The department store of the 1980s, and one in a small county town at that, was indeed quite rudimentary.
In Qiao Shu’s eyes, this county town’s department store could only be considered a convenience store with slightly more space.
Even so, in this era, department stores were immensely popular with the common folk.
Even though it was not a weekend, plenty of people had come to browse the department store.
After passing several glass display counters with He Meijun, Qiao Shu arrived at a counter displaying a few mannequins dressed in clothes and piled high with bolts of fabric.
“Shushu, what do you think of this dress?”
He Meijun took one look and fell in love with the red dress on the mannequin in the most prominent spot.
That vibrant shade of red was so festive; He Meijun could already picture how stunning her precious daughter would look in that big red dress.
Qiao Shu eyed the red dress. By her standards, its style was really quite ordinary.
But she understood that this was the 1980s here, and this red dress was genuinely fashionable and eye-catching attire.
After all, most people on the streets wore drab, dirt-resistant old clothes, with few sporting such bright colors.
“Mm, it’s fine. Pretty good-looking.”
Qiao Shu nodded, going along with the era’s tastes.
“Hello, comrade, how much is this dress?”
Hearing her daughter say that, He Meijun—who had already been smitten with the dress—wanted even more to buy this red dress for her girl.
However, when she asked the price, she was instantly stunned.
“Eighteen yuan.”
The sales clerk glanced at He Meijun, a hint of disdain in her eyes, and drawled lazily.
“What?! Eighteen yuan for a dress?!”
He Meijun’s eyes widened in disbelief at the price.
“This is way too expensive. Eighteen yuan could buy so much fabric. Comrade, can you make it cheaper?”
Though He Meijun thought eighteen yuan for the skirt was outrageously pricey, she did not want to deprive her daughter. After all, her girl liked the dress.
“If it’s too expensive, then don’t buy it.”
The sales clerk rolled her eyes at this rural-looking woman trying to haggle and said impatiently.
Though Qiao Shu knew sales clerks in this era had poor service attitudes, she had not expected one to be so rude.
Her brows furrowed, but she did not bother arguing with this ill-mannered clerk who clearly looked down on them. She tugged at He Meijun’s sleeve and said softly.
“Mom, forget it. I don’t really like that red dress that much anyway. Why don’t we buy some fabric and make clothes ourselves?”
Truth be told, Qiao Shu had zero interest in these ready-made garments hanging there; they seemed utterly ordinary.
After all, she could make these simple styles herself—and even make them look better.
So she genuinely felt that if a dress cost this much, she might as well buy fabric and sew it herself.
The biggest issue was that they had no sewing machine at home.
“But…”
Though Qiao Shu meant every word, He Meijun still hesitated, worried her daughter was just being sensible to save her money.
But before she could dwell on it, a young woman bought that red dress.
“Comrade, please wrap this dress for me.”
Seeing that in the mere instant she had hesitated, the dress she had spotted first was snatched up by someone else, He Meijun—who had been wavering on the purchase—suddenly wanted that red dress more than ever.
Her daughter was about to marry into a big city soon. What was wrong with splurging eighteen yuan on a pretty dress? It was only right!
If she let her girl go to the city in her old clothes, that would be what invited ridicule!
With that in mind, He Meijun gritted her teeth and said to the clerk, who had just finished packing the dress.
“Comrade, I want to buy that red dress too. Get me one.”
The sales clerk sneered at He Meijun’s words and said snidely.
“None left.”
“What do you mean, none left?”
He Meijun’s brows furrowed, a bad premonition rising in her heart.
“The one I just sold was the last one. Of course it’s gone now.”
Seeing the clerk’s gloating smile, Qiao Shu felt deeply uncomfortable.
“If it was the last one, why didn’t you tell us earlier?”
The sales clerk had not expected the sweatkerchief-masked girl’s voice to be so pleasant. She blanked for a moment, then sneered again.
“Why would I need to tell you? Could a couple of country bumpkins like you even afford such an expensive dress?”
He Meijun, already simmering with anger, exploded when she heard the clerk speak to her precious daughter that way.
