Chapter 15: A Shopping Windfall

The man jolted upright in surprise.

He’d had this illness since childhood.
And it had never been cured.
Lately, the attacks had even become more frequent.
He had thought he was close to death.
So when the young girl in front of him said he was cured, he was completely stunned.

“If you don’t believe it, you can go get checked at the hospital again.”

At that moment, Pan Qingsheng truly believed her.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t emotional.
He patted the dust off his clothes and stood up.

“L-little girl, thank you.”

The owner of the department store, seeing that Pan Qingsheng really had recovered, looked at the girl with approval.

“You’ve got some real skills, young lady.”

Su Nianzhi smiled, “It’s fate. I’ve encountered patients with similar illnesses before.”

Pan Qingsheng excitedly rummaged through his bag and pulled out five large-denomination notes.

“Girl, thank you for curing me. Take this money. Which work unit are you from? I’ll write a letter of gratitude to your unit.”

But Su Nianzhi’s eyes were glued to something in his postman bag.

Was that… a Monkey Stamp?
The King of Stamps?

Pan Qingsheng looked to be in his forties, so Su Nianzhi politely asked in a quiet voice,

“Uncle Pan, I don’t want the money. Can I have that instead?”

Pan Qingsheng paused, then looked at the stamp she pointed to, confused.
“You… really don’t want fifty yuan?”

The onlookers chimed in to dissuade her, “Girl, that’s fifty yuan! What use is that silly monkey thing?”

Su Nianzhi: You know nothing. In the future, this thing will be worth a whole house.

Eyes sparkling with determination, she stared at Pan Qingsheng. “Yes, I want that.”

Pan Qingsheng dug around and handed her a sheet of Monkey Stamps.

“Do you want more? We still have them at the post office!”

Su Nianzhi swallowed hard. Thinking of his position, she lowered her voice, “No more. I just want to ask Uncle something.”

If it had been anyone else, he might’ve suspected she was asking for favors.
But this innocent-looking girl didn’t seem older than his own daughter.
Her eyes were soft and watery—no signs of a bad child.

His tone softened, “What do you want to ask?”

Su Nianzhi looked up seriously, “I’d like to buy some jade.”

Pan Qingsheng froze—then laughed.

“Young lady, how did you know I dabble in that?”

Su Nianzhi played dumb, “I just figured, since Uncle works in the post office and runs around every day, you must be well-connected.”

“Haha!”
She wasn’t wrong—people in his line of work met many others and heard a lot.
This girl was far from stupid—she was sharp.

“I do know a few sources,” he admitted. “But I have something on today. In a couple of days, come to the town’s post office and I’ll take you.”

He handed her the fifty yuan again.
“Take it. You saved Uncle Pan, it’s what you deserve.”

Su Nianzhi shook her head, “I’ve already got the Monkey Stamp, and I got the info I needed. I don’t need the money.”

People nearby turned green with envy—who wouldn’t want to switch places with her right now?
Who’s kid was this? So “dumb” she gave up money?

Pan Qingsheng reluctantly pulled out two bills.
“Take it. Otherwise, I won’t take you jade shopping next time.”

He placed the bills in her hand and turned to leave the department store.

Everyone watching her couldn’t deny their jealousy.
But what could they do? They didn’t have her skills.

Su Nianzhi looked at the Monkey Stamps in her hand and the two large notes.
A grin spread beneath her scarf.
Time to shop!

She skipped over to the grain section and bought twenty pounds of rice.
Then picked up a barrel of oil.
The line at the egg stand was too long,
so she headed to the meat counter and bought two pounds of meat.

The butcher had seen her save someone earlier and beamed at her.
“Little miss, I’ll give you a fattier cut!”

In this era, fatty meat was prized over lean.

Su Nianzhi’s voice was naturally soft and sweet,
“Uncle, I’d prefer a mix of lean and fat.”

The butcher, motivated by her adorable tone, got to work with a few swift chops.

“Here you go, little girl. I’ll throw in this big soup bone for free.”

“Thank you, Uncle!”

The butcher, heart warmed by her kindness, suddenly had a wild thought—
This girl is so sweet. When I get home, I’ll tell my wife we’re having a daughter.
Those two bratty sons of mine are good for nothing but trouble!

With arms full of goodies, Su Nianzhi then headed for the fabric counter.
The Su family’s clothes were all torn up.

Clothing styles were still stuck in the ‘70s—mostly blue, gray, black.
Floral prints were rare and expensive.

After some mental calculations, she figured 7.5 chi of fabric per adult would be enough, given the 4.5 chi width.
She bought some gray and blue fabric.

With her remaining money, she grabbed some clam oil and snow cream.

She had planned to buy cotton too,
but to her frustration, it still required ration tickets.

She remembered cotton rationing would be abolished soon anyway.
Better to wait a while.

After finishing her shopping,
she stood at the mall entrance surrounded by bags.

Suddenly, she spotted Su Zhewu huffing and puffing as he pushed a cart toward her.

“Little sis!”

He looked sheepish. Earlier, while selling the deer, he ran into a former educated youth from their village.
She was in trouble, so he stopped to help—
and ended up delayed.

“Second Brother, help me carry these!”

Only now did Su Zhewu notice the mountain of goods at her feet.
His eyes widened in shock.

“Nianzhi, you bought all this?!
Didn’t Mom only give you one yuan? How—?”

Clearly stunned.

Su Nianzhi grinned, “Second Brother, hurry and help me load them onto the cart. I’ll explain later.”

Su Zhewu knew his sister would never do anything shady,
so he helped pack everything up first.

“Nianzhi, if there’s anything else you want, I just sold the deer and got some money.”

Su Nianzhi shook her head.
“No more today, Second Brother. I’ll come back in a few days.”

Su Zhewu clicked his tongue in amusement.
Little sis has become addicted to shopping, huh?
Looks like he needed to earn more money.

Fortunately, her health had improved a lot recently.

The two of them cheerfully made their way home.

But just as they reached the village, they were spotted.

Envious eyes watched as they returned,
cart overflowing.

The Su family swindled 300 yuan out of the Zhangs and now they’re living large.
This kind of spending can’t last.

Er Laizi’s mother muttered curses,
“Such wasteful behavior, buying so much junk…”

To her, her son was about to propose to Su Nianzhi.
All of this should’ve been their stuff.

Every yuan the Su family spent, she felt, was a loss to her future gains.

Meanwhile, Sun Daniu stood at her courtyard gate,
cursing Su Nianzhi under her breath.

That brat’s spending our money!

The thought of her son being left half-crippled only made her curse more viciously.

Su Nianzhi narrowed her eyes.
Then casually sent out a mental attack.

Just as Sun Daniu was mid-rant, her mouth suddenly twisted sideways.

“Waaa—muh—mah—”

“Oh no, Tiedan! Come quick! Your grandma’s having a stroke!”

Villagers loved a good drama.
Now that Sun Daniu’s mouth had gone crooked,
everyone forgot about Su Nianzhi’s “extravagant” shopping.