Fang Qiao's greedy nature was completely undisguised in front of Cheng Baidong, making him chuckle. He held her hand and said, "Don't even think about it. This is just a lucky break, something you can only dream of. Ordinary people can't get rich this way."
"All right."
Fang Qiao was just thinking about it casually, after all, what could a pregnant woman like her do?
Knowing it wouldn't work, he put it out of his mind and started planning what to buy with the money.
“Now that my belly is big, I start to feel out of breath after walking just a few steps when I go out to buy groceries. Although the market isn’t far, it still takes about ten minutes to walk there, not to mention that I have to carry the groceries back. It’s exhausting. I need to buy a bicycle to get around.”
"And An'an's little bamboo cart, she can sit in it very steadily now, but we haven't been to the city recently. When we go to the city this time, we should buy the little bamboo cart."
“I also want to get Xiaojing a sewing machine. She cuts and sews all of An'an and Tiantian's clothes by hand. Needlework is the most time-consuming thing. She doesn't have a moment's rest all day long, and she inevitably pricks her fingers with the needle. I've seen it happen several times. Summer has just begun, and there are still many days ahead. She still has a lot of clothes to make. Buying a sewing machine will make things easier for Xiaojing.”
A bicycle costs a little over a hundred yuan, a sewing machine is slightly more expensive than a bicycle, but still less than two hundred yuan, and a small bamboo cart is even cheaper, you can buy one for ten yuan.
These things wouldn't even cover the bonus, so Cheng Baidong naturally wouldn't object.
"Buy them all." He considered the industrial coupons at home and said, "I'll ask the factory later if they have any bicycle coupons or sewing machine tickets. If not, I'll try to exchange them with someone using the industrial coupons at home."
Cheng Baidong had just made a great contribution; because of his early warning, the factory reacted quickly and avoided losses. He wanted bicycle tickets and sewing machine tickets, and the factory leaders naturally prioritized fulfilling his requests, taking out bicycle tickets and sewing machine tickets from the vouchers to be issued at the end of the month and distributing them to Cheng Baidong in advance.
So when the weekend came, Fang Qiao and Cheng Baidong took their two children and Xiao Jing, the five of them, and drove into the city in a jeep.
It was Sunday, and the department store was packed with people. The entrance was so crowded with bicycles that there was no room for any of the bicycles that came later, so they had to park further away.
A long queue of people waited to go in, while those coming out carried large and small bags.
Fortunately, there are designated parking spaces for cars at the entrance of the department store. These days there are few cars, so there are still empty spaces.
Cheng Baidong carried An'an, Xiao Jing held Tian Tian's hand, and Fang Qiao walked between them with her slightly protruding belly.
The entrance to the department store was crowded with people. While holding An'an, Cheng Baidong kept an eye on Fang Qiao to prevent her from being squeezed by the crowd.
Fortunately, only the narrow section near the entrance was crowded; once inside the department store, it became much more spacious.
Upon entering the department store, Fang Qiao led her people directly to a corner on the first floor where children's bamboo carts were sold.
The bamboo children's strollers all look pretty much the same, the only difference being that some strollers are smaller and more compact, only allowing the baby to sit inside, without any other functions.
Some have specially made baskets for storing things at the back, and some have even made double-decker strollers, with the baby sitting on the top floor and the items stored on the bottom floor.
Fang Qiao was very interested in the double-decker bamboo stroller, but since it was a bamboo stroller, its stability was not great. Considering that the seat was too high and the baby was a little older and moving around inside, Fang Qiao finally chose the single-decker stroller with a basket.
A small car costs eight yuan, and they even gave away a small cooling mat cushion.
After paying, Cheng Baidong immediately put An'an inside. Pushing her around was less strenuous and cooler than carrying her. An'an was happy and swung her little legs back and forth in the little bamboo stroller.
Cheng Baidong pushed her forward, and the bicycle shop was not far ahead.
For convenience, department stores have all the counters selling large items on the first floor. These days, elevators are still a rarity, and you have to go up and down stairs. Putting large items on the first floor saves people the trouble of climbing up and down.
Cheng Baidong walks to work at the factory, but he has a car and a driver when he goes out. Fang Qiao mainly rides the bicycle he bought, so Cheng Baidong let Fang Qiao choose a relatively small women's bicycle.
Women's bicycles do not have a front crossbar, making it easier to get on and off compared to bicycles with a crossbar.
After paying for the voucher, Cheng Baidong put the bicycle in the trunk of the jeep, and Fang Qiao and Xiao Jing waited for him to return with the children.
Fang Qiao asked, "Xiao Jing, can you ride a bicycle?"
"I don't know how." Xiaojing shook her head a little embarrassedly: "I learned for a while when I was little, but it was too high and I always fell, so I stopped learning it."
As soon as Xiaojing explained, Fang Qiao understood: "It's okay, we can learn it as soon as we learn. Our bicycle is short and light, much easier to learn than the tall and heavy ones back home. You'll definitely learn it after practicing for a few days at home."
In rural areas, bicycles are mostly ridden by the men in the family, so they are all the old-fashioned bicycles with very high frames and crossbars.
Such a vehicle is tall and bulky, making it particularly unfriendly to female beginners of average height.
Xiaojing's family also owns this kind of bicycle. It was used by her father to go to work when he was still alive, and it's now a 20-year-old antique.
However, although this old antique was dilapidated, its quality was surprisingly good. It could still be ridden after some repairs, and Xiaoqiang still rode the same one to work at the brick factory.
Xiao Jing pursed her lips, somewhat unsure of herself, and said, "Can I do it? This is a new bicycle after all. What if I can't learn and I fall and break it?"
"You can definitely do it! Besides, everyone falls when learning to ride a bicycle, so don't worry about breaking it. Bicycles are made of steel, they're not as fragile as you think. Just ride with confidence when you get back, you won't break it."
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