Chapter 72: Buying spree
The next day, Wen Jiajia got up at six o'clock, had a quick breakfast, and went straight to the New World Department Store.
At this moment, the new world looks quite impressive.
From the outside, New World is four stories high. Once you enter, you will be stunned by the dazzling array of goods.
Wen Jiajia was standing in front of a counter selling daily necessities at the moment, with a thermos on the counter.
What kind of thermos is this? It's a thermos with a pink and blue plastic shell! It's almost the same as the ones on the market a few decades later. Wen Jiajia's mouth opened slightly in surprise.
What about the cabinet at the back? There are thermos bottles with red iron shells, which Wen Jiajia often sees on TV. There are also thermos bottles with pandas playing, which are very delicate in Chinese painting style. Next to them are enamel basins and spittoons with red flowers and green leaves printed on them, which are neatly arranged, and there are at least a hundred of them.
"Hello, comrade. How much is the thermos?" Wen Jiajia asked when she came to the counter.
Before the salesperson answered her, the person next to her said, "The iron one is 6.5 yuan plus two industrial coupons, and the plastic one is 7.5 yuan plus two industrial coupons."
It turns out that plastic ones are even more expensive!
It's normal to think about it. Plastic is in short supply at this time, even plastic bags are rare.
The person next to him said enthusiastically: "Miss, this is your first time here, let me teach you, look under the products, there are price tags under the products."
Wen Jiajia smiled and said, "That's true. Thank you, big sister."
"Oh, it's okay! Let's help each other."
As he spoke, he made way for Wen Jiajia to take a closer look at the plastic thermos. He even taught Wen Jiajia how to choose a good thermos.
"Girls, do this. Open the bottle stopper, put the bottle mouth to your ear, and then flick the bottle. A good thermos bottle will make a thick, muffled sound when it flicks."
Wen Jiajia was surprised: "Is there such a saying?"
"Yes, you young people have to learn a little bit, so as not to buy bad goods."
The salesperson was unhappy and said, "Sister, we won't sell the bad goods." The bad goods were all in the warehouse, and their internal employees were scrambling for them, so how could they be willing to sell them?
The eldest sister laughed twice and passed it off.
Wen Jiajia took a look and finally gave up the purchase.
I really want it, because it won't break even after ten years. But the journey is long, and I'm afraid it will get squeezed on the train.
Wen Jiajia stepped out and immediately saw the bowl.
The bowls were piled up one after another, filling up the room. When she was done, she saw that she couldn't move again.
Unlike the earthen bowls in the countryside today, the bowls here are almost as exquisite as the bowls sold on the market a few decades later.
The inside of the bowl is white glaze, without any other color.
But there were brightly coloured flowers on the wall of the bowl, outlined in great detail. Wen Jiajia judged with her limited knowledge of painting that the painter must have had some skills.
Even the inferior bowl next to it has some elegance in its pattern.
Wen Jiajia looked at it again and again... Alas, it is still not easy to carry it with her, otherwise she would have to prepare two sets for the home.
She loves collecting beautiful bowls, and always brings back six sets of bowls every time she goes to Jingdezhen.
Wen Jiajia endured the heartache and left again, thinking: Next time, next time I will definitely take you home.
She wants to buy a house here and put ten sets of bowls in one house!
Then I came to the clothes and shoes counter.
The clothes were ready-made, and Wen Jiajia knew that it was time for her to take action.
Wen Jiajia took out the shopping plan she had written last night from her pocket and said to the salesperson in the clothing section, "Comrade, please take down that gray-white coat and let me see it, and that army green shirt... yes, the small ones, take two."
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan insisted on wearing military uniforms. They were envious of seeing people wearing military uniforms every day in the army, so Wen Jiajia had to buy two sets of uniforms to fool them.
"...Give me one of the pink floral dress and one of the blue floral dress, as well as the black Mao suit, and oh, and the yellow coat..."
Wen Jiajia listed several pieces of clothing in one breath as if she was buying cabbages.
But people around her didn't think it was strange, because she was obviously from another place, and it was very common for people from other places to buy things like this!
The salesperson was also not surprised. He took down the clothes one by one and even helped her choose the size.
Wen Jiajia doesn't know how to choose sizes. She just needs to tell the salesperson roughly her height and body shape, and the salesperson will pick out the right size.
Anyway...if it's not right, she can just change it. Who doesn't know how to alter clothes? Even Wei Dai is better at altering clothes than her.
