The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 202 The life that the female educated youth envied
I can also listen to the radio while doing housework.

Zhou Lingying had only been married for a few months, but she had become much whiter and more rosy-faced. Zhang Yan was assigned to the Jinhe Commune’s information team at almost the same time as her.

Although they were not from the same place, Zhang Yan was very clear about how white Zhou Lingying's skin was when she first arrived at the educated youth team.

Zhou Lingying asked them to rest in the room. They had no place to stay. They were all friends, not guests. And Zhou Lingying was pregnant.

First, light a fire to boil water. Zhou Lingying only needs to tell them where the coal and the kettle are. Put the radio where they work, and they are happy to work.

"Zhang Yan, Wang Fang. Let's each have a glass of malted milk first. It's very sweet and we bought it from the army in Shanghai." Zhou Lingying greeted.

"Yingying, why do you have so many enamel cups at home?" Zhang Yan said.

"Yes, there are really a lot." Wang Fang also agreed.

On the way here, Zhou Lingying said she would treat them to malted milk, so after the water was boiled, Zhang Yan and the others did not refuse. But on the way here, they did not bring enamel cups for drinking water.

But they didn't expect that Zhou Lingying had a row of these cups at home, and you need a ticket to buy them.

"Originally, Jiang Chengji and I each had one. When he first started working at the bus station, the company gave him two so that he could drink water on the bus. Later, when he was transferred to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, he was given two more. Then he was given one when the benefits were distributed. Once when he went to the enamel factory to transport goods, they gave him two more. Not only do we have a lot of enamel cups, we also have quite a few towels and enamel basins at home." Zhou Lingying said with a smile.

Except for two enamel cups from the enamel factory, the other enamel cups all have the words of the company. But even if there are words, if someone is getting married, it is a good idea to give a washbasin and an enamel cup as a gift. So it doesn't matter if there are too many things, there will be a place in the house that will be useful sooner or later.

Pour a lot of malted milk into the enamel cups for Zhang Yan and Wang Fang, then pour boiling water into them, and the fragrance will come out immediately.

It was so beautiful to see a few people drinking malted milk and listening to the radio.

"Yingying, you live such a good life now that I don't want to go back." Zhang Yan said jokingly. It is impossible not to go back, but it is also true that she is envious.

"It's delicious, Yingying. What do you do in the city every day? You stay at home all day." Wang Fang said after taking a sip of malted milk.

"Yes, although I live here now, I am actually still a member of the educated youth team of Jinhe Commune. Every day at home, I cook, feed chickens, listen to the radio and so on. Actually, it's boring sometimes, but I won't be bored after I have a baby." Zhou Lingying said.

Wang Fang felt that she had asked a stupid question. Zhou Lingying lived a life of plenty and yet she felt bored. This question could only make her current life feel sad.

If she came to Zhou Lingying often, Wang Fang would feel that her mind would degenerate. But the educated youth team had agreed that if they caught eels and gave them to Zhou Lingying, they could exchange them for money and daily necessities. They would definitely catch more eels, and would come to see Zhou Lingying often in the future.

When they had almost finished drinking, Zhou Lingying took them to slaughter a chicken.

Zhang Yan and Wang Fang were originally going to be polite, saying that there was no need to kill chickens for their visit. But the neighbor across the street saw Zhou Lingying taking the chickens to the pond and said, "Lingying, you're killing chickens again." The word "again" stopped Zhang Yan and the others from saying anything.

It seems that Zhou Lingying kills a chicken whenever she wants to eat it, unlike the people in the countryside who only kill a chicken to entertain important guests.

Zhou Lingying was only responsible for killing the chickens, and she was very skilled at cutting their necks. The job of scalding the chickens with boiling water and plucking their feathers was given to Zhang Yan and Wang Fang.

Today, we arrived at the bus station at around 11:30, and walked from there, so we had to eat quite late. We hadn't even started cooking yet, but people who were going home for lunch after work had returned one after another, and the children who were going to school had also returned.

At about twelve o'clock, Zhou Lingying saw Zhu Lan coming back. Although she became a deputy director and had fewer working hours, her family used to bring her meals, but now she has to run back and forth. In the afternoon, she has to go home to make meals for her family. Even if she is a deputy director, as a woman, she still has to do housework. "Sister Zhu~, Sister Zhu, wait a moment." Zhou Lingying shouted immediately when she saw Zhu Lan coming back.

