Some turned around and went back to continue shopping, buying Longjing tea and five packs of Panda cigarettes to give as gifts.
I didn't even look at the regular cakes. I bought five pounds of tin-box cookies, Sanniu cookies, and butterfly cakes. I also bought three boxes of buttercream cakes, which were a bit pricey.
It was the first time I saw an escalator in this era. Going up to the second floor, I was dazzled by the sheer variety of fabrics. The ready-made clothes were beautiful in style and quality, so it's no wonder everyone loves Shanghai clothes.
She smuggled the things in her hands into the space little by little. As people crowded into the counter, no one paid any attention to her.
Printed serge, satin, red plaid, yellow florals—I bought seven or eight different fabrics. I also bought a khaki top, some of which look like a short trench coat. And a black pure wool coat—it feels so good!
Jiang Cha picked out two Dacron shirts, the fashionable kind now. She wanted a white one with black polka dots, and for Xiao Tong, she chose a white one with small red flowers.
Dacron is only available in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the counter is so crowded that it's hard to turn around. The shoe counter sells Feiyue sneakers, Warrior canvas shoes, Lantang leather shoes, suede shoes, leather boots, etc.
I bought two pairs of Warrior shoes, one pair of Lantang leather shoes, and two pairs of fur-lined leather boots. At that time, leather shoes and boots were of such good quality that they could be worn for twenty years without losing their shape.
I went to the restroom at the mall and put everything I had in the restroom. I changed my clothes, my hair, my glasses, and a canvas bag.
I followed the crowd up to the third floor, and the entire floor was filled with bicycles, sewing machines, three or five grandfather clocks and other luxuries of that era.
I bought three flashlights for 2 yuan each, two boxes of batteries, and a Panda radio. A diamond-embellished watch cost 105 yuan, along with a watch ticket. I also bought a Rolex, all diamonds, for 560 yuan, without a ticket.
Coming downstairs, I decided to take a look around and see what I could buy. I bought some pure wool yarn and seven cashmere sweaters. These two items cost me nearly four hundred yuan, and I left the First Department Store with my packed sweaters.
I didn't expect it to be so expensive: a cashmere sweater for 42 yuan, and pure wool yarn for 16 yuan per pound. I plan to give the cashmere sweaters to Uncle Liu and his wife, Uncle Zhao, Aunt Liu, and Gou Dan'er, keep one for myself, and finally mail one to Uncle Li.
The original owner remembered that he was stationed outside and seldom came back. He paid 50 yuan of his monthly salary to Guo Li and mailed 10 yuan to Jiang Cha separately.
It has been like this for the past few years, until this time when I started working and wrote him a letter to tell him that I had a salary, and then he stopped sending money by mail.
Uncle Li was reluctant to spend money himself. In addition to sending them money by post, he also provided financial support to the orphans of other comrades every month.
After leaving No. 100 in the afternoon, I went to Shen Dacheng again. They had glutinous rice cakes, crispy candies, walnut cakes, osmanthus cakes, and gorgon fruit cakes. Outsiders came with large and small bags, and I didn't ask too many questions. I'm used to it; that's how everyone buys when they come.
Jiang Cha was secretly delighted. She didn't need an excuse anymore; now she could buy more. She had a lot of bills and even more money. This time in Shanghai, she was planning to sell a batch of live pigs.
Her pig farm, with tens of thousands of pigs, was probably out of her reach if she relied on herself for food. Slaughtering and deep processing were not possible these days.
At Chenghuang Temple, I bought five-spice beans, pear paste candy, and rice dumpling candy. For dinner, I had shengjian (a type of fried dumpling) and wontons in chicken soup.
One side is fried to a crispy golden brown, the other side is thin and chewy, sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped green onions, and the broth is rich and juicy. The puff pastry wontons are lightly filled, thinly wrapped, and served with a chicken broth base, giving them a fresh and delicious flavor. After finishing off the meal, I packed up two wontons and two shengjian (a type of fried dumpling)—this is a must-have.
After finishing her meal, she wandered the streets, searching for a possible entrance to the black market. She actually stumbled upon one, crossing a street and turning a corner, encountering an old woman with a basket and a man pushing a cart.
Jiang Cha found a secluded corner to enter the space. She first found a male colleague's black windbreaker, black pants, black sneakers with height-increasing insoles (collected and washed from the male and female dormitories), and a pair of work gloves. She covered her hair with a wig net and chose a short, gray haircut (thanks to the fashionable dorm girl).
I used double eyelid tape to create triangular eyes, smeared eyeshadow and foundation to create dark skin, and rubbed my hands with glue to create wrinkles. Seeing that no one was outside, I quickly came out and turned into the black market entrance.
It was 6:30 PM, and the black market wasn't crowded. "Buy? Sell?" he lazily asked everyone who entered. Buying was a dime, while selling was free.
"I'm here to talk to you guys. Do you have a business deal?" Jiang Cha waved at the doorman and told him to go ask. The boy didn't want to pay attention to her. It was just a small business, and he kept asking their boss for help.
But the clothes this person was wearing were very strange. They made a rustling sound when he moved. They didn't look like a raincoat or an umbrella. Such strange clothes, what if they really were selling something?
"Boss, there's an old lady outside wearing strange clothes, looking for you to do business." The boy asked the boss, took Jiang Cha into an alley, and walked around until he came to a house.
"You want to discuss business with me? How big is the business? Let me tell you." The man sitting there should be the boss. Apart from those eyes that stare at people with an oppressive feeling, he is just an ordinary person who can't be found in a crowd.
"Well, there's something. I wonder if you guys can eat it." Jiang Cha said with some effort, inadvertently revealing a bit of the ending tone of his Northeastern dialect.
"Come on, what's the deal? Don't beat around the bush." The boss glared at her. "500 pigs, can you eat them all?" he asked with a smile. He had to laugh because his eyelids were sticky and painful, and laughing made it less painful.
He stood up and stared at the woman. She was definitely not that old, so he didn't care about her disguise.
He heard there were 500 live pigs, what a big deal! He immediately poured water for the ginger tea and asked, "What's the price?" What price? The black market has been driving it up to 1.8 yuan per catty. It's 2 yuan without a meat ticket. There's no stock.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
