The car started moving, but Shen Yu didn't catch up, so Meng Tao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Yu stood there and watched the car go away, with the corner of his lips curled up slightly: He is quite cautious, it seems that he will not be kidnapped so easily.

Entering the city, people got off at every stop. Meng Tao looked out the window, her eyes lingering on those exquisite ancient buildings that were fortunate enough to be preserved. She sighed inwardly, to be honest, there is no comparison between the provincial capital of Province D in the 1970s and two thousand years later; each has its own beauty.

When she heard the conductor shout that they had arrived at the First Department Store, Meng Tao stood up and got off the bus. She had visited the department store in the steel plant's living area yesterday, and today she took a look at the department store in the city. The department stores in the 1970s were certainly not as good as the supermarkets of later generations, and there was nothing she could do about it. But at least they were department stores in a big city, and they were always more advanced than the supply and marketing cooperatives and agency stores in the countryside, and they had much more goods. She had to prepare everything a woman would need every month.

It took Meng Tao less than 40 minutes to finish shopping in the five-story department store. She just went through it in a hurry and didn't visit some places because there was really nothing to see.

She spent twelve of the thirty yuan she had on her, plus some cloth coupons, to buy two sets of underwear. The original owner, Meng Taohua, had several sets of underwear that were patched and extremely worn out, so she had to replace them all.

What worried Meng Tao was that there were no sanitary napkins in that era, so she had to buy three packs of high-quality toilet paper, each pack costing 30 cents, to prevent the sudden arrival of her menstrual period. She listened to the salesperson and bought two boxes of sanitary belts (she didn't know how to use them yet, so she had to go back and study it).

After coming out of the department store, Meng Tao strolled along the street. She went into any store she saw, regardless of what was selling. She also went into the sales department of a farm machinery factory, and spent a long time looking at the gears and round little steel balls on the counter. She felt like a real country bumpkin.

I visited the stores of seafood, vegetable and fruit, sugar, tobacco, alcohol and other companies one by one. As expected of a provincial capital, the goods were quite abundant and filled the shelves, which was comparable to the supermarkets of later generations. The only difference was that they all used counters to stop customers, and they had to call the salesperson if they wanted to buy something. The service attitude of the salespersons, who had a fixed salary and a stable job, was usually not very good.

Meng Tao found a pawnshop on the corner of the street. Next to the pawnshop was a Chinese medicine shop. The two simple and old storefronts were next to each other. She didn't have anything to pawn for money, so she didn't go to the pawnshop. Instead, she stepped into the Chinese medicine shop and saw several pills in the glass cabinet that were hyped to sky-high prices in later generations. Now the price was only between a dozen and twenty yuan. The key point was that the pills could really cure critical and serious illnesses and save lives. At such a cheap price, she couldn't help but stare with her eyes widened. It was a pity that she had too little money, otherwise she would definitely buy more to collect. It is said that these pills have a long shelf life and can be kept for decades.

After looking for a long time, I finally walked out of the drugstore reluctantly. A penny can make a hero fall, and I, a woman without money, am also very sad.

When I was tired of walking, I took a bus to several places I had stayed in my previous life. Except for the park landscapes and historical sites, which could still see some of their original appearance, the other streets and residential areas were completely unrecognizable. In the future, the city will be replanned and rebuilt, with demolition, expansion and reconstruction, so the changes should not be too big.

Passing by a post office, I couldn't help but walk in and spent two dollars to buy a few sets of stamps that became famous in later generations. If I keep them and don't lose them, they will appreciate in value by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands in a few decades, which is more cost-effective than putting money in the bank to earn interest.

Then I didn't dare to spend money recklessly. Although I planned to ask Tian Zhigao for money, I didn't get it. What if he spent all the money on preparing for the wedding? I had to save enough money for the return ticket.

Money, money, this is a goal to strive for.

