For the next few days, Ding Yun diligently gathered pig feed and traded candy with other children for more, maintaining her top position in pig feed gathering.
In contrast, the village head and the educated youths and villagers who had arranged to buy various daily necessities from Ding Yun were more anxious.
It wasn't that they were worried about Ding Yun running away, as they hadn't paid yet, so they wouldn't lose anything if she did.
How to describe it?
It was akin to the anxiety of waiting for a package in the future.
While waiting for a package, one could check their phone for tracking information, see its current location, and estimate its arrival time. As long as it was moving and not stuck somewhere, it would alleviate some anxiety.
But now, there was no tracking information, and Ding Yun certainly couldn't tell them the whereabouts of their packages every day.
Furthermore, they felt too embarrassed to ask Ding Yun every day or to urge her to check with the post office.
This naturally led to some anxiety and impatience.
However, Ding Yun couldn't do anything about this situation. Although she could produce the items now, if she did, she wouldn't have a plausible reason.
For her own safety,
She could only let them wait impatiently.
As the days counted down to the seventh day, especially when Ding Yun asked the village head for half a day off to check at the post office, the village head was even more anxious than Ding Yun and quickly urged her to go and see.
When others saw Ding Yun riding away on her tricycle,
Most of them naturally assumed she was going to the county town to pick up goods, and they were overjoyed, their work ethic improving significantly. Some who hadn't figured it out were also quite happy after asking the village head.
In just a short while, the mood of most people in the village had changed, becoming more positive and cheerful.
If Ding Yun returned empty-handed,
They would likely experience the emptiness of false joy, and their emotions would inevitably undergo a significant reversal.
Fortunately, Ding Yun didn't have to wait for a package, so she wasn't worried about delivery speed or punctuality. After arriving in the county town, she browsed around for a bit, then went to the post office and mailed some items to her mother.
At the same time, she bought more of the post office's special packaging.
Then she rode her small tricycle back.
Of course, she didn't go directly back to Dawang Village. Instead, on the way back, she found a secluded, deserted place and began to buy the promised items from the expiring inventory network.
And she used the post office packaging to pack those items.
After she had packed all the items she had planned to bring back this time, she rode her small tricycle again.
Humming a little song, she happily returned to Dawang Village.
The reception she received upon entering the village this time was like a reenactment of when she first arrived. As soon as everyone saw that she wasn't returning empty-handed but with her cart full, they all excitedly dropped their work and gathered around.
Village Head Wang, while eager for them to return to work immediately, was also curious whether the items Ding Yun had promised to exchange with him had arrived. So, he decided to turn a blind eye, as if he hadn't seen it, and also gathered around, asking expectantly:
"Did the things I wanted arrive?"
At the same time, everyone else asked.
Asking if the things they wanted had arrived.
"Stop, stop, stop, everyone be quiet for a moment. I haven't unpacked the items yet, so how would I know what arrived?
But there should be quite a bit.
Why don't you go back to your work first? Go to my house after work, and they should be sorted by then. Remember to bring the dried vegetables then!
And Zhu Ge, if your things have arrived, I'll deliver them directly later. You can all disperse!"
The items were all well-packaged, and there was no list, so Ding Yun couldn't directly say that everything had arrived. Thus, she could only say this to make them disperse, and she specifically told the leader of the educated youth group that she would deliver their items directly.
After all, the educated youth didn't exchange dried vegetables for their items.
The items they exchanged for were more than what the villagers exchanged for.
It was better to deliver them directly for the exchange.
Since Ding Yun had said so, everyone naturally wouldn't force the distribution of goods in the middle of the road. At this time, the village head also appeared, shouting about whether they didn't want their work points or something similar, and only then did he drive the onlookers back.
Then he asked Ding Yun in a low voice:
"My things haven't arrived yet, have they? Looking at your cart, there don't seem to be any big items..."
"The television, bicycle, and sewing machine haven't arrived yet, but the watches have. Wait a moment. Your watch is quite valuable, so I didn't put it at the back. It's in my bag. I'll give it to you now, and we can inspect the goods!"
With that said, Ding Yun directly took out a package from her bag that was exceptionally well-wrapped, layered with three layers outside and three layers inside, and padded with soft material like sponge.
And opened it in front of the village head.
Revealing five watches inside.
Three were men's watches and two were women's watches. They were all relatively stylish and good-looking items, completely intact, not a single one missing.
"Oh my god, these are good things!"
Upon seeing the packaging and the appearance of the watches, Village Head Wang immediately felt it was worth it, extremely worth it. While exclaiming, he carefully put one on, and in his heart, he vaguely felt that these were not leftover goods that couldn't be sold from some inventory.
They looked even newer and more beautiful than the ones he had seen in the department store. Perhaps the other party, out of consideration for him being the village head, had deliberately quoted a low price and misrepresented the goods, hoping for his support.
With such generosity, how could he not show some support?
The more he looked, the happier he became, and the more pleasing Ding Yun appeared in his eyes. If he didn't have any sons of appropriate age at home, he would even consider selling his son to her or having him marry into her family, it would be that worthwhile.
"Well, Village Head, you take a look first. I still have to go back and sort out some things, so I'll be leaving now. Goodbye!"
Ding Yun had things to do and no time to stand there smiling foolishly with the village head, so she called out and immediately rode her tricycle away, heading back to her current residence.
With the delivery of the five watches,
This house was now one-third completely hers. The remaining two-thirds would be settled in a couple of days.
Next, Ding Yun naturally went back to unpack the packages, store the packaging, and organize the items. An hour later, a large group of villagers arrived as expected, and she exchanged goods with them according to their prior agreement.
As for the result,
The result was that several boxes of soap and detergent were exchanged for a pile of dried vegetables that filled more than half the room, estimated to be three to five hundred jin. It couldn't be helped; although each family only contributed three to five jin, one hundred families would contribute three to five hundred jin. This was the accumulation of small amounts into a large sum, like gathering sand into a pagoda.
With so many dried vegetables, if she ate them as her main meals, she would probably need half a year to consume them, after all, these were dried vegetables!
They would expand when soaked in water.
Indeed, she would have to ask her own mother, grandmother, grandfather, and uncles to share some, otherwise, even if they rotted, she wouldn't be able to finish them all.
But the shipping costs for so many dried vegetables would also be considerable.
Thinking about it made her heart ache.
If this happened ten more times, she might have to find a way to sell something in the black market to earn the shipping fees.
After storing the dried vegetables, Ding Yun then took the remaining items to the educated youth point to hand them over to the educated youths, and in exchange, she received some stamps, books, or money from them.
Although she didn't get all of it in cash,
At least she saw some return on her money.
It was better than constantly spending her own savings.