Cannon Fodder Husband Ch.73-74

Chapter 73 – Inexplicable

Soon, Lu Xia arrived at the state-owned restaurant.

It was mealtime, and there were quite a few people inside.

Lu Xia saw a stall selling meat and quickly went up to order.

“Comrade, I’d like a portion of braised pork and a bowl of rice, please,” she said.

However, the seated waiter didn’t even glance at her, as if engrossed in a book, she didn’t move. Lu Xia repeated her order loudly twice before the waiter finally looked up, coldly took her money, and ignored her.

Lu Xia: … The waiters in Beijing aren’t this arrogant.

But she didn’t want to cause a scene and found a table after paying.

Not long after, she heard the waiter call out, “The braised pork is ready. Come and get it yourself.” Lu Xia was speechless and went to collect it.

She took a bite to taste it. Well, the flavor was average, but better than what ordinary people could make. It couldn’t compare to what she had eaten in the 21st century.

Nevertheless, she finished it all. After all, it was meat!

Although she could occasionally improve her situation with Jiang Junmo every few days, she still craved it.

When Lu Xia was about to leave the state-owned restaurant after finishing her meal, she saw Su Man entering with something in her hand.

Surprised to see Lu Xia, Su Man glanced at her and realized she was coming out from inside. She understood and asked, “You’re done eating?”

Lu Xia nodded. “Did you just arrive?”

Su Man nodded as well.

“Okay, you go ahead and order. I’ll go take a look around. See you later.”

“Alright!”

After bidding farewell to Su Man, Lu Xia saw Gu Xiangnan and Cheng Yujiao arrive at the entrance of the state-owned restaurant.

Lu Xia and the two of them didn’t plan to talk, so they nodded at each other and were about to leave.

However, Gu Xiangnan called her, “Educated Youth Lu, have you finished eating?”

Lu Xia was surprised but still nodded. “Yes, I came early.”

Gu Xiangnan smiled. “Alright then, if Educated Youth Lu has something to do, go ahead and take care of it. We’ll see each other later.”

Hearing his words, Lu Xia felt inexplicable, especially when she noticed Cheng Yujiao’s strange gaze, as if she were a puppy trying to snatch food from her. It left her speechless.

Finally, she nodded silently and left.

After leaving, Lu Xia found an alley and disguised herself. She put on a raggedy outfit and used the makeup she had bought in Beijing to make her face look slightly yellow. Then she wore a headscarf and carried a basket on her back.

Finally, she entered the black market she had seen earlier.

This time, she didn’t plan to sell anything because she currently didn’t have anything to sell.

The crops she planted hadn’t ripened yet, and the little bit that was left couldn’t fetch much money. It was better for her to keep it for herself.

She came here to see the situation at the black market and whether she could buy something she didn’t have.

However, she was disappointed after entering.

The majority of the items sold here were grains and vegetables, with very little meat available. Lu Xia walked around and only saw someone selling yarn. She was just about to go and buy it when someone else acted faster and quickly negotiated a price, buying it before she could.

Lu Xia was a step too slow and ended up not buying anything.

But it seemed that the person selling the yarn noticed her actions. After finishing the transaction, they approached her and said, “Do you also want yarn? I still have some left. If you want to buy, you can come with me to get it or you can wait here a bit. I’ll go get it now.”

Lu Xia thought for a moment. She couldn’t follow the person to get it; who knew if they were a scammer?

“Then go and get it. I’ll wait for ten minutes. If you don’t come back by then, I’ll leave.”

The person smiled. “You don’t need to wait ten minutes. I’ll be back in five.”

Saying that, they turned and ran off.

*

Chapter 74 – Yarn and Thermos

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Although Lu Xia didn’t know if the person’s words were true, she decided to wait and see.

While browsing the black market, she saw stalls selling watermelons and muskmelons. The prices were reasonable, and she was craving some fruit. She had grown tired of eating apples and pears from her storage space. So, she bought some and planned to eat them later.

Just as she finished buying, she saw the person she had spoken to earlier returning, panting. It was just as they had said – they didn’t even take five minutes.

The person didn’t bring much yarn, probably enough for her to knit a women’s sweater. The colors were a bit unattractive, a dull grayish-brown, but the price was truly expensive, asking for 12 yuan.

She finally understood why the person hadn’t brought any earlier; they were probably afraid they wouldn’t sell.

Nevertheless, Lu Xia bought it. She planned to knit a sweater for herself, which should be warm and comfortable to wear. This way, she wouldn’t be afraid of the cold winter in the northeast.

The person was delighted that she agreed so readily and even gave her a few knitting needles.

After Lu Xia paid, she carried the melons and left.

Once she confirmed that no one was following her, she returned to the previous alley, changed back into her original attire, removed the makeup from her face, put the melons into her storage space along with the basket, and left with the yarn in her hands.

Just as she walked out, she saw a large group of people with red cloth tied to their shoulders chasing after another group of people carrying things on their backs.

“You all stop! Those who engage in speculation will be thrown into prison!”

However, these people seemed accustomed to it, and they quickly dispersed, disappearing from sight.

As a result, none of the people at the back were caught, and they grumbled and cursed in frustration.

Lu Xia quickly left when she saw this.

She felt a bit frightened and was relieved that she had left early!

It seemed that the black market in this county was somewhat dangerous. She would try to come here as little as possible in the future.

When she arrived at the bus station, in addition to the yarn, Lu Xia also brought a thermos.

She took it out from her storage space. She had wanted to bring it out earlier, but a thermos was fragile and couldn’t be packed in her luggage. She couldn’t come up with a plausible reason to receive it through the mail.

The only style available in town was not to her liking, and the other people in the educated youth spot who went to town always went to the supply and marketing cooperative to look but couldn’t buy due to lack of tickets.

So, Lu Xia couldn’t easily bring it out.

But this time in the county town, she saw the style she had purchased and finally had the opportunity to take it out.

From now on, she wouldn’t need to rely on others’ hot water when drinking her malted milk, which was particularly inconvenient and a bother to others.

The pastries she brought were used to use other people’s hot water, and many of them couldn’t be sent out.

When they arrived at the bus station, Sun Shengnan saw the yarn and thermos that Lu Xia brought and envied them, especially the thermos.

“You bought a thermos! That’s great. It looks even bigger than the ones sold in town,” Sun Shengnan said.

Lu Xia smiled. “Yes, I realized it’s inconvenient without a thermos, so I bought one.”

Hearing her say it so casually, Sun Shengnan became even more envious. “It’s good that you bought one. It gets cold in winter here, and a thermos is really useful.”

Lu Xia nodded but didn’t continue the topic. Instead, she asked about sending things.

The two chatted for a while, and the others also arrived. They discussed their gains, and the bus arrived at the station. They bought tickets and boarded the bus, quickly heading back.

By the time they arrived in town, it was already past 6 o’clock.

Fortunately, Lu Xia didn’t feel as uncomfortable as before.

The rain had stopped, but the air was still damp.

After getting off the bus, they quickly walked back to the educated youth spot.

When they returned, they found everyone sitting in the courtyard eating melons.

They were really eating melons – there were watermelons and muskmelons.

After asking, Lu Xia learned that Jiang Junmo had bought them. The villagers had grown them, and he had bought some for everyone when he saw them.

The educated youths were all very happy.

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Eating melons can also mean watching something exciting like live drama, gossip, or something