After bidding farewell to the girl with a bun face, Su Cheng and Xu Damao joined the wave of shopping.
Because it was a day off, the department store was packed with people. Although most people didn’t have much money in their pockets and little purchasing power, they couldn’t stand up to the large number of people.
Except for some valuables stalls where there are relatively few people in front of the counters, the other counters are packed with people.
At this time, the advantage of flying bills comes into play. There is no point-to-point handover between the salesperson and the cashier. The bills are directly thrown to the cashier through the flying line, and then the customers obediently line up, pay the money, and come back to collect the items.
So you can see the interesting scene of the salesperson in the mall throwing the bill. In department stores these days, two people usually go out to buy things. One person buys things on the counter, and the other person queues up at the checkout counter early to pay.
, eliminating the trouble of queuing back and forth, just like Su Cheng and Xu Damao now.
After Su Cheng told Xu Damao what he wanted to buy, he went to the cashier to queue up, confirmed that it was his bill and paid the money. The cashier threw the stamped flying line back to the salesperson, and Xu Damao could quickly
Take things out quickly.
This may seem troublesome, but if you imagine that there were no such convenient product entry and computer settlement in later generations, and people were crowded and vying to buy goods, the flying bill method undoubtedly greatly improved the work efficiency of the mall.
In this way, the two of them spent the whole afternoon and finally bought everything. As for why they didn't go to the supply and marketing cooperative, but went to the department store instead of going to the department store.
Then you have to understand that this is an era of shortage of materials. Supply and marketing cooperatives are often in a relationship where supply exceeds demand, and the goods inside are very incomplete.
Even though supplies across the country are being given priority to the Four-Nine Cities at this time, the supply and marketing cooperatives are still in a state of shortage of supplies.
By the time Su Cheng and Xu Damao left the department store and returned to the courtyard, carrying large and small bags, it was already evening. Both of them were as tired as dogs.
In the envious and jealous eyes of the neighbors in the yard, Xu Damao put the things at the door of Su Cheng's house and escaped.
One is that the old lady doesn’t want to see him, so as not to be looked down upon by the old lady.
The other is that he is really tired now, even more tired than when he went to the countryside to walk the mountain road and show a movie to the villagers. At this time, he can't wait to go home and lie down on the armchair.
Su Cheng looked at the small hill made of large and small bags wrapped in oil paper in front of the door. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and put his bicycle next to the corner.
Asking the old lady to help me, I started sorting out the purchased items by category.
By the way, what did you buy? Not to mention the bicycle, but also a watch which is equally valuable. Along with Su Cheng’s ticket and more than 100 yuan,
The next thing is a few clothes. Su Cheng bought himself two sets of Chinese tunic suits, which are considered as an addition to his wardrobe. He also bought two pairs of cotton-padded clothes according to the figure of the old lady. It is appropriate for the old lady to wear something comfortable, just
These clothes were accompanied by some cloth coupons and more than a hundred yuan.
What's left is some tea, rice, oil, salt and some tobacco, wine and candies. They look like bits and pieces. The cheap ones only cost a few cents, and the expensive ones only cost a few yuan. But the total amount is very objective.
Mr. Ling spent more than 200 yuan in tickets.
When everything was almost done, the uncle led a dark-faced old man to his yard.
No need to guess, this must be Liu Gui, a famous mason in their area of South Tongluo Lane.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the elder left first because he still had something to do.
Su Cheng asked the old lady to stay in her room while he led Liu Gui to the house next door.
After Aunt Ergen and the others cleaned up, the floor, doors and windows in the house were very clean. As for the tables and chairs left by the predecessor in the house, although they were still usable, Su Cheng gave them to the neighbors who needed them.
If you are not used to using other people's things, you can just ask someone to knock down a few pieces of furniture later, as long as there is no shortage of money.
Liu Gui entered the house, looked around the house inside and out, then glanced at Su Cheng and said,
"What do you want to do with this house? Are you going to simply paint the cracked areas with cement, or are you going to paint them all over?"
