The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

After leaving the commune, Jiang Yuan rode his bicycle with Bao Ya in the car to the city. Along the way, Jiang Yuan would secretly chuckle to himself as he recalled Bao Ya's expression earlier.

Bao Ya sat behind him, one arm around his waist, feeling her hand trembling uncontrollably. The road wasn't bumpy at all, so why was he the only one shaking?

Bao Ya tilted her head to look at Jiang Yuan's face, and sensing her movement, Jiang Yuan quickly suppressed his smile.

"What are you laughing at?"

Bao Ya pretended to be angry and said with a stern face.

"No, I didn't laugh."

"If you have it, then you have it."

No, you're mistaken.

"You're laughing at me, I saw it."

Bao Ya looked embarrassed and annoyed, and as she spoke, she bumped her head against his back.

Jiang Yuan didn't care and let her bump into him. Bao Ya was still not satisfied, so she reached into his clothes and touched his abs.

He pinched Jiang Yuan's flesh with two fingers, but couldn't get it up after a while. This action made Jiang Yuan stiffen, and he unconsciously squeezed his legs together.

Does this girl even know what she's doing? In a few more days she'll find out. Just thinking about it makes her smile even wider.

Bao Ya was tired from bumping into him, so she leaned her head against his back and withdrew her hand, clutching the clothes around his waist.

Jiang Yuan took Bao Ya to the department store and headed straight for the watch counter.

The sales clerk at the watch counter could tell at a glance that they were a young couple getting married and buying watches.

There aren't many watch styles available at this time, and the women's watches aren't very sophisticated; they're just smaller than the men's watch dials.

Bao Ya tried it on her wrist, and the large watch face looked particularly out of place on her slender wrist.

"How about you take a look at this one? This watch has a nice design, but it's a bit pricey."

The saleswoman took a small wooden box from the glass display case. Opening it, I saw that the watch was much more exquisite. I took it out and tried it on; yes, it really looked good.

"How much is this?"

Jiang Yuan saw the watch on Bao Ya's wrist, and paired with her slender little hand, it was particularly eye-catching. He even wanted to pull her over and kiss her.

"This watch costs 260. It's an imported watch, and it's hard to buy now. Only our department store in the city has it in stock."

It's definitely not cheap. Nowadays, a regular watch costs just over a hundred yuan, and the cheapest one can be bought for eighty yuan, but the designs aren't very attractive.

Bao Ya took it off and examined it repeatedly in her hand. It was an imported Plum Blossom watch, but she didn't say anything. After all, she didn't have the money. If he wanted to buy it, he could; if he didn't want to, she had no objection.

"Okay, give us the invoice."

Jiang Yuan didn't hesitate and immediately asked the saleswoman to issue the invoice.

"Okay, just a moment, it'll be ready soon."

The older sister readily agreed and immediately went to issue the invoice with a cheerful smile.

She knew the watch was secured the moment Jiang Yuan and Bao Ya walked in. The girl was so pretty; the young man's eyes sparkled when he looked at her. Unlike the others, whose watches didn't sell and even caused the young couple to argue.

Jiang Yuan took the ticket to pay, then took Bao Ya to the watch repair counter and asked the repairman to shorten the watch chain so it would fit perfectly.

After buying the watch, they went to the shoe counter. Bao Ya picked out a pair of small leather shoes for winter, with low heels, suitable for everyday wear.

Afterwards, Jiang Yuan took her to the clothing counter. These clothes were a bit outdated, and she didn't like any of them. In the end, she bought a Lenin suit, which was suitable for wearing in the fall.

After buying those items, the two of them took their marriage certificate and bought a thermos, a washbasin, a teapot and teacups, a spittoon, and other items such as melon seeds and candy.

Finally, Bao Ya dragged Jiang Yuan to buy face cream. This time, she didn't let Jiang Yuan pay; she bought it for her grandmother and aunt, and paid for it with her own money. She bought five bottles in total.

After buying these, that should be about it. Jiang Yuan said that all the furniture in the house has been painted and dried, and the parts of the house that need repair are almost done.

The sewing machine and radio have been bought; they'll be taken to her house together on the day of the betrothal gifts. We won't buy a bicycle; he already has one, and he doesn't work, so a bicycle is useless to him.

Bao Ya nodded. She felt that this was good enough. No other girl in the village had such a large dowry as she did.

After shopping, the two of them carried their bags to the state-run restaurant. This state-run restaurant was located in the east of the city, close to the meat processing plant. After eating, they could take the village bus back home.

"What would you like to eat?"

When they arrived at the state-run restaurant, Jiang Yuan found a corner seat and put his things down.

"Let's have a bowl of noodles. We haven't had any water after walking around all day."

It's getting cold now, and the department store doesn't sell soft drinks. The two of us haven't had any water for half a day, and our mouths are incredibly dry.

"Okay, you wait here, I'll go order."

Jiang Yuan went to the counter at the entrance and ordered two bowls of beef noodles, then took two cups and poured two cups of water over.

"We're a little late today, so the chef isn't cooking. Let's have beef noodles instead, and two meat buns too."

"Okay, sure."

It was past one o'clock in the afternoon, and there were only a few people eating noodles in the restaurant.

Back then, state-run restaurants were incredibly arrogant. The head chef would say he couldn't cook if he didn't know how. But cooking noodles was easy; the chef's apprentice could do it. Once they were cooked, he'd add the toppings, and that was it.

In a short while, the noodles were cooked. Jiang Yuan went over and brought over two bowls of noodles, and then went back and brought back four steamed buns.

Looking at the large bowl of noodles, with seven or eight chunks of beef on top, and meat buns as big as the steamed buns she makes at home, she felt she couldn't finish it.

"Please put some noodles on my plate; I can't eat that much."

Bao Ya wrinkled her little face and said that she wanted to eat everything, but one big steamed bun would be enough; she couldn't eat much of this noodle soup. Although she had a big appetite now, she couldn't eat that much.

"It's okay, you can give me the leftovers."

"No, take this first, otherwise I won't feel at ease eating."

After saying that, Bao Ya picked out half of the noodles from her bowl and gave them to him, and then picked out three pieces of beef and put them in his bowl.

After finishing all that, she scooped up a spoonful of soup, drank it, and nodded.

"This soup tastes really good, better than mine."

She took another big bite of the meat bun. It smelled so good! She had steamed meat buns at home before, but they didn't have this much meat. This one was much more satisfying.

Bao Ya nodded as she ate, while Jiang Yuan watched her eat, secretly delighted.

"The wine I made will be ready in a couple of days. Come over and take some home to try. It's definitely better than the bulk wine sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."

"Okay, I'll go in a few days."

"There aren't many wild fruits on the mountain behind our village, so we didn't make much this year. I heard that there are many wild fruits on the mountain behind your village, so we'll go there next year to pick some and make more."

"Okay, let's go pick them together next year."

The two chatted as they ate, and the wife had even thought about next year, showing that she was determined to spend her life with him. Jiang Yuan felt a sweet warmth in his heart.

After finishing their meal, Jiang Yuan wanted to put his things at home first and then take Bao Ya back, but Bao Ya insisted on taking the village's oxcart. Jiang Yuan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he had no choice but to take her there first.