Wei Zhi had to go to the post office to mail a letter, so he temporarily separated from Yu Haiyang and Liang Sumei. Afterwards, Yu Haiyang and Liang Sumei first came to Ningxi Department Store, a well-known state-owned department store in Ningxi County.

The mall has two floors, with a clear layout. Downstairs is filled with all kinds of supplementary food, dazzling and fragrant. Upstairs is the world of clothing and household items. In the household items area, thermoses, spittoons, clocks and other daily necessities are very eye-catching. In a corner, several groups of radiators are placed alone, looking a bit deserted. After all, in Ningxi County at this time, it was rare to see families using heating, and most people still relied on stoves to keep warm.

The flow of people upstairs was not that large. Several sales clerks were standing or leaning against the counter, chatting with their colleagues to pass the time.

Liang Sumei saw the sets of radiators at a glance, and she walked up to ask the price: "Excuse me, how much are the radiators?" Her voice was crisp, but the salesperson didn't seem to hear it and was still chatting enthusiastically with his colleagues around him.

Liang Sumei was a little puzzled. Was it because her voice was too soft or her tone was not respectful enough? So she adjusted her tone and asked more respectfully, "Comrade, how much is the radiator?" She added the title "comrade" specifically, hoping to attract the salesperson's attention.

However, the salesperson still ignored them, as if the two people did not exist at all. Yu Haiyang and Liang Sumei looked at each other, feeling somewhat helpless.

"Comrade!" Liang Sumei spoke again, but before she could finish, she was interrupted by the salesperson with a bad attitude, "Where are you from? Don't make trouble here, can't you see I'm busy?"

Liang Sumei was not one to be bullied. She immediately retorted, "There is no one here except us. You were just chatting. How could you be busy? I asked you twice how much the heating cost and you didn't answer. Are you deaf or blind? If you don't want to do this job, go home and make way for those who want to do it!"

The saleswoman had never expected that this seemingly honest country girl would have the guts to talk back to her. Customers who usually come to the store to shop are all respectful and polite to them. She had never been treated so humiliatingly. She rolled her eyes and said sarcastically with disdain: "I'll tell you how much it costs, and you can still afford it, so what?" Her family couldn't afford to install a heater, so how could this poor country girl afford it? This is just a foolish dream!

Liang Sumei didn't bother to talk to the man in front of her. She just took out 20 big unity banknotes from her pocket and slammed them on the counter. With a "pop" sound, she asked with cold eyes: "This much money, is it enough to buy a heater?"

When the salesperson saw the full 200 yuan, she was surprised. After all, this amount of money was not a small sum for her. It was even equal to her salary for working hard at the counter for a year. However, due to the unpleasant incident before, she did not want to provide service to Liang Sumei, so she replied unhappily: "Just those few sets, move them yourself if you want."

"We want to buy nine sets. How much is the total?" Liang Sumei continued to ask.

"Didn't I tell you? There are only those few groups, not as many as you said!" The salesperson's tone was full of impatience.

Liang Sumei knew very well that although Ningxi County was not particularly prosperous, there were definitely families using heating, and the few sets displayed on the counter could not meet everyone's actual needs. There was no doubt that these were just samples displayed outside, and the real goods must be stored in the warehouse. At this moment, the salesperson was obviously deliberately making things difficult for her.

The corners of Liang Sumei's mouth curled up into a scornful smile, which made the salesperson feel very uncomfortable. He immediately attacked her with words, "You don't even smile at me in a playful way."

"It seems that you are really blind. You can't even see that I am laughing at you for being stupid, idiot!" Liang Sumei sneered lightly, then turned and left Ningxi Department Store, with Yu Haiyang following closely behind.

Liang Sumei had already thought of a countermeasure. She realized that this salesperson was a snob who looked down on people, so she changed herself to look like someone she couldn't reach.

After Wei Zhi sent the letter, he hurried back to find the two. Seeing Yu Haiyang's dejected look, he knew that the matter had not been done without asking any more questions. Yu Haiyang told Wei Zhi everything that happened. Wei Zhi wanted to try again alone, but was stopped by Liang Sumei. "We just came out. If you ask again, the salesperson will inevitably think that we are in the same group. Forget it for now. I'm hungry. Let's eat first."

It was indeed lunch time. Wei Zhi and Yu Haiyang were hungry, so they went to the state-owned restaurant and ordered two steamed buns and a plate of peanuts. Liang Sumei specifically asked the waiter if they had stir-fried bean sprouts. The waiter looked puzzled and shook his head. It seemed that Ningxi County did not have bean sprouts as an ingredient. It was indeed a big business opportunity to build a bean sprout industry chain.

Having finally used public funds to enter the city, the three were quite excited and planned to stroll around and take in the unique scenery of this county town.

While walking, Wei Zhi suddenly became alert. He keenly noticed that there seemed to be a pair of strange eyes behind him silently watching them. This feeling of being secretly watched made him feel uncomfortable and a little uneasy.

In order to clarify the situation, he quietly changed the route and deliberately led everyone into a narrow and quiet alley. There were not many places to hide around this alley. In this way, if someone really followed them, it would be easy to expose their whereabouts.

When they reached the end of the alley, Wei Zhi turned around suddenly, his eyes were sharp. As expected, the man was standing there in panic because he had no time to dodge. Seeing this, Wei Zhi immediately stepped forward, grabbed the man's arm tightly, and asked sternly: "Why are you following us?" His tone was full of undisguised vigilance and anger.

Liang Sumei turned back curiously, wanting to get closer to see, but Wei Zhi blocked her behind him. The man just looked past Wei Zhi and cast his eyes at Liang Sumei: "Girl, do you still remember me?"

Liang Sumei looked at the other person carefully, and her mind kept recalling the people she met after her rebirth. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she said in surprise: "It's you? Last time I exchanged flour for two boxes of cigarettes from you."

"That's right, girl, it's me." When the man saw Liang Sumei mentioned their private transaction so frankly in front of two strangers, he felt that there was no need to hide it anymore, so his attitude also became frank.

"Brother, since you recognized me, why didn't you greet me directly?" Liang Sumei asked puzzledly.

"How do I know who these two people next to you are?" the man answered jokingly.

Liang Sumei chuckled, spread her hands, and introduced them one by one, "This is Wei Zhi, this is Yu Haiyang, both of them are my friends from the same village." She then continued to ask, "Brother, do you live in the county town?"

The man nodded and introduced himself cheerfully: "Big sister, little brother, my name is Guan Haishan, you can just call me Lao Guan."

"Then I'll call you Brother Guan." Liang Sumei responded.

Guan Haishan readily agreed, and lowered his voice to ask mysteriously, "Girl, I saw you went to Ningxi Department Store, do you want to buy something?"

Liang Sumei's eyes flashed with cunning, she understood Guan Haishan's implication. Guan Haishan was able to get those scarce cigarettes in Yangshan Town, maybe he had other good things in his hands. So, she said bluntly: "We want to buy 9 sets of heaters."

Guan Haishan frowned after hearing this. The heater was large and heavy, and he couldn't carry it in his arms like cigarettes and sell it on the black market. This really made him feel a little embarrassed.

Liang Sumei saw this and understood a little. She actually didn't plan to buy heating from Guan Haishan. She just wanted to have a further conversation with him to get familiar with his business and prepare for her bean sprout plan. She leaned close to Guan Haishan's ear and whispered, "Brother Guan, can we sell vegetables on the black market?"

Guan Haishan smiled and said, "Of course, sister. Anything can be sold on the black market. As long as you have the goods, you won't have to worry about not being able to sell them at a good price."

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