If you asked what women all across the country had in common, the answer would probably be shopping—and buying, buying, buying!
After breakfast, Jiang Wanxi tucked away the enormous sum of one hundred yuan and headed out with her family.
At the mention of going shopping at the department store, even Jiang Yu, who rarely showed much enthusiasm, broke into a smile.
Grandma Jiang was already waiting outside the house. There were too many people to fit into one car, so Second Brother had no choice but to ride his bicycle there.
Grandma Jiang had promised yesterday that she would buy her granddaughter a bicycle. So as soon as they arrived at the department store, she took out her money and ration coupons and went straight to buy one.
In this era, most people bought the classic heavy-duty bicycles with large twenty-eight-inch wheels. Women’s bicycles, on the other hand, were so unpopular that they sat around gathering dust.
When the saleswoman heard that Grandma Jiang wanted to buy a women’s bicycle, a hint of a smile finally appeared on her usually haughty face.
She secretly thought there must be something wrong with this family’s heads. Wouldn’t it be much better to buy a standard twenty-eight-inch bicycle? Both men and women in the family could ride it.
Still, she had no intention of kindly reminding them. What they wanted to buy was none of her business. Besides, that women’s bicycle had been sitting there taking up space for ages.
Afraid they might change their minds, the saleswoman quickly wrote out the purchase slip and told them where to pay.
“Comrade, we still have other things to buy. We’ll leave the bicycle here for now,” Grandma Jiang told the saleswoman after paying with the required money and coupons.
Shen Menglan remembered that her daughter still didn’t have any clothes for autumn and winter, so everyone decided to buy fabric first. They could have several outfits made for her now and buy ready-made clothes later when the season arrived.
There were only a handful of fabric colors available at the time, and most clothing styles looked more or less the same.
Jiang Wanxi had no intention of changing anything drastically. Even with her own clothes, she only made slight alterations to the details.
In this particular era, one had to be extremely careful about everything one did and said.
She didn’t want to attract unnecessary trouble. It was better to simply follow the times.
Besides, having lived in the modern world, what kind of clothing hadn’t she already seen?
She could treat this as a return to a simpler way of life.
Although she had transmigrated into an era where food and clothing were scarce, she had gained something far more precious—a loving family.
In her previous life, such familial affection had been nothing more than an unattainable dream.
After buying fabric, they headed to the ready-made clothing section.
At the time, department stores usually had tailors working in their clothing departments. As the tailor measured Jiang Wanxi, she couldn’t help glancing repeatedly at the dress Jiang Wanxi was wearing.
At first glance, it wasn’t much different from the dresses sold here, yet somehow it looked completely different.
Perhaps beautiful people really were different. Even ordinary clothes looked especially pleasing when worn by someone as attractive as her.
Since the clothes were being made for autumn, there was no hurry to pick them up.
The group then headed to the shoe section, where they bought Jiang Wanxi two pairs of leather shoes.
Eldest Brother paid for both pairs with his own money and coupons, saying they were a gift for his younger sister.
Not wanting to be outdone, Second Brother rushed off and bought Jiang Wanxi a huge pile of snacks. Of course, he didn’t forget to buy some for Jiang Yu as well.
Eldest Brother and Second Brother then decided to look around and see whether Jiang Wanxi’s room was missing anything else. They separated from the group, saying they would wait for everyone in the car afterward.
Shen Menglan then led everyone to the daily necessities section.
She bought both Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Yu jars of face cream, along with several jin of toilet paper. With two daughters at home, these were necessities.
However, both items were considered luxuries in this era.
Shen Menglan didn’t have enough ration coupons, so Grandma Jiang had to provide the rest.
Jiang Wanxi had been thinking about buying gifts for everyone, only to discover, much to her dismay, that she didn’t have any coupons.
She trailed behind the others dejectedly.
Forget it. She might as well cook them a few good meals instead.
Just as she was thinking about this, she noticed a line forming nearby.
Curious, Grandma Jiang asked what everyone was lining up for. When they learned that yarn was on sale and could be purchased without ration coupons, Jiang Wanxi immediately joined the queue.
Fortunately, the line wasn’t very long.
Yarn was expensive in this era, costing more than ten yuan per jin.
Even with the discount, there still weren’t many people who could afford it.
Soon, it was Jiang Wanxi’s turn.
When she asked about buying some, she learned that each person was limited to only two jin.
Jiang Wanxi roughly examined the thickness of the yarn. Two jin should be enough to knit one sweater.
After thinking about it, she decided to buy two jin and make a sweater for Grandpa first.
She sighed inwardly.
She had finally found something she was actually allowed to buy, yet there was a purchase limit!
Was she short on money?
No!
What she lacked was the right to spend it!
Seeing Jiang Wanxi looking so disappointed, Shen Menglan and Grandma Jiang simply joined the line as well. Each of them chose yarn in colors different from the one Jiang Wanxi had bought.
They also bought her a complete set of knitting tools. The set was quite comprehensive, containing knitting needles of various lengths and thicknesses, as well as crochet hooks.
Jiang Wanxi stubbornly insisted on paying them back.
After all, these were supposed to be gifts she was preparing for everyone.
Thinking about how few people could afford yarn anyway, Jiang Wanxi decided she would come back tomorrow and buy another two jin.
Now that she had managed to buy what she wanted, most of her money had already been spent, but Jiang Wanxi was still quite happy.
Still, she needed to find a job as soon as possible.
Otherwise, by the time the college entrance examination came around, she feared she would have already burned through all her savings.