After agreeing on the specific items to be exchanged, Ding Yun immediately locked the door and left in her small three-wheeled vehicle.
On the surface, she was going to the county town to send a telegram and contact people.
In reality, she was just going for a stroll.
And to pick up some daily necessities.
Of course, not from the street. Why buy things from the street when they were available in the clearance sales network?
Besides, even if she wanted to buy them, she didn't have the coupons!
However, Ding Yun's departure meant that the educated youths who had planned to invite her for lunch missed her. Some even worried that Ding Yun was deliberately avoiding them and didn't want to interact much with them.
It wasn't until someone noticed that her three-wheeled vehicle was also gone.
Coupled with the news that the village head had visited early in the morning, they guessed that she might have gone to the county town, which prevented any misunderstandings that could have led to a rift.
Meanwhile, Ding Yun, who had gone to the county town.
Upon seeing the post office, she remembered the original body's wish to help her mother and maternal grandparents, as well as her uncle's family, if she had the ability.
So, after some thought, she found a secluded corner and temporarily purchased some near-expiry cured meat, sausages, and grain that had been stored for over half a year from the clearance sales network. She then carried these items into the post office to mail to her mother.
She also sent a letter along with the package.
The letter essentially conveyed that she now had the means to acquire these items, and that these were close to their expiration dates. She urged them to eat them quickly upon arrival and not to be wasteful. She promised to send items every half month, at the latest every month, and encouraged them to take care of their health and wait for future developments.
After sending the package, Ding Yun used the excuse that she might need to send more items back later to avoid trouble, and purchased several postage stamps and parcel packaging materials from the post office, indicating that she would package and mail them herself next time.
Then, of course, she left the post office, packed all the items she needed to bring back into parcels using the post office's services, and loaded them onto the back of her three-wheeled vehicle.
With a grunt, she started pedaling the three-wheeled vehicle back.
By the time she returned to the village, it was almost noon. Ding Yun, as usual, attracted a lot of attention.
Especially those who saw her leave with an empty vehicle and return with bags and packages were very curious about what she had brought back. It wasn't that they coveted her items, but rather that there was a genuine lack of gossip nearby.
Everyone was quite bored.
And they also wanted to see something new.
It wasn't just Ding Yun, the educated youth who had gone down to the countryside, returning with a lot of things; even if someone from the village who worked in the city brought back some items, people would be curious and want to know what they had brought.
In the village, it was often like that; many things were not secrets at all. As soon as a second person saw something being done, it was basically no longer a secret.
If the matter had any elements of interest or novelty.
It would spread rapidly throughout the entire village.
Before long, the news that the educated youth from yesterday had brought back bags and packages from the city spread throughout the entire village within the next hour or so.
Many friendly aunts and elder sisters, especially those who didn't need to go home to cook and those who had chatted with Ding Yun yesterday, went to Ding Yun's place as soon as they finished work.
The educated youths also specifically sent someone to call Ding Yun.
They planned to invite Ding Yun to have a meal with them.
As a welcome ceremony.
However, the educated youth Zhao Xiaotang arrived late. By the time she reached Ding Yun's place, Ding Yun was already unpacking parcels.
And chatting with those aunts and elder sisters.
She felt too embarrassed to interrupt and invite her.
"Little Huang, what did you buy? So much! Didn't you bring a lot of luggage yesterday?"
"Sister Fen, I only brought part of my luggage yesterday. These items were just picked up from the post office today. I thought that since there are no coupons here, it's inconvenient to buy things and I don't have anyone to help.
So I specifically brought more things."
"Do you need our help?"
"That would be great..."
After a few exchanges, Ding Yun felt much more relaxed. She had several helpful elder sisters, and as the packages she brought back were opened, the food, soap, bath soap, and towels among the items were gradually revealed to everyone.
Those who were helping became even more envious.
These items, which they found so difficult to buy, she brought back in quantities of ten or more. How often would one have to wash to use so much bath soap?
"Little Huang, how did you buy so many bars of bath soap? I heard that you need soap coupons, right?
We even need soap coupons to buy regular soap..."
"Yes, can you even use so much?"
...
"Hey, I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. These items don't require coupons. Don't let their appearance fool you; they are actually inventory backlogs.
How to describe it? For items like bath soap and regular soap, they can't be stored indefinitely. Like food, they have a shelf life. If stored for too long, they might not be as good. I have relatives who work in factories and can get access to these items that have been stored for a long time.
For example, these bars of soap.
Most of them have been stored for over two years.
They are not easy to sell, so I found a way to get them without coupons at a discounted price for imperfect items.
I saw they were cheap, so I bought a lot.
If you like them, I can spare some for you.
We're not engaging in speculation or profiteering. I'll trade them for some fresh vegetables and radishes from your gardens. Since I've just arrived, it's inconvenient for me to get fresh vegetables normally."
Bath soap and regular soap are too cheap to sell for much money. Moreover, she wasn't claiming to have an unlimited supply. Giving away a few bars as a gesture of goodwill could earn her vegetables and radishes to eat, and also help her build good relationships with the aunts and elder sisters.
Why not?
"Really? Oh dear, that's too embarrassing. Don't worry, from now on, if you want to eat anything, just go to my garden and pick it. Eat as much as you want, feel free!"
"Do these things really distinguish between new and old?"
"Are they unsellable after only two years? In my opinion, these things can last for ten or eight years without problems. The wheat we stored back then, we still dared to eat it after two years!"
"When we were starving, let alone wheat stored for two years, we even ate it if it smelled moldy. As long as it didn't kill us.
Who cared about that..."
Seeing that everyone seemed indifferent to the dates, Ding Yun suddenly remembered that the requirement to label production dates in China seemed to be a matter of the late eighties or nineties. Currently, there were no production dates or expiration dates. As long as it wasn't visibly spoiled.
Most people probably didn't care.
People cared more about whether they could buy it, not about the date.
"Well, then it's settled. Since there aren't many people here, pick for yourselves. Two pieces each.
One bar of regular soap and one bar of bath soap.
Trading for three to five days of vegetables and radishes is fine, right..."
Ding Yun felt that a bar of near-expiry bath soap plus a bar of near-expiry regular soap would total less than a yuan. Vegetables were not cheap, and three to five days might even be a profit for her.
"Oh dear, how can we let you take such a loss? Our vegetables and radishes are free. At least a month.
One bar for half a month!"
"Yes, we can't take advantage of you like this!
You're such a young girl, how many vegetables and radishes can you eat? Even if you eat them as your main meal, you won't eat that much. A month, a month, otherwise we'll feel embarrassed to take them."
"Let's go with a month then!"
"Oh dear, that's too embarrassing..."
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're the ones benefiting. Then we'll take them, and we won't go back on our word!"
"It's okay, it's okay, everyone pick for yourselves. If I don't have enough, I can always ask my relatives to send more."
...