Lu Xiaotang boarded the train at three in the afternoon. Old Chen had accompanied him to Nancheng County, from where he took a bus to Qishi to catch the train. Once he had settled his luggage, he planned to have something to eat, as he hadn’t had anything since breakfast that morning.

He opened the bag of food Xu Ning had prepared for him. Inside were dozens of wheat cakes, two pounds of biscuits, and two jars of meat paste. The strong aroma of pepper and salt filled the air as soon as he opened the bag, catching the attention of the few people sitting across from him.

Lu Xiaotang ignored the curious glances, grabbed a cake, and started eating. After finishing it, he drank some water, then placed the bag on his lap and closed his eyes to rest.

That afternoon, Xu Ning had made two jars of meat paste. She sent one over through Xu An in the evening and then started heating water in the large pot. Tonight, she planned to enjoy a relaxing hot bath since she needed to go to the county tomorrow to deliver the two military coats she had promised Su Hongying.

When she arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, Su Hongying’s eyes lit up upon seeing her. She eagerly led Xu Ning to the back storage room.

Seeing how excited she was, Xu Ning took out the two military coats from her basket and showed them to her. Su Hongying, thrilled, ran her hands over the thick coats and said, “The quality is excellent, really solid. Sister, just tell me, how much for these two? I’ll take both.”

Xu Ning smiled and replied, “Sister Hongying, I’m not sure about the price. My brother sent them to me from the military. You can decide the price.”

After thinking for a moment, Su Hongying said, “Sister, I won’t deceive you. Military coats like these are hard to come by. Our director bought one not long ago for forty-five yuan. How about I give you ninety for the two? Does that work for you?”

“Let’s go with Sister Hongying’s price,” Xu Ning nodded with a smile.

After they completed the transaction in the warehouse, Su Hongying went back to her tasks. It was a busy time at the supply and marketing cooperative, and she couldn’t step away for too long.

Xu Ning then went to the counter to buy some salt and lamp oil. The supplies in the cowshed were running low, and they were currently using coarse salt. She didn’t feel comfortable giving them the salt from her private stash. Noticing some White Rabbit milk candy, Xu Ning remembered the ration tickets that Lu Xiaotang had left behind. She had three jin of sugar tickets and three jin of pastry tickets, so she used them all.

She then saw two young women standing by the counter next to her, with something tied up in a cloth. Curious, she walked over and asked, “What’s this?”

The two girls jumped in surprise. When they turned around, they saw a young girl with a dark little face, wearing a big cotton hat. Annoyed, one of them snapped, “You’re just a kid. Why are you nosing around?”

The woman behind the counter, who knew Xu Ning as Su Hongying’s relative, smiled and explained, “Young girl, these are sanitary cloths. In a couple of years, you’ll need them too.”

Xu Ning didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Thinking of her mother and Aunt Lu, she decided to buy a few for each of them.

She turned to the woman at the counter and said, “Big sister, I’ll take six.”

“Why are you buying so many, little girl? You need fabric ration tickets for these,” the woman behind the counter asked.

Xu Ning smiled and replied, “They’re for my mom and sister. I have fabric tickets.”

As Xu Ning left the supply and marketing cooperative with her purchases, she happened to run into four people from the educated youth group: Gu Wenping, Yang Wenli, Lin Miao, and Gu Wenjing, all heading toward the store.

Ever since Xu Ning had refused to let Lin Miao stay at her place, Lin Miao had stopped greeting her altogether.

Without showing any emotion, Xu Ning walked past the group, got on her bicycle, and rode away. She planned to visit the scrap yard to see if there were any picture books she could buy for Xu An and the other children. With winter keeping them indoors, the kids were getting restless.

The old man at the gate of the scrap yard still remembered her. When he saw her, he said, “Little girl, back again? What are you looking for this time?”

Xu Ning parked her bicycle at the entrance and grinned at the gatekeeper. “Uncle, you still remember me? You’ve got sharp eyes for your age! I finished reading the picture books I bought last time, so I’m back to see if there are any new ones.”

As she spoke, she pulled out two fruit candies from her pocket and handed them to him.

The old man looked at the candies in his hand and chuckled, “Go ahead, take a look! A bunch of newspapers and books came in over the past couple of days.”

Xu Ning went inside and rummaged through everything, but still found nothing valuable. Disappointed, she left the yard with a pile of books.

The old man weighed the stack and charged her twenty cents.

On her way home, Xu Ning couldn’t help but sigh. “Other people who time-travel always manage to find treasures at the scrap yard without even trying. How come all I end up with is a pile of dusty books?”