Chapter 79: Preparing for the New Year Gift
They ordered breakfast and lunch together. Although Huo Beichuan's cooking skills were not particularly good, they were decent. Chen Jintao ate some and went out with him.
Today I mainly went to buy gifts for my parents, brothers and sisters in the countryside. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and if I send them now, they will arrive before the New Year.
The two of them went straight to the department store. During this period, Chen Jintao collected a lot of seafood and made it into dried seafood. She sent a lot of it back home, so there was no need to buy this.
The things in the department store also have local specialties. In addition, the taste here is quite different from that in Yunnan Province, so it is quite unique. I bought some famous local snacks and other daily necessities.
Knowing that her family would not be willing to spend money, Chen Jintao was not stingy at all when it came to spending money.
She bought two coats for each of her parents. Seeing some cashmere scarves from the province next door, Shen Jintao thought they would be good gifts for the ladies in her family. Although they were only ten yuan each, she bought three without hesitation. One was just right for each of her mothers and Huo Nanxi. She also bought leather shoes according to the sizes of her family members. She spent about a hundred yuan on these alone.
Then came the gifts from Shen Jianmin and Huo Chenggong. Shen Jintao bought some good cigarettes and good wine, one pack of cigarettes for each of the two fathers, and two bottles of wine. Fortunately, Huo Beichuan had made preparations before the New Year and had exchanged a lot of tickets with some unmarried comrades, otherwise it would not have been so easy to buy so many cigarettes and wine.
The gifts prepared for Huo Dongsheng and Shen Jidong were even simpler. Together with Huo Nanxi, the three little ones each received a new set of clothes, and an extra Hero brand pen was prepared for Shen Jidong. Currently, he was the only one still in school.
A pair of Huili shoes was prepared for Huo Dongsheng. This kind of shoes is more popular among young people than leather shoes. After they bought them, both of them were carrying large and small bags in their hands.
The purchasing power of these two people is truly shocking. After all, there are many people coming and going in department stores every day, but it is rare to see such a large amount of money.
Passing by a watch counter, Chen Jintao saw a very classic watch with a full steel strap. It looked simple yet low-key, luxurious and meaningful.
Thinking that her father is now the acting captain, Shen Jintao was a little tempted, but she only had one watch ticket in her hand. If she bought it for Shen Jianmin, Huo Chenggong didn't have it. Moreover, it was a big item. If Huo Chenggong knew about it, he would inevitably feel uncomfortable.
Huo Beichuan saw through his wife's thoughts at a glance. Not wanting to embarrass her, he smiled and said, "Wife, I think this watch is quite suitable for our father. Why don't you buy it for him? He is the captain now. He has a lot of things to do every day. It's good to have a watch to tell time. As for my father, it won't be too late to buy him one when we have a watch ticket. I will explain it to him then. Besides, you make more money than me. No one can say anything if you spend your own money."
Chen Jintao certainly knew this truth, but Mr. and Mrs. Huo were really good to her, and she also hoped to treat them equally and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
But when I thought about it, I realized that there would always be a chance to get a watch ticket in the future, so I just bought the watch.
Even though Shen Jianmin was the captain, he couldn't be too ostentatious. Although there were some imported brands on the counter, and a watch cost several hundred yuan, Shen Jintao was attracted by a Shanghai brand watch, which only cost one hundred and twenty yuan.
Of course, for ordinary workers, this is three or four months' salary without food or drink.
In rural areas, few people are willing to buy watches.
After leaving the department store, the two went straight to the post office and sent the package out. It was divided into two packages to avoid confusion later.
The two also wrote letters to their families separately, explaining that they could not go back to celebrate the New Year this year and also explaining the distribution of those things.
After sending the things, Huo Beichuan couldn't help but sigh, "I feel like a gigolo now, wife, you are really amazing."
Although Huo Beichuan can be considered absolutely excellent, he really can't compare to Chen Jintao when it comes to making money.
Chen Jintao wrote articles for newspapers from time to time, and the compensation she received was equivalent to Huo Beichuan's monthly salary. It can be said that there was no other person in the entire army who was as good at making money as Chen Jintao.
The principal had talked to Chen Jintao about this several times, fearing that after Chen Jintao made money from writing articles, she would feel that the salary offered by the school was too low. After all, the school could not offer a salary that was too high, but the principal did not want such a talent to slip away from under his nose.
The principal was relieved only after Chen Jintao repeatedly assured him that she would continue working in the school.
In fact, Shen Jintao had no plans to resign from the school before the reform and opening up. If nothing unexpected happened, as long as Huo Beichuan was not transferred from the unit, she would continue to work in the school until the reform and opening up.
As for taking the college entrance examination, she had never really thought about it. She felt that the experience accumulated in two lifetimes was enough. There was no need to study for a few more years just for a piece of paper and waste the best opportunity.
It is now the end of 1975, and after the Chinese New Year it will be 1976. In 1976, we will see policy changes, and it will be less than two years before we can work freely. During this period of time, Shen Jintao wants to be honest and avoid causing trouble for her man.
Neither Chen Jintao nor Huo Beichuan really likes eating out. In fact, eating out is just so-so and is not as good as what Chen Jintao cooks herself.
Seeing some ingredients, the two bought some more. Together with what they had at home, they didn’t have to go out for the rest of the day. That was enough for the two of them to celebrate the New Year.
When she got home, Chen Jintao didn't make anything complicated, just a bowl of noodles. But she made the noodle sauce herself. Some time ago, a cow in a nearby brigade died of old age, and the army bought it and then supplied it to the army's own store. Huo Beichuan went to grab a few pounds and brought it back. Chen Jintao made it into sauce, which is delicious whether eaten as a side dish or mixed with rice.
Both of them like spicy food, and this spicy beef noodles with臊子 is so delicious.
It's just that Huo Beichuan eats the most, and he would eat a full bowl of noodles cleanly. Every time, Shen Jintao couldn't help but sigh that it was a good thing that he chose to join the army when he was young, otherwise with such a way of eating, the Huo family would probably be upside down every year.
Although this statement was somewhat exaggerated, after all, Huo Beichuan was a good eater. Even if he did not join the army to work, he would definitely have earned full work points and would not have insufficient food for himself. But he was really a good eater. It was not often that he had to buy food for his family, and sometimes he had to go to the canteen to get meals. After all, even if he had food coupons and money, it did not mean that he could definitely buy food.
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