Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 519 518 Changes
"Hey, isn't this Uncle Kou? How can a junior like me take advantage of you like this?" Tang Zhitong turned around and saw that it was Old Kou. Because he acted calculatingly, the neighbors called him "Old Stingy".

"Hey, see? If he's not a cadre, then he's still a good person. How about an extra 40 cents? We've been neighbors for many years, and I feel embarrassed to ask you for 50 cents." Old Kou smiled with his eyes narrowed into slits, praising Tang Zhitong with all his might, thinking to himself that this sentence was really a good match.

"No, Uncle Kou, I don't have money. I enjoy eating coarse grains and don't plan to exchange them. If you need fine grains, my family also has more than 30 kilograms of fine grain coupons. You can just give me the 20 cents difference per kilogram." Tang Zhitong smiled and gave Old Kou a "yeah" gesture. He felt that Old Kou's Chinese reading comprehension needed to be improved. When did he say that he would pay him a higher price to exchange for food coupons?
Old Zhu couldn't help but laughed out loud.

Lu Dexian was a little better. He turned his head away and covered his mouth with his hands. He was having a hard time holding it in. He thought, is there something wrong with me for always scratching my brain? I actually wanted to take advantage of Tang Zhitong.

"You kid, you are teasing your uncle." Old Kou finally understood what was going on, and he felt a little embarrassed.

"Look at what you said, how could I be kidding you? Didn't you say that there is a fifty-cent difference in the price of one pound of coarse and fine grain coupons? Since you know the price, you must have a way. Even if you sell ten pounds a day, there will be five dollars, which is one hundred and fifty dollars a month and one thousand and eighteen dollars a year! Wow! You won't know until you calculate it. You will be shocked when you calculate it. Two months of hard work will be enough to cover the family's expenses for a year!" Tang Zhitong teased.

Reselling food coupons? Oh, Tang Zhitong doesn't do that.

The price difference is very obvious. Tang Zhitong is not the only one with a brain. Why doesn't anyone sell it? After all, it's much easier than selling physical strength!

Some people may think that ticket scalpers control the market and will definitely use some violent or shameful means to maintain their monopoly position.

But the problem is, no one has been trying to catch all these people in this period of time?

This is intriguing. Where did these food coupons come from?

Each person has such a limited ration and I am not even full myself, so how can I possibly sell it out?

The origin is very intriguing.

As the saying goes, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents, but Tang Zhitong did not intend to get to the bottom of the matter, nor did he dare to do so.

"How can I have so many food coupons?" When Old Kou heard the account given by Tang Zhitong, his eyes widened like copper bells. He had never thought about it from this perspective, but when he thought about it, he felt heartbroken. He did not have so many food coupons. Not being able to make money was equivalent to a loss. The loss was nearly two thousand a year!
"Hey, Lao Mi, didn't you work for Lao Wan's family before? Go find him. His family is wealthy and they don't lack money." Lao Zhu fanned the flames.

"Hmph, Lao Wan, he is more scheming than me, I can't outsmart him." After hearing this, Lao Kou waved his hands repeatedly, looking like he didn't want to cause trouble at all.

"Eanzi, what did you carry on the back of your bicycle just now? Food?" Lu Dexian interrupted.

"Oh, Uncle Lu really thinks highly of me. Look at my hands, full of coal dust. It's getting cold, so the bureau gave everyone some coal for heating. It would be great if I could get some food." Tang Zhitong showed the old men how he rubbed the coal dust off his hands by grabbing a bag. He felt that Lu Dexian was asking this on purpose. He couldn't stand to see him doing well, did he?

"Well, there's a severe shortage of food right now. It's not that easy to buy." Old Zhu helped Tang Zhitong to smooth things over.

"Yes, or is it that Master Lu is so straightforward? He settled the Liu Zhang family's account right away. What a great deal!" Tang Zhitong said something to Lu Dexian, neither soft nor hard. Without waiting for Lu Dexian to retort, he said directly, "The masters, please chat first. I have to go back and unload the coal."

"Look, Anzi's unit is so good, it even gives out coal. Old Lu, what does your unit plan to give out?" Old Kou watched Tang Zhitong go away, his eyes full of envy.

"I think our unit can get some snacks, so I'd like to share some with you, would you like some?" Lu Dexian joked. He had just distributed two bags of snacks two days ago, but he didn't want to show off.

"Hey, do you need to blow the northwest wind? You can get a drink just by opening your mouth. Hey, Lao Lu, where did you get those food coupons?" Lao Kou put his hands in his pockets, nudged Lu Dexian with his elbow, and asked quietly.

"The street office issued it a few days ago." Buying food coupons was not a glorious thing, and Lu Dexian didn't want to reveal it. Anyway, his name was not written on the food coupons, and he would not take out the food book to show others, so what he said was what it was.

