Dashuan's wife saw how that other woman glanced at Shen Yunfang with a knowing look and straightforwardly said, "Yunfang and I are going to the county's supply and marketing co-op to take a look."
"Oh, what for?"
...
The people on the carriage were all strangers to Shen Yunfang. After boarding, she politely greeted them. The responses she got were varied, but none were enthusiastic.
"Yunfang, you're also heading to the county, huh."
Hearing the voice, Shen Yunfang quickly turned around and to her surprise, it was Shen Yingxue.
With a dry smile, she said, "Yeah, you're going too. Isn't that obvious? We're both on the carriage already. If we're not going to the county, why would we be out here freezing?"
"These past few days, I've been busy gathering pigweed and attending school, so I didn't have time to visit you. I wanted to come see you in the morning or evening a few days ago, but you weren't home. How are you, is your health better now?" Shen Yingxue asked with concern. Actually, ever since the heavy snowfall, school had been out, and she had been at home for several days. At first, she thought about using her free time to mend fences with Shen Yunfang, but later she felt humbled in her heart. It was Shen Yunfang who should be clinging to her; why should she be the one doing it? Now there was no more grass on the mountains, and she didn't need Shen Yunfang anymore, not to mention she didn't want to make a fool of herself.
"It's okay, just a bit weak. I guess after resting for a year or half, I'll be stronger," Shen Yunfang said noncommittally.
Shen Yingxue choked on her words, and after pursing her lips, she changed the subject, "Yunfang, you don't have to herd sheep anymore. When I'm on break, I'll come over and play with you, okay?"
"We'll see, I'm quite busy too. My family doesn't have much firewood left, and when it gets cold, I'll stay at my uncle's place." This was a blatant lie; the stack of firewood in front of her house towered way above her.
Shen Yingxue obviously caught the lie and, without speaking, lowered her head, looking heartbroken.
Shen Yunfang grew even less enthusiastic and, after listening for a while to the others' conversation about "so-and-so's mother-in-law fighting with her daughter-in-law," "so-and-so can't afford a meal," and other similarly uninteresting gossip, she became completely listless, huddled behind Dashuan's wife, hiding her head inside her thick cotton coat, lost in her own thoughts.
The others on the carriage chatted for a bit and then fell silent. Although it was not the coldest time of winter yet, sitting on the carriage for a long time, with every breath inviting a bellyful of cold air, the enthusiasm for chatter had waned.
And so, after three hours in the biting cold, the cart finally arrived in town.
After confirming the return time with Uncle Yougen, Dashuan's wife took Shen Yunfang towards the supply and marketing co-op, while Shen Yingxue bit her lip watching their retreating figures.
The county's main streets were just four, forming a grid pattern, and the supply and marketing co-op was on one of those streets.
Dashuan's wife walked ahead, eyes fixed straight ahead, while Shen Yunfang looked around curiously behind her.
"Look, there it is," Dashuan's wife pointed out to Shen Yunfang. Ahead was the supply and marketing co-op.
Shen Yunfang followed her gesture and saw a row of single-story buildings, looking quite decent among other similar structures.
There were several big characters on the wall at the entrance, "Promote revolution, boost production," very characteristic of the era.
Upon entering the gates of the supply and marketing co-op, Dashuan's wife promptly pulled her to the left.
"Comrade, how much is cotton per pound?" Dashuan's wife was straightforward, directly pulling Shun to the counter where cotton and fabric were sold.
Inside the counter, three women were huddled around a stove chatting.
One of them, thankfully, got up and came over after hearing Dashuan's wife.
There was no need to ask much; there was only one kind of cotton here, and she had only one Cotton Coupon anyway. There was some choice in fabrics, but since they were there to make cotton-padded clothes, the two ultimately decided on buying six yards of fine cotton cloth to line the jackets.
Then Shen Yunfang went for a stroll, touring the entire supply and marketing co-op in less than ten minutes – it was a tiny place.
The goods on offer were similar to those at the market, with similar prices. But this time, Shen Yunfang had the jars, so she bought soy sauce, vinegar, kerosene, two pounds of coarse salt, two boxes of matches, and seeing that the towels didn't require coupons, she picked out two for herself.
The only towel at home was a leftover from its former occupant, which even smelled a bit, something she couldn't bear to use on her face. So, upon seeing towels for sale, she bought two, thinking it wouldn't be wasteful to use the old one for wiping feet back at home.
And soap, that was another necessity, without which it was impossible to get clothes clean.
She hadn't felt it while shopping, but doing the accounts made her wince.
Soy sauce at one yuan and a half per pound was somewhat expensive, but at this time, the soy sauce was genuinely good quality, not adulterated with chemical substances. After all, at that time, those chemical substances were considered high-end, and adulterated soy sauce might even be more expensive than the real deal.
Vinegar at eight jiao per pound, kerosene at two jiao per pound, salt at eight jiao per pound, matches at two fen per box, soap at three jiao and six fen per bar, along with the towels, cotton, and cloth, all together came to four yuan and fifty jiao.
She had wanted to buy some candy for Xiaojuan, but Dashuan's wife didn't let her, saying they still had sugar from the last market day at home and couldn't afford to buy more.
Shen Yunfang looked at the less than seven yuan, which was all she had, and didn't insist further.
But even so, Dashuan's wife scolded her, pulling her aside to whisper, "You don't need to buy so much at once. Just buy more when it's needed." Who buys two pounds of salt all at once? That's just too wasteful.
Shen Yunfang, feigning calm, replied, "It's fine. It won't go bad. I'll use it up gradually."
Good grief, she had been thinking it'd be best to buy a few months' worth all at once so she wouldn't have to come back again all winter. Someone needed to stay at home, and this would spare her some suffering.
Ah, the chill outside was bone-piercing, turning her little face a peasant red.