Chapter 19 Expensive is good

“I don’t have many left on me, but I can give you all of them.”

Ji Tangtang reached into her cloth bag and pulled out all the wild fruits from her Qiankun pouch. These were ones she had picked earlier in the secret realm. She had set aside some for her family and eaten quite a few herself, so there weren’t many left. But in that secret realm, wild fruits were everywhere—she could always pick more later without much effort.

She added, “But I’ve stored a few elsewhere too. If you trust me, I can go fetch them for you later.”

Hearing this, Liu Xuemei agreed readily:

“All right, I’ll make up the missing coupons myself for now. You just bring me some more fruits later.”

As she spoke, a shy yet blissful smile crossed her face. “I’m pregnant, and this is exactly what I’ve been craving. If you ever pick more wild fruit again, you can always come to me. I’ll trade you things for them.”

Seeing how straightforward she was, Ji Tangtang’s impression of her improved. She leaned in a little closer and asked:

“Do you know where I could buy refined grain?”

“You want refined grain? You’re a bit late. If you want that, you have to come line up before dawn. At this hour, even coarse grain is already gone.” Liu Xuemei hesitated, then added, “But I like you. If you wait until after I get off work, I’ll take you to my brother. I’ll put in a good word, and maybe he can spare you a few jin of flour. But I can’t give you money or coupons myself—you’ll still have to pay with grain coupons and cash at market price. Otherwise, even if I plead, it won’t work.”

Ji Tangtang was delighted and smiled. “Don’t worry, I still have grain coupons.”

After paying for the cloth, she asked, “What time do you finish work?”

Liu Xuemei counted the money twice, locked it into a wooden box, and said, “I get off at five. Come by then.”

“All right, I’ll come at that time—and I’ll bring the fruits I owe you too.”

After putting the fabric into her basket, Ji Tangtang asked Liu Xuemei about where to buy watches and other such items. Liu Xuemei, having grown up in the city and now working at the supply and marketing cooperative, knew many people and was familiar with channels that ordinary folks didn’t. Thanks to the wild fruit, she warmed up to Ji Tangtang quickly, not only sharing useful information but also describing the appearance of her acquaintances so Ji Tangtang could mention her name if she ran into them.

After thanking Liu Xuemei, Ji Tangtang went to other counters in the co-op and bought soap, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other daily necessities. Once outside, she found a quiet spot and tucked everything from her basket into the Qiankun pouch before heading off to the department store.

The department store, located in the southern part of the city, was larger than the supply and marketing cooperative and had a wider range of goods. Ji Tangtang’s main purpose there was to buy a watch. But as soon as she entered, her eyes were caught by the shoes.

The cloth shoes she was wearing now had been handmade by Xu Guifen. Who knew how long the original owner had worn them—the soles were as thin as paper. Stepping on stones hurt her feet badly. Compared with clothes, shoes were a much greater necessity. And with the money she had now, buying several pairs wouldn’t be a problem.

The trouble was, shoes required shoe coupons. The iron box Lin Xinming had given her contained only three. Asking the clerk, she found that one coupon could buy a pair of ordinary shoes, while higher-grade leather shoes not only cost more money but also required more coupons.

Ji Tangtang tried the same trick as before—offering the clerk a little something extra in hopes they’d bend the rules. But this clerk was firm: no matter how much money she offered, the rules had to be followed.

Helpless, Ji Tangtang bought three pairs of Liberation Shoes—one each for herself, Xu Guifen, and Ji Xiaohui. Ji Changming’s shoes would have to wait until she could get more coupons.

With the shoes bought, Ji Tangtang moved on to the stationery and hardware counters. Most goods in the store required coupons, but pens, notebooks, locks, and other small hardware items did not. Thinking of her plans to renovate the house, she bought many essentials—lightbulbs, screws, locks, hinges, nails, lamps, and so on. She also bought a good amount of pencils, fountain pens, ballpoint pens, and exercise books. From what she remembered in that book, the college entrance exams would be reinstated later. These study supplies would be needed, so she might as well prepare early.

After buying a mountain of odds and ends, she finally arrived at the watch counter.

Looking at the round-faced woman behind it, Ji Tangtang guessed this must be Zhang Cuixia, who, according to Liu Xuemei, lived in the same courtyard. She greeted her with a smile:

“Hello, comrade. I’m Xuemei’s friend.”

She didn’t have any wild fruits left on her, but earlier at the co-op she had bought a jin of fruit candy. She grabbed a generous handful and offered it to Zhang Cuixia.

At this time, fruit candy cost more than a yuan per jin and required sugar coupons. Even for someone working at a department store, it was still considered a rare treat. And Ji Tangtang’s handful was generous—at least two or three liang.

The moment Ji Tangtang said she was Liu Xuemei’s friend, Zhang Cuixia had already broken into a broad smile. Seeing the big handful of fruit candies, her smile grew even more genuine.

“Xuemei’s friend is my friend. You came to see me, that’s enough—you didn’t need to bring anything.” Zhang Cuixia pushed the candy back, refusing to accept it.

“I heard you have a daughter,” Ji Tangtang said. “Take these back for her.”

But Zhang Cuixia still didn’t accept the candies. Instead, she asked Ji Tangtang directly if she had some business to take care of.

If she thought she could get someone to do a difficult favor just by giving a handful of candy, then that candy absolutely couldn’t be accepted.

Ji Tangtang pulled out some industrial coupons and showed them to Zhang Cuixia, saying:
“Comrade Zhang, I came today to buy a watch. Can I use these coupons?”

When Zhang Cuixia saw the thick stack of industrial coupons in her hand, she felt reassured. The fruit candies Ji Tangtang had given her, she no longer insisted on pushing back. Instead, she began introducing the watches.

There weren’t many watches in the display case, just like in the supply and marketing cooperative. The best ones were locked away in the bottom of the counter, reserved for people with connections. Originally, Zhang Cuixia hadn’t planned on taking those out at all.

But Ji Tangtang’s words were just too pleasant. One moment she praised Zhang Cuixia’s good skin, the next she complimented how nice her hands looked—and the praise didn’t sound exaggerated, it felt matter-of-fact. On top of that, she was also Liu Xuemei’s friend, and she had brought candy as a gift the moment she arrived. In the end, Zhang Cuixia willingly took out all the watches locked beneath the counter for Ji Tangtang to choose from.

“This one is Plum Blossom brand, imported from abroad. Before, you could only buy it at the Friendship Store with foreign exchange coupons. Now it’s 290 yuan,” Zhang Cuixia introduced with a hint of pride.
“If you don’t have enough money, you could look at this one instead. It’s a little cheaper—260 yuan. An Enicar, also very popular.”

As a peach blossom spirit, Ji Tangtang had no idea what “Plum Blossom” was, nor did she know about Enicar. But in her personal philosophy, the more expensive something was, the better it must be.

Without hesitation, she chose the costly one.
“I brought enough money—this one for 290.”