The next day, Su Mo carried a basket each of corn and rice and went to the commune processing plant.
She planned to beat the corn grains into corn crumbs and cook some crumbs porridge occasionally. She would also grind the rice into rice and take it to the cowshed in several batches. Compared with the rice in her dimension now, it is too smooth and white, so it is better to keep it for yourself.
With the machine, the speed is very fast. It was all done in less than half an hour.
It's just that the machines at this time were not as advanced as later generations. They could separate the rice shells and grind them out. The rice and shells were mixed together. It had to be put in a windmill several times to separate the rice and shells.
windmill
This was the first time for Su Mo to use such a thing, and she found it quite interesting.
Pour the rice into the funnel at the top, then turn the wind leaf and use the wind to blow the chaff out from the side, and the rice will come out from the mouth at the bottom. Just take a basket and place it on the ground.
It is said that this kind of windmill existed hundreds of years ago. I have to say that Su Mo also admires the wisdom of the ancients.
Su Mo did it several times until all the chaff was separated, then she took a sack and swept up the blown chaff.
This chaff is a good material for raising pigs, and you can get it in exchange for work points when you join the brigade.
Two baskets of things cost 50 cents in processing fees, which is quite expensive. However, the electricity bill at this time is 22 cents, which is not expensive at all.
After all, using a machine saves trouble. If she had to do it manually, she probably wouldn't be able to handle these two baskets all morning.
After getting the things done, Su Mo went to the supply and marketing cooperative again to buy some things.
First I ordered 1 jin of brown sugar and 2 jins of vermicelli. Seeing that there was dried tofu, I ordered 10 more slices.
Brown sugar costs 59 cents, vermicelli costs 36 cents a piece, and dried tofu costs 10 cents, a total of 2.05 yuan.
Then I asked for 2 pounds of kerosene, 2 boxes of clam oil, and 10 sacks worth 1 cent each.
It's cold here, so she bought clam oil to use as hand cream.
Kerosene cost 84 cents, clam oil 40 cents, a piece of sack, a total of 2.24 yuan.
The total cost was 4.29 yuan.
Lu Xiaolan also heard some rumors. After Su Mo finished shopping, he secretly asked her about the situation, and Su Mo told her everything he could.
Lu Xiaolan patted her chest and whispered: "This is really dangerous, third sister-in-law, you should be more careful when going up the mountain in the future. We haven't had a spy for a long time, and I don't know why he came suddenly again."
She remembered that when she was a child, spies were often caught in the mountains.
"I guess there's something here that interests them."
"What can be on this mountain? If you don't want to build a nest on the mountain, that will be troublesome. The militia team needs to take action and patrol the mountain more to scare them away."
Su Mo nodded, "The militia have already cooperated to patrol the mountain in turns. Even if they really have this idea, they probably don't dare to do it now."
I hope she won't patrol for too long, otherwise it will be very inconvenient for her to go to the cowshed in the future, and she will probably have to go in the dark at night.
"Then I'll go back first. I have something to do later." Su Mo was going back and going to Lu Guoping's house later.
"Wait, third sister-in-law, please send a message to my elder sister-in-law for me. The defective yarn she asked about last time is there, but I can only get one pound, so let her come and get it quickly."
"Okay!" Su Mo nodded. One pound of wool is probably just enough for Lu Guoqiang to knit.
Back at the brigade, Su Mo bought another two kilograms of eggs for 1.56 yuan.
The aunt at the chicken farm still put eggs in a straw basket for Su Mo.
Su Mo thought that she had wanted to learn to weave straw baskets before, so she smiled and asked, "Auntie, where did you buy this straw basket?"
"I didn't buy it from somewhere, I made it up myself. Otherwise, when people come to buy eggs, they won't have anything to put them in," the aunt said.
Su Mo was a little surprised, she didn't expect this aunt to be so skillful with her hands. Then he asked, "Can you sell me a few baskets?"
The aunt waved her hand, "No! But you can buy more eggs. If you buy them once, I will put a basket for you."
