Huang Hao was shocked: "The purchase price is nearly 40 yuan."
Qiao Baozhu looked at Huang Hao in confusion, not understanding why his reaction was so strange.
Huang Hao realized that he had said something wrong, so he touched his nose and explained awkwardly: "How much can you earn as an educated youth on a farm? You worked so hard to collect shoe soles for several months just to buy him a pair of shoes?"
"He is a soldier in the Corps, either reclaiming wasteland or repairing roads. Does he need to wear such nice shoes?"
Huang Hao's words sounded high-sounding, and every word was for Qiao Baozhu's sake. If you listen carefully, you can actually hear that she has been belittling the man she has never met.
"If you buy it for him, he won't have a chance to wear it out, so it's a waste of money. You might as well spend it on yourself so that all your hard work over the past few months will not be in vain."
Instead of spending money to please a man, spend it on yourself. Huang Hao's words are actually in line with Qiao Baozhu's values.
Qiao Baozhu lived two lifetimes and never treated herself badly in terms of material enjoyment.
The pair of red leather boots were praised to the skies by Huang Hao, but in Qiao Baozhu's eyes, they were just so-so.
It’s just that in this era, materials were scarce and the market was not yet open, so there were not many choices.
What Qiao Baozhu liked about the pair of military-style shoes was its quality. It is made of a whole piece of cowhide, and the lining is made of a whole piece of lambskin, which is comfortable and warm to wear.
She had quite a bit of savings, so buying two pairs of leather shoes was no big deal.
However, buying two pairs of military sneakers at one time is really too eye-catching.
“How many tickets do you need for these shoes?”
Qiao Baozhu couldn't let go of the red leather military shoes. After careful consideration, she gritted her teeth and looked at Huang Hao.
Huang Hao was delighted when he saw that Qiao Baozhu was asking about women's boots. Thinking that he had some weight in Qiao Baozhu's heart, he said happily: "I don't want the shoe ticket, I want an industrial ticket."
"Industrial ticket?"
Qiao Baozhu was shocked.
Huang Hao boasted proudly, "What else? Leather shoes of such good quality caused a sensation as soon as they arrived. Female comrades from paper mills, textile mills, pharmaceutical factories, and bearing factories all went crazy and came in droves to buy them."
"The female workers in these factories have high salaries, love to compete with each other, and are willing to spend money. If one person wears nice clothes and shoes, all the female workers in the workshop will buy them for him."
"If it weren't for the fact that these military shoes had to be purchased with industrial coupons, they wouldn't have been here until now. This is the last pair I have. If you want to buy another pair, you have to wait until after the Chinese New Year."
After the Chinese New Year, spring comes and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. I have to change my cotton shoes after wearing them for a few days.
Industrial tickets are the rarest. On the black market, an industrial ticket is worth ten dollars, and you may not even come across one.
If a family has an industrial ticket, they will definitely buy a bicycle or a radio.
It is outrageous to sell a pair of leather shoes for more than 50 yuan. If I go to the black market to buy an industrial ticket, I will be cheated.
It is difficult for ordinary people to get an industrial ticket, but this is not a big deal for Qiao Baozhu.
Last time, Shen Xiao got her 10 industrial tickets in one go, but she hasn't used any of them yet.
"Brother Huang, let's buy a pair of men's shoes first. Size 43 men's shoes, please help me pick a pair without any flaws."
Huang Hao's smile froze at the corners of his mouth as he watched Qiao Baozhu take out an industrial ticket from her bag.
She was actually willing to spend an industrial ticket to buy shoes for that man? Is that man so good? No, why?
Huang Hao took the industrial ticket, turned around and walked into the counter with a look of disgust, while looking for shoes he mocked Shen Xiao for having big feet.
"Size 43 big feet? We can't sell many pairs in our store all year round."
People with big feet have a hard life. It seems that Qiao Baozhu’s luck as a man is not very good, Huang Hao secretly complained.
"My man is tall and has long legs, so it's not appropriate for him to have small feet."
As Qiao Baozhu spoke, she took out four more Great Unity banknotes from her bag and placed them on the counter.
