Su Ye looked at the spotless floor and almost couldn't find a place to step.
After washing up, Su Ye sat at the dining table. Her eyes lit up when she saw the steaming malted milk on the table.
Malted milk is an expensive nutritional supplement nowadays. The price at the supply and marketing cooperative is six yuan a can, but it is difficult for city residents to buy it due to frequent supply shortages.
It sells for 20 yuan a can on the black market, which is almost equal to Su Ye's monthly salary. Su Ye wanted to buy a can of malted milk, but the price made her retreat.
"How come there is malted milk?"
Gu Xiangqian said, "It's issued by the army, drink it."
This was probably given by the army to Gu Xiangqian for recuperation. How could Su Ye have the nerve to snatch rations from a patient
It is so difficult to get some nutritional supplements these days. Even He Meimei's son, who is only a few months old, can only drink chlorella milk powder. If Gu Xiangqian's relatives and friends knew about this, they would probably want to tear her apart.
However, Gu Xiangqian's inviting expression was so sincere, and the malted milk in front of him exuded a hint of malt aroma mixed with a light taste of milk, silently tempting Su Ye and making her unable to look away.
Su Ye looked away.
After Gu Xiangqian finished drinking the malted milk, he saw her eager yet restrained look and couldn't help but laugh.
"Drink it, and then buy some things for the New Year."
Since the host was so polite, there was no reason for Su Ye to be shy. She decisively picked up the cup and started drinking.
The freshly brewed malted milk was at just the right temperature, and its sweet aroma gripped Su Ye's tongue. It was a blend of wheat, cream, and chocolate, and tasted better than simple milk. It was sweet, and after sipped a few times, one could vaguely taste the flavor of chocolate milk.
Su Ye hadn't eaten anything delicious for a long time, and his mouth was almost dry. Before he could react, he had finished a glass of malted milk.
Su Ye looked at Gu Xiangqian again, and he unexpectedly looked much more pleasing to the eye.
"Buying things for the New Year? What else do you need?" Su Ye asked.
Although Su Ye complained about Gu Xiangqian's poverty last night, he was not really poor. Gu Xiangqian had all the four major items for marriage in the 1960s: a bed, a thermos, an enamel tray, and a table and cabinet. Su Ye could not imagine what else Gu Xiangqian wanted to buy.
In the 1960s, people were very poor and married simply. Two people could live a lifetime with just four major items. Compared to Su Ye's generation, who needed a house, a car, and money to get married, this generation's marriage was too simple.
Gu Xiangqian said succinctly: "It is missing."
Su Ye had rejected Gu Xiangqian's invitation to buy something yesterday. Today, he mentioned it again. Su Ye changed her mind and thought that this was a great opportunity to buy something. How many relationships between men and women have been ruined by disputes over money.
After Su Ye finished breakfast, she went to the department store with Gu Xiangqian with great interest.
Although the department store still exists decades later and is located in the old city, Su Ye, who was born after the millennium, has never been to a department store. In his mind, it represents backwardness, crowding, and oldness.
After decades of ups and downs, it is the most prosperous place in the city, where the most popular and fashionable goods can be found. The "department store" at the entrance is polished and shiny, and it looks high-end and classy. If you don't have some money in your pocket, you really don't dare to step in.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, the atmosphere of the festival is everywhere. Vendors selling New Year paintings and couplets, women visiting the City God Temple and dancing the Yangko can be seen everywhere. The entrances of the food and oil stores and the supply and marketing cooperatives are crowded with people.
Su Ye was squeezed so hard that she could hardly move forward and almost fell. She was knocked into Gu Xiangqian's chest by the crowd. Su Ye thought of Gu Xiangqian's wound, stepped back quickly, and asked, "I didn't mean to do that. Does it hurt?"
Gu Xiangqian said nothing, he grabbed Su Ye's hand and walked in front, splitting the crowd and squeezing into the department store. His back was elegant and neat, and he didn't look bloated in the thick cotton, but his legs were long, and he was taller than the crowd.
This back figure struck Su Ye's heart deeply, making her eyes darken.
If Su Ye didn't have principles and didn't have the hobby of stealing other people's men, she would have eaten him up long ago.
After arriving at the department store, Su Ye ran straight to the "luxury goods" area, while Gu Xiangqian planned to go to the fabric and clothing area.
When Gu Xiangqian saw Su Ye walking in another direction, he was stunned for a moment and had to turn back and follow Su Ye.
Su Ye stared at the watches on the glass counter without blinking, and his fiery gaze was impossible to ignore.
Su Ye didn't expect to see so many classic styles here. Shanghai, Tianjin and Plum brand watches are the most popular nowadays. Plum brand is an imported product and is very expensive, so let's not talk about it for now.
Su Ye picked the most exquisite women's watch and looked at it for a long time. It was also very expensive, 138 yuan. Su Ye had to save up for half a year without eating or drinking to afford this watch. She asked Gu Xiangqian for this watch.
Su Ye looked at him closely, Gu Xiangqian didn't say anything, and there was a hint of awkwardness in the air. After a long time, Gu Xiangqian moved his lips and finally said, "It's not good, don't have it."
