Chapter 12: Big Shopping Trip to the Commune

Bai Ruoqiao smiled softly as she looked at Zhao Sihai.

“Is there anything you want to buy?”

Zhao Sihai shook his head, reached out, and brushed two pieces of grass off her head.

Then he handed her the canvas bag to sling over her shoulder.

He gently patted the bag and said, “Hongjun just brought some tickets over — they’re what I used to keep with him. Buy whatever you want, don’t be stingy.”

Hearing that, Bai Ruoqiao suddenly remembered.

Usually, Zhao Sihai would send home the wage and subsidy tickets. Zhao’s mother knew these well, so there was no way to hide it.

To avoid causing trouble for his mother and son, he basically sent everything back.

But bonuses, tickets, and some other tickets from other sources — he kept all of those with Fang Hongjun.

In the previous life, the whole family had to start over relying on these things.

If it weren’t for raising money to treat their son’s illness, Zhao Sihai wouldn’t have been in such a rush to sell on the black market.

Bai Ruoqiao took out a cloth pouch from the canvas bag.

Inside was indeed a thick stack of tickets, plus grain tickets from the Zhao family — about a hundred or so.

There were fabric tickets, sugar tickets, meat tickets, oil tickets, industrial coupons, watch tickets, sewing machine tickets, egg tickets, light bulb tickets, and daily necessities ration coupons, and so on.

Grain tickets were everywhere, with only a few provincial ones.

Seeing these tickets again, she couldn’t help but recall Zhao Sihai’s guilty words from the previous life:
“Wife, I will definitely make up a proper bride price for you later.”

Back then, for survival, he had to sell some of those tickets.

Her nose tingled with emotion but a faint smile appeared on her lips.

She quickly sorted the tickets into several groups and put them back into the open bag.

“All right, then let’s go now.”

She turned around, grabbed the bicycle, took a big step, and called out confidently,
“Get on, let’s go.”

Bai Ruoqiao was about 1.78 meters tall.

Her figure was well-proportioned — roughly 30% upper body, 70% legs — with particularly long legs that easily reached the ground.

The two girls immediately looked at her with envy.

Cheng Yueya immediately squeezed between her arms, “I want to sit on the front bar!”

The village head’s family also had a bicycle, but it was an award bike, so the village head cherished it a lot.

If others didn’t have a special reason, they generally weren’t allowed to ride it.

“I’ll sit in the back then.” Liu Meizi was also in high spirits.

Bai Ruoqiao smiled wryly, “Alright, just sit tight and let’s go.”

“All right, let’s go!” Cheng Yueya immediately raised one hand in a charge gesture.

Seeing this, Cheng Guodong felt a pang of envy — he also wanted to sit on the front bar; it looked really cool.

Bai Ruoqiao got a bit excited too, stepped on the pedal, and started off.

Only she forgot she hadn’t ridden a bike for decades.

And this was an old-fashioned bike — she hadn’t quite mastered the steering and balance yet.

She wobbled and twisted awkwardly.

Cheng Yueya, sitting on the front bar, was scared and grabbed the handlebars tightly, her whole body shaking like a little boat in a storm.

She almost toppled onto the handlebars.

Her grabbing made the handlebars even harder to control.

Bai Ruoqiao quickly shouted, “Yueya, don’t hold the handlebars so tight, let go!”

Cheng Yueya wanted to let go but didn’t dare — she was afraid of falling.

“Qiao Qiao, don’t wobble, you’re going to fall!”

Bai Ruoqiao thought: You’re grabbing the handlebars and wobbling worse than I am.

Fang Meizi was also flustered by the two, and nervously hugged Bai Ruoqiao’s waist tightly.

Cheng Guodong immediately burst into a mischievous laugh.

Zhao Sihai hadn’t expected that his wife wouldn’t be able to ride a bike.

He quickly caught up, feeling a bit frustrated, and hurriedly called out,
“Qiao Qiao, stop riding, come to a halt.”

Fang Meizi swallowed nervously as Zhao Sihai caught up.

