After speaking, Li Jingya hesitated for a moment: "You want the old, dusty stuff too? And you want the stuff that someone else has used?"
Xu Ningyan thought for a moment, then took out five yuan and handed it to Li Jingya: "Yes, keep the unused ones for me. I'll come back in a few days to pick them out and pay for them together. With this five yuan, please ask around for me. If anyone wants to sell those used stamps, as long as they're intact, I'll take them. I'll ask if each stamp is one or two cents. Please keep an eye out for them."
Xu Ningyan didn't understand stamps, but he thought of many people in later generations. Some had collected all the tickets and certificates from the 1960s and 70s, some had collected all the versions of banknotes from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the present, and some had collected various daily necessities from that era.
She also had this idea and tried to collect as many things as possible from this era.
Although it may not have much economic value, looking back on it in the future will serve as a testament to this era.
Who knows, maybe one day when I wear them back, I can subtly show them off online.
Li Jingya looked at Xu Ningyan as if she were a sucker, and couldn't help but say, "These used tickets are useless now. You can just say a few nice words to someone. Why spend money on them? This is such a waste!"
Xu Ningyan smiled and said, "It would be too kind of us to accept their money for nothing! It's just that this is one of my grandfather's hobbies. As his juniors, it's only right that we spend a little money to make him happy."
Li Jingya then fell silent, took the money, and assured her, "Don't worry, I'll ask around and see how much it cost. I'll keep track of everything and make sure I don't spend it recklessly!"
Xu Ningyan cupped her hands in a gesture of respect to Li Jingya: "Of course I trust you, sister! I'll leave everything to you!"
The two chatted for a while longer, and Xu Ningyan promised to bring Li Jingya a hair tie that was the best-selling item in their department store next time she came, before taking her leave.
The following days were peaceful and uneventful.
After Xu Ningyan received and sent the letter, those who had been gossiping and plotting to introduce their relatives to Xu Ningyan seemed to have disappeared overnight. Everyone who saw Xu Ningyan smiled warmly and was exceptionally friendly.
Xu Ningyan pretended not to know.
Go to work diligently every day, come home, close the gate to the yard, and set out the iced watermelon, iced milk tea, and iced cola in the yard, along with some grilled crayfish—it's truly a heavenly life.
Unlike when she lived with Gu Zhiyuan before, she only dared to secretly drink some iced cola at night, and would never dare to take out barbecue crayfish to eat.
After showing off her barbecue for several days in a row, Xu Ningyan broke out in pimples from the heat, and only then did she calm down a bit.
Lin Hong is getting married soon, and it seems she has developed pre-wedding jitters. Her previous anticipation and longing have now turned into fear and worry.
She worried that she and Zhou Zi'an wouldn't get along after marriage, worried about mother-in-law issues, worried about this and that.
Xu Ningyan was so annoyed by the nagging that she couldn't help but ask, "How about we postpone the wedding for now?" The usually cheerful Lin Hong had even developed dark circles under her eyes.
Lin Hong was taken aback by Xu Ningyan's words. The wedding date had already been set, although it was said that it was best for engaged couples not to meet a few days before the wedding.
But Zhou Zi'an would pick up Lin Hong every day after get off work and take her to the gate of the machinery factory before going home.
There are currently no problems in their relationship, right?
Although she was worried and a little scared, she never thought about not getting married!
Seeing her discomfiture, Xu Ningyan comforted her, "You two have a good relationship. Brother Zhou treats you well usually, and your parents have both approved of his character. What are you afraid of? If he dares to bully you after marriage, even if you don't fight back, won't you go back to your parents' house to complain? Do you think your dad, your mom, and your brother would let you suffer?"
"Besides, even if your parents can't control things, there's still the Women's Federation, right? The Women's Federation always protects us women, doesn't it? If all else fails, as long as Zhou Zi'an dares to bully you, just go to his workplace and make a scene! If he doesn't let you have a good time, do you expect him to have a good time too?"
"If all else fails, you can take advantage of the honeymoon period after you marry him and establish rules for him! Make a three-point agreement first! In black and white! He used to be a soldier, and now he's a policeman. Once it's in writing, how can he go back on his word?"
"And you're worried about the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship? What's there to worry about? You don't even live together. Besides, if Zhou's mother is really unreasonable, let Zhou Zi'an take over! As a man, if you can't even manage your own household, how can you govern the world? If you can't even handle your own family affairs, how can you serve the people?"
"Besides, if things really can't go on like this, it's not like you can't get a divorce! You have a job, you're young and beautiful, even if you get a divorce, are you afraid you won't find someone better? Show some backbone first, you got married to live a good life, not to suffer—"
Lin Hong was stunned. She stared blankly at Xu Ningyan for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out a sentence: "Where did you hear all this from? We're getting married, why are you already thinking about divorce?"
Xu Ningyan scoffed: "Do you even know what the necessary conditions for divorce are?"
Lin Hong thought for a long time, dumbfounded: "Having an affair? Beating your wife?"
Xu Ningyan shook her head: "It's about marriage."
It took Lin Hong a while to realize what was happening. She thought Xu Ningyan was teasing her, and she was both annoyed and amused: "You're so irresponsible, you're just messing with me—"
As she spoke, she patted Xu Ningyan twice.
Xu Ningyan was slapped so hard she could only smile wryly and offer no explanation; she had been speaking in the most serious of all.
Lin Hong, on the other hand, lost most of her fear of marriage after being interrupted by Xu Ningyan.
She then pondered how she could look stunning on her wedding day to captivate Zhou Zi'an.
Turning her head, she saw Xu Ningyan standing idly to the side and couldn't help but say, "I'm getting married in a couple of days, how come you've got two big bumps on your forehead from all this heat? Go get some Niuhuang Jiedu tablets to cool down—"
Xu Ningyan was too embarrassed to admit that she had been eating barbecue and crayfish every night, so she nodded silently.
I've decided to make myself a cup of chrysanthemum tea later.
On June 30th, after Xu Ningyan got off work, Lin Hong dragged her directly to the Lin family home.
A lot of people came to the Lin family's courtyard, mostly relatives from the Lin family's hometown. If they didn't come in advance, they were afraid they wouldn't make it to the wedding tomorrow.
Lin Hong originally wanted Xu Ningyan to sleep with her that night, but there were too many relatives coming, and the Lin family's house was not enough to accommodate them all. She heard that Lin's mother was even arranging for them to sleep on the floor.
Xu Ningyan felt embarrassed to stay, after all, she wasn't used to living under the same roof with so many people.
I helped Lin Hong take out the clothes, shoes, and socks she would wear for her wedding tomorrow, and checked them over again. There were no problems.
Having arranged to come over early the next morning to help with makeup, Xu Ningyan left the Lin family without even having dinner.
Along the way, they encountered many familiar faces, all of whom were Gu Zhiyuan's former colleagues at the machinery factory. Some of them simply nodded from afar as a greeting, while others pretended not to see Xu Ningyan at all.
Some people seemed to want to go up and say a few words, but were pulled away by the people next to them.
Xu Ningyan thought this was fine. Apart from the Lin family, she didn't want to have any further contact with anyone else in the machinery factory.
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