Jinxi County is less than 30 miles away from Tongshan Township, and there is a direct bus.
From 6 am to 4 pm, there is no specific departure time, it leaves when it’s full.
It was past eleven o’clock when the three of them got off the bus, which was lunchtime.
Coincidentally, the state-owned restaurant was near the bus station.
In this era, state-owned restaurants were not places you could eat at every day.
Walking into the restaurant, the group found an empty table and sat down. Ye Cheng called the waiter over and handed the menu to Ye Linlin.
Ye Linlin waved her hand and didn’t take it.
“I’ve never been here before, I don’t know what’s good, you guys order.”
The original owner hadn’t been to the county seat much, usually buying things and going to school in the township.
“Then Chenhuai, you order, I haven’t eaten at our county’s state-owned restaurant either.”
Ye Cheng went to the army in another province when he was only 18 years old, and he probably hadn’t been to the county seat as many times as the original Ye Linlin.
The waiter watched the group push the menu back and forth, not ordering, and his tone became a bit harsh.
“Why don’t you decide what you want and then call me, there are other people waiting to order over there.”
In this era, state-owned restaurant waiters had iron rice bowls, so they always had a sense of superiority and didn’t have much of a service attitude.
“Braised pork, squirrel mandarin fish, mushroom soup, and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, one of each, and three bowls of rice.”
Su Chenhuai didn’t look at the menu, his thin lips moved slightly, and he said a few dish names.
State-owned restaurants were much more expensive than ordinary small shops, but the taste was indeed very good.
Generally, government personnel would bring leaders who came to inspect to eat here, the master chefs here had real skills.
“Before I opened the restaurant, I came here a few times to try the dishes, these few dishes are not bad. The portions are quite large, I didn’t order too much, you can add more if you want to eat anything else.”
People in this era didn’t like to be extravagant, and Ye Linlin, who grew up in an orphanage, was the same.
The food came quickly, and it was indeed as Su Chenhuai said, the portions were very large, the three of them definitely couldn’t finish these four dishes.
Ye Linlin looked at the several dishes that looked very good and her appetite was also whetted, she picked up a spoon to serve the soup.
She was used to drinking soup before meals, looking at the mushroom soup that was still steaming in the bowl, she scooped up a spoonful and blew on it lightly a few times before putting it in her mouth.
The moment it entered her mouth, the umami flavor of the mushrooms immediately spread out, the mellow taste, the rich aroma, Ye Linlin couldn’t help but drink a few more mouthfuls.
Putting down the spoon, she served a bowl for Ye Cheng and Su Chenhuai each.
“Brother, Brother Su, drink some soup to warm your stomach, this soup tastes really good.”
After Ye Linlin finished speaking, she tasted the other three dishes.
The squirrel mandarin fish and braised pork were also delicious, but none of them were as amazing as the mushroom soup.
On the other hand, the most inconspicuous stir-fried cabbage with vinegar suited her taste very well, the taste was crisp, sour and sweet, and it was great with rice.
Su Chenhuai watched Ye Linlin’s every move, whether it was gently blowing on the hot soup or eating the dishes in small bites, it was indescribably elegant, and different from any other woman he had ever seen.
He had only seen this kind of elegance in his deceased mother.
Different from Ye Linlin’s slow chewing, Ye Cheng, who was used to military life, ate voraciously, and even added a bowl of rice in the middle.
Su Chenhuai paid for lunch, a total of five yuan and two cents.
In this era, a meal of more than five yuan was really a bit extravagant, but in Ye Linlin’s opinion, this meal was worth the price.
After paying, the three of them stepped out.
No one noticed that there were two people in the store staring at them with gloomy faces.
The Jinxi County Department Store was located on Jincheng Street, which was the most prosperous street in Jinxi County, with shops of all sizes and mobile vendors on both sides.
The department store was in the center of Jincheng Street, a three-story detached building.
The three walked into the mall, there were only a few scattered customers inside, and the salespersons were lazily sitting behind the counters, even if customers asked questions, they were indifferent.
The department stores of the 1980s were different from the malls of later generations.
All the clothes here were hanging on the wall behind the counter. If you liked something, you would tell the salesperson, and the salesperson would give it to the customer.
At this time, most people bought cloth to make their own clothes, and the things sold in department stores were more expensive, so customers asked more and bought less, so the service attitude of the salespersons was very average.
Arriving at the men’s clothing area, there wasn’t even a single person, and the styles hanging on the wall were pitifully few.
Soon, a black woolen coat caught Ye Linlin’s eye.
The clothes were crisp and stylish, a medium-length lapel, with a row of round buttons on each side of the placket, and a slight waist at the waist.
Su Chenhuai was one meter eighty-something tall, with wide shoulders and a narrow waist, and a body that looked thin when dressed and muscular when undressed, he would definitely look good in it.
“Hello, help me find a size of that woolen coat that he can wear, and also take a set of that suit next to it in his size.”
Ye Linlin pointed to the coat and the black suit next to it, and then pointed to Su Chenhuai.
The salesperson glanced at Su Chenhuai’s figure impatiently and quoted the price expressionlessly.
“The coat is one hundred and fifty-eight, the suit is ninety-six yuan and two cents.”
So expensive! A coat costs 4 months’ salary for an ordinary worker, no wonder there’s no one here.
Although Ye Linlin cursed inwardly, she still nodded.
“Bring it over to try.”
Only then did the salesperson stand up and take down the clothes.
“This size should fit.”
Ye Linlin picked up the coat and turned around to put it on Su Chenhuai.
“Try it on, does it fit?”
Su Chenhuai put on the clothes with Ye Linlin’s help, and then adjusted the collar and sleeves.
Ye Linlin knew that her vision wouldn’t be bad, Su Chenhuai looked even more handsome than the celebrities of later generations in this dress, even though he had retired from the army, his posture was still so upright.
After trying on the suit jacket, Ye Linlin exclaimed inwardly that he was a clothes rack, watching Su Chenhuai try on clothes was simply a visual feast.
An ordinary suit looked like a handmade custom-made one on him, and his value instantly doubled.
“Not bad, just these two, let’s pay.”
Ye Linlin was still a little expensive, but after seeing the effect on the body, she instantly felt that it was worth the price.
The salesperson didn’t expect the three of them to actually buy it, although her attitude didn’t immediately become enthusiastic, it was still better than before.
“Okay, 26 chi of cloth coupons, 254 yuan and 2 cents, I’ll wrap the clothes for you.”
“Cloth coupons? Brother, do you have cloth coupons?”
Ye Linlin turned to look at Ye Cheng, Liu Xihong asked Ye Cheng to list the things to buy in the morning, and also gave Ye Cheng the money and coupons to be spent.
“Yes.”
Ye Cheng answered while taking out his pocket, suddenly his movements stopped, and he smiled at Ye Linlin a little embarrassedly.
“After I bought the things in the morning, I stuffed the remaining money and coupons into that pile of things.”
Ye Linlin was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground.
It’s 1981 now, you have to buy things with coupons!
The original owner’s small treasury was enough money, and she was going to buy some things today, so she brought all the money, but she really didn’t have cloth coupons.
“Without cloth coupons, can I buy it with extra money?”
Ye Linlin asked with a stiff face.
The salesperson’s hand folding the clothes paused.