As I was walking, I met a man selling soda with a small refrigerator on his back.

Yu Xiangnian wanted to drink soda again, but Cheng Jingmo refused. He silently paid three cents and gave a bottle to her and Xiaojie.

The orange-flavored soda is icy and cool. It is so comfortable to drink it in this hot weather.

After drinking a bottle of soda, before they even reached the department store, they had to go to the bathroom again.

Cheng Jingmo now understood what his comrades said, that going shopping with a woman would only lead to trouble!

Fortunately, the city is not big and the Nancheng People's Hospital is not far away.

Cheng Jingmo was not in a hurry to pee, so he also urinated.

After leaving the hospital, Cheng Jingmo first went to the post office opposite the department store.

He asked the staff for a remittance form and started filling it out.

Yu Xiangnian noticed that the recipient of the payment was Cheng Huazi, which should be the name of Cheng Jingmo's father. The payment address was very long, and it was from some village or community.

Yu Xiangnian only knew that the place was a poor county in the northwest, thousands of kilometers away from the south city.

Finally, Cheng Jingmo took out thirty yuan from his pocket and handed it to the staff along with the remittance slip.

The three of them came out of the post office, and Yu Xiangnian asked, "Cheng Jingmo, do you send money home every month?"

"Um."

"Then do you still have money?"

Yu Xiangnian didn't know how much Cheng Jingmo's salary was, but a simple calculation showed that Cheng Jingmo gave her 80 yuan a month and gave 30 yuan to his family, which meant that 110 yuan was gone. He definitely didn't have much money left.

"Yes." Cheng Jingmo replied.

"How about this, you don't have to pay me every month from now on. I'll ask you for money when I run out of money, okay?"

Yu Xiangnian said this, but she would never ask others for money.

Her salary is definitely not enough for her to spend, she has to find a way to make money!

Before Cheng Jingmo could think of a response, Yu Xiangnian changed the subject, "Cheng Jingmo, your home is so far away, how often do you go back?"

“I haven’t been back.”

Yu Xiangnian was astonished. "You've been in the army for ten years, and you haven't been home once?"

"Um."

When the two of them just got married, their family sent a telegram asking him to bring his new wife back to meet his family.

But he knew that Yu Xiangnian would never go back to the remote mountain village with him, so he used the excuse that the army was too busy to refuse.

Yu Xiangnian thought that Cheng Jingmo had a bad relationship with his family, otherwise it would be unconscionable for him not to go home for ten years.

"Don't you miss your family?" she asked tactfully.

"I'm used to it."

As they were talking, they had already walked into the department store.

The store was crowded on Sunday, and every counter was packed with people buying things.

Cheng Jingmo used the food coupons to buy ten kilograms of flour, twenty kilograms of rice, and ten kilograms of cornmeal. He also used the sugar coupons to buy two kilograms of sugar and the oil coupons to buy three kilograms of sesame oil, and paid an additional seven yuan and eighty cents.

These were the wages and tickets he had just received yesterday, as well as a month's food rations.

Yu Xiangnian watched Cheng Jingmo take out three bags of food from his backpack and couldn't help asking, "Cheng Jingmo, you bought so many things right away. How are you going to go shopping later?"

Cheng Jingmo paused, "Still want to go shopping?"

He thought he came to the city to buy things. Besides, if he didn't buy now, the things would be sold out later.

Yu Xiangnian waved his hands helplessly, "Buy it, buy it."

Anyway, there aren't many other shopping malls or shopping centers in this city, so it doesn't matter whether you go shopping or not.

Cheng Jingmo was carrying these things and was dragged by Yu Xiangnian to the cloth counter.

Cheng Jingmo was stubborn and insisted on making clothes for Yu Xiangnian. He picked out the cheapest cloth, a triangle that was one meter long. But Yu Xiangnian disagreed, saying that the cloth felt rough and would definitely be uncomfortable to wear.

Yu Xiangnian bought the same cloth that Xiaojie used to make clothes, floral cloth and Dacron cloth, two meters of each.

Yu Xiangnian took out the cloth coupons Zhao Ruozhu gave her, but was stopped by Cheng Jingmo. He took out the cloth coupons he had just received yesterday and added eleven yuan and sixty cents to the money and gave it to the salesperson.

"I have some here. You can keep your cloth coupons and make clothes for yourself," he said.

Yu Xiangnian didn't force it and took back his ticket. He might need it in the future anyway.

She wanted to buy a can of malted milk for Xiaojie. Xiaojie was growing up and the family could not guarantee that there would be eggs, meat, fish and other things at every meal. She made him a cup of malted milk every morning to ensure nutrition.

But malted milk is quite expensive, eighteen yuan a can, and there are no tickets available.

Cheng Jingmo paid the money silently without asking any questions.

Yu Xiangnian bought three pounds of White Rabbit milk candy and two pounds of pastries for Xiaojie. He spent all the candy and pastry coupons and paid three yuan and sixty cents.

Finally, Yu Xiangnian's eyes fell on the two lipsticks that had just arrived at the department store.

The original owner also had lipstick, but after all, it was something you applied on your lips, so Yu Xiangnian disdained it and never used it.

She wanted to buy two more, but considering that lipstick was not cheap, costing five yuan each, she thought about it and decided to just buy one.

But I had trouble choosing the color.

There are no samples of lipsticks these days for people to try out. When I asked the salesperson about the color, they just said, "Rose red and peach red."

Yu Xiangnian imagined the difference between the two colors in his mind, but neither of them seemed very good.

The people behind him suddenly squeezed, and Cheng Jingmo's chest was pressed against Yu Xiangnian's back.

Yu Xiangnian felt a burning sensation on his back, and then he realized that there was an advisor here!

She asked Cheng Jingmo, "Cheng Jingmo, which one do you think looks better, rose-red lipstick or peach-pink lipstick?"

To prevent Cheng Jingmo from saying "They all look good," Yu Xiangnian added, "You can only choose one."

Cheng Jingmo swallowed the words "They all look good" that were about to come out of his mouth.

What does he know about lipstick?!

I could only recall in my mind what colors rose red and peach pink are. After thinking about it, I still think they both look good.

But Yu Xiangnian said he could only choose one, so he screened the colors in his mind again before saying, "Rose red."

Yu Xiangnian nodded in satisfaction and said to the salesperson, "Give me a pink one."

She fully believes in the aesthetic taste of straight men!

If a straight man like Cheng Jingmo says rose red looks good, then pink is the right choice!

Cheng Jingmo: “…”

What do you mean? Are you teasing him?

Yu Xiangnian walked out of the department store happily holding the lipstick.

As soon as I reached the store, I unscrewed the lipstick and applied it on my wrist to see the color.

This color is indeed nice. She stretched out her wrist in front of Cheng Jingmo and said, "Isn't this color nice?"

Cheng Jingmo only noticed that her wrist was white and thin, as if it would be broken with the slightest force.

At this time, Cheng Jingmo was carrying three bags of grain, a barrel of oil, and two rolled pieces of cloth, while Xiaojie was carrying lighter items such as cakes and sugar.

Yu Xiangnian took the cloth and oil from Cheng Jingmo and said, "Next time you buy these heavy things, drive here to buy them."

The thought of carrying so many things to the park entrance to wait for the bus makes me tired!

Cheng Jingmo said, "Don't carry it anymore. I can do it by myself."

Yu Xiangnian replied: "You're using child labor but you won't let me carry it. Are you trying to make me look like a scoundrel?"