Chapter 121 Shopping
The group of people walked towards the bank again, looking around as they walked, and it took them more than 20 minutes to reach the bank.
Butcher Zhao looked at the large cement building in front of him. On it hung a plaque: People's Bank. "Is this a money house?"
"Yes, Uncle Zhao. In the country, it is not called a money shop, it is called a bank." Lin Youcai walked in through the open door.
The layout of the People's Bank is the same as that of modern banks, except that there are no machines. Rows of long wooden benches are arranged in an orderly manner in the middle. The bank counter is inlaid with tempered glass, and there are staff counting money behind the glass. There are 10 windows busy in the row.
Lin Youcai approached the counter and a young man in work clothes came over to stop him and said, "Brother, please line up to deposit, withdraw and exchange money."
Lin Youcai: "Oh, do I need to queue up to get my ticket?"
"Yes." The staff took out a wooden sign and handed it to him. "When your number is called, you can go to the window."
"Okay." Lin Youcai looked at the wooden sign in his hand that had the number 19 written on it, then turned around and looked at the person on the wooden bench. He estimated that he would have to wait for a while.
Lin Youcai went out and explained the situation, "If we line up to exchange money one by one, we'll waste the whole afternoon and have to wait on an empty stomach. If you trust me, I'll write down the amounts of each family in a notebook, and if we exchange together, it will be faster. You can go to Qingshui City first."
Tian Daniu handed over the only 1 or 2 taels of silver he had left. "Brother Youcai, what are you talking about? How could I not believe you? With you helping me change the money, I can save a lot of effort!"
Butcher Zhao: "You are being polite. If you help me change the money, I can go shopping."
"...No, a few people need to stay to help me!" Lin Youcai refused to accept the money, "We have a lot of people, don't block us here, let's go to the alley next to us."
Lin Youcai held Tao Mingyuan tightly and refused to let go. He also called the two brothers-in-law of the Shen family, Lin Youxing and Zhao Zhuang, to come over and count the money while writing it down in a notebook.
Lin Youcai looked at Lin Benshu and said, "Uncle, would you like to exchange the 30 taels of silver in the public account?"
"I plan to sell all the charcoal and the things on the bear, and then settle all the public accounts." Lin Benshu thought for a while, "I'm not familiar with this place, so I'll exchange the 31 taels of silver first! Everyone who came here is waiting to get paid!" As he said that, he took out two small cloth bags from his pocket and handed one to Lin Youcai.
Lin Youcai took it out and looked at it. There were three silver ingots and a small piece of silver, exactly 31 taels of silver. "Okay, Mingyuan will take note of it."
Wei Qiniang handed over the silver bracelet and said, "Mr. Lin, this is all I have. I don't know if I can exchange it."
Lin Youcai took the silver bracelet and said, "It's okay. I'll ask for you. If it doesn't work, just ask at a pawn shop."
Wei Qiniang: "Okay, thank you Mr. Lin."
The heads of each household took out the little money they had left and asked them to help them change money. There was no other way, they couldn't cook in their temporary residence, so they had to spend money to buy food today.
After Lin Youcai collected the money that everyone wanted to exchange, several people went into the bank. Just then, number 18 was called, and Lin Youcai was about to be called. Everyone sat on the stools and waited.
The others were walking aimlessly on the street. Tian Daniu thought of that place and said, "Should we go to that place? They said there are job openings there. Let's go and have a look."
Everyone's eyes lit up, and Shi Yong clapped his hands, "That's right! We only have to attend classes half a day tomorrow, and we can work and earn money in the second half!"
Lin Youshou scratched his head and said, "But we don't know how to read! Not to mention the characters here!"
Zhao Wang: "Just ask the people next to you! With so many people watching, there must be many who can recognize the words!"
Li Juhua: "Okay, you guys go check out the job openings, and we'll go look around some other places."
Everyone walked forward and found the Information Plaza. Some men gathered around to look, while other men and women continued walking forward.
