Chapter 90 Her beauty sparked ideas
The grab was quite forceful, startling Jiang Wanqiu, who instinctively tried to pull her hand back.
When Zhao Wenchang saw this, he immediately came over, gave the other party an unfriendly look, and pushed Jiang Wanqiu behind him.
The woman was intimidated by his imposing manner and awkwardly let go, but her excessive enthusiasm remained undiminished.
"Hey, sir, don't be nervous. This lady looks friendly, and her accent sounds like she's from my hometown, so I just wanted to ask her something."
Jiang Wanqiu steadied herself, peeked out from behind Zhao Wenchang, and smiled politely yet distantly: "Auntie, hello, I did come from the south."
"Oh! I knew it!" the middle-aged woman said with a smile, then asked, "Where are you from? Suzhou? Hangzhou?"
"Shanghai Stock Exchange," Jiang Wanqiu replied calmly.
"I'm from Shanghai too!" The middle-aged woman immediately switched to a thick Shanghai accent, her eyes shining brightly. "Oh my, it's truly a case of old friends meeting again, tears welling up in our eyes! Young lady, you look familiar, maybe we're even related?"
That question is a bit too much.
Jiang Wanqiu's vigilance reached its peak.
In the 1970s, population movement was far less frequent than in later years. It was already rare to run into a fellow Shanghainese in a small county town in Northeast China, thousands of miles away. It was even more unusual for the other person to be so friendly and try to claim kinship with you.
Offering unsolicited favors is either a sign of malice or theft.
Her smile remained unchanged, but she politely distanced herself, saying, "Auntie, you must have mistaken me for someone else. We don't have many relatives."
After saying that, she turned around and tugged at Le Yunyun's sleeve, whispering, "Let's go look somewhere else."
Le Yunyun was engrossed in watching when she was pulled by her, somewhat puzzled: "Hey, isn't she from your hometown? Why don't you chat for a bit more?"
"There's nothing to talk about with people you don't know."
Le Yunyun pursed her lips and muttered under her breath, "People abroad are like that, very enthusiastic. I think you're just being too sensitive. Compared to other countries, our country lacks this open enthusiasm, which is why our country hasn't developed."
Jiang Wanqiu didn't argue with her anymore, but quickened her pace and led her away from the cosmetics counter.
Gu Feiyan and Chief Le were waiting not far away. When they saw them coming, the two of them came to greet them. Gu Feiyan's gaze swept over Jiang Wanqiu's empty hands, and she was a little surprised: "Why didn't you buy anything? Don't you like anything?"
"I brought some face cream from home, that's enough," Jiang Wanqiu explained with a smile.
Zhao Wenchang, standing to the side, looked at the two of them, his narrow eyes slightly narrowed.
The group then moved to the clothing section.
The sales clerks here have sharp eyes and spotted Jiang Wanqiu and her group of outstanding individuals at a glance.
She immediately dropped the customer she was serving and greeted them with a big smile.
"Oh my, lady, you have such a great figure! You're fair-skinned and slender, you look good in anything! We just got a few new cotton-padded jackets here, you'll definitely look even better in them than in the magazines!" The saleswoman said as she deftly took down a red cotton-padded jacket made of Dacron fabric and held it up to Jiang Wanqiu without saying a word.
Zhao Wenchang looked at the clothes, then at Jiang Wanqiu, and without saying a word, he took out money and cloth coupons from his pocket: "I'll take this one and that blue one."
The saleswoman, seeing she'd struck a big customer, smiled so broadly her eyes narrowed into slits, and she became even more enthusiastic in her recommendations: "This gentleman has excellent taste! Your wife has a great figure; she won't look fat no matter how much she wears! We also have a newly arrived mink coat here—the only one in the whole county! If your wife wears it, she'll look like a movie star!"
As she spoke, she carefully took out a large object wrapped in cloth from the back of the counter.
"A mink coat?" Jiang Wanqiu frowned slightly. "Is it made of animal fur?"
"Of course!" The saleswoman proudly opened the bag, revealing a sleek black coat. "This is the real deal, mink fur! It's super warm!"
Jiang Wanqiu shook her head vigorously: "I won't try it on, it's too scary, I won't wear it."
Seeing her resolute attitude, Zhao Wenchang waved his hand at the sales clerk: "I don't want this. Bring out the thickest hats, masks, earmuffs, thick gloves, and cotton socks."
Soon, a pile of winter gear was stacked on the counter. Zhao Wenchang paid for it and put the pieces on Jiang Wanqiu one by one. First, he put a thick woolen hat on her, then a large mask and fluffy earmuffs on her, and finally stuffed a pair of thick gloves that looked like bear paws into her hands, and then made her change into a pair of heavy military green cotton shoes.
Jiang Wanqiu was wrapped up tightly from head to toe, with only her bright eyes showing. She turned her head to look at the small mirror hanging behind the counter and felt that she looked as big as a bear, which made her both laugh and cry.
"Do you have any more spiked shoes?" Zhao Wenchang asked again.
The sales clerk paused for a moment before pulling out a pair of shoes with nails on the soles from under the counter.
Jiang Wanqiu picked them up and weighed them in her hands; they were incredibly heavy. "These shoes are so heavy, how are we supposed to walk in them?"
Zhao Wenchang took the shoes, put them in his shopping bag, and smiled, "You think they're too heavy now? You'll see how good they are later. The roads here are icy in winter, and falling down is no joke."
Le Yunyun, who was standing to the side, had long been impatient. She pointed to a well-tailored camel-colored wool coat and said to Jiang Wanqiu with a look of disdain, "How can you face anyone dressed like this? You look so tacky. I want this one."
Having already witnessed the power of the weather here, Jiang Wanqiu couldn't help but remind him, "Comrade Le, the winters in Northeast China are no joke. This woolen coat might not be warm enough."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Le Yunyun tossed her hair nonchalantly. "Finland is much colder than here. I've been there! This little bit of cold is nothing."
When I came out of the department store, it was already getting dark outside, and a cold wind made me shiver.
Jiang Wanqiu hadn't walked far when she suddenly felt a gaze fixed on her. She turned around abruptly and met a pair of somewhat cloudy, triangular eyes not far away.
It's that middle-aged woman who claimed to be from the same hometown.
She stood behind the pillar by the door, her fake enthusiasm gone, staring at me expressionlessly.
That look... didn't seem like he was looking at a fellow villager he'd just bumped into, but rather like he was assessing the quality and value of a piece of merchandise, sending a chill down one's spine.
The uncomfortable feeling only subsided slightly after Zhao Wenchang's tall figure blocked her view and pulled her away.
On the way back in the jeep, the closer we drove to the military region, the thicker the snow became on the roadside, and the cold wind howled outside the car window as the temperature plummeted.
Wearing a stylish wool coat, Yue Yunyun was the first to give in.
She hugged her arms, her teeth chattering from the cold.
She turned to look at Gu Feiyan, who was sitting upright beside her, and said in a commanding tone, "Hey, Gu Feiyan, lend me your gloves, my hands are freezing."
Gu Feiyan glanced at the woman indifferently: "Sorry, I have mysophobia, and I don't lend out my personal belongings."
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