Chapter 108: Meeting the Han Family
"Brother-in-law! You know, my parents have already prepared everything for my wedding." Wang Zonghao sneered, still as careless as before, and deliberately said: "Alas, it's not like some people who get married to show off in the village and then go to the city to show off."
Hearing Wang Zonghao's grandson's indirect criticism, Zhang Kang's face suddenly turned cold.
However, when his eyes swept over Wang Zonghao's chef outfit, he grinned with a somewhat amused look.
"How dare a chef challenge your grandfather!"
"Zong Hao! Can you please stop talking in such a weird tone? Zhang Kang's marriage and going to the city to buy things are his family's business. They didn't do anything to you." Wang Ziru ignored the relationship between siblings and immediately scolded her brother.
Really, if you have never experienced the pain of love, don’t you know how to give others some face?
Wang Zonghao's face changed, but when he saw Zhu Yan burying her face, he realized that she didn't dare to look him in the face, and then he returned to normal.
I had a little plan in mind. I originally wanted to go shopping with my sister and brother-in-law, and if I saw something I wanted to buy, I would let my brother-in-law pay for it.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Kang and Zhu Yan followed them into the city happily, saying that they were going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy watches.
Could this little trick fool Wang Zonghao?
They must have touched each other's hands, huh, shameless guys.
Being rejected by his brother-in-law, Zhai Ximo's mouth twitched, but he kept a faint smile on his stern face, "Then you stay here and clean up the small canteen."
"I'm so pissed off." Wang Zonghao had cursed Zhang Kang and Zhu Yan hundreds of times in his heart.
He turned around and went back to the backyard to continue working.
Zhang Kang, who was a burly man, stood there like an iron tower. He watched Wang Zonghao disappear around the corner and then said, "Next time, if he sees us and tries to play tricks on me again, I'll show you how I'll deal with this bastard."
Wang Ziru looked at the chaotic atmosphere and sighed helplessly, "It's up to you. It doesn't matter to others which of you has the upper hand."
"I feel relieved when you say that. I will definitely deal with him next time." Zhang Kang was so angry that his fat face was about to turn into a piece of pig liver.
If he and Zhu Yan had not just finalized their marriage and he had to behave better in front of the girl, he would have beaten up this grandson today no matter what.
The four of them walked to the busiest street in the county. At the entrance of the street was the Cangnan County Supply and Marketing Cooperative, which had the most complete range of commodities in the county.
Two comrades, a man and a woman, in the supply and marketing cooperative saw two soldiers in military coats, each leading their respective partners, and it was obvious that they were here to buy wedding supplies.
"Comrades, what do you want to buy? Wedding supplies?" The female comrade with short hair and navy blue clothes greeted with a smile.
Zhang Kang walked in and looked around the glass counter. "Are there any watches?"
"You're getting married by buying a watch, right? That requires industrial coupons."
"We do."
Zhang Kang took out the coupons and tickets from his pocket and placed them on the glass counter. The female comrade took them and examined them.
After a moment, he smiled and said, "We only have three watches left. You are lucky. We still have the last women's watch."
The gay man wearing black-framed glasses behind the counter took out an off-white square box from the glass cabinet behind him, opened it carefully, and placed it in front of them.
Inside the box is the most popular Plum brand women's watch in the 1980s. The light gold-plated color suggests its excellent value.
Zhang Kang quickly picked it up, grabbed Zhu Yan's hand, and was about to put it on the girl's wrist. "Yan'er, let's give it a try."
In fact, it was also Zhu Yan’s first time to buy a watch at the supply and marketing cooperative.
When she saw the golden watch Zhang Kang put on her wrist, she was extremely excited.
You know, the fame of Plum brand watches in the 1980s was no less than that of Laboratories today.
Zhang Kang went home this time mainly to go on blind dates and get engaged. So in order to make it easier for him to settle his marriage when he went home to visit his family, the company commander came to him the night before he left and told him to go home wearing a new military uniform and new leather shoes.
So Zhang Kang is still unable to buy himself a Plum watch.
“I will buy you a watch in the future…” Looking at the young couple trying on watches at the counter over there, Zhai Ximo saw that his wife was deliberately standing far away and pretending to look at fabrics over here, so he approached his wife and whispered.
Wang Ziru ignored the man and pointed at the rows of rolled cloth placed diagonally behind the counter. "Look, the weather is getting hot, and the summer fabrics are all out. Should we buy some cloth and take it back to town to find a tailor to make a couple of suits?"
"You really don't have many clothes. Since you are here today, you can take a few feet of cloth back with you and make two sets of clothes for Baoer to change into." The man said as he searched his pocket for the cloth coupons.
Finally, he took out a handful of tickets and stuffed them into his wife's hands, "Take them, these are all I have."
In fact, Wang Ziru just wanted to divert the man's attention so that he wouldn't be so nervous.
If Zhang Kang wants to buy a watch for the bride when they get married, that is their family's business.
Besides, no matter how beautiful the Plum brand watches are, can they compare with the exquisitely crafted Laboratories of later generations?
Wang Ziru counted the tickets in her hand and put them in her pocket without really intending to buy anything. "Next time, bring Baoer along to buy."
"oh."
Then, he walked over to Zhang Kang and glanced at the young couple.
"This watch is so beautiful! Zhu Yan, when you wear it, you look like a female comrade working in the office." Wang Ziru said with a smile.
Zhu Yan's cheeks immediately turned red, and she smiled shyly, "Sister Ziru, you are joking again."
"It's true! However, getting married and living together is the real test for you! If you get pregnant soon after getting married, it will cost more money, so I still suggest that you save some money."
That day, when she accompanied the man to the town post office to mail a letter, Wang Ziru learned from the man that Zhang Kang borrowed the money for his wedding from his comrades-in-arms.
