truly hadn't experienced it.

"When the Captain and we were out making our way, you brat hadn't even been weaned yet!" The Accountant gave the Scorekeeper a look of disdain.

Upon hearing this, the Captain coughed softly, "Ahem."

The Accountant paused, forgetting there was a female comrade present, and a child under eighteen at that...

He had spoken without thinking for a moment and let it slip.

"We need to decide today; if the future supply volume is about the same, we'll see if we can keep up. I still have to go back and give an answer today." An Yinan didn't mind; she wasn't really seventeen, after all, her nearly thirty years in her past life hadn't been lived in vain, and she had heard such lewd talk, let alone this, even more explicit things.

"Go to each household and take a count; the vegetables that can be kept must be good vegetables. Don't embarrass me with rotten vegetable trimmings." The Captain pointed at the Scorekeeper, who hurriedly agreed and quickly gathered people to go into the village to count the numbers.

The Accountant locked the menu he had just recorded in the drawer as if it were a treasure.

An Yinan held a cup of hot water, drinking it leisurely; she still had to go back to deliver the message in a while.

The Scorekeeper mobilized the various team leaders to register each household before returning to the Daduibu to compile the statistics.

"The Black Market is unstable this year, and each household hasn't sold much; there is quite a surplus, enough to support us until the new vegetables come down next spring." After finishing the statistics, the Scorekeeper said to the Captain.

"These are all quantities of good vegetables, right? If any family passes off inferior goods as quality, on top of deducting Work Points, they will never be allowed on the vegetable procurement list again. We must keep a tight grip on quality from the start and have a standard." The Captain instructed the Scorekeeper.

The Scorekeeper and the Accountant nodded quickly; these matters were what they were supposed to handle anyway. Keeping a tight grip from the start would save the villagers from complaining later on.

"I'll go to the County with you, but I'll wait for you at Shi Zhu Zi." The Captain looked at An Yinan; after all, she was a young girl, the days were getting shorter, and it got dark quickly, so how could he let the little girl make the trip alone?

Upon hearing this, An Yinan said, fine, "I need to go back to the Educated Youth Station."

Her basket was filled with a basket of old newspapers, and she also had to greet Beibei, otherwise, she would be scolded upon returning.

"Go back then, we'll gather at the entrance of the village in a while, I'm going home to ride my bicycle." The Captain picked up the Tobacco Pouch on the table and left the Daduibu with his hands behind his back.

An Yinan rode her bicycle and also quickly returned to the Educated Youth Station; she and the Captain were heading in two different directions.

"Wow, Nan Nan, you bought a bicycle? This bicycle is really pretty." Zhao Qiu Hua widened her eyes in surprise.

That light blue bicycle didn't have a straight top tube, looked much smaller, and was more suitable for a girl to ride; how much money did this cost?

This thought was not only in Zhao Qiu Hua's heart but also in the hearts of everyone at the Educated Youth Station.

You have to know that money was one aspect, and another was the ration coupon; coupons were too hard to buy, one could say they were hard to come by.

A bicycle coupon on the Black Market had already sold for eighty-one yuan, and it was still in short supply.

"You can try riding it tomorrow; I still have things to do today, I'm leaving in a bit." An Yinan parked the bike casually in the courtyard and hurried into the room to put the old newspapers on the table.

With such a big commotion, Beibei hadn't come out, so he must not be home.

She wrote a note for Beibei, wrote down the reason clearly, and told him the Captain was accompanying her to the County, then stuck the note on the kitchen wall where he would see it as soon as he entered the room.

After finishing this, she pushed the bicycle and went to the big slope at the entrance of the village.

From Quanshui Village to the County, it was all downhill; she didn't even need to pedal, going like a flash of lightning in a gale!

The two finally arrived at Shi Zhu Zi, taking only ten minutes; let's just say, as smooth as the downhill was, the uphill was just as difficult.

"You go on your own, I'll wait for you here." The Captain sat by Shi Zhu Zi, leaned his big '28' bicycle against the stone pillar, took out his Tobacco Pouch, filled it with shredded tobacco, and it flickered on and off under the light of a match.

"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can." An Yinan smiled mischievously.

On the way here, she had deliberately ridden very fast, but she discovered that no matter how fast she rode, the Captain's speed never dropped; he had been following right behind her the whole time.

The Captain was probably no ordinary person.

Quanshui Village dared to take on vegetable supplies that other villages didn't dare to, and no Red Armband had ever dared to come to Quanshui Village to make trouble. Although there were always trivial matters in the village, generally speaking, there were no great villains or evil people.

Quanshui Village was managed by the Captain without a single leak; this was a capability, a very strong capability.

Seemingly loose, but actually tight.