Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 177 Shopping
Li Zhe and Wang Ting took a bus to Friendship Store.

Wang Ting roughly guessed Li Zhe's purpose for coming. After getting out of the car, she asked, "Do you want to buy a freezer for the store?"

Li Zhe replied, "It's not just about buying a freezer. I owe a friend a favor last time, and I want to buy him and his wife some gifts. Can you help me pick some out?"

Wang Ting knew something about this and followed Li Zhe into the Friendship Store.

Wang Ting had visited the Friendship Store once before, also near the end of the year, when her father brought the whole family. She still remembers it clearly: her father took out fifty foreign exchange certificates, and each of the five family members could spend ten foreign exchange certificates.

This was a huge sum of money at the time, and my father was scolded by my mother for almost half a year because of it.

My sister bought a silk scarf.

My brother bought a mini military knife and a model airplane.

She bought a pencil case and a tin dancing doll. The pencil case is still sitting in a drawer at home.

Perhaps because it was close to the Lunar New Year, there were more people at the Friendship Store than usual. Li Zhe pulled Wang Ting to the food section and said to the clerk in the snack section, "I'll buy two boxes of regular chocolate and one box of dark chocolate."

The waiter pointed to the chocolates on the shelf: "We have three kinds of dark chocolate, which one would you like?"

Li Zhe glanced at it and said, "Eighty-five percent. Please divide it into three bags for me; I'm giving them away." Li Zhe felt that this ratio would result in the best taste.

"Comrade, here you go." The waiter handed the bag to Li Zhe.

"Thank you." Li Zhe took the bag and handed it to Wang Ting, who was standing next to him. "The dark chocolate is mine, and there are two boxes of regular chocolate. One box is for my second sister, and you can have the other one."

Lin Weimin helped with the house transfer, but it was indeed done using his second sister's connections. Li Zhe gave gifts to Lin Weimin, so he couldn't leave his second sister out in return.

Hearing that Li Zhe still remembered that she liked to eat regular chocolate, Wang Ting felt a warmth in her heart and nodded obediently.

Li Zhe bought several jars of butter cookies and several packs of wafer biscuits. In addition to giving them as gifts, he also gave some to Wang Ting, his second sister, his younger sister Li Na, and the chubby Li Huijing.

The two then went to the fresh produce section, where the staff were busy attending to other customers.

Li Zhe wasn't in a hurry and wandered around the refrigerated display cases. The Friendship Store had four refrigerated display cases, two upright and two horizontal. Li Zhe personally felt that the horizontal ones were more effective at displaying the meat, attracting customers' attention and highlighting its color and freshness.

"Tingting, what do you think about us putting a display case in our store?"

Wang Ting was a little surprised. She had been wondering why Li Zhe had gone to the fresh produce section, but it turned out he was up to this.

Although Wang Ting hadn't specifically looked into the price of the display case, it looked 'very expensive'. "Isn't it too expensive?"

Li Zhe stroked his chin. "It probably isn't cheap, but this stuff has a good display effect. When the weather gets warmer, fresh produce will spoil easily without a display case, and putting it in the freezer will affect the display. Even if we don't buy it now, we'll have to buy it later."

These days, Wang Ting has been staying in the shop and is well aware of the vegetable shop's turnover, which is over two thousand, nearly three thousand foreign exchange certificates every day. Although she doesn't know how much profit they make, she knows that most of the off-season vegetables are grown by Li Zhe himself, which alone brings in 1,200 to 1,300 foreign exchange certificates. Adding in the revenue from other items in the vegetable shop, Li Zhe's personal income is no less than 1,500 foreign exchange certificates per day.

This was only what Wang Ting had seen. As for the revenue Li Zhe earned from supplying food to the other restaurants, she didn't know and didn't ask in detail, but she estimated it was probably no less than this figure.

Thinking about this, Wang Ting felt that buying a refrigerated display case wouldn't be a big problem for Li Zhe.

Moreover, the refrigerated display cases look high-end and are not something that ordinary foreign-related stores may have, which can enhance the image of 365 Vegetable Store to some extent.

After finishing his work, the waiter walked over to Li Zhe and asked, "Comrade, what would you like to buy? Let me help you decide?"

Li Zhe patted the horizontal refrigerated display case. "What model is this? Does our Friendship Store still have it in stock?"

The waiter was stumped by the question.

Wang Ting reminded us from the side, "We want to buy a refrigerated display case."

The salesperson was even more surprised, as this was the first time they had encountered such a customer. They instinctively replied, "This refrigerated display case is from Sanyo, it's two meters long and nearly 1800 liters. I don't know the exact price, but I heard it costs over 20,000 foreign exchange certificates. Our appliance counter is on the second floor; you can go there to inquire. However, our Friendship Store mainly sells household appliances, so we may not have similar products. I'm not sure if you can order them."

"Thank you," Li Zhe replied politely.

Wang Ting tugged at Li Zhe's arm, "This is way too expensive!"

Li Zhe also felt it was expensive, exceeding his budget. However, since he was already there, he still wanted to check out the second floor.

On the second floor, in the electronics section, there was a wide variety of goods, including refrigerators and freezers, but no refrigerated display cases. Li Zhe asked the salesperson and was told that he could order refrigerated display cases from foreign brands, such as Sanyo, Toshiba, and Carrier, but the prices were all above 20,000 foreign exchange certificates, and some even exceeded 40,000.

