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Everyone was discussing the matter of teaming up for meals, each contributing their own thoughts. The only one who remained silent and stayed at the back was Wen Nuan.
Unlike the earlier events with the train, Zhang Zhenzhen may have found Wen Nuan somewhat agreeable, but she knew that Wen Nuan wasn’t someone to provoke easily. So, unlike in the past, she didn’t openly bully Wen Nuan.
In the past life, Wen Nuan didn’t have the spare money to buy a cabinet, and honestly, she didn’t have much to store either. All she had were two sets of worn-out clothes and a torn quilt.
This time, though, while a cabinet would be useful, the space was tight. Though she wasn’t short on money, Wen Nuan’s nature remained frugal.
If it were simply to hide her situation, she really wouldn’t have needed to come on this trip at all.
Soon, they arrived at Zhang the Carpenter’s house. Li Datong stepped forward and knocked on the door.
After a while, the door was opened from the inside. To Wen Nuan’s surprise, the person who opened the door was the elderly lady she had met earlier on the train!
Zhang Zhenzhen and Zhu Jianjun were also equally shocked. Thinking back on what had happened on the train, it was truly a case of fate bringing enemies together.
Wen Nuan was surprised for a moment but quickly averted her gaze. She didn’t seem to have any major conflict with this old lady.
However, Zhang Zhenzhen and Zhu Jianjun weren’t as composed. Zhang Zhenzhen, visibly upset, immediately spoke up.
“What are you doing here?”
The elderly lady clearly recognized Zhang Zhenzhen. Her eyes shifted to Zhu Jianjun, who was standing far behind her, and she rolled her eyes in response.
“I don’t need you to tell me where I can be! What’s the point of knocking on the door?” the elderly lady snapped.
Li Datong noticed the tense atmosphere between the two and awkwardly gave a smile before speaking up.
“Excuse me, is this Zhang the Carpenter’s house? We’ve come to see him about exchanging a few cabinets!”
Upon hearing this, the elderly lady stepped back a few paces and opened the door wider.
“Come in, my brother is working in the backyard,” she said.
To Wen Nuan’s surprise, the elderly lady turned out to be Zhang the Carpenter’s sister. In her previous life, Wen Nuan had never come to buy cabinets, so she had no knowledge of this connection.
The group followed the old lady into the house, with Zhang Zhenzhen and Zhu Jianjun sneaking a few more glances at her, clearly wary of any potential trouble.
Perhaps because she was at her brother’s house, the old lady didn’t act as she did on the train. In fact, she completely ignored Zhang Zhenzhen and Zhu Jianjun.
In the backyard, Zhang the Carpenter was assembling a cabinet. This set of cabinets was precisely why the elderly lady had come. Her youngest son was getting married, so she had come to her brother’s place to have him make a new set of furniture.
Seeing everyone enter, Zhang the Carpenter paused his work.
“You must be the new educated youths, right?” he asked.
Li Datong, standing at the front of the group, smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
“Yes, yes, you must be Zhang the Carpenter. We’re all here to pick out a few cabinets. Is it a convenient time?”
“Convenient, convenient! It’s always convenient!” Zhang the Carpenter replied with a smile.
After speaking, he turned to his sister and added, “Sister, don’t worry about the furniture for Sanwa’s family. After I finish it, I’ll personally deliver it to you. Since we’ve got guests here, I won’t keep you too long. You should head back quickly while it’s still early.”
The old lady furrowed her brows, then took out a large amount of money and handed it to Zhang the Carpenter.
“Since you’re saying that, I won’t worry anymore. But you must take this money—don’t make it seem like you’re working for nothing!”
Zhang the Carpenter gently pushed the money away, refusing to take it.
“Sis, my nephew’s getting married! As his uncle, how can I not give him a set of furniture? The materials are already here. I’m just putting in a little extra effort!”
“A deal is a deal. If you’re going to deliver it, then I’ve already accepted your favor. Why would you still take money? Your whole family needs to eat and drink!”
