Chapter 11: Shopping at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative

“Ah, finally! After all those busy days, I can finally take a break.”

After entering the mall, Li Lin went up to the fifth floor, where she had a hearty meal of grilled squid, grilled cold noodles, and oden, washing it down with a bottle of soda. Satisfied, she collapsed on the couch, letting out a deep sigh of contentment.

“I could just lie here and sleep till morning… but unfortunately…”

“Ah, this hot bath feels amazing!”

After filling her stomach, Li Lin went back to her room on the 16th floor to rest. Now, she was soaking in a hot bath, completely relaxed. It was blissful beyond words.

But, feeling too comfortable, she accidentally fell asleep in the bathtub. When she woke up suddenly, she jumped out of the tub, drying herself off quickly.

“Yikes, it’s already three o’clock? I might as well just stay up, get ready, and leave early to come back early.”

With that, Li Lin started washing up, doing her skincare routine, changing clothes, and heading downstairs for some food.

She quickly slipped out of the mall, filled her military water bottle with water, then returned to stash some large White Rabbit candy in her pocket.

Checking her watch, she saw it was already 3:30. So, she stepped out of her room and knocked on the door next door.

*Knock, knock, knock…*

Li Lin knocked on Hu Yingying’s door. When no one answered, she knocked harder and called out, “Yingying, wake up! We’re heading to the commune—early to go, early to come back!”

“Coming, coming!” 

Hu Yingying, roused from a sweet dream, quickly responded and rushed to put on her clothes. Ignoring the soreness in her legs, she slowly got up, opened the door, and stepped outside.

“Lin Lin, it’s not even four o’clock yet. Isn’t it a bit too early?” Hu Yingying leaned against the door, glancing at her watch, and groaned in disbelief.

“It’s not early. It’ll take us two hours to walk to the commune. If we leave early, we can come back earlier,” Li Lin explained, urging her to eat something to fill her stomach so she wouldn’t be too tired later.

“Alright, wait for me. I’ll be right back.” Hu Yingying grabbed her enamel basin and headed to the well to fetch some water, preparing to wash up.

“Ah, this water’s so cold. But in the summer, it’s quite refreshing.”

Hu Yingying splashed some of the freshly fetched water on her face. The coldness shocked her into full alertness, instantly shaking off her drowsiness.

“Once we buy a pot, we can use hot water to wash up every day. We girls can’t catch a cold,” Li Lin said, looking at Hu Yingying and remembering what her grandmother used to tell her. The words slipped out before she realized it.

But once she said it, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of homesickness, thinking of her grandmother, who had once been her only family.

“What’s wrong? Missing home?” Hu Yingying noticed Li Lin’s change in expression and immediately understood, offering comfort. “It’s okay, when we have time, we can go back.”

“No, I’m fine,” Li Lin quickly reassured her, shaking her head. “Come on, take something with you, and let’s eat as we go.”

“My god, I don’t think I’ve walked this much in my entire life,” Hu Yingying muttered as she walked alongside Li Lin on the freshly paved rural road, complaining about the long journey.

“It’s okay. We’ll get used to it. It’s just the beginning, and we’re not used to it yet,” Li Lin encouraged her. 

Li Lin’s legs were sore too, but she had to push through. She needed to buy some things for the mall. While the mall had everything, pots, pans, and other essentials could only be bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. If she suddenly produced those items, it would be too suspicious. 

After all, once the seed of doubt was planted, someone would be watching them all the time.

In order to avoid trouble, Li Lin figured it was best to buy the items herself. This way, it could also serve as a cover for later.

The two of them, moving like ants in the eyes of others, thought they were walking quite fast, but it took almost two hours. By the time they reached Zayinhe Commune, it was nearly 6 AM, and the sun was high in the sky.

“My god, we’re finally here. My legs feel like they belong to someone else!” Hu Yingying, nearly leaning on Li Lin for support, let out a long sigh of relief as they finally arrived at the commune.

“Let’s go eat something at the state-run restaurant first, then we can head to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy the things we need.”

At this point, Li Lin was starving. She tugged at Hu Yingying’s arm and followed the tempting smell of food, eventually finding the state-run restaurant.

Although it was too early for regular meals, the restaurant was selling buns, steamed bread, flower rolls, fried dough sticks, and more outside.

“Comrade, what kind of filling do the buns have?”

Hu Yingying had only eaten a few crackers on the way, and now that she saw all this delicious food, she couldn’t help but salivate.

“Some are filled with cabbage and oil, others with pork and green onions.”

“I’ll take five pork and green onion buns, three cabbage and oil buns, and two fried dough sticks.”

Hu Yingying didn’t hesitate and ordered a large amount all at once.

“Can you finish all this? It’s so hot out; if you leave it for a day, it will spoil,” Li Lin said, clicking her tongue, though she still couldn’t stop her friend from ordering.

Having already paid, Hu Yingying shoved a bun into her mouth and muttered between bites, “We’ll be heading back to work after this. We’ll definitely be exhausted by noon. If we bring these with us, we won’t need to cook.”

“True. In that case, I’ll get a few more,” Li Lin said, agreeing with Hu Yingying’s reasoning. She bought five more pork buns and five cabbage and oil buns.

“Now that we’re done here, let’s head to the supply and marketing cooperative.”

Li Lin quickly finished two buns, asked a staff member at the state-run restaurant for directions, and then dragged Hu Yingying to the cooperative.

Luckily, it had just opened, and there was still plenty of stock. The two of them split up to get the items they needed.

There were two cans of malted milk powder available, which the sales clerk had intended to keep for her relatives. However, Hu Yingying managed to buy them by offering an extra dime per can.

They also bought two egg cakes, a pack of preserved fruit, a box of crackers (which they would later use to store some small items when they ran out), a large basin, a small basin, rice bowls, plates, spoons, chopsticks, a vegetable knife, a ladle, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, matches, burlap sacks, and hemp ropes—several of each item.

“Alright, that’s everything. Let’s ask if they have any iron pots,” Li Lin said, stuffing the unbreakable items into a burlap sack and leaving the fragile ones aside for Hu Yingying to keep an eye on. She went to find Zhang Xia, the person the team leader had mentioned.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I’m looking for Zhang Xia. Could you please help me find her?” Li Lin asked a middle-aged woman behind the counter.

“I’m Zhang Xia. What can I do for you?” Zhang Xia responded, looking at Li Lin with some confusion. Li Lin’s city girl appearance made it clear she wasn’t from around here.

“Hi, I’m a new sent-down youth from Majiadao team. We need to buy two iron pots, and the team leader said we should come to you,” Li Lin explained, realizing that the woman in front of her was indeed Zhang Xia.

“Oh, I see. Come with me.” 

Upon hearing the team leader had sent Li Lin, Zhang Xia told the staff to look after things for a moment and led Li Lin outside.

“I have iron pots here, but the price…” Zhang Xia began, her voice trailing off as she led Li Lin away to continue the conversation.