After leaving the photo studio, they went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative. Qiu Yuling had a special privilege today, she could look at her own photos.
Li Qingmei went straight to the shoe store and bought a pair of Liberation shoes for Qiu Dashu first, and then went to look at the materials.
"Comrade, what material is this?" Feeling the thick material, he made a jacket for Qiu Dashan, which would be perfect for visiting relatives in the beginning of autumn.
"Corduroy, one foot and four cents."
"What about the blue one next to it?"
The salesman raised his eyes impatiently. "Dacron, one foot of ticket buys two feet of cloth, seventy-six cents a foot."
Li Qingmei had seen that the team leader Qiu Jianjun had a jacket made of this material, which was very sturdy and durable. Although it was expensive, it saved cloth coupons. However, most of the clothes her family wore were made of homespun cloth that they wove themselves or exchanged with neighbors.
A person was entitled to 17 feet of cloth coupons per year, and she spent very little of it, so she had quite a bit left. She was a little undecided for a moment.
“Are you going to buy something or not? If not, please move away from the counter and don’t disturb the people behind you.” Although the salesperson at the counter didn’t curse, his attitude was not very friendly either.
There were indeed other people coming to grab the cloth. Seeing this, Li Qingmei stood aside and thought.
"Comrade, do you have any extra cloth coupons? Well, I'll pay for them, and see if you can sell me some. My daughter is getting married next month, and I'd like to buy some cloth to make her some clothes."
A sudden voice sounded, and Li Qingmei saw a well-dressed woman waiting for her reply eagerly.
"We won't sell it. I have a big family and we don't have enough tickets." Li Qingmei was about to ask her how much she would pay for it when she was interrupted by her daughter.
"Children should not interrupt when adults are talking." The woman thought that a child would know nothing. The woman in front of her was obviously someone who was reluctant to spend things and saved them. She was afraid that the little girl next to her would disturb her good time with her talkativeness, so she asked Qiu Yuling to go play and not disturb the adults' conversation.
Qiu Yuling didn't leave. She immediately tugged at her mother's sleeve and said, "Mom, go in and get some cloth. If you delay any longer, you won't have enough time to get the package."
Li Qingmei woke up as if from a dream and had already thought about what to buy. "Sorry, sister, my son is also looking for a wife this year, so the tickets are not enough."
After saying that, he didn't care about the woman's reaction, took Qiu Yuling's hand, and walked towards the cloth counter.
"Comrade, give me fourteen feet of this blue and four feet of black velvet." He had already calculated the price in his mind, and while he was saying this, he had already flipped the banknotes in his hand.
The salesperson measured the size, cut a slit in the cloth with scissors, and then exerted force with his arms, and tore the cloth apart with a "hiss".
"The total is twelve dollars and twenty-four cents, plus 11 feet of cloth coupons. Yours is just right. Please make way for the person behind you and go aside to sort it out first," the salesperson counted the money and coupons quickly without saying a word.
I bought two pairs of rubber shoes, one for a boy and one for a girl, for seven dollars and six cents. Eyelets and a thimble cost nine cents, buttons for forty-five cents, scissors for three dollars and seventy-cents, an enamel basin for two dollars and sixty-one cents, and a clay basin for ten cents and twelve cents.
Qiu Yuling took her share and asked for a bottle of Vaseline, which cost ten cents; three pounds of brown sugar, which cost two dollars and four cents; and two kinds of Harry Oil, one for eight cents and one for nine cents. Qiu Yuling asked someone to take out the one that cost nine cents.
Li Qingmei:... "That's enough, let's not live like this anymore." That was enough, she didn't stop her, Qiu Yuling's hand had already pointed at the soap.
In the end, they bought it anyway. Two boxes of soap cost 37 cents, and the father and son also went around and picked up a pound of white wine.
If she hadn't been concerned about the large number of people outside, she would have wanted to knock open the father and son's heads to see how many steel bars were inside. Everything she took was useful, but these two were like rich men, just looking at those who burned money.
With Qiu Yuling around, the longer she stayed, the more money she would spend. Li Qingmei immediately packed all her things into her bag and decided not to go to the state-owned restaurant. She felt sad.
"Let's go home!"
"No, we're back just like that?" Qiu Yuling couldn't believe it. The whole family had been out together for most of the day, and they didn't even have a meal in a restaurant?
"If you don't go back, you'll have to sleep on the street today, chug!" With a whip, the mule started to trot away with a "da da da" sound.
No, we have already got so many little goldfish, and we don't want to be extravagant. We should just eat and drink them normally. If she had known that someone would say something about so-and-so's share, she should have asked for it directly and kept it herself.
Fortunately, Qiu Dashu was smart and asked for food coupons and meat coupons in advance. While they were shopping, he went to the state-owned restaurant and bought ten meat buns.
They hurried back to town and picked up the package from the post office. Mother Qiu didn't want to open it outside and attract attention, so she just made room for it in the car.
The huge package, plus the miscellaneous items bought in the county town earlier, already took up half of the car.
Qiu Jianshe handed the reins to his wife, got out of the car, and walked back with his two sons. "Hand me the small shovel in the car, and we'll shovel some grass on the way back."
Since they had a car, Li Qingmei thought it would be better for them to work together and quickly collect the stuff. They could put it in the car and take it back on the way. Otherwise, it would be tiring for the three of them to carry it back.
Qiu Yuling was still exempted from the [right of involvement]. The four of them were shoveling grass in the Yellow River ditch at Erdaoliang. She took advantage of the time to change the package and quickly looked to see if there was anything useful or valuable inside. She took it out and scattered it in the car.
Create the illusion that you are anxious and want to open the package while the adults are not around.
Li Qingmei scolded her for being too impatient while she was sorting things out. They each brought back a large bundle of grass, thinking they could just load it onto the car and leave. However, her impatient little monkey not only unpacked the package in advance, but also scattered it all over the car before they could put it back.
"Mom, cover it up first. Someone is coming from the front." Qiu Dashan saw someone coming from the far side of the beam. He was afraid that if he didn't pack up the things in time, he would be seen and gossiped about.
Li Qingmei didn't hesitate to hear that and directly spread the grass to cover the things. The visitor just took a look and didn't see anything except the grass, so he hurried on his way.
"Then where should I sit?" Qiu Yuling saw that everyone had left, and her mother did not offer to make room for her to sit. She thought that riding a mule and riding a horse should not be much different, right?
"Where do you sit? Cross your legs."
"Then I'll ride a mule. My second brother taught me."
Li Qingmei, who was just about to move her daughter to a new home, felt tired and didn't want to do it anymore after hearing this.
It’s okay that the younger one is just misbehaving, but how come the second one, who is so cautious and honest by nature, is so unreliable when he goes out?
Qiu Dahe: Mom, I was wronged. When I saw her, she could already run a horse.
Mother Qiu didn't believe it and just thought that Qiu Yuling was helped onto the horse and walked around a few times. This mule was not their own, so who could tell whether it had a good temper or not? Now the mule was harnessed to a cart. What would happen if it was let loose and got into trouble?
"No, just sit in the car."
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