I've seen it on TV before, but it's not as real as being there.

The food is put in specially made cabinets with large doors, and the soybean oil is put in large oil drums similar to those used to hold gasoline. There is a pump on top. As long as customers buy oil, they shake the handle to draw the oil out of the drum.

.

The one who weighs the grain is a big scale. This kind of scale can easily steal two taels of grain from you. When the grain was being weighed, Qin Shufen stared at the scale closely. If it was lower, she would shout:

"Not enough, not enough. I can recognize you."

Zuo Jingyan couldn't help but want to laugh. The eldest sister is too sophisticated. No one can try to deceive her. You will never suffer a loss if you go shopping with the eldest sister.

"Jingyan, what else do you want to buy?"

Qin Shufen turned around and asked Zuo Jingyan.

"I want to buy a few kilograms of white flour."

Zuo Jingyan was thinking about repaying Jiang Xueying's favor, and the two plain stuffed buns were her first warmth in this world.

"You can only buy white flour at a negotiated price."

The fine grains in Qin Shufen's food book were not enough for her family, so there was no way to give them to her.

"Yes, I just want to buy at a negotiated price."

Zuo Jingyan said with a smile that this was why she bought food stamps.

"No."

When the people at the grain store heard their conversation, they immediately denied it. The bargained grain in the grain store was not always available, especially fine grains, which even those with money and food stamps could not buy.

Zuo Jingyan was worried. There were plenty of white noodles in modern shopping malls, so why couldn’t she spend the money?

"Let's go."

Qin Shufen asked Zuo Jingyan to follow her carrying a grain bag containing big grains and corn flour. If the grain store couldn't buy it, she would go to the black market. People only talk about fate, and she couldn't bear to see the little girl's sad face.

"What else do you want to buy? I'll buy it all for you today."

After leaving the grain store, Qin Shufen asked Zuo Jingyan, fearing that she, a little girl who was unfamiliar with the place, would not be able to find her anywhere. Many thieves in the city like to steal from outsiders.

"Here's the list, plus a thin crochet hook."

Zuo Jingyan took out the shopping list she wrote at home yesterday. Qin Shufen took it and took a look at it: "Hey, so many things? Do you have enough money from selling your hair?"

"That should be enough."

Zuo Jingyan answered unconfidently, because she had no money in her pocket and no strength in her waist.

There was only fifty yuan in total, three yuan was used to make a head support, five yuan was used to buy food just now, and three yuan was used to buy various tickets, leaving only thirty-nine yuan.

"How much money do you have?"

Qin Shufen raised her head and asked Zuo Jingyan. She did a rough calculation of the things she wanted to buy. They included meat, noodles, soap, shampoo, and cosmetics for face. The total cost was at least twenty yuan.

.

She saw that Zuo Jingyan still had half of her hair left. How much would such a little hair be worth if sold, maybe fifteen yuan at most.

"Thirty-nine dollars."

Zuo Jingyan answered honestly, Qin Shufen's eyes widened:

"How much can you sell for so much hair?"

"I still need to make it into a wig."

Zuo Jingyan couldn't help but want to laugh when she saw her eldest sister's shocked look. She was so cute, she could open her mouth enough to put an egg in it. Are you so surprised?

"Okay, sister, I was worried that you would suffer a loss, but I didn't expect that you would cause others to suffer a loss."

Qin Shufen looked at Zuo Jingyan again. She was harmless, sweet and cute, and she looked quite innocent. Unexpectedly, she was not stupid!

Zuo Jingyan couldn’t laugh or cry:

"Sister, I didn't let her suffer, I want to make it for her..."

Qin Shufen raised her hand to interrupt Zuo Jingyan and said protectively:

"Okay, okay, as long as we don't suffer, it doesn't matter if others suffer."

Yes, sister, this is a good theory!

With Qin Shufen taking her along, Zuo Jingyan successfully bought everything on the shopping list, and also saw what the black market looked like in the era articles.

