Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s-Chapter 14 - 0 Supply and Marketing Cooperative

Tian Manjin saw that his daughter really didn't like to eat meat buns, so he gave the buns to his sons to share. Donghua and Qinghua were very sensible; they both patted their stomachs claiming they were full. Tian Manjin laughed, knowing his sons' appetites; these kinds of meat buns—they could usually eat at least three. The three children were saving them for him!

Moved, Tian Manjin blinked, his nose feeling a bit sour. Since they were on the street, he didn't refuse further and ate the bun in his hand in a few bites. He wrapped the remaining seven buns in paper and put them in the basket on the back of his bicycle.

Seeing the post office, Tian Sisi remembered the fiery Grand Landscape of My Motherland red stamps from the future, but now it was already 1972. Those stamps probably weren't for sale at the post office anymore, though there should be many other types of stamps available now. She had read online in her previous life that stamps issued during this period were quite valuable in the future. With that thought, Tian Sisi excitedly dragged Tian Manjin and the others to the post office.

Tian Sisi didn't know which stamps were good and which weren't. She just bought one of each kind, twenty-something in total, at four cents apiece. The money was paid by Tian Manjin. She wanted to buy more, but seeing his pained expression, as if he had something to say but hesitated, Sisi decided to buy fewer. She'd wait until she earned her own money in the future to buy more.

"Dad, in the future, we can write letters to Uncle Ai Guo and Brother Zhonghua more often, so Uncle won't always complain that we write too few letters," Tian Sisi found an excellent reason.

Tian Manjin thought about it and realized it was true. When his older brother came back to visit for the New Year, he had complained about receiving fewer and fewer letters, even asking him to write at least once a month. Ah Nan didn't mention it, but he had forgotten. Now without Tian Sisi's reminder, he rushed to the counter and bought a dozen envelopes at one cent each, a total of more than twenty, enough for the family's use for a year.

How could they not go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative when they were in town? The current Supply and Marketing Cooperative was comparable to the supermarkets of the future; you could buy anything there. Tian Manjin had thought about going back, but he couldn't resist Tian Sisi's coquettish begging, so they went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Wang Qiuyang, who was working there, saw Tian Manjin and his children, stood up happily, "Second Brother, are you taking the kids to town to shop?"

"Mainly to change Ah Nan's name. Ah Nan insisted on checking this place out, so we came over," Tian Manjin explained with a smile to his sister-in-law.

"Ah Nan, Donghua, Qinghua, tell Auntie what you want to eat. I will buy it for you," Wang Qiuyang said very politely, smiling at the three children.

Tian Sisi shook her head, "No need for Auntie to spend money. I have my own money. Later I am going to buy some cookies, and Auntie can help me bring them to Zhenhua to eat."

Tian Sisi still felt guilty about deceiving little Zhenhua yesterday. This time, it was a perfect opportunity to buy some cookies for the little guy. Wang Qiuyang, hearing this, smiled, "Keep your money, Ah Nan, for you to spend slowly in the future. Your cousins have enough to eat; you don't have to buy for them."

"They have it because Uncle and Auntie bought it. I never bought anything for Zhenhua to eat before," Tian Sisi insisted. She genuinely wanted to buy cookies for Tian Mantong's three children. The original owner had always just enjoyed the benefits from Tian Mantong without reciprocating. She couldn't be such an ungrateful person.

Wang Qiuyang couldn't argue with Tian Sisi, and with Tian Manjin backing her up, he said, "It's okay, Sister-in-law, just let Ah Nan buy it. You and Man Tong often buy things for the three of them; it's only right for Ah Nan to buy some cookies for Zhenhua."

Wang Qiuyang, unable to win against the father and daughter, reluctantly agreed with Tian Sisi. The Supply and Marketing Cooperative had two kinds of cookies, round and square, both with many small holes and covered with quite a lot of white sugar. They were twenty cents per pound, which was considered a luxury at the current time. Tian Sisi bought a pound of each kind, and another female attendant wrapped them separately in brown paper, tying each with a string in a bow, making them look like gift boxes.

"Auntie, you wrapped them so beautifully," Tian Sisi sincerely complimented. The crisp lines and angles were not something that just anyone could achieve.

The female attendant was a slightly plump woman in her thirties who seemed to enjoy chatting. Hearing Tian Sisi's compliment, her eyes immediately crinkled into a smile. She turned to Wang Qiuyang and said, "Xiao Wang, your niece is really sweet-talking. She makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy, and she's also really pretty, even more so than the girls in Shanghai."

