Li Xianglu finally found a restroom after a long search, behind the cinema, a public toilet, men on the left and women on the right. There was no one in the public toilet at this time, and Li Xianglu breathed a sigh of relief because she certainly didn't want to change clothes in front of others.
She quickly took off the two cotton-padded jackets and put on a black down jacket in the style of a blazer, which was from her previous life. It had been a bit short when she wore it, but it was a big brand item with good quality, and she couldn't bear to throw it away, so it ended up in her space storage. Who could have imagined that she would travel back thirty years in time and it would come in handy.
She changed her bulky cotton pants for a pair of black thermal leggings and put on a pair of black snow boots. They were somewhat large but extremely warm.
She found a face mask and a hat, dressed properly, and then took out a bag of rice from her space storage, all in forty-pound bags. She carefully scooped it into a black plastic bag, weighed it with an electronic scale, a little over twenty pounds, put it back into the storage, and then went out.
Li Xianglu didn't go directly to exchange the rice but continued to stroll around the streets, doing nothing. In front of a residential complex, she saw several aunties walking briskly, each holding a cloth bag and heading in a certain direction.
Li Xianglu hurriedly followed them quickly.
The aunties arrived at a building resembling a warehouse, with a small door on the side that was closed, and the front of the building featured a window with a table in front, where a middle-aged woman sat with a pen and some paper next to her.
Li Xianglu could see that there were already seven or eight people lined up in front of the table.
The aunties who had just arrived quickly lined up one after another.
Li Xianglu followed closely behind and lined up as well.
She saw that each person handed over a booklet and then passed their bag through the window. The middle-aged woman took the booklet and asked, "What do you want?"
The first in line was a grandmother in her sixties, who spoke clearly, "Ten pounds of Fuqiang Flour, thirty pounds of cornmeal, and ten pounds of dried sweet potatoes."
The woman moved quickly with her pen across the little booklet, then shouted through the window, "Ten pounds of ordinary Fuqiang, thirty pounds of cornmeal, ten pounds of dried sweet potatoes."
The old lady quickly handed in her bag. Before long, the bags were handed out one by one. The old lady didn't hurry to take all the bags away at once; she weighed each bag in her hands, and only when she was sure the amount was correct did she carefully drag them aside to a secluded spot to place them, then began to look around, probably waiting for someone to come and pick them up.
After that, everyone handed in their booklets one by one. Li Xianglu asked the kindly-looking auntie in front of her, "Auntie, are you collecting food rations?"
The woman, wrapped in a red-checked headscarf, saw the questioner, a young girl wearing a woolen hat and a face mask, dressed in a new jacket—a girl clearly from a good family—and immediately smiled and replied, "Yes, indeed. Where are your family members? Why did you come alone? How can you carry it all? Hurry up and call someone from home to carry the food rations."
Li Xianglu smiled, pulled down her mask, and asked, "What kind of food is available today?"
The woman's interest was piqued upon hearing this, leaning toward Li Xianglu and whispering excitedly: "Fuqiang Flour, supply is scarce—just got the news. You better hurry back and tell your family to come, it'll be gone if you're late."
Li Xianglu did not move, smiling slightly, "I don't take care of family affairs; I just came to see if there's any refined rice. I feel like eating some rice."
Li Xianglu acted like a spoiled child from a wealthy family, and the middle-aged woman didn't harbor an iota of suspicion as she shook her head, "We in Guanzhong eat less rice. The commune, such a small place, doesn't supply refined rice. I've heard there's some on the black market though," the woman said, lowering her voice.
Li Xianglu's eyes lit up, and she leaned in quietly, "Auntie, how much for a catty? I want my mom to buy some for me to eat."
The woman leaned toward Li Xianglu and whispered: "A catty of refined rice is three yuan and requires eight-tenths of food tickets."
Li Xianglu's eyes lit up, and she immediately took out three peeled and paper-wrapped candy fruits from the bag she was carrying on her back, handing them to the woman with a giggly smile, "These are for your little sister at home. I'll go find my mom now; I'll get her to buy me some refined rice."
The woman promptly pocketed the candies, her dark face creasing even more with her smile.
Li Xianglu found a place out of the wind to take out the rice, then weaved her way to the residential area of the textile factory workers she had seen before.
Here, all the houses were two-room small courtyards. Li Xianglu felt certain that these courtyards must be allocated to the leaders, definitely not the kind of dormitories for the workers.
In the middle of these uniform two-room courtyards was a faucet, which was locked with a little iron cap, clearly indicating that these were residences for two households sharing one courtyard.
Li Xianglu stood at the entrance of the courtyard, looking around, when a fashionably dressed woman came out of the door. Seeing Li Xianglu acting suspiciously, she immediately asked, "Where are you from? What are you doing here?"
Li Xianglu promptly relayed the fabricated story she had prepared: "I'm looking for Aunt Ge Xiuxiu. My mom sent me to deliver something to her."
The woman paused upon seeing Li Xianglu's attire. She seemed to be a twelve-year-old girl, dressed in a manner not affordable by the girls of their small commune, holding a black bag, heavy, most likely containing food. Her eyes first brightened, then she pondered briefly before saying, "This is the family quarters of the textile factory. There's no one named Ge Xiuxiu here."
Li Xianglu suddenly showed a panicked expression, speaking with a hint of grievance, "What should I do? My mom asked me to deliver something, and I have to leave soon; I can't just walk away with it, can I?"
The middle-aged woman, dressed in a woolen coat—a top-tier appearance in this small commune—immediately suggested, "You can take it back with you."
Li Xianglu shook her head pitifully, "I have to go directly to my grandmother's in the Provincial City later, and I can't carry a bag of rice with me. What would we say if we got there? If my grandmother finds out my mom is sending rice to others..." Li Xianglu suddenly stopped mid-sentence, appearing embarrassed, as if she accidentally revealed a family scandal.
The woman's interest peaked upon hearing about the rice—it was indeed a precious item, and she had not had any for two months. She was not a native of this province but from Zhe Province, where rice is the preferred staple. Yet in Guanzhong, people almost always eat wheat, which was nearly unbearable for her. The child had mentioned her mom was sending it to someone and couldn't bring it to her grandmother's, evidently indicating mother-in-law and daughter-in-law issues. Indeed, a bag of rice like that, at least twenty catties, would cause havoc if a mother-in-law found out her daughter-in-law was giving it away—it might stir trouble for three to five months non-stop, and she knew her own mother-in-law would definitely make it a big issue.