When the three of them arrived at the entrance, they saw a few other ladies waiting for a ride too, so it seemed that quite a few people wanted to take a ride to the market.
Not long after that, as soon as the supply truck arrived, the ladies quickly got into the back.
Wow, they moved so quickly and easily climbed into the truck.
Qin Xue, who had never taken this kind of ride before, didn't know how to get into the vehicle.
Fang Hong saw that Qin Xue was still down there and realized that she was unfamiliar with this, so she said:
"Qin Xue, come on, we'll pull you up." Then Fang Hong and Yu Xiu each grabbed a hand and dragged Qin Xue up.
Thus, Qin Xue experienced an open-top car ride from the 80s.
Qin Xue had never had such a riding experience in her life. In the past, she either took buses or taxis, or at worst, electric scooters, but never a ride like this before.
In fact, such mode of transportation is very unsafe in the modern days, but now she could only follow the local customs.
She thought that if she had a chance, she would definitely buy a bicycle. Although the price of a bicycle was not cheap, it would be convenient to go anywhere, right?
After a long and bumpy hour-long ride, they finally arrived at the county town.
The three of them got off the truck and asked about the return trip time before they started shopping.
When they arrived at a breakfast shop and saw soy milk and fried dough sticks, Qin Xue felt hungry.
"Come on, ladies, let me treat you to breakfast." She pulled them into the breakfast shop sat down at a table.
"Ladies, whatever you want to eat, just order it. I'll pay the bill." Qin Xue had been craving for soy milk and fried dough sticks for a long time. When she saw some, she just couldn't resist.
"Qin Xue, you eat by yourself, we've already had breakfast." Fang Hong and Yu Xiu really had porridge and buns at home before they came, so they felt it was a waste of money.
"Come on, please keep me company and eat something." After that, Qin Xue ordered three fried dough sticks and three bowls of soy milk.
Letting Fang Hong and Yu Xiu watch her eat, Qin Xue couldn't eat either.
Fang Hong and Yu Xiu saw that they really couldn't refuse Qin Xue, so they agreed.
The breakfast cost for the three of them was only 45 cents, not that expensive.
After breakfast, Qin Xue wanted to deal with the clothes in her space, but she couldn't take them out when she was with the others.
So she asked: "Ladies, what do you need to buy? How about we split up and buy what we need, then meet back where we got off the truck to wait for our ride back? I'm just afraid that there won't be enough time if we shop together. How does that sound?"
The other two agreed, feeling that their shopping lists really differed quite a bit, and shopping together would be too time-consuming. So, they agreed with Qin Xue's arrangement.
Qin Xue then asked about the location of the supply and marketing cooperative and the department store before parting with the two sisters-in-law.
Qin Xue first found a private spot to take the clothes out of her space and then went to the black market. She found a place to spread out the clothes on wax paper and started to set them out one by one before shouting:
"Everybody, come and take a look, cheap stuff for sale, cheap stuff for sale! There are only a few clothes, so first come, first served!" Qin Xue wasn't afraid of not being able to sell them.
She didn't like these clothes because they were too flashy, but they were actually popular styles of the time.
Before long, Qin Xue had sold all six items of clothing and trousers she brought, for a total of US$55, along with a few grain coupons, oil coupons, and even two cloth coupons but with small denominations.
Qin Xue quickly packed and hurried to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things. Wow, there were so many people! There were queues, and it was so crowded.
Qin Xue was afraid that her belly would be bumped, which would be a loss.
Qin Xue protected her belly with her hand and slowly queued up. Finally, she bought 2.5 kg of rice, 2.5 kg of fine noodles, 5 kg of cornmeal, 2.25 kg of pork belly, and a bottle of soybean oil.
She used all the borrowed grain, oil, and meat coupons.
Thinking of the space, she bought more vegetable seeds, a small hoe, toothbrush and toothpaste, and when she saw the towel that didn't require a ticket, she bought one as well, which cost nearly eighteen yuan in total.
