NOVPUB
Chapter 627: Chapter 617: A Coincidental Encounter in the Grocery Store (Extra for Underwater Catching Snow)
The non-staple food store, as the name implies, sells various non-staple items, such as sugar, canned goods, tea, spices, soy products, biscuits, etc., as well as meats, eggs, dairy, poultry, and fish.
There are quite a few non-staple food stores in a city, but due to different locations, their size and the variety of goods they sell differ. The non-staple food store Shen Yunfang entered was the largest one in Xicheng District, so the selection of goods was quite comprehensive.
Shen Yunfang started browsing from the left side, picking up things that were not available in her own space and, of course, spending the various vouchers she had on hand. She preferred to use Remittance Coupons for shopping, so she and Li Hongjun often had many left over from what their units distributed each month since many of them had time limits and would be wasted if not used.
When she reached the canned goods section, Shen Yunfang spotted some canned peaches and thought about the canned goods coupons she still had, considering buying some to reward her children, who had been adapting very well at school during this period and deserved praise.
"Hey, Xiaoshen, you’re here to shop?"
Yunfang was examining the goods when she heard someone call her from the side. She looked up, baffled, only to recognize the woman standing behind the counter.
"Fang Yan, you work here?" Shen Yunfang was quite surprised; she knew that Fang Yan was a saleswoman but didn’t expect to run into her by chance in a random non-staple food store—what a coincidence.
"Yeah, how come you’re here to shop? Your school isn’t on this side." Fang Yan asked with a puzzled look.
In truth, the military wives who had visited Shen Yunfang that day were all wives of Li Hongjun’s subordinates. Normally, they should have been trying to ingratiate themselves with Yunfang, but after seeing how young she was, how high her education level was, and how good her job was, they had a lot of thoughts.
The arrogant type looked down on Shen Yunfang, feeling that this rural woman was too haughty, with her college education and teaching job—she almost seemed too big for her britches—so they didn’t think much of her.
The inferior type also looked down on Shen Yunfang, since the disparity was too great, and standing next to her made them feel inferior. Not many people could handle that kind of sting, so they kept their distance whenever they heard her voice.
The type that tried to curry favor by acting cute was one that Shen Yunfang herself disliked, so she maintained a distance with them by adopting an indifferent and aloof attitude.
Fang Yan belonged to the arrogant type, feeling superior to Shen Yunfang. But since her husband and her job were better than Yunfang’s, she was jealous and didn’t think much of her. Of course, on the surface, everything seemed fine because her own husband still had to make a living under Yunfang’s husband.
"I came here to take care of some errands, and I had a bit of free time. I thought I’d buy something to take home, so I came for a stroll. I didn’t expect to run into you working here by chance." When someone showed her a smiling face, Shen Yunfang smiled back.
"Isn’t it just a coincidence? Since I’m working here, tell me what you want to buy. I’ll see if I can get you something cheaper," Fang Yan said enthusiastically, though the sense of superiority in her eyes was evident to Shen Yunfang.
Yunfang knew that what she meant by ’something cheaper’ referred to the ’defective goods’ consumed internally at the non-staple food store, which generally couldn’t be purchased without connections.
"There’s no need for that, I have coupons, so I don’t want to trouble you," Shen Yunfang replied, not wanting to take advantage of the small favor.
"Hehehe, you’re just being polite," Fang Yan complained softly, but she didn’t pursue the matter further. Those deep discounts were also not readily available to the internal sales staff; after all, with more monks than porridge, they took turns buying the good stuff. She wasn’t so generous as to let Shen Yunfang have her turn.
"Fang Yan, I want to buy a few cans of canned goods; can you help me take them out and see what flavors there are?" The counter was quite low, with only peach and hawthorn cans displayed on the top shelf, making it hard to see what was below.
Fang Yan was a bit unhappy being ordered around, but still had to put on a smile and serve her, "Our canned goods here have the most variety in the entire city. In addition to the two kinds on top, we also have orange segment, apple, and this pineapple one. This one is a rarity not found elsewhere, our director got it specially through connections from the South." While she spoke, she took out one can of each flavor.
When she saw Shen Yunfang hesitating and looking at her tickets, she thought Yunfang didn’t have enough and said somewhat mockingly, "Xiaoshen, we do have quite a variety of cans, but if you don’t have enough tickets on you right now, you could buy less this time and come back for more when you have spare tickets. It’s all the same." 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
Shen Yunfang looked at her, somewhat baffled, when had she ever said she didn’t have enough tickets.
"No, Fang Yan, it’s because I have more tickets, I can’t decide which one to buy more of. How about this, give me two of the peach, three of the rare pineapple, and one of each of the rest." That came out to exactly eight canned goods tickets.
Now Shen Yunfang felt no sense of security about these ration tickets at all, fearing they might become invalid any day. So every month she would use them up, and anything she couldn’t eat at home, she stored away in her space; they wouldn’t expire there.
Fang Yan froze, and it wasn’t until Shen Yunfang looked up at her, prompting her to come back to her senses, that she started sputtering, "Xiao, Xiaoshen, are you buying so many at once?"
"Mhm, these canned goods tickets are going to expire soon, and if I don’t use them now, it would just be a waste. So, I bought extra to stock up at home; when the kids crave something, I’ll open a can for them." Shen Yunfang spoke nonchalantly, but Fang Yan felt as if she was flaunting her wealth shamelessly.
Nowadays, who has the means to give their children canned goods as snacks? Most people would only have a few bites during festivals or take them as gifts when visiting relatives and friends. Doing it like Shen Yunfang would definitely get people pointing fingers, accusing her of not knowing how to live properly.
"Fang Yan, can you make out the ticket for me? I’ve finished buying the cans and still have to buy other things," Shen Yunfang reminded her with a frown, seeing that she wasn’t moving.
"Ah, yes, right away. Did you bring a shopping net? I’ll pack them up for you," Fang Yan finally recovered.
"I did."
After paying with money and tickets, Shen Yunfang, carrying eight boxes of canned goods, went to browse other counters.
"Fang Yan, you keep busy, I’m going to buy some other things."
Shen Yunfang then bought sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vermicelli, and some condiments, filling two shopping nets.
As she roamed the sundry goods store, Fang Yan’s gaze followed her in a full circle, probably trying to see exactly what she was buying and figure out just how much money and tickets she was spending. Only after Shen Yunfang left the store did this trailing gaze disappear.
When Shen Yunfang came out, there was still a long line of people waiting to buy meat. She looked around and then went back into the store, where Fang Yan was also looking toward the entrance. Their eyes met.
Shen Yunfang smiled, went over, and whispered to Fang Yan. She then slipped the meat tickets and money she had prepared into her hand and walked away nonchalantly, not seeing the angry, teeth-clenching expression on Fang Yan’s face behind her.