Three hundred yuan in that era was equivalent to thirty thousand yuan in later generations.
Zhu Yan had no idea that she was already in debt with a man before they even got married.
But Zhang Kang felt that the necessary expenses for the wedding should be spent. He looked up and said with a silly smile: "Sister-in-law, you are so kind! But marriage is only once in a lifetime, so you can't avoid spending the necessary money."
Wang Ziru smiled and said, "It's up to you."
A watch costs several hundred yuan, which is half a year's salary. Since the other person likes it, she can't interfere.
Zhu Yan was a frugal girl and felt that Wang Ziru had good intentions.
He quickly took off his watch and said, "Why don't we not buy a watch and save the money for our future wedding expenses..."
Zhang Kang turned his head and looked at the two salesmen behind the counter. He was a little embarrassed and asked, "How much is this watch?"
"It's semi-automatic and costs only 305."
The salesman wearing glasses next to him spoke arrogantly, as if this supply and marketing cooperative belonged to his family. "The fully automatic ones are more expensive, costing 430, but they are only available in men's sizes. It depends on which one you buy."
"Three, three hundred plus yuan?!" Zhang Kang was shocked.
He thought it would only cost about two hundred dollars.
Unexpectedly, it was far beyond his budget. His wedding next month would cost a lot of money, and he couldn't spend all the 300 yuan he borrowed on buying a watch.
Suddenly, he looked very sorry.
Zhu Yan was also very smart. She saw his embarrassment at a glance and quickly put the watch back into the box, smiling and saying, "We are not buying a watch. Let's go buy something else."
Then, Zhu Yan ignored Zhang Kang's ugly face and turned around and ran to Wang Ziru.
"Sister Ziru, please help me choose the fabric for my wedding dress. I'm afraid I can't make the right choice."
Wang Ziru blinked her bright eyes and smiled, "Actually, I don't know what you'll wear for your wedding, but you also know that my parents' family will also be holding a wedding on the day of your wedding, so I can't go to Zhang's house to see you as a bride that day."
"It's okay! We will still see each other every day after you go to the army." The girl said generously.
Two women stood in front of the fabric counter and negotiated for fabrics with the salesperson.
Zhang Kang's face turned red like a piece of pig liver. He walked over and whispered to Zhai Ximo, "I never thought the watch was so expensive..."
"You don't have to be embarrassed! You'll know after you get married that there are many places where you need money. Look, I used to save money every month and sent the remaining money back home..."
"Forget it! If you don't want to buy it, then don't buy it. We'll buy her something nice later when we have more money."
The two old comrades each had their own unspeakable concerns.
After a short while, Zhu Yan selected several colors of polyester and tore out the fabric for a new set of clothes for Zhang Kang and herself according to their body shapes.
He turned around and looked at Zhang Kang, "Come here and give me the money."
"Oh, here I come." Zhang Kang hurried over and took out the cloth coupons and money.
Zhai Ximo followed and saw the navy blue polyester fabric that Zhu Yan was pulling out. It was a better material for making pants, so he asked, "Would you like to pull out a pair of pants too?"
"No need. I'll bring Bao'er with me to buy cloth next time." Wang Ziru didn't plan to buy cloth in the county town. She lowered her head and pulled at the navy blue coarse cloth pants she was wearing. "I just bought this pair of pants not long ago."
Right now, the weather is still relatively cold, so there is no need to rush to tear cloth to sew clothes.
In those days, if you bought some cloth and took it to a tailor in town, you would have to pay for it.
She couldn't spend the little money she had casually.
The man felt very complicated when he saw this.
After walking around the county town for a while, Wang Ziru saw that it was getting late, "You guys walk around for a while, I'll go back and watch Zong Hao cook."
"There's another hard dish for dinner, and Zonghao can't handle it alone."
Zhai Ximo was just about to say that they should go back to the Armed Forces Department together, when he heard Zhang Kang say, "Okay! Sister-in-law, you go first. It's rare for us to come to the city, so we need to stroll around for a while."
The group parted at the intersection leading to the old street.
Wang Ziru quickened her pace and took a shortcut back to the armed forces department.
After watching Wang Ziru leave, Zhang Kang followed the example of the young men in the county and led Zhu Yan to walk along the riverside.
Zhai Ximo had no choice but to be the light bulb for the two of them.
However, Zhu Yan was a sensible girl. She deliberately lagged behind them and let Zhang Kang walk in front to chat with Zhai Ximo.
The three of them walked and talked along the river bank of the old street, and before they knew it, they had arrived at a densely populated area.
When we walked under a willow tree, we saw an old man in front of us with a cane in his hand, who seemed to be walking on the sidewalk along the river bank.
"It's her! Dean Han's mother..." Zhai Ximo wanted to turn around and leave, but he and Zhang Kang were particularly conspicuous in their military coats. The old lady opposite who was smiling and talking to someone next to her had already noticed him.
"Hey, isn't this Xiao Tang's friend?"
Zhang Kang was confused, and turned to look at Zhai Ximo curiously, "Do you know him?"
"Yeah." Zhai Ximo smiled helplessly, and hurriedly went up to her, saying respectfully, "Grandma Han, are you taking a walk outside too?"
"What a nice sun these days! Little warrior, that's your comrade, right?"
Zhai Ximo looked back at Zhang Kang and nodded, "Yes."
"What a coincidence! I didn't expect that we would meet again. This morning, you and Xiao Tang came to my house specially to see me, but I didn't invite you into the house for a cup of tea! Since we are so destined to meet, come on, follow me into the house and have a cup of tea before leaving." Old Mrs. Han smiled kindly and was about to take the guests home.