Chapter 21 Supplementary Evidence
Shi Wenya kept talking about going to the Central Building to take a look. The building was built in 1990, but it still exists and is open for business thirty years later. This shows how high-end this building is from today's perspective.
Two bicycles stopped in front of the central building. As Shi Wenya entered, she, who had been excited all the way, suddenly hesitated.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say you wanted to go shopping?"
Pu Xiang is ready to lock the car.
Shi Wenya quickly reached out and held her hand, feeling a little embarrassed. She hesitated for a moment and said, "I was in a hurry to leave today and didn't even change my clothes. It's not good to go in like this!"
After Shi Hai came home in the morning, she heard what he said and without hesitation, she pushed the car and ran out to chase him.
Not only did he not change his clothes, he was wearing a patched jacket and the same cloth shoes he usually wore at home, which had a small hole on the big toe.
It's so embarrassing.
Look at the people coming in and out of the building. They are all dressed fashionably and beautifully, and they are obviously city people. Occasionally, there are a few country people with simple temperament and honest faces. They all try their best to dress appropriately, wearing new clothes and even their hair is neatly combined.
When Shi Wenya thought of this, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't even combed her hair properly when she went out. She just tied her hair up with a red hair tie when she got up in the morning.
The more I think about it, the more ashamed I feel.
Pu Xiang really didn't notice these things. Compared to now, many people a few decades later didn't care so much about these things. She even saw people shopping in big shopping malls wearing home clothes, and no one thought anything of it.
But Shi Wenya's face had already turned red, and it seemed that she was about to run away in the next second.
"What's wrong with that? Patching clothes only shows that we are poor now. If we behave ourselves and don't steal, there is no shame in being poor. As long as we are not lazy and work hard to get rich, we will be rich one day...Okay, if you don't want to go in, we will go to the Central Building another day. When we have money, we can go in with our heads held high. Now you wait here for me. I'll go in to buy something and be back soon."
As soon as she heard that the central building was not going to be built, Shi Wenya immediately relaxed.
She was curious: "Okay, go quickly... Third sister, you said you were coming to the county town to buy something, right? What do you want to buy?"
Pu Xiang left a message saying "You'll know in a moment" and walked into the central building carrying a big bag.
Shi Wenya looked at the back. Pu Xiang was wearing the usual clothes. As a farmer, all her clothes were patched. Her shoes were the same cloth shoes as hers. The only good thing was that there were no holes in them... She walked into the building dressed like this, not feeling uncomfortable at all.
Shi Wenya suddenly felt a little bit of admiration for Pu Xiang. She really had no shame at all.
She also said that she would do it when she made money in the future. She didn't know why, but at this moment she suddenly believed that Pu Xiang could really do what he said.
Shi Wenya didn't have to wait too long. Soon Pu Xiang came out with her bag. She got on her bike and said, "Come on, accompany me to get a divorce certificate now."
There's no telling when this certificate might be useful, so she has to get it back first.
The Civil Affairs Bureau was not far from the central building, and they arrived there quickly. Pu Xiang and his companion parked the car and walked inside.
It was Shi Wenya's first time to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau. She didn't even get a marriage certificate when she got married. She just held a wedding banquet at home and told the brigade about it, and that was it.
She remembered that Pu Xiang married Shi Dafu at about the same time, and they seemed to have gone to the township government to get their marriage certificate.
Anyway, the management back then was not as formal as it is now.
Pu Xiang stepped into the Civil Affairs Bureau again, feeling more familiar with the place than the first time.
She was holding a big bag, with Shi Wenya, who was curious about everything, following her, and walked to the window where they got the certificate.
"Hello, comrade. The divorce certificate I received last week was torn up by my family. Now I want to get a new one. What procedures do you think are necessary?"
Pu Xiang still remembered the appearance of the staff member she consulted, the one who gave her □□ at that time.
The woman, who had her hair curled and tied into a low bun, was probably in her forties and dressed quite fashionably. As soon as she saw Pu Xiang's face, she recognized her.
