Chapter 22: Best If We Can Get Some Food
Lu Qiaoge nodded to indicate she understood. She went to the study, found two books to pass the time, and then sat down at the table to carefully complete the registration.
When she came out, Sun Qin handed her the small iron bucket, but the bucket wasn’t empty; there was actually a lunchbox inside.
Sun Qin said, “Inside are steamed dumplings. Don’t worry, these are from my own home.”
Lu Qiaoge didn’t refuse. In these times, human touch was very strong.
The small fish she salvaged twice had also been given away to quite a few people.
When making braised small fish, she had also sent a small bowl each to neighbor Granny Lin and Master Zhu’s home.
When Lu Qiaoge got home, Lu Zhiguo and the others had also returned.
Liu Feng apologized in person, which could be considered saving face. But Lu Zhiguo was still very angry.
It came down to looking down on the Lu family and looking down on him.
In his heart, he secretly swore that he would definitely work hard, strive to become permanent as soon as possible to lighten the burden on his parents, make a name for himself early, and support his younger sisters.
Of course, he must also let Xiao Hui live good days with him.
Old Lu would usually scold his eldest son when he saw him acting irritable, but today he didn’t, because he felt the same way. He had now unilaterally cut ties with Old Dong.
From the day he despised his second daughter, he hadn’t said a word to Old Dong again.
He could be scolded, but humiliating his daughter made them enemies.
“Alright, it’s not early anymore. Everyone, hurry up and rest.”
Old Lu turned to Meng Xia and said, “Our second son and third child’s ages aren’t that old yet; no rush to find partners. This time, we can’t agree to just anyone. Be sure to investigate thoroughly before meeting.”
Meng Xia had already thought the same.
From now on, they couldn’t meet just any random people.
—
The next morning.
The lunchbox of steamed dumplings that Lu Qiaoge brought back last night had been stuffed full by Sun Qin. They were steamed again in the pot, and soon a tempting aroma was smelled.
Su Hui said, “Sun Qin’s cooking skills are really good.”
Lu Qiaoge sweetly said, “Sister-in-law, your cooking skills are also good.”
Su Hui smiled gently at Lu Qiaoge.
The second sister-in-law hadn’t been very willing to talk to her before, but now she was very close to her.
Because of her closeness, her mother-in-law looked at her much more favorably too.
One steamed dumpling was divided per person, and the rest were left for Old Mrs. Lu and Xiao Si.
Lu Qiaoge glanced at her younger brother. This child had been taking Chinese medicine all along.
When he was just born, they all thought he wouldn’t survive past his first month.
Because of some reasons, he hadn’t gone to school either, but this child was sensitive-minded and felt he was a burden, so he was always helping make paper boxes.
Seeing Xiao Si’s eager look, she said, “Mom, let Xiao Si go with us too.”
Appropriate exercise would be beneficial.
Lu Xiaosi happily jumped up and pounced toward Lu Qiaoge, hugging her tightly: “Second Sister, Second Sister, I like you so much.”
The farthest he’d ever been was to the hospital in the provincial city, and he hadn’t even left the city after that, let alone ridden in a big truck.
Lu Qiaoge said to him, “You take Hua Hua with you.”
Now the calico cat was already a member of the Lu family.
When Lu Qiaoge went to the transportation team, Captain Jin was still waiting. Seeing her arrive, he immediately assigned her a truck.
Lu Qiaoge had the driver drive the truck to the neighborhood committee first.
Director Hu and Huang Juan, who had come to work early, were beaming with smiles.
They were also puzzled in their hearts—how had Captain Jin agreed?
But no one would ask rashly about this matter.
They’d talk after pulling back the leafy greens.
Before the vegetables were in hand, anything said was just empty talk.
Then Director Hu picked up a canvas bag and handed it to Lu Qiaoge, telling her that inside were daily necessities advanced by the neighborhood committee and such.
He directly put it in the truck bed for Lu Qiaoge. He even asked if it was enough for Lu Qiaoge.