"Lingying, I brought you some melon seeds yesterday. You were not at home yesterday. What's the matter?" Zhu Lan said with a smile, holding Zhou Lingying's hand.

"I went back to Jiang Cheng's hometown yesterday. Didn't you tell me last time that you wanted more eels? I asked my friends in the educated youth team to catch some in the fields yesterday. You still got some, right?" Zhou Lingying asked.

"Of course we'll take it. But if it's your friend who caught it, be honest. Don't take the dead or dying ones." Zhu Lan said.

If Jiang Cheng and Zhou Lingying had gotten it themselves, they would have definitely not mentioned the light and would have taken it all away. But now hearing Zhou Lingying say this, it seems that she was helping a friend. In this case, it must be a big deal. It is a form of cooperation, not entirely a favor.

"No problem. I caught them last night. I just poured them into the bucket and checked. Most of them are alive. Even if they are about to die, I will cook them and stir-fry them for lunch." Zhou Lingying said happily.

This time, Zhou Lingying asked other people to catch eels to exchange for money to buy printed cloth. In fact, Zhou Lingying did not communicate well with Zhu Lan, and was really afraid that Zhu Lan would say it was difficult to handle.

For lunch, Zhou Lingying also planned to save two large eels for frying. There was rice wine at home as cooking wine, and there was enough oil and ingredients. The fishy yellow eel was really tender and delicious as long as there were ingredients.

Zhou Lingying had a scale at home, and a basket to hold the eels, so it was easier to weigh them. Therefore, Zhu Lan did not go home first, but weighed them directly at Zhou Lingying's place, and the total weight was more than 40 kilograms.

"Lingying, I don't have that much money on me. Do you want to come with me to get it, or should I bring it to you later?" Zhu Lan asked.

At this time, Zhang Yan and Wang Fang were beside Zhou Lingying, and they were very concerned about how much the eels could be sold for. Zhou Lingying took out two relatively large eels to fry and eat herself, and they were naturally given to Zhou Lingying for free.

"Wang Fang, please help Sister Zhu take it to the backyard. Sister Zhu, just give her the money." Zhou Lingying gave the command naturally.

"Okay, Sister Zhu, I'll just carry the eel over." Wang Fang said.

Zhu Lan looked at Zhou Lingying, then at the two people beside her, and smiled. Then she asked Wang Fang to go to the backyard with her and gave her money. She smiled because the three girls all called her Sister Zhu.

Because of Jiang Cheng's status as a driver, Zhu Lan and Jiang Cheng were treated as siblings. Then it was normal for Zhou Lingying to call Zhu Sister just like Jiang Cheng did, and Zhang Yan and Wang Fang now called her Sister just like Zhou Lingying did.

You have to know that Zhu Lan's children are already in their teens. If Zhu Lan was older, she could have given birth to them. But now there is no other way. It is a bit awkward for her children to call Jiang Cheng and Zhou Lingying uncle and aunt. It's awkward, but Zhu Lan feels good to be called sister by a 17 or 18-year-old girl. She doesn't think she is old.

Wang Fang followed Zhu Lan to the backyard with the eels in her hand, and returned happily with an empty basket a short while later. Zhu Lan gave Wang Fang nearly 15 yuan for the 40-plus jin (35 cents per jin).

If it was Zhou Lingying's own eels, Zhu Lan would definitely pay 40 cents per pound. But it was her friend's, and she promised to send it to her next time. Naturally, Zhu Lan also wanted to earn some money, so she had to go door to door to sell them, and those who needed them might remember her favor. But a small amount of eels was not much of a favor, and the key point was that each family didn't want much, so she had to go to many families.

However, Zhang Yan and Wang Fang were very satisfied with the price of 3.5 yuan per pound. You know, not many people dare to sell things these days. This is why they brought it to Zhou Lingying. If they were asked to go to the black market, even if they could sell it for 50 yuan per pound, they would not dare to go.

But the fifteen yuan was not earned by the two of them. There were many people who went to the fields last night. The female educated youth were not good at catching eels and did not bring any tools. It was only because there were many eels this year that they caught so many.

We can take the money back and divide it among everyone. It won't be much. We can discuss how to buy things from Zhou Lingying. Besides printed cloth, she has a lot of good things. Even if we buy some eggs, it can improve the food.

(End of this chapter)