Chapter 144: Making Purchases
Mrs. Fu stayed up late that night, tidying up the room she was staying in.
She also had the two children sleep in her room.
Fortunately, the two children were very fond of their grandmother.
Meanwhile, Fu Mingxue had the master bedroom all to herself.
That night, she thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep in the unfamiliar surroundings. But to her surprise, she fell into a deep sleep not long after her head hit the pillow.
She slept soundly all night.
She woke up bright and early the next day.
When she got up and went outside, she found that her mom had already been up for a long time. The entire courtyard had been swept spotlessly clean.
"Mom, why are you up so early? Couldn’t you sleep?"
In the morning, the faint sounds of people from the base out for their morning run drifted over.
"I’ve always been an early riser. Oh, right, I asked our neighbor, Sister Wang. The supply and marketing co-op is in town, about an hour’s walk away. It seems like today is market day, so let’s head into town to take a look in a bit."
Even though they had received quite a lot of things yesterday, the house was still missing many necessities.
"Okay. I wonder if we can catch a ride."
Just then, Mrs. Fu remembered something else important. "When do you have to report to your unit?"
"I’ll go this afternoon. This morning, I’ll go with you to the supply co-op. I have a bicycle coupon, and if they have any bikes, we can just buy one. It’ll make my commute to work more convenient."
Mrs. Fu agreed that her daughter definitely needed a bicycle. Otherwise, she’d have to walk to her unit every day.
They ended up leaving a bit late. After all, they had to wait for the two children to wake up and then feed them.
Once the children had finished eating, they picked them up and set off for town.
They were too late; their neighbor couldn’t wait that long and had already left with someone else.
Fortunately, as they were leaving the base, Yang Ming happened to be driving out. "Ma’am, are you heading to town?"
Fu Mingxue recognized him and nodded. "Yes, we’re just on our way to town to have a look."
Yang Ming said at once, "Ma’am, please, get in. I’m headed to town myself, so I can give you a ride."
Fu Mingxue was delighted; she hadn’t expected to catch a ride at all.
So, she and her mother got into the car.
When they arrived in town, Yang Ming dropped them off.
"Ma’am, when will you be heading back?"
Fu Mingxue realized he had likely gone out of his way just to drive them to town.
’I can’t trouble him any further.’
So she said, "Mr. Yang, we’re going to be shopping for a while. Besides, I’m planning to buy a bicycle later, so I’ll be able to ride it back myself. You don’t need to come and get us."
Yang Ming nodded. "Alright then. Ma’am, Auntie, I’ll be on my way."
He hit the gas and drove off.
Fu Mingxue said to her mother, "Mom, let’s go check out the bicycles at the supply co-op first."
"Alright," Mrs. Fu agreed.
The mother-daughter pair quickly found the supply co-op.
Sure enough, they saw bicycles there.
They were only the classic men’s roadsters with the high crossbar.
"They don’t have any women’s models," Mrs. Fu noted, thinking a step-through frame would be better for her daughter.
Fu Mingxue, however, preferred the roadster. She had long legs, after all.
"Mom, I’m buying this one."
She then turned to the salesclerk. "Comrade, I’d like to buy a bicycle. How much is it?"
"One hundred and fifty yuan. Do you have a bicycle coupon?"
"Yes." Fu Mingxue handed over the money and the coupon she had ready.
The clerk wrote up the bill and told her she could go pick up the bicycle.
"Mom, what else do you need? Let’s get everything at once!"
"Alright." There were a lot of things Mrs. Fu needed to buy.
They didn’t have enough bowls and such, so they had to buy more.
They were also low on things like soy sauce, salt, and sugar, so they needed to buy those too.
By the time they were done with their shopping, they had spent a considerable amount of money.