“Qiao Qiao, maybe we should just push it over there.”

“No problem, I’m just not used to it yet.”

Bai Ruoqiao’s stubbornness came out — today she really was going to tame this iron horse.

Hearing Zhao Sihai’s voice getting closer, Bai Ruoqiao pushed hard on the pedal.

The bicycle suddenly sped forward.

Cheng Yueya screamed with her eyes shut.

But once the speed picked up, it was easier to control, and Bai Ruoqiao gradually got the hang of the feeling.

She slowly balanced the bike.

Exhaling, she proudly raised a hand and waved toward Zhao Sihai,
“It’s okay, we’re off.”

Zhao Sihai wiped sweat from his face,
“Ride carefully.”

“Got it!”

Once the bike was steady, Cheng Yueya turned to face the wind and scenery, forgetting her fear.

She spread her arms wide and shouted,
“Ahhh… I’m firing the cannon!”

Bai Ruoqiao burst out laughing.

She thought Cheng Yueya was going to express some heartfelt emotion.

Behind them, Fang Meizi seemed influenced too and started singing a revolutionary song.

“We walk the main road, holding high the red flag and the sun… cutting through thorns and thistles rushing forward, forward! Forward! Forward!”

“Forward! Forward!” Cheng Yueya pumped her fist and sang along.

Bai Ruoqiao was both amused and exasperated.

As they rode onto the main road, people working in the distant fields heard the laughter and singing and looked up.

Once they recognized who was on the bike, all they felt was envy.

Though Zhao Sihai’s family had been forced out, their household was still evidently well-off.

Some young men looked at the three youthful, beautiful girls singing in the wind, their chests swelling with excitement.

The singing soared like wings circling high into the sky.

Suddenly someone shouted along, and several young men joined in singing loudly.

The entire field echoed with the powerful “Forward, forward.”

The ringing laughter along the road made everyone’s mood lighter and happier.

In the field, Lin Qianqian’s cheeks were flushed red from the sun.

She watched the bike ride away, her fingers crunching the ear of corn in her hand.

Like a poisonous snake sticking out its tongue wildly, she turned to see Liao Yuan also staring blankly, a glint flashing in his eyes.

—

Zhangmu Commune’s supply and marketing cooperative was built behind the school, quite prominent.

The bike ride was only about ten minutes.

At the supply and marketing cooperative entrance, Cheng Yueya and Fang Meizi got off in perfect sync.

They looked around furtively, rubbing their sore butts.

No longer as cheerful as before.

The dirt road was rougher than the paved cement road at the back.

They ‘enjoyed’ a good bump and had no intention of riding again.

Luckily, they planned to walk for the next trip.

Bai Ruoqiao looked at the two girls’ pale faces and almost burst out laughing.

She left the bike at the check-in, then called the two inside.

Once inside, the girls quickly regained their cheerful mood.

“So many things here!” Fang Meizi’s eyes lit up looking at the rows of fabric behind the counter.

Cheng Yueya’s gaze was stuck on the sweets in the snacks section, unable to look away.

Bai Ruoqiao watched their reactions, smiling and patting their shoulders.

“Let’s go buy some baskets first.”

“I know, agricultural supplies are over there, let’s go.” Cheng Yueya led the way.

Most people were either working in the fields or chatting, so the cooperative was not crowded.

The salespeople were either reading or chatting, barely paying attention to them.

After quickly buying two large baskets, they headed straight to the daily necessities section.

The female clerk behind the counter was munching on sunflower seeds and reading a comic book, ignoring them at first.

Fang Meizi and Cheng Yueya seemed used to it.

Bai Ruoqiao glanced at the goods on the shelves and roughly decided what to buy.

She tapped the glass counter lightly with her finger.

“Miss, please give me a bag of laundry detergent, three tubes of toothpaste, three toothbrushes, a box of mosquito coils, a box of matches, a bottle of shampoo…”

She listed over a dozen items, finally catching the clerk’s attention.