She didn't ask the exact purchase price of the shoes, but Huang Hao just said it was nearly forty yuan. Forty yuan should be enough for her, and Huang Hao can earn the remaining change.
Qiao Baozhu has always been good at handling these little social etiquettes.
Huang Hao frowned and rummaged around for a long time reluctantly before taking out a pair of size 43 men's leather shoes.
Looking at the four big unity bills on the counter, two of them were the shoes he had just paid to Qiao Baozhu.
Huang Hao's eyes darkened a little more. A good man doesn't have a good wife, and a bad man marries a prostitute.
That bastard must be no good person to force such a good woman like Qiao Baozhu to run away to make money.
Huang Hao cursed Shen Xiao in his heart, and the scene appeared in his mind.
An ordinary or even ugly looking man in a green military uniform was sitting on a warm kang with a group of lazy men. While smoking a pipe, he played mahjong.
Poor Qiao Baozhu, wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket, went from house to house collecting thousand-layer soles in the wind and snow on a snowy day with heavy smoke.
The thought of Qiao Baozhu using her life to earn money to buy leather shoes for that lazy man made me feel really bad. Huang Hao felt a pang of pain in his heart, and his eyes were filled with deep pity when he looked at Qiao Baozhu.
He took out two dollars from the drawer, handed it to Qiao Baozhu, and said in a muffled voice: "The purchase price of these shoes is thirty-eight dollars and eighty dollars. The shoe box is flattened, so I'll give you thirty-eight dollars."
How could Qiao Baozhu accept this much money? She was already getting a good deal by buying the shoes at the purchase price. She is not so shameless as to ask for compensation from the shoe box.
"Brother Huang, you are so kind to me. I appreciate your kindness, but forget about the money."
Qiao Baozhu didn't take the change, but reached out and took the shoe box.
"Why are you being so polite to me? Don't I know what kind of life you're living? Take it back now."
Huang Hao saw that Qiao Baozhu refused to take the money, so he had no choice but to give it to her. She obviously liked the pair of women's boots so much, but she couldn't bear to buy them. If I were a little more capable, there would be nothing wrong with giving her a pair of shoes.
Unfortunately, his colleagues in the store were all staring at him, so Huang Hao had the desire but not the courage to do it. Although he couldn't give away shoes, he could help save a few dollars.
"Take it. Two dollars isn't much, but you can buy a lot of things with it. Save it for yourself as your own pocket money, and don't let anyone else know about it."
Huang Hao had a sad expression on his face and spoke in a serious tone, as if Qiao Baozhu's marriage was terrible.
He ignored Qiao Baozhu's refusal and stuffed the two dollars into Qiao Baozhu's sleeve.
“Brother Huang…”
Qiao Baozhu looked at Huang Hao's actions with a mixture of laughter and tears. Her mind couldn't stop recalling what she had said before that made Huang Hao have the illusion that she was not having a good life.
Although Huang Hao misunderstood, Qiao Baozhu was still touched by his kindness.
Seeing that Huang Hao was determined, Qiao Baozhu went along with it and accepted the two dollars.
I was thinking that the next time I came to deliver goods, I should bring something as a thank you gift.
A little incident in the shoe store wasted a lot of time.
To get from the shoe store to my adoptive father Qiao Changhai's house, I need to change buses. By the time Qiao Baozhu got off the bus at the bus stop near her mother's home, it was already dark.
In order to get home earlier, Qiao Baozhu took a shortcut. The path was a deep alley. Qiao Baozhu walked briskly alone, not worrying about being robbed by bad guys.
Because on one side of this alley is the staff welfare housing allocated by the Second Hospital, and on the other side is the morgue where the Second Hospital stores corpses.
Doctors at the Second Hospital are reluctant to take shortcuts when going home after get off work, let alone ordinary people.
Qiao Baozhu walked lightly, and in the deep alley, if you didn't listen carefully, you couldn't hear her footsteps at all.
In a quiet environment, all sounds will be amplified. When Qiao Baozhu was about to reach her mother's yard, she heard a strange sound coming from the other side of the high wall.
“Ding ding ding ding ding.”
“Ding ding ding ding ding, ding ding…”
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