In the 1970s, it started with contracting out communal dining.

Early that morning, just as dawn was breaking, Wu Xiaochun got out of bed, full of energy.

He was more than 10 times more enthusiastic than when he was practicing his knife skills.

For today's shopping, he specially changed into a clean short jacket, combed his hair neatly, stuffed the detailed shopping list given by Chen Wei into the old military green cloth bag hanging at his waist, and went out in high spirits.

The bag contained the purchase funds, meat coupons, non-staple food coupons, tofu coupons, and various other receipts given by Chen Wei.

Chen Wei couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh when he saw the young man's outfit.

"Are you going shopping or on a blind date? You're dressed so formally."

Unexpectedly, Wu Xiaochun patted his new clothes and said in a serious tone.

"Brother Chen, you don't know this, do you? The ancients said, 'Respect the clothes before the person,' and there's truth to that! Don't think that just because I go out and deal with all sorts of people, they'll look at me differently when they see a new face and I'm dressed so smartly! Not to mention, we're buying so much stuff, and if I just casually offer them some good deals, how could they not be happy!"

So this kid was waiting here.

Chen Wei couldn't help but shake his head helplessly, but in his heart he somewhat agreed with what Wu Xiaochun said.

After all, in this era where everything requires a receipt, not everyone can buy things just by going out.

"Okay, be careful on the road!"

Chen Wei didn't say anything more and let Wu Xiaochun leave cleanly and efficiently.

Wu Xiaochun wore a warm and experienced smile the whole way, and when he arrived at the market, he greeted everyone with a familiar smile.

He calls everyone he meets "Master" or "Comrade," his words as sweet as honey.

As luck would have it, and I don't know where he got the information from, but he actually knew the names of all the dozen or so people in the state-run grocery store.

"Good morning, Master Zhang! Have you got some new cinnamon meat today?"

"Sister Li, you look so young today! You look great and have a healthy glow! Why isn't Tofu here yet, he's usually here by 8 o'clock!"

"Hey, Brother Wang, you can't handle these two big baskets of crucian carp. Let me help you, let me help you!"

The young man called out to everyone in the state-run grocery store, from top to bottom, but everyone just looked at each other blankly, no one recognizing this new face.

Seeing that he was dressed neatly and smartly, and that his clothes made him look like a purchasing agent for a state-owned enterprise, the sales staff really didn't dare to treat him poorly.

"Young comrade, who are you...?"

The woman surnamed Li at the tofu counter couldn't help but ask, only to see Wu Xiaochun looking at her with a reproachful expression.

"Oh, Sister Li, you really have a bad memory! It's me! Little Wu! From Tianjin No. 1 Steel Company, I came here with our old comrade Li before!"

After he said that, who would dare to deny it?

I can't remember anything else, but I do remember that it was from Tianjin No. 1 Steel Plant.

The woman surnamed Li quickly pretended to suddenly realize something and slapped her thigh.

"Oh my! Look at my memory! It's Xiao Wu! What are you going to buy today?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Xiaochun knew perfectly well that he had been labeled a purchasing agent for Tianjin No. 1 Steel Company by the salesperson in front of him.

Of course, he was indeed a purchasing agent for Tianjin No. 1 Steel, but not from the purchasing department!

As for power... naturally, it's far less.

Before explaining to everyone, Wu Xiaochun simply leaned against Sister Li's counter at the tofu stall with an air of familiarity and gestured knowingly toward the tofu rack.

"Sister Li, is that couple who deliver goods to the tofu factory fighting again?"

This was information he had heard from someone else: the tofu deliverymen to the state-run grocery store were a husband and wife who worked at the same tofu factory and usually delivered tofu together.

However, the two did not get along well and fought every few days.

If the two of them fight, the tofu will definitely be late.

Sister Li is nearly forty years old and has long passed the age of talking about love. All that's left in her heart is her enthusiasm for this kind of gossip.

Hearing Wu Xiaochun's mysterious question, she immediately became interested.

He leaned closer with a mocking look and lowered his voice, saying, "You bet! Oh dear, all this fighting every other day, isn't it annoying? It's making our grocery store suffer too. Look at the time, the tofu still hasn't arrived! If anyone wants to stir-fry a couple of pieces for lunch, they'd have to buy it around this time, tsk tsk tsk..."

"That's true!"

Wu Xiaochun squinted, a smile playing at the corners of his eyes, and nodded in agreement, but his eyes kept darting back and forth over the shelf behind the woman.

Suddenly, he said, "Hey, Sister Li! Our factory is having a wedding banquet tomorrow. I was wondering if it would be okay if I ordered some tofu from you? I might need a lot, but I'm not sure if it will delay the other colleagues from buying it."

The woman surnamed Li had just been coaxed into a smile, so naturally she wanted to agree to everything.

Without even thinking, he nodded: "Why not! Your factory has a lot of people, so you should order more! You know, our grocery store is here to serve the public, right? As for the other comrades... hey! You have to buy tofu early, otherwise it'll go bad! When do you need it? I'll write it down for you!"

As she said this, the woman surnamed Li actually pulled out a short pencil and a stack of small cigarette papers from a small drawer at the bottom, and carefully wrote the name of Tianjin No. 1 Steel Company on them.

Upon seeing this, Wu Xiaochun beamed and quickly reported his dosage.

Turning around, I saw that Master Zhang's meat counter and Brother Wang's fish counter were doing the same thing. After going around, the deposit was paid and the items were ordered.

We agreed that he would come over the next morning on a handcart to pick it up, ensuring that the goods would be delivered to Wu Xiaochun in perfect condition.

When Wu Xiaochun came out of the state-run grocery store, he had half a bag of sugar in his pocket.

It was given to me by that Ms. Li at the counter.

So, if someone is quick-witted and has a sharp mind, they'll never suffer a loss.

He then went to the vegetable stall, where Wu Xiaochun found ordering vegetables to be even easier.

After a busy morning, all the ingredients have been ordered. I'm just waiting to come early the next morning on a handcart to take them all back.

Ultimately, the weather was still hot, and taking the ingredients home too early was also because we were afraid they would spoil.

This is where the resourcefulness of purchasing staff comes into play. Typical purchasing staff simply follow the rules without flexibility, and just grab some vegetables and meat to get by.

But Wu Xiaochun is different. He has worked in the kitchen with Chen Wei for so long that he has become very familiar with what kind of ingredients and how fresh they are needed for each dish.