"No, I just like it." Su Ye insisted.
When Su Ye was about to quarrel, Gu Xiangqian took out his leather wallet and counted out fourteen "Big Black Tens" from it.
The Big Black Ten is a banknote issued in 1955, and is a collectible that RMB players dream of. At that time, domestic conditions were backward, and the printing of RMB still depended on the big brother, the Soviet Union. After the big brother turned against it, this banknote stopped circulating in 1964. The "Big Black Ten" was gradually replaced by the "Great Unity".
Under Su Ye's vomiting blood gaze, Gu Xiangqian handed the money to the salesperson.
Su Ye quickly put the money in his arms and said, "I won't buy it. Now I think it's ugly. Why don't you give me the money?"
A thick stack of banknotes, still with a faint body temperature. It was hot, as if every cent was soaked with his blood and sweat. Didn't Gu Xiangqian earn his money with his life? Su Ye didn't really want to buy a watch.
Gu Xiangqian said, "You are a teacher now. You need to be punctual. It would be convenient to have a watch." As he said that, he picked out an exquisite women's watch and asked the salesperson to pack it up.
"There is a bugle call in the army every day, and we just need to wake up following it." Su Ye told the truth.
The saleswoman was quite impatient at first, but she was amused by the conversation between the couple. It was obvious that they were a newlywed couple. Only newlywed girls would be so fearless.
"Buy it, comrade. Your lover is so worried about you. Don't let him down."
Gu Xiangqian touched Su Ye's head, and without saying a word, pulled her away from the watch counter.
Su Ye turned her head away, her face turning blue and red, her face was very interesting. Was Gu Xiangqian doing it on purpose? Didn’t he know that it’s not allowed to touch a girl’s head casually
Gu Xiangqian made a Zhongshan suit for Su Ye, spending three dollars and eight feet of cloth coupons.
After buying clothes, Gu Xiangqian bought some clam oil snow cream and a chemical soap box for winter and returned to the military compound. Although he didn't spend much money on this trip, Su Ye could discover his characteristics in the details. He was not stingy and even had a bit of petty bourgeois style.
Which soldier can realize that buying clam oil snow cream in winter is useless for buying a chemical soap box. The so-called "chemical soap box" is a plastic soap box. All products with plastic are called "chemical". In the 1960s, the level of chemical production was extremely backward, and all plastic products were not cheap.
The plastic boxes that used to cost one yuan for two on Taobao and were very popular are now sold for five yuan in the glass counters of department stores.
When they returned to the military compound, Gu Xiangqian took out the box, put a piece of soap on it, and handed the clam oil snowflake cream to Su Ye.
Su Ye was stunned, "For me?"
Su Ye thought he bought it for himself to prevent chapped lips in winter.
Gu nodded forward, "For you."
"And the box, too?"
"yes."
After Gu Xiangqian returned to the army, he found that Su Ye had carved a box out of wood to hold soap. Unpainted wood is easily affected by moisture, and within two days Gu Xiangqian discovered that she had changed it again. When taking a bath in a public bathhouse, others used bath beans and placed the soap bare on the stone slab. Only Su Ye used a wooden box to hold soap.
The short word "yes" made Su Ye stunned. He quickly turned his head and rubbed his nose.
Gu Xiangqian gave Su Ye a salary, gave her malted milk, and bought her a watch, but Su Ye felt nothing. However, a simple soap box made her cry.
Gu Xiangqian was confused by Su Ye's reaction. He turned his head away and didn't look at her. Instead, he looked at the bacon drying in the window.
He cut some bacon with a knife, sliced it into slices and stir-fried it with cabbage.
…
Friday.
Su Ye spent the whole morning at the scrap recycling station and spent five dollars to buy a used radio, some spare parts, and a broken watch.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Su Ye arrived at school on time. She unexpectedly saw several students. She counted the number of students and found that there were thirteen of them. They were so eager to learn
Su Ye asked them whether they wanted to learn how to repair radios or watches. The children's eyes rolled around, and each of them wanted to learn.
In fact, Su Ye, a non-native, did not understand that nowadays watch repairers and repairmen have a very high social status. Because watches and radios are very expensive, repairmen are particularly valuable, and it is common for broken watches and radios to be taken to them for repair.
After the 21st century, who would take a broken watch radio to be repaired? It is more convenient to just replace it with a new one.
Su Ye first disassembled the watch and asked someone to take it apart part by part with a magnifying glass. All the parts were displayed on the podium, and the names of each part were told to them. Su Ye had participated in a robot competition in college and studied traditional machinery for a period of time. He had disassembled watches countless times.
Su Ye spent the whole afternoon talking about the mechanical structure of watches, and the students were taking notes seriously. During the break, Yang Xue was responsible for collecting homework. She straightened her back and said to her classmates, "We must ask xxx to come to school next Friday. It's a rare opportunity for Teacher Su to teach us how to repair watches."
"It costs several dollars to repair the watch!"
After hearing this, Su Ye couldn't help but sigh at how obsessed Yang Xue was with money. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind.
After school, Su Ye grabbed Yang Xue and asked, "How many people in our class are there from poor families?"