Yu Yin slept soundly after a sleepless night.

I've been on the train for several days, my feet never feel solid ground, and I'm too scared to sleep soundly. I'm so tired.

"That felt so good, I had a good night's sleep."

"Me too. I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, reached out and touched something, and was shocked. Where was the child? After a while, I calmed down and realized that this was a guesthouse, not on a train."

"hehe……"

The two looked at each other and smiled; what a heart this old father had.

"My second sister and her family have to go to work today, so the four of us are going to go for a walk in the street."

"Okay, let's experience different regional customs with peace and safety."

As they were talking, An'an woke up.

"Mommy, I need to pee."

"Okay, Mom will take you."

Yu Yin quickly dressed An An and carried her to the bathroom.

"I'm done peeing, Mom."

Yu Yin carried An An back to the room. Ping Ping also woke up. Lu Shurui dressed him and was about to go to the toilet.

Bathed in the morning sunlight, the family of four got ready and went to have breakfast.

"Mom, it's cold."

"Mom, this is different from where we live."

I'm dressed warmly and safely, but I don't really like it. It feels restrictive and uncomfortable.

"Let's go to the state-run restaurant and have a good meal."

"Let's eat out!"

The two little ones immediately got motivated and ran forward with great joy.

Lu Shurui hurriedly followed, hoping he wouldn't fall or get bumped...

This is a different Shanghai Stock Exchange; it's a Shanghai Stock Exchange that has never appeared on television or in videos.

Pedestrians passing by rode their old-fashioned bicycles, ringing their bells all the way, their cheerful figures comparable to those of people driving BMWs in later generations, full of pride.

There were also women carrying cloth bags, squeezing onto the tram, their two braids either hanging down in front of their chests or coiled behind their heads. After getting off the tram, they might have to comb their hair again...

On a morning brimming with life, people striving to live their lives, though in a hurry, are full of hope, free from the pressure, helplessness, and numbness of the future.

"Mom, hurry up!"

"They're here."

Yu Yin quickened her pace and caught up with the three men ahead of her, and together they entered the state-run restaurant.

In the 1970s, breakfast in Shanghai had the "Four Heavenly Kings": savory soy milk, flatbread, fried dough sticks, and glutinous rice cakes.

The flatbread is actually a type of baked flatbread, and although it's called "big," it's not actually that big. Unlike other places where flatbread is eaten, people in Shanghai often combine flatbread with fried dough sticks.

The most traditional way to eat it is with two large flatbreads and a fried dough stick in the middle.

However, eating like this is too extravagant. Two large pancakes cost 6 cents, and a fried dough stick costs 4 cents. It would cost 10 cents in total, and not many people would be willing to spend that much.

Most people would fold a large flatbread in half, wrap a fried dough stick inside, and eat it this way, which is considered a decent breakfast.

Cifan cake is also a type of fried food. It is rectangular and about three or four centimeters thick. The outer layer is golden, and the inner layer is snow-white, soft, and sticky rice. It has a crispy, salty, and savory taste.

Legend has it that it was first created by Wu Zixu during the Spring and Autumn Period, but whether this is true or not is impossible to verify.

A piece of glutinous rice cake costs 4 cents. Eating a piece of glutinous rice cake with salty soy milk is a wonderful treat.

Under Lu Shurui's guidance, Yu Yinniang and her two companions also tried eating fried dough sticks sandwiched in flatbread. They took a bite and found it quite delicious. Then they sipped the savory soy milk; the rich soy flavor and authentic ingredients made it a truly satisfying experience.

After breakfast, the family of four was filled with happiness and moved on to their next goal!

We won't go to parks or zoos; we'll never lack plants or animals back home.

"Mom, let's go to the commune."

Where to?

"Then buy delicious food and pretty clothes."

This means going to the supply and marketing cooperative, but it wasn't clearly stated.

Yu Yin and Lu Shurui took their two children to the department store, which was much bigger than their local supply and marketing cooperative, with several floors!

Wow, it's so high!

"It's bigger than the ones in our area."

An'an and Pingping gave their summary, then pulled their parents to go inside, showing no fear of strangers.

The first floor is a small general store, the second floor is clothing, the third floor is furniture, and the fourth floor is bicycles, sewing machines, and other large items.

After looking around, An'an wasn't interested in the third and fourth floors; she wanted to look at pretty clothes and hair accessories. Pingping, on the other hand, preferred books, and the two of them lingered in the stationery section, flipping through their favorite books.

Yu Yin took An An downstairs to look at clothes, and they each found something they liked.

"Mom, I want pretty flowers."

"Okay, you can only choose two. You pick one yourself."

Once Yu Yin set the rules, she would let An An make her own choices and would no longer influence her decisions.

An'an started looking at them slowly on her own. They were all inside the glass display case, and she could see them clearly from the outside.

Yu Yin believes that children should have their own opinions, and parents do not need to make decisions in everything. As long as they grasp the general direction, do not overstep the boundaries, and adhere to the bottom line, they can be more lenient in other aspects and should not suppress the child's nature.

Raising a child was a first for Yu Yin as well. Lacking experience, she had to learn by trial and error. Fortunately, she had read and heard many parenting guides in her previous life, which she could refer to and combine with her own experience to gradually learn how to be a parent.

"Mom, I've chosen, I want these two."

Yu Yin glanced at it and thought, "This aesthetic is just awful. A bright red and a bright purple. Fine, whatever makes you happy."

"Okay, Mom will pay."

Is it because my aesthetic sense is different? These two gaudy colors are actually more expensive than the others. Well, these days, bright colors are rare, so everyone especially likes these bright reds and purples.

After paying, Lu Shurui led Pingping over, and unsurprisingly, they chose books as well.

Have you made your choices?

“Pingping chose them all herself. I checked and there are none at home.”

After leaving the department store, we went to a nearby park to see how it differed from the one in Yunnan Province.

Children don't distinguish between different types of plants; they're more interested in whether there's anything fun to be found.

This park is nice. It has a playground for kids with rocking horses, slides, seesaws, swings... We have these at home too, but kids never seem to get enough of them. After playing with the two little ones for half a day, we were tired and hungry, so we decided to go eat.

When you come to Shanghai, how can you not eat seafood?

Lu Shurui took them to a state-run restaurant that specialized in seafood, where they were determined to have a hearty meal.

There were yellow croaker, crabs, and sea bass, as well as some other fish she didn't recognize. These were all wild, and their flavor was incomparable to anything farmed in later generations. Yu Yin was truly satisfied this time; the food was incredibly fresh.

Using the simplest seasonings to create the most original flavors—that's true craftsmanship!

The mother and her two children were so full that they staggered out like three penguins.

Lu Shurui was focused on showing them around, but Yu Yin was distracted by finding a black market. She wanted to sell her supplies all at once, even if she earned less, it was a safe bet.

The four of them spent the day sightseeing, and in the evening they went to visit Sister Lu's house, so they had to go back to get some things.

Yu Yin prepared the most and most complete things for Lu Erjie, big and small, odd and ends, unlike the elaborate preparations she made for Lu's mother, but all of them were prepared with care!