Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 882 Meeting

The first floor is a general hall, selling bicycles, motorcycles, televisions, tape recorders, cassette tapes, building materials, lighting fixtures, tools, hardware, and small general merchandise. Each stall does not accept cash directly; there are two cashiers on each floor. You get an invoice from the counter, pay, and then pick up your goods with the receipt.

The second and third floors are the department store and shoe and hat area, while the fourth and fifth floors are various clothing items. Fur products are on the fifth floor. This floor is full of high-end goods, which are sold at high prices.

The sixth floor sells imported goods: German Dairy, Japanese Old Man Head, Hong Kong Little Lei Lai, Goldlion, Lacoste, and various Korean, British, American, French, and Italian products.

The supply and marketing cooperatives' purchasing system was much freer and more flexible than the commercial system, and was not subject to state control or restrictions. Therefore, the variety of goods, especially imported goods, was much more complete and diverse than those in the joint ventures. The clothing was also mostly imported from Fujian and eastern Guangdong. However, at this time, the department stores and farmers' markets were similar, mostly selling substandard products, but the quality was guaranteed.

The concept of "three-no products" at that time was completely different from that in later generations; in later generations, they would all be called "conscientious products."

After walking around the second and third floors, everyone went up to the fourth floor. The trade city has elevators and escalators, which is quite advanced by domestic standards.

Xiaohong said, "Why do shopping malls always use mirrors when they're decorating? They hurt my eyes. Let's not use mirrors in the future."

In the early 90s, mirrors were popular in the decoration of not only shopping malls but also all large public places. Various mirrored glass chandeliers were learned from Hong Kong, making the rooms look like mazes. The light reflected from the mirrors made the rooms look messy.

It is indeed fashionable, much more upscale than the old department stores with their white walls, cement floors, incandescent light bulbs, and fluorescent tubes.

There weren't many people on the fifth floor; it felt much quieter than the first floor. The main reason was that the items were expensive, so people who came to buy things usually saved up enough money to rush over, grab what they needed, and leave. There were very few people browsing around here. The worst part was that you couldn't stand the way the salespeople looked at you.

The sales clerks on the fifth and sixth floors dressed differently from those downstairs: white shirts, red vests, trousers, and high heels. Some wore skirts, with long dresses underneath their vests—none of them cheap. They wore ID cards with their photos, names, and numbers on them for customer complaints.

There were cosmetic counters here, and sales clerks arranged the products on the counters for customers to browse. All items had samples, and the area smelled wonderful. Both domestic and imported cosmetics were available. At that time, cosmetics weren't as elaborate and impractical as they are now; there wasn't much difference between domestic and imported products, but the domestic ones were cheaper. Shanghai-made goods were considered high-end.

The main problem was that foreigners hadn't yet figured out the way Chinese people think and have the habits. At that time, they were still doing business honestly. But after they understood the actual situation, things changed immediately. The quantity decreased, the price increased, and the products became unclear.

It turns out that what Chinese people want isn't quality, effectiveness, or health; they just want a brand. Of course, this is also due to the smugness and promotion of the first generation of wealthy people. Our tradition is to imitate what we see, and coupled with the overall tendency to fawn over foreign things, it has become what it is today.

Snow cream, face cream, Meijiajing, Yumeijing, Wanziqianhong, Dabao, Danzi, Haodi, and various shampoos, conditioners, and face creams, hand creams, and mouth creams. Of course, winter's treasure, clam oil, was indispensable. It kept hands from chapping in winter, and you could get them wet without worry. Back then, blush, or rouge, was already fashionable.

Hair gel, hairspray, hair oil, and hair wax were all essential items in ordinary households. Back then, household necessities also included shoe polish and brushes, leather care products such as lotion or cream, sprays, suede leather, hair dryers, and curling irons.

Some families even had dry cleaning fluid. Back then, even the most ordinary families would have a few leather items, a few sets of wool clothing, and one or two fur or genuine leather coats. Now, let alone pure wool, even wool-containing garments are unaffordable. Genuine leather? I'll use what's naturally occurring.

A few girls walked and talked ahead, while a few men followed behind, strolling around slowly.

Xiao Wei turned his head and glanced at Zhang Fu a few times, then said, "If you want to buy clothes, go and see for yourself."

Zhang Fu was taken aback: "Me? I can buy it too?"

Xiao Wei said, "Look at you, you're such a wimp. I told you to go look, so go. Pick out a couple for your brother and sister-in-law too."

Zhang Fu said, "Let my sister-in-law handle my sister-in-law's, I can't do it, but my brother can." He ran ahead and whispered a few words to Xiao Hong. Xiao Hong turned to look at Xiao Wei, and Xiao Wei nodded.

Xia Maosheng said, "Do you have any kids' stuff? I'd like to buy something for my son."

Chen Hui said, "Yes, yes, I saw a toy counter on the second floor just now."

Xia Maosheng gave Chen Hui a disdainful look: "Get lost. Don't even mention knowing me. You'd be too ashamed."

The group burst into laughter. Everyone now knew that Chen Hui loved playing with children's toys, and this was a fact that would never be forgotten.

Xia Maosheng said to Xiaowei, "I think buying a piano is a good idea. It's pretty cool for you to play the piano and sing."

Xiao Wei said, "If you want to buy it, go ahead, it's not expensive. What kind of piano do you want to play?"

Xia Maosheng gestured a few times: "Six-string guitar, guitar. I can play most of the performances in the restaurant. Can someone teach me?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "I'm not interested. If you want to learn, then do it. Don't look at me."

Sister Jin lagged a few steps behind and nudged Xiao Wei: "Xiao Wei, look over there, there are people in the office, the lights are on."

Xiao Wei looked over and asked, "Is someone acting strange?"

Sister Jin said, "The cadres have already left work at this time. These are the ones who are working overtime and getting overtime pay."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Let's go take a look." He pulled Chen Hui along and walked towards the office area.

The sixth floor is mostly office space, as the shopping mall occupies only a little over half of it due to the high prices of the goods sold there.

There was no partition door, just a sign nailed to the wall that said "Customers Keep Out," and no one went in. People in this era value rules.

In fact, shopping malls in this era did not have public restrooms, and they were extremely difficult to find. People often couldn't stand it and would relieve themselves on the street.

Later, as the free market economy developed, this phenomenon improved, and state-owned enterprises also opened their restrooms to the public. It wasn't that they didn't have them, but rather that they weren't allowed to use them.

Several men followed, but Zhang Fu, Xiao Hong, Chen Xiao, and Li Na were still wandering around. Sister Jin led Xiao Wei and the others to the office area.

I glanced out the window and saw six or seven people, men and women, sitting and talking, with teacups in front of them.

Xiao Wei reached out and opened the door, and a cloud of smoke rushed out.

Xiao Wei dodged slightly and fanned himself with his hand: "Damn, how many cigarettes must he have smoked?"

A middle-aged man facing the door looked over from inside the house: "What are you doing here?"

Xiao Wei pointed to the window: "Hurry up and open it, how much have you guys smoked? There are women inside."

The man turned to look at the woman next to him and pointed to her hand: "She can smoke even more than me."

(End of this chapter)