Chapter 23

Uncle Changfa usually came to buy pesticides without much of a plan. He would often just listen to what Xiao Wu said about what other teams were buying and follow suit, or sometimes, if neither of them was sure, they would just buy the same pesticides as last time and spray them according to the instructions.

But at this time, even the instructions on these pesticides were unclear. People relied on word of mouth when using pesticides, without any systematic learning, let alone conducting their own research.

As a result, most of the pesticides they used were ineffective.

“Ah, right! This time, we wrote a proper list.” Wu Changfa carefully took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Wu.

This list was compiled by Wu Xiaoxiao after thoroughly reading books and calculating the amount needed based on the number of fruit trees in the orchard. She had written an entire page just for the calculations. Seeing her meticulous effort, Wu Changfa treated the paper as something precious, folding it carefully and tucking it securely into his pocket.

Xiao Wu took the paper and saw that it listed over a dozen different pesticides.

He examined it closely. “This one—glass water, potassium permanganate, and this one—Yisaojing—we have these in stock. No problem, Uncle. I’ll get them for you. But there are a few others I’ve never even heard of.” Xiao Wu scratched his head.

In the end, after turning the store inside out, Xiao Wu still couldn’t find all the pesticides on the list. Some were simply unavailable.

“I’ll check when I go to the county to restock. Maybe they have them there, but for now, there’s nothing I can do,” Xiao Wu said.

“Oh no, what should we do?” Although Changfa had always applied pesticides without much understanding, this time, after seeing Xiaoxiao’s calculations—including the types and the precise mixing ratios—he realized that missing even one type might affect the overall result. Who knew if the missing pesticides were the most crucial ones?

However, Wu Xiaoxiao wasn’t too worried. “Uncle Changfa, it’s okay. The missing pesticides aren’t critical. The book also mentions that some herbal medicines can be used as substitutes.”

That was true. Many herbs had antibacterial and insecticidal properties, though their concentration of active ingredients was usually low.

Otherwise, why would there be plant-based insecticides and fungicides later on? Right now, extracting high concentrations of active ingredients would require Wu Xiaoxiao’s special ability. But of course, she wouldn’t mention that here.

“That’s great.” Hearing this, Uncle Changfa felt reassured. They bought the available pesticides in the required quantities, calculated the cost, and wrote a receipt. The expense would later be reimbursed by the village team.

“Xiaoxiao, what kind of herbs do we need for the rest? But there aren’t any herbal medicine shops around anymore.” Uncle Changfa shook his head. “I’ll ask Dr. Chen later. The barefoot doctors took courses on herbal medicine.”

“They probably don’t have these specific ones,” Wu Xiaoxiao chuckled. “But I think I saw some of them growing near our orchard. We can look for them when we get back. Even if we can’t find them all, at least we can treat the peach and pear trees with what we have.”

“Alright, that’ll do for now.”

—-

After buying the pesticides, it was already close to noon.

“Xiaoxiao, do you want to buy or look at anything else? Let’s walk around a bit and have lunch before heading back.”

It was too late to return immediately anyway. When they left home earlier, his wife had given him ten yuan, telling him to take Xiaoxiao around town and bring back some treats for their younger son.

“That sounds great! Thank you, Uncle. I haven’t had many chances to visit town,” Wu Xiaoxiao said excitedly, curiously looking around the main street.

Uncle Changfa started introducing the town to her. “That store we just visited, where Xiao Wu works, sells all sorts of supplies farmers need—pesticides, fertilizers, farming tools, and even spare parts for agricultural machines. A bit further down, there’s a clothing shop selling clothes for young women and wives. Do you want to check it out? But I didn’t bring any fabric ration tickets today.”

He spoke quickly, but when he realized he had no fabric tickets, he felt a bit embarrassed, as if he had been pretending to be generous.

Wu Xiaoxiao laughed. “No need, Uncle. I have enough clothes, and I couldn’t let you spend money on me anyway. Let’s just look around.”

“Alright then. How about we check out the grocery store? Maybe they have some good stuff. We can buy some treats for you and Xiao Er.”

—-

The town’s grocery store was actually quite empty. Two counters displayed a few scattered items—some candies, gold-foil-wrapped chocolates, and a few canned fruits.

Wu Xiaoxiao glanced around but didn’t see anything she particularly wanted to buy. However, Uncle Changfa’s eyes lit up. “Oh, they have malted milk powder today!”

The store clerk sat behind the counter, knitting a sweater. When she saw someone enter, she barely looked up. From their clothes, she could tell they were from the countryside. She didn’t even bother to greet them, continuing to knit as if they weren’t there.

Wu Changfa approached and asked, “Comrade, how much for the malted milk powder?”

“That requires ration tickets. You need a milk powder coupon. Do you have one?”

“Huh? We need a coupon? But last time we didn’t.”

“Last time, we had more stock, so we made an exception for rural folks. This time, we’re running low, and lots of people want it,” the clerk mumbled, not even bothering to move from her seat.

Wu Xiaoxiao found the clerk’s attitude odd. Was this really how business was done? Customers weren’t even greeted properly? She tugged on Wu Changfa’s sleeve and whispered, “Uncle, maybe we shouldn’t buy anything. We don’t have a coupon, and they clearly don’t want to sell to us.”

Wu Changfa was also irritated by the clerk’s indifferent attitude.

But at this time, grocery store workers were known for acting like this. With supplies always in shortage, customers had to beg to buy things.

“Fine, forget the malted milk powder. Let’s just get some candies and chocolates.”

“The regular fruit candies are five yuan per jin (half a kilogram), and the gold-foil chocolates are eight yuan per jin,” the clerk said.

These prices were outrageous. In some rural households, after deducting grain from their labor wages, they only took home 20 to 30 yuan a year. A small handful of colorful fruit candies cost a whole yuan!

Even Wu Changfa hesitated at the high prices. In the end, he only bought one yuan’s worth of fruit candies and one yuan’s worth of chocolates. The two small paper bags felt very light in his hands.

—-

After purchasing the candy, Wu Xiaoxiao was ready to leave, but Uncle Changfa lingered a bit, looking around to see if there was anything else worth buying.

At that moment, a few more people walked into the grocery store.

“Hey, Xiaoxiao! You’re here too?”