After selecting, Wen Jiajia carefully checked the stitches again. Although the ready-made clothes were expensive, the fabric was really good and the stitches were really dense.
Wen Jiajia: "Comrades, please help me wrap it up."
"Both?"
Wen Jiajia nodded and said, "I'll pay first, and then I'll let you go. I still have to continue shopping."
"Okay, just come get it when you leave."
Wen Jiajia took out the bill with great difficulty, and then spent another three minutes to pay the bill.
She was so idle that she used cotton and synthetic cotton fabrics to exchange for cotton coupons at home. Now she used the cotton coupons to buy ready-made clothes and brought them home from thousands of miles away...
I always feel like there's something wrong.
The next stop is the shoe cabinet next to it.
There are shoes to buy, all of which are Huili sports shoes. The styles look quite novel now, and some of them will not be too outdated even after a few decades.
Wen Jiajia bought two pairs for herself and Wei Dai bought two pairs. They both wear out shoes quite well, especially Wei Dai, who wears out a pair of shoes almost every year.
Fortunately, the army provided him with shoes, otherwise the cost of his shoes alone would have been a considerable expense for his family.
Two sisters, one pair each.
Then I bought some for Lanlan and the others. Lanlan specifically asked for white sneakers with red ticks.
Wen Jiajia thought about it and decided to buy a pair for Wei Xiaomei and Wei Wenzhu in her hometown.
My younger sister sent me a package a while ago, which contained this year's new rice and some mountain dried goods, such as dried fungus, dried bamboo fungus, pickled rice fish and wine lees.
I don’t know what gift to give back to my family, so I’ll just buy a pair of shoes and see if I can buy a bottle of Pechoin, which seems like a good idea.
I can buy shoes for my younger sister and Wenzhu, but what about my elder sister-in-law... forget it. Wen Jiajia took another pair of shoes.
At the beginning of the year, I heard that Wei Dai's mother was ill, so she and Wei Dai did not go home. It was her sister-in-law who took care of her. So because of this, I had to buy her a pair of shoes to thank her.
This person bought, that person bought, and finally, they bought several pairs of shoes. The industrial coupons that Wen Jiajia had saved and exchanged for others were almost gone.
Wen Jiajia didn't dare to stay any longer and left quickly.
Still having some fabric in hand, Wen Jiajia went to the fabric counter to buy some.
I didn't buy cotton cloth, I bought polyester cloth.
It is called decron abroad and dacron in China.
Dacron is really popular nowadays. It is light and cool and is very suitable for making shirts. In my hometown, if you have a piece of Dacron, it is something worth showing off. When you walk on the street, you will attract people to look back.
Moreover, Dacron comes in many bright colors, which really stands out among the black, blue and green water.
When the wind blows, the dacron shirts flutter in the wind, and the girls look really beautiful in them.
Even Wen Jiajia, after wearing coarse cloth for half a year and cotton cloth for more than a year, had little resistance to Dacron.
So she bought enough fabric to make seven or eight Dacron garments, but she only kept enough for two pieces for herself and gave the rest to others.
The last thing to buy is food.
The most common candy here is White Rabbit milk candy. Wen Jiajia weighed three kilograms of it in one breath, and also weighed two kilograms of chocolate-flavored milk candy.
Then there were butterfly crisps, mung bean cakes and other pastries. In addition, I also bought two bottles of wine and two packs of cigarettes.
Finally, buy soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, hairpin, flower and other miscellaneous items.
When she went out, she carried her things on her back.
Clothes, shoes and fabrics were on her back, just like when she was returning home from collecting pig grass in the mountains.
Wen Jiajia still felt that it was not enough, so she bought more than a pound of smoked fish and a portion of pickled duck from the state-owned hotel at the nearby intersection.
When she was leaving in the afternoon, she had to go to the hotel next to the guesthouse to buy two fried buns.
It was already noon when we finally got back to the guesthouse.
Liang Mu also went out to buy something, and Wen Jiajia asked him, "Where is Director Gao?"
"We went to her teacher's house for dinner." Liang Mu said, "Director Gao asked us to wait at the guesthouse after dinner."
Wen Jiajia nodded. Today is Sunday and the teacher is also off.
Then I asked him, "Have you finished your meal?"
Liang Mu nodded and smacked his lips, as if he was reminiscing or enjoying something. He said, "I had a bowl of crab roe noodles. Comrade Wen, you should really go and try it. The taste is a little different from ours."