The old lady’s tone was firm, completely different from the petty, troublesome attitude she had shown on the truck earlier.
“Really, it’s not necessary, Sis. Just take it as a congratulatory gift for my nephew!” Zhang the Carpenter insisted.
“A congratulatory gift is a congratulatory gift, but this is different. You don’t just send it like that!”
The old lady finished speaking and forcefully shoved the money into Zhang the Carpenter’s pocket before turning and leaving.
Seeing his sister’s actions, Zhang the Carpenter stood frozen for a moment. He felt something was off, as if something had changed with her since her trip to visit relatives in Fengtian.
He looked up at the sky, a strange expression crossing his face. The sun wasn’t coming up from the west, after all…
“Zhang the Carpenter, you see…”
Li Datong’s words interrupted Zhang the Carpenter’s train of thought. He snapped back to reality and, looking a bit embarrassed, said:
“Sorry, I got a bit distracted. Come on, I’ll take you to see the furniture. I have some ready-made pieces in my storage room. You can have a look, and if you like them, you can buy them; if not, I can custom-make something for you!”
Everyone nodded and followed him to the storage room.
When Zhang the Carpenter opened the door, they could clearly see the furniture inside: cabinets of all sizes, tall and short, of all kinds of designs.
However, the most common item was the “kang cabinet,” a large box-like cabinet that could also be locked.
“This one, how much would it cost? I see these in the dormitories at the educated youth station!”
Zhu Jianjun pointed to one of the kang cabinets and asked.
“This one, huh! Indeed, this is the kind most of the educated youth stations have. It’s lockable, and the space is quite large, very practical.
The best part is, it’s also not expensive—only two yuan each, plus a ticket. It doesn’t matter what kind of ticket—grain ticket, cloth ticket, sugar ticket, or meat ticket will all do.”
A large box for only two yuan certainly wasn’t expensive, but the ticket was harder to come by. Most of the educated youths didn’t have these tickets, and even if they did, the quantities were limited, so they wouldn’t be willing to trade them away.
“Old neighbor, we don’t have tickets! Would it be possible to just pay with money?”
Zhang the Carpenter glanced at everyone, frowning. Tickets were scarce in the countryside, so every time new educated youths came in, he would try to get some tickets in exchange.
“If you don’t have tickets, then it’s two and a half yuan. That’s the standard price!”
The extra fifty cents(5mao) for not having tickets didn’t sit well with everyone, especially since in the city, a single ticket was worth half a yuan.
Unfortunately, Zhang the Carpenter didn’t give them a chance to haggle.
Everyone exchanged glances, and in the end, they had to compromise.
“Old neighbor, we don’t have grain tickets, meat tickets, or anything like that. Would soap tickets be okay?”
“Soap tickets?”
“Yeah, you know, the ones for washing up—the ones that smell nice and make bubbles!”
Zhou Xiaohua looked at Zhang the Carpenter with hopeful eyes. She wanted to avoid paying the extra fifty cents, but she couldn’t bring herself to part with a grain ticket.
After much hesitation, she reluctantly pulled out a soap ticket, which wasn’t as valuable as the others.
Zhang the Carpenter thought for a moment, hesitated slightly, but in the end, he agreed.
After all, in the countryside, there weren’t many types of tickets, and the few that existed didn’t really hold much value.
“Alright, as long as the tickets are for use here, that’s fine. But if they’re from another place, forget it.”
In the supply and marketing cooperative, many tickets could be used nationwide, but some were only valid in specific regions. That’s why Zhang the Carpenter made this clarification.
Once he said this, the new educated youth breathed a sigh of relief. In order to avoid spending the extra fifty cents, they pulled out some of the more commonly used tickets.
In addition to the large cabinets, everyone also exchanged other things, such as wooden basins, stools, washboards, and so on.
Wen Nuan also swapped for some essentials with the others and then returned to the educated youth camp, waiting for Zhang the Carpenter to deliver the goods to their dormitory.