After all, she had seen many men and women who came to get divorced, but there were not many who were as happy as Pu Xiang, as if they had thrown away some large piece of garbage.
She was still a rural woman.
It's not that she looks down on people from the countryside, it's just that the development pace of the countryside and the city is still different. She sits in this position all year round to help people get divorces, and she has almost never seen anyone from the countryside.
"Did you bring your ID and household registration book?"
"I brought my ID card, but my household registration booklet is at my ex-husband's house and I can't get it. Will my ID card be enough? I just came here a few days ago, so the documents should still be there! Can you help me find the previous documents?"
Pu Xiang said that her divorce certificate had been torn up and she came to replace it. The staff understood immediately. She had also seen many young couples who came to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a divorce. They had all gone to the Civil Affairs Bureau, but their parents did not agree and came over to make a fuss and dragged the couple away.
This is probably what happens when you return home after a divorce but your parents still don't agree.
When the other party looked at him, Pu Xiang was very calm and said, "I should have come to repair it on the day it was torn, but I was locked up until today. All the money I saved over the years, including the betrothal money I gave that year, was taken away before I was released. I really can't live with a family like that anymore. I want to take this divorce certificate and start over! Please, comrade, please help me!"
Zhang Hongying immediately grasped the key point: "You are being detained even though we are getting divorced. Are you going to take back the betrothal gift?"
Pu Xiang nodded: "Yes, I was locked in the house for three or four days. If I didn't get paid, I couldn't get out."
Other people present were fine, but Shi Wenya's eyes suddenly became red and tears fell.
"Third sister, why didn't you tell me these things? I thought Uncle Shi Hai really didn't want you and Shi Dafu to get divorced. He even asked me to persuade you to stay at my house for a few days because he was worried that you would have nowhere to live. How could he have the nerve to do that? Your parents still won't let you go back to your parents' home. What are you going to do next?"
Zhang Hongying also got angry after hearing this: "What kind of people are these? How could they do this? Why did they lock up a divorced person and even demand money? This should be reported to the police. This is robbery!"
There were not many people working at the time, and several other staff members were also idle. When they heard this gossip, they immediately expressed their opinions.
"How can there be such a person who wants to return the betrothal gift in a divorce?"
"That's right. When a gay man gets married, he is not allowed to have children or take care of the household. He has contributed a lot to the family. If the bride price is to be counted, then the man should also give compensation for this part of his contribution."
"Since he has asked for the betrothal money back, has he returned the lesbian's dowry?"
"Comrade, you can't just let it go like this. This is clearly bullying!"
"Yes, yes, let's report it to the police and let them solve this matter!"
Pu Xiang sincerely thanked those who spoke for her and gave her advice: "Thank you, thank you everyone, I will definitely find a way to get my dowry back. I just want to get the divorce certificate first. With the certificate, I can go to the village or township to seek help from the Women's Federation if I have any problems."
Oh, you even know about the Women's Federation.
When Zhang Hongying saw Pu Xiang's expression, she felt determined, unlike some women who could only cry and have no idea or solution when faced with such things. She also had a better impression of Pu Xiang.
"Okay, wait a minute. I still have the divorce documents from last week. I'll look them over for you and get you the certificate!"
If it's been a long time, it may not be easy to translate, but with last week's materials, I found it easily.
After all, divorces are still a minority these days.
Ten minutes later, Pu Xiang received the new certificate.
"Thank you, comrades. Thank you! This is the White Rabbit candy I just bought in the Central Building. It's sweet for you guys."
Pu Xiang took out a paper bag from her bag, grabbed two handfuls of candy from it and put them on the table. She thanked him again and then took Shi Wenya out.
Everything was done, and she could choose to give the candy or not, but she decided to open a women's clothing store in the county town, preparing to go for the mid- to high-end route. The county town is not a big place, and here could be her potential customer, so there is no harm to everyone in leaving a good impression.
