Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

With the three pairs of earrings laid out, Zhou Yan really couldn’t tell the difference. He turned and asked Comrade Zhou, "Dad, which one do you think we should pick?"

"Well, last time your mom was here, she kept staring at one that looked a lot like this one," Comrade Zhou said, pointing to the pair in the middle.

"Miss, how much is this one?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

The saleswoman picked up the tag hanging from the middle pair and glanced at it. "These are Laofengxiang earrings. They weigh three grams, and the craftsmanship fee is 15 yuan, so the total is 96 yuan."

"Great, we’ll take this pair," Zhou Yan said, nodding with a smile. He made the decision without hesitation.

"Alright, I’ll box them up for you." The saleswoman nodded with a smile, placed the earrings in a jewelry box, and then wrote out a receipt for him.

"Isn’t that a little expensive?" Comrade Zhou whispered.

"It’s not expensive. That’s just the price of gold, and this stuff holds its value," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Old Zhou patted his pocket, glanced around, and stuffed a wad of something into Zhou Yan’s hand.

Zhou Yan looked down and saw two Great Unity banknotes wrapped around a stack of smaller bills.

Before Zhou Yan could say anything, Comrade Zhou explained, "There’s twenty-three yuan and eighty cents here. After I get paid next month, I’ll give you the rest. Count these earrings as my purchase. I haven’t bought your mom any gold jewelry in all these years. I can’t let you beat me to it."

"Okay, I won’t fight you on this." Zhou Yan took the two Great Unity bills and stuffed the rest of the small change back into Comrade Zhou’s hand. "You keep the change. I can’t be bothered to keep track of it."

Zhou Yan went to stand in line and paid, successfully acquiring the gold earrings. He tucked the receipt into the brocade box and handed it all to Comrade Zhou. "It’s crowded. Wait until we’re out of the department store to give them to Mom. She’ll definitely be happy."

"Alright." Comrade Zhou placed the box in an inner pocket close to his body, his happy expression tinged with a bit of nervousness.

"Brother, do I get a present?" Zhou Momo looked at Zhou Yan with a face full of anticipation.

"Let’s go. I’ll take you for a walk and let you pick out a toy you want." Zhou Yan smiled and pinched the little one’s cheek, heading toward the children’s toy section.

"Wow, he’s so generous! Buying gold earrings for his mother!"

"Seriously! My husband isn’t even willing to buy them for me. I had to save for half a year just to afford a small pendant."

Watching the three of them walk away, the women at the counter cast envious glances.

After looking around for a while, Zhou Momo was dazzled by the choices. In the end, she picked a tin frog that cost thirty cents.

"RIB-BIT, RIB-BIT~~" The little girl was overjoyed, cupping the little frog in her hands. She hugged Zhou Yan’s face and gave him a loud kiss. "Brother, I’ll be loyal to you forever!"

Zhou Yan chuckled.

’Yep, little girls are easy to please.’

’A thirty-cent toy is all it takes to win her loyalty.’

Zhou Yan and the others made their way to the fabric section, where Mrs. Zhao had already gotten the fabric and cotton batting they needed all packed up and was about to pay.

"I’ll get it." Zhou Yan quickly stepped forward, placed Zhou Momo in her arms, and took out his money to pay.

Comrade Zhou, for his part, voluntarily stepped up to carry the two large, rope-bound bundles.

Mrs. Zhao asked with a smile, "Where did you all wander off to? You were gone for ages."

"Uh... well..." Comrade Zhou’s eyes darted away.

"We went to buy a little frog for Momo. She got to the toy section and wouldn’t budge," Zhou Yan said, having paid and walked over. He smoothly picked up the conversation.

"Look! Brother bought me a little frog!" Zhou Momo grinned, holding up the little frog as if presenting a treasure.

"Your brother really spoils you." Zhao Tieying smiled and tweaked her nose. She glanced at the canvas shoes on Zhou Yan’s feet and said, "Let’s buy you a pair of shoes. The soles on these are almost worn through."

"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded. He really did need new shoes. He ran every day, which wore them out quickly.

Mrs. Zhao wanted to buy him a pair of leather shoes, but he refused. Instead, he spent eight yuan on two pairs of rubber-soled Liberation shoes, which were cheap and durable.

The Warrior sneakers in the display case cost ten yuan a pair. They were more fashionable than the Liberation shoes, but also quite a bit more expensive.

"All you know is how to spend money on us. A young man like you should dress a bit more presentably," Zhao Tieying said, shaking her head as she watched Zhou Yan go to pay. She glanced at a black leather jacket hanging in a nearby display case, priced at over a hundred yuan, and muttered to herself, "For the New Year, I’ll get him a leather jacket. I bet he’d look even sharper in it than that young fellow from this afternoon."

Zhou Yan came back with the shoes and said with a smile, "If there’s nothing else to buy, should we head out? It’s too crowded. The crush of people is making me anxious."

The group emerged from the department store, a thin layer of sweat on their foreheads. Just then, a breeze blew past, bringing a welcome cool.

"It was so crowded. City people are really willing to spend money, scrambling to buy such expensive things," Zhao Tieying remarked with a smile.

"Not all of them are city folk. There are also ’crooked-legged poles’ like us who come into the city to shop," Zhou Miao added.

Hearing this, Zhou Yan and Zhao Tieying both laughed. "Crooked-legged pole" was a self-deprecating term for a farmer.

Zhou Momo didn’t understand what they were laughing about, but as the queen of playing along, she immediately started laughing heartily too.

For today’s shopping trip into the city, Zhou Yan hadn’t taken off the two back-baskets hanging from his bicycle’s rear rack. He had lined them with a clean urea sack, and after putting the cotton batting and fabric inside, they were nearly full.

This fabric was for making four sets of cotton-padded clothes and four pairs of pants, costing a total of 26.6 yuan. In the department store, that wasn’t even enough to buy a decent Zhongshan suit.

’When it comes to running a household, Mrs. Zhao is the expert.’

Zhou Yan did a quick calculation. This trip to the department store, they had spent 270.9 yuan.

It really counted as a major shopping trip.

The weather was getting colder by the day, and having a tailor make the clothes would take time, so this was a necessary expense.

Just then, Comrade Zhou had already taken the jewelry box out of his pocket and was holding it out to Mrs. Zhao.

"What’s this?" Mrs. Zhao took it casually. She froze for a moment when she saw the word ’Laofengxiang’ on the box, then opened it. Her eyes lit up at the flash of gold. "Gold earrings!" she exclaimed in surprise.