Chapter 17

The streets were lined with low, dilapidated houses, with red and white slogans painted on the walls. Teams of little red soldiers, wearing red armbands, patrolled the area. Most of the people on the streets wore gray clothes—blue, black, or gray—and hurried by with their heads down, their faces solemn.

Yang Qiujin stood at the entrance of the county department store, leaning towards Chen Shengqing, who wore a military green officer’s uniform. They walked into the store under the sharp gazes of the little red soldiers patrolling outside.

The entrance to the department store was deserted, with only a few customers. It wasn’t as crowded as before when it was impossible to get goods.

The entire three-story store was almost empty. Even the sales clerks, who once acted aloof, were now much friendlier.

The entire county seemed to be in a state of fear and unease. Perhaps due to the oppressive atmosphere, Chen Tianyou’s earlier excitement faded. He quietly followed Yang Qiujin, not daring to make a sound, worried about drawing attention from the ever-present Little Red Soldiers outside, causing trouble.

Yang Qiujin wandered through the department store for a long time, buying only a dozen feet of cloth, planning to make clothes for Tianyou and Chen Shengqing.

“The army will issue uniforms. I have clothes to wear. You don’t need to buy them for me,” Chen Shengqing said, unwilling. “You should buy a few more sets for yourself.”

“Do you have any extra cloth coupons?” Yang Qiujin glanced at him.

He had already given her all his money and coupons, which were only enough to buy this much cloth. If she wanted more, she’d need a coupon.

“If you don’t have them, just buy some defective ready-made clothes,” Chen Shengqing suggested, pointing to a Dacron ^[1]which is a brand of synthetic fabric. long coat hanging on the counter and speaking to the round-faced saleswoman, “Comrade, please give me two of those clothes in my wife’s size.”

“We don’t have any defective goods for now. If you have a ready-made clothing ticket, you can buy some,” the saleswoman said lazily while cracking melon seeds, sizing up both of them.

The man was handsome, an officer too. Why would he marry someone dressed in patched clothes? What a pity; if she married him, she’d have him buy whatever clothes she wanted.

“Why, do you think you’re so special just because you’re a salesperson?” Chen Shengqing’s face hardened. “I’m a soldier, fighting on the country’s frontlines, risking my life for people’s safety. Now I want to buy clothes for my family, and you’re refusing me! What, are you keeping defective products for relatives or planning to resell them? I’ll report this to your leaders or the Little Red Soldiers (refers to youth who followed the Chinese Communist Party during the revolution)!”

When he got angry, his features became stern, his body rigid as he stood tall in front of the counter, his presence intimidating.

“Comrade, please don’t be angry. Calm down,” the salesperson stammered, clearly frightened. “We do have defective ready-made clothes. You can buy them without a ticket, but they’re not cheap. I just thought you might not be able to afford them. Since you want to buy them, I’ll go check the warehouse. If we have them, you can look at them.”

The excuse was weak. Officers usually came from better backgrounds. How could he not afford defective clothing?

Chen Shengqing didn’t call her out. When she returned with several clothes in various colors and sizes, he turned to Yang Qiujin. “Take a look. If any of these interest you, pick two. When I get back to the army, I’ll arrange for some clothing tickets so you can buy nicer clothes.”

Yang Qiujin didn’t even look at them. She waved her hand, “I’ll take them all.”

“All? All?” The saleswoman was taken aback. “Even though these defective items don’t need coupons, they’re not cheap. One costs 15 yuan. Here are four pieces, that’s 60 yuan. You…”

Could you really afford that much?

For rural families, five yuan could cover a year’s living expenses, and saving up 60 yuan would take at least ten years.

Yang Qiujin slowly pulled six 10-yuan notes from her cloth bag and threw them onto the counter. “Count them and see if it’s enough.”

The salesperson, who had underestimated her, thought Yang Qiujin was a naive country girl and didn’t dare to argue.

It was just being a salesperson, but Yang Qiujin was shrewd. She didn’t know that defective products might have small imperfections like oil stains, holes, or poor cuts, but those wouldn’t affect normal use if adjusted. Defective products didn’t need coupons and were slightly cheaper than regular clothes. Many wanted them.

The salesperson had hoped to keep the defective goods for friends and family, but Yang Qiujin had taken all of them, teaching her a lesson not to look down on people.

The saleswoman wasn’t happy, but given her husband’s status as a soldier and the many Red Soldiers watching outside, she couldn’t afford to upset them. She packed the clothes and handed them over.

Yang Qiujin was about to leave with her purchase when Chen Shengqing grabbed her hand and led her upstairs. “Let’s take a look at the rest.”

“What are you doing? There are so many Little Red Army soldiers outside, it wouldn’t be good for us to argue,” Yang Qiujin shook off his hand. “We can buy pots and pans elsewhere. No need for such a long ride with so many bags, making ourselves look messy. It doesn’t matter where we buy them.”