It feels stronger and less sweet.
Wen Jiajia said: "Then I'll go and try it!"
She also wanted to eat some eel noodles. She had eaten eel noodles once before and didn't know if it would taste the same now as she had in her previous life.
Arriving at a nearby noodle shop, Wen Jiajia first went to the supply and marketing cooperative next door to buy a lunch box, and then ordered a bowl of eel noodles and then a serving of crab roe noodles.
The noodles are made on the spot and the portion is large. The noodles are covered with freshly cooked crab roe and eel fillings, and the originally dry noodles immediately become delicious and tasty.
The waiter also helped to stir the noodles so that each noodle was evenly coated with the soup.
Start with the crab roe noodles, which are slightly sweet but more fresh. The aroma of the crab meat and crab roe is particularly strong, and the crab meat and crab roe are still hanging on the soup. When you bite into the crab meat and roe, the unique fresh aroma of river seafood bursts in your mouth.
Wen Jiajia couldn't help but nodded. It was indeed different from the crab roe noodles in Linhe. The crab roe noodles in Linhe were at least two points sweeter.
After taking a few bites of the original flavor, Wen Jiajia added vinegar into it, which effectively alleviated the greasiness after eating too much crab roe noodles.
The portion was large, so she stopped eating and instead reached out her chopsticks for the eel noodles.
She chose mixed noodles, which also came with soup.
The eel was deboned and cut into strips, then fried with lard. Wen Jiajia was sure that the chef used lard, as only lard could produce such a fragrant aroma.
Then he added minced garlic and stir-fried it. Wen Jiajia could clearly smell the garlic aroma, which complemented the eel perfectly.
Finally, add the seasoning, thicken the sauce after simmering and use it as a filling to cover the cooked noodles. Sprinkle some chopped green onions as a garnish. The thick and red sauce is very appetizing.
Wen Jiajia held the bowl and ate in big mouthfuls until only half a bowl was left. She stopped when her stomach could no longer hold any more.
She prefers eel noodles to crab roe noodles. They taste much better than anything she had eaten in her previous life!
Ingredients are the soul. Even if a lot of soy sauce, sugar, and even pepper are added, she can still taste how delicious the original flavor of the shredded eel is.
After eating, pack up the leftovers and take them away.
Oh, don’t forget to pack the fried buns. I originally wanted to pack two, but I saw that there were only three left in the store, so Wen Jiajia bought them all.
When the time comes, keep two portions at home and give the remaining portion to Teacher Shen and Sister Bao.
Wen Jiajia went to buy another pair of chopsticks. Tonight's dinner would probably be on the train, so the remaining noodles could be used as dinner.
At 1:30 in the afternoon, Wen Jiajia woke up refreshed after a ten-minute nap and went to the train station with the luggage she had prepared long ago.
Fortunately, we arrived more than 20 minutes early. The entrance to this train station is not as convenient as Linhe, and we have to queue up slowly.
Fortunately, the wine can be brought in the car, otherwise Wen Jiajia’s two bottles of wine would have been bought in vain.
After squeezing into the car with great difficulty, Wen Jiajia sadly discovered that there was too much luggage and no place to put it. In the end, Liang Mu helped her carry it.
"Have you brought food?" Director Gao asked. "I'm afraid we won't be able to get to Linhe until seven or eight o'clock."
Wen Jiajia really wanted to say: Don’t be afraid.
She always felt that Director Gao had a bit of a crow's mouth.
The same thing happened when we came here. She said there might be a passing car, and soon the train stopped to give way.
Every night, when Director Gao said a certain bus had passed, it would actually pass.
The day before yesterday, it was windy and when we passed by a big tree, Director Gao suddenly said that the tree was about to fall down. Half a minute later, it really fell down.
Wen Jiajia felt sympathetic and hugged the package on her thighs tighter, preparing to arrive at seven or eight o'clock.
The sun was shining brightly outside the window, but luckily they were sitting on the side where the sun couldn't reach them.
Gradually, the sun set, the sky turned purple, and flocks of birds flew in the sunset. As night approached, the train drove into the province. Wen Jiajia looked at the green mountains outside the window and felt a sense of familiarity.
It was six o'clock and the lights in the train came on.
Wen Jiajia asked Liang Mu to put the package on her: "You eat first, and I will eat after you finish."
Liang Mu said, "I'll go home and eat."
