Siheyuan: living in a prosperous era

Chapter 15 Wangfujing Department Store

The obedient Wang Xue put away the marriage certificate and put it in Yang Shuning's handbag, and also put the wedding ticket in it.

In this era, when you get married, the civil affairs department will issue a wedding ticket, and you can use this ticket to buy some things needed for the wedding.You can buy food, clothing, and even furniture, and every young couple getting married can receive it.

Then they went to the photo studio and took a group photo to commemorate their wedding. I ordered the largest size and paid the money and agreed to pick it up seven days later.

The two went home and put away their marriage certificate and the wedding candies in their bags. Wang Xue took the time to cook a lunch. After eating, the two took the receipt and money and rushed to Wangfujing Department Store.

After locking their bicycles, the two entered the building and saw a sea of ​​people. Although it was a working day, there were still many people coming to shop or hang out.

In this era, Wangfujing Department Store had a unique treatment: "The whole country supports the capital, and the capital gives priority to the building." At that time, the department store was the only retail enterprise in BJ that had the right to purchase goods nationwide and enjoyed the treatment of a second-level wholesale station. Purchase directly from first-level wholesale stations in big cities such as Jinmen, Shanghai, and Guangdong at preferential prices.

Because of this, there was a popular saying in Beijing at that time: "Don't go anywhere if you can't buy things in department stores." The goods are abundant and the prices are reasonable, which makes queuing up to buy items a common occurrence in department stores.Many counters in shopping malls once had guardrails erected to prevent crowded customers from overwhelming the counters.

The two of them first came to the bicycle counter and saw that there were bicycles from brands such as Forever, Feige, Phoenix, and Jinmen in the booth. They asked the salesperson about the prices of Forever and Phoenix.

The salesperson is not impatient. If it were the general public, the attitude of the salesperson would not be very good. The current salesperson is ranked first among the eight members.

Whether it is a store in the city or a supply and marketing cooperative in the countryside, they are all state-owned enterprises with a monopoly nature, and they have no other branches.Salespersons who work in stores or supply and marketing cooperatives have much better benefits than ordinary factory workers in terms of wages and benefits. They are a guaranteed "golden rice bowl."

Not only that, the salesperson "gets the moon first if you are close to the water", and can also buy in-demand commodities that are difficult for others to buy, such as sugar, bicycles, cloth, etc., which is really enviable.

Otherwise, how could there be a widely circulated saying: "Zhang Hua was admitted to BJ University; Li Ping entered a secondary technical school; I worked as a salesperson in a department store: we all have a bright future."

This is also the reason why Yang Shuning's family is not short of tickets. His mother is the section chief of the supply and marketing cooperative.The resources I have access to are much higher than those of an average salesperson.

Yang Shuning is now wearing an officer's uniform, Wang Xue is beautifully dressed, and the salespersons are all bright-eyed. If ordinary people come to see the car, they will also ask if they have tickets. Seeing the two people's clothes, they know that they are not the ones who can confirm the tickets. .

Today’s tickets are not like what people in later generations thought. You can buy whatever brand you want. The bicycle ticket states the brand of the bicycle and which unit issued it. For example, Yang Shuning’s ticket states the permanent 11-type bicycle. It was distributed by the Beijing Military Medical College and stamped with the seal of the college.

The salesperson introduced the permanent 11-type [-]-bar and Phoenix women's bicycles in detail. Yang Shuning and Wang Xue were also people who were not short of money. They didn't say anything and took them directly.I bought two Phoenix cars and gave the other one to Yang’s mother.

The two cars were also equipped with accessories such as headlights, taillights, and baskets. In total, the price for the Forever 11 model was 195 yuan, and the Phoenix 26 women's model cost 186 yuan each.The total amount was 567 yuan. I gave the money and receipts and asked the salesperson to keep it safe first.Wait until they have purchased other items before coming to pick them up.After taking the receipt, the two went to the watch counter. Since their watch tickets stated Shanghai watches, they could only buy Shanghai brand watches.After choosing for a long time, Yang Shuning bought a Shanghai 1120 military watch priced at 120 yuan, and Wang Xue's women's watch priced at 110 yuan.Today's Shang Hai watches usually have to be wound, otherwise they won't run. Unlike the Patek Philippe watches at home, which are mechanical watches, they will automatically wind up when worn on the hand.

Seeing this watch made Yang Shuning want to take out the ones at home and use them, but after thinking about it, he decided not to do it. Caution came first.Next time, you can go to a trust store and ask Mother Yang to introduce the trust store. You can always buy a good watch. You can spend more money at most, and you can have a receipt to prove the source.

Unlike the watches at home, although my father had seized them, there was no evidence, and he would be regarded as an enemy agent.You don't have this problem with trust stores. You have a receipt when you buy it, and your family's income is not low, so you can wear it freely.

As a man, when you are poor you like cars, when you are rich you like watches.These days I can’t play with cars, I can only play with watches.

Taking the receipt, the two of them put on their watches directly, and then went to a place that sold ready-made clothes. Yang Shuning simply chose two half-sleeved shirts and a pair of black trousers. There were not many styles of men's ready-made clothes at this time, so there was nothing to choose from, and he I usually wear military uniforms, so there is no need to buy more.

After thinking about it, I bought a few more pieces for my younger brother. My younger brother has been growing recently and it’s time to wear new clothes. My older brother is getting married, so my younger brother should also wear new clothes.

I bought Wang Xue three more "Braj" dresses imported from the former Soviet Union, which are dresses with loose short sleeves, pleated skirts, simple round necks, florals, plaids and stripes, and a cloth belt around the waist.

It cost a piece of cloth in total, plus 36 yuan.

After paying the ticket, Yang Shuning took Wang Xue to the shoe counter. There was nothing to choose from in leather shoes. There were no styles for both men and women these days. She bought Wang Xue two pairs of black women's leather shoes for 15 yuan and [-] cents.

I went to the radio counter, took out the receipt, and bought the Panda 601-1 tube radio for 70 yuan.

After buying a bicycle, a watch, clothes, shoes, and a radio, the mission of going to the department store was completed. They already had a sewing machine at home, so the two decided not to buy it. Having one at home was enough, and they didn’t want to separate their homes. , why buy more.

Now that she came to the department store, Wang Xue's female nature began to kick in. She took Yang Shuning and walked around the building again, buying some scattered things that would be used at home in the future, and finally bought two more. cloth and forty pounds of cotton, and I am going to go back and ask the master to play a few quilts.

After leaving the building, Yang Shuning called a landlord and paid him to take the purchased items and old bicycles back to the courtyard.Then Wang Xue and I pushed the newly purchased bicycle to the nearest police station, took out the receipt to the police, registered the bicycle and paid insurance.

Nowadays, bicycles must be registered to prove their ownership and origin. The money is not much, and the three bicycles cost a total of 9 yuan.

This trip to the department store cost Yang Shuning over a thousand dollars. Even the highest-paid man in the courtyard had to go without food or drink for a year.

(End of this chapter)