Su Yun walked past the cinema, the post office, and the barbershop. Peeking into the post office from the entrance, she could only see Liu Huan still bent over a table writing a letter—everyone else had already left.
At the barbershop, An Qin was sitting in the chair getting her hair cut. It looked like she’d just gotten her turn, with two other people waiting in line.
Su Yun didn’t disturb them and quietly turned the corner onto another street.
Just a few steps after turning, she spotted a scrapyard and walked straight in.
Don’t get the wrong idea—she wasn’t there to hunt for hidden treasures.
Su Yun knew her limits. She’d never dealt with antiques, calligraphy, or paintings before—she couldn’t tell an antique from an ordinary ceramic piece. She also didn’t know which types of wood were valuable; all kinds of wood looked the same to her. Nor was she one of those protagonists blessed with such extraordinary luck that they’d randomly find a box of gold bars in a pile of junk.
She simply wanted to find some books and newspapers to pass the time when she was bored at the educated youth site, and also to keep up with current affairs and policies.
Once inside, she saw the scrapyard’s standard fixture—the gatekeeper grandpa, sitting in a chair with a cigarette in his mouth and his leg bouncing.
“Looking for something?” The old man raised his eyelids at the sight of her.
“Grandpa, I’m looking for some newspapers.”
The old man tilted his chin toward one side. “Over there, in that room. Leave your basket here with me. When you’re done, bring everything over to weigh.”
Su Yun put down her backpack basket and walked inside.
There were piles upon piles of newspapers in the room, and they were stacked quite neatly. They all looked fairly new too—probably daily subscriptions from various factories, some of which had never even been read.
Su Yun picked out over a dozen of the most recent issues of the People’s Daily, then went over to a somewhat messy pile of books nearby to rummage through.
This pile wasn’t just books—it had all kinds of waste paper: used homework notebooks, draft paper, comic booklets, and Su Yun even spotted someone’s diary among them.
There were no calligraphy scrolls or paintings—those had probably been picked out before they even made it here, not left for outsiders to stumble upon.
Digging further in, she found that many books couldn’t be taken out. In the end, she only picked out a few clean high school textbooks—her predecessor’s old textbooks had been left for her younger brother Su, and Su Yun hadn’t brought any with her.
She also found a thick book on botany, complete with illustrations and characteristics of various plants.
She could read it in her spare time. Since she’d be going up the mountains to gather firewood and mushrooms often, getting to know more plants would certainly be useful.
Su Yun brought the books and newspapers to the old man to weigh. Together, they came to 0.5 yuan. There was just enough room left in her backpack basket, so she stuffed them all in.
Hoisting the basket onto her back, Su Yun felt it was a bit heavy. Checking the system time, it was already past 12. There weren’t many shops on this street—just a public security bureau and a bus station.
Su Yun had nowhere else to browse, so she turned around and headed straight for the state-run restaurant.
Qingfeng County had only one state-run restaurant. Even at peak meal time, there were only a few tables occupied.
Most people back then couldn’t bear to eat out. Even if they had meat coupons, they’d buy the meat and cook it at home. Those workers who could afford to treat themselves all had their own unit canteens. Unless the state-run restaurant happened to have some rare beef or game on the menu, there wasn’t much reason to come here for a meal.
Su Yun peeked inside and didn’t see the other educated youth—either they hadn’t arrived yet or had eaten early and left.
Looking up, she saw a blackboard on the wall with dish names and prices written in white chalk.
Today’s menu:
Pork with pickled cabbage and vermicelli: 0.28 yuan, 2 liang meat coupon.
Stewed chicken with mushrooms: 0.35 yuan, 3 liang meat coupon.
Pork and scallion boiled dumplings: 1.4 yuan, 3 liang meat coupon, 5 liang grain coupon.
Chicken noodle soup: 0.38 yuan, 3 liang grain coupon.
Braised eggplant: 0.2 yuan.
Scrambled eggs: 0.2 yuan.
Sautéed potato slices: 0.05 yuan.
Meat buns: 0.1 yuan each, 1 liang grain coupon, 1 liang meat coupon.
Steamed buns: 0.05 yuan, 2 liang grain coupon.
These seemed to be the only dishes available today. Su Yun hesitated for a moment. She’d heard that portions at state-run restaurants were quite generous, and ordering too much for one person might draw attention. So she only ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup, a bowl of pork dumplings, and an additional 12 meat buns to go.
She paid 2.98 yuan and 2 catties of grain coupons, and just happened to use up all the meat coupons she’d exchanged from Qian Yue.
She found a table in the corner and sat down, setting her backpack basket under the table. Pretending to reach inside, she pulled out her aluminum mess tin.
She’d put the mess tin in her storage grid that morning, thinking she might want to take something back from the state-run restaurant.
The noodles and dumplings were pre-made and just needed to be boiled. Before Su Yun had even settled into her seat, the cashier called her over to pick up her bowls.
The buns were wrapped in a large sheet of oil paper. Both the dumplings and the noodles came in big bowls—the portion size of a grown man.
Su Yun tried one dumpling first. It tasted pretty good—the scallions in it kept it from feeling greasy. She transferred the entire bowl of dumplings into her mess tin and put the lid on.
Then she pretended to put the mess tin and buns into her backpack basket, but actually stored them in her storage grid, so she could enjoy them hot whenever she felt like it.
Her lunch today was the fragrant bowl of chicken noodle soup. Su Yun swallowed at the aroma.
