CHAPTER 97: CHAPTER 85: HAPPY SHOPPING (PART 2)

At this moment, Lin Lishan absolutely couldn’t imagine that it wouldn’t be long before those with overseas connections would encounter a great calamity, facing either death or injury. Years later, Lin Lishan often sighed about the unpredictability of life and the uncertainty of worldly affairs.

After shopping on the first floor, Lin Lishan took Xi Zi’s hand and went up to the second floor. The second floor was full of daily necessities and living supplies.

The counters were all distinguished by red characters, making it easy to see at a glance.

Toiletries such as soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes were neatly arranged. Beyond that were rows of counters for textiles, first showing towels, handkerchiefs, and pillowcases, followed by clearly categorized counters. Non-finished raw materials like fabrics and yarn were in one area, and finished goods like thermal underwear, shoes, boots, coats, and pants were concentrated in a few counters.

Deep inside were women’s products, such as bras, sanitary belts, and toilet paper, all placed together with detailed labels and prices on top.

On the right side of the second floor were kitchenware like iron pots, kitchen knives, spatulas, and bowls and chopsticks, with a small number of imported products. Finally, she really did spot stoves, including electric stoves, coal stoves, and alcohol stoves, along with stylish hot water bottles and brass hand warmers.

Lin Lishan took Xi Zi and asked the salesperson to fetch items, getting a coal stove and an alcohol stove, then quickly picked five hot water bottles and two hand warmers from that counter, specifically for Zhou Jiao when taking the child outside.

She then picked up a few bars of soap, a few toothbrushes, and several tubes of toothpaste from various counters, arranged them at the edge of the counter, and instructed the second-floor salesperson to settle the account together after coming down from the third floor.

Happily holding Xi Zi’s hand, they went up to the third floor, which was full of household appliances, bicycles, and large items like sewing machines, observing that the prices were even cheaper than at the supply and marketing cooperatives. In the end, she gave up on the bicycle and bought a radio. She thought about buying a bicycle, but Jiao Jiao would definitely say it was a waste.

Back on the second floor once more, she went to get two pots for stewing tonic foods. She picked out a beautiful set of celadon dishes and bowls, and a set of purple clay teapots. She really couldn’t stand using rough bowls for drinking alcohol and tea; using rough bowls for everything was quite appetite-killing.

Thinking about Little Ping’an, she also bought several spoons and plastic bowls specifically for infants and carefully picked out some children’s items. She worried that once she returned to work in Beijing, she wouldn’t have time off, so she bought plenty at once.

After looking at the pile of items on the ground, she directly paid for everything on the second floor and asked the salesperson to help pack them and move them downstairs to the first floor. She piled everything there, not even asking Xi Zi to guard it, knowing that no one dared to steal, nor could they walk out the door. Didn’t she notice that other customers placed their items just as casually?

Lin Lishan was afraid of missing something, so she took Xi Zi from one counter to another, buying things, with Xi Zi nervously tugging at her and giving looks, which nearly amused Lin Lishan to death. This child still insisted he didn’t like it.

"Don’t worry, Grandma has tickets and money on hand. You’ll get whatever you like. Remember to remind Grandma when we go back to the military district to ask for an army backpack for you. I see many kids like to carry big military backpacks to school, where they can put lunch boxes. You’ll have your own, how cool is that? Look at these pencils, aren’t they pretty? You can give one pencil box to each of your siblings."

"Grandma, Zuo You and Shi Tou are still young, and the two younger sisters are even smaller, so they don’t need them. Auntie, please remove the pencil boxes." Xi Zi was very anxious, this Grandma loved to buy stuff. He truly worried.

Lin Lishan picked up a tin box and grabbed a handful of pencils, "Alright, then we’ll get hair clips and rubber bands. Little girls like these; don’t worry, the supply and marketing cooperative doesn’t have such pretty designs."

Lin Lishan picked out a few more, these rubber bands were quite nice, anyone could use them.

Then she went to the textile counter, but had little interest in yarn. Knitting sweaters was exhausting, and she feared that if she bought it, her daughter Jiao Jiao would knit sweaters like crazy. Just thinking about the yarns in Jiao Jiao’s wardrobe made her hands tremble. Finishing them all would ruin her hands, and the worst part was the colors didn’t suit her. Finally, she nodded at the bright red and tender yellow colors; these were worth buying. It’s rare to come across such good colors, matching only her daughter’s youthful complexion, making her look beautiful.

Looking at the fabric beside her, Lin Lishan got excited, the woolen fabrics were quite nice, and the gray and black colors looked good. Imagining them paired with a bright red or tender yellow sweater inside, Jiao Jiao would definitely like it. She quietly planned to make a Lenin suit for Jiao Jiao and a coat for Xiao Wu that would look nice, so she asked for two bolts straight away, keeping them for later use.

Finally, she chose a few more types of fabric and bought a large bag of cotton before reluctantly leaving.

There was no other choice, her daughter Jiao Jiao’s wardrobe had hardly any clothes, and the ones she did have were faded from washing or patched up. Thinking of her nieces at home with wardrobes full of clothes, always complaining about having nothing to wear, she almost wanted to take all the fabric back and let Jiao Jiao wear a new outfit every day.

Returning to the first floor, seeing those foods, she intended to prepare a bit more for her daughter to eat during leisure, so that when guests occasionally came over, they wouldn’t just sit idly by. She could also bring some treats to her nephews and nieces at home.

"Xi Zi, your little aunt’s shopping is almost done. Next, we’ll go buy food. Buy some of everything you like. That long baguette doesn’t taste good, let’s buy a small amount just to try the taste."

In front of the pastry food counter, she just watched where Xi Zi was looking and bought from there, weighing each one by the pound. After picking out the pastries and cakes, she decided to weigh three pounds of milk candy and three pounds of hard candy, packing them separately. The candy looked quite varied, appearing rather high-end. Thinking that Jiao Jiao hadn’t tasted chocolate yet, and it was heavy, with a pound not being very much, she bought two bags directly and also got a few long baguettes.

When it was all settled, after spending 600 yuan of overseas remittance coupons she had brought, she had used only 300 yuan. The money she brought was enough, but unfortunately, the remittance coupons were not many. Pondering where to get more coupons, she pulled Xi Zi along, carrying the items back to the car. Luckily, the staff inside helped her carry them to the car, otherwise, she would have been exhausted.

"Xi Zi, are you hungry? If you’re hungry, we can eat and go back, and Grandma will take you to eat something delicious."

"Grandma, let’s go back. I’m worried you’ll run inside again. Oh, you’ve practically moved all of it back home. Let’s go back, I’m really not hungry."

Lin Lishan chuckled and patted his little head, "Okay then, we’ll listen to our Xi Zi and go back first. In the evening, we can think about what else to buy, and tomorrow we’ll visit the local supply and marketing cooperative here; the provincial city is bigger than the county town, there must be more things."

Xi Zi frowned, "There’s already a lot. Let’s wait until my little aunt needs something, then buy it. This costs money, you know. Tomorrow we’ll just look and not buy anything, and later my big uncle has inside sales goods, which are much cheaper."

Lin Lishan laughed heartily, answering him while driving, "Alright, tomorrow we’ll just look and not buy. Tonight, Grandma will take you to make friends with some kids and see if they have any extra army backpacks. Those are quite cool for school bags."