Chapter 15: Shopping at the Supplies Cooperative

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Bai Xue woke her up at dawn. It was so cold that she could not sleep. Although the hospital had a blanket, it was too thin to keep her warm. She could not sleep at all, so she sat up and looked at her father and second uncle as they slept soundly.

They had long adapted to the cold, so the temperature in the ward was considerably warmer than at home. They naturally slept well.

Bai Xue could not sleep, so she went out to take a look.

She wandered to the canteen. As expected, the canteen was already open. Although there were few patients, the medical staff ate in the canteen of the hospital. Therefore, it was normal for the canteen to be open early.

Bai Xue walked in. It was still the same young man from yesterday. He mentioned there was steamed cornbread available for breakfast, but she still had to use her food supplies to trade for breakfast since she had no food stamps.

Bai Xue used coarse grains to exchange for five steamed cornbread, three bowls of piping hot porridge, and a small plate of pickled vegetables.

When she brought breakfast back, her father and second uncle were already up.

“Xue, why did you get up so early to buy breakfast? Why did you buy so much? I can be discharged today. Your uncle and I could have eaten when we got home. You could have bought a single portion for yourself!” said Bai Daliang.

“Dad, you’re a patient. You have to eat more to recover faster. If you don’t eat, your wounds won’t heal. You still have to spend more money then, right? Second Uncle came all the way here to deliver money to us, how could we let him go without breakfast? Alright, eat while it’s hot! After eating, I still want to go shopping at the supplies cooperative before the ox cart comes to pick us up! This is my first time in Pingyang Town, how can I not go shopping at the supplies cooperative?” Bai Xue said as she handed chopsticks to her father and second uncle.

Bai Daliang always did what his eldest daughter wanted. Bai Xue knew the host’s personality was very similar to hers. Bai Xue’s own father did the same back in modern times.

In her memory, Bai Daliang hardly had any outbursts, but she took care of them each time. Other people’s words were useless. Even her mother, Wang Cuihua, could not do anything about it.

“Why are we going to the supplies cooperative? We don’t have money on hand. We can’t buy anything!” Bai Daliang said as he took a bite of the steamed cornbread in his hand. He was eating happily. His family could not bear to eat dry food.

“It costs nothing to take a look and it’ll broaden my horizons! Dad, I still have some money left. Let me see what I can buy for Mom! It’s her confinement period, so it’s really hard for her! When we came out, she fainted and was unconscious! When my third aunt was in confinement, Grandma snatched two catties of pork from us during her confinement period for nourishment, but Mom can’t even eat a full meal when it’s her turn!” Bai Xue brought up Wang Cuihua’s grievances.

They were both daughters-in-law, but this mother-in-law was too biased.

“Huh? Did she faint?” Bai Daliang asked anxiously when he heard that Wang Cuihua had fainted.

“Dad, don’t be anxious. Mom is just too weak after giving birth. I asked Shan and Yun to cook for Mom. There are still two eggs. Mom should be fine!”

“Alright! How much money do you have left? We’ll buy some good food for your mother. When I get back, I’ll trade in my work credits for money with the captain to return it to your second uncle! We have to nourish her back to health! When I recover, I’ll go up the mountain and try my luck. I’ll try and catch a pheasant or a hare to nourish your mother’s body!” Bai Daliang said guiltily. He knew his mother’s personality, but it was hard for him to be sandwiched in the middle. If he came down hard on his mother, he would be criticized by others.

“Alright, Dad, I understand.” Bai Xue nodded. Her eyes lit up. If people hunted in the mountain, perhaps she could use this as a cover for her source of meat.

Moreover, she had already thought it through. She would give her second uncle food in exchange for cash. Her second uncle did not even have enough work credit to feed his family. Even if they returned the cash, he could not buy food without food stamps. It might be a better idea to find some excuse and take out food from her interspatial supermarket and give her second uncle food instead.

Bai Xue saw that her father only ate one piece of steamed cornbread and refused to eat the other no matter what. She had no choice but to drop it. Seeing her second uncle was the same, she simply put their steamed cornbread into their pockets. She cleaned up the dishes and sent them back to the canteen before rushing to the supplies cooperative.

The supplies cooperative was not far from the hospital and was located in a different direction from the state-owned restaurant.

Bai Xue went to the supplies cooperative curiously. In front of her was a red brick house that was only about 200 square meters. When she walked in, the space inside was very big. There was a glass counter around it, and behind the counter stood salespeople.

There were salespeople in charge of all kinds of items, and a few people were buying things inside.

She walked around and looked around, but the salesperson did not take the initiative to talk to her.

She looked around and did not see anyone selling bicycles. She was a little curious and asked the salesperson, “Miss, where are the bicycles?”

The salesperson selling fabric sized her up and said haughtily, “This is just a small town. How can we have bicycles to sell? Do you want to buy bicycles?”

“No, I’m just asking!” Bai Xue did not expect that the supplies cooperative in town did not sell bicycles, so she answered in embarrassment.

“Tsk, why ask if you can’t afford it?” The saleswoman muttered and lowered her head to knit.

“Is there any cloth here that doesn’t need stamps?” Bai Xue knew the salespeople of this era were all like this, so she did not take it to heart and asked again.

“Are you talking about defective fabric? If we had defective fabric for sale, do you think the place would be so quiet? Of course, not!”

Although the sales woman’s attitude was not good, she still answered Bai Xue’s questions candidly.

Bai Xue was a little disappointed. She did not have any cloth from this era in the interspatial supermarket. Her idea of making a few sets of bedding could only be put on hold for now.

She had to use stamps for almost everything. She was having a headache from shopping. She watched as people came and went with their shopping. Bai Xue looked at the various counters like an idiot without buying anything and left with her tail between her legs before long.

She knew that the salespeople must be gossiping about her.

She thought about how to use the things in the interspatial supermarket. She racked her brain and kept thinking about this on the way back to the hospital.

Just as she was about to reach the hospital, an idea flashed through her mind.

She did not enter the hospital. Instead, she walked past the hospital and strolled around town which was straight from the 60s.

It was almost noon when she returned.

In her hand was a cloth bag containing three catties of white flour, two catties of yellow millet, 3.5 ounces of brown sugar, one catty of pork belly, a Double Happiness red candle the size of a baby’s arm, and an old-fashioned paper bag of sugar.

She did not dare to take out more for fear of scaring her father.

When she walked into the ward, her second uncle had already returned to the village to borrow an ox cart. Only her father was there waiting for his IV drip to finish.

“Dad, I’m back!” she called out.

“Xue, what took you so long?” Bai Daliang looked up at her as he lay in bed.

“Sigh. I met an old lady on the way to the supplies cooperative. She slipped and had trouble standing up. Since no one else was around, I had no choice but to go up and help her up. The old lady hurt her back, so I could only be a good Samaritan and sent her home. I’m so tired!” Bai Xue said solemnly.

“Is she alright?” When Bai Daliang heard this, he was worried about the old lady.

“She should be fine now. She just needs to lie in bed and rest for a few days! When I sent her back, her son happened to be back. He was extremely worried and even gave me some things to thank me for the help when he found out about it. I said no, but he insisted. See? Look at all this stuff!” Only then did Bai Xue lift the cloth bag in her hand.

She had gone to the state-run restaurant to ask Uncle Wang for this cloth bag.

She had to make cloth bags as soon as possible. She had let the chef think that she was someone with a powerful backer. It made no sense for her to keep asking for cloth bags!