He had packed a portion of braised pork, so how could he bear to eat it in the car?
"Okay, hold it for me for a while."
Liang Mu nodded: "Put it up."
Wen Jiajia put the package on him, then took out the lunch box from the bag on the ground with force, and then took out chopsticks to eat noodles.
The dough is so lumpy, but what can be bad if you eat it in the car? Even steamed buns taste delicious.
Wen Jiajia's noodles were a killer, even when they were cold. Wen Jiajia heard several people around her saliva-swallowing. Director Gao couldn't help but take out his lunch box and eat his dumplings.
Finally, the train entered Linhe City at 8:10 and stopped at the station at 15 minutes.
Wen Jiajia came to the platform carrying a small mountain on her back and followed the crowd out of the station.
Director Gao asked her, "How are you going to get home? Do you want to stay in the factory dormitory for one night?"
Wen Jiajia: "No, my lover will come to pick me up."
After lunch today, I called the logistics department in the guesthouse and told them that I would be back today and asked them to pass the message to Wei Dai.
Not long after, Wei Dai called again and said he would come to pick her up. Wen Jiajia was quite curious, how could he pick her up so late at night?
She understood after exiting the station. She saw Wei Dai sitting calmly in the truck. He was stunned for a moment when he saw her, and it was obvious that he was very surprised by her appearance.
Wei Dai jumped down from the car and was stunned: "Why did you buy so many things?"
You must be going to Haishi to purchase goods.
Wen Jiajia: "...Why don't you come and help!"
Wei Dai ran over and quickly took down the packages that were weighing her down.
It looks big, but it's not heavy at all. No wonder his wife can carry it.
Director Gao and Liang Mu came over. Director Gao looked at Wei Dai curiously and asked, "Is this your lover?"
Wen Jiajia nodded. Without waiting for her to introduce herself, Wei Dai took the initiative to introduce himself, then shook hands with the two of them and chatted with them for a few words.
Wen Jiajia's legs ached so much that she really wanted Wei Dai to stop talking and leave quickly. Fortunately, Director Gao was also as tired as a dog, so he left after saying a few words.
Wei Dai made three trips to load all the things into the car, and then took Wen Jiajia to sit in the front.
The co-pilot's seat is large enough for two people.
The person driving the car was from the army. Wen Jiajia asked, "Are you going to transport something else today?"
The man laughed: "Of course I was transporting coal. We transported more than ten trucks. Wei Dai stopped me and said he would go back later."
"Wow! All this year's coal is here."
"This year, we are not allowed to cut firewood in the nearby villages. If we want to cut firewood, we have to go to Gaojia Village and pay the village office. Gaojia Village is more than ten kilometers away from here. Who will go to cut firewood? So we have to transport it again at the end of the year..."
This is new, she doesn't know.
Wen Jiajia turned around and asked Wei Dai: "Really?"
Wei Dai nodded. "The day after you left, the village told us that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry had told us to waterproof and stabilize the soil. They couldn't let us cut down trees anymore, fearing that if we cut down too much, there would be a mudslide."
This is bad news for Wen Jiajia.
Oh my god, she likes to eat a lot of food in winter, such as bone stew, chicken and duck soup, pig intestines, and any hard-to-cook dishes that need to be slowly cooked with a lot of wood...
Moreover, she bathes every day, and uses twice as much firewood as other families! If she really switches to coal, not only will the stove still be usable, but the coal expenses alone will be a huge sum every month.
Wei Dai sighed: "There is nothing we can do."
He was really lucky. On the day Wen Jiajia left, he had nothing to do and he missed his wife a lot while sitting at home, so he took an axe and went to chop wood.
At the end of the day, I carried firewood home five times and even used a wheelbarrow to transport it three times, weighing at least 1,000 kilograms.
Including the firewood at home, we have about 2,000 kilograms, which is enough for this year. We will talk about next year next year.
The car shakily arrived at the military unit and was away for a few days. To Wen Jiajia, it seemed that there was no change in the military unit at all.
Before going home, Wen Jiajia gave the driver a portion of Shengjian (a traditional Chinese dumpling). As he was young and shy, he couldn't refuse, so he took it and ate one on the spot, praising it for being delicious.
Wen Jiajia said, "It tastes better when heated up!"
But he said, “I dare not heat it up. Once the smell comes out, those gluttons will eat it all!” Then he hurriedly ate another one, fearing that it would be snatched away when he returned to the dormitory.