Shi Wenya followed Pu Xiang out of the Civil Affairs Bureau with red eyes. When she saw the little green notebook, she had a real feeling that "Ah, my third sister is really divorced."
If they really get divorced, she will have nothing to do with Shi Dafu's family from now on.
Pu Xiang grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it into Shi Wenya's pocket. Before she could refuse, she said, "Take it back and give it to Chengcheng."
Shi Chengcheng, son of Shi Wenya.
Toffees are good stuff, but people only eat them once or twice a year. When Shi Wenya heard that she was asked to take it back for her son, she still felt embarrassed, but she stopped refusing immediately.
"Thank you, Third Sister."
Pu Xiang patted her and said, "What are you thanking me for? Come on, go for a stroll with me."
Next, we will get into the main topic of her business.
Pu Xiang planned to go to the commercial street of the county town first. She remembered that in the 1990s, there were three most prosperous places in the county town. One was the Central Building, where the first big hotel in the county town was located; the second was the mall wholesale market, which mainly sold wholesale food; and the third was the Times Commercial Street, which specialized in clothing, luggage, shoes and socks.
These three places have not been closed even after forty years and are still operating tenaciously.
Among the three, the commercial street is the least developed. Later, three large shopping malls and several commercial streets were built in the county. This place has changed from the most prosperous and fashionable place to a street for low- and medium-end clothing with inconvenient transportation and nowhere to find parking spaces.
The consumer group here has gradually changed from people of all ages to the middle-aged and elderly group.
However, at this time, it still lives up to its name "Era" and is the most fashionable existence in the county.
The old city area in later generations is exactly the central area of the current county town, and it is not far from the Civil Affairs Bureau. Pu Xiang identified the direction and found that the streets and buildings vaguely overlapped with the part in her memory. She quickly identified the direction.
Two 26-inch women's bicycles soon arrived at the "Era Commercial Street" that Pu Xiang had imagined.
Then Pu Xiang was dumbfounded.
Don't even think of this place as a modern commercial street. It's neither modern nor commercial at all. Even calling it a street seems a bit forced.
There are houses of different heights, including old-style bungalows and relatively newer two- and three-story buildings.
The most prosperous commercial street in the 1990s is nowhere to be seen now.
Pu Xiang counted on her fingers and found that she started her own small business three years after her son went to primary school, in 1993.
Yes, she remembered that it was also the year when the country abolished food coupons.
Time has really passed too long, from the age of 25 to 65, a full 40 years, and she really can't remember many things so clearly.
Since the modern commercial street has not yet been formed, she has to think about where the most prosperous area in the county is now... where is it... yes, it's the road to the bus station!
In fact, the road next to the Times Commercial Street is Station Road.
This is South Station Road. The bus station and train station are both on North Station Road, less than two kilometers away.
She could go there first and take a look.
Later, society developed rapidly, and small counties and towns also developed well. She forgot that where she was now was only a small place, not a big city.
Shi Wenya stopped with Pu Xiang, looked around, and said, "Third sister, where are you going? Did you remember the wrong way? To go to the small commodity market in Dongmentou, you have to go straight at the intersection just now, you can't turn."
"The small commodity market in Dongmentou?"
When Pu Xiang was reminded of this, she also remembered that the small commodity market did exist before the commercial street, and that it was indeed the busiest place in the past.
Shi Wenya nodded: "Yes, the small commodity market, what do you want to buy? There is everything there."
Pu Xiang said, "I want to see a store that sells clothes."
When Shi Wenya heard about selling clothes, she immediately became excited. No matter how many decades pass, the attraction of buying clothes to women will never disappear.
Regardless of whether she had money to buy or not, she said excitedly: "Then let's go to the small commodity market, where they sell clothes."
Pu Xiang quickly decided that she also wanted to go and have a look at the small commodity market, but they were all on the way to the station now, and the area on Station North Road was just on their way, so they decided to take a look first.
It was only a distance of one or two kilometers and we arrived there quickly.
