Chapter 302 The Golden Bowl Arrives at the Treasury

Tang Cuiju treasured the piece of cloth as if it were a precious gem, hiding it in the bundle above her bed, and not forgetting to turn to Xiao Jiu and say something.

“We have to be frugal to make a good living. Your seventh and eighth sisters never have a new piece of clothing all year round. They always wear what we have handed over.”

We don't cook in this house, and the doors are closed when we come in and out. Besides, there's this bed curtain, isn't there?

"Look how pretty these bed curtains are! If I wasn't worried you wouldn't agree, I'd take them down and make clothes for your sister."

Sister Cuiju's matter-of-fact words made Xiaojiu feel a little guilty: "I can try to buy some more decent floral fabrics."

"No need, no need, this is fine. It's dirt-resistant. As for these oily spots, we'll figure out a way to dig them up and reroute the road later."

Her sister poured her some hot water to soak her feet, and after soaking them, she felt all the fatigue from the day disappear.

I lay down happily, and there was even a hot water bottle in the bed! Wow, this is just too good to be true.

One in front of my chest, one behind my heel, with my sister I'm completely content!

"Sis, I'm going out early tomorrow morning, so you don't need to get up so early. I'll cook some porridge for you, and you can just drink it when you get up."

After muttering something, Xiao Jiu drew the bed curtains and went to sleep, leaving Cui Ju with a barely perceptible sigh.

'This child is not like a child, he's practically defying the heavens!' Remembering her older sister's instructions, she could only pretend she knew nothing.

At about 6:30, Xiao Jiu set her alarm for 5:00. The alarm rang in the warehouse, and she quietly entered the warehouse to weigh the grain.

The remaining thousand or so catties of raw grain are enough for this year's consumption. In addition, there are several thousand catties of dried vegetables. If all else fails, she can mix them with the good coarse grains in her warehouse.

These dried vegetables were painstakingly dried by her, her grandparents, and her brothers; she couldn't bear to sell them.

The raw grains were all packed in burlap sacks, each sack weighing 200 jin (100 kg).

There were ten sacks stacked up, and she dumped the electric tricycle directly into the warehouse, planning to take them all out later.

Worried that they might arrive early, Xiao Jiu washed up in the room, then turned off the stove halfway around 5:00 to cook rice porridge, and closed the door and left at 5:30.

A thick fog rolled in during the chilly early morning, obscuring everything within three meters. With no one around, she drove her electric tricycle out.

Following my memory, I drove towards the agreed-upon grove of trees, found a suitable spot, and started compacting the surrounding soil on my tricycle to create the appearance of a large crowd. Because electric bikes are silent and the thick fog provides cover, even if people arrived early, they wouldn't be able to tell anything.

After finishing all that, she found an open space, laid out a large plastic sheet, and unloaded the grain onto it. After all, it was the dead of winter, and it wouldn't feel real if the grain bags didn't feel cold to the touch.

Then she found a place to hide in her online space, took out a bag of wontons, boiled water and put them in, added some dried seaweed, dried shrimp, cilantro, sesame oil and aged vinegar to the bowl, and after the wontons were cooked, she poured them into the enamel bowl she bought in this era, took the soup spoon and ate them one by one, enjoying them very much.

At 6:20, she heard footsteps, and more than one. She immediately came out of her spatial dimension and got on a tricycle.

As the footsteps grew closer, accompanied by He Yuan's soft call, "Xiao Jiu? Xiao Jiu, are you here?"

“A-Yuan, I’m here, I’m here.”

Before long, four people appeared in front of her. Besides Tao Ge and A Yuan, whom she had seen last night, there were two young men she didn't recognize.

The two people, one fat and one thin, the fat one greeted Xiao Jiu warmly.

"Hey girl, my name is Dapeng, you can call me Brother Peng from now on."

He was tall and thin, looking like a stick, with a lot of pockmarks on his face. The worst part was that his nickname was also "stick".

What's even more outrageous is that this guy's surname is Ma. "Hello, my name is Ma Rong. You can call me Brother Rong or Brother Ma."

"Why call him 'Brother Ma'? It sounds like an insult. I've made the decision. From now on, little sister, you can call him 'Brother Rong'."

Tao walked over slowly, patted Ma Rong on the shoulder, looked around, and stared at Xiao Jiu in disbelief.

"You came here by yourself?"

"No way, look, that's not our car. They're just strolling around nearby, so it's not convenient for us to meet them right now."

Tao glanced at the messy surroundings and believed her. "Where's the merchandise?"

I walked three meters to the right and saw ten burlap sacks laid out in the thick fog.

"One bag weighs 200 jin. Did you bring a scale, Brother Tao? We can check and weigh it on the spot."

They used two carts, each equipped with a weighbridge for weighing grain and two iron rods that could be inserted into sacks and then pulled out to check the quality of the grain.

While the three of them were weighing themselves, Brother Tao opened the cloth bag in his hand, revealing the golden bowl from yesterday.

He then presented her with two gold bracelets, two gold rings, and two small gold fish ornaments, and asked with a smile, "Is that enough?"

