When the second box was opened, it contained not only money, but also stacks of colorful ration coupons.
There were bills of every denomination, and the coupons covered all kinds of goods.
After counting everything, there was only a little over a thousand yuan inside. This was probably Wang Sinian’s personal savings.
The last box was also the biggest one, and it felt heavy the moment she picked it up.
Although it belonged to Chen Wan, what it contained was clearly all the family’s publicly known assets.
Over ten thousand yuan in cash, along with hundreds of ration tickets.
There were twenty gold bars altogether, both small and large.
Neither Chen Wan nor Wang Anquan had jobs, so all this money came from dividends from the factories and department stores.
But the numbers still didn’t add up.
The Qiao family owned several factories and two department stores. Their yearly dividends should have been at least a hundred thousand yuan.
After all these years, even with heavy spending, they should still have saved several hundred thousand.
So where did the rest of the money go?
Could Wang Anquan have hidden it somewhere else?
Qiao Zhenzhu found it strange, but Wang Anquan had already been taken away by Director Xu, so she probably wouldn’t get the chance to ask him.
As for the missing money… forget it.
Qiao Zhenzhu withdrew her thoughts and looked at the silent Lu Huai.
“You’re not going to ask where all this came from?”
Lu Huai looked into her eyes and sincerely asked back, “Can I ask?”
At his response, Qiao Zhenzhu burst out laughing.
“Of course you can. I emptied out everything from the Qiao family estate.”
“You did the right thing.” Lu Huai nodded. “You are Qiao Zhenzhu. The Qiao family’s things naturally belong to you.”
She had said it deliberately to test what kind of person Lu Huai was.
Now it seemed he wasn’t old-fashioned or rigid at all.
“With you saying that, I feel relieved.”
Qiao Zhenzhu took all the ration tickets out of the boxes and sorted them together with Lu Huai.
Other than nationwide grain coupons, the rest could only be used in Shanghai.
Once they left the city, the tickets would become useless.
Meanwhile, all the coupons Lu Huai had brought were nationwide grain tickets.
“We absolutely can’t waste these coupons,” Qiao Zhenzhu said. “Tomorrow we’re going on a massive shopping spree!”
The moment she said “shopping spree,” her eyes lit up with excitement.
There probably weren’t many women in the world who disliked shopping.
At least she couldn’t resist it.
In her previous life, the apocalypse had already lasted ten years.
Which meant she hadn’t gone shopping in ten years.
Tomorrow, she was going to shop to her heart’s content!
Smiling, Lu Huai looked at her.
“So what do you want to buy? I’ll write everything down. Tomorrow we can shop according to the list and fill in anything we missed so we don’t forget.”
Qiao Zhenzhu gave him an approving glance.
This man was actually pretty thoughtful!
Counting on her fingers, she began listing things out.
“First, we need to buy more fabric! In a little over a month, the four babies will be born. Other people only raise one child, but we’ll be raising four at once. Just their clothes and bedding alone will be four times what ordinary families need. Once we get back home, fabric probably won’t be easy to buy, so we need to prepare plenty while we’re here!”
She did have clothes in her space, but they were mostly in her own size, and the fabric styles and patterns didn’t fit the era, so she couldn’t take them out.
Luckily, after organizing the coupons earlier, she found they had over a hundred feet worth of fabric coupons.
Of course, that still wasn’t enough.
Even without firsthand experience, she could imagine how many clothes four babies would go through.
Looks like she’d need to visit the black market and sell off some of Chen Wan and Wang Sinian’s silk bedding and clothes in exchange for more fabric or fabric coupons.
Thinking this over, Qiao Zhenzhu continued.
“Besides fabric, we should also buy clothes and shoes. The simple, plain ones that don’t require coupons and aren’t flashy in color—buy more of those. We can wear them ourselves or gift them to your comrades’ wives. Since we came all the way to Shanghai, bringing gifts will help build relationships.”
Lu Huai listened seriously, and the more he heard, the brighter his eyes became.
She was planning for their future everywhere.
She truly intended to live a good life with him.
“And we also need malted milk, chocolate, biscuits, White Rabbit candy, canned fruit, canned meat, pastries… and we should buy more cooked food from the state-owned restaurant too. My space is amazing—whatever goes in stays exactly the same when taken out. Nothing spoils, so we can keep eating it for years!”
Lu Huai nodded.
“Alright. We’ll do as you say.”
“You’ll listen to me?” Qiao Zhenzhu moved closer to him with a grin. “Really listen to everything I say?”
Lu Huai instinctively wanted to retreat, but stopped himself.
“Yes. I’ll listen to everything you say.”
“Then let’s go to the black market tomorrow!”
“…”
Qiao Zhenzhu snorted.
“You just said you’d listen to me!”
“I’ll go by myself,” Lu Huai quickly said. “You’re heavily pregnant. It’s inconvenient.”
“It’s not inconvenient at all!” Qiao Zhenzhu immediately argued. “Even pregnant, I can still fight eight people by myself! If you won’t let me go, I’ll be in a bad mood. If I’m in a bad mood, the babies in my belly will be in a bad mood too. And if they’re in a bad mood, then—”
Watching her rosy lips move nonstop, Lu Huai couldn’t help laughing.
“Fine. You can come too.”
“Do you know where the black market is?” Qiao Zhenzhu hurriedly asked.
Although the original owner had been born and raised in Shanghai, she had always been an obedient good girl.
Forget going to the black market—she didn’t even know where it was.
Lu Huai nodded.
“I know. I went there once when I came here last year.”
“Perfect!” Qiao Zhenzhu instantly relaxed. “Let’s clean up and go to sleep!”
She was already looking forward to tomorrow.
Even though the two of them shared a room, it wasn’t a double bed room but a twin room.
They lay on separate beds, and before long, both of their breathing steadied.
Qiao Zhenzhu had genuinely fallen asleep.
But Lu Huai was still staring in her direction.
After watching her for a long time, he silently smiled.
Things now… were really wonderful.
Before today, he had never dared imagine he could live this kind of life.
He would definitely treat her well.
…
Early the next morning, Qiao Zhenzhu woke up feeling refreshed and energized.
After the two of them had breakfast at a nearby state-owned restaurant, they disguised themselves and headed to the black market.
Qiao Zhenzhu had clothes and cosmetics stored in her space. After changing their appearance, the two of them looked like a married couple in their thirties or forties.
Walking through the black market, they didn’t attract much attention.
Lu Huai clearly wasn’t there for the first time and seemed very experienced.
Instead of dealing with small independent vendors, they went directly to the local boss who controlled the market.
After some negotiation, they successfully traded a pile of silk clothes and bedding for a large amount of cotton and twill fabric.
After leaving the black market, they didn’t rush to the department store.
Instead, they changed back into their normal appearances and returned to the guesthouse.
After resting for a while and eating lunch, the two of them finally headed to the department store.
There was no need to hide themselves there.
Qiao Zhenzhu walked in front while Lu Huai followed behind.
Qiao Zhenzhu was responsible for choosing things.
Lu Huai was responsible for paying and handing over ration tickets.
Aside from the items they had written down the night before, Qiao Zhenzhu wanted to buy practically everything she saw.
Soap? Buy!
Scented soap? Buy!
Hair oil? Buy!
Perfume cream, face powder, clam-shell oil—buy them all!