readsfreenovel Chapter 21: Educated Youth of the Era (Part 3)
Chapter 21: Educated Youth of the Era (Part 3)
The next morning, Liu Yuxi took her household registration booklet and left home, as she needed to pretend to go to the neighborhood office to register. After leaving, she went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.
She first had to determine which items in the supply and marketing cooperative could be replaced by items from her personal space. After looking around, she was extremely grateful to herself for stockpiling goods.
She basically stocked her space with everything the supply and marketing cooperative had. Only things like face cream, calamari oil, pastries, and candy needed to be bought from the cooperative.
Having figured things out, she went to the bookstore and bought a set of "Self-Study Series on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry" and a copy of the Little Red Book before heading home.
When I was almost home, I found an empty alley and entered the space. Then I found five plain-colored quilt covers and five plain-colored quilt linings. I also took 50 jin of cotton because I was thinking that my second sister was getting married after the New Year, so I took more.
Then she took two enamel basins, two enamel mugs, two aluminum lunch boxes, two thermos flasks, and a flashlight. Of course, she made some damage to the edges and corners of these items before taking them out.
Since they were defective products, they were bound to have flaws. They wrapped everything in two quilts and carried one on each side home.
When her two sisters-in-law saw her carrying two huge bundles back, they quickly went to help her, asking, "Why did you bring back so much stuff? What is it all?"
Back inside, Liu Yuxi opened the bundle. "My goodness! So much cotton and cloth!" Her two sisters-in-law exclaimed in unison. In those days, who could see so much cotton and cloth at once? Usually, they could only save up two or three kilograms a year.
Liu Yuxi said with a smile, "I have a classmate whose family members drive long-distance trucks. This was brought from Xinjiang. If it's not enough, you can ask her family for some more."
That evening, when her family returned home, they were all amazed again, after confirming that she had signed up to go to the countryside and had chosen the Northeast as her destination.
Her mother counted on her fingers: "Take your old quilt over there to make a mattress. I'll sew you a 10-jin quilt and a 6-jin quilt, and make you a thick cotton-padded coat and a thin cotton-padded coat. That will take about 7 jin of cotton. I'll also sew two 8-jin quilts for your sister as part of her dowry. That'll leave 11 jin of cotton. We'll add some cotton to the cotton-padded coats for everyone else in the family. You'll be living a comfortable winter."
While calculating the uses of the cotton, she suddenly remembered and said, "You don't have enough money on you, do you? How much more do you need? Mom will give you some more!"
"Mom, after I registered, the neighborhood office gave me a subsidy of 120, which is enough. My classmate's family also brought back some wool yarn, which is a bit expensive. I didn't know if we needed it, so we didn't. Do you think we need any more fabric, cotton, or wool yarn? If so, I'll go and get some more tomorrow."
"Yes, do you think you can get another 30 jin of cotton? If so, we can make two more quilts for the family. We have enough cloth. As for wool yarn, do you think you can get another 10 jin of it? We can knit sweaters for you kids so your wives can wear them in winter and stay warm under their coats."
"Okay, I'll go see her again tomorrow!"
After her mother packed everything up, the family started to eat. Although they knew that Liu Yuxi was going to the countryside that night, they were still overwhelmed by the supplies, so they all went to bed a little late.
The next day, Liu Yuxi took the 100 yuan her mother had given her the night before and went out for a stroll again. In the evening, everyone in the family went home early. Liu Yuxi gave the cotton and wool yarn to her mother and let her mother and two sisters-in-law distribute the things.
Then, she took out two red pillowcases and two meters of red fabric and gave them to her sister, saying, "Sister, I don't know if you'll go to the countryside for your wedding. This is a dowry for you!"
"Thank you, Third Sister!" Her older sister touched the red fabric with great affection, and her mother and sister-in-law, probably also dazzled by the red, came over as well.
Liu Yuxi then took out five more red scarves and said to them, "She still has red scarves. I think the color is very nice, so I took five. One for each of us."
Red scarves are available at the Shanghai Supply and Marketing Cooperative, but they are in high demand. As soon as they arrive, they are snapped up by the employees. It is very difficult for them to get them. Even if they do manage to get one, who would be willing to spend a few yuan to buy a scarf for everyday life?
Her mother scolded her for wasting money, but then held onto the red scarf, reluctant to let go. Liu Yuxi didn't say anything, just chuckled.
In the days that followed, the focus was on her sister's blind date and the Lunar New Year. Her sister's partner was the same one from her previous life. Because the original owner of this body died early, she didn't know what kind of person this brother-in-law was, so she didn't interfere. At most, if she found out later that her sister was not doing well, she would help her get a divorce!
Her cotton-padded clothes and quilts were made by her two sisters-in-law in their spare time. They also knitted her sweaters and trousers with wool in their spare time. After the New Year, they learned the specific address of the rural area from the street office, so they left her the things she needed to take with her and sent the rest to her in advance.
February 21st arrived in the blink of an eye. Her mother slept with her that night, telling her a lot about things to be careful about when she got to the countryside, and also telling her not to get married in the countryside, assuring her that her family would find her a job so she could return to the city.
He also told her that he had sewn 200 yuan into the inside of her cotton-padded jacket, and that she should take it out and keep it safe when she got there. Liu Yuxi's eyes welled up with tears as he said this.
In her previous life, she guessed that the forced relocation to the countryside came too suddenly, and the whole family was busy preparing things, so they didn't have time to talk to the original owner. She thought that if the original owner had heard these words, she would definitely have been willing to live again.
The next morning, her father and two brothers took leave from work and the whole family went to the train station to see her off. When they arrived at the train station, they found the staff of the educated youth office and got the tickets. Her two brothers carried the luggage and saw her onto the train.
We found her seat, thankfully it was by the window. These days, it's really unbearable to sit on a train for several days without a window seat. Her brothers helped her put her luggage away and then got off. Her parents and sister-in-law were standing on the platform under the window.
Her mother kept nagging, "Remember what I told you yesterday. Write home if anything happens, and call your dad at the factory if there's an emergency. Eat the food in your lunchbox quickly..." "Yes, I remember!" Liu Yuxi kept echoing her mother.
When the time came, the train slowly started moving. Her mother waved and said, "Remember to write home when you get there!" "Yes, I know, I'll write home when I get there!" Liu Yuxi's voice also began to tighten. The train went faster and faster until she could no longer see her family. Tears fell from her eyes.