"Stop pretending. You used your own food coupons to pay off Liu Zhang's debt. What are you going to eat in the next two days?" Old Kou looked incredulous.

"We'll talk about it when the time comes. If it doesn't work, just drink porridge." Lu Dexian kept his mouth shut and refused to speak.

"Forget it, I won't argue with you anymore. I'd better go home and lie down to save some food." Seeing that Lu Dexian didn't say anything, Lao Kou turned around, carried the water he had drawn from the well, and walked slowly home.

In order to save on water bills, the Kou family drinks well water all year round, saving several cents every month.

On the way home, Lao Kou thought about the method Tang Zhitong suggested, but he had only heard about the price of food stamps from others and didn't know where others bought and sold them. Why not go back and ask?
"Mom, I bought you a pair of shoes." Tang Zhitong poured the coal into the coal pile, went into the house to wash his hands, took out an old pair of cotton shoes from his bag and handed them to Zhang Guifang.

"You kid, I have everything I need to wear, why are you spending this money?" Zhang Guifang's first reaction was not relief, but regret for the money.

"It didn't cost much. Our school prepared it for the students. The school pays the majority and each student contributes a few cents. I thought you were the only one in your family who needed a decent pair of cotton shoes, so I asked for a pair. You try it. If it doesn't fit, I'll exchange it on Monday." Tang Zhitong was not in a hurry and put the thermal suit away.

"Since this is the case, I'll give it a try." Zhang Guifang became happy when she heard it was only a few cents. It was the first time she received something her child bought for her, and her eyes were a little red.

Tang Zhitong saw this and felt a little sad.

"Okay, they're good and fit my feet well." Zhang Guifang put on the shoes, looked around, and was about to take them off without even tying the shoelaces.

"Why take them off? Just wear them like this." Tang Zhitong squatted down and tied Zhang Guifang's shoelaces.

"Where are your new shoes, kid? Wear them during the Chinese New Year."

"You can wear it now without delay during the New Year." Tang Zhitong didn't listen to Zhang Guifang. He quickly tied his mother's shoelaces and prepared to stir-fry some cabbage.

The vegetable store supplied a wave of radishes a few days ago. Zhang Guifang knew that her son didn’t like to eat them, so she pickled most of them.

We eat cabbage almost every day at home, either stir-fried or stewed, which gets tiresome after a long time. This time, Tang Zhitong cut the cabbage into shreds and planned to stir-fry it with vinegar.

"Mom, let's not exchange food coupons with others recently. We will eat whatever the street gives us." Thinking of Lao Kou's idea just now, Tang Zhitong said while busying himself.

Although times are difficult now, they are not the most difficult yet. Tang Zhitong is worried that by this time next year someone will bring up old issues.

"Well, there are fewer fine grain coupons this month, and I guess no one will exchange them with us." Zhang Guifang agreed.

Beibei watched Tang Zhitong cooking, jumped down from the stool, and quietly squatted at Tang Zhitong's feet waiting to be fed. Seeing Beibei, Tang Zhitong realized that something was wrong at home. The naughty child hadn't come back: "Mom, why hasn't Fengzhi come back yet? She should have finished her duty, right?"

"It should be soon. Maybe they are playing in the snow on the road." Zhang Guifang didn't take it seriously. There were few toys now, and it was inevitable that children would dawdle when they saw the snow. "Oh, if you don't come back later, I'll go find him and beat him up when I find him." Tang Zhitong heated up the oil, fried the cabbage in the pan, and tossed it twice before saying.

As soon as Tang Zhitong finished speaking, Fengzhi came into the room, put down her schoolbag and went to rub Beibei.

Beibei looked as if he had seen a ghost and trotted under the bed.

"Beibei, come out and let me touch you." Fengzhi knelt on one leg on the ground, holding the edge of the bed with one hand, and waved inside with her head tilted.

Beibei kept meowing inside: Don’t come over here!

"Fengzhi, come here. I have something to ask you." Tang Zhitong shouted towards the inner room while shaking the spoon.

"What's the matter?" Hearing her brother calling, Fengzhi came out from the inner room reluctantly and rubbed her knees. She was a child who paid great attention to hygiene.

"Why did you come back late today? Were you playing in the snow outside?"

"No, I was just watching the fun. Liu Jiaming was fighting with someone, it was so exciting!" Feng Zhi became excited when she heard this, and she told Tang Zhitong about the scene she saw with words and gestures.

"Why are they fighting? Did he bully others?" Tang Zhitong poured some vinegar into the pot, and a sour smell spread.

"This time it wasn't him who started it. It was others who called him a bastard and he wasn't happy about it." Feng Zhi sniffed, swallowed, and said.

"Hey, this unlucky kid, he deserves the beating. Don't call Liu Jiaming like that." Tang Zhitong didn't expect the gossip to spread so quickly and even reached the child's ears. He immediately turned over the pot, added some hot water, pinched a handful of salt, and secretly put some sea rice noodles in it, then covered the pot.

