Chapter 17: Going to the County Town (Part 3)

The houses were low and dilapidated, and even the roads in the county town were somewhat worn out, with uneven surfaces. Compared to modern roads, they were far inferior!

Is this really the county town? It’s not even as good as a town from the 21st century!

Zhao Xiulan sighed inwardly and continued walking.

It should be around nine o’clock in the morning, but there wasn’t much activity on the streets of the county town, hardly any people around. When she finally encountered someone, Zhao Xiulan took a few glances and realized that they didn’t look much different from the villagers, all looking malnourished.

As for the black market in the county town, Zhao Xiulan had no idea where it was, so she could only wander around the county town and see what it was like.

After walking for a while, Zhao Xiulan noticed some new things, such as various shops in the county town.

There were state-owned restaurants, supply and marketing cooperatives, and even a post office, as well as inns and other stores, each with slogans characteristic of the era hanging above them.

Zhao Xiulan finally stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative.

On the wall in front of the supply and marketing cooperative were the words “Develop the Economy, Guarantee the Supply.” Probably because it had been there for a long time, the words were a bit faded, and some places had even lost their paint.

The supply and marketing cooperative had most of the things people needed, and Zhao Xiulan wanted to see what they were selling and what the prices were. Since she had come to this era, she needed to know some basic information.

In addition, Zhao Xiulan also wanted to buy a bar of soap. There was no soap at home, and if she had to take a bath with just water, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable?

Although she had soap in her space, it was different from the soap of this era and couldn’t be easily taken out.

As she walked into the supply and marketing cooperative, there weren’t many people inside, and there were even fewer customers looking at the goods, let alone buying them. The layout inside the supply and marketing cooperative was similar to that of small shops in later generations, with several rows of transparent glass cabinets displaying various goods.

The salespeople inside ignored Zhao Xiulan when they saw her come in, not even bothering to acknowledge her.

Zhao Xiulan, dressed in shabby clothes, was immediately dismissed by these salespeople as someone who couldn’t afford to buy anything, so they didn’t bother serving her.

Furthermore, the salespeople at the supply and marketing cooperative had stable jobs, considered as formal employees of the state. Their work was leisurely, and such jobs were not easy for ordinary people to get, so these people tended to adopt a high-handed attitude, looking down on others.

Because of this, the salespeople in this era showed no enthusiasm like those in the shops of later generations and were indifferent to people.

After looking around for a while, Zhao Xiulan called out to one of the salespeople, “Comrade, how much is this soap?”

The salesperson didn’t answer Zhao Xiulan and continued cracking open sunflower seeds.

In the eyes of the salesperson, talking to Zhao Xiulan was pointless because she couldn’t afford to buy anything anyway, so serving her was a waste of time!

Zhao Xiulan thought that the salesperson might not have heard her, so she raised her voice and asked again, “Excuse me, Comrade, how much is the soap?”

Zhao Xiulan’s loud shout irritated the salesperson, who huffed and said, “Can’t you see I’m here? Who are you yelling for?”

Zhao Xiulan was speechless. It seemed like she was the one at fault? Earlier, she had called out at a normal volume, and since no one responded, she raised her voice this time. What’s wrong with that?

(End of Chapter 17)