There was a reason why Su Yun ordered braised pork today—she wanted to compare the taste of restaurant-made braised pork.
She was still thinking about the "Imperial Secret Braised Pork" recipe rewarded by her system. When she got the chance, she definitely wanted to try making it herself. Who knows—maybe she could even make money from it in the future!
After lunch, Su Yun took Su Baoguo, whose stomach was stuffed full, to the department store.
Xia Ying worked there, selling watches.
Su Yun quickly found the watch counter and saw Xia Ying in her white sales uniform, looking youthful and energetic as she recommended a watch to a middle-aged man.
When Xia Ying spotted Su Yun, she quickly signaled with her eyes for Su Yun to wait.
Soon, the man bought a domestic watch. Xia Ying wrote up the receipt, collected the money, and then hurried over to greet Su Yun and Su Baoguo.
"Su Yun, Xiao Wu, what brings you here? Have you eaten? If not, I can take you to the cafeteria."
Su Yun smiled. "We've already eaten. I had the day off today, so I brought Xiao Wu to look around the department store and stopped by to say hi."
Su Baoguo puffed up with pride and said to Xia Ying, "Sister Xia Ying, my second sister and I had braised pork at a state-run restaurant today—it was so delicious!"
Xia Ying widened her eyes and looked at Su Yun in mock complaint. "Wow, eating without me? You didn't even bring me any braised pork!"
After joking, she became serious again. "Su Yun, Xiao Wu, go ahead and browse. I'm busy here, so I can't chat much. I'll come find you tonight."
The watch counter was extremely busy. No sooner had one customer left than another arrived.
Xia Ying truly had no time to entertain them, so Su Yun took Su Baoguo around the store.
At this time, department stores were full of the atmosphere of that era. The black-and-white televisions behind the counters were mostly 9 inches, with the largest being only 14 inches. The colors were monotonous—just shades of gray, black, and white.
Even so, a 9-inch black-and-white TV cost over 300 yuan and required a special purchase coupon!
This was absolutely a luxury item. Only the wealthy could afford it—ordinary people couldn't even dream of it.
At the TV counter, a salesperson had turned on a 9-inch set, showing the local noon news. The signal wasn't great, and the screen flickered with static from time to time.
The moment Su Baoguo saw the TV, he stopped in his tracks, standing behind the crowd and craning his neck to watch with fascination.
Su Yun left him there and wandered over to a nearby fabric counter.
Most fabrics at the time were synthetic blends, with only a dozen or so patterns—mainly gray, black, blue, and white. The few brightly colored ones were always snapped up immediately.
When Su Yun arrived, two women were arguing over fabric, each clutching several bolts of bright red and green cloth, competing for the salesperson's attention.
The salesperson was sweating from the chaos, so Su Yun didn't go over. Just then, she turned around and saw Su Baoguo behind her, pouting.
"Second Sister, that lady is so stingy. I only watched TV for a bit, and she turned it off."
Su Yun smiled. "It's fine. When your second sister earns enough money, I'll buy you a TV so you can watch whenever you want."
Hearing this, Su Baoguo cheered, his little face lighting up with joy.
After passing the washing machine and electric fan counters, the siblings reached the toy section, where Su Baoguo once again stopped moving.
He stared longingly at a tin airplane on display.
Without hesitation, Su Yun asked the salesperson, "Miss, how much is that tin airplane?"
Su Baoguo tugged at her sleeve. "Second Sister, I don't want to buy it. I'm just looking."
The salesperson curled her lip. "This is a new model from the toy factory. Ten yuan each. If you're buying, then look. If not, don't block the way."
Hearing the price, Su Baoguo's face turned pale, and he tried to pull Su Yun away.
But Su Yun said confidently, "I'll take one. Ten yuan, right?"
She reached into her pocket and thought: System, give me ten yuan.
The next second, she held a large banknote and handed it to the salesperson.
Seeing the money, the salesperson's attitude instantly brightened. She took out a brand-new tin airplane and wrote up the receipt.
When Su Baoguo received the toy, he was stunned.
"Second Sister, we spent ten yuan on a toy! Mom will definitely beat me when we get home! What should I do? I don't even dare go back now!"
Su Yun patted his head reassuringly. "It's fine. When we get home, just tell Mom that Brother Gu Hai gave it to you."
Su Baoguo's eyes lit up immediately. "Right! I'll say Brother Gu Hai gave it to me! Mom definitely won't hit me then. Brother Gu Hai is such a good person!"
Su Yun: "..."
Something felt off. She was the one who spent the money, yet Gu Hai got the gratitude…
Oh well—Gu Hai had it tough too. Let him take the credit this time!
With the toy in hand, Su Baoguo grinned from ear to ear as they finished shopping.
Su Yun bought two fountain pens at another counter. When she went back to check on Xia Ying, there were even more customers at the watch counter, so she didn't disturb her and headed home with Su Baoguo.
Without He Hua around to cause trouble these days, Su Yun had been living quite happily.
After returning home, she used her new pen to complete another set of exercises. Meanwhile, she heard Su Baoguo outside bragging:
"This airplane was bought for me by my second sister's husband! Look—it's the newest model! It can fly at least twenty meters! If you all help me deal with He Hua, I'll let you play with it!"
Gao Tianci was thrilled. "Baoguo, I'll listen to you from now on! Let me try it—I've never played with a tin airplane before!"
Wang Tongshuo chimed in, "Let's go play outside! The courtyard's too small—it's not even enough for the plane to make a full round!"
Su Yun: "?"
Well, well—Su Baoguo! She kindly bought him a toy, and he immediately started spreading rumors?
Since when did Gu Hai become her husband?!
Su Yun stood up and opened the door, ready to drag Su Baoguo back and teach him a lesson—but all she saw were their retreating figures as they ran off laughing.
"Hmph, Su Xiao Wu—just wait till you come back!"
After 4 p.m., Su Yun went to the recycling station. As soon as she entered, she sold all the antiques Gu Hai had brought the previous day to the system.
After a series of "ding" notifications, her system balance rose to 16,477.4 yuan.
Overjoyed, she made a few celebratory gestures—when suddenly, another notification sounded in her mind:
"Ding! System balance has reached 15,000. Consumption requirement met. System Online Mall activated!"
A flash of white light appeared before her eyes.
Suddenly, a lineup of electronic products from the 1970s appeared:
Watches, batteries, clocks, flashlights, radios, tape recorders, cameras, black-and-white televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, electric fans…
Almost everything was exactly what Su Yun had just seen in the department store!