Chapter 15: One Cent per Jin

Lu Qiaoge remained silent.

Lu Qiaoling continued with concern, "The commune members aren't fools. If you don't give them something, they won't give you vegetables. What are we even doing? This isn't even a public transaction; it's just the two yuan Mom gave us. And if we try to let the residents of the family compound take things first and pay for vegetables later, those families won't agree. They might even start gossiping."

Lu Qiaoge let Lu Qiaoling ramble. Even if she explained her method, it wouldn't be as intuitive as actually executing it.

However, Qiaoling's intelligence was somewhat beyond her expectations.

"Just keep me company in a bit. Don't worry about anything else."

Lu Qiaoling thought about it, but since she couldn't come up with anything, she could only nod in agreement. She tilted her head. "Second Sister, I feel like you've changed. Is it because of the fall into the water and the broken engagement?"

Lu Qiaoge raised an eyebrow. "After experiencing such severe shocks, how could I possibly be the same as before?"

Lu Qiaoling found this deeply convincing.

As they spoke, the two sisters arrived at the Guzi Village brigade headquarters.

On the way, they had already spotted the lush green vegetables in various family gardens.

They also saw old women chopping lettuce to feed chickens and ducks.

It was exactly as Naughty Swallow from Qi Shuang's family had described.

Lu Qiaoge went straight to the brigade headquarters, where she happened to see the frowning Captain Lin.

Seeing two city girls looking for him, the Captain thought they might be the families of the village's educated youth.

To his surprise, Lu Qiaoge directly handed a letter of introduction to Captain Lin and explained her purpose with a smile.

Before he could even finish listening, the frowning Captain Lin's eyes widened. "You said... exchanging goods for vegetables?"

Lu Qiaoge nodded. "I happened to hear about the verbal agreement between your village and the canteen. I thought to myself: you have so many vegetables that you can't sell them all, and if you can't eat them, you can only feed them to chickens and ducks. It's a waste of the members' hard work. Coincidentally, our military factory is currently facing a vegetable shortage. Director Hu from our Street Office was wondering if we could use daily necessities to exchange for vegetables. This would not only solve Guzi Village's immediate problem, but also allow the workers at the military factory to eat green leafy vegetables, making them healthier to better build the motherland. Rest assured, we will ensure the commune members don't lose out."

The accountant beside him asked excitedly, "What kind of daily necessities do you have?"

Lu Qiaoge replied, "Whatever you want, we should have it."

Lu Qiaoling watched in shock as her second sister stood smiling in the brigade headquarters, listening to the Captain and the accountant say that supporting the military factory was their honor, and that exchanging for some goods was fine—they certainly wouldn't take advantage of the factory.

Then came the enthusiastic invitation to visit the brigade headquarters' vegetable garden first.

Aside from the corners planted with tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers, most of it was leafy greens.

The lettuce, in particular, grew in huge heads; some had even bloomed.

Lu Qiaoge expressed her satisfaction. "Captain Lin, would it be alright if I took some samples to show the Director?"

Captain Lin nodded repeatedly; it was absolutely fine.

He sent the accountant to pick some vegetables, which were then tied with straw rope and placed in bamboo baskets.

Lu Qiaoge praised them for growing such good vegetables and then discussed the exchange terms with Captain Lin.

Captain Lin did not want to scare them away.

"No matter what you bring, I'll set a uniform price for the leafy greens: one cent per jin. I'll pick the best ones for you."

The accountant added, "We can use matches as an example. One box of matches can be exchanged for two jin of spinach."

Captain Lin looked at Lu Qiaoge expectantly, feeling that the price was a bit high, and gritted his teeth. "We can lower it a bit more."

Lu Qiaoge waved her hands quickly. "Let's stick to this price. I'll head back now to report to our leadership."

And so, a dazed Lu Qiaoling followed her sister onto a Guzi Village horse carriage, which was personally driven by Captain Lin all the way to the entrance of the family compound.

However, there were guards stationed there. Captain Lin felt a bit nervous, so he made an appointment with Lu Qiaoge and drove away.

Then, Lu Qiaoge and Lu Qiaoling carried a basket of lush green vegetables to the Street Office.

They took them out one by one, laying the fresh, tender vegetables on the desk.

Lu Qiaoge gave a brief and concise explanation of the exchange price.

Director Hu and the others barely listened; their eyes were entirely captivated by the leafy greens.

Ren Xiaocui pressed down on a bunch of chives and swallowed hard. "I want to eat chive pancakes for lunch today."

Old Qiao looked at the fresh spinach and said, "I want to make spinach and egg soup for my son."

Huang Juan didn't move; she just watched Lu Qiaoge with a smile.

She hadn't expected this girl to be so decisive and efficient.

Lu Qiaoge also smiled and said to Director Hu, "I've already made arrangements with Captain Jin of the transport team. If you are okay with this, Director, we will come to pick up the vegetables tomorrow morning."

Director Hu froze for a moment, then realized what was happening, his eyes crinkling into slits with joy.

No problem, there was definitely no problem.

However, there was one big issue for Lu Qiaoge.

That was to draft the exchange form and post it at the entrance of the Street Office.

Furthermore, she couldn't go empty-handed tomorrow; she would need to provide some daily necessities first. But that wasn't a big deal; she could use some from home for now.

Looking at the bundles of leafy greens, Director Hu called out to the departing Lu Qiaoge, "These vegetables..."

Lu Qiaoge smiled. "These are samples provided by Captain Lin to our Street Office. I'll leave it to you to decide, Director."

With that, Lu Qiaoge and her sister headed home empty-handed.

Lu Qiaoling understood her sister's maneuver. Even though they hadn't brought back a single leaf, she was looking forward to tomorrow with great anticipation.

However, her sister had said to keep it a secret until it was finalized.

So, she planned to remain silent once they entered the courtyard.

But unexpectedly, Old Lu came home again at noon.

He looked very happy.

Meng Xia looked at her third daughter and said with a smile, "Qiaoling, your Aunt Jiang has introduced a match for you. You should know him."

Lu Qiaoling's face instantly turned red.

She gripped the corner of her clothes, too embarrassed to ask who it was.

Lu Qiaoge asked, "Who is it?"

Meng Xia: "It's Zhao Jinbao, the son of Section Chief Zhao from the Publicity Department. He works as an accountant in the Labor and Personnel Section."

A time and place had already been set: tonight at the Chunfeng State-owned Restaurant.

It was the best restaurant in the north of the city and wasn't far from the Lu family home.

Lu Qiaoge asked curiously, "Is it the Zhao Jinbao who has four sisters?" Then she looked at Lu Qiaoling. "Do you remember who he is?"

Lu Qiaoling bit her lip. "I remember."

Lu Qiaoge nodded.

The family circumstances were indeed quite good.

Meng Xia calmed down, but she was somewhat worried. "Our Qiaoling just returned to the city. Forget about a job, even her household registration is still in the countryside. How could the Zhao family agree to this? Their family conditions are much better than ours."

She suddenly remembered that wasn't it the Liang family who looked down on them and delayed marriage because of it?

One must remember that when the betrothal was arranged, both Old Lu and Old Liang were workers.

Old Lu took a sip of water, looked at his children, and said seriously, "Is our family lacking? We aren't. Only people with strong vanity think so.

I am a model worker every year, and I was even a national model worker. Our family is honest and upright. My father was an old guerrilla fighter, and your second aunt was a martyr. As for the job, it's not difficult—it's not like we're going to the moon; we'll find one. As for the household registration, once you two are settled, I'll find someone; we can always transfer it back..."