Once inside the department store, Lu Fangfang realized that there were even more people inside; it was almost packed with people.
The commotion inside the building stunned her for a while before she came to her senses.
Having spent so much time on the grasslands, she hadn't seen so many people in a long time.
Looking around, rows of counters blocked the way between salespeople and customers, and various kinds of goods were displayed on the shelves inside the counters.
Lu Fangfang wasn't familiar with the building, so she could only drag Zhuang Mingcheng along as they strolled around and looked at things.
When they arrived at the candy stall, the two went over and bought some expensive candies that didn't require tickets.
Big cities have this advantage: they have a greater supply of goods, and there are some high-priced items that don't require ration coupons.
In small cities, you can't buy these expensive goods even if you have a ticket.
"Fangfang, do you want some apricots?"
On a counter on the first floor, there were fruits that were rarely seen in the county.
Lu Fangfang's mouth felt sour as soon as she heard the word "apricot".
However, apricots weren't expensive and didn't require a ticket, so she dragged her fiancé over and bought two jin (1 kg).
After browsing around, the two walked to the bicycle counter.
This is a rare item; even the department stores in the provincial capital only have two or three of these.
Zhuang Mingcheng touched his pocket, somewhat hesitant.
Seeing this, Lu Fangfang quickly pulled him upstairs to the second floor.
"Fangfang, don't you want the bicycle?"
"No, we already have something to ride at home."
Lu Fangfang smiled and waved her hand, directly refusing.
With a wild donkey at home, why would she need a bicycle? On the grassland, a bicycle is not as easy to ride as a wild donkey.
When she got to the second floor, she saw that the shelves on the north side were filled with rolls of fabric.
She pulled Zhuang Mingcheng along and quickly went over.
There were many women and young girls queuing up to buy and choose fabrics. Fortunately, the glass counter was wide enough, and she found a spot and squeezed in.
As for Zhuang Mingcheng, he could only stand in the back.
"Comrade, I need five feet of Dacron."
"Comrade, I want three feet."
"I want a size 3.5 feet."
"Alright, alright, one at a time, why are you all crowding?"
Lu Fangfang turned her head and looked around curiously, only to find that the people in line were all scrambling for Dacron.
She leaned closer and took the opportunity to touch it. It was made of polyester fabric, which was very smooth, had a nice pattern, and few wrinkles. However, it was a bit pricey, and she didn't really like this kind of polyester fabric.
She shook her head, walked to the counter next to her, and started looking at other things.
"Fangfang, what's wrong? Isn't it pretty? You'll definitely look good in this pattern."
Zhuang Mingcheng stepped forward, somewhat puzzled.
"It's not breathable and doesn't absorb sweat, I don't like wearing that."
Lu Fangfang chose a light pink plaid fabric.
She touched it and it felt very comfortable; it must be cotton.
She liked the color too, and she planned to cut four feet of it to make a plaid shirt.
Looking back at Zhuang Mingcheng, she estimated that to make a garment for this man, she would need at least five and a half feet of fabric.
Sigh, this guy is tall and big, but that has its downsides; he really uses up a lot of fabric when making clothes for him.
She only had eight feet of cloth ration coupons, which wasn't enough even after removing her own shirt.
Seeing Lu Fangfang looking him up and down, Zhuang Mingcheng immediately understood. He waved his hand and said, "No need. I'm in the troupe every day and can't wear any other clothes. You can buy them for yourself."
“You need to wear something underneath too. I want to buy some fabric to make you a shirt, but I don’t have enough fabric ration coupons.”
As she spoke, Lu Fangfang looked somewhat troubled.
Zhuang Mingcheng chuckled, then leaned close to his fiancée's ear and whispered:
“My shirt can be made of white cloth. When we get married, the troupe will give us sixteen feet of cloth coupons so we can buy it in the county.”
"You've come all this way to the provincial capital, so buy some nice fabric and make a dress when you get back..."
"skirt?"
Lu Fangfang looked at Zhuang Mingcheng in surprise, not expecting that this person had this hobby.
Forehead……
Zhuang Mingcheng quickly stopped talking, his face slightly flushed.
"Okay then, it's not that I don't want to buy it for you, it's just that you want to see dresses."
Lu Fangfang didn't own a dress yet, so she was quite happy to hear that.
She now regrets not registering for the marriage certificate sooner; otherwise, with the sixteen-foot cloth ration coupons she received as a subsidy, she could have bought more cloth.
On the shelves behind the counter, blue cloth, black cloth, and white cloth were the most common.
There were also some floral fabrics, but the colors were old-fashioned. The nicest fabric on the shelf was Dacron, but she didn't like non-breathable fabrics.
After thinking about it, she simply asked the salesperson to cut eight feet of light pink plaid fabric, intending to take it home and make a dress directly from it.
Summer should be summer.
Carrying the fabric, the two strolled around the second floor for a while, buying some wedding supplies.
Cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, tea...
Zhuang Mingcheng also specially bought two bottles of good wine to use at the wedding, and cigarettes were also indispensable. Although he didn't smoke, he still bought several packs.
Having finally made it to the provincial capital, the two of them, not wanting to leave with any regrets, carried a pile of things and laboriously made their way up to the third floor.
There were fewer people on the third floor, and the items sold on the counters were much more expensive, mostly electronic products like watches and radios.
Not only were they expensive, but they also all required tickets, so the two of them could only look at them and admire them from afar.
"Huh?"
Lu Fangfang's eyes lit up.
She spotted something interesting on a glass counter and quickly led Zhuang Mingcheng over.
Inside the glass display case, there were two Seagull brand cameras, covered with glass lids, indicating their rarity.
She didn't even ask the price because there were no tickets.
After watching for a while, she reluctantly left with Zhuang Mingcheng.
Back on the second floor, Lu Fangfang bought another pair of sandals.
When she was about to leave, she saw that there were salted fish for sale on the counter, and no tickets were required, so she directly asked for ten catties.
If she could carry more, she would have liked to buy more, as the opportunity to eat seafood in Northwest China is rare.
The two of them carried large and small bags, their hands full of things.
As soon as they left the department store, Lu Fangfang suddenly regretted her decision. "Mingcheng, where are we going to put all this stuff? We can't possibly take all this stuff with us, can we?"
Forehead……
Zhuang Mingcheng suddenly realized that he should have come to buy it on the last day.
With no other option, the two of them took the tram back to the military region's guesthouse.
To store her belongings, Lu Fangfang reluctantly booked a Class A single room, which cost a total of three yuan and fifty cents for three days.
As for saving money by living together, forget about it.
In the afternoon, the two took a tram and strolled around the provincial capital, and even went to try some local snacks.
Finally, the two went to see the Yellow River and climbed White Pagoda Mountain.
The provincial capital under the setting sun is truly magnificent, it's just a pity that the city walls are about to be demolished.
By the time we got back to the military guesthouse, it was already dark.
After parting ways with Zhuang Mingcheng, Lu Fangfang yawned and went back to her room to sleep.
She had a lot of fun today, but she misses the family compound a little. She wonders if Sister Shufen fed Xiaohua.
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