Reborn in 1981, the first to get rich start with dairy cows.

In rural areas, "going to the city" means going to the county seat; going to other areas is more like "tourism"!

And department stores are the most impressive places.

Upon entering, you are greeted by a spacious hall with rows of gleaming glass display cases filled with a dazzling array of goods that leave everyone speechless.

As the year draws to a close, the crowds are bustling, and the group huddled together tightly, afraid of being separated.

Several middle-aged men wearing armbands walked over and said loudly, "Hurry up and move inside, don't block the entrance."

They'd seen this kind of shocking scene many times before, so they left after saying their piece.

Shen Dong held Liu Xiuying's hand and strolled around with everyone.

The first floor is the daily necessities and food section. The glass cabinets display soaps, face creams, as well as exquisitely packaged fruit candies, milk candies, and dried red dates and longans. Many of these are rare items that are not commonly available in rural areas.

Shen Nan and her sisters Shen Min and Shen Hong started looking at each counter one by one, their faces beaming with joy, but they walked around and stopped without buying anything.

"Xiaomin, come here!" Shen Dong beckoned to Shen Min and said after she came over, "Buy ten of each of that soap and face cream." He then took out the money and gave it to her.

"Ten?! That many? But I have money, I don't want your money. I've been saving the money you usually give me." Shen Min reached out to stop her, refusing the money.

Shen Dong knew they were reluctant to spend money, so he went over to them.

First, I bought soap and face cream because the children in the family often get frostbite, and Shen Dong himself also gets frostbite, so I bought Pechoin and Vaseline.

Then, he took Shen Hui and Shen Xing to the food section. Because it was almost Chinese New Year, the department store was offering a lot of food that didn't require coupons, so the prices were naturally a bit higher.

Shen Hui wanted to eat canned food, so Shen Dong took several cans of luncheon meat.

Shen Xing wanted to eat candy, so he took several kilograms of all kinds of fruit candy and milk candy. There were many children in his family and in the village during the Spring Festival, so he could share some with them.

The elderly like to eat dried persimmons, so that's a must, as is fruit, which is essential when visiting relatives and friends.

There weren't many kinds of fruit available, just apples, pears, and oranges, and I bought a few pounds of each.

Then, he bought several pounds of red dates, longans, and pastries, which were all favorites of his uncles and aunts. This startled Shen Weimin and the others who were following him, and they quickly stopped him from buying so much stuff.

"Dongzi, just buy some, you've got too much, you can't finish it all in one year!"

"Yes, Dongzi, we need to be careful with our money."

"It's okay, Uncle and Aunt, it's only a little bit. You should also look, don't just look at what I bought."

Shen Weimin and Hu Aiping exchanged a glance, a helpless smile on their faces.

With the way you buy things, the rest of us can only watch helplessly from behind.

Everyone says shopping is addictive, and Shen Dong has already started his shopping spree.

Shen Die is about to give birth, so I bought several cans of malted milk powder.

I don't know if Shen Lan has found out she's pregnant yet, so I should also prepare some supplies.

After exploring the first floor, let's go to the second floor!

First came the military-style cotton hats; the three men in the family, plus my brother-in-law and uncle, made a total of five. Then came the wool scarves; my grandmother, two aunts, my aunt, my sisters, and I bought them all.

Finally, there were the cotton shoes, but Hu Aiping, Tang Yue, and the others didn't want them, no matter how much Shen Dong tried to persuade them.

They are all rural women, and they can all make their own cotton shoes. The cotton shoes in department stores look pretty, but they still feel that the ones they make are the best and warmest.

Shen Dong stopped trying to dissuade him, but still bought some cloth.

Next is the toy section and school supplies section on the third floor.

Upon arriving at this area, the children were completely overwhelmed by the sheer variety.

Shen Dong followed behind, listening to the children's conversation and learning what each of them was thinking.

First, I bought several schoolbags, which Shen Min and Shen Hong had been longing for, as well as rag dolls and tin frogs, all of which the children liked.

"Xiaomin, if you like this pencil case, buy it! Don't hesitate!"

Seeing that Shen Min had been staring at a pencil case with a flower pattern for a long time but hadn't spoken, Shen Dong went over to check the price and knew what she was thinking, so he spoke up.

"No, it's too expensive! This price is much higher than the commune's."

"That's different! None of the ones from the commune look this good! And the quality isn't this good either!"

Shen Min bit her lip, shook her head in refusal, and pulled her brother to leave.

After walking a few steps, Shen Nan called him over again and started examining the hair accessories and headbands.

Shen Dong bought the pencil case on a whim and carefully hid it so that Shen Min wouldn't see it.

They stayed inside for a full two hours before reluctantly leaving the department store.

"Dongzi, you can't come here so often in the future. It's too expensive. Look, we didn't buy much today, but we still spent four hundred yuan. That's enough to buy a TV."

Shen Dong laughed out loud; he didn't think so.

For just over four hundred, you can meet the needs of a whole family, buying them food, clothing, and drinks. That's quite an impressive purchasing power.

Two full urea bags were filled.

After leaving the department store, there was one last goal: fireworks and firecrackers. The New Year is just around the corner, and we can't miss them.

The adults stayed in the car to look at the New Year's goods, while the children followed Shen Dong to buy fireworks.

At that time, there were no fancy fireworks like those of later generations. There were only things like electric light cannons and small firecrackers. He bought more than a dozen strings of 100-shot fireworks and several strings of 1000-shot fireworks.

Firecrackers are a must, they must be set off at midnight and to welcome the God of Wealth, and sky rockets are indispensable, the kids love them.

The children hugged each other excitedly, each taking a piece to hold in their arms, and walked out of the store in high spirits.

"Dad, look! Brother Dong bought a lot of fireworks!" Shen Xing ran up happily, but stumbled and almost fell. Shen Weiguo quickly caught his son.

After looking at the fireworks in the children's arms and counting them, I realized there were a lot, and said, "Why did you buy so many? You didn't empty the store, did you?"

"No, Fourth Uncle, we only bought fifty yuan worth. Someone just bought over a hundred, that's much more," Shen Hui explained from the side.

"Let's go home!"

As the truck started moving, Shen Changping and his family went home.

Passing by the commune, Shen Dong got off the bus first. He was going to find Zhou Wuniu, so he told everyone to go home first.

It just so happened that Wu Niu was home today, so Shen Dong brought cigarettes, alcohol, and food to his door. Wu Niu warmly welcomed him as usual.

Upon hearing that Shen Dong had asked him to show a movie, he immediately patted his chest and promised to take it on.

However, it's definitely too late today, so we've arranged to meet tomorrow night.

After leaving Zhou Wuniu's place on Friday, Shen Dong walked back to the team.

Shen Xing and Shen Hui were waiting at the village entrance. When they saw Shen Dong walking over, they jumped and cheered, "Brother Dong is back! Brother Dong is back!"

"What's wrong, Xiaohui, Xiaoxing? Why are you waiting for me?"

"Mother said that Dong-ge paid for all of these things, and she's waiting for you to come back."

Shen Dong's heart warmed, and he quickened his pace. "Let's go home and have something delicious!"