Chapter 111: New Year's Shopping (Part 2)
There were also a lot of people queuing at the candy stall. You could smell the sweet scent before you even got close. There were also many children in the queue.
Each of them had a sugar melon in their mouth. Sugar melon is also called Guandong sugar. It is a light yellow candy made of maltose and is also a rare thing.
The sugar melon is offered to the Kitchen God to herald the arrival of the New Year. The aunts use this sugar melon to stick the Kitchen God's mouth shut, hoping that he will "speak good things to the heavens and ensure peace in the next year."
Now that the Four Olds were being destroyed, the Kitchen God was no longer allowed to be worshipped openly, and many families did it secretly without making it public.
Sugar melons are not expensive, only two cents a bunch, and they are sticky. Children love to eat them. Every year, many children's baby teeth are stuck to them by sugar melons.
He was so scared that he burst into tears, but he couldn't bear to let go of the candy melon in his mouth, so he could only cry and look for an adult.
Lin Xiaotong also had a small piece of sugar melon in her mouth, which tasted sweet. She looked at the various candies and snacks displayed in front of the stall. The most popular ones were Jingshi pastries, also known as "snack boxes".
Snack Box
These are all hot items. When visiting relatives and friends, you must bring a box of snacks with you, especially when giving them to leaders to visit the elderly at home, as it will make you look good.
Most people with average financial conditions are reluctant to buy boxed products, so they grit their teeth and buy the loose ones.
Pastries were roughly divided into three categories, with prices per jin (500g), 72g, and 78g respectively. Some particularly rare pastries cost over 90g, and these also required six liang (200g) of grain coupons per jin (500g).
The most expensive one is something that only well-off cadre families can afford to buy. When asking people for favors, they put some goodies in the snack box.
Lin Xiaotong queued up to buy three boxes of snacks, two for her family and one to give to her aunt and uncle during the Chinese New Year.
She also bought some loose snacks at 2.72 yuan per pound. These could be eaten by others when they came to her house to pay New Year's greetings. She was reluctant to leave the best things for others.
Lin Xiaotong was carrying a full canvas bag and turned around to see Gao Xiulan, who was carrying a large bag of meat, and Xie Dajiao, who was standing and talking to each other.
Lin Xiaotong followed leisurely.
Gao Xiulan was quite fast. The line to buy pork fat was already very long. The pork was sold with skin and bones, and it cost 70 cents per pound.
Many people scrambled for the fattier parts, went home to refine the oil, and then stored it in a large clay pot. After cooling, the oil in the pot turned into snow-white fat.
The oil residue in the pot after refining the oil is also a good thing. The children and greedy cats at home will eat some of it, but the adults are reluctant to eat it. The remaining oil residue should be collected and put away. When cooking, add a little bit of it and you don’t need to add extra oil.
Dumplings are a must-have on the New Year’s Eve dinner table. Some families make dumplings stuffed with oil residue and wild vegetables. They are fragrant and delicious.
Gao Xiulan bought 6 pounds of pork and left one pound for making dumpling filling.
"Mom and Dad, I've bought everything."
"Why is this beef and mutton stall so slow? They're only just starting to unload the goods. Your dad's been waiting all this time."
The queue for beef and mutton was not as long as the one for pork, and their family was queued relatively near the front. Lin Xiaotong looked back and saw that people were coming towards the end of the queue.
"Hey, it's our turn. Two pounds of beef and three pounds of mutton."
Gao Xiulan and the others didn't have to wait for a while before it was their turn. They stepped forward and spoke loudly.
"Let me see the book, okay, which one do you want?"
"This one, and this one."
Gao Xiulan pointed to the meat part decisively.
The butcher was a fat middle-aged man wearing an apron. He cut the meat with a knife, put it on the chopping board, and motioned Gao Xiulan to take it away.
After the purchase was completed and the money was paid, another person took the grocery book and stamped it, meaning that the family’s share had been used up.
Gao Xiulan went to the tofu stall again, bought some tofu, and took it home to make frozen tofu. She put the tofu outside the door and it was frozen the next morning.
The three of them were carrying things in their hands, big and small bags. There were so many people that they finally squeezed to the door.
