The houses were low and dilapidated, even the roads in the county seat were extremely shabby, and the ground was uneven. Comparing it with modern roads, it was really far worse.
Such a place turned out to be the county seat. This was not as good as a small town in the 21st century.
Xiulan sighed in her heart and continued to walk forward.
It should be past nine o’clock in the morning at this point, but there was not much activity on the streets of the county seat, and there were not many people. After finally encountering some people, she glanced around and found that they were not much different from the villagers, all of them looked malnourished.
Regarding the black market in the county seat, she didn’t know where it was. She could only wander around the county seat and see what it was like.
After walking for a while, she discovered something new, namely various shops in the county seat.
There were state-owned restaurants, supply and marketing cooperatives, as well as post offices, inns, and other storefronts. These stores also hung slogans featuring this era.
She finally stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative.
The words ‘Develop the Economy and Guarantee the Supply’ were posted on the wall in front of the supply and marketing cooperative. It was probably because of the long time, so the characters had faded a bit and the paint had fallen off in some areas.
The supply and marketing cooperative had most of the things that people need. She wanted to see what was on sale and what the price was. Since she had come to this era, some basic information must be clearly understood.
In addition, she 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 were soaps in her space, they were 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 were similar to the small shops in later generations, with several rows of transparent glass cabinets holding various goods.
The shop assistant inside saw Xiulan came in, but she didn’t lift her eyes and didn’t pay any attention to her at all.
Xiulan was a country bumpkin and the clothes on her body were already worn out, so the shop assistant concluded that she must not be able to afford anything and did not need to entertain her.
In addition, being a shop assistant in the supply and marketing cooperative was considered a regular employee of the country which was a secured job. She worked very leisurely. This kind of work was not something that ordinary people could get casually, so this kind of person would put on a high posture and be somewhat supercilious.
Because of this, the shop assistants in this era did not have the enthusiasm of shop assistants in the 21st century, as they were just indifferent and neglectful to the customers.
After looking at the goods a few times, Xiulan called out to the shop assistant, “Comrade, how much is this soap?”
The shop assistant did not answer and just continued to crack her melon seeds.
From the shop assistant’s point of view, talking to Xiulan was tantamount to saying nothing, since she couldn’t afford to buy anyway, and entertaining her was a complete waste of her time.
Seeing that the shop assistant didn’t say a word, Xiulan thought that the she hadn’t heard her, so she raised her voice and continued to ask, “Hello! Comrade, how much is this soap?”
Her loud voice aroused the dissatisfaction of the shop assistant, so she angrily replied, “Am I not here? Why do you have to yell in such a loud voice?”
Xiulan was speechless for a while. Did I 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. Was there a problem with that?