Chapter 14

In Xu Xiangjuan’s eyes—accustomed as she was to large supermarkets and big shopping malls—the Department Store still didn’t measure up. However, since the household lacked this and that, she had to take a careful look and do some calculations.

It was Zhou Chengning’s first time at the Department Store. He looked composed on the outside but was somewhat nervous inside.

Xu Xiangjuan wasn’t in a hurry to ask about the price of bicycles. She first strolled around for a bit.

“Juan, I want to go check out the stationery section.” Zhou Chengning said as he pointed toward it, seeing that his wife had stopped to look at socks.

Xu Xiangjuan nodded and fished out the handkerchief holding the money from her pants pocket. “I’ll give you fifty cents. If you see any pencils or notebooks, you can buy them.”

Zhou Chengning thought the two yuan he brought with him was enough. “No need, no need. I have money. I brought the allowance you gave me. I have two yuan.”

When Xu Xiangjuan heard he had the two yuan with him, she put away the handkerchief. “Alright then. Go ahead and have a look around. I’ll wait here.”

Wrapping money in a handkerchief was a bit odd. Next time, she would buy a wallet.

“Okay.”

Xu Xiangjuan didn’t bother with Zhou Chengning and continued looking at the socks.

The nylon socks mostly came in red and blue. Ten pairs in a bundle, one yuan per bundle. Xu Xiangjuan looked at them for quite a while and ended up buying two bundles—one for men and one for women.

Neither she nor Zhou Chengning had sweaty feet, so buying a few more nylon socks wouldn’t be an issue. If they did, nylon socks would be unbearable—they’d stink.

She noticed that Ah Ning only had a few thin socks left at home, all with holes. She figured she might as well buy new ones today. After the socks, she moved on to buy underwear. The underwear section was right next to the socks, with both men’s and women’s available. Xu Xiangjuan bought three pairs for herself and three pairs for Zhou Chengning.

After giving birth, it was Zhou Chengning who did the laundry. Although he had never actually washed clothes yet, he had at least seen her husband’s underwear hanging in the yard.

At this time, people liked to say: “Three years new, three years old, patched and mended for another three years.” Her husband’s underwear had so many patches—it was honestly pitiful. She figured it was better to just buy new ones.

It wasn’t like the later days when prices were standardized. At this time, men’s items were just a bit more expensive than women’s—used up more fabric. Men’s underwear cost sixty cents each, women’s fifty cents. She spent two yuan on socks and three yuan thirty cents on underwear.

Zhou Chengning returned quickly. Xu Xiangjuan had just finished paying for the underwear. Seeing he wasn’t carrying anything, she didn’t ask further.

Afterward, she bought three boxes of soap, two hair clips for Guagua—five cents each—and a baby bottle for Niuniu.

Buying the baby bottle really felt like cutting a piece out of Xu Xiangjuan’s flesh. It actually cost six yuan for one bottle. Baby bottles had a limited usage period and couldn’t be used for long, but they were definitely necessary.

Just one baby bottle took up most of their money.

All the items they bought were handed to Zhou Chengning to carry while Xu Xiangjuan went to look at the bicycles.

When she asked, the cheapest one was 150 yuan—and required a ration ticket.

“Juan, do we have money for a tricycle? I want a tricycle. It’d be more comfortable for you and Guagua to ride in, and it has more space for carrying things.” Zhou Chengning said, having immediately set his sights on the lone little tricycle on display. He leaned down and lowered his voice to speak next to Xu Xiangjuan’s ear.

This little tricycle had probably been left there because no one wanted to buy it—it had been sitting in that spot the whole time.

Xu Xiangjuan felt a little embarrassed. Pedaling a little tricycle took more effort than a bicycle. And who rode little tricycles to work these days? They were mostly used for deliveries or street vending. Her husband’s taste was… rather unique.

But then again, he had a point. If they put a small bench in the tricycle bed—or just sat directly in it—it would be more comfortable than sitting on a bicycle.

Xu Xiangjuan then asked about the price of the tricycle. It also required a bicycle ration ticket and cost 260 yuan.