Since she was in this time and space, she had to live well. She had to earn everything by herself in the future. If it was an era of open policies and free trade, Meng Tao would not worry about having no money to spend. She graduated from a business college in her previous life and could make money through business, but now it was not possible. It was not the right time yet. She could only earn some work points in the production team. Throughout the year, she could only eat half-starved food. What else could she do? Although Meng Tao understood the direction of history and knew that things would gradually get better in a few years, it was hard enough to endure these few years.

It is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. It is really hard for a person born in the 1990s to live in poverty. She must find a way to make a living and improve her life. At least she should have enough food, clothes and some money to spend.

It was past five in the afternoon when Meng Tao took the bus back to the steel plant.

Shen Yu received a call from a waiter at the guesthouse's service desk, saying that Meng Tao had returned to her room, closed the door and rested. Shen Yu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and felt at ease.

At this time, in the living room of the Yuan family, Jiang Yushan was sitting on the sofa with Xian Fangfang in her arms, comforting her softly. Tian Zhigao lowered his head and listened to Deputy Director Yuan's lecture:

"You usually seem to be someone who knows how to adapt and get things done, but you can't even discipline a country girl. She lives right in this factory, right under our noses, and you can't even get close to her?"

Tian Zhigao: "I don't know either... I looked for her twice yesterday but didn't see her. Today she went out all day. She did it on purpose! Meng Taohua has changed a lot. She wasn't like this before."

Xian Fangfang said with tears in her eyes: "Uncle, you must help Zhigao. You have also seen Meng Taohua herself, she is uneducated and ill-mannered, and she has evil intentions. How can Zhigao, a high-level intellectual, live with a rural woman like that? Zhigao was innocent back then. He had to accept money and food from the Meng family and marry into the family because his family was poor. That was also forced, and it was an insult to human dignity. Didn't the Meng family rely on their wealth? Is it wrong to be poor?"

Jiang Yushan patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't get excited. You are a double now. If the Meng family can do something with money, we can do it too. What's wrong with giving her several times more?"

When Deputy Director Yuan heard the word "twin bodies", he frowned and glared at Xian Fangfang, but he couldn't say anything. After all, they got pregnant after getting their marriage certificate.

"The seriousness of the problem now is that Mr. Meng did join the guerrillas to fight the Japanese invaders, so he is an old revolutionary. As his descendant, Meng Taohua will be favored by both public opinion and the government. No matter how innocent Tian Zhigao is, he can only accept the punishment. I will try my best to keep a position for him, even if it means being a low-level worker in the workshop. You have to endure it first, and wait until this period is over, and then slowly make plans."

Jiang Yushan nodded: "Yes, as long as we have the green mountains, we will not be afraid of running out of firewood."

Xian Fangfang: "But Meng Taohua said that she wants to bring Zhigao back to the village to live with her."

"That girl is really ruthless. She just wants the factory to fire Tian Zhigao. If she insists, it can be done in principle."

"Uncle!" Xian Fangfang shouted, and Tian Zhigao clenched his fists nervously.

Deputy Director Yuan waved his hand and said, "I'm still here, right? I'll go talk to your Uncle Shen, and then let everyone know. When the decision is made, everyone can give their opinions. After all, Zhigao is a talent that the factory has spent a lot of money to train. He has gone to other companies for further studies and learned experience. He has always been in the technical breakthrough group and is a technical backbone. He knows the factory's product secrets. It's not easy to fire him."

Xian Fangfang and Tian Zhigao both breathed a sigh of relief.

Deputy Director Yuan added, "As for Meng Taohua, you have to give her some benefits to keep her stable. As long as she doesn't continue to make trouble, this matter will soon be over. You two have obtained a marriage certificate, and Meng Taohua is also right in the de facto marriage. You should compensate her in any way you want. In short, you can do whatever you want. The wedding on October 1st has to be cancelled. What you need to do now is to keep a low profile, and keep a low profile again!"

Xian Fangfang pouted. She had already prepared her wedding clothes and hairstyle. She and Zhigao would be the most beautiful and fashionable bride and groom in the factory. But they couldn't hold their wedding. Wouldn't this make her and Zhigao regret for the rest of their lives? Meng Taohua, how hateful!

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(End of this chapter)