Chapter 23: A Trip to Miyun

In the morning, Zhang Ping'an briefly familiarized himself with his classmates and then disappeared; in the afternoon, he and Jia Dongxu went fishing again.

"Uncle, can you keep up with your studies like this?"

"Of course, I've already learned all the junior high knowledge, let alone primary school."

"That's true."

"We won't fish tomorrow; let's go to the countryside and look around to see if we can pick up some good things. In case there are no fish in Shichahai later on, it'll be good to have a backup plan."

Zhang Ping'an remembered that it seemed like there would be a massive fishing operation in Shichahai within these two years, and by then, there would probably only be some small fry left.

"Done."

"Alright, you go deliver the fish later and copy a list of the Procurement Section's purchase prices while you're at it. I'll go buy some cigarettes to keep on hand; we'll need them tomorrow."

"Okay."

Zhang Ping'an reeled in his rod and went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

"Sister, I'd like to buy some hard candies and two packs of cigarettes."

"Oh, little one, you have such a sweet mouth. I'm old enough to be your mother; you should call me Auntie." Although the woman said this, she couldn't stop smiling.

"Sister, I think you're only a few years older than me."

"Little one, our hard candies here are one hundred currency units each (that is, one cent each). How many do you want? As for cigarettes, we have Navy and Dadao, both are one thousand five hundred currency units (fifteen cents), and Qianmen and Peony are both three thousand five hundred currency units."

Normally, Qianmen is considered a mid-to-high-grade cigarette that requires waiting in line to purchase, but Zhang Ping'an had a sweet mouth.

"Sister, I want two hundred candies, and one carton of each cigarette."

"Huh? Little one, why are you buying so many cigarettes?"

"Sister, my family is from the countryside down below. It's not easy to make a trip to the city, so these are all things the uncles and elders in the village asked me to bring back."

"Oh, oh, okay. You wait, Sister will get them for you right now."

Soon, the middle-aged woman had prepared the candies and cigarettes Zhang Ping'an needed. After paying, Zhang Ping'an stuffed them all into his satchel, unwrapped one carton of Navy and one of Peony, and put the rest into his space.

Returning to the Siheyuan, Jia Dongxu happened to be riding back on a tricycle, followed by another one ridden by Lao Jia. Each vehicle also carried three men from the courtyard; in Jia Dongxu's vehicle were Lao Wu, Yi Zhonghai, and Lao Liu from the Back Courtyard, and in Lao Jia's vehicle were Lao Wu's three sons.

It was fortunate that Jia Dongxu had been training with him for the past half-year, otherwise, he might not have been able to pull these three old guys.

"Hehe, thanks to Dongxu, we even got back a bit early today."

"Yeah."

"Uncle Yi, Uncle Liu, it was just a coincidence that we caught up."

"Right, Lao Yi, Lao Liu, go home and eat first. Come back out to cool off after you've eaten."

"Done."

"Okay."

"Ping'an, I heard from Dongxu that you two are going to the countryside to collect things tomorrow?"

"Yes, you must be tired of me always sending fish. And this tricycle is?"

"Hahaha, indeed, we've had fish almost every day at noon lately. But having some meat is better than just vegetables, and no one is complaining."

"This vehicle was specially approved by Section Chief Lou when he heard you were going to the countryside to procure goods. By the way, have you decided where you're going tomorrow?"

"The villages around Sijiucheng have probably all been visited. I plan to go to Miyun first to see the situation." Zhang Ping'an's trip was also to get some fruit saplings to plant, so he could have fruit freedom in the future.

"Hmm, that works. Although Miyun isn't close, it shouldn't be a problem for you to make a round trip in one day on a tricycle."

"Hmm, that's what I thought too, Brother-in-law."

After eating, the five of them each took a stool to the corridor to enjoy the cool air. By now, many residents in the courtyard were already sitting in the corridor, chatting idly with palm-leaf fans.

Although it was already September, the "autumn tiger" heat was still very intense, and Zhang Ping'an also took a stool and squeezed into the crowd.

"Uncle Zhang, why didn't I see you at school today?" Damao asked, and several other children who went to school also looked at him.

"Ahem, I passed the exams with the principal, and the principal specially approved that I don't have to go."

"What? Why?"

"Because I got full marks on everything."