There were also some stalls selling frozen meat, frozen chicken and hairtail at the door. When Gao Xiulan arrived, the frozen chicken was almost sold out, and the last three were bought up by Gao Xiulan in one go.
"Let's buy some more hairtail fish. This fish looks quite fat."
Xie Da Jiao looked at the frozen hairtail fish. There were not many seafood left from the ones Gao Xiulan and Lin Xiaotong brought back when they went to visit relatives in the south.
"Okay, give me two pounds."
"Okay."
The salesperson at the stall was picking and choosing, knocking the frozen hairtail fish against the table to break up the large chunks of ice on it. People actually came to their frozen goods stall very early, and some people lined up before dawn.
Lin Xiaotong took the hairtail that was handed to her and put it into Gao Xiulan's backpack. The three of them had already bought things and squeezed out again. They tied the bags of things on the back seat of the bicycle and pushed the bicycle towards the supply and marketing cooperative again.
"Hey, Xiulan, you guys have finished your shopping too! Oh, you even got beef in the queue."
Zhang Dazui squeezed out his words and saw Gao Xiulan and her family of three waving their hands and talking at the top of their voices. Lin Xiaotong turned around and saw Uncle Zhou following behind her aunt. He was a burly man with a tiger head in his arms and a large backpack on his back.
"Lucky, your family got it too!"
"I asked my son, Lao Zhou, to queue up, but no one dared to cut in line."
"Grandma, grandma, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative. I want to buy some firecrackers to play with."
Electric firecrackers, one by one, disassembled and set off
Tiger Head came out to get some fresh air, feeling more energetic and moving closer to the wide-open mouth.
"Hurry up and sit still, kid! You'll fall off if you keep twisting."
Zhou Jianguo deliberately put on a stern face and shook the tiger's head upwards with his hands.
"Hehehe."
Hu Tou is not afraid of his fierce-faced grandfather at all now. He is not scared at all when he hears these words. He stretches out his little hands to hug Zhou Jianguo's neck and puts his little face against the fierce face.
The group went to the supply and marketing cooperative again. The adults were looking at clothing materials and the children were watching firecrackers being made.
During the Chinese New Year, if someone has a complete box of firecrackers, he will be so proud and followed by a bunch of little brothers.
Hu Tou tried his best to act cute and acted coquettishly to the point of almost rolling on the ground. Zhou Jianguo smiled and used his pocket money to buy three boxes of firecrackers for his eldest grandson.
He couldn't give him any more. He didn't have much pocket money, and he had to use the rest to buy things for his daughter Cui Lian.
Hu Tou looked over the snack counter again and saw Xie Da Jiao and Zhou Jianguo wandering around the tobacco and alcohol counter.
Nowadays, during the Chinese New Year, people buy Zhigu sorghum liquor for one yuan and twenty cents a bottle, and only serve it on the table when important guests come to visit.
"Xiaotong, do you think this material is okay?"
Gao Xiulan was holding a piece of apricot red corduroy in her hand. Her daughter Xiaotong was tall and had a fair and tender face, which was perfect for early spring.
"This color is beautiful, Mom. I have too many clothes. Please make one for yourself."
"I made a new dress with the dark red material you bought me last time. I'll make you one with this material."
Gao Xiulan pulled Lin Xiaotong over and gestured with her hands: "Okay, this is it, you can continue playing."
After saying that, he waved his hand and directly pulled out four feet of material, and continued to look at the other materials with Zhang Dazui.
She wanted to make another set of clothes for her husband, Mr. Xie. During the New Year, wearing new clothes meant that the new year would be better.
And that brat Xie Yi can’t be missing either, otherwise my ears will be callused by the noise he makes by the time I get home.
Lin Xiaotong puffed out her cheeks, turned around, and strolled to the second floor with her hands behind her back.
The second floor sells expensive and large items, so not many people come. Lin Xiaotong slowly walked around the watch counter, radio counter, and sewing machine counter.
You know what, this big thing has been polished to a shine, and under the light, it looks really impressive.
"Xiaotong, let's go back."
Gao Xiulan's voice came from downstairs.
"Coming, I'll be down right away."
Lin Xiaotong replied in a hoarse voice, ran to a counter and pointed at something while talking.
"Comrade, I want this. Give me a...invoice."
Oh my god, I almost slipped up and said "fire a cannon" instead.
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