The woman’s face was extremely unsightly when Xiulan reprimanded her, but she couldn’t say anything to justify herself, so she left with anger and remorse.
Xiulan also left the black market, planning to find out where she could buy some used shoes.
After inquiring about it for a while, she found that there were used clothes and shoes available for purchase in the thrift market.
Since she came to buy used shoes, she also bought two used clothes for Xiuzhi. The clothes that the little girl wore were also worn out and tattered, and there was no way to wear them anymore.
Xiulan had money and coupons now, so she could buy a new one, but it would be too eye-catching to buy a new one.
Whether it was clothes or shoes, it was better to bring the used ones back.
To put it bluntly, a lot of people didn’t even have clothes to wear now, so how could they give new clothes and shoes to others?
But if she went to the thrift market, it would be different. If she brought back some used clothes and shoes, they would be much better than their clothes at home.
It was also easy to explain that they were given by the kind-hearted people, and with that, Weiguo and the others would probably not doubt it.
Xiulan asked around and soon found where the thrift market was located.
Next to the thrift market was a garbage station.
Most people would exchange used items for anything at the thrift market. There were clothes and shoes, as well as daily necessities such as water bottles, cups, teapots, and so on.
If your item was accepted for a trade, it would be then sold in the thrift market. And if it was not sold there, it would be sent to the garbage station on the side.
Xiulan went to the thrift market and looked around. She found that there were really a lot of suitable things.
***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.***
There were clothes and shoes, many of which were seventy to eighty percent new.
These clothes and shoes were also handled properly. They had been washed cleanly and not dirty.
Some styles and fabrics turned out to be pretty good, better than the clothes worn by the villagers.
Clothes like these kinds might have been worn by wealthy people who didn’t want them anymore. It was useless to just keep them at home, so it was better to sell them at the thrift market. If you sell a few more pieces, you can get some money and buy new clothes to wear.
There were also counters and sales clerks in the thrift market. Compared with the supply and marketing cooperative, the sales clerks here had a much better attitude and enthusiastically introduced various items to the customers.
Through the introduction of a sales clerk, Xiulan also learned something. The best thing about the thrift market was you could buy anything for as long as you had money and no need for coupons. If you went to the supply and marketing cooperative or other places to buy new items, in addition to paying with money, you had to pay with coupons as well.
Because the items sold here were used and old, the prices would also be much cheaper.
Xiulan looked around and finally picked two sets of clothes according to Xiuzhu’s figure—a floral top and gray pants set, and a blue top and black pants set.
The colors of clothes in this era were actually relatively simple and monotone colors, not as fancy as in modern times. The country felt that wearing fancy clothes represented capital hedonism to the point that a lot of people wore clothes dominated by black, white, and gray colors.
Women in the city who loved beauty might pay more attention to their clothes, but the villagers were not so particular about it.
The two sets of clothes that Xiulan chose for her sister did not depend on style and color, but mainly on the type of fabric and how new they were.
These sets of clothes were about seventy to eighty percent new, and they were washed cleanly. The most important thing was that they were made with cotton fabric. They were very comfortable to wear, but they were a bit big. She wasn’t able to find a suitable size, so it would not fit well on Xiuzhi’s body.
But that was not a big problem because the clothes worn by many children in the village were not suitable for them at all. In fact, the older children’s clothes were worn out and handed down to the younger children in their families.
After all, there was a shortage of supplies and it was impossible for everyone to wear new clothes that fit their age.