In fact, it is similar to the farmer's market in the 1980s, except that they all set up street stalls. They spread a piece of cloth on the ground and put the goods on the cloth. Once the inspector came to make a surprise inspection, they would grab a bag of cloth and run away.

Zuo Jingyan bought so many things that even the triangular bag given by Qin Shufen was not enough, so she bought a large backpack, which was cheaper than the triangular bag and could be packed.

After buying everything, she spent a total of twenty-three yuan and eight cents. Looking at the remaining fifteen yuan and twenty cents, Zuo Jingyan felt confident.

The money should be enough to treat the eldest sister to a meal. If the eldest sister hadn't taken him to do the shopping, he wouldn't have been able to buy everything until dark.

She held Qin Shufen's arm and said to her proudly:

"Sister, let's go, I'll treat you to dinner."

"What are you asking for? I only have so much money left, but it won't be enough for the second half of the month?"

Qin Shufen's eyes widened and she began to lecture Zuo Jingyan:

"Young people can't live like this. Life with money is better than life without money..."

Bala, Bala...

Qin Shufen gave Zuo Jingyan a lesson on remembering the bitter and thinking about the sweet. Zuo Jingyan listened bitterly. She just wanted to repay her eldest sister, so she was dragged into a political lesson for half an hour.

"Okay, go home quickly, I have to go home and cook."

Qin Shufen was very angry and left after giving her a lesson, without giving Zuo Jingyan a chance to speak.

"I...just wanted to thank you."

Zuo Jingyan shouted at her back, "What a good girl! She spoke as fast as a machine gun, and she couldn't get a word in at all."

"No need, I never want anything in return for helping others."

Qin Shufen waved her hand without looking back, and the person walked away like a gust of wind.

Zuo Jingyan smiled and shook her head. The days ahead are long, and I don’t care about this day if I want to be grateful.

After buying all the things, she realized that she was very hungry. It was already half past one in the afternoon, so Zuo Jingyan decided not to go to the restaurant to eat, but bought some dry food to take with her on the road.

Passing by the door of a Muslim store, I saw freshly fried twists. The aroma went straight to my nose. If I didn’t have food stamps, it would cost 20 cents a piece. If I had food stamps, it would cost 10 cents. Zuo Jingyan once again sighed at the low price and bought two fried dough sticks.

After spending 20 cents, I still have fourteen yuan left in my pocket.

After eating only dried mahua, she bought another bottle of soda. The soda was chilled with cold water and drank it. It was very cool, cooling her throat all the way to the bottom. After eating two more mahua, she felt full.

After eating and drinking, I went to the bus stop and waited for the bus. It was only a dime for the fare. When I left home, I had nothing to do with it. Now that I have money, there is no need to save this little money.

The bus was slow, and the bus was swaying like a big one. There were few people on the bus at this time, but it was not crowded at all. The wind was very comfortable with the windows open, and Zuo Jingyan even fell asleep due to the sway.

An hour later, the train arrived at the station. The flight attendant came to call her. Zuo Jingyan got off the bus with a large backpack on her back. At this time, people were going to work and going to school. The courtyard was quiet.

When Zuo Jingyan got home, she started to get busy. After making the noodles and mixing the dumpling fillings, she started to pierce the hawthorns and boil the syrup to make candied haws for Dongdong.

She didn’t have much experience, but she had seen on Douyin how to make sugar syrup and how to dip candied haws into sugar haws. Zuo Jingyan followed the tutorial she saw on Douyin step by step. Half an hour later, ten bunches of red hawthorn candied haws were ready.

After making the candied haws, Zuo Jingyan started to make dumplings, with two kinds of fillings: celery meat and cabbage meat. If she couldn't dig out the stuffing, she would only give away a few. She made more than fifty, which was enough for the three of them.

The dumplings were cooked just in time, and Zuo Jingyan walked towards Jiang Xueying's house with a large soup bowl filled with dumplings in one hand and a plate filled with candied haws in the other.
Chapter completed!