Chapter 18: Purchasing Supplies

After finishing her conversation with Qin Dezheng, Zhong Xiao was about to leave when he called her back and handed her a thin booklet. Zhong Xiao opened it and found it filled with various ration coupons—grain coupons, oil coupons, fabric coupons, and meat coupons. There was also a stack of tickets for daily necessities, such as soap and toothpaste, and finally, a bundle of vouchers for purchasing supplementary foods.

“Take these and buy yourself some fermented bean curd, vermicelli, and noodles to eat. When you were little, you loved noodles with soy sauce and bean curd,” Qin Dezheng said.

Zhong Xiao’s eyes grew red. “Second Grandpa, you’ve been saving these for your own use all this time, haven’t you?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “I have plenty of these. The work unit issues them every month. You brought so much life-saving medicine to the hospital—think of this as my personal reward to you on behalf of the hospital!”

Zhong Xiao smiled and, not refusing further, accepted the coupons.

When she left Qin Dezheng’s office and reached the corridor, she saw the middle-aged woman from earlier. The woman had clearly been crying, but her face was now radiant with irrepressible joy, the tears of overwhelming relief.

As soon as she saw Zhong Xiao, the woman hurried over and dropped to her knees before her. Zhong Xiao quickly dodged to the side and bent down to help her up.

“Oh, sister, what are you doing? You’ll overwhelm me!”

The woman, sobbing as she spoke, said, “Young lady, thank you, truly thank you. If you hadn’t found those medicines, I don’t know what would have happened to my daughter… Thank you, thank you on behalf of my child!”

Many others who had received medicine watched Zhong Xiao with eyes full of gratitude and warmth. The simple, friendly gazes made Zhong Xiao feel a deep sense of comfort. Even if she hadn’t been atoning for the Zhong family’s past, she would still have wanted to do what little she could.

Just then, she felt a small movement by her feet. Zhong Xiao turned to find a little boy, who looked to be about five or six, hugging her leg and calling her “big sister” in a sweet voice.

She looked down at him and smiled gently. “What’s the matter, little brother?”

The boy reached out his hand and gave her a small flower—the most ordinary white flower, the kind found everywhere along the roadside.

“I picked the prettiest one,” he said. “Thank you, big sister, for saving my grandmother. If you hadn’t found those medicines, her surgery would have been postponed again and again.”

Without anesthetic, the surgery couldn’t be done. The medicine Zhong Xiao brought had solved an urgent need.

She accepted the flower and, noticing the boy looked unwell, asked, “Are you feeling a bit sick, too?”

The middle-aged woman seemed to know the little boy. “His grandmother is in the room next to my daughter’s. Their family has hereditary heart disease. The little one here is alright, it’s not too serious, but he’s always pale and listless.”

Hearing this, Zhong Xiao took out a bottle of spiritual spring water she’d brought, thinking she might try her luck.

To her surprise, the opportunity had indeed presented itself. The spring water was in a thermos; Zhong Xiao knelt down and handed it to the boy.

“This is freshly boiled water, little brother. Your lips are very dry—have a sip.”

The boy accepted the cup and took a big gulp without hesitation.

“It’s so sweet! Big sister, this is the sweetest water I’ve ever tasted—just as sweet as you!”

Zhong Xiao burst out laughing.

“If it’s that sweet, will you finish it for me? Otherwise, it’s too heavy for me to carry.”

“Okay!” the boy replied, and, tilting his head back, he drained the cup.

Zhong Xiao watched his complexion carefully and could see with the naked eye that his face was already much rosier than before. She didn’t know exactly how effective the spring water was, but she figured it must be good for the body.

Silently, she wished the boy health in her heart. After saying goodbye to the middle-aged woman, she finally left the hospital.

Glancing at her pocket watch, she saw it was not yet eleven in the morning. In no hurry to return to the Zhong family, Zhong Xiao took a tram to the largest supply and marketing cooperative in Yuecheng.

Previously, she’d had only money and no coupons, and had planned to get some on the black market. Now that Qin Dezheng had given her so many, she could put them to use.

At the cooperative, she went straight to the agricultural supplies counter and bought plows, hoes, sickles, shovels, and watering cans. Then she visited the adjacent seed and general stores.

“Hello, I’d like to buy some vegetable seeds,” she said. “Two packets each of bok choy, spinach, garland chrysanthemum, cauliflower, chili peppers, water spinach, carrots, and tomatoes.”

One packet would go in her spatial storage, and she had other plans for the rest.

“I’ll also take two packets each of watermelon, cucumber, and loofah.”

Watermelon was her favorite. She couldn’t live through summer without its sweet coolness.

Since she was buying watermelon, she might as well get other fruit seeds and saplings.

After browsing for a while, Zhong Xiao chose some saplings of peach and tangerine trees, and a few pear trees. She planned to make pear soup with spring water to strengthen her body. That way, even if someone tried to harm her, she’d have the strength to fight back.

Having lived another life, she understood: the body is the foundation of all endeavors.

She’d thought about getting apple saplings, but in truth, she really didn’t like eating apples, so she gave up on that idea.

After all these purchases, Zhong Xiao went next door to the department store and bought toilet paper and sanitary pads.

The most miserable time in her previous life hadn’t been when she was beaten. It was during her period, when she had no sanitary pads. The pain others inflicted was from the outside, but during her period, staring at blood-soaked clothes and the heavy scent of iron, Zhong Xiao had broken down in tears. She felt ragged and dirty.

She had always been an envied heiress, proud and dignified. When others insulted or beat her, she could resist and fight back. But when it came to her own body, she was helpless.

So when buying sanitary pads, she showed no restraint, sweeping every last one from the shelves.

She even asked the clerk, “Do you have more in the warehouse? Bring them all out—I’ll take everything.”

Her extravagance was not just because sanitary pads were essential. Once she left Yuecheng, these coupons would be useless. Every region had its own coupons, and aside from grain coupons, the ones for cloth and daily goods would be worthless elsewhere. She had to use them up quickly.

Yes, once everything was settled, she planned to leave Yuecheng. As for her destination… she already had one in mind.

She told the clerk, “Please, pack all of these up for me, and get someone to help carry them to the front—I’ll call for a tricycle.”

In a shopping spree at the department store, Zhong Xiao used up all her coupons except for those for grain and oil. She bought ten boxes of Snow Cream, ten of Peony Cream. The Zhong family had plenty of imported luxury skincare products, but Zhong Xiao had no intention of using them. In this era, using such things was courting disaster.

She believed in her natural beauty, needing only a little hydration and care. Besides—

She had a hunch—an intuition that her spatial storage held many functions she had yet to unlock. Since it had a merit points system, perhaps the more merit she accumulated, the more surprises it would offer.

So there was no need to buy too many external things. She was convinced that everything she needed, her space would provide.