Chapter 27 Going to the county seat

When Xie Jinghao entered the room, she saw Shen Meng frowning and staring at the letter in her hand. She couldn't help but feel happy. It was the first time she saw such an expression on her sister-in-law's face.

"Sister-in-law, are you reading the letter?"

Shen Meng listened to the voice and quickly pretended to look at her with sorrow. The Shen family was good in every way, except that they didn't let the original owner go to school properly for two days. It was such a pity.

"What are you looking at? There are words all over the paper. They don't know me and I don't know them either. Jinghao, come over and take a look. If you know them, read it to us. What did your eldest brother say?"

Xie Jinghao blushed. When her grandmother was alive, she had only been in school up to the third grade. Schools at that time did not teach as much as they do now. She had to memorize quotations from the classics when she was in school, and had to go to the fields to earn work points during the busy farming season. She herself was not sure if she could recognize them all.

"Well, then I'll take a look."

Xie Jinghao read it first and felt relieved. Fortunately, there were no uncommon characters. She recognized them all and could even pronounce some that she was not very familiar with. The two sisters-in-law came out of the house and read the letter again in front of the children.

Lu Mingkai, who had never seen his father since he was born, stared at the letter with his little face, as if he could see what his father looked like from it.

"I have collected the remittance slips, food coupons, and parcel receipts. I will take a bullock cart to the county town tomorrow. Jinghao, do you have anything to take? I will bring it to you."

Xie Jinghao is very good to several children. She is about to give birth, so she should show some appreciation. Besides, she is not good at needlework, so there will be many places where she can be used in the future!
"No, no, sister-in-law. Jiasheng will be back soon. He will help take care of the children. It's not easy for a woman like you to take care of four children. Don't worry about me. Um, sister-in-law, you are going to the county town tomorrow. Can you handle it?"

Shen Meng chuckled and said, "That half-dead look is just a trick to fool my mother and the others. My body is not seriously injured to begin with, and I will be well again tomorrow. There will be no problem going to the county town tomorrow, but I have to wait until everyone goes to work, and I have to avoid people."

Now Xie Jing felt relieved. She was afraid that the children would not have a chance to live long enough before her sister-in-law passed away. As long as her sister-in-law was in good health, good days were ahead.

Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang, who were playing in the yard, looked at each other. As expected, they had seen early on that their mother was lying.

The next morning, Shen Meng woke Lu Mingyang up.

Lu Mingyang was sleeping soundly when he suddenly saw his mother's face enlarged in front of him. He was frightened and cried out "Ouch" and rolled to the side.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Mother has to go drive the ox cart in the morning. I have prepared breakfast for you. Bring your brothers and sisters to eat later. Mother cooks a lot. If you come back late, you can order some first. Oh, you can share the stewed eggs and leave some for Xiaogang. Do you understand? Your third aunt will bring Xiaogang to make clothes for Mingfang today. Your third aunt is pregnant. If you feel uncomfortable, you should go to the field to find the village chief. Do you understand?"

Lu Mingyang, who was still in shock, said with a stiff mouth: "I know, I know, mother."

"Okay, then mother is leaving."

After giving the instructions, Shen Meng went to wait for the ox cart before dawn. She had a veil on her head. When the ox cart arrived, she paid the fare and got on. The people on the same cart wanted to chat, but she ignored them.

It took almost two hours to get to the county town. The ox cart was shaking so much that Shen Meng's stomach almost popped out. After getting off the ox cart, she went straight to the post office, took the voucher to receive the remittance and got a huge package. She tried twice before she could carry it on her shoulders. She bent over and panted, tears welled up in the corners of Shen Meng's eyes. It was so damn heavy! What did these soldiers send that was so heavy? They must have sent all the good things they had.

She carried the things, turned around and found an alley, and quickly put them into the space. She took a good rest in the space and slept for two hours before carrying the basket to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The supply and marketing cooperative in the county town is larger than the one in the commune, and it sells more things, basically everything for food, clothing, housing and transportation. There are a lot of people in the supply and marketing cooperative, and it took her a long time to squeeze in. The salesperson frowned as he helped the people take things, pack them and collect the money.

"Comrade, please give me one meter of blue polyester cloth, two pairs of rubber soles for two-year-old children, and one pound of Golden Monkey candy. Thank you, comrade."

Shen Meng said this while looking at the things on the counter. These were all common goods of this era. She bought these for Xie Jinghao, so her trip to the supply and marketing cooperative was not in vain. She glanced at the items and would just take what she needed from the space later, in case she took out something that was beyond this era or behind this era, which would make a fool of herself.

"Wait!"

Shen Meng breathed a sigh of relief. Although the salesperson had a bad attitude, he did not make things difficult for her like in the novels. She guessed that since she was not the protagonist, she did not have the honor of arguing with the salesperson.

After getting the things, Shen Meng walked around the county town. The radio was playing songs unique to this era. People were coming and going in a hurry, but everyone was in high spirits. This passionate side also infected Shen Meng.

She went to the scrap yard on purpose, but unfortunately there was nothing valuable there. She just picked up a few relatively clean old newspapers, and walked away embarrassedly facing the suspicious look of the gatekeeper.

She had a good Sukiyaki pot meal in the space, drank a cup of milk tea, slept comfortably for a while, then found a burlap sack, packed out two quilt covers, two sets of ready-made clothes for each of the children, a pair of Liberation shoes, cloth, wool, two sets of her own clothes, pots and pans, a new toothbrush, cups, enamel basin, thermos, three pounds of pork belly, two pounds of pure lean meat and five pounds of spareribs, as well as some candies, cakes, brown sugar and white sugar, all of which filled a sack.

Shen Meng missed the ox cart that took her back to the village. Just when she was feeling anxious, she happened to see a tractor from the production team next door. After chatting with them and finding out that they were military dependents, they quickly helped to load the things onto the tractor and took her home. When Shen Meng got off the tractor, she stuffed a handful of candies into the driver's pocket. The man felt embarrassed and helped carry the things back home.

Xie Jinghao, who was doing needlework in the room, and Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang, who were still awake, came out and saw two large sacks of things on the ground. They were stunned with fear.

"Sister-in-law, what are these, are these all sent back by my brother?"

Shen Meng was shaken badly by the tractor. When she was about to get off, she wanted to thank the driver. As soon as she opened her mouth, the car went over a big pothole and she almost bit her tongue.

"No, I bought this bag. There is a shortage of everything at home. If I don't buy some things to supplement the situation, I can't get by."

Xie Jinghao: “.”

Lu Mingyang: “.”

Lu Mingliang: “.”

The three of them looked at Shen Meng with trembling hearts. How much money would this cost? How would they be able to live in the future???
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(End of this chapter)