Chapter 39 Father and Son Shopping

He Caiwei held the newly issued household registration booklet, looked at it curiously, and then flipped through it.

The old man looked at his granddaughter with amusement, preparing to scrutinize the household registration booklet thoroughly.

"Grandpa, is this the household registration booklet? Why is there only one page?" This was the first time He Caiwei had seen a household registration booklet from the 1940s or 50s. No, it should be called a household register. It was just a thin piece of paper. The first line was the head of household, and the second line was hers. The head of household was her mother.

The house they registered in was different from the one their grandfather lived in; his house was number 122, and theirs was number 123.

The two shops that Grandpa bought are the two at the very end of this street. In the past, there was a large residential area, as well as a textile factory and a cotton mill.

Cotton is not grown in Pengcheng; all the cotton here is brought back from outside by transport teams.

The trucks transporting goods to the cotton mill or textile factory all had to pass by their shop, so the road in front of their shop was the widest and flattest in the entire city, somewhat like a four-lane highway in later times.

There are more than 200 shops in total across the two rows. You can buy vegetables and meat, and there are snack shops and breakfast shops all here. The last shop that his grandfather bought was originally a meat shop, but the man gambled away the shop.

Old Man He didn't know how to slaughter pigs, so he turned it into a wine shop that he liked. He originally wanted to buy the shop next door to make cosmetics for his daughter, but since he didn't know when his daughter would be able to come here, he rented it out first.

The couple who run the breakfast stall next door are nice people, hardworking, honest, and clean. Their business is the best on the street. They've been doing it for several years and I was thinking of taking over the shop, but they wanted to give it to their daughter, so I didn't agree.

"Sweetie, let's go shopping! There are lots of fun things on this street that Pingcheng doesn't have. Pengcheng has a lot of local specialties, like roast goose, char siu pork, and braised meat. Sweetie, what do you want to eat tonight? Grandpa will take you to buy some to try. Oh, and there are also salted pork rice dumplings and char siu rice dumplings here. We don't have these back home. Do you want to try them too?" The old man looked at his well-behaved granddaughter and wished he could present her with all the food on the street so she could choose.

“Grandpa, we only have one stomach. We still have so much food left over from lunch, so let’s not waste it tonight. Let’s eat that. Anyway, we’ll be living here from now on. We can buy whatever we want to eat later.” He Caiwei felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at the old man’s excited expression. It seemed that the old man wanted to give her everything he thought was good.

"Well, okay, then we'll try them one by one later. The clothes made by Zhang the tailor here are quite nice. Come on, Grandpa will take you to get your measurements taken. The girls around here all wear those school skirts. Grandpa will take you there and have Zhang the tailor make you a few sets. Your old clothes probably won't fit here anymore; you can wear them occasionally." The old man suddenly saw the tailor shop's sign fluttering in the wind and immediately reached out and pulled his granddaughter into the tailor shop.

The old man didn't like that Mr. Qu, who was a foreign-worshipping fellow. Every time he went out to do business, he would bring back all sorts of strange foreign gadgets to coax his little granddaughter into wearing them.

Although the old man did not return to Pingcheng, when his granddaughter was a little over three years old, his daughter sent him a photo of her wearing a dress that foreigners wore, which didn't look very good.

"Grandpa, my mom has already made a lot for me, you don't need to make any more, right?" He Caiwei jogged to catch up with the old man.

Upon entering the tailor shop, He Caiwei saw a dazzling array of Republic-era clothing, with the most numerous being cheongsams, whether made of cotton or silk, all of which were exceptionally beautiful.

There are real embroidered details on it, which look much more vivid than modern machine embroidery.

Outside the tailor shop was a counter displaying purses, handkerchiefs, fans, and other such items; those handkerchiefs were truly beautiful.

“Your mother made those for you, and your grandfather bought these for you. You should have Zhang the tailor take your measurements and make you some clothes. Do you like these handkerchiefs? I’ll have Zhang the tailor give you a few later.” The old man chuckled and pushed his granddaughter in front of Zhang the tailor: “Old Zhang, take my granddaughter’s measurements and make her some of the latest styles. Also, my granddaughter really likes these handkerchiefs of yours. Could you give her a few?”

"You old drunkard, what are you doing here today, trying to rob me?" Zhang the tailor glared at Old Man He, his hands still busy, and he started taking measurements for the little girl to make clothes.

The handkerchiefs weren't said to be omitted; instead, the girl was told to choose whichever one she liked and to pick a few extra to keep on hand.

"This little girl is quite well-behaved. The old drunkard is going to make a few outfits for your granddaughter. What colors do you want? Do you want to choose them yourself or let the little girl choose them?" After writing down the measurements, Zhang the tailor looked through his fabrics again, preparing to let the old drunkard choose for himself.

"I'm just a roughneck, how would I know what color a little girl should wear? Why don't you let my little darling choose for herself? She can pick whichever color she likes." As soon as Old Man He heard that they were going to choose fabric, he quickly waved his hand and told his little darling to choose for herself.

He Caiwei was staring blankly at the cheongsams hanging on the wall. These cheongsams were so beautiful. Would they look even better if they were made so that he could wear them?

"Grandpa, can I have this style made?" He Caiwei pointed to the long-sleeved cheongsam with her chubby little finger.

Zhang the tailor nodded at the cheongsam he was pointing to: "It's fine, but the lady who does the embroidery hasn't had time to come recently, so you'll have to wait."

"Then just make them into clothes. I'll embroider the flowers for my mother, and I'll also make two sets of this style, two sets of this two-piece school skirt, and one set of the cheongsam style in the front for my mother. We don't need the school skirts." He Caiwei was quite confident because she had money.

“Yes, it will take five days to make all these clothes.” Zhang the tailor thought carefully for a moment. He could usually finish all these clothes in about five days by himself, and since he didn’t have any other clothes to make right now, he could finish them faster.

"Okay, I'll have my grandpa bring me over to pick it up. Do I need to pay a deposit?" He Caiwei remembered that you have to pay a deposit before you can make clothes, but she didn't know how much it was. There aren't many tailors these days, and the fabric is from a tailor shop, so it should be quite expensive.

When Old Man He heard his granddaughter's words, he chuckled and took out twenty silver dollars, placing them on the counter before taking his granddaughter to pick out handkerchiefs.

"These handkerchiefs were made by the old ladies who do embroidery work for me. The craftsmanship is quite good. If the young lady likes them, she can pick out a few more." Zhang the tailor happily accepted the silver coins the old man had put down and generously waved for them to choose any handkerchiefs they wanted.

He Caiwei didn't stand on ceremony and took six handkerchiefs, each with a different embroidery pattern. She planned to have her mother embroider a name on them when she got home, and they would become her own handkerchiefs. However, she only wanted to buy them to collect and didn't intend to use them. After all, using tissues was simpler, and even if she didn't have any outside, she had plenty in her space, enough to last a lifetime. She didn't need to use these handkerchiefs to wipe her mouth.