“I know,” Chen Shengqing hadn’t thought about buying pots and pans. “When you married me, I only gave you 20 yuan as a betrothal gift. I couldn’t even buy you anything decent. Now that our situation is better, I want to make it up to you. I’ll buy you three turns and one ring.”

“Do you have money for that?” Yang Qiujin smiled.

“Well…”

Most of the money was in her hands; he kept some for emergencies.

Of course, he couldn’t tell her. If he did, she’d probably make a scene about how he didn’t trust her enough to tell her everything.

“I thought you hadn’t planned on bringing Tianyou and me to join the army when you came back this time,” Yang Qiujin scoffed. “Don’t even mention buying new pots and pans, sauces, vinegars, oils, salts, and tea. I’m afraid you haven’t even applied for housing yet. You need to apply to the army for it, and then you need to clean and settle in. We’ll have to buy tables, chairs, benches, beds, cabinets, and everything else. Everything costs money. You want to buy three turns and one ring? We don’t need anything else?”

“Well, if we don’t buy the three turns and one ring, we’ll have to buy one,” Chen Shengqing said, feeling guilty, scratching his nose uncomfortably. “I applied to the regiment commander a few days ago, and we got the house approved. We can move in now.”

“You’re kidding me. How can you live in a newly allocated house without cleaning it?” Yang Qiujin didn’t trust her unreliable husband. After thinking, she decided to go upstairs. “Then I’ll buy a watch, so I can check the time and pick up Tianyou for school.”

The family of three had just reached the second floor when a jeep stopped at the department store. A beautiful woman stepped out of the car, holding a chubby boy in her arms. Behind her followed a thin little girl and a gentle-looking man.

“Hey, Sister Fangfang, why are you here now?” The round-faced saleswoman greeted the woman warmly. “Let me tell you, the few defective clothes I saved for you were just bought by a woman. That woman and her husband, an officer, are so arrogant and unreasonable…”

She briefly told Shi Fangfang what had happened earlier. Shi Fangfang quickly realized the saleswoman was referring to Yang Qiujin and her husband. She stomped her feet in anger, saying, “What a coincidence! I run into them here, and they even snatched the clothes I wanted!”

She hadn’t bought new clothes for several years, mainly because her in-laws always looked down on her, and she didn’t dare to spend too much money for fear of upsetting them.

Now that Ji Mingchen was back, she had persuaded him to take her and their son to join the army. She wanted to show off in front of the soldiers’ families, so she had contacted her distant cousin who worked at the county department store and asked her to save a few nice defective clothes for her to buy. But unexpectedly, Yang Qiujin had bought them instead.

Shi Fangfang was furious, and while she wanted to scold her cousin, she feared that her image as a gentle and virtuous woman would be ruined in front of Ji Mingchen. She wanted to cry, but Ji Mingchen didn’t even glance at her.

When Ji Mingchen heard that Chen Shengqing and his wife were also at the store, he went upstairs without saying a word. Shi Fangfang could only hold the child and follow him angrily.

Yang Qiujin had been looking at the watch counter for a while and finally chose a small, exquisite Plum brand ladies’ watch. When she asked the price, it was 98 cents. She hesitated and said, “This is too expensive!”

“If you like it, buy it.” Chen Shengqing motioned to the salesperson to pack it. “If I lose money, I can earn it again. If you miss something you like, you might regret it forever.”

“That’s true. Alright, let’s buy it.” Yang Qiujin felt that his words made sense, so she stopped hesitating. After some internal struggle, she took out ten Big Unity^[2]is a type of currency note. bills and handed them to the salesperson.

After confirming the payment, the salesperson issued several receipts and gave the Green Union receipt to Yang Qiujin, explaining that if there were any issues with the watch, she could come back for repairs with the receipt.

Yang Qiujin nodded, but instead of putting the watch in the bag, she put it on her wrist directly.

She was holding clothes in one hand and Tianyou in the other, making it difficult to put the watch on by herself.

Seeing this, Chen Shengqing took the bag of clothes from her hand and gently held her wrist with his other hand, helping her put the watch on.

His hands were very warm, and Yang Qiujin felt a strange warmth in her heart, making her tremble. She instinctively wanted to pull away, but Chen Shengqing held her tightly and carefully fastened the strap.

They were so close that they could feel each other’s breath. Chen Shengqing lowered his head and saw the woman’s face turning red, her pink lips getting even redder, and her dark, star-like eyes showing a hint of shyness.

His heart seemed to be stirred by something, and he felt a bit itchy. His eyes moved involuntarily to Yang Qiujin’s red lips, which seemed to be asking to say something. His whole body leaned closer to her.

“Uncle Ji!” Tianyou, who had been quietly standing between the two, suddenly spoke.

Yang Qiujin and Chen Shengqing were both startled. They looked at Ji Mingchen, who had just come upstairs, their faces slightly flushed and awkward.