Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 91 - 089 Huai Country

Chapter 91: 089 Huai Country

January in Shanghai was cold and damp, which was something people from Guanzhong were not used to. Li Xianglu, in her previous life, had been to Shanghai, but instead of high-rise buildings and crowded streets, what she saw now had the feel of an old black-and-white movie, which delighted her greatly.

According to the old man’s wishes, they stayed in a military guesthouse located two stations away from the train station.

The military guesthouse at that time was really clean, even though the house was simple, the items inside were all very clean.

With the introduction letter, they opened three rooms; Li Xianglu and her grandfather stayed in one room by themselves, while Qin Xi and Qin Zhen shared another room with two beds.

It wasn’t that Li Xianglu was being finicky about wanting to stay alone; it was just that in those days, even married couples had to stay separately when going out, and men and women staying together would imply moral issues.

The three rooms were connected together, with a communal bathroom and bathing area at the end. It was stifling in summer here, and nearly every day required a shower. Even slightly better guesthouses would have a bathing area.

After settling their things, the old man, with a grand gesture, led everyone to eat the famous Shanghai crab shell cake.

Watching the old man’s demeanor, Li Xianglu felt that her grandfather must have lived in Shanghai for a period, otherwise, how could he be so familiar with the roads here. What puzzled her even more was not only the grandfather’s familiarity, but also how familiar Qin Xi seemed with the place.

The place where they stayed was two stations away from a particularly famous Shanghai snack shop, which was open all day, so there were still people coming in to eat.

The so-called crab shell cake is made by mixing melted lard with leavened dough to form a flat, round cake, coated with a layer of sesame seeds on the outside, and baked on the walls of the baking oven.

This kind of cake was deliciously sweet and savory, with a crispy crust.

Someone wrote a poem praising it, "You catch the scent before seeing the bakery, and the crispy pastry falls flake by flake into your mouth." The fillings for crab shell cake come in salty and sweet varieties. Salty ones include scallion oil, fresh meat, crab powder, and shrimp, while sweet ones include sugar, rose, bean paste, and date paste.

But in this era of shortages, there were only fresh meat and sugar flavors available.

The old man, with sharp eyes, saw that there were also chicken shengjian buns available and laughingly ordered one jin of each item for everyone, and a bowl of rice porridge per person. It must be said that Shanghai’s prices were indeed high; a jin of buns that would cost at most eight cents in their county was two yuan here, and the same for the pan-fried chicken buns, even a bowl of rice porridge was two cents. All in all, this meal cost two jin of food tickets plus four yuan in cash.

Back in their county, the four of them could have eaten several meals with that amount, but well, big city expenses were always high at any time.

After eating their fill, the four of them walked around for a bit before returning, as the old man was getting old and needed to rest.

Qin Xi had some things to take care of and went out, leaving Li Xianglu and Qin Zhen by themselves.

Checking the time, it was already past twelve. Li Xianglu said goodbye to her grandfather and, with Qin Zhen, took an empty bag and left.

This was planned before they came; Li Xianglu was going to shop at an old market in Huai Country. Before leaving, her grandfather gave her 300 yuan, telling her to buy whatever she wanted.

Qin Zhen was also extremely excited. He had heard from his brother that although Huai Country’s store branded itself as selling flawed or second-hand items, most of them were good. With careful selection, one could always find useful things.

Clutching the twenty yuan his brother had given him, Qin Zhen planned to buy a pair of rubber shoes. It would be nice if he could get a radio too; Xianglu, that stinky girl, even had an American one, which truly made one envious.

After checking the routes and asking around, Xianglu led Qin Zhen on the two-cent tram ride directly to the state-owned Huai Country old store on Huaihai Road.

Seriously, everyone in Shanghai knew about Huai Country’s old shop. Once at the station, almost everyone could direct you there. But when they reached the entrance, both were dumbfounded. What was going on? A long queue extended all the way to the street corner, and there were two queues!

Politely, Xianglu asked a girl in line ahead and learned that there were too many people inside. Only a few could come out through the exit, and then a few could go in. Moreover, once inside, there was a time limit. Each person was given a tag with handwritten time, allowing each person only two hours inside.

Oh my god, Xianglu was so excited while the impatient Qin Zhen asked, "How long do we have to wait?"

Xianglu reassured him, "You see, many people are already coming out on the side. Don’t worry. At most, we’ll get in within half an hour."

True enough, despite the long line, plenty of people were exiting. They finally entered after more than half an hour.

The place was really huge. Xianglu scanned the surroundings; it must have been at least a thousand meters. No wonder it could accommodate so many people.

Even though the place was so vast, it was still very crowded. Everyone continuously pushed towards the inside.

Xianglu and Qin Zhen nodded to each other. They agreed that after two hours, everyone would wait for each other outside, then they started to go their separate ways.

Standing in a corner, Xianglu tiptoed to look inside. It was really big. The entire Huai Country old store, spanning thousands of square meters, was divided into several sections. The more valuable items like watches and radios were all in one area, displayed in glass-embedded counters.

The old clothes with defects were displayed in high counters where everyone could see the roped samples outside. Then, if you wanted something, the staff inside would bring it out for you. You had to take whatever they brought, without being choosy.

Xianglu glanced and decided to first squeeze into the most crowded area to check out the clothes.

Elbowing her way into the crowd, Xianglu keenly spotted a blue-and-white striped garment hanging on a rack. Oh my god, a sea soul shirt! She immediately called out, "Big sister, how much is the sea soul shirt?"

The saleswoman, a woman in her thirties, felt a little better when a young girl called her big sister and replied, "Nine yuan."

Nine yuan, a bit expensive, but the style and color looked good. Looking a bit further, Xianglu sharply spotted a water-red shawl. The color was exceptionally bright. She couldn’t help but ask again, "Big sister, how much for that red shawl?"

The female saleswoman continued, "Thirteen yuan!"

Thirteen yuan. Qu Yeyu had given her twenty yuan to buy a red shawl for her, one just like the one she was wearing. But her own compared to this one from Huai Country old store was no match at all. In this era, when dyeing technology was not well developed, having such a red shawl was rare indeed. After some thought, Xianglu gritted her teeth and said, "One medium sea soul shirt and one large red shawl." Qu Yeyu was tall; a medium would actually fit, but at those times, shawls were worn over the clothes during winter and as outer garments in summer. When it was hot, they were rolled up to become short sleeves; she had to buy a bigger size.

ps: I’m going to eat, be back to continue.

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