Sure enough, the North Station Road was much busier, and Pu Xiang even saw a bus leaving the station that passed through their town.
A few decades later, their biggest advantage is still the convenient transportation. The next city is a first-tier city, and there is a direct bus to Lin City, the capital of their province. If she wants to do some business, it will be very convenient.
Pu Xiang called Shi Wenya, and the two got out of the car and pushed it together.
Shi Wenya seldom comes to the county town. Throughout the year, he only comes once during the Chinese New Year and other festivals. He may not buy anything when he comes, so everything seems new to him now.
"Wow, there are so many shops here. I always thought that small commodity markets were crowded with people, but there are so many people here too."
"When did these shops open? I didn't see any of these when I came here by bus before."
"Wow, it smells so good! There are so many food shops here! That must be shredded radish cake, it smells so good!"
Pu Xiang followed Shi Wenya's hand and looked over there, and sure enough, there was a middle-aged woman setting up a stall selling radish cakes.
"Let's go buy one and try it."
She took someone over and paid for two.
Isn't it fragrant? Who would be willing to use so much oil nowadays? In the days when you needed grain and oil coupons to buy oil, you would use a small spoon as the unit of measurement when cooking, adding half a spoonful of oil.
The shredded radish is wrapped in flour, fried until golden brown, and put in oil paper. You can smell the fragrance as soon as you bring it to your mouth. When you take a bite, it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a strong radish flavor. It is much more delicious than those sold on the street later.
The two of them enjoyed the meal very much and walked around the street while eating.
It can be seen that this street was not planned in the beginning. Stores are opened in a disorderly manner. There is a row of houses along the street. In the front are stores, and in the back are the offices of the water plant and the seed company. There are probably other offices there too, but Pu Xiang can't see and can't remember which ones.
The shops along the street sell box lunches, clothes, tea, shoes and socks, and small general merchandise. A few of the wider alleys at the back of the office buildings are now auto repair shops.
There is also a car wash further on.
Pu Xiang walked around for a while and roughly understood that it was estimated that part of the commercial street in later times was moved from here.
There is a huge flow of people here, with people coming in from the bus station and train station to eat or buy things.
However, it can be seen that the food stores have the best business and there are the most stores doing this.
If Pu Xiang wanted to start a food business, this would be a good place, but her current plan is to sell women's clothing, so she still plans to go to the small commodity market to have a look.
Shi Wenya and I pushed the cart around and finally returned to the stall selling radish cakes.
"Sister, you are really good at cooking!"
Business was not very busy at the moment, so the proprietress listened to her and responded casually.
"That's not true. My family is all about eating food. My husband and my father-in-law are both cooks."
Pu Xiang said: "That's no wonder... Big sister, I see that everyone here sells food, and only a few sell clothes, so is the business not good?"
The proprietress looked in the direction of the street and said, "That's right. There are passengers coming and going here. People who want to buy clothes will not get off the bus and buy at any store they see. They will basically go to the small commodity market... Look at that store, the door is still new. It used to sell clothes, but no one wanted it, so it couldn't be opened, so the owner changed. Now the new owner sells noodles, and business is pretty good."
While chatting, Pu Xiang asked about some news about the small commodity market. Several long-distance buses arrived at the station across the street, and a crowd of people rushed out of the station.
It might be that it was almost lunchtime, and people were flocking to their place.
Two men approached the radish cake stall and Shi Wenya waited for the proprietress to finish her work before continuing to talk to them about the small commodity market.
The two men didn't say anything. Although there weren't many people around, they still moved towards the two of them very clearly.
"Wenya, please come closer. There are too many people. Let's not block the road."
Pu Xiang suddenly felt something was wrong. The behavior of these two men was a bit suspicious, especially their eyes. Unlike other passers-by, they were looking at people, their clothes, height and body shape... She shouted quickly, trying to avoid them first.
At this moment, one of the two men who were very close to her suddenly bumped into the other, and the other man fell towards Shi Wenya.