Yesterday's gold bowl weighed 400 grams. She weighed the two gold bracelets, each weighing about 100 grams. The ring was much lighter, negligible, and quite dirty, clearly a mismatched piece. The two small goldfish weighed about 30 grams each, bringing the total to around 670 grams.

According to the international gold price in 1967, one gram was worth US$35.2, but my country did not participate in the trade at that time, so it was difficult to estimate the price.

Furthermore, the purity of gold is also important.

The gold bowls, gold bracelets, and gold rings in her hands all have collectible value, and their prices cannot be easily calculated.

If we price it at 240 yuan per 50g, then all of these together would cost around 3,200 yuan.

So she didn't lose out at all; this is still the price of this era.

If we calculate based on the price of 387 yuan per gram in 2020, these would be worth as much as 260,000 yuan. Adding their collectible value, it would be a huge profit!

It's like her, someone who has plenty of money and food, who can afford to collect these old items.

People who lack money and food, where would they find the spare money to fuss over these things?

No wonder Tao Ge was visibly happy when she readily accepted!

"You're such a straightforward girl, shall we settle this matter here?"

Xiao Jiu nodded, "Yes, it's cleared out. If you have any old items like this in the future, please keep them for me."

"Sure, no problem." If they could always find people who only wanted the goods and not the money, they would have a lot less to worry about.

After all, when the grain was harvested, very little was given away; not a single penny was spent.

Now he's not only gotten grain in exchange for this, but he hasn't spent a single penny. He's really hit the jackpot.

Both sides felt they had made a profit, and with no problem with food, they happily said goodbye to each other.

However, before leaving, Tao glanced at her electric tricycle with curiosity.

"Your car looks nice. How much did you pay for it? Do you still have any in stock?"

Xiao Jiu shook his head, "This was made and welded by my brother, who works in mechanics. It's unique and not for sale."

Although Tao was disappointed, he could tell that this was not something that could be bought. So the group quickly disappeared into the thick fog without the slightest hesitation. After all, they all had work to do during the day, and getting home at this time would not delay their work.

As soon as they left, Xiao Jiu put the electric scooter into her personal space, and then happily put the gold bowl and gold bracelets on the shelf.

When I got home, my second sister had just finished eating and was getting ready to leave. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xiaojiu come back.

"We're quite busy at the end of the year. We're working overtime today and might not be back for lunch. They said there will be a meal for the workers. Take good care of yourself at home!"

After her second sister went to work, she moved the remaining porridge from the stove to the warehouse, turned off the fire, put in a pot of water, locked the door, and went to bed to catch up on sleep.

I slept until ten o'clock. I was a little hungry, so I drank the rest of the porridge and went outside to see the bright sunshine.

He immediately took out a three-cornered clothes rack and a clothesline from the warehouse.

First, find a suitable spot in the yard, then rummage through boxes and cabinets to find two long nails, hammer them in, and tie them securely with rope.

My sister's bedding was hung on the clothesline to dry, while hers was hung on a clothes rack supported by three corners.

Grandpa and Grandma Weng praised it highly after seeing it.

"The sun just came out and you're already basking in it! You've got the timing perfect. And you're sitting there so steadily!"

"If the sun is shining tomorrow, I'll help you drag your bedding out to air it!"

"Oh dear, I'm so glad I did! These old bones of mine really can't handle this much!"

"Then shall I take apart and wash your bedding today?"

Even though she was very enthusiastic, the old man and woman didn't want her to suffer, saying, "Just a little sun exposure is enough!"

"Grandma Weng, are you going to take a bath? Shall I take you with me?"

"No need, no need. We're all old folks, we can't handle the hassle. Taking a bath will leave me exhausted. I'll go in the spring."

These statements are just like those of one's own grandparents.

However, there were many family members, and the fourth sister was strong, so she carried her grandmother away.

They even helped Grandma scrub her back while she bathed, and at most she just felt thirsty.

Moreover, everyone would wash her first, and after she was washed, she would lie down on the bed and take a nap before leaving with them. It couldn't be more comfortable.

But the elderly couple from the Weng family, who had no children to help them, were not so lucky. They were unwilling to go, and he naturally wouldn't force them.

Xiao Jiu was very happy because she had made a big deal last night. After hanging the quilt to dry, she went out again with her basket on her back.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, everyone is busy cleaning, so the recycling station has collected a lot of old books and newspapers these past few days.

She visited three different stores and found many rare books, most of which were medical books.

This shows that the decline of traditional Chinese medicine is a regret that medical students like her cannot change.

So, after staying at home for a few days, I went to school early in the morning of the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month.

After receiving their report cards, new books, and new review materials, the school announced a holiday, with classes resuming on the sixth day of the first lunar month.

Because she had already made arrangements with her second sister in the morning, she didn't go back to the courtyard. Instead, she moved her luggage directly to the warehouse and took the bus to the bus station.

During this twelve-day holiday, she prepared a month's worth of noodles, refined grains, mixed grains, eggs, sausages, and vegetables for Tang Cuiju.

Their company hasn't made any arrangements for shift changes during the Chinese New Year, but the news they've received is that they'll have at least five days off.