"......"

"Brother, Lao Yan, is what Ping'an said true?"

"Yes, I was in the principal's office that day too. Ping'an finished quickly and the answers were correct."

"Sister-in-law Xiaohua, Ping'an really is a smart child."

"That's right, my Ping'an has the makings of a Three-Good Student, and so does Xiaohua."

"......"

People say if you call someone fat, they start panting; it's not like it's your Jia Dongxu. In the end, she had confidence because of her own family.

"Brother, didn't Ping'an never go to school?"

"Cough, Ping'an has been smart since he was little; he learned everything by self-studying with Dongxu's textbooks."

"A genius has emerged in our courtyard."

"Indeed, the moment I saw Ping'an, I could see he had a clever spark."

"They say that if you survive a great disaster, you will have good fortune later. The ancients did not deceive me."

Basically everyone in the courtyard knew about Ping'an's hospitalization before; Zhang Xiaohua had run to the Hospital every day for that month, so it couldn't be hidden even if she wanted to.

"He, why haven't I seen Zhuzi these past few days?"

"Hmph, he barely graduated from primary school. I sent him to my senior fellow apprentice to learn cooking; at least he'll have a trade to rely on in the future."

"That's right, learning to cook is good. Having a skill makes it easier to find a job. Besides, even in famine years, a cook won't starve, let alone now."

The crowd chatted in twos and threes. Because Yi Zhonghai had no children, he didn't join the conversation, listening silently. His wife, Tan Xiaocui, was not there; she was in the Back Courtyard keeping the Deaf Old Lady company and chatting to relieve her boredom.

"Off we go, time to go home and sleep." Seeing it was nine o'clock, everyone dispersed one after another.

At five o'clock the next morning, Zhang Ping'an woke up Jia Dongxu. The two of them exercised and stretched for an hour, ate breakfast at the alley entrance, and packed a few large steamed buns as dry rations.

The two of them pedaled the tricycle and arrived in Miyun when it was already nearly eight o'clock; they picked a village at random, and along the way, Zhang Ping'an collected quite a few fruit tree branches, all of which he stuck around the Space Pond.

"Dongxu, you take these two packs of cigarettes and the candies, let's split up and act separately." Both of them were wearing the work uniforms issued by the factory, so they weren't afraid of being misunderstood.

"Alright."

The two went east and west; Zhang Ping'an hadn't gone far before he encountered an old man smoking a dry tobacco pipe.

"Grandpa, have a smoke; let me ask you, where is the village head's house?"

"Yo, is this Cadre-grade tobacco? Young man, what are you looking for the village head for?"

"It's like this, I am Zhang Ping'an, a Purchasing Agent from a factory in Sijiucheng, here specifically to purchase supplies—things like chickens, ducks, geese, eggs, pigs, and sheep are all fine, and mountain goods are too; as long as it's something edible, we'll take almost all of it."

"Oh? I am the village head, Zhang Youde."

"Zhang Daye, we're actually from the same clan."

"Hahaha, so we are! Our village has quite a few good things, and my son is a hunter; we have plenty of cured meat at home."

"Great, please take a look at our purchase prices; I'd appreciate it if you could help spread the word. We are buying in large quantities, and even if we can't finish buying everything this time, we can come back again."

The purchase price Zhang Ping'an showed was ten percent lower than the factory's, which was an open secret in the Procurement Section, effectively serving as their transportation subsidy.

"Done."

Meanwhile, on his side, Jia Dongxu was pedaling the tricycle when he met a mother and daughter head-on and hurriedly stopped the tricycle.

"Big sister, let me ask you, where is the village head's house? I am Jia Dongxu, a Purchasing Agent from the Sijiucheng Rolling Mill, here specifically to purchase supplies."

"Oh? You're from a factory in Sijiucheng? How old are you this year? Are you married?"

"Mom~" The girl beside her shyly tugged at her mother's arm.

"Uh, I'm eighteen by nominal age this year and am not married yet."

At this moment, Jia Dongxu also noticed the girl beside the woman, and his eyes immediately lit up—what a beautiful girl.

Her watery, big eyes seemed to be able to speak, she wore a large braid, and the girl's chest was quite exaggerated, her hips were also large; she had a standard build for bearing sons, which was also the standard figure for a wife in this era.