When Xie Yuyao left the movie theater, she looked at Zhao Honghui's expression, but the man was not one to show his emotions, and she couldn't tell anything from him.
"Go straight back, or spend the night at the guesthouse?" Zhao Honghui turned and asked.
Xie Yuyao frowned: "No letter of introduction was provided."
"Yes, I have a letter of introduction from my work unit. I'll get yours from the brigade leader too."
Having developed a cautious habit during his years of military service, Zhao Honghui always carried a letter of introduction with him whenever he left the Red Flag Commune.
This time, he went to the county town with Yao Yao. He asked the brigade leader to prepare Yao Yao's share of the trip before setting off, just in case something happened and he was stranded in the county town.
If he were alone, he could stay overnight at Ye Xingchang's place. But since Yao Yao is with him, he won't bother her.
Seeing that he had a letter of introduction, Xie Yuyao suggested, "We still need to go to the department store, and we might miss the last bus. Let's spend the night in the county town; I've never seen the county town at night before."
The two went to the post office first and called Qingshantun, asking the brigade leader who answered to inform Zhao Laoda and Yang Shumei that they would not be returning tonight.
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Honghui contacted the transportation team and asked Huizi to drive to the county hospital the next morning to pick up Yu Wenbo and take him back to Qingshantun.
He originally planned to drive himself, but since he would have to stay overnight in the county town, he had to ask Hui Zi for help again.
After leaving the post office, Xie Yuyao looked up at the sky. "Let's go to the department store first. Your little sister asked me to inquire about defective yarn."
“Perfect timing. I haven’t bought her the face cream I promised last time.” Zhao Honghui’s eyes held a hint of inquiry. “I’d like to buy my little sister some genuine yarn as a reward. She’s a sanitation worker now, so she should dress more presentably.”
Seeing his cautious look, Xie Yuyao laughed, "It's your money, buy whatever you want, why are you asking me?"
"You can't say that. All my money is yours anyway, so of course I need your permission," Zhao Honghui said matter-of-factly.
"Alright, I agree then." Xie Yuyao giggled. Why are men so irresistible!
Perhaps it was because it was nearing evening, but the department store was rather deserted. Xie Yuyao and her companion found the section selling fabrics and ready-made clothing, where a middle-aged woman was sitting on a stool behind the counter, sewing shoe soles.
"Comrade, do you sell yarn?" Xie Yuyao asked.
The saleswoman glanced up at Xie Yuyao and continued sewing shoe soles: "They were all snapped up as soon as they arrived. You can only buy them in the city."
A department store in a county town didn't even have enough yarn!
Xie Yuyao truly felt what it meant to have a shortage of supplies, but something was wrong; she had bought quite a few defective items last time!
"Comrade, do you have any flawed yarn?"
The sales clerk said impatiently, "No!"
Zhao Honghui's face darkened, and he asked, "Comrade, is Manager Sun here?"
"He went out on business. Do you know our manager?" The saleswoman put down the shoe sole, stood up, and her attitude improved considerably.
The man was dressed plainly, yet he could accurately pronounce the manager's surname. The girl beside him was also dressed exquisitely and beautifully; she might be an acquaintance of Manager Sun.
Zhao Honghui nodded, then asked Xie Yuyao, "How about we go to the city tomorrow to take a look?"
"But I have things to do tomorrow, so why don't we just buy ready-made clothes?"
I need to go back tomorrow to prepare the braising liquid and officially start making braised dishes. It's not worth going to the city just for a few pounds of yarn.
"Alright."
The two looked up at the sample garments hanging on the wall. Xie Yuyao had high standards and took a fancy to a beautiful cashmere sweater, which was warmer than a wool sweater and was also much more expensive.
After picking out Zhao Hongqin's clothes, Xie Yuyao pointed to a men's outfit: "Let me see that men's one too."
The sales clerk politely found the one she had chosen and handed it to Xie Yuyao.
Xie Yuyao held up the fleece sweater and held it up against Zhao Honghui to check it out, but Zhao Honghui didn't move. "Yaoyao, I have enough clothes to wear, so there's no need to buy any more."
"Out with the old, in with the new; what needs to be eliminated should be eliminated." Xie Yuyao said casually, then turned to the sales clerk and said, "I'll take this one, and show me that cardigan style too."
In the end, Xie Yuyao, disregarding Zhao Honghui's objections, asked for three cashmere sweaters: two men's and one women's. Zhao Honghui, in turn, also took the women's cashmere sweater he had previously chosen.
In this day and age, ordinary people usually use cloth coupons to buy cloth or yarn and make their own clothes at home. Very few people buy ready-made clothes, but because cloth coupons are no longer required, the prices are much higher than making clothes themselves.
There weren't many styles of ready-made clothes for sale, and Xie Yuyao didn't really like them, but they were the most fashionable trend at the time, so she had no choice but to go with the flow and pick the best from the worst.
After choosing her clothes, Xie Yuyao started looking at other garments.
It was early November, and winter was fast approaching. After thinking for a moment, she bought herself and Zhao Honghui each a pair of Liberation brand leather shoes with fleece lining.
It has to be said that the leather of that era was really good; a pair of leather shoes could last for several years without breaking.
When it came time to pay, Zhao Honghui emptied his pockets, and Xie Yuyao made up the difference if he didn't have enough money.
After Xie Yuyao finished collecting the money, she counted out five large bills and stuffed them into Zhao Honghui's wallet. "Here, this is your allowance for this month."
Zhao Honghui was both amused and exasperated; this allowance was more than his salary, but he was very happy.
Some time ago, he handed his bankbook and money notes to Yao Yao, but she refused them, saying they weren't married yet. Now she's saying it's pocket money, so I guess she's willing to take over his money!
Thinking of this, Zhao Honghui felt a surge of excitement and didn't care about the complicated look in the eyes of the saleswoman across from him. "Yaoyao, I'll give you the passbook when we get back."
"Alright then." Xie Yuyao didn't refuse again. Anyway, this day would come sooner or later. She was used to spending money on things, and combining the two would be more considerate of his self-esteem.
She saw it last time; there were eight hundred yuan in the savings account, which was a huge sum of money back then.
The middle-aged woman was so shocked by what she saw that she was speechless.
The man didn't hand over his bankbook, but the woman gave him a large amount of pocket money. What kind of bizarre couple is this?
That's right, they're a married couple. She would never have imagined that an unmarried girl would give her boyfriend such a large amount of pocket money.
It's important to know that in modern marriages and families, men generally hand over their salaries to their wives for safekeeping, while they themselves receive a monthly allowance.
The pocket money was usually just a few cents. If a wife could give her a few dollars, that was considered very generous. She had never seen a sum of tens of dollars!
Carrying sweaters and shoes, the two strolled around. Zhao Honghui wanted to buy two boxes of face cream, one for Yao Yao and one for his younger sister.
“My skin is fine, I don’t need this.” Xie Yuyao refused. She had a lot of skincare products in her space, which were much better than the cold cream.
Zhao Honghui said, "Winter is cold and dry, and skin is prone to cracking. You need to use skin care products such as cold cream or glycerin to moisturize."
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