CHAPTER 420: CHAPTER 317: SECRETLY CROSSING THE CHEN CANG (A DECEPTIVE MANEUVER)

In the next two days, Zhang Guoqing and his wife left early and returned late, hurriedly settling their son each time before rushing to *** Hutong.

Fortunately, they had the help of the two elders in keeping things under wraps. Finally, after two days, the couple managed to clear out everything from the upper floor.

After moving everything, they followed Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang to the neighborhood committee, then greeted a few families at the entrance of the alley and with their neighbors.

On the last day, they bid farewell to Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang. Having completed the major tasks, Zhang Guoqing and his wife felt quite pleased and enjoyed the surroundings with smiles all along the way.

On the first floor, Lin Lishan was flipping through a newspaper, bored and looking outside. When she saw them coming back so early, she knew the job was done and instantly felt relieved.

"Mom, everything is settled. You take the lead next, and I’ll carry the bags!" Zhang Guoqing, noticing her eyes on them with anticipation, quietly said.

"Let’s not go in! I’ll sneakily call your little aunt out. There have been non-stop visitors these days; if we go in, we won’t get out." Lin Lishan quickly stopped him.

Zhou Jiao pulled her mother and said, "Mom, remember to check how Ping’an is doing?"

Lin Lishan rolled her eyes, "Your great aunt took him upstairs and downstairs watching, he kept saying ’oh oh’, very happy. He knows how to enjoy life better than you guys."

A stifled laugh escaped from Zhang Guoqing. This time out, the happiest was his son. He wouldn’t sleep at night and loved watching the chandeliers and wall lamps in the room. Whenever the lights went out, he would start crying. In the dining room, he kept shouting at foreigners, and when they greeted him, he’d coo in response.

Old Mrs. Cheng always said the child would surely be early to develop wisdom, urging the couple to keep it under wraps lest people find out. He totally agreed with this. Especially since every time the child saw him, he would smile first and then start babbling, making him feel like his son was greeting him.

There was one more point he hadn’t mentioned to anyone yet, recently, the child’s kicking power was getting stronger and stronger. He forgot how he was as a kid and planned to ask his mother about it when they got back.

Zhou Jiao couldn’t bear to look at the silly grin on the face of the man beside her. She casually pulled out a slip of paper from her bag, crammed with news about malls and second-hand markets she had gathered over the past two days.

Upon seeing the paper, Zhang Guoqing felt his legs go a bit weak. They hadn’t just moved things these days; they had collected quite a number of deposit slips as well. Now they had too much cash in private.

He reckoned his wife wanted to trade money for supplies, and with his mother-in-law’s penchant for bulk buying, just the thought of it made him anxious.

Observing her expression, Zhang Guoqing whispered, "Jiao Jiao, you have too many routes planned. We’re leaving tomorrow and can’t visit so many places."

"Don’t worry, we’ll take a tricycle. Tomorrow morning, accompany me to Huaihai Old. I heard from an old man from Shandong that things there are particularly cheap and worthwhile, and it’d be regrettable to come to S City and not visit. I must go."

Zhang Guoqing noticed Lin Lishan and the other person coming down, and quickly said, "Don’t buy too much. Be careful, Zhao Yuanyuan will give you a hard time if she finds out you came to S City without calling her."

Zhou Jiao furrowed her brows subconsciously, having indeed forgotten about Zhao Yuanyuan.

Zhang Guoqing initially wanted her to buy less, but seeing her frown and feeling heartache, he quickly comforted her, "It’s okay. Just bring back some stuff little girls like for her."

Seeing them whispering, Lin Lishan laughed and said, "What’s up? Have you decided where you want to go?"

Zhou Jiao shook her head. She was fine with going anywhere as long as she could buy things. What’s the use of money? She must spend it; not to mention inflation, but in the future, what’s the point of having cash without tickets? Let it grow mold?

"It’s up to mom and aunt to decide where we go." Zhang Guoqing pulled Zhou Jiao along to follow them.

Cheng Ruzhu, holding onto Lin Lishan’s arm, said, "Let’s go to the department store first to buy that coat from yesterday, then decide what’s next."

The city’s first department store, the country’s first retail store.

Four floors of business premises, everything one might need. The merchandise displayed in the eighteen broad glass windows attracted pedestrians who couldn’t help but enter the mall.

Not to mention the country’s earliest escalator, the mall also had central air conditioning that adjusts temperature with the seasons. Rather than just a place for shopping, it had become a tourist site.

At this time, the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival hadn’t faded, and the mall was crowded. It didn’t only attract citizens from S City but also people from all regions of the country came in admiration to pick out their desired goods.

Now, if a package had "S City Department Store" printed on it, it meant it was a luxury item. Even if you brought back just a handkerchief saying it was bought at the first department store, it would invoke envy.

The first-floor hall had lines of people before the pastry, snack, and candy counters. Zhang Guoqing protected Zhou Jiao as they followed Lin Lishan and the others inside. The higher they went, the more valuable the items became, resulting in fewer people.

After Cheng Ruzhu bought the coat, everyone started looking through each counter from the fourth floor downward.

Zhou Jiao was thinking about buying gifts. When they got down to the first floor and saw the prices, she couldn’t bear to make a purchase and decided to go back and consider it in the evening.

When they came out of the mall, Lin Lishan looked somewhat disenchantedly at Cheng Ruzhu. They had shopped in various department stores big and small nearby for two days, and now she was just waiting for her recommendation.

"Little Aunt, let’s go to Huaihai Old. Things are too expensive here." Zhou Jiao whispered sneakily.

Cheng Ruzhu laughed heartily upon hearing this, "No wonder your mom said you’d definitely come out empty-handed. Okay, we’ll follow our Jiao Jiao’s lead."

Arriving at Huaihai Old, it was packed with people.

Zhou Jiao proudly smiled at them and immediately went to join the queue.

Lin Lishan was more interested in the women’s goods store opposite. As for this market, many of the goods were second-hand or defective items. She wasn’t interested and thought even if she bought them, they’d be useless.

She pointed towards the opposite side to Cheng Ruzhu. Seeing her nod, she greeted Zhou Jiao and promised to head over to find the couple after people had cleared out a bit.

Watching them leave, Zhou Jiao stood in line, listening carefully to chatter around her, while tightly clutching Zhang Guoqing’s sleeve.

Zhang Guoqing whispered, "Don’t worry. You stay ahead of me, and I’ll cover you. Think about what you need to buy first, so you don’t forget when it gets chaotic inside."

Just then, Zhou Jiao overheard two middle-aged women speaking in the local dialect, saying there was a batch of quality export shirts, but they were rejected due to crooked collars and were now being sold domestically.

"Okay, brother, I’ll pick, and you pay."

Zhang Guoqing rubbed the top of her head but quickly put his hand down when he noticed many people staring at him. This damn place made him forget again in his excitement.

Zhou Jiao was unaware of the odd looks. She was filtering the information she gathered and realized that the goods here were more mainstream and suitable for everyday living.

That’s right, hidden in the city, that’s the mainstream.

The line shortened quickly ahead, getting closer and closer to the entrance, and the shouting prices inside became more audible. Zhou Jiao couldn’t analyze the prices, but it attracted so many people to line up, it must fit the mainstream.