Those who live in the dormitory are different from those who live in the courtyard. Almost all of them eat together.
It was already nine o'clock when we got home. Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were still awake. The two girls were comforting and accompanying each other.
Wen Chun patted his sister and shouted, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
Wen Xuan hugged her sister and said, "No ghost, no ghost."
When he heard the noise at the door, he first shrank into the quilt. When he heard his aunt's voice, he lifted the quilt and both of them jumped out of bed.
"Auntie!"
"Auntie!"
"Ahhhhh——" the two girls screamed, opened the door with a bang, and jumped up and down around Wen Jiajia.
The word "Auntie" in her mouth was like a tight hoop around her neck, giving Wen Jiajia a headache.
“Hey, hey, hey!” She made a pause gesture. “Don’t shout at night. The neighbors are already asleep. Be a child with a sense of public morality.”
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan smiled and finally stopped shouting. Instead, they hugged Wen Jiajia's thighs, one on each side, and refused to let go no matter what they said.
Until Wei Dai said, "Would you like to see your hair flowers?"
The two sisters finally let go of Wen Jiajia's legs and hurried to see the flowers.
Wen Jiajia bought them red headbands that looked exactly the same and there was no room for dispute or competition. Both of them were very satisfied.
"It would be great if it were daybreak soon. Then I could take the flowers out and show them to Feifei and the others!" Wen Xuan said intoxicatedly, holding two hair flowers.
Wen Jiajia laughed: "Go back to your room and sleep. The moment you close your eyes, it will be dawn."
When their aunt came back, the two sisters were still very obedient. They took their hair flowers and went back to their room to sleep, completely forgetting about eating.
Wen Jiajia asked Wei Dai: "You didn't have dinner?"
“No.”
"I knew it!" He must have been waiting for her for a long time. Wen Jiajia left a portion of Shengjian for him, "Put it in the pot and heat it up to eat... You can eat it directly, but I strongly recommend that you heat it up before eating."
One portion was left for Teacher Shen and Sister Bao.
It was just after nine o'clock, and although the power was out, Teacher Shen must not have gone to bed yet. Wen Jiajia just saw that the light in her room was on.
Sure enough, Teacher Shen came out not long after I knocked on the door. "Jia Jia, I knew it was you who came back."
Wen Jiajia laughed twice: "Did you hear Wen Chun and Wen Xuan yelling?"
"Isn't it? Xiao Yi heard it, and even got up and wanted to play over there, but I slapped him back."
Wen Jiajia handed her the fried dumplings and said, "Come to my house tomorrow to get the clothes. I haven't packed them yet."
"Okay! This is Shengjian. When I was in college, a classmate of mine always talked about Shengjian. I have to try it."
Wen Jiajia immediately recommended it: "It's delicious, especially when heated. It's best to eat it today, because I don't know if it will go bad if I leave it for tomorrow."
"Okay, Xie Yang is at home."
Wen Jiajia: "Then you go in, I'll give the other half to Bao."
Having said that, he walked towards Sister Bao's house.
Sister Bao didn't sleep either. She was busy making web embroidery. Wen Jiajia knew that she usually went to bed at 10 o'clock.
"Jia Jia! You're back." Sister Bao hurriedly pulled her in. "You must have just arrived."
"For your midnight snack." Wen Jiajia handed her the fried dumplings. "Yes, I just got home."
Bao Jie is busy with her career now and rarely goes out. She used to know everything, but now she knows less gossip than she does.
Wen Jiajia entered the house mainly to see the net-button flower.
"So beautiful!" Wen Jiajia exclaimed. It was really beautiful, especially under the kerosene lamp.
It was presumptuous of her to compare it with cross-stitch. This thing is obviously much more beautiful than the old-fashioned cross-stitch.
"Right! I'll make one for you when I have time!"
"real?"
"I lied to you that you were a dog."
Bao said as she stuffed a shengjian into her mouth, "We had dinner at around 4 o'clock. I get hungry when I smell it."
After chewing it twice, his eyes lit up: "It's really delicious. No wonder you took some home on the train."
"Is that so?" Wen Jiajia was very happy that people liked Amway's stuff. "I made it at noon. It might go bad if I leave it for tomorrow."
When Sister Bao heard this, she said, "Oh, then I have to make them shout."
That's what parents do, the best food should be saved for the children. Even if Bao Jie thinks it tastes good, she will only eat half of it.
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