Gu Wan was inspecting the basement when she suddenly heard Feng Baobao knocking outside. It was the secret signal they had agreed upon beforehand.
There was no time left, and she couldn’t afford to examine everything carefully. Gu Wan waved her hand, storing everything in the basement inside her space. She then went to the door. Just as she reached it, Feng Baobao opened the door, allowing Gu Wan to slip out of the basement. Feng Baobao immediately closed the door again.
Feng Baobao looked at Gu Wan worriedly, and Gu Wan gave her a reassuring look.
Gu Wan quietly asked, “Have you prepared enough money and ration coupons?”
Feng Baobao cautiously glanced around and whispered, “I brought some money.”
Gu Wan understood. That meant she didn’t have many ration coupons. Unless a family had deliberately prepared them, most households didn’t have many of these.
She secretly took a handful from her space and slipped them into Feng Baobao’s hand.
Feng Baobao secretly glanced at them and was startled.
“How do you have so many coupons?”
“Don’t ask questions. Keep them safe. You’ll need them once you get there. When traveling away from home, it’s always better to be overprepared than underprepared.”
Feng Baobao nodded and then suddenly hugged Gu Wan.
“Beijing isn’t safe right now. Why don’t you join your husband in the military? That Zhang Xiaowei isn’t a good person. Don’t let him fool you!”
Gu Wan nodded.
Feng Baobao, however, became uncertain.
“Wanwan, what’s wrong with you? Before, every time I said something bad about Zhang Xiaowei, you’d get angry with me. Why are you acting so strangely today?”
“Nothing. I finally saw him for what he really is and realized that you were right.”
“You finally saw Zhang Xiaowei’s true colors? That’s wonderful! I was worried you’d keep letting him deceive you. Your grandfather is gone now, so you have to take good care of yourself. Don’t always trust other people, especially your stepmother and stepsister.”
“Mm, I understand now. I won’t let them fool me again. I’m planning to join my husband in the military after a while. I believe we’ll see each other again in a few years. When that happens, I’ll return that big clock to your family.”
Tears streamed down Feng Baobao’s face as she looked at her.
“Just do your best. Protect yourself. Material possessions can never be more important than you.”
Just then, someone shouted from outside,
“All right, time’s up! We’re leaving!”
Feng Baobao reluctantly said goodbye to Gu Wan before following her parents onto the truck.
The person in charge looked Gu Wan over suspiciously. Seeing that she was wearing a fitted dress and wasn’t carrying any extra bags, he figured she hadn’t taken anything valuable with her. Only then did he wave his hand and let Gu Wan leave.
Gu Wan watched as the truck gradually disappeared into the distance.
Her best friend had left, and soon it would be her turn.
She needed to make the most of her time and hurry to stock up on supplies.
Gu Wan immediately took a bus to the largest department store in Beijing. It carried a wide range of products, with goods from practically every part of the country available there.
The first place she headed for was the gold and jewelry counter.
She couldn’t help it. She really loved this stuff.
The gold jewelry from this era might not have particularly attractive designs, but it was genuine gold—completely authentic!
Especially the gold jewelry sold at a state-run department store like this. Every piece had its weight recorded and came with an official receipt. That was a guarantee of quality.
As the saying went, “Buy gold in troubled times, buy jewelry in prosperous times.”
The money in her space couldn’t be taken out and deposited in a bank to earn interest. And even if it could, the interest wouldn’t amount to much.
She might as well stock up on gold. At the very least, several decades later, the price of this gold would rise dozens or even hundreds of times over.
That was wealth, too!
Gu Wan happily bought gold and silver jewelry, but she still carefully avoided attracting the sales clerks’ attention. At each counter, she only picked out three to five pieces.
After all, young women preparing for marriage or newly married women all liked buying gold and silver jewelry.
Those from modest families might buy one or two pieces, while those from better-off families buying three to five pieces was perfectly normal.
Especially since this was the largest department store in Beijing, there were often travelers from other places who were asked by relatives and friends to purchase ten or so pieces of jewelry at once.
The sales clerks were already used to it.
Although Gu Wan was careful to avoid drawing the sales clerks’ attention, she never expected that she would still catch the eye of someone with ulterior motives.
Next, she went to the cosmetics counter.
Muzhou was already remote enough, and she would still need to change to another form of transportation to reach the military base. There probably wouldn’t be any high-end goods available nearby, and cosmetics were even less likely to be found there.
Youyi Snowflake Cream, Yashuang Osmanthus-Scented Body Cream, Maxam Tremella Pearl Cream, Pechoin Pearl Cream, Hali Oil, Wanziqianhong Face Powder, Gongdeng Almond Honey Cream, and so on.
She hadn’t expected cosmetics to already be so plentiful in this era.
She bought twenty boxes of each.
They could stay in her space without going bad, and cosmetics like these would also make respectable gifts when exchanging favors with other women.
She needed to buy plenty of soap, too.
Soap was essential for washing one’s hair, bathing, and even doing laundry. If she wanted her clothes to retain a pleasant fragrance, soap was indispensable.
She also stocked up on plenty of laundry soap and the newly released Gongnong brand washing powder. They could be used for washing clothes, bedsheets, quilt covers, and so on.
She also needed plenty of toilet paper. Running out of paper when you needed to use the bathroom was truly miserable.
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, prickly heat powder, cooling oil—all of these were necessities too.
Oh, and razors.
She especially needed plenty of replacement razor blades. They could be swapped out to keep the blades sharp for longer.
Mosquito nets were also essential.
Not only would mosquito bites leave you covered in itchy welts, but the incessant buzzing all night could also keep you awake and drive you crazy.
She needed to buy several!
And the baby would be born soon.
Baby bottles, nipples, little clothes, tiny shoes, socks, hats, swaddling blankets, wrapping cloths—she needed a complete set of everything from newborn size upward.
She also bought several bolts of floral fabric and several quilts’ worth of cotton batting to make blankets and mattresses for the baby.
And pillows—small and large, soft and firm—she bought them all.
She also bought several sets of shirts and long underwear, dresses, wool sweaters and thermal underwear, padded winter clothes, outerwear, socks, and shorts for herself.
Li Xiaoyu should be issued clothing by the military, but she decided to buy him two sets of shirts and long underwear, wool sweaters and thermal underwear, padded winter clothes, socks, and shorts anyway.
She also bought shoes for all four seasons.
Although the designs were rather old-fashioned, they had the advantage of being sturdy and durable.
She also bought five or six sets each of raincoats, umbrellas, rain capes, waterproof tarps, and rain boots.
Among the daily necessities, she stocked up on plenty of thermos flasks, enamel washbasins, enamel mugs, enamel spittoons, enamel bowls, and enamel plates.
Although she had already stored everything from the kitchen in her space, these items could also be given as gifts when visiting others in this era and were highly practical.
There was no harm in stocking up on more.