Lu Qiaoge looked at it and smiled, saying, “It should be enough as advance items.”
Lu Qiaoge took her younger sister and younger brother all the way to Guzi Village.
The driver was Gu Wenbo, Brother Gu, who had a good relationship with Lu Zhiguo.
This showed that Captain Jin was also quite clever.
Gu Wenbo was an orphan; his parents were both martyrs who sacrificed for their duties, and he had just been discharged from the military last year.
He wasn’t much of a talker, but he was very steady.
He drove the same way.
He didn’t say much to Lu Qiaoge along the way, but he did tell her, “Don’t worry. This truck can be used for a morning today. If Guzi Village doesn’t work, we can go a bit farther. I hear that rural areas still have private plots now, so there should be quite a few households growing vegetables.”
At this time, Lu Qiaoge was sitting in the cab, while Lu Qiaoling and Xiao Si had gone to the truck bed.
But in this season, standing in the truck bed holding the railing felt like going for a breezy ride.
Lu Qiaoge chuckled, “Brother Gu, don’t worry. An agreed matter won’t change so easily.”
Gu Wenbo smiled and didn’t say more.
When they entered Guzi Village and stopped at the designated spot, Brigade Leader Lin, who had been waiting eagerly, happily shouted over the loudspeaker for the members of Guzi Village to hurry as discussed yesterday—no matter what vegetables, one pound or one bundle, pick as many as they wanted to exchange.
But they must not have any bad or rotten ones.
Only then did Lu Qiaoling completely relax, and Brother Gu also breathed a sigh of relief.
Brigade Leader Lin’s prestige was considerable.
As soon as the loudspeaker sounded, the whole village sprang into action.
He said to Lu Qiaoge, “The members got up before dawn. Don’t worry, Comrade Lu. They’re all fresh and tender.”
The accountant, full of smiles, invited the driver to the brigade office to rest a bit.
Gu Wenbo waved his hand saying no need.
He opened the truck bed to make it convenient for the members to load the vegetables.
The brigade office had dedicated registration.
There were also dedicated checks for vegetable quality.
This was all what Lu Qiaoge had discussed with the brigade leader yesterday.
Lu Qiaoge placed all the things brought from the neighborhood committee on the table outside.
Matches, candles, towels, socks, soap, and cold cream for face washing, etc.
Brigade Leader Lin saw the members’ eyes go wide.
He shouted to the queuing members, “Not now. Moreover, these are only part of it. If we distribute now, you’d say it’s unfair who gets what. This counts as a deposit from the military factory. Wait a bit, I’ll go to the military factory and bring back the rest, then we’ll distribute uniformly. Don’t worry, no household will be shortchanged.”
Then he picked up these things and went to the brigade office. Lu Qiaoge followed along, because she was also carrying a large canvas bag.
This was the one she had taken from home.
At the brigade office, Lu Qiaoge opened the canvas bag and handed a stack of gloves to Brigade Leader Lin.
Smiling brightly, she said, “These are labor protection gloves issued by my dad. If you don’t mind, take them. If you want, we can have more exchanges in the future, so please accept them.”
After speaking, she looked at Brigade Leader Lin sincerely.
Brigade Leader Lin originally wanted to refuse, but the gloves had already been firmly stuffed into his hands by Lu Qiaoge.
Moreover, Lu Qiaoge spoke nicely—who could mind?
Such good gloves weren’t even sold at the supply and marketing cooperative.
And if there could really be another exchange next time, that would be great.
Since last year, the rural areas in summer had the most abundant vegetables.
So, the brigade leader carefully put the things away in the drawer. He wouldn’t keep them for himself; they would be shared with the others in the brigade office.
Brigade Leader Lin felt he had a lot of face and was naturally no fool. He asked Lu Qiaoge with a full face of smiles, “Comrade Lu, do you have anything else you want to exchange?”
Lu Qiaoge smiled and didn’t stand on ceremony: “Besides vegetables, it would be best if we could exchange for some grain.”
