After Chen Lan finished a simple dinner with Elder Qian and his wife, she said to them, "Uncle Qian, Aunt Qian, I'll go out and prepare the car now. Please rest for a while. When it gets dark and there are fewer pedestrians, we'll set off. I'll come to pick you up then. The secret knock will be three short and one long, meaning three taps and then one tap. Uncle Qian, Aunt Qian, please remember this, don't forget."
Elder Qian nodded solemnly and replied, "Daughter, you can rest assured! We won't forget! How could we possibly forget something so important! Your Aunt Qian and I don't need to rest, we'll stay in the room and wait for you to return."
Chen Lan didn't say anything more. If they didn't want to rest, so be it. She could spread palm mats and quilts in the car, and it would be the same for the couple to sleep in the car.
After Chen Lan left, Elder Qian and Aunt Qian closed the door and started chatting. The couple imagined their life after going to the valley with Chen Lan. Aunt Qian felt increasingly uneasy as she thought about it, her mind filled with apprehension.
So Aunt Qian asked softly, "Old Qian, do you think what our daughter said is reliable? Does she really want to invite us to teach?"
Elder Qian chuckled and asked, "Didn't you bring her back? What's wrong? Are you having second thoughts now? I say, Shuqin! Don't overthink it, and don't scare yourself! You should think about it, why would this young lady spend money and ration tickets to deceive us? We can barely support ourselves, and besides teaching, we know nothing else. Is there any need for her to deceive us?"
Aunt Qian listened to Elder Qian's words and, after thinking about it, felt he was right. It made sense! So she stopped dwelling on it and began to imagine their future life in the valley.
Elder Qian continued to chuckle and replied, "Shuqin, don't go imagining things, or you'll get a headache again. When we get there tomorrow, you'll know. Since our daughter said she only wants us to teach, we'll just teach well, won't we! As long as we're not separated, I don't care where we go, even if life is harder, is it harder than the past few years we've had?"
Aunt Qian nodded and said, "Yes, Old Qian, your analysis is correct. Our daughter has no reason to deceive us."
Let's not mention the elderly couple chatting softly in the gatehouse.
Meanwhile, on Chen Lan's side, after leaving the scrap yard, Chen Lan circled the scrap yard, observing its surroundings. She found that Elder Qian's scrap yard was not on the main road. The road in front of where they parked was not very wide, and if she drove the old Dongfeng truck in, she wouldn't be able to turn around. Therefore, she had to park the Dongfeng truck on the main road about fifty meters away from the scrap yard.
Seeing that it was still early, Chen Lan strolled to a nearby department store. She noticed that the department store was not yet closed and decided to go in and see if she could buy some good things to take back to the valley.
Chen Lan browsed around the store but didn't find anything she particularly wanted to buy. She thought to herself, since she was here, she might as well buy something.
So Chen Lan naturally walked to the food counter. After looking for a long time, Chen Lan felt the items were just so-so and couldn't decide what to buy.
At this point, a young saleswoman standing behind the food counter spoke up. She said, "Comrade, we're about to close. What do you want to buy?"
Chen Lan heard her words and realized she was urging her to buy quickly so she could close.
So Chen Lan asked, "I want to buy some of your Changchun's specialty products as gifts. Can you recommend which ones sell the best?"
Unexpectedly, the saleswoman replied absentmindedly, "Comrade, everything in our food counter sells well! Nothing sells poorly. Everything is in short supply."
Chen Lan heard her say this and thought, "Great! Asking her is like not asking at all. Of course, they sell well! It's a planned economy now, there's only so much stuff, how can it not sell well?"
So Chen Lan stopped agonizing and, seeing the red sausages on the counter looked good, she said to the saleswoman, "Comrade, please give me fifty red sausages."
As soon as Chen Lan finished speaking, she startled the saleswoman. She quickly asked for confirmation, "Comrade, what did you say? Fifty Lao Chang Russian-style red sausages?"
Chen Lan nodded and replied, "Yes, that's right, fifty. What's wrong? Is this Russian-style red sausage also subject to purchase limits in your department store?"
The saleswoman's attitude immediately did a 180-degree turn. She immediately smiled and replied, "No purchase limit, no purchase limit, you can buy as much as you want. However, guest, we don't have fifty of them in stock right now."
Chen Lan asked in surprise, "Such a large department store, and you don't even have fifty red sausages? Does this red sausage not taste good?"
The saleswoman quickly explained, "Comrade, it's not that it doesn't taste good. This is a specialty of our Changchun, and it tastes very good! The reason our store has limited stock is because the price of this red sausage is a bit too high. Ordinary people can't afford it, and each red sausage requires half a pound of meat ration coupons, so very few people can afford it. Everyone thinks that if they have half a pound of meat ration coupons, they might as well buy half a pound of pork fat to satisfy the family's cravings. Therefore, we don't keep much stock in our store."
Chen Lan thought, "No wonder!" So she said, "Comrade, I'm on a business trip to Changchun! I don't have Changchun city's meat ration coupons. Can I buy it at a higher price?"
The saleswoman nodded and replied, "Yes, but comrade, it will be much more expensive without meat ration coupons. Do you still want to buy it?"
Chen Lan took out a cloth bag from her military satchel and handed it to the saleswoman, then nodded with certainty and replied, "Yes, sell me whatever you have left in your store."
So the saleswoman happily counted and packed the sausages into the cloth bag. After counting twice, she said to Chen Lan, "Comrade, there are twenty-six in total. Without meat ration coupons, it's one yuan and fifty cents per sausage, totaling thirty-nine yuan."
Chen Lan was astonished. No wonder the saleswoman said many people couldn't afford it. In the 1970s, pork was only seventy-five cents a jin, and this red sausage, which weighed about half a jin, cost one yuan and fifty cents each. The price was indeed outrageously high.
Seeing the saleswoman looking at her expectantly, Chen Lan's eyes didn't blink. She calmly took out four large black ten-yuan notes from her pocket and handed them to the saleswoman.
While the saleswoman was writing the receipt and taking the money, Chen Lan picked up a red sausage and sniffed it. The skin of the red sausage had a smoky aroma, and it also exuded the fragrance of pine nuts and the smell of garlic. It must be said, the smell was indeed somewhat peculiar.