A price of 260 yuan was acceptable to Xu Xiangjuan, but she had to remind Zhou Chengning that the next time they came to the city would be when the bicycle ticket arrived. If the small tricycle was sold by then, they would just buy a bicycle instead.

Zhou Chengning nodded and said he understood.

After shopping in the morning, Xu Xiangjuan took Zhou Chengning to a privately-run small restaurant not far from the Department Store. They ordered one bowl of egg noodles and one bowl of wontons.

The egg noodles were for Zhou Chengning, and the wontons were for her.

Once both dishes were served, Xu Xiangjuan opened the cloth bundle that held their dry food. She took out a brown sugar steamed bun for herself. As for Zhou Chengning, he took a plain vegetable bun to eat and picked the egg off the noodles to give to Xu Xiangjuan.

Xu Xiangjuan didn’t refuse. She ate the egg first, then began eating the wontons, occasionally feeding a few spoonfuls to Zhou Chengning.

More than half the bowl of wontons ended up in Zhou Chengning’s stomach. Xu Xiangjuan barely ate a few bites—she found it too rich. Once Zhou Chengning finished eating, the two of them left the small restaurant.

“Your cooking is still the best.” said Zhou Chengning.

If he hadn’t been eating his wife’s cooking every day lately, Zhou Chengning might have found meat-filled wontons and a full bowl of noodles delicious. But after tasting her food, nothing else seemed quite as good.

“If it’s good, eat more. You barely have any meat on you… But don’t eat until you’re stuffed—your stomach won’t handle it.”

Xu Xiangjuan believed that meals should be improved gradually. Before, their food had no meat or oil. Suddenly eating something rich would be hard on the stomach.

It was a good thing they didn’t have much meat at home anyway. Even if they did, she wouldn’t let her husband or children eat anything too greasy.

There was only one bus back to their town in the afternoon—at four o’clock. It wasn’t even one o’clock yet. Xu Xiangjuan had already planned ahead: they would take the bus to Hongshan Town and walk the rest of the way home.

Every township had its own bus. Departure times were the same in the morning, but the return times in the afternoon varied slightly.

Hongshan Town’s bus was scheduled for two o’clock. The air inside the bus wasn’t pleasant, so the two of them took their time enjoying the fresh air before heading over.

There weren’t many people taking the Hongshan Town bus, since it returned relatively early. Most people from Hongshan preferred to take the later Dezhao Town bus back. The two towns were right next to each other, so walking the extra distance home wasn’t a big deal.

With open seats, Zhou Chengning no longer had to sit with Xu Xiangjuan on his lap. Xu Xiangjuan could even open the window, and a cool breeze blew in, making things quite comfortable.

Everything they had bought was packed into one bundle—not large—and Zhou Chengning held it on his lap with one hand.

Xu Xiangjuan looked out the window, her thoughts drifting. She wasn’t thinking of anything in particular—just letting all her earlier thoughts float away. Her mood was calm.

Zhou Chengning hesitated for a while, then finally reached out his empty left hand and held Xu Xiangjuan’s right hand.

When Xu Xiangjuan was still a girl in her natal home, she was rarely asked to do chores. Back when she earned work points, she was still young, and with her parents and older siblings around, she was only assigned light tasks—nothing tiring. After she married and began managing the household, she became pregnant and did even less heavy labor. At most, she cooked. Her hands had no real calluses. They weren’t exactly soft and delicate, but they were still smooth—unlike Zhou Chengning’s.

Zhou Chengning wasn’t born into a scholarly life. As a child, he had worked constantly. He was a student who came from a farming family. His hands, though slender and well-defined—quite good-looking, in fact—were covered in thick calluses.

As soon as he grabbed her hand, Xu Xiangjuan’s drifting thoughts returned. She turned to look at Zhou Chengning, intending to ask what was the matter.

But Zhou Chengning was staring straight ahead, his gaze proper and focused, not even glancing at her. The blush on his face, however, betrayed him.

It was nothing.

Xu Xiangjuan didn’t pull her hand away. She let him hold it and turned her gaze back out the window.