The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 37 Ten pounds of peanuts
At about eleven o'clock, Jiang Cheng stopped at a commune called Liuzuo. At least there was a supply and marketing cooperative in the commune where he could sit for a while. If he drove further, he would reach a village again.

Liuzuo Commune is actually a special place, where three realms meet. But Jiang Cheng didn't know the situation. In the 21st century, he always drove the highway and used navigation to go to faraway places. How could he know such a town?

But it is precisely because of this place that many vehicles pass through here. In addition to those going to the local Huangmei County, other experienced drivers will stop here if they arrive around noon.

Therefore, a bamboo shed was built for the drivers to provide shade in hot weather and rain in rainy days. Whenever a truck driver takes a break here, the commune will come to ask the driver if it is convenient for them to go there if they have goods to transport.

Even if it's not on your way, unless you're heading in Jiang Cheng's direction, they'll give you something so you can go along the way.

There is a three-way intersection at the Liuzuo Commune. Apart from the direction Jiang Cheng came from, one road leads to Huangmei County and the other to Wangjiang. Jiang Cheng has to drive to Wangjiang, but he can take a detour and go to Huangmei County first, as there is a road from Huangmei County leading to Wangjiang.

Jiang Cheng sat in the supply and marketing cooperative in Liuzuo Commune for a while. The people in the supply and marketing cooperative provided him with boiled water. Jiang Cheng filled a kettle with boiled water.

At Liuzuo Commune, Jiang Cheng asked if there were any special products. The so-called special products were actually just asking what was produced the most here. If there were good things in the production area, Jiang Cheng wanted to try to buy them without a ticket.

Because of the geographical environment, this place is suitable for growing peanuts, vegetables, tea, and aquatic products. Because it is close to the Yangtze River, aquatic products are also abundant, but aquatic products have never been something Jiang Cheng considered. There is a lake in Wangjiang County, and there are whitebait in the lake. He plans to go there to catch some.

As for other specialties, it is peanuts. There are many peanuts planted here. After the harvest, people from the county will come to collect them and then transport them to the city.

"Comrade, can I buy your peanuts without tickets?" Jiang Cheng politely asked the salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative.

The salesman is a man. The salesmen in the supply and marketing cooperatives in the townships and communes are basically all men. One is the cultural issue. The salesman must have a certain level of education and be able to read and calculate. Speaking of this, it involves the issue of favoring boys over girls. As for education, many families with poor or average conditions do not allow girls to go to school, thinking it is a waste of money.

So in this era, the ratio of educated men to women is more than twice that of women.

"Yes, we can sell it. Others won't sell it. Since you're a driver, I'll definitely sell some to you. This is the rule here. Drivers who come here can buy two pounds of peanuts without a ticket." The salesperson said calmly, even though there were only Jiang Cheng and him here.

"Thank you so much. How much is it? Give me two kilograms." Jiang Cheng said happily.

He looked at the peanuts here and found that they were raw. They were different from the roasted peanuts and sunflower seeds in the city, where they were roasted. You had to get a food coupon to buy them.

The salesperson nodded, but did not immediately weigh the peanuts for Jiang Cheng. Instead, he walked to the door and looked at the car Jiang Cheng was driving, and asked, "Master, your car is not carrying any goods. The trunk seems to be empty."

"It was temporarily assigned to Anqing to transport goods back to Changcheng. It was indeed an empty truck." Jiang Cheng explained. He had already thought of the reason. Otherwise, if he drove an empty truck all the way to Yancheng, which was thousands of kilometers long, someone would definitely ask about it. "Master, do you want ten kilograms of peanuts? I don't want to pay for it." When the salesperson heard that Jiang Cheng said it was an empty truck, he directly used the benefits to tempt Jiang Cheng.

As soon as Jiang Cheng saw the salesman's expression and tone, he understood. He was a truck driver, and the fact that he could give him benefits for free must be related to his status. So he said directly: "You tell me."

The salesperson chuckled. It was true that all drivers these days were like this. They would grab the opportunity when they saw one, unless there were special circumstances and the driver was not on their way.

After a conversation, Jiang Cheng found a shady place to lie down. Anyway, it was hot at noon, and he didn't plan to drive a car. He left it to the supply and marketing cooperative to notify the commune and help them deliver some goods to the county town. At most, Jiang Cheng would go there and then take another road to see the river, which would only delay him for half an hour.

But 10 kilograms of peanuts, calculated at 20 cents per kilogram, is still 2 yuan. The key is that you can't buy it on ordinary days, you need a non-staple food ticket. Just two yuan is enough for Jiang Cheng's daily income, so what's the big deal if he delays it. With such a good thing, Jiang Cheng hopes to delay him every day.

Soon the people from the supply and marketing cooperative called the people from the commune over here, and they shouted at Jiang Cheng, "Master," smoking cigarettes. Then they loaded a lot of goods on the car, all of which were sent to the county's purchasing station.

After the goods were loaded, Jiang Cheng didn't say that the weather was too hot and they would leave later. He just started the car and drove to Huangmei County with the people and goods.

In fact, Jiang Cheng's current behavior is to harm the public and private interests. He not only wasted time, but also took a long detour. At least the fuel used by the car was public. Diesel is cheap these days, at 8 cents a liter, so at most he would waste about 20 cents of fuel.

Wasting two cents would bring Jiang Cheng a profit worth two dollars, and most importantly, both dollars would go into his pocket.

But then again, in Jiang Cheng's eyes, ten kilograms of peanuts were worth two yuan, but in the eyes of the people in Liuzuo Commune, they were not worth it. They would rather take ten kilograms of peanuts to hitchhike than pay one yuan to hitchhike.

One is that they planted a lot of peanuts in the fields, so it is impossible for them to charge the recycling station the price set by the urban supply and marketing cooperative. Another is that if there are ten kilograms of peanuts missing, they can find a way to make up for it. But if there is one dollar missing, it will be difficult to do the accounting.

In less than 20 minutes, Jiang Cheng drove to the purchasing station in Huangmei County. After unloading the goods, the people at the purchasing station pointed him to the direction of Wangjiang. Then he set off again without stopping.

Maybe this sports car is like fishing. A novice fisherman knows nothing and can catch fish with just a few tries. Jiang Cheng, a novice driver, was lucky when he first started driving long distances. In the morning, he parked his car in the suburbs and a tofu shop came to him. At noon, it was just hot and it was time for lunch, so he stopped at Liuzuo Commune. People from the commune actually asked him to help deliver goods.

But maybe the newbie benefits were gone, so he drove for two or three hours and arrived at Wangjiang County, but nothing happened. It was past four o'clock, and it was still bright after six o'clock in the summer. Jiang Cheng ordered food at a restaurant in the county, packed up a lot after eating, and continued on his way.

(End of this chapter)