Chapter 12: 12 Business Trip 3

Song Suisui's meal was ready quickly. She picked it up and began to feast heartily.

Although she had brought food, Song Suisui had no appetite on the train, even in a sleeper berth.

At this moment, handsome men and such could be set aside!

If one isn't enthusiastic about eating, there is something wrong with one's ideology!

Moreover, in her eyes, handsome men could only be admired from afar; getting close to them would only lead to misfortune!

Seeing that Song Suisui had been momentarily stunned by his looks at first, Qin Mulin thought she was just another infatuated girl like the women from the compound.

However, watching the way Song Suisui ate, he felt he might have guessed wrong.

His meal was similar to hers. Song Suisui ate with her cheeks bulging, looking as cute as a little squirrel.

This even caused Qin Mulin's appetite to improve slightly.

In this era, the portions at state-run restaurants were substantial. Song Suisui couldn't finish it all; she pretended to reach into her handbag, but in reality, she took an aluminum lunch box out of her Space to pack the remaining food to go.

She couldn't bring herself to waste food, and this era didn't allow it either.

Having eaten and drunk her fill, Song Suisui took her lunch box and went straight back to the guesthouse.

As for the handsome man Qin Mulin or whatever—once she had admired him enough, there was naturally no need to admire him anymore!

Watching Song Suisui leave just like that, Qin Mulin couldn't help but laugh.

This seemed to be the first time his looks had failed him.

Although Qin Mulin's appearance didn't fit the popular "square face" with thick eyebrows and large eyes of this era, no one could truly say he was ugly.

It was merely a difference in the aesthetic standards of the times.

After returning to the guesthouse, Song Suisui threw the man to the back of her mind.

Why waste brain cells remembering someone she wouldn't see again?

The guesthouse did not provide bathing facilities; if one wanted a bath, they had to go to a public bathhouse.

Song Suisui wasn't used to it, so she could only ask the lady at the front desk for two bottles of hot water and make do.

...

In March, the capital was still much colder than Xinghai City in the south.

Song Suisui wore a black sweater with a blue workwear-style jacket over it, black pants, and her hair was tied up.

Dressed this way, she looked somewhat more mature.

She walked to the bus stop and, after waiting a while, boarded a bus.

She had already inquired with the lady at the front desk last night; this bus went directly to the Capital Steel Plant.

Upon arriving at the steel plant, she presented her letter of introduction to the guard and was quickly admitted.

Of course, the steel plant wouldn't release the goods to her immediately. After a period of handover, Song Suisui was given a pickup point.

After leaving the steel plant, she went to a nearby post office to make a phone call, notifying the factory to find empty crates to transport the goods.

Since the work wasn't difficult, Song Suisui handled it quickly.

The people at the steel plant didn't make things difficult for her either.

Her first business trip was quite smooth. She didn't need to travel with the shipment afterward, as it was being transported by freight train.

However, she could still stay in the capital for two more days. She had to oversee the loading of the goods and then inform Director Zhang.

With two days of free time, Song Suisui felt that since she was already here, she definitely had to take a good look around the capital!

And it would be even better if she could find some treasures!

In fact, if possible, she wanted to buy a courtyard house (*siheyuan*).

In her time, the prices of courtyard houses had reached hundreds of millions.

However, she wasn't quite sure if buying and selling houses was problematic in this era, so she reined in her thoughts.

In reality, she didn't have that much money to buy a courtyard house anyway.

If one were to buy a courtyard house, it had to be a large one; only those close to the Forbidden City had value.

Large communal courtyards (*dazayuan*) were crowded, and acquiring houses there was a hassle; she wouldn't join in that chaos.

After leaving the steel plant, Song Suisui didn't rush back to the guesthouse but instead began wandering through the capital.

At the Capital Department Store, Song Suisui wanted to buy everything she saw. As expected, things in the capital were indeed better than in Xinghai City.

Thus, with money and coupons in hand, Song Suisui began her shopping spree.

By the time she emerged from the department store, she had many more items in her hands.

Finding an empty corner, she tucked the items into her storage ring.

Then, she headed straight for the Friendship Store!

Hehe, yesterday she had pulled out quite a few foreign exchange coupons and a document for entering the Friendship Store.

In this era, the Friendship Store was generally only accessible to foreigners; ordinary people needed a special permit to enter.

As luck would have it, she had pulled one out from her blind box yesterday.

Therefore, she felt that Little Salted Fish had given her a backdoor pass.

Her system was a "salted fish" that didn't want to do tasks and would occasionally open backdoors for Song Suisui.

Song Suisui felt very apologetic about how she had initially looked down on Little Salted Fish; Little Salted Fish was wonderful and wasn't useless at all!

Little Salted Fish was clearly very useful; it was just that she had failed to recognize a great talent when she saw one!!!

Hearing Song Suisui's rainbow-colored flattery, the Salted Fish System couldn't help but perform a "salted fish flip" (a sudden turn of fortune).

Song Suisui successfully entered the Friendship Store. In this era, all the best goods in the country were likely in the Friendship Store.

It didn't just have imported goods, but also export goods, all of which were used to earn foreign exchange.

Song Suisui wasn't interested in large appliances, but she was interested in jewelry, screens, ornaments, and high-end clothing.

After all, what woman doesn't love looking pretty?

The jewelry in the Friendship Store consisted of genuine items, especially the jadeite.

Song Suisui saw a full-green bracelet that actually only cost a little over a hundred; a bottle of Moutai was only ten yuan...

With such a dazzling array of goods, Song Suisui began her shopping journey once more.

Jewelry? Buy!

Imported chocolate? Buy!

Skincare products? Buy!

Antique porcelain? Bought!

After a spree of buying, Song Suisui had spent all the foreign exchange coupons she had obtained from the blind boxes.

However, she was very satisfied with her shopping.

Because she had spent quite a bit of money, Song Suisui thought about going to the black market tomorrow to make a profit.

So, she was silently muttering to Little Salted Fish in her mind.

"Salted Fish! Tomorrow, get me five thousand catties of rice, twenty pigs, and some of those 'Three Turns and One Sound' [traditional luxury items] as well..."

Salted Fish System:...I am not a wish-granting system!

Song Suisui had only been here for one day; how would she know where the black market was?

Hehe, speaking of which, her luck was actually quite good; she had discovered a black market while strolling just now and was planning to check it out tomorrow.

That night, after drawing her blind boxes, Song Suisui fell into deep thought while looking at what she had pulled.

In any case, none of the things she wanted—the five thousand catties of rice, the twenty pigs, or the "Three Turns and One Sound"—had appeared.

The three blind boxes had respectively yielded five Lingzhi mushrooms, five century-old ginseng roots, and one jin of Cordyceps.

Although she hadn't gotten what she wanted, Song Suisui was still very satisfied.

The prices of ginseng and Lingzhi were not cheap, especially century-old ginseng.

She didn't know how Cordyceps were in this era, so she planned to keep it for now.

She didn't plan to sell all the Lingzhi and ginseng either; for such life-saving treasures, she definitely had to keep some for herself.

Therefore, Song Suisui planned to sell just two ginseng roots and two Lingzhi mushrooms.

Furthermore, selling too many things could easily make one a target.

Besides, the items from the blind boxes were of the highest quality; she couldn't bear to sell them all.

Maybe she'll wait until tomorrow morning to see what she pulls before deciding whether to sell the medicine!?

*(Note: If there are errors regarding prices, please treat this as a fictional setting and do not use it as a reference for actual prices around the 1970s.)*