Chapter 423 - 357: Returning the Gun
I don’t know what it was like elsewhere, but back in those days, here in the Northeast, there was no such thing as lining up to buy something.
There was no first-come, first-served. Whoever squeezed to the front and got closest to the salesclerk got served first.
But the moment Sun Haizhu arrived, none of that mattered anymore. A salesclerk quickly looked up and asked Zhao Jun, "How much do you want?"
Zhao Jun asked, "How much a pound?"
"Nine cents!"
That was pretty expensive. The loose candy balls in the village only sold for one cent a pound.
But Zhao Jun had made money today. He copied Sun Haizhu’s earlier gesture, waved his hand grandly, and said, "Give me ten yuan worth!"
"Ah... okay!" This gave the salesclerk quite a start. Anyone who knew what was going on would think he was buying candy for himself. Anyone who didn’t would assume he was from some village convenience store, here to stock up.
But with Sun Haizhu right there, who would dare say anything? They’d better get to serving him.
"Tip the scales for him!" Sun Haizhu added from the side.
At nine cents a pound, ten yuan would get you a little over eleven pounds. But with Sun Haizhu’s "tip the scales for him," the salesclerk weighed out a full twelve pounds for Zhao Jun.
Then, ignoring everyone else, two salesclerks flanked him, grabbing sheets of Butter Paper to wrap Zhao Jun’s purchase.
The other customers could only watch from around the counter. Some muttered under their breath, but no one dared to make a scene in protest.
Everyone was used to this sort of thing.
Zhao Jun felt a little embarrassed, but also found it hilarious. ’If this happened thirty years from now,’ he thought, ’and someone filmed it and posted it online, Sun Haizhu would be out of a job instantly.’
They packed the twelve pounds of "Little Rascal" candy into six large bags, two pounds each. Sun Haizhu helped Zhao Jun carry them and asked, "Brother, what else do you want to buy?"
This time, Zhao Jun led the way, taking Sun Haizhu straight to the counter selling Jianlibao. As he approached, he announced, "I want to buy Jianlibao."
Hearing this, the salesclerk looked up and saw Zhao Jun. Then she glanced behind him and saw Manager Sun following along, his hands full with six Butter Paper bags.
’He must be family!’
The salesclerk quickly stood up. She first nodded to Sun Haizhu, then smiled at Zhao Jun. "Just one can?"
Zhao Jun shook his head. "Thirty cans!"
"How many?"
One can cost one yuan and thirty cents, so thirty cans was thirty-nine yuan!
This shocked the salesclerk. Her job was considered quite good for the times, but she didn’t even make fifty yuan a month.
And here was Zhao Jun, buying thirty-nine yuan worth of soda in one go. It was staggering. Not even the rich kids of this era would do something like that.
If the counter hadn’t been empty, he would have drawn a crowd.
It wasn’t just the salesclerk; even Sun Haizhu flinched in surprise. But then he remembered the four stacks of banknotes inside Zhao Jun’s old, frayed satchel, and he kept his mouth shut.
The candy was wrapped in Butter Paper, but the Cans had to be put in net bags.
The salesclerk got five net bags, divided the thirty cans of Jianlibao among them, and handed them to Zhao Jun one by one.
Just then, Sun Haizhu leaned close to Zhao Jun and asked quietly, "Brother, buying anything else?"
"Nope, heading home." Zhao Jun smiled at Sun Haizhu and started walking toward the exit of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. As he moved away from the Jianlibao counter, the crowd thickened. Many people saw him carrying so much Jianlibao and were taken aback.
At this, Sun Haizhu said worriedly to Zhao Jun, "Brother, how did you get here? Why don’t I have someone give you a ride?"
Zhao Jun’s heart warmed at his words. Sun Haizhu was genuinely a good guy, worried he might get robbed. But as Zhao Jun reached the door, he lifted one of his net-bag-laden hands and pointed toward a car parked outside. "Brother-in-law Sun," he said to Sun Haizhu, "I came by car."
"Ah!" Sun Haizhu froze, just then recalling what his brother-in-law, Jie Zhong, had said before: this young brother Zhao was no ordinary person.
"Hey! Brother!" Suddenly, a voice from the side made the preoccupied Sun Haizhu jump. He turned and saw the guy was wearing the uniform of their old rival, the state-run pharmacy.
But hearing the man call Zhao Jun "brother," Sun Haizhu assumed he was a friend of Zhao Jun’s and didn’t say anything.
But when Zhao Jun turned and saw it was the employee he had clashed with at the pharmacy earlier, his eyes narrowed and he snapped, "Who are you calling brother? Do I know you?" Then, he turned to Sun Haizhu with a smile. "Brother-in-law Sun, come on. There’s something I need to ask you."
With that, Zhao Jun led Sun Haizhu toward the car, leaving the pharmacy employee standing there with a livid expression.
It wasn’t that Zhao Jun was acting arrogant just because he had money.
In those days in the Northeast, it was normal for acquaintances to call each other "big brother" or "brother," but you couldn’t just throw the terms around.
Just like with Jie Zhong and Du Chunjiang earlier. If Zhao Jun hadn’t said it was okay, they would have had to call him "Inspector" or "Technician Zhao," even though they were much older. They wouldn’t have dared to call him "brother."
At that moment, the pharmacy employee wanted to go over and punch Zhao Jun a couple of times, but he recognized Sun Haizhu and didn’t dare cause trouble. He also knew that he had now failed the task given to him by the pharmacy manager and Elder Man Ji.
Zhao Jun walked up to the car and saw Li Baoyu sleeping inside. With his hands full, he lifted a foot and kicked the car door twice.
Li Baoyu was startled awake by the sound. He quickly clutched the rolled-up burlap sack he was holding, but then a familiar voice reached him: "Open the door for me."
Li Baoyu looked over and saw it was Zhao Jun. He quickly leaned across the passenger seat and pushed the door open for him.
Zhao Jun placed the net bags in the back of the car one by one. Then he turned back, took the Butter Paper bags of "Little Rascal" candy from Sun Haizhu, and shouted to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, get out of the car! This is Brother-in-law Sun!"
"Hey!" Hearing that, Li Baoyu knew Zhao Jun wanted to introduce him to a friend, so he quickly got out of the car.
While Li Baoyu was walking over, Zhao Jun separated one of the Butter Paper bags and offered it to Sun Haizhu. "Brother-in-law Sun, take this back with you. Share it with the kids at home. Consider it a little something from me, their uncle."
If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t dare say such a thing without knowing their situation. But Zhao Jun had known Sun Haizhu in his past life and knew he had a son and a daughter, so he spoke with confidence.
"Brother, you’re too much." Sun Haizhu smiled and gently pushed his hand away. "You think my family is short on this stuff? You went to a lot of trouble to buy it, so you should take it back."
When Sun Haizhu said "a lot of trouble," he didn’t mean Zhao Jun was short on money, but that it wasn’t easy for him to come all this way to buy things.
Besides, as the manager of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, wasn’t he picking up a few pieces of dropped candy off the floor every day?
Hearing him say that, Zhao Jun didn’t insist. By then, Li Baoyu had come over, and Zhao Jun introduced him to Sun Haizhu.
After the two had been introduced, Zhao Jun took out the gun bag Du Chunjiang had given him from the passenger seat. He then pulled the receipt for the gun from his pocket and asked Sun Haizhu, "Brother-in-law Sun, take a look at this. I just bought this gun. Do you think I can return it?"