It smelled so good! Su Yun had only ever had this kind of chicken noodle soup as a child, when her grandmother bought it for her. Later, the noodle shop owner near her home left to find work in the city, and she never had it again.
Her own cooking skills were only so-so, and she couldn’t replicate that flavor. So this bowl of noodles wasn’t just delicious—it also carried a sense of nostalgia for her.
The portion was a bit too much for Su Yun, but she still finished it all. Patting her now-full stomach, she felt too lazy to move and just sat there waiting for the others to arrive.
There were still two hours left before they had to head back, so everyone should be coming by soon.
Sure enough, before long, everyone except Tao Yining drifted into the state-run restaurant one by one.
“You’re already done?” An Qin came over with a bowl of dumplings and sat down.
“I came early, so I ate first. Your haircut looks really nice!”
Su Yun gave her a thumbs-up. The barber had done a good job—An Qin now had bangs, which softened her striking features and made her look more refined. Her hair was cut to shoulder length.
She wore it loose for now, but when it got hot, she could tie it into two little horn-like pigtails. Back then, girls basically had three hairstyles: the Liu Hulan short cut, braided pigtails, and horn pigtails.
“What did you eat?” Liu Huan stood in front of the blackboard, unsure what to order, so she came over to ask Su Yun.
“I had the chicken noodle soup.”
“How was it? Was it good?”
“Delicious. Next time I come to the county, I’m ordering it again!”
Su Yun recalled the taste and said with certainty.
“Then I’ll try that too.”
Liu Huan stopped hesitating and copied Su Yun’s order.
The table Su Yun was at was small—a four-seater. With the three of them sitting there, only one seat was left. Li Jianjun and Gu Beihai sat at the table next to them. The two men had big appetites and ordered a few dishes to go with their rice.
As for Tao Yining—Su Yun recalled the plot. At this time, the workers had just gotten off work, and the residential compounds were bustling with people coming and going.
The female lead was probably peddling her unpackaged biscuits and watered-down liquor around a few residential compounds, having only a bagged bread from her supermarket for lunch.
To be honest, Su Yun thought the female lead really didn’t need to do all that. She’d just arrived in the countryside and didn’t know anyone, yet she was already running around selling things. Weren’t she afraid of being reported?
Tao Yining wasn’t actually short on money. Before coming to the countryside, she’d taken all the cash and coupons from her household, with two or three hundred yuan in hand. If she needed something, she could just buy it directly.
But she had grand ambitions—she wanted to save up more money to buy property in the capital later. That’s why, over these years, she kept shuttling between the black market and various residential compounds, hawking items from her supermarket.
Soon, everyone finished eating. There was still a while before their agreed meeting time, and if they went over now, they’d just be waiting by the roadside.
The state-run restaurant closed in the afternoons, and by now only their group was still sitting there. The staff’s eyerolls were practically reaching the ceiling—if they didn’t leave soon, they’d probably get chased out…
They all stood up, shouldered their backpack baskets, and left the state-run restaurant, strolling slowly toward the spot where they’d arrived.
When they got there, Uncle Wang hadn’t arrived yet, so they set their things down and squatted in the shade of a tree by the roadside to wait.
Suddenly, Liu Huan stood up and pointed excitedly at a shop around the corner.
“Look! There’s a photo studio over there!”
“Should we take a picture to commemorate this?”
Liu Huan looked at Su Yun and An Qin.
“Sure, I’ll take one to send to my family.”
An Qin nodded.
Su Yun thought it was a great idea too. What girl doesn’t like having her picture taken, especially when they’d all dressed up so nicely? Of course they had to go!
It would be a keepsake—decades later, they could look back at the photos, and maybe their grandchildren would even post online: “Check out my grandma’s looks back in the day.”
The three girls linked arms and headed to the photo studio. Li Jianjun and Gu Beihai exchanged a glance, too shy to crash the girls’ photo session, and stayed behind to watch their belongings.
The studio not only had backdrop cloths, but also some prop scenery. First, the three of them posed arm-in-arm at the studio entrance for a full-body group shot. Then they each took individual half-body portraits in front of a blue backdrop.
The studio also had a three-tiered step prop. Su Yun sat on it for a full-body shot. Surprisingly, the photographer back then also knew how to pose people—he had her hold a bouquet and lower her head as if smelling the flowers.
They each paid, received their receipts, and agreed to pick up the photos on their next trip to the county. Then they headed back to their spot, laughing and joking along the way.
From a distance, they could see Uncle Wang driving his donkey cart over from the side road. They loaded their baskets onto the cart and climbed aboard.
They chatted and waited another ten minutes or so before Tao Yining finally hurried over with her backpack basket.
“We didn’t see you earlier. Did you not have lunch? Are you hungry?”
As soon as Tao Yining sat down, Liu Huan asked with concern.
“Huh? Oh, I went early. I’d already eaten by the time you all got there.” Tao Yining was distracted and casually made up an excuse.
Su Yun glanced at Tao Yining. Her basket was also packed full—she’d probably done some major shopping at the supply cooperative too.
What a coincidence. All six of the new batch of educated youth, male and female alike, came from fairly well-off families and had brought plenty of money. None of them were short on cash.
They were all new and lacking everything, so each of them had bought quite a bit, their baskets heavy. But everyone had received a good education and had manners and discretion—they wouldn’t casually peek into what others had bought.
Chatting and laughing the whole way, they soon returned to the educated youth site. They each gave Uncle Wang their two jiao fare and hurried back to their own rooms to sort through their purchases.