They finished their meal at 7:10 in the morning. Juan went to drive the car over, while Xuemei and Han Chen went back to the house to get the things they needed. Xuemei carried a cross-body backpack, and Han Chen carried two cloth bags.

It was exactly 7:30 when Juan drove Xuemei and Han Chen to the Wu family's yard in his jeep. Lin Ziying's family of four came out with bags, large and small, followed by Aunt Wu, who was helping with the luggage.

Han Chen and Xuemei got out of the car and said hello to Aunt Wu, then helped Lin Ziying and his wife load their things into the car. After Lin Ziying's family of four said goodbye to Aunt Wu, they got in the car and left.

Wu Jiaan sat in the passenger seat, Lin Ziying held her daughter and sat in the back with Han Chen and Xuemei, while Wu Bai was held in Xuemei's arms. Wu Bai was a very easy child to take care of. He didn't recognize anyone and anyone could hold him as long as his mother was next to him.

Wu Jiaan and his wife bought military tickets for their train and bought two sleeper tickets, which made it convenient for them to take their children with them on the road. It usually takes two days and one night to travel from Beijing to Liaoning Province.

The train departs at nine o'clock. The sleeper cars are in the front two cars of the train. You don't have to squeeze with many people when getting on the train. The door of the first car will be specially opened.

It was exactly 8:30 when Xuemei and her group arrived at the train platform. The train had already started checking tickets and boarding. Han Chen and Hu An helped Wu Jiaan and his wife carry their things and entered the train carriage with them. After about ten minutes, the two got off the train.

As soon as Juan came over, he said, "Xuemei, Xiaochen said you guys need to buy return train tickets today. Give me your ID and other things, and I'll take you there to see if we can get sleeper tickets!"

Xuemei nodded and took out their identification documents and letters of introduction from her schoolbag and gave them to Juan. Juan took them to the ticket office at the train station and lined up with the others. When it was Juan's turn, he took out his military officer ID and prepared to buy military dependents' tickets for them.

The ticket seller agreed, and Juan specifically asked Xuemei. In the end, they bought tickets for the nearest train at 5 pm on the tenth day of the first lunar month, which had unsold tickets. The remaining two sleeper tickets were both upper berths, but Han Chen and Xuemei were already very satisfied.

Although sleeper tickets were twice as expensive as hard seat tickets, Xuemei spent 28.86 yuan on these two train tickets. But she felt it was worth it. She had sat in hard seats for two days and two nights on the way here, and to this day her shoulders and buttocks were still uncomfortable. Sitting in hard seats for such a long time was really unbearable.

Hu An handed the ticket to Xuemei, who thanked him, "Thank you, Uncle Hu! I owe you so much to you today!"

"It's just a small favor for me. If the chief hadn't reminded me this morning to use my officer ID to buy tickets for you, I wouldn't have thought of it at all. You should go home and thank your grandfather!" Juan scratched his head embarrassedly.

Xuemei smiled and said, "Thank you all, you are all thinking about me and Han Chen!"

After leaving the train station, Juan dropped Xuemei and Han Chen off at the entrance of the Friendship Store and went back to the Lin family to pick up Lin Songguo. Lin Songguo had to go to the army for a meeting at noon today.

Xuemei looked at the three-story building in front of her. The big wooden sign of Friendship Store was hung between the first and second floors. The building covered an area of ​​at least one acre. Juan said that the first floor was for selling goods, the second floor was for dining, and the third floor was for accommodation.

On the way, Juan also mentioned that the Friendship Store was different from ordinary department stores. It only existed a few years ago, in the 1960s. At that time, the newly established Beijing Friendship Store added a special function: serving foreign guests. This function made the Friendship Store very special.

It is called "special" firstly because the store was originally only open to foreign guests; secondly, the things it sells are not available on the market, and many of the goods were "specially supplied" at the time.

Canned food from Shanghai Meilin, western pastries from Tianjin Qishilin, double-sided embroidery from Suzhou, brocade from Hangzhou, cashmere sweaters from Beijing Xuelian, bicycles and watches coveted by Chinese people... and imported home appliances, whiskey, Marlboro, etc. are all exclusively sold here.

In recent years, Friendship Stores have also appeared in major cities such as Haishi and Jinshi. However, due to changes in the national situation in 1966, Friendship Stores are now used more to serve senior officials, in addition to occasional receptions for foreign guests. Officials and military officers with money and tickets usually go there to buy special supplies, but they do not have the privilege of eating and staying at the Friendship Stores.

The Friendship Store now has this slogan: "We want the best products on the market; we must have the products that are in short supply; and we must also have the latest foreign fashions!"

Friendship Stores now offer high-end imported consumer goods such as foreign liquor, cigarettes, chocolate, and Coca-Cola; high-quality domestic export goods, including Moutai liquor, Zhonghua cigarettes, Forever bicycles, and silk cheongsams; and scarce or in-demand items such as color televisions and refrigerators. These products are tailored to meet specific customer needs. Furthermore, sales at Friendship Stores are restricted by foreign exchange and various exchange coupons. It can be said that Friendship Stores are now synonymous with "imported" and "high-end."

Xuemei looked at the twenty-meter-long building in front of her and couldn't help but exclaimed, "This Friendship Store is really magnificent!"

Han Chen said: "Before going to the countryside, Hongzhi and I followed my elder brother here. I have never seen many things here before. There are many scarce products that are not available outside.

Furthermore, all salespeople, regardless of gender, are required to speak at least one foreign language, especially English and Russian, in order to meet the needs of the Friendship Store’s main customer base.”

"They are really amazing!" Xuemei praised sincerely.

"Then let's go in! First, take out the foreign exchange coupons that my sister-in-law gave us. The salesperson at the Friendship Store counter will have to see that we have the tickets before letting us in!" Han Chen explained.

"Do we have to use foreign exchange coupons to buy things there? We only have 20 yuan worth of foreign exchange coupons given by my sister-in-law!" Xuemei looked at Han Chen and asked.

Feng Ru and his wife gave Xuemei and Han Chen a ten-yuan and two five-yuan foreign exchange coupons, a total of twenty yuan. However, Xuemei heard from Han Chen that these twenty-yuan foreign exchange coupons would require at least thirty yuan in RMB to be exchanged.

"The last time I came here with my elder brother, we could only enter with foreign exchange coupons. However, there are some things inside that can be paid with cash, but they are very expensive, more expensive than the cash used for exchange. Let's go and take a look first. Maybe we can't use up all the foreign exchange coupons that elder sister-in-law gave us?" Han Chen replied.

How could twenty yuan in foreign exchange coupons never be used up! Xuemei would be dazzled by the things on display later and would think she didn't have enough money. Han Chen just wanted to comfort his wife, who was a little nervous and curious.