Chapter 31: Big Purchase at the Factory

She had bought a lot of useful things in town before.

For example, food coupons, cloth coupons, meat coupons, and so on.

State-owned restaurants still required coupons.

If you didn’t have coupons, you could still eat, but the price would be double.

Of course, this didn’t apply to grain.

At least this restaurant required food coupons.

She ordered ten taels of rice, a plate of white-cut chicken, steamed mandarin fish, and shredded loofah with pork.

Rice was 30 cents, white-cut chicken was 3.5 yuan, fish was 2.5 yuan, and shredded loofah with pork was 1.2 yuan.

The whole meal cost just over 7 yuan, which was quite cheap for Xu Sangluo.

When the food arrived, it was lunchtime, and the restaurant started to get crowded.

“Why did you order so much?” Chen Tao was surprised when he saw the food being served.

Xu Sangluo was also a little speechless. The amount of food was completely beyond her expectations.

Her knowledge was still stuck in the past.

Back then, restaurants, especially in the south, served small portions of food, focusing on quality over quantity.

For example, a serving of white-cut chicken was usually only about half a jin.

Now, it was a whole chicken, which looked like at least two jin.

The fish was okay, about a jin and a half.

But the steamed fish was also served with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, so the portion wasn’t small either.

The most exaggerated was the shredded loofah with pork, which was served in a large soup bowl.

Xu Sangluo couldn’t help but laugh. She could only say that people were really honest in this era.

She hadn’t had the chance to eat at a restaurant in her early years, so she didn’t really know.

“Cough, it’s okay. We can pack the leftovers.”

Seeing her embarrassed look, Chen Tao knew that she probably didn’t know the portion sizes of the dishes. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

Then he didn’t say anything more. He picked up his chopsticks and said with a look of anticipation, “Then I won’t be polite. Thanks for the treat.”

Xu Xingtao got off work a little late today. When he and his friend came in, the restaurant was already full.

“There are so many people. Should we share a table or go to another restaurant?” The young man next to him looked inside.

There were many restaurants in the county, and they weren’t far apart.

But this one was closer to the textile factory, so they were used to coming here.

Xu Sangluo chose this restaurant because it was close to the textile factory.

Her main task today was to buy materials.

She hoped to buy scraps of cloth at a lower price.

Once the fabric hair accessory craze reached here, the price of scraps of cloth would probably rise again.

Xu Xingtao shook his head. He didn’t like to eat with people he didn’t know.

“Let’s go. Let’s go to another restaurant.” He turned to leave.

But his friend suddenly grabbed his arm, “Hey, wait.”

“What’s wrong?” Xu Xingtao turned his head in confusion.

Then he saw his friend winking at him, looking mischievous.

He twitched his eye.

He was about to say something, but his friend leaned over and whispered, “Look who I found. That woman over there, isn’t she the woman you met last time? She seems even prettier.”

Xu Xingtao was stunned and didn’t react for a moment.

But he still looked in the direction his friend pointed.

Then he saw Xu Sangluo looking up and picking up some food with her chopsticks.

The phoenix eyes behind his glasses suddenly flashed with a light, and his eyes brightened.

His friend was still muttering, “Right? I must be right. There are so many beautiful women.”

Xu Xingtao snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at him, and frowned, “Don’t talk about female colleagues like that. It’s not appropriate.”

His friend pouted, “I didn’t say it to her face.”

“It’s even worse behind her back. Don’t be like a gossipy woman.”

His friend was scared. He quickly raised his hand, “Okay, okay, okay. I won’t say anything. So, shall we continue looking for a place to eat?”

Xu Xingtao’s eyes flashed, and he said, “Since we’re here, let’s see if we can share a table.”

“So we don’t have to run back and forth.”

He pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose and walked inside.

Xu Sangluo and Chen Tao arrived early, so they chose a seat by the window.

From there, they could see the gate of the textile factory across the street.

Unfortunately, the textile factory didn’t seem to be having a stall today.

As they were eating, a gentle voice rang out.

“Excuse me, comrades. Would you mind if we shared your table?”

Sharing tables at restaurants was common.

In this era, people valued unity and friendship.

So they usually accommodated each other.

The octagonal table was big enough. If there were only a few people, she wouldn’t mind.

She looked up at the person.

Then she was surprised, “You are?”

Her memory was good. Xu Xingtao was quite handsome and wore rare gold-rimmed glasses, so he was easy to remember.

She recognized him at first glance.

Xu Xingtao also looked surprised, as if it was truly a coincidence.

He smiled, “What a coincidence. We meet again.”

Xu Sangluo put down her chopsticks and smiled, “Thank you for your help last time.”

“You’re welcome. It was nothing. By the way, my surname is Xu, and my given name is Xingtao. This is my friend, Liang. Would you mind if we shared your table?”

“Not at all. Are there just two of you?”

“Yes. Thank you very much.” He turned to his friend and asked him to order, then pulled out a long stool and sat down.

The octagonal table was large. Xu Sangluo and Chen Tao moved their dishes to one side.

Chen Tao changed seats and sat to Xu Sangluo’s right.

Xu Xingtao was on her left, facing her.

He smiled, “Hello.”

Chen Tao nodded, “Hello.”

Xu Sangluo didn’t pick up her chopsticks, so he couldn’t continue eating.

Xu Xingtao turned to Xu Sangluo and suddenly asked, “By the way, do you still need scraps of cloth?”

He was just trying to find a topic to connect with.

Unexpectedly, he hit the nail on the head.

Even Chen Tao raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

Xu Sangluo’s spirits lifted. She remembered that he was a worker at the textile factory.

“Does your factory still have scraps of cloth to sell?”

Seeing Xu Sangluo’s interest, Xu Xingtao was a little surprised, but he was happy to find the right topic.

He nodded, “We have a batch in the warehouse. We’ll probably dispose of them in a couple of days. If you need any, I can help you buy them internally.”

Xu Sangluo’s eyes lit up. This was like a dream come true.

Her smile became even more genuine.

“To be honest, I do want to buy another batch of scraps of cloth, and this time I might need a larger quantity. Can you help me buy some internally? I won’t let you work for nothing. I’ll give you 50 cents per bag as a commission. Is that okay?”

Xu Xingtao pushed up his glasses and was about to answer.

A hand rested on his shoulder.

Then someone sat down next to him.

It was his friend who had gone to order.

Liang Yu smiled brightly at Xu Sangluo, “No need for any commission. This is the director of our factory’s Revolutionary Committee. Buying some scraps of cloth is just a matter of a word. Anyway, those scraps are going to be disposed of. Selling them to you will increase the factory’s income, right, Director Xu?”

Xu Xingtao smiled helplessly and said to Xu Sangluo, “He’s right. The scraps are going to be disposed of anyway. Even if you don’t buy them, someone else will, or they’ll be sent to the melting furnace. It’s just a small favor. Helping you is also helping the factory.”

Xu Sangluo wasn’t someone who lacked common sense.

From his identity and demeanor, he seemed like someone who wouldn’t care about such a small profit.

If she insisted, she would be offending him.