“What kind of attitude is that? What do you mean ‘country bumpkins like us’? So what! The grain you eat, the fabric you wear—none of it comes from us country folk farming and raising it? What right do you have to look down on rural people? Back in the day, that kind of thinking would get you struggled against! Capitalist mindset!”
Though He Meijun seemed to have blended into the shameless shrewishness of rural women during her time in the countryside,
she had been a sent-down youth before and knew better than most how to seize on others’ faults in an argument—with more logic to boot.
Sure enough, her tirade left the previously arrogant clerk, who had her nose in the air, pale-faced and panicked, her arrogance replaced by fear.
Though that decade had passed, it had left a deep shadow in everyone’s hearts.
Just mentioning it was enough to make one panic.
Seeing the clerk panic, He Meijun—who had spoken loudly on purpose to draw attention—raised her voice even more.
“Everyone, come judge this! Us ordinary folk come to buy things and get looked down on…”
The customers, already drawn by He Meijun’s words, crowded around at her call.
The shoppers at this hour were mostly unemployed housewives and elderly folks.
And this group loved gossip most of all.
After chattering and learning the story, they all sided with He Meijun and condemned the sales clerk who had looked down on them.
After all, the clerks were not exactly polite to them when they shopped either.
Faced with the crowd’s denunciations, the sales clerk was dumbfounded.
She was not much older than twenty, a young woman. She usually looked down on people, and other customers said nothing—still buying obediently.
But she had not expected a customer like He Meijun today. Inexperienced, she was left red-faced and speechless.
Her earlier bravado crumbled under He Meijun’s label of “capitalist attitude looking down on rural folk,” scaring her into total silence.
Just as it seemed she might cry from the verbal onslaught, the department store’s Manager Wu finally showed up to apologize.
No choice—the crowd of onlookers denouncing her kept growing. To avoid escalating, he had to step in!
After escorting He Meijun and Qiao Shu to the upstairs office, Manager Wu apologized straightforwardly.
“Comrade, I’m very sorry this happened. I sincerely apologize here—truly!”
He Meijun merely snorted coldly at Manager Wu’s earnest apology.
“Your sales clerk caused such psychological harm to me and my daughter, and you think a casual apology settles it? Look, my girl is so scared by your clerk she won’t even speak! You must give me a satisfactory explanation! Otherwise, I’ll write a big-character poster denouncing your capitalist behavior!”
“…”
Qiao Shu, whom He Meijun had dragged into it, twitched her lips at the corners. She truly admired her mother now!
This talent for arguing and manipulating public opinion was incredible!
In the future, her mom could dominate public relations no problem!
Faced with He Meijun’s fierce yet logical onslaught, Manager Wu wiped the sweat from his brow.
In his heart, he had already cursed the clerk who offended this plague god He Meijun a hundred times over.
He could tell this lady’s lofty words were really just a ploy to get a deal.
But what could he do? He had to let her have her way! Otherwise, if things blew up, this little manager would be in real trouble.
Who asked that clueless clerk to get the job through his connections!
“Big sis, my dear big sis—you weren’t eyeing that red dress for your daughter? I’ll make the call: it’s yours, on the house!”
At Manager Wu’s words, He Meijun’s eyes lit up, but she quickly narrowed them again and said displeased.
“Wasn’t that the very last one?”
“It was indeed the last one, but we staff keep one back for ourselves, so this really is the final piece, big sis. No fooling!”
Manager Wu said earnestly, his tone turning humble by the end.
Seeing his sincere explanation, He Meijun decided to take the win.
“Fine, I accept your sincere apology. But I want that sales clerk to come personally apologize to my daughter.”
“No problem! No problem!”
…
In the end, Qiao Shu watched as her mother not only scored a red dress from the department store manager as compensation but also got a red silk scarf from the sales clerk as an apology gift. She was utterly convinced of how badass her mother was!
And as she marveled at her mother’s prowess, the department store staff were also stunned by Qiao Shu’s beauty!
Even the two parties just “extorted” by He Meijun had no complaints upon seeing Qiao Shu’s face—they even wondered if their compensation had been too stingy.