Now that she still had the means, she’d better stock up as much as she could. She was afraid that once she really traveled back in time, such conveniences would be gone forever.
Early the next morning, she got up and went to the supermarket downstairs. She bought two slightly larger basins and filled them with steamed rice and cured sausages separately.
Before leaving for work, she steamed another pot of rice in the electric rice cooker, planning to transfer it into the basins when she came back at noon.
For breakfast, she took fried dough sticks and steamed buns out of her personal space, and had them with a bottle of milk. When she got off work in the evening, the parcels she had ordered on Saturday had already arrived.
She borrowed a handcart from the parcel station and wheeled all her packages back home.
She took everything out of its packaging, organized the items, and stored them away in her space.
Once that was done, she took out pork belly and got ready to braise it in brown sauce.
She set one pot to make red-braised pork, and another for red-braised chicken.
The chicken had already been processed and chopped up by the shopkeeper, so she simply rinsed it clean and could start cooking right away.
She stir-fried the pork and chicken separately, added boiling water to both pots, and let them simmer slowly.
After about half an hour, they were nearly done.
While waiting, Lu Xiaxia steamed another batch of rice.
She put off making steamed buns for now—she already had some in stock, and besides, she did not have enough pots on hand.
When the rice was ready, she sliced all the cured sausages she had cooked the day before.
Half an hour later, the red-braised chicken and pork were finished cooking. She ladled them out into separate containers.
Then she started another batch of chicken and pork the same way: stir-frying the meat, adding seasonings, pouring in boiling water, and leaving it to simmer.
For the next little while, she focused entirely on slicing cured sausages.
It was not until the second batch of red-braised chicken and pork was cooked that she finished slicing all the sausages.
Lu Xiaxia checked the time—it was already past eight.
She scooped out a bowl of rice, ate it with some chicken, pork, and sausage to fill her stomach first.
After the meal, she poured the rest of the rice into a basin, washed the pot, and steamed another fresh batch.
She put the sliced sausages into another basin, and placed the chicken and pork into two more basins, one for each.
Fortunately, she had bought four basins at the supermarket, which turned out to be exactly what she needed.
She decided not to cook anything else for the time being—she lacked both enough basins and enough time. For today, she only planned to finish processing all the chicken and pork.
She spent the rest of the evening steaming rice and cooking batch after batch of red-braised chicken and pork.
She kept busy until midnight before calling it a day. Every basin was filled to the brim.
Thankfully, payday was tomorrow. If her order of extra basins did not arrive in time, she would just have to go buy more from the supermarket again.
The next day.
Lu Xiaxia dragged herself out of bed with great difficulty, barely making it to the office to sign in.
Once seated at her workstation, she ate her breakfast while turning things over in her mind—her salary was due to arrive that morning. If it did not come through, she would take the afternoon off.
She felt jittery and uneasy all morning. She knew she had to gather all her supplies as quickly as possible.
After finishing breakfast, she went to the manager’s office and handed in a leave request form.
Most of her current work was already complete; she only needed to brief her colleagues on what remained to be done.
The morning passed quickly amid all her rushing about. Shortly before the end of the workday, her salary was deposited: 9,600 yuan.
After clocking off, she had a meal at a restaurant downstairs and packed several more portions to go. She then took the subway straight home.
Near her residential compound, she passed a street vendor selling apples and bananas from a large truck. The apples looked good—25 yuan per bag containing roughly 20 fruits. She bought ten bags. She also purchased two boxes of bananas.
The load was far too heavy to carry alone, so she went to the property management booth and borrowed a small handcart to transport everything home. After unloading, she returned the cart to the security guard.
Checking her delivery status, she saw that her parcels were still out for delivery and had not yet arrived. Deciding to make use of the afternoon, she headed out—she still needed to buy something for self-defense.
Not far from her community was a store that sold outdoor and mountaineering gear. She had heard from colleagues that the shop also carried electric batons.
She browsed the shop and bought two electric batons. Seeing nothing else she needed, she left.
On her way back, she suddenly remembered there was a shop down another street called Nostalgia. It stocked all sorts of items from the 1960s and 70s—she decided to pay it a visit and see what she might find.
Stepping inside, she knew at once she had come to the right place. Shelves were lined with goods from that era: thermos flasks, enamel basins, and much more. But what delighted her most was a sewing machine—apparently brand new, in excellent condition, and fully functional. She tested it and found the stitching smooth and flawless.
Lu Xiaxia bought the sewing machine. She also purchased a collection of vintage banknotes and ration coupons.
Then she spotted kerosene lamps and candles, and realized she had completely forgotten to buy those. She bought the lamps and a quantity of candles, though the shopkeeper told her they had kerosene lamps but no kerosene for sale. She had no choice but to leave without it.
Realizing she had thread but no fabric, she traveled to the wholesale market and bought two large crates of thread—one white, one black. She also bought two bolts of fine cotton cloth.
After all her purchases, she still had 7,000 yuan left. The supplies themselves were inexpensive; the vintage currency and coupons had cost the bulk of her money.
The money consisted primarily of 20 notes of the 1-yuan Great Unity design from the third series of Renminbi. Because ration coupons were restricted by time and location, she bought a large variety—since she could not know which ones would actually be valid when she traveled back, she decided it was better to buy too many than too few.
The 20 Great Unity notes also carried dates; she selected those printed in 1967, 1968, 1970, and 1971, taking none from later years.
As to whether the notes were genuine, she had examined them closely. She felt about 80 percent confident they were authentic—her former line of work had required her to study currency authentication in some depth. She relied on four checks:
I. Visual Inspection — Appearance and Watermarks
Paper and Color: Genuine notes use specialized banknote paper that is crisp and durable; colors are natural and well-balanced, with ink that has a subtle sheen. Counterfeits use thin, flimsy paper; colors are too pale or too dark, printing appears dull and gray, and dot patterns are coarse.
Fixed Watermark: Held up to light, the Tiananmen watermark on the left side of the note shows sharp outlines and distinct gradations. Counterfeit watermarks are usually printed on the surface and visible without backlighting, or appear blurry and distorted.
Serial Numbers: Only two formats exist: two Roman numerals followed by eight Arabic numerals, or three Roman numerals followed by seven Arabic numerals. Numbers are printed using letterpress, often showing slight ink spread at the edges. Counterfeits typically use flat printing with perfectly sharp edges.
II. Tactile Inspection — Intaglio Printing
Key designs (portraits of representatives, Tiananmen Gate), the bank name, and national emblem are printed using intaglio techniques. Running a finger lightly over them reveals a distinct raised texture. Counterfeits are mostly offset-printed and feel completely flat.