"Yeah, yeah. Brother, have you tried a new method?" Fengzhi's mind had been hooked by the cabbage, and she asked perfunctorily with two "hmms".

"Yes, it's vinegary and appetizing. We won't improve the food tomorrow, so just eat more of the staple food today." Tang Zhitong rubbed his sister's head and said with a smile.

"Hehe, don't worry, I might have eaten it!" Fengzhi smiled slyly and secretly pointed at her mother.

"As long as you don't feel too full, mom will definitely agree." Tang Zhitong understood what her sister meant. She was just worried that her mother would ask her to eat according to the fixed amount. What a sensible girl.

"Oh! Have you prepared delicious food again?" Classmate Xiao Wang and Feng Zhen pushed open the door of the main room and walked in at the right time.

"Does it smell appetizing?" Tang Zhitong pulled Fengzhi into his arms and asked while holding her restless head.

"It's appetizing. I like everything you and mom make." Xiao Wang took out a sweater from his bulging bag after entering the room, walked up to Zhang Guifang, and handed it to her mother-in-law: "Mom, I finally knitted it for you. Try it after dinner. If it doesn't fit, I'll modify it."

"Have you discussed this beforehand, young two?" Zhang Guifang held the sweater, feeling touched and puzzled.

"What are you discussing?" Xiao Wang looked confused, then turned to her husband and asked, "Did you buy anything for our mother?"

"What a coincidence. The school gave each student a quota and bought a pair of cotton shoes for our mother." Tang Zhitong was very happy. She was not happy that she bought the shoes, but she was happy that her classmate Xiao Wang, as a daughter-in-law, knitted a sweater for her mother-in-law. If this happened to someone who wanted to show off, she would have to wear it for the next few days to show off to the neighbors and earn praises, but Zhang Guifang was not that kind of person.

"This is a good thing. Do we need to discuss the matter of respecting elders? It shows that we think alike." Xiao Wang smiled at his mother-in-law.

"Okay, wash your hands and get ready to eat." The dishes had been fried before, and after the water boiled, Tang Zhitong served them directly and urged.

Tonight we had steamed corn bread made from corn that Tang Zhitong brought back from Northeast China. Cornmeal was always available at home, and we ate steamed corn bread often, but there was a difference in the taste of the two.

"Mom, the steamed bread tonight is delicious." Fengzhi said bluntly after taking two bites of the steamed bread.

"That's because you are happy today. Food tastes good when you are in a good mood." Tang Zhitong lied.

The taste can't lie.

Zhang Guifang pushed the mill, ground the flour, and sifted it herself. The corn flour used for steaming steamed bread did not have the outer layer of corn kernel skin. Perhaps the corn flour sold in the grain store had that layer, or it was possible that the corn flour sold in the grain store was ground from old grain.

Even the flour in the grain store is different from before. Although it has been 90% flour before, some people recently said that it contains more bran, like 95% flour, and the taste is getting worse.

Tang Zhitong couldn't and didn't dare to choose. Even so, someone from above was under pressure to transfer grain to Sijiu City. He was thankful to have something to eat.

After dinner, Tang Zhitong studied a foreign language seriously, without any color, because classmate Xiao Wang disliked her husband for working too hard and was unwilling to cooperate tonight...

After a night of snowing, the ground was covered with a layer of snow on the morning of December 12. To quote a line from a poem: Covered in silver, so exceptionally enchanting.

"I'll take you sledding later." Tang Zhitong lit the stove in the room, blew on the glass a few times, looked outside through the window, and said.

"Okay!" Xiao Wang agreed without thinking, forgetting about what others might say or whether it would be embarrassing. He hadn't even ridden on the sled made by his boyfriend yet.

"After sledding, shall we go to Chunshu Hutong? But we don't have any meat to bring today, so we can only bring some sauerkraut, pickles, cornmeal and the like." Tang Zhitong was a little embarrassed. He forgot about this yesterday because he brought coal home. He didn't prepare it in advance, so it wouldn't be appropriate to take it out now.

"It's okay, that's good enough. Do you have it every time? It's snowing today, will you wear a coat when you go there?" Xiao Wang didn't mind at all, but asked with concern. The clothes that were dry-cleaned last time had been washed and brought home, and were lying neatly in the closet.

"Forget it, I'll just wear this. It's not that cold now." Tang Zhitong smiled. He wanted to wear it out to show off, but he was worried that it would be too conspicuous. He felt very conflicted.

"Okay, then let's wait two more days, so that you don't have to pull my sled and get it dirty." Xiao Wang didn't see anything unusual on her husband's face and responded obediently.

"Hehe." Tang Zhitong smiled and stopped trying. Let's just leave it like this for now.

(End of this chapter)