Chapter 39 - Enamel basin

"Auntie, these are the wild vegetables we just picked. They're not worth much, please keep them."

These were the wild vegetables that Jiang Xia had taken out from the interspace before they left in the morning. It was mainly to cover the noodles and rabbits, she did not expect to use them now.

Perhaps it was because she had taken the wild vegetables out of her interspace, but they didn't seem to wither even after a few hours.

The more old lady Liu looked at the wild vegetable, the more she loved it. She even pulled Zhou Lan aside and praised her for being a good person.

The short man was also smiling. His family had been in the purchasing station for a long time and had eaten quite a bit of good food in the past. However, ever since the drought started, the quality of the items that were used to exchange for it had become lower and lower. He did not expect to suddenly receive so many good things today.

When Zhou Lan and Jiang Xia returned, Jiang Chuan and the others were done loading the grain onto the donkey cart.

For some reason, Jiang Xia felt that her father was staring at something in her hand with a burning gaze.

"Dad, what are you looking at?" Jiang Xia asked in confusion.

Jiang Chuan took the things from the mother and daughter and put them in the car. "Do you still have anything you need to get? If you don't want to, we'll go back now."

Jiang Xia was a little conflicted when she thought about the enamel basins. It was not that she liked it very much, but it had always been the original Jiang Xia's wish.

Jiang Chuan's family of five was not well-liked by the old Jiang couple. They didn't even have a proper place to wash their faces and had been using a large broken jar to wash their faces.

Xiao Gu had even been scratched by the edge of the jar. Since then, Jiang Xia started forming the desire to buy an enamel basin.

"Do you want to walk around?" Zhou Lan asked Jiang Xia as she recalled what her daughter had told her about the enamel basin.

"Yes, I want to go and see if I can get an enamel basin."

"You can only buy the enamel basin with industrial tickets," Liu Xing said, "It's useless even if you have money but no industrial tickets."

 Liu Xing was a short man, she shared his name as they were walking out of the house previously.

Seeing Jiang Xia's disappointed face, Liu Xing continued, "How about this, I'll take you to the Supply and Marketing Club that I'm familiar with to see if there are any processed products?"

The processed products were products with poor quality or defects. Such products did not require tickets and were cheap. The processed products of the Supply and Marketing Club could not be seen on the market these days as nobody was willing to sell such items to the public.

The donkey cart was placed in the courtyard of the purchasing station, and a few of them followed Liu Xing to the Supply and Marketing Club.

Liu Xing was recognized here, he talked to the department director, and the department director asked someone else to take them to the warehouse.

There were a lot of things in the warehouse and they were all neatly arranged in different categories.

With just a glance, Jiang Xia noticed a large basin in the corner. The paint on the basin was chipped off, and a corner of the basin was chipped off. Jiang Xia asked for the price, and the original price was two dollars. Now, if they wanted it, they would give them a 50% discount.

Apart from this, Jiang Xia also picked a slightly smaller pot and an enamel jar with a lid, spending the only two dollars they had.

Before the four of them left, Liu Xing specifically told them to come to the town more often and to exchange items with him. 

Because they were carrying a lot more items this time, the speed of the donkey cart was much slower this time.

Perhaps it was because the donkey cart had slowed down, or perhaps it was because she had lost all feeling in her butt, but Jiang Xia was in the mood to look at the scenery around her.

The harvest season should have been approaching, but there were not many farmers on both sides of the fields. The land was desolate.

Jiang Xia sighed. She could not help but think that if their family did not have so many tricks up their sleeves and were just like the original Jiang Xia family, would they still be able to survive?

"Xiao Xia, what's wrong? Are you uncomfortable?" Zhou Lan asked a little anxiously. 

"No," Jiang Xia shook her head, "I was just wondering when the drought would end. If we don't find any water, people will starve to death."

Although Tong Shan Village had yet to starve to death under the leadership of the current village chief, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened.

Hearing Jiang Xia's words, the other three's hearts sank as well. The heavens were not willing to give them any food, so what could they do?

"Don't think too much. In this day and age, every day you get to live is a blessing. So why do you have to worry so much?"

Xiao Wu was a big-hearted man, and he comforted the few of them with the idea that things would work out when they got there.