Although Li Zhe felt that the refrigerated display case was more effective, the premium was too high. How much beef would he have to sell to make it back?

Fortunately, it's winter now, so there's no rush. I'll go to a state-run department store another day to see if they have any domestic brands. If I can get one for a few thousand yuan, I'll buy a domestically made refrigerator. If the price is too outrageous, then I'll have to think of other solutions.

Unable to find a suitable refrigerated display case, the two continued shopping for other items. Li Zhe bought four cartons of Marlboro cigarettes and four cartons of Chunghwa cigarettes. Two of the Marlboro cigarettes were given to Lin Weimin, and Li Zhe kept the remaining six cartons for himself.

Comparatively speaking, Zhonghua cigarettes offer better value for money. Foreign cigarettes are relatively scarce and command a high premium; as a result, it is difficult for ordinary people to obtain foreign cigarettes, which to some extent represents status, position, and connections.

For men who smoke, this is the most practical and prestigious gift. Even if they don't smoke often, it's still a very impressive gift to have at home when entertaining distinguished guests or for display.

Li Zhe bought two more Zippo lighters, one glossy and one matte. He gave one to Lin Weimin and kept the other for himself.

Afterwards, Li Zhe took Wang Ting to the women's goods section. He had never met Lin Weimin's wife, and it wasn't appropriate to give her a gift that was too intimate, so he simply bought her a bottle of imported perfume.

Li Zhe didn't know much about perfumes and wanted Wang Ting to help him choose, but he later discovered that Wang Ting seemed to know even less than he did. In those days, perfume was still a luxury item and not widely available; ordinary people mostly used cologne.

Fortunately, the items that make it into the Friendship Store are all good quality products, so there shouldn't be any major issues with their quality. You can simply choose the flavor you like.

Wang Ting tried several perfumes and finally chose two Dior perfumes that she liked. Li Zhe bought both perfumes, gave one to Wang Ting, and kept the other as a gift.

These items didn't seem like much, but the total bill came to over 1,500 foreign exchange certificates.

Even though Wang Ting was somewhat prepared, she still couldn't help but be shocked when she paid the bill. Especially when a bottle of Dior perfume cost 180 foreign exchange certificates, she suddenly felt powerless, her palms were sweating profusely, and she even wanted to ask Li Zhe to return her bottle.

But two elegantly dressed female customers were trying out perfumes next to the counter, and being shy, she ultimately didn't dare to speak up.

Li Zhe understood Wang Ting's thoughts. The items at the Friendship Store were indeed not cheap, but these days, you couldn't buy them anywhere else.

Li Zhe believes that people not only need to know how to make money, but also how to spend it. Earning little and spending a lot is unsustainable; but only making money and not spending it is foolish!

The two left the Friendship Store carrying bags, and Li Zhe said, "Let me take you home."

Wang Ting countered, "Going home so early? Aren't you going to the shop?"

Li Zhe said with a smile, "We're out buying refrigerated display cases, so it's work too. I'll give you the day off early today."

"Thank you, boss," Wang Ting replied playfully, revealing two shallow dimples on her fair face.

Once on the bus, the two chatted quietly. Wang Ting took the initiative to tell some interesting stories from her university days. Li Zhe hadn't been to university, so he didn't really resonate with them, but he still listened quietly.

Looking at her profile, this girl was indeed beautiful; her looks and figure perfectly matched his aesthetic preferences.

Li Zhe is psychologically mature and has long passed the age of yearning for love. However, dating a sophomore female student... feels quite strange!

Li Zhe took Wang Ting back to the residential compound of the Beijing TV Factory, where she took another bus home.

In this freezing weather, with things in his hands, taking the bus wasn't convenient. He missed his car a bit. Although he wasn't rich in his previous life, he had still bought a used car. That car had been with him for over ten years. Although it wasn't a great car and had developed quite a few minor problems later on, it was very convenient to use.

Of course, he can only think about it now. Cars are hard to buy these days, and they're not cheap. He'll have to wait and see.

Li Zhe returned home and knocked on the door.

"Wow, you bought so much stuff." Wang Jianjun took the bag from Wang Jianjun.

The two entered the living room, and Li Zhe took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his bag. "Here, this is your birthday present."

"Wouldn't it be a waste for me to smoke this cigarette?" Wang Jianjun chuckled, saying this, but still took it from his hand.

This birthday gift was two days late, but it was absolutely worth it.

My brother really understands me.

Wang Jianjun seemed to remember something: "Zhezi, are you planning to open a restaurant with Sister Tan from the backyard?"

Li Zhe countered, "Did she come this afternoon?"

"Yes, she said she's arranged for a chef to come and have you try the dishes tomorrow night." Wang Jianjun didn't object to the idea of ​​opening a restaurant together. After all, his family had been farmers for three generations, and they didn't have the ability to go it alone.

Li Zhe took off his coat and said with a smile, "Heh, that's pretty efficient. Let's go together tomorrow."

Wang Jianjun pointed to his nose: "Me too? But I don't know anything about it!"

"Just bring your taste buds! If you think the chef's skills are good, then the restaurant can continue. If you don't like the food, then cut your losses." Since it's a tasting event, having more people is always a good thing.

"Okay, I'll go too."

(End of this chapter)