Lin Zisu smelled the fragrance in the air: "I am hallucinating. I smell the fragrance of fried chicken."
Lin Xianwen sniffed it carefully: "Yes, I smelled it too." The two siblings looked at each other, and their thoughts were self-evident.
"What is fried chicken? Chicken fried in oil? It's rare to even eat stewed chicken. My God! Fried in oil! How much oil would that take?" Old Mrs. Wang said, slapping her thigh with a look of heartache.
"Grandma, stewed chicken is stewed chicken and fried chicken is fried chicken, how can they be the same! The taste is completely different!" Lin Zisu said with her saliva about to come out. Her stomach was empty and she hadn't even had lunch yet. Just thinking about it made her want to run towards the place where the fragrance came from.
Old Lady Wang quickly grabbed her granddaughter's hand and said, "Wait a minute! You don't even have any money, what are you doing there!"
"My father will be here with the money soon! I'll go take a look first!" Lin Zisu said as she tried to break away from Old Lady Wang.
"Who said we want to buy fried chicken? Just buy a few cakes. We have no fields, no houses, and no way to make money. We spend money every day when we open our eyes. You'd better save some money!" Old Mrs. Wang said earnestly, holding her granddaughter tightly.
Shen Xianglan: "Lin, Zi, Su! You are still very young!"
"Am I not small?" Lin Zisu said with wide eyes.
Shen Xianglan stretched out her hand and asked, "Do you think my hand is small?"
Lin Zisu: “Not big.” But it hurts when you hit someone.
Shen Xianglan: "Let's look around first and wait for your father to come back."
Everyone else walked to the front, and the Lin family walked slowly behind. From time to time, they saw patrols with belts and swords passing by.
The people in Qingshui City all looked calm and relaxed, busy with their own affairs.
"Huh? This is an arrow marked on a sign. Turn right to get to the hospital?" Occasionally, you can see tall wooden signs standing on both sides of the street. There are words written on the signs, with pinyin marked on the words, and arrows indicating the direction.
Old Mrs. Ye asked curiously, "What is a hospital?"
Shen Xianglan: "It is a place to cure diseases and save lives."
Old Lady Ye: "Oh, is it a hospital? A clinic?"
Shen Xianglan: "It's about the same. I haven't been in there either. It's just a place for treating illnesses and getting medicine."
"It's better not to go into this place ever! Let's go, let's go!" Mrs. Lu said as she helped Old Lady Wang walk forward.
The group continued walking forward, and after more than ten minutes, they saw a street full of food shops.
Lin Zisu smelled the fragrance in the air and became even hungrier, oh my god!
"Why are there so many people queuing for that shop in front?" Zhao, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family, pointed to the front and said, "It smells so good!"
Shen Xiuxiu held Zhao's hand, looked at her with big eyes and said, "Mom, I'm so hungry."
"Mom, I'm hungry too..." Shen Qiaoqiao swallowed her saliva.
Lin Zisu looked at the watch on her hand. It was almost 1 o'clock. Is Dad ready yet? Dahei smelled the fragrance in the air and wagged his tail excitedly.
Lin Xianwen walked over and said, "I'll go take a look."
When he arrived outside the shop lined with children, he smelled an extremely tempting aroma of oil and meat. Lin Xianwen almost couldn't hold back his saliva and took a deep breath.
"Those who want to buy chicken legs, line up here. Those who want to buy chicken racks, line up there. Line up! They will be fried soon." The clerk wearing a hat and mask said to the outside of the store.
When a group of children heard that the explosion was about to be completed, they excitedly poked their heads out to look around.
Lin Xianwen looked at these children. Although their clothes were patched, they were clean and tidy, not ragged. The boys had short haircuts and wore hats that had turned white from washing. The girls had short haircuts that reached their ears and were combed neatly. They didn't look sticky or covered with lice. Their faces were not dirty. Most of them had flesh on their faces and had blood on them, not skinny and sallow faces.