Chapter 10 Buying things for the kids at the dual-generation store
Ji Xuening is the only one in the Ji family who does manual labor. He even took half a day off to come and propose marriage. If he doesn't work, he will get fewer work points, and the whole family is waiting for him to eat and drink.
Although it's only early June, it's already incredibly hot, and I'm sweating profusely.
The man in front noticed this too, and walked a few steps to the roadside, tearing off two large leaves, as big as hats, and handed them to Wang Yuqing: "Comrade Wang Yuqing, you can use these to cover your head and keep cool."
After saying that, he handed another leaf to Chen E behind him.
Wang Yuqing took the leaf and put it on her head, finding it novel and fun. She said, "Um, you can just call me Wang Yuqing."
Adding "comrade" to the name just feels a bit awkward.
Ji Xuening nodded: "Okay, Wang Yuqing."
Chen E covered her mouth and chuckled from behind.
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the journey. Although her feet ached and she was sweating profusely from the heat, the scenery along the way was truly beautiful. The mountains and rivers were clear, the sky was blue and the clouds were white, and there was no pollution or noise from the city. Everything was so natural and refreshing.
In the fields, members of other production teams were working together, their voices filled with laughter and joy, and some were even singing.
Wang Yuqing also saw donkeys and horses on the road, as well as animals that looked like both donkeys and horses. Although she had never seen them before, she knew that they were hybrids of horses and donkeys called mules.
She couldn't hide her excitement; her entire expression was one of surprise and utter ignorance.
After walking for another two hours, she arrived at the brigade. What caught her eye were the various large red slogans pasted on the walls, which were particularly eye-catching.
Chen E pointed to a double-dealer store at the entrance of the village and said with a smile, "This is the biggest shopping mall in the whole village. It has everything. You can buy whatever you want."
After saying that, she leaned close to Wang Yuqing's ear and whispered, "The sales clerk inside is the daughter of our brigade director. She ran for sales clerk with my daughter back then, but she just relied on her father being the brigade director to campaign for votes everywhere. Humph, she has it so easy every day. She can even get work points and just stand there and get her rations."
Wang Yuqing understood what she meant but just smiled; she didn't like gossiping about others behind their backs.
She knew that in those days, "double-agent stores" referred to grassroots outlets of rural supply and marketing cooperatives that extended down to production brigades to purchase and sell goods on behalf of others.
Wang Yuqing had already taken out a one-yuan coin from the sole of her shoe when they weren't looking. She touched her pocket, wondering whether she should go in and buy something for the three children.
According to the original owner's memories, those three children were very obedient and well-behaved. Should we buy them something?
She still decided to bring them something, not to please them, but simply because she felt sorry for them.
Wang Yuqing said, "Wait a minute, I want to go in and buy something."
Ji Xuening stopped and looked at her, asking, "Is there anything else you need? I'll go in and buy it for you."
Chen E was a little unhappy: "Why buy anything else? Didn't Ji Laosi already buy you some daily necessities? Why waste that money?"
Wang Yuqing said with a smile, "I'm not buying this for myself; I want to go in and buy something for the children."
Upon hearing this, Chen E beamed with joy: "Oh, so it's for those kids? That's rare. You're really different from your mother. It's your first time visiting, so you should at least buy something. Besides, you're here and not leaving. You'll be eating and using the Ji family's food from now on."
Ji Xuening refused, but Wang Yuqing insisted on buying it, saying, "I won't buy anything expensive, I'll just buy some small things to give them."
Actually, I only had one yuan in my pocket.
Although the Shuangdai store was not as good as the department store in the county town or the supply and marketing store in the commune, it had a wide variety of samples and basically had everything that the commune members needed for daily life.
Of course, there was no cloth, grain, meat, or oil. You needed coupons to buy these. Farmers didn't have any coupons other than the cloth coupons issued by the state. Grain, meat, and oil were distributed by the production team, which was responsible for distributing the produce they produced themselves.
Therefore, the double-agent store could not sell these things. Even if they obtained meat, grain and oil coupons from elsewhere, they would have to go to the commune's supply and marketing cooperative to buy them.
The other daily necessities, cigarettes, alcohol, candy, tea, farm tools and sundries are all quite complete.
The sales clerk was a short, plump young woman, dressed neatly and cleanly. She was clipping her nails when she saw Wang Yuqing enter first and said coldly, "What would you like to order?"
Wang Yuqing said, "Let me see."
The sales clerk ignored her and was about to continue cutting her nails when she saw Ji Xuening and Chen E come in.
She quickly put down the scissors, straightened her two thick braids, and grinned: "Brother Ning, what brings you here? What do you want to buy..."
Ji Xuening didn't even look at her, and said, "I came with Wang Yuqing to buy things."
Chen E said deliberately, "What Wang Yuqing? Wang Yuqing is too formal. Ji Laosi is here with his wife to buy things for their three children."
The saleswoman's smile froze; she was clearly unhappy: "Where did Brother Ning get a wife? Aunt Chen likes to talk nonsense."
The word "again" broke Chen E's guard. She put her hands on her hips, glared at the saleswoman, and shouted, "He Ruhua, do you have needles in your tongue? Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders?"
Seeing that she was angry, He Ruhua mumbled something indistinctly: "She just likes to talk nonsense. Everyone in the whole brigade knows that."
After saying that, she suddenly remembered that Ji Xuening did have a childhood betrothal in the county town. She always felt that this was definitely hopeless. Not to mention the county town, even her own family looked down on the Ji family for being poor.
Her father was the brigade director and her mother was the women's director. She had repeatedly expressed her feelings for Ji Xuening, but each time her parents scolded her severely.
She kept thinking how much better it would be if the Ji family didn't have Grandma Ji and her three children as a burden.
She hurriedly asked Ji Xuening, "Brother Ning, is she the rich girl from your county who looks down on your family because of your childhood betrothal?"
Ji Xuening raised an eyebrow slightly and replied, "Yes."
Upon hearing this, He Ruhua was both angry and incredulous: "How could this be so sudden? I heard that her family didn't agree at all... How could this be..."
Chen E interrupted her, grinning, "Today I went to propose to Ji Laosi, and they agreed. From now on, they'll be a couple."
After saying that, he deliberately added sarcastically, "Speaking of which, quite a few girls in our brigade have taken a liking to Lao Si's talent, but they all look down on his family because they are poor and don't want to be a stepmother to his children. Who would have thought that Comrade Yuqing from the county town doesn't mind at all?"
She looked He Ruhua up and down, then looked at Wang Yuqing: "Look at what a good guy he is, so handsome. There are few in our brigade who can compare to him, especially those who eat too much and get fat like rolling stones. Look at the two of them, they are a perfect match, a match made in heaven."
Chen E didn't mention that Wang Yuqing packed her things and went home with Ji Xuening, not planning to go back to her parents' home.
It was a very shameful thing, and I was afraid He Ruhua would gossip about it everywhere. Although the people in the brigade would find out sooner or later, I couldn't let these words slip out of my mouth.
He Ruhua glared at Chen E, her eyes blazing with anger. She knew Chen E was just unhappy that her daughter had been outvoted by her.
Chen E said again, "Comrade Yuqing is visiting our brigade for the first time. She's also a new bride in our brigade. She came to Shuangdai Store specifically to pick out things for her children. You're a sales clerk, why don't you go and greet her and see what Lao Si's wife wants to buy?"
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