She also bought four apples when she saw them for sale. The apples were really expensive, costing three yuan for just four.
Qin Xue spent more than twenty yuan on all these items. After purchasing them, she found a secluded place to put the items into her space and then leisurely began to wander around.
The economy at this time had not yet developed but it was the easiest time to make money.
Simply setting up a stall would make someone rich, but with the development of the country and the rapid pace of economic development, business became increasingly difficult, and money became harder to earn. So she had to think of a way to make money now.
But what should she do? As Qin Xue wandered and pondered, she passed by a place selling watches and realized that there wasn't even a clock to tell time at home.
Wristwatches were unaffordable for Qin Xue at the moment, but she could buy an alarm clock. She chose a sky-blue round alarm clock.
Seeing the yarn that didn't require a ticket, she picked out a khaki-colored one and bought a pound, along with two ounces of Tao Hong color, which could be knitted into a flower pattern.
Although the child was only two months old, she could knit some small sweaters for her to wear. Qin Xue didn't know whether the child in her belly was a boy or a girl, so she chose the khaki color, which would be suitable for either gender.
Qin Xue put her hand on her belly. Although the child was not conceived through her sleeping with that man.
But ever since Qin Xue took over this body, the tenderness radiating from her heart was so sweet that it felt as if the child had been naturally conceived by her from the beginning, without any barriers.
Qin Xue herself didn't realize that the smile on her face was so enchanting.
Qin Lang, who had just come down from the second floor of the grocery store, saw this scene: a woman dressed modestly, one hand holding a ball of yarn and the other on her belly, smiling so sweetly and beautifully.
It made people unconsciously follow the mood she radiated, and Qin Lang's depressed mood improved because of her smile. It seemed that he had been overthinking, and there was nothing that couldn't be solved. The old man told him he had an arranged fiancée and should go back to get married – why not just go back and see for himself?
Qin Lang felt much more relaxed after thinking it through. He walked to the Jeep parked at the door and got in.
"Captain Qin, are we going back to the research institute or..." Xiao Zhao glanced at Qin Lang.
"Back to the research institute. I need to report to the section chief about my transfer order and ask for a few days' leave to return home," Qin Lang had volunteered to transfer to S Province as a small team leader to avoid dealing with a mess back at home.
He didn't expect that the old man would set him up like this after finding out he had asked to be transferred to S Province, so he had to go back to the capital.
He needed to clean up the mess, so he wouldn't be bothered like this all the time.
"All right, Captain." Xiao Zhao turned the key in the ignition, shifted gears, and drove towards the research institute.
Xiao Zhao received the notice that morning to pick up Qin Lang and had been waiting outside the grocery store since he said he wanted to come here.
Now that Qin Lang asked to return to the research institute, Xiao Zhao obeyed and went back.
After picking out the yarn, Qin Xue had to pay and get a receipt before she could take it. It cost four yuan, and she spent several dozen yuan in total.
She checked the time and realized there was still half an hour before the agreed-upon time.
Qin Xue decided not to wander around anymore and went to the meeting place with her purchases. She only bought some meat and no vegetables.
She planned to buy more from the small market near the research institute tomorrow since the county town was too far away and she had never been there before. She came today to explore and find a way to make money.
However, there wasn't enough time to see everything. Knowing the location of the black market was enough. Normally, the women in the military housing complex went to the small markets in the nearby villages to shop since they weren't the only ones in the area.
She could go there once she asked for directions. It was said to be only a ten-minute walk away, so she wasn't in a hurry.
When Qin Xue arrived, the others hadn't come yet. She waited for about seven or eight minutes before they began to arrive one by one.
Fang Hong and Yu Xiu also bought a lot of things, filling their pockets with their purchases. As they were discussing what they had bought, the supply truck arrived, carrying rice, meat, vegetables, and many other items.