Wang Qiuyang was boiling with pride inside, but she kept her expression cool and even tried to be modest, "Sister Li, please don't praise her too much, or Anan will get too cocky."

"I don't have a tail, Auntie," Tian Sisi solemnly corrected.

Wang Qiuyang and the chubby woman were first taken aback, then burst into hearty laughter, especially the chubby Sister Li, who laughed so hard that she shook loose dust from the beams above. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and kept clutching her belly, "Oh my, my stomach hurts from laughing so much, Xiao Wang, your niece is so adorable, I absolutely adore her."

Tian Sisi looked at both women laughing their heads off and secretly thought to herself that their sense of humor was too shallow. She hadn't even told a real joke yet, and they were already cracking up. If she were to share some of the jokes she knew from her past life, might they not faint from laughter?

Then, Tian Sisi went on to buy some fruit candies and sorghum malt candies, packing them into a paper bag. She also bought two jin of salt, eight cents per jin, noting that the salt at home was running low. Additionally, she purchased two boxes of clam oil, housed in seashells, costing only five cents per box. Tian Sisi had used this hand balm when she was young. It was very effective for hands during the winter, preventing chilblains.

She had noticed Granny Zhao often scratching her hands, some areas even looked swollen. The hands of Tian Manjin and Zhu Aiqing were the same. Perhaps people nowadays just weren't aware of the need to care for their hands. The clam oil was so cheap, yet so few used it.

Tian Sisi also spotted the Yashuang snow cream, the familiar yellow box with tiny floral print, and inside a white jade-like porcelain bottle with a green lid. She used this cream when she was a child. It had a rich fragrance and provided excellent moisturizing and protection against the cold. There was a time when this cream had disappeared from the market for a while, but right before Tian Sisi time-traveled, it had become popular again. Department stores sold Yashuang, and the packaging hadn't changed a bit.

Yashuang wasn't cheap; one bottle cost 50 cents (Old Yang didn't have the exact information, so it was roughly estimated). Tian Sisi calculated her expenses in her head: two jin of biscuits for four cents, a packet of candy for 45 cents, salt for 16 cents, and two boxes of clam oil for ten cents. That totaled one yuan and eleven cents. She had brought five yuan with her, and the Old Man gave her another two yuan. After buying the buns for six cents, she had six yuan and thirty cents left.

Money was really valuable back then, Tian Sisi couldn't help but think. It was nothing like in her previous life when you couldn't buy much with a single red banknote at the supermarket. So, she decided to buy two bottles of Yashuang, one for Qiuyang, and one for Mama. It wouldn't be fair to buy only for Mama and not for Qiuyang, especially since Qiuyang was watching.

Tian Sisi forgot that she was just a little kid at the moment and didn't need to worry about such social niceties. She picked up two bottles of Yashuang along with her other items and asked Sister Li to tally them up. Although Wang Qiuyang found it odd that Tian Sisi was buying so much, she did not ask further.

"Two yuan and eleven cents," Sister Li quickly calculated with her abacus and announced the total.

Tian Manjin wanted to take out the money from his pocket, thinking, how could a child pay when an adult was present? But Tian Sisi firmly refused to let Tian Manjin pay, "Daddy, you don't need to pay, I'm buying this myself, I have money."

As she spoke, Tian Sisi pulled out her money and handed two yuan and eleven cents to Sister Li. Sister Li was surprised that such a young girl had so much money on her. She thought the adults of the family were far too lenient. Weren't they afraid that the child would lose it?

Tian Sisi handed over two packs of biscuits and a bottle of snow cream to Wang Qiuyang, who was taken by surprise, "Anan, one pack of biscuits is enough. Give the other pack to Donghua and Qinghua. Take the snow cream back for Mama to use. I can't accept things from a child."

"Donghua and Qinghua have candies to eat, and with the snow cream, both you and Mama can smell nice," said Tian Sisi, trying her best to sound like a child.

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Tian Manjin hadn't expected his daughter to have such generous thoughts. However, it was appropriate to give a gift to Qiuyang, as over the years, all the clothing and accessories for the children at home had come from Man Jin. Tian Manjin chuckled and insisted that Wang Qiuyang accept it and, with the adult's permission, Wang Qiuyang reluctantly accepted the gifts. PS: Smash those recommendation votes over here!