Chapter 17: Going to the County Seat Part 3 - Enchantress Translations

Enchantress5-6 minutes 29.01.2022

The houses are low and dilapidated, even the roads in the county seat are extremely shabby, and the ground is uneven. Comparing it with modern roads, it is really far worse!

Such a place turned out to be the county seat? This is not as good as a small town in the 21st century!

Zhao Xiulan sighed in her heart and continued to walk forward.

It should be past 9 o’clock in the morning at this point, but there is not much activity on the streets of the county seat, and there are not many people. After finally encountering some people, Zhao Xiulan glanced around, and found that it was not much different from the villagers, all of them looked malnourished.

Regarding the black market in the county seat, Zhao Xiulan didn’t know where it is. She could only wander around the county seat and see what it is like.

After walking for a while, Zhao Xiulan discovered something new, namely various shops in the county seat.

There are state-owned restaurants, supply and marketing cooperatives, as well as post offices, inns, and other storefronts. These stores also hung slogans featuring this era.

Zhao Xiulan finally stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative.

The words ‘Develop the Economy and Guarantee the Supply’ are posted on the wall in front of the supply and marketing cooperative. It is probably because of the long time, so the characters have faded a bit and the paint has fallen off in some areas.

The supply and marketing cooperative has most of the things that people need. Zhao Xiulan wants to see what is on sale and what the price is. Since she has come to this era, some basic information must be clearly understood.

In addition, Zhao Xiulan also wanted to buy a piece of soap. There was no soap at home. If she only used water while taking a bath, it would really make her uncomfortable to death.

***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.

Although there are soaps in her space, they are different from the soap in this era and cannot be easily taken out.

When she walked into the supply and marketing cooperative, there were not many people, and there were not many customers looking at the goods, let alone those who were buying. The furnishings in the supply and marketing cooperative are similar to the small shops in later generations, with several rows of transparent glass cabinets holding various goods.

The shop assistants inside saw Zhao Xiulan come in, but they didn’t lift their eyelids and didn’t pay any attention to her at all.

Zhao Xiulan is a country bumpkin and the clothes on her body are already worn out, so these shop assistants concluded that Zhao Xiulan must not be able to afford anything and they do not need to entertain her.

In addition, being shop assistants in the supply and marketing cooperative are iron rice bowls1铁饭碗 – iron rice bowl – a Chinese term used to refer to an occupation with guaranteed job security, as well as steady income and benefits. and are counted as regular employees of the country. They work very leisurely. This kind of work is not something that ordinary people can get casually, so these people will put on a high posture and be somewhat supercilious.

Because of this, these shop assistants do not have the enthusiasm of the assistants in the shops in the 21st century, and they are just indifferent and neglectful to others.

After looking at the goods a few times, Zhao Xiulan called out to one of the shop assistants, “Shop assistant, how much is this soap?”

The shop assistant did not answer Zhao Xiulan and just continued to crack her melon seeds.

From the shop assistant’s point of view, talking to Zhao Xiulan is tantamount to saying nothing, since she can’t afford to buy anyway, and entertaining her is a complete waste of her time!

Seeing that the shop assistant didn’t say a word, Zhao Xiulan thought that the shop assistant hadn’t heard her, so she raised her voice and continued to ask, “Hello, Comrade, how much is this soap?”

Zhao Xiulan’s loud voice aroused the dissatisfaction of the shop assistant, so she angrily said, “Am I not here? Why do you have to yell in such a loud voice?”

Zhao Xiulan was speechless for a while. Did she guess it wrong?

She asked her at a normal volume just now, but she ignored her, so she raised her voice and shouted this time to ask her again. Is there a problem with that?