Chapter 5: Helping Again

Tang Wan found a place where no one was around and first put her package into her spatial storage.

Then she went to the state-run restaurant.

From reading novels before, she had seen several descriptions where the female lead invited people to eat here, praising the state-run restaurant’s dishes as incredibly delicious — the braised pork was rich but not greasy, the mapo tofu was fragrant, spicy, and flavorful, and the “Di San Xian” (a famous vegetable dish) made people want to eat more.

Now that Tang Wan was here, she wanted to find a place to buy food. Naturally, the state-run restaurant was the first choice.

Most importantly, she could buy some ready-made dishes here and put them directly into her spatial storage. Otherwise, even if she bought food and took it back, she wouldn’t have a place to cook.

As soon as Tang Wan stepped into the state-run restaurant, she smelled the aroma of the food.

She had never thought that food could smell so good.

Having not eaten breakfast, the fragrance was especially tempting.

Tang Wan carefully looked at the small blackboard on the wall where the menu was written. The dishes served daily at the state-run restaurant were listed there.

Today, Tang Wan’s luck was good — there was braised pork and steamed buns.

She ordered the braised pork and a serving of noodles, totaling 50 cents plus ration coupons for grain and meat.

The cashier efficiently took the money, then looked up to see Tang Wan still standing there.

“Just wait for a seat. When it’s ready, come over to pick it up,” the cashier said in a fairly decent tone.

Tang Wan thought for a moment and asked, “I want to buy some food to take back to my friend. Do you have containers for takeout here?”

This was a modern habit of hers; only now did she realize that back then there were no takeaway boxes. If she wanted to buy food and put it into spatial storage, she first needed a way to carry it away.

“No, our plates and bowls are limited. If you didn’t bring your own lunchbox, how would you carry the food?” the cashier replied.

Tang Wan suddenly remembered the lunchbox. Aluminum lunchboxes existed in that era and could be used, but she wondered if the supply and marketing cooperative still had any.

“Then I’ll bring a lunchbox later and come back. For now, I’ll just take these,” Tang Wan said, finding a seat.

After sitting down, she noticed Qin Zheng nearby.

He was with two men who seemed close to him, and the three were eating together.

Qin Zheng probably hadn’t seen her yet; the man next to him was talking to him.

Tang Wan thought about greeting him but decided against it since he had friends with him and it might be awkward.

Little did she know, Qin Zheng had already seen her when she entered and had overheard her conversation with the cashier.

Tang Wan didn’t think much about encountering Qin Zheng. She was thinking she’d have to make another trip to the supply and marketing cooperative later, which was a bit troublesome, but since this was the only place selling cooked food, if she didn’t buy any, she’d have to eat wild vegetables when she got back.

While thinking about this, she ate her meal but had overestimated her appetite.

By the time she finished, she was very full.

Portions in this era were quite generous; Tang Wan barely finished, and another bite wouldn’t have gone down.

Just as Tang Wan was about to rest and then head to the supply and marketing cooperative, three neatly stacked aluminum lunchboxes appeared in front of her.

Following the lunchboxes, she saw Qin Zheng’s sharply defined face and his dark eyes looking at her.

“Comrade Qin Zheng, what’s this?” she asked.

“Didn’t you want these? They’re hard to get. I know where to find them,” Qin Zheng said.

Tang Wan understood. These lunchboxes were not common items; the town’s supply and marketing cooperative might not have them, but Qin Zheng had connections and heard her earlier, so he got them for her.

This was a huge help. Tang Wan hadn’t expected Qin Zheng to be so kind.

“Thank you. How much did it cost with the coupons?” she asked.

“I haven’t paid yet. We’ll talk about that later. I have something to do; I’m leaving now,” Qin Zheng said, then turned and left.

Tang Wan stood there holding the three aluminum lunchboxes, mentally noting the debt.

Since she arrived, Qin Zheng had helped her several times. She couldn’t just show no gratitude.

When Tang Wan went to reorder food with the lunchboxes, the cashier was quite surprised.

At this time, not everyone could suddenly produce three lunchboxes.

Usually, only families with workers had the ration coupons to buy these, and not everyone was willing to spend on them — let alone have three at once.

The cashier’s gaze toward Tang Wan had clearly changed.

“Two servings of braised pork, one fried chicken, ten—no, twenty steamed buns, and… two servings of green pepper and egg,” Tang Wan ordered.

This should last her several days.

“There aren’t that many buns left, only eight,” the cashier said.

“Then pack all eight,” Tang Wan replied.

“That’ll be 2.1 yuan, one grain coupon, two meat coupons,” the cashier said. Tang Wan’s buying didn’t excite the cashier since they were on state salary and not running a business. The amount sold didn’t affect them much, so their mood stayed neutral.

Tang Wan didn’t mind; as long as she could get what she needed.

Three lunchboxes were already the limit. If she bought more, it would look suspicious.

The buns were wrapped in greaseproof paper, and with the three large lunchboxes, Tang Wan attracted a lot of attention as she carried them out.

She finally found a place with no one around to put the food into spatial storage.

After that, Tang Wan felt much lighter and went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The cooperative was quite different from what Tang Wan had imagined.

It wasn’t very large, but the goods were plentiful and varied.

Tang Wan looked around. Most items were daily necessities, from needles and threads to thermos flasks.

She bought quite a few scattered things but not much food. At this time, the only food available was malted milk powder and some biscuits. She already had these from home, and hers were of much better quality than what was sold here.

Still, she bought a little—not for herself, but because others might find them useful.

Tang Wan checked the prices to finally understand how much purchasing power the 800 to 900 yuan she carried really had.

This was when she truly realized how wealthy her family was.

At this moment, the relative who had persuaded the original owner to go to the countryside seemed to have other motives.

Tang Wan mentally labeled this relative, whom she hadn’t even met yet. She decided she must find out who this person really was when she had the chance to return home.

Tang Wan bought quite a lot this time. She took out some items that would definitely appear in front of others back home, and put everything else into spatial storage, planning to sort them later.

Then she took the package out again, which was a good disguise.

From now on, whatever Tang Wan had, she could say it was sent from home.

When Tang Wan returned to the meeting spot, the package in her hand attracted attention.

An older educated youth enviously said, “Comrade Tang Wan, your parents sent you such a big package right after you arrived!”

Although the others didn’t speak, their expressions showed envy as well.