In the blink of an eye, Zhan Chunlan has been working for a month.
That day, another shipment of bicycles arrived, this time nearly 40 bicycles. Ten were Forever brand, five were Phoenix brand, three were Flying Pigeon brand, and the rest were all Jiangcheng brand bicycles.
As usual, most of the bicycles were already sold out as soon as they arrived at the warehouse. Fortunately, because the inventory was relatively large, there were still 13 bicycles available for sale at the counter. Among them, one was a Forever brand and the remaining 12 were all Jiangcheng brand.
Because of the bicycles displayed on the counter, many more people have come to watch the spectacle these past few days. Zhan Chunlan doesn't chase people away; as long as they don't ask any questions, she lets them look around.
In the afternoon, a middle-aged couple came in with their son and two little girls. The family of five went straight to the bicycle counter. Zhan Chunlan knew from their demeanor that they had business to do.
"Only Jiangcheng brand left?" The young man was a little disappointed; it must have been bought for him.
"Yes, all the other brands are sold out." Zhan Chunlan almost had a stress reaction to this sentence. Her mind was blank, and the words just came out without her noticing. There was no other reason than that she was very familiar with the language.
"Will there be a Forever brand next month?" The man was still a little unwilling to give up. After all, it was his first bicycle, which was a luxury item, so he wanted a brand name one.
"Yes, we have Forever and Phoenix brands every month." Before the man could even get excited, she continued, "But you probably can't buy them; those brands sell out as soon as they're put on the shelves."
That's a euphemism; it probably meant that the items were already pre-ordered before they even hit the shelves.
The man looked at his parents, and the three of them nodded in agreement. "Okay, let's go with the Jiangcheng brand, they're all pretty much the same anyway."
Although the facts are indeed similar, everyone should understand this feeling: you always feel that something is lacking. If there are no problems for a long time, that's fine, but if there is even a slight problem, you will definitely think: See, compared to Yongjiu and Fenghuang brands, Jiangcheng brand is indeed far inferior.
There were three identical bicycles on the counter. Zhan Chunlan didn't touch them. It was almost closing time and there was no one else around, so she let them choose for themselves.
"Comrade, I want the middle one." The family spent a long time choosing, wishing they could turn their eyes into fiery eyes to pick out the best one.
"Okay, give me the 140 yuan, the bicycle ticket, and the purchase certificate." Zhan Chunlan took out a pen and booklet to register the relevant information.
The man's mother quickly took out something wrapped tightly in a handkerchief from the pocket of her clothes. She unwrapped it layer by layer and found 140 yuan. She counted it twice, then took out the bicycle ticket and the purchase voucher that she had saved for a long time and handed them to Zhan Chunlan.
The whole process was as slow as a sloth from Zootopia. This is understandable; it's like a modern person carrying long-saved cash to buy a car outright—anyone would probably count the money several times.
Zhan Chunlan was the first to pick up the purchase certificate to check. Currently, everything is allocated according to plan, and there is a limit to the amount of each person can use. For example, bicycles are stamped with "supplied" in the bicycle column when someone buys one. For a period of time, the person on a purchase certificate cannot buy bicycles again.
For example... this family right now.
With a regretful expression, Zhan Chunlan told them, "You can't buy it. The eligibility to purchase bicycles was used up a year ago."
"Impossible!" The man was the first to find this unacceptable. He was about to drive home, and now he was being told he couldn't buy it? He grabbed the purchase voucher and examined it carefully, word by word, hoping the salesperson had made a mistake.
Unfortunately, his wish was not fulfilled. Clutching the purchase voucher tightly, he looked at his parents, barely able to contain his emotions: "When has our family ever bought a bicycle?"
"No? You know we've never bought anything like this before." His mother was also a bit confused, holding the purchase receipt and looking at Zhan Chunlan hopefully: "Did the salesperson stamp it wrong when we bought things before?"