You guessed it right!
Pu Xiang didn't have time to think about it, she pushed her bicycle forward, and the man hit the front wheel of her bicycle directly.
The two men stared at each other. The man was not tall. He held the handlebar with one hand and raised his head to glare at them fiercely.
This is definitely not a good group of people.
Pu Xiang's heart tightened, but she said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Are you okay? Dad, dad, come here quickly!"
She raised her head and shouted randomly, trying to give the impression that they were not two single women, but were traveling together with a man.
There must be security guards at the station. If this man dares to attack her, maybe she can run to the security guards for help?
Pu Xiang quickly scanned the area and thought this method might work, when suddenly she saw a familiar person in the crowd opposite her.
"Mo Yang! Jing Jing!"
Pu Xiang raised her voice and shouted. Mo Yang, who was walking out of the opposite station with his daughter in his arms, immediately looked up.
Mo Yang frowned. He knew Pu Xiang and Shi Wenya. They were from more than one village and were from the same production team. Their houses were built in the same row. Shi Wenya even grew up with them.
"What's going on?"
He quickly crossed the road and walked to Pu Xiang and Shi Wenya.
Pu Xiang immediately said, "I bumped into this big brother by accident, please come and help me... Big brother, I'm sorry!"
She apologized to the man again.
The short, fierce-looking man stood up immediately after seeing Mo Yang, who was tall and strong and at least a head taller than him, coming over.
"It's OK."
He walked away after saying this, and the other man with him spat on the ground and followed him with his hands in his pockets.
Of course, I didn't buy half of the radish pancake.
"Phew! Finally they left. You are really smart, sister. Fortunately, your man is here. These three hands pick people at the station every day. You better hide your money and be careful!"
The boss lady does business here every day. You don’t even need to recognize some of the people’s faces to tell what they do by their demeanor.
She was very nervous just now. She ran a shop here, so she didn't dare to speak out for fear of causing trouble and ruining her business. She was really worried that these two people would suffer losses. Fortunately, she was smart and the man in the family came over.
Pu Xiang said to Mo Yang, "I'm so lucky to meet you. I'm so sorry to have called you over."
She was in a hurry and didn't think too much, she just thought that this big man should be enough to scare a thief.
Shi Wenya was still terrified: "I was scared to death, Mo Yang, thanks to my third sister for seeing you, where are you going?"
Mo Yang said, "I'm going to the county town to meet a friend... Where are you two going?"
Shi Wenya immediately said, "We are going to go to Dongmentou to have a look. Do you want to come with us?"
She was a little frightened by the two men just now, so she called Mo Yang without thinking. They were from the same village. Mo Yang was usually a righteous man and a grown man. She felt safe walking with him.
Mo Yang thought about it for a moment and nodded. Three adults, one child, and two cars were quickly allocated. Pu Xiang took Shi Wenya and Mo Yang rode Shi Wenya's car. There happened to be a small rattan chair tied to the back seat of her car, which was usually for her son Shi Chengcheng to sit on, but now Mo Jingjing was allowed to sit on it.
Pu Xiang had been locked up in the Shi family for the past few days and hadn't seen the little girl. Now she saw that she was dressed neatly, her hair was braided into two pigtails, and her little face was clean. It seemed that Mo Yang, as a father, took good care of his daughter.
"Auntie."
Mo Jingjing called out softly when she saw her.
How could Zhou Xiaorou have the heart to hit such a young and well-behaved child!
Pu Xiang took out some candies from her pocket and stuffed them into the little girl's pockets, saying, "Be good, eat the candies."
Mo Jingjing took it, paused for a moment, and then said thank you softly.
This child was so calm when seeing sugar. It was not at all like the reaction a child of her age and generation should have. Shi Wenya was even more excited and childish than her just now. Could it be that she had some psychological problems after being beaten by Zhou Xiaorou... huh?
Pu Xiangfu turned his gaze to the little girl's face again.
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