Su Cheng thought for a while and felt that it would be too ugly to directly cover the cracked area with cement. He might as well make a big rectification. He immediately said,
"Master Liu, please paint all this wall. In addition, you have to repair the kang in the room. You also need to take a look at the smoke window on the stove to see if it needs to be reinforced."
Liu Gui thought about it and said,
"Then the amount of your project is a bit large. The fifteen yuan you promised before can't be paid."
Su Cheng wasn't surprised either. After all, the other party provided the cement and everything else. He immediately said,
"Master Liu, how much do you think is appropriate?"
"At least thirty."
This price is not low. It is almost as much as a worker’s salary for a month. Liu Gui glanced at Su Cheng and said uncertainly,
"Don't you think so? If not, we'll stick to the fifteenth standard. I'll help you repair all the cracks, and you can live comfortably. There's no need to spend such unjust money."
"No, just thirty."
This is equivalent to renovating the house. Thirty yuan is not expensive, Su Cheng thought. Then he thought about it again and walked to the wall shared with the house he lives in now.
"Master Liu, my old lady lives in the room next door. Do you think you can cut a door here to connect the two rooms?"
Hearing Su Cheng's words, Liu Gui's dark face showed a look of embarrassment and he hesitated to speak.
Seeing this, Su Cheng thought that this wall was like those load-bearing walls in later generations and could not be chiseled, so he immediately asked
"Master Liu, is it impossible to cut this wall, otherwise it will turn the two houses into dangerous buildings?"
Hearing Su Cheng's words, Liu Gui's face turned slightly red and he said calmly,
"No, there's nothing wrong with cutting a door, and it won't affect the structure of the house, it's just~"
Su Cheng:???
Liu Gui hesitated and said,
“Gotta pay more!”
You think you don't have enough money, so I'm worried that I won't be able to connect the two houses. Thinking of this, Su Cheng laughed dumbly and said,
"Master Liu, is your surname Ding?"
When Liu Gui heard this, he was dissatisfied and said,
"You already call me Master Liu, why do you ask me if my surname is Ding?"
Su Cheng: But you look very much like a person named Ding!
Su Cheng joked secretly, and then said seriously,
"Master Liu, how much does it cost to dig a door?"
Liu Gui thought for a moment, stretched out five fingers and said,
"Five dollars!"
Then he was afraid that Su Cheng would think that he was making a random offer, so he immediately explained,
"This is a delicate job that requires a lot of effort. It's not just about poking a hole in the wall. The whole wall might collapse."
Su Cheng nodded, expressing understanding, and then said,
"Master Liu, it's five yuan, no problem, but you have to be more attentive to me!"
Hearing Su Cheng's words, Liu Gui showed an honest smile, patted his chest and said,
"That is required!"
The two then discussed the time for repairing the house, and agreed to start work tomorrow and try to finish it in three days.
…
It was getting dark and the evening lights were starting to turn on. Su Cheng was eating dinner with the old lady, when suddenly there was a commotion in the courtyard.
The uncle hurriedly knocked on the door of Su Cheng's house and asked
"Old lady, Chengzi, have you seen Qin Huairu this afternoon?"
The deaf old lady put down the bowl in her hand and asked in surprise,
"Zhonghai, what's going on? What's wrong with Qin Huairu?"
Yi Zhonghai explained,
"Just now Qin Huairu's two children, Xiaodang and Huaihua, came to my house crying and said that Qin Huairu was missing. I asked people in the upper courtyard to search all over, but they couldn't find them, so I went door to door to ask.
.”
Then Yi Zhonghai said worriedly,
"Old lady, since you haven't seen me yet, I'll leave first."
Qin Huairu disappeared. They are all from the same compound. Just do your best if you can. Su Cheng took two mouthfuls of food and then stood up and said to the old lady,
"Grandma, you eat first, and I will go look for it with you."
After saying that, Su Cheng picked up his coat and followed the uncle out the door, while thinking about it in his mind.
How could Qin Huairu disappear? Nothing like this happened in the movies and TV series I watched before!