“First of all, it’s impossible. You all watch when the stamp is applied, so it’s impossible for it to be stamped in the wrong place.” Although Zhan Chunlan prides herself on being a kind person, she wouldn’t agree to such an outrageous guess.
"Secondly, even if it were a mistake, you wouldn't be able to prove it. Therefore, you still shouldn't buy it." Good heavens, people really can't empathize. Such a regrettable and heartbreaking thing no longer stirs a ripple in Zhan Chunlan's heart.
The honest, unassuming man who hadn't said much had a fleeting look of guilt and realization on his face, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at his wife and children.
Suddenly, his mother noticed his unusual behavior. A thought flashed through her mind: his uncle's family had also bought a bicycle for his daughter who had just started working this year. The most crucial point was that they had just bought one for their eldest son the year before last. She had wondered how they could buy bicycles for two consecutive years. At the time, her husband had said that they had found someone to buy the quota, but she never expected that they had actually used their own quota.
"Smack!"
Everyone stared in shock at the female warrior. Zhan Chunlan happened to have witnessed the whole process. The casual gesture and appropriate force made her feel that this was not her first time. She must have become skilled through practice. Didn't she see that the man had a burning palm print on his left cheek and didn't dare to say a harsh word?
"You still say your brother bought the spot from someone else? You've actually learned to lie?!" After saying that, a hand appeared on the man's right cheek, making it symmetrical.
Courageous, truly courageous. Zhan Chunlan silently gave this great woman a big thumbs up in her heart; she is simply a role model for our generation.
"Didn't you know your family needed to buy a bicycle? Is your brother more important than your son?" This time, she slapped her man on the back with such force that if the counter hadn't been there to stop him, he would have been sent flying.
"He only said he needed the purchase voucher to buy sugar, saying that his mother wasn't feeling well this month and that they had run out of sugar, so I lent it to him." The man became increasingly weak after being slapped, and even his attempts to explain were barely audible, like a mosquito buzzing.
"Are you an idiot?" Another slap landed on her back, making her feel like her man was about to bleed internally. "If you're going to be filial to your mother, why don't you buy it for her yourself and hand it to her? You're so filial, but you won't even walk those two steps for your mother?"
"That's exactly what I thought. Do you think I'm stupid?" The man was still putting up a stubborn resistance. If it weren't for the fact that it was really his fault this time, would he have let her slap him like that?
It would have been better if I hadn't said anything, because mentioning it only made the woman angrier, and she slapped me again: "Then why didn't you do it? What's the point of saying all this now? You're not allowed to touch the purchase certificate anymore, or I'll beat you every time you do!"
Zhan Chunlan guessed that this man would be sleeping face down tonight; sleeping on his back would hurt! Hahahaha~
The man buying the car was also driven crazy by his stupid father. Unwilling to endure his parents' tantrums in public, he said, "If I can't buy it, I'm going back! I'm leaving!" He turned around and strode out, walking faster and faster, as if he was about to explode with anger.
Everyone else followed the man, but the woman stayed behind. She quietly asked, "Comrade, given our situation, is it still possible for us to buy a bicycle?"
Upon hearing this, Zhan Chunlan gave her an admiring look. Sure enough, a strong woman can not only express her inner emotions freely, but also think about how to solve problems.
But she couldn't say it outright. Instead, looking at the "supplied" stamp on the purchase order, she said meaningfully, "It's all up to human effort!"
At first, she was a little confused, but after staring at those words for a while, she seemed to understand something and said to Zhan Chunlan with a smile, "I understand, thank you for the reminder, comrade!"
Then, she left too.
Zhan Chunlan didn't know what she had gleaned from those words, but she herself didn't really mean anything by them. Anyway, with these words, she could still say a lot more, such as "There's always a way out" and "Nothing is impossible if you're willing to give up!"
We'll have to see how to proceed specifically.
Haha, she really likes nonsense literature.
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