next day
The bugle calls of the military region rose and fell, and Su Jingjing was awakened from her sleep. Looking around, the scenery around her was blurry and indistinct.
A thin mist hung in the air outside the window, and the sky was overcast. She guessed it must be a little after five o'clock.
Listening closely, one could hear rustling sounds coming from the living room, followed by the creaking of a door opening. The door was old and worn, so it was inevitable that it would make noise.
As the last creaking sound faded away, the living room returned to silence, and Su Jingjing knew that Li Hanting had already gone out for training.
She had always heard that soldiers left early and returned late, and today she finally witnessed it firsthand, though it was far too early.
There wasn't much entertainment in the 1980s, so even though I fell asleep very late last night, it was still considered early compared to the past.
She woke up around 5 a.m. and didn't plan to go back to sleep. She lay in bed thinking wildly for a while as the sky grew brighter.
As dawn broke, golden rays slowly rose above the earth's surface, illuminating the vast land.
After Su Jingjing got up and washed up, she originally wanted to go into the kitchen to make breakfast, but unfortunately the kitchen had been ransacked and there wasn't a single grain of rice or a piece of flour left.
She was going to the city to buy things today, but she only had 85 cents left, not even enough to buy a piece of meat. She was too embarrassed to ask Li Hanting for more.
After thinking for a moment, she suddenly remembered that the original owner had just bought a few flashy clothes a couple of days ago. Fortunately, the original owner had been busy contacting human traffickers these past two days and hadn't had time to remove the tags yet, so she could return these clothes.
Excitedly, she opened the wardrobe, which was filled with a row of brightly colored clothes. She picked up one at random; its vibrant colors would only accentuate her obesity if the original owner wore it.
Su Jingjing really couldn't imagine wearing these clothes on herself. She stuffed all the clothes with tags still on into the bag, hoping to exchange them for some money.
She wasn't worried about her two children's breakfast at all; Li Hanting would pack breakfast from the cafeteria after finishing his morning tasks.
Su Jingjing hurriedly rushed to catch the early bus, as there was an early bus every morning from the military district gate to the city.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes kept looking at her. She turned her head and saw a woman in her twenties staring intently at the package in her hand. She guessed that the woman also lived in the family compound, but she didn't know which family member she was. She didn't want to go up and greet her, otherwise she would give herself away.
An hour later, the car arrived in the city. The woman walked past her and snorted coldly at her.
Su Jingjing instantly understood: Oh well, this is the original owner's mortal enemy again.
Carrying her package, she followed her memory to a store, only to be greeted warmly by the shop owner as soon as she entered.
"Miss Su, you've come at just the right time. We just received a new batch of goods. The fabric feels cool to the touch, perfect for this hot summer."
This customer is a real pain in the ass. Every time she comes in, I shower her with compliments, and she inevitably ends up buying a ton of clothes.
At this moment, Su Jingjing was also internally cursing the original owner of this body, this great traitor.
Seeing that the shop owner was getting more and more excited, she quickly interrupted, "Shop owner, I'm not here to buy clothes today, I'm here to return some clothes."
A burst of energy revealed the clothes inside the package.
"Look, these clothes still have the tags on, I've kept them in great condition, they're not dirty at all, can you give me my money back?"
When you need someone's help, you have to lower your stance.
What?
Returning clothes?
The proprietress was stunned and immediately changed her expression.
"Ms. Su, are you not satisfied with these clothes? We can exchange them for different styles. There's no need to refund the money."
There's no reason to return the money in your pocket.
Left with no other choice, Su Jingjing could only pretend to be heartbroken. "Boss lady, you don't know this, but my husband is now trying to force me to get a divorce because of the clothes I bought. If I get a divorce, I'd rather die."
The proprietress's face stiffened as she hesitated between backing down and not backing down. After all, Su Jingjing was a long-term customer, and she didn't want to offend her at the moment.
"Alright then, I'll save it for you next time you have new stock."
Without fully understanding what was happening, he refunded the money to Su Jingjing.
After receiving the money, Su Jingjing wiped away imaginary tears, said thank you, and hurriedly ran out before the proprietress could react.
After running for a while, she came to a secluded corner and, making sure she couldn't see the store, secretly counted the money in her hand. The more she counted, the happier she became; she had more than two hundred yuan.
She couldn't help but sigh that the original owner was such a spendthrift, not buying clothes from the supply and marketing cooperative but instead going to the store, where clothes weren't cheap.
If the tags on those clothes at home hadn't already been removed, she would have taken them over to get a refund, since those clothes didn't suit her taste anyway.
In any case, she now has a large sum of money on her.
"Gurgle..."
My stomach has been protesting every day since I arrived here.
"Never mind, let's fill our stomachs first." There happened to be a noodle soup shop right in front of her, so she ordered a bowl of lean pork noodle soup. It cost five cents a bowl, and there was quite a lot of meat in it, unlike the noodle soup in later generations where there were only two pieces of meat floating in it.
After eating and drinking to our hearts' content, the next step is shopping!
Our first stop was the vegetable market. The vegetable market in this era was not as bustling as it is in later years. It was just an open space where all the vendors sold vegetables and meat.
Upon arriving at the meat stall, I inquired and learned that lean meat was only one yuan per jin (500g) and fatty meat was one yuan and twenty yuan per jin. The prices were really cheap, but most people chose fatty meat because lean meat was not oily.
Su Jingjing likes to eat lean meat. "Boss, please cut me two pounds of lean meat."
The shopkeeper readily made the cut, "Alright!"
We've really met a distinguished guest today. Normally, people buy half a pound, or at most a pound.
The next second, he hesitated before asking, "Do you have any hostages?"
Su Jingjing then realized that people still needed prostitutes in this day and age, and said with an embarrassed smile, "Boss, I forgot to bring it."
"Then the price will be much higher."
Su Jingjing had no choice but to spend more money. No wonder there are all kinds of tickets in this era; they can really save a lot of money.
She inadvertently noticed a pile of pig intestines next to the owner's stall.
His eyes lit up, and he asked, "Boss, how much are the pig intestines?"
The shopkeeper glanced down and chuckled, "Miss, nobody wants pig intestines. I'd just throw them away if I took them home. If you want them, I'll give them to you for free. Just come back and patronize my business next time."
Su Jingjing was overjoyed, "Definitely, definitely."
It's surprising that people in the 1980s disliked pig intestines so much. Maybe they didn't know how to clean them properly, which resulted in a bad smell when they ate them.
She loves eating pig intestines; they taste even better than pork.
We don't have a refrigerator at home, so we don't dare to buy too much meat. We don't need to buy vegetables either, as there are plenty planted in the family compound.
Next, she bought rice, flour, mung beans, etc. Rice was only 80 cents a pound, but considering she couldn't carry that much, she only bought 10 pounds. Flour was 30 cents a pound, and she bought 5 pounds.
The remaining sugar, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings only cost three yuan in total.
She encountered a fruit stall on the road and bought a few apples and pears. Compared to other fruits, the price of fruit was expensive, almost as high as that of pork. No wonder people in this era rarely eat fruit.
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