CHAPTER 128: 128 ARRANGEMENTS

The two were busy packing their things. Now there were already many people in their field, including women and children. There was still plenty to harvest. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, all were abundant.

The two loaded up the winter melons they wanted to deliver and drove the carriage out.

People outside, seeing this carriage full of winter melons, were quite envious. They too farmed land and their own plots weren’t any different, so why the stark contrast?

Tan Shaoting drove the carriage, and they first went to Ma Changshun’s house.

Ma Changshun came out, astonished at the sight of the carriage full of winter melons. They were quite large, too.

The two got off the cart and started moving the winter melons, taking in ten.

"Group Leader Ma, let’s deliver house by house."

Seeing the winter melons on the cart, Ma Changshun realized he was getting much more than others.

It took them over an hour to deliver to the group; there was no other choice since each household was quite far apart.

Ma Changshun checked the time, "Let’s go directly to the children’s farm office. Otherwise, we won’t finish by tomorrow."

Neither of them had any objections. It was basically just going over to say a few words of thanks and apologies for not having time to help with the harvest.

They arrived at the office, and Feng Baoshan was about to head home.

Seeing the winter melons on the cart, he knew it was their way of returning a favor.

"Director Feng, should we leave these winter melons at the office?"

"Honestly, you should deliver them to people’s homes."

This meant they had to work late into the night, but delivering them wasn’t impossible.

So they followed Director Feng to his home, left ten winter melons, and delivered to one household per group, saving a lot of time. However, by the time they got home, it was already after eleven.

Now everything was arranged. The two were relieved.

While eating, they discussed, "I’ll pick up Uncle Bai tomorrow."

"Let’s leave tomorrow too. Uncle Bai can find his way here, right?"

"Uncle Bai has been here before."

"We’ll drive over and take the train in the city."

"Okay."

This way, they did not rest in the second half of the night. They brought in the sweet potato vines from the field to the side of the house, so people feeding sheep would not have to travel far to push the vines.

With everything ready, Tan Shaoting boiled water, and they each took a bath. They then left by carriage.

"Get some sleep, I’ll drive the carriage." Previously, cultivation was used instead of sleeping; although this world didn’t have high cultivation, they could still do without sleep.

Su Yuanyuan didn’t hesitate, lying on the cart and falling asleep, despite the jolts.

They arrived in the city a little after three in the afternoon and went straight to Bai Lisheng’s house.

"You two have finished harvesting?"

Tan Shaoting smiled and nodded, "Uncle Bai, we brought the new corn for Aunt Bai and the brothers. We just didn’t have time to grind it into cornmeal."

"There are grinders in the city. This new corn is delicious."

Bai Lisheng didn’t hesitate. He moved the three bags of corn into the house directly, along with half a bag of potatoes, a bag of sweet potatoes, and five large winter melons.

The three of them sat in the house, and Tan Shaoting explained some matters, "Uncle Bai, the cellar at home is in the west room. There are leftover potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter melons inside, and the corn is stored in the large jar in the west room."

"Alright, I got it."

"Uncle Bai. Feel free to eat. We had a bountiful harvest this year."

"Haha, alright, I won’t hold back."

At this time, Aunt Bai entered. "Shall we make dumplings for dinner?"

Tan Shaoting stood up, "Aunt, don’t trouble yourself. We’re heading to the train station to leave."

"What trouble? We have to eat too."

Tan Shaoting still shook his head, "Aunt, we’re in a rush."

Bai Lisheng stood up, "Alright then, we won’t keep you. I’ll head over after dinner, no need to worry."

The two left with smiles, each with a satchel on their shoulders.

"Uncle Bai, thanks for your help," Su Yuanyuan said with a smile.

"What’s the trouble? Go on."

The two left the Bai Family and went directly to the train station.

Just two cities away, and they would reach a foreign country. Although there wasn’t a direct train to the foreign country, they could take a train to the border.

Tan Shaoting typically handled transactions. He handed a letter of introduction and bought two train tickets, which would take about three days to reach their destination.

But the train wouldn’t arrive until one a.m. There were still several hours left.

"Shall we find a hotel to sleep for a bit?"

Su Yuanyuan shook her head, "Forget it, it’s troublesome with all the questions. Let’s just wait here."

"Then let’s go eat first."

Su Yuanyuan didn’t object to this, so they went.

The two arrived at a restaurant, which had just opened and had no diners yet.

Each ordered a bowl of corn porridge and three cornbread buns.

But it was awkward, as neither of them had any food tickets.

Although they had tickets, they didn’t have food tickets, and they were unprepared.

The waiter gave them an annoyed look, "What are you coming to eat without food tickets?"

The two left the restaurant feeling frustrated.

"Let’s go to the train station. I still have some bread made from winter melon flour. We’ll make do," said Tan Shaoting.

Tan Shaoting didn’t mind skipping a meal or two, but he thought the little girl was too young to skip meals, and that’s why he had suggested eating in the first place. Unexpectedly, they ended up eating nothing.

The two found a corner to sit in, and Su Yuanyuan handed Tan Shaoting two buns while taking one for herself.

After eating, Tan Shaoting took a walk and brought back a mug of hot water.

"Wait a moment; I’ll look for a newspaper."

Su Yuanyuan had no objections. It had been a long time since they’d seen a newspaper, and they didn’t have a radio, so they were unaware of news from the outside world.

Getting a newspaper would be great, making things less awkward. It wasn’t about being embarrassed, but about avoiding trouble.

Sitting there was quite boring, and Tan Shaoting had been gone a while. Su Yuanyuan spotted a seller selling sunflower seeds. She bought two dimes’ worth and sat there eating, just passing the time.

Tan Shaoting found a railway station staff member, handed over a three-foot fabric ticket, and the person kindly gave him a year’s worth of newspapers.

When he returned, he saw Su Yuanyuan eating sunflower seeds.

She looked quite amusing, so relaxed.

"So many newspapers?"

"Traded a fabric ticket for a year’s worth of newspapers."

Su Yuanyuan nodded; it was worth it.

Now there was something to do, so Su Yuanyuan didn’t feel bored anymore.

Just as she was engrossed in reading, someone suddenly snatched the newspaper from her hand.

Su Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment. She looked up to see a woman looking at the newspaper she had just snatched.

Su Yuanyuan stood up and snatched it back with one swift move. "Do you think it’s okay to just snatch someone else’s things like this?"

"Sorry, comrade, I was just sitting nearby and got excited when I saw the content in the newspaper. My apologies."