Su Mo:......
It's a bit like the supermarket promotion of later generations. Buy a row of eggs and get a lunch box for free. It feels so good. It seems that this aunt also knows marketing.
Su Mo returned home and put away the food. Put the pound of brown sugar I just bought into the straw basket for eggs, put 5 yuan under it, and then took it to Lu Guoping's house.
Lu Guoping's house is in the middle of the village. It only takes about eight or nine minutes to walk there. There are only three adobe houses, which look to be quite old.
Su Mo called a few times in the yard, and Long Xiumei came out soon. She was very surprised to see it was Su Mo.
"Sister-in-law, why are you here? Come inside and sit down."
Su Mo followed in. Although the house was old, it was very clean.
Long Xiumei's mother-in-law, Aunt Chuncao, was also in the house, picking up shoe soles. When she saw Su Mo coming in, she quickly got up and cleaned up.
Aunt Chuncao is very thin, with gray hair and a somewhat rounded back. Her eyes seem not to be in good shape and are always squinted.
"Is this the Long March wife?" Aunt Chuncao asked Long Xiumei.
"Yes, mother." Long Xiumei responded.
"Oh, he's so handsome. He matches Chang Zheng very well. Both of them are good-looking." Aunt Chuncao said with a smile, "Sit down quickly! Sit down quickly!"
"Xiumei, make a cup of sugar water for your sister-in-law."
Su Mo quickly stopped her, "Xiumei, there's no need to be busy."
"Yes, sister-in-law, just wait for me." Long Xiumei quickly made a cup of brown sugar water for Su Mo.
Su Mo took it, took a sip, and said with a smile: "I came over to see my aunt today. I can use these eggs to replenish my body."
"Oh, you can't help it, take it back and feed it to Master Chang Zheng." Aunt Chuncao quickly waved her hand.
"Auntie, please keep it. His father still has food to eat. It's hard work that Guoping helped me collect so much firewood, otherwise I would have no firewood in the winter."
"Hey, a little firewood is nothing. I usually take care of him during the Long March." Aunt Chuncao said.
If Lu Changzheng hadn't protected Guoping when he was a child, Guoping would have been bullied.
"Auntie, I saw you were picking up the soles of your shoes just now?" Su Mo asked.
"Yeah, that's all I have."
Aunt Chuncao's sole craftsmanship is one of the best in the brigade. People in the brigade would often ask her to help with the payment, and then give her some crafting fees. She relied on this craftsmanship to save some money and help the two of them start a family.
"They look pretty good to me." Su Mo took the soles on the side and looked at them, "Auntie, why don't you also give me two pairs?"
When the time comes, make some cotton shoes to wear.
"Okay, how many centimeters are your feet?"
"22 centimeters." Su Mo said.
Shoes at this time were measured in centimeters, unlike later generations where most used European sizes. 22 centimeters is equivalent to a shoe size of 36 in later generations.
"Should I prepare some cloth?" Su Mo asked. She had never received shoe soles before, so she didn't know much.
Aunt Chuncao waved her hand, "No, you can just come and get it in a few days."
Su Mo nodded and was still thinking about what to say when she heard a notice on the radio asking her to go to the army to pick up the package.
"Hey, Auntie, I have to go over and get something now. Then I'll come over and sit down another day."
"Okay, you go and do your work first." Aunt Chuncao said. Seeing Su Mo was about to leave, she stopped her again and said, "Long March wife, drink the sugar water first."
Su Mo smiled, picked up the sugar water, drank it in one gulp, and hurried to the brigade headquarters.
After Su Mo left, Long Xiumei took the straw basket and discovered that it contained not only eggs, but also a pack of brown sugar and 5 yuan.
Long Xiumei exclaimed, "Mom, here is a pack of brown sugar and 5 yuan."
"Both of these two have good intentions, so put them away. If they can use you in the future, you and your wife will just work hard." Aunt Chuncao was moved in her heart.
