Grinding to His Heart's Content

He Ting glared at Liang Xin and tossed him two packs of Economy cigarettes.

What kind of cigarettes were Lotus? Those were cadres' cigarettes!

And only someone at least as senior as the chief director of their supply and marketing cooperative could smoke them.

What did a little clerk like him have to show off about?

That wasn't how you went about exchanging favors, all right?!

Ordinary workers generally smoked Economy, and even they could only afford packaged cigarettes because they were workers.

Out in the countryside, even village chiefs generally smoked dry tobacco they rolled themselves, all right?!

He Ting had been showing Liang Xin the ropes for days, so she knew he didn't smoke.

Since he was suddenly buying cigarettes, it had to be for exchanging favors.

When it came to exchanging favors, cigarettes and liquor were unavoidable.

He Ting tossed Liang Xin two packs of Economy, and, knowing he didn't smoke, threw him a box of matches for two fen as well.

She was teaching him how to handle favors.

Giving people Economy cigarettes was exchanging favors. Giving them Lotus was showing off.

"One jiao and eight fen."

Liang Xin rubbed his nose. He could only accept it.

He dug out coins totaling one jiao and eight fen, along with two cigarette coupons and one match coupon, and gave them to He Ting.

Then he grabbed the cigarettes and matches and ran off.

Yes, never mind the cigarettes.

Even a box of matches that cost two fen required a coupon to buy!

Otherwise, they simply wouldn't sell it to you!

"Brother Li, have a smoke and take a break before you get back to work."

"And what should I call you, brother? Here, here, have a smoke first!"

Liang Xin enthusiastically handed out cigarettes to Li Haiyang and the two cart drivers.

The three had been a little displeased when they saw Liang Xin run off instead of unloading the cart.

Now that they saw him return with cigarettes, that displeasure vanished at once.

They were especially pleased when they took the cigarettes Liang Xin offered them.

They thought that although the young man had only just started work, he really knew the ropes!

If they had been familiar with the literature of later generations, they would have had to praise him: "This lad is bound for greatness!"

A kind word cost nothing. All it took was a flap of the lips!

They could toss out a whole basketful without breaking a sweat.

"Brother Li, brothers, I've got something to take care of at home, so I need to hurry back."

"You three can share this pack. Please don't hold it against me!"

Li Haiyang hurriedly said, "We won't, we won't. You should've said you had something to take care of at home! Hurry along, then! Don't waste time here!"

All three were grinning from ear to ear.

The pack had only just been opened. With one cigarette each, there were still sixteen left. Split three ways, they could each take five!

They wouldn't need to buy cigarettes today!

Saving a few fen was certainly nice.

More importantly, they'd been getting fewer cigarette coupons lately!

Sometimes, even with money in hand, they couldn't buy cigarettes!

That was only natural.

Food supplies were already starting to run short. If there was land available, of course they'd grow grain. Why grow tobacco leaves?!

So when they saw Liang Xin leave, one of the cart drivers said with a smile, "Old Li, this young fellow in your department is really something!"

"Haha, Xiao Liang really is a good one. He's a very genuine person!"

Naturally, Liang Xin didn't hear what they said about him afterward.

But he didn't need to go out of his way to eavesdrop. When he left, he had seen their faces creased with smiles, and that told him what their attitude was.

Eight fen's worth of cigarettes had let him dodge the work.

The name was spot-on. They really were economical!

Although dodging work was a little shameful, at least his body was comfortable.

He'd just have to bear a little discomfort in his heart as punishment!

Haha.

Oh dear, he felt so guilty!

He hadn't walked as far today, and he'd lain on the ox cart all the way, so he'd had some rest.

As a result, he was in much better shape today than yesterday.

Looking at it that way, he didn't absolutely have to quit this job!

In this era, everyone had a job and went to work. He'd better not stand out too much!

The key was that today's gains had been enormous.

Having seen the light, Liang Xin seemed to have found the right way to navigate this era!

Sure enough, wherever there were people, personal favors and social obligations mattered!

Of course, all of this depended on having a solid financial foundation!

If you had no money to spend on favors, what good would it do, no matter how well you spoke or how tactful you were?

Would people do your share of the work just because you were tactful and sweet-tongued?

How sweet would your tongue have to be for that? Had you smeared it with honey?!

What was he thinking?!

So it was even more important to hurry up and level up the system!

If nothing unexpected happened, his income would definitely increase after the system leveled up!

At that thought, Liang Xin ran back to the supply and marketing cooperative.

He bought two jiao's worth of fruit-flavored hard candy at one fen apiece-twenty pieces!

Why only two jiao's worth? Because there was barely any money left in his pocket.

He only had enough to buy two jiao's worth of candy.

He had topped up the system mall with all his larger bills, and once the money went in, it couldn't be taken back out.

This was his last two jiao.

"Good kid, here, have some candy."

Back at the compound, Liang Xin caught a child who was running wild and handed him a piece of candy with a beaming, auntie-like smile.

The child looked as astonished as if he'd seen a UFO.

It wasn't New Year's or any other holiday, so why was this newly arrived big brother acting crazy?

Oh, how could he say this big brother was acting crazy?

Big brother was a wonderful person!

"Thank you, Brother Liang!"

[You received ***'s gratitude and gained 3 upgrade experience points]

Hmm, not bad!

Giving Li Haiyang an egg worth four or five fen had only earned him 3 experience points.

Giving a child a piece of candy worth one fen also earned him 3 experience points.

That was so much more cost-effective!

So children really were better for grinding experience!

Was he about to become the king of the kids in the compound?

Wouldn't people laugh at him?

A grown man playing every day with a bunch of kids who peed in the dirt and made mud pies?

Oh well, as long as they were willing to give him experience.

It wasn't out of the question!