Chapter 692: Sugar-roasted Chestnuts
Zhang Hao seemed to be thinking about something, and seeing him like this, Song Yuanchao smiled.
"In fact, the key is how you think. Don't care too much about other people's feelings. It's okay to follow the routine. Just don't put pressure on yourself."
"I understand brother, I will think about it carefully."
"That's right!" Song Yuanchao patted his shoulder. Zhang Hao grinned and nodded vigorously.
The two sat in the park and chatted. Song Yuanchao told him some interesting things about his college life. Zhang Hao was very interested and asked a lot of questions.
They talked about everything from college entrance exams to Zhang Hao's studies, and then from his studies to his current interests and hobbies, and then they talked about some ordinary little things.
When chatting with teenagers, although they always ask questions that surprise adults, Song Yuanchao does not feel bored at all. Instead, he is very interested in such chats.
After chatting for more than an hour, the sun was about to set. Song Yuanchao looked at the time and prepared to go home. Zhang Hao also wanted to go back. They did not leave together. Song Yuanchao asked Zhang Hao to go home and tell his parents and grandmother not to forget to come over for dinner on New Year's Eve. Zhang Hao agreed immediately and left first with a smile on his face, carrying his bag.
After Zhang Hao left, Song Yuanchao took the soda bottle to the canteen to return it, and put the coins in his pocket. After leaving the park, Song Yuanchao crossed the street but did not turn right. He turned left and suddenly decided to go to the second food store not far ahead to buy something.
The New Year is coming soon, and the family’s New Year’s goods have been prepared long ago. However, Song Yuanchao suddenly remembered the sugar-roasted chestnuts that Lin Yan loved to eat. Now Lin Yan has a child again, and pregnant women are always like this. They want to eat this today and that tomorrow.
The sugar-roasted chestnuts in Shanghai are very famous, especially those in Food Store No. 2 are the best. Song Yuanchao remembered that he once brought Lin Yan back two kilograms of them. She ate them with great joy. Song Yuanchao didn't eat much of the two kilograms of sugar-roasted chestnuts himself, as most of them went into her stomach.
The second food store is not far from Xiangyang Park, only a few dozen meters away on foot.
The current second food store is still located at the old location, just on the corner of the street in front.
When you walk over there, you can see many people queuing up to buy New Year goods or something. In the middle of winter, both the sales clerks and customers are sweating profusely, especially the former who are extremely busy.
Following the smell of burnt food wafting through the air, Song Yuanchao quickly found the place where sugar-roasted chestnuts were being sold.
Inside the big iron pot were small stones that were originally white but have now turned black. A man in his forties, wearing a white work suit and a white hat, was stir-frying food in the steaming pot with a sawn-off iron shovel in his hand. Brown, shiny sugar-roasted chestnuts were being stir-fried in the iron pot, emitting bursts of fragrance.
There were quite a lot of people queuing up. Song Yuanchao walked to the back of the line and stood there for a while. Not long after he stood there, more people came up behind him.
It takes some time to fry a pot of sugar-roasted chestnuts, and because there are so many people, it takes a long time to wait to buy them.
After waiting for a while, the first pot was sold out. Song Yuanchao looked at the number of people in front of him and estimated that he might have to wait for two more pots before it was his turn. He raised his wrist to check the time and continued to queue patiently, while listening to the conversation of the people in front of him with great interest.
They were talking about the Great Wall Station in Antarctica.
People of this era pay great attention to international and domestic affairs. Not only are they interested in these things, they are also keen to discuss them with each other.
It’s nothing like after the 21st century, with the emergence of smartphones, everyone has a mobile phone in their hands, and everyone is addicted to their phones. Even when they are face to face, they don’t have much to say, and some even chat directly on their phones.
But now, people are very close to each other. When talking about topics of interest, even if the other person is a stranger, they will communicate enthusiastically and express their own views and opinions. Sometimes they will even argue in public because of different opinions.
Even if they argue until their faces turn red, they won't hurt the relationship.
Many times, you can see two people arguing endlessly over a different point of view, but in the blink of an eye they are talking about the same point again. The two people who were arguing just now suddenly become like old friends, chatting excitedly with each other, and finally hugging each other's shoulders and being very affectionate.
The topic we are talking about now is about China building the Great Wall Station in Antarctica. This is a big event, a big event that makes the people proud and happy.
On December 26 last year, the Chinese scientific expedition team arrived in Antarctica. On December 31, the Chinese scientific expedition team established the Great Wall and the foundation of the Great Wall Station was officially laid.
On February 15, just a few days ago, China announced the completion of the construction of the Great Wall Station, which means that the Chinese have established a permanent scientific research station in Antarctica, thus marking that China has become one of the only countries in the world that can establish its own independent station in Antarctica.
When the news was published in the newspaper, the whole country was in an uproar and everyone was proud of it.
What they are discussing now is the Great Wall Station in Antarctica. They are all very excited when talking about it. Some of the content is from newspapers and TV, and many are "rumors" that they got from nowhere, and some are even personal imagination.
Not only the speaker, but also the listener were enjoying the talk, occasionally interjecting a few words to express their own views and comments.
We were chatting animatedly when suddenly someone in the front shouted, "It's out of the pot!"
The heated discussion came to an abrupt end. Where to buy sugar-roasted chestnuts at the Great Wall Station? Everyone stretched their necks to look at the fragrant sugar-roasted chestnuts just out of the pot in front of them, calculating whether it would be their turn to get the pot.
In less than ten minutes, the whole pot was sold out. Those who bought something left with the hot paper bag in their hands, smiling. Those who didn't buy anything could only continue to wait patiently.
Song Yuanchao's estimation was correct. He didn't get his turn for this pot. By the time the third person in front of him got to the end, all was sold out. Song Yuanchao could only wait patiently for the next pot to come out.
Song Yuanchao waited patiently. There was nothing to do. It would be his turn soon anyway.
After another ten minutes, a new pot came out. As the people in front started selling, Song Yuanchao followed the people in front of him and walked forward. After a while, it was his turn.
"I want three pounds!" he said briefly and directly.
The salesperson responded and quoted an amount.
Song Yuanchao handed over the money he had prepared long ago. The other party took it, counted it, and put it into the cash box beside him. Then he helped Song Yuanchao weigh the sugar-roasted chestnuts swiftly.
After weighing it several times and folding the paper bag, the salesperson handed it to Song Yuanchao, then raised his head and shouted to the back: "Next!"
At this time, Song Yuanchao happened to take the paper bag and looked at the salesperson who had just looked up to greet the back, and saw the other person's face clearly.
"Du Wenting?"
The female salesperson blurted out a name and was startled. She subconsciously looked towards Song Yuanchao, sized him up, and then said in surprise: "You...you are Song Yuanchao?"
"Haha, who else could it be but me? Du Wenting, I didn't expect to run into you here."
"Yes, we haven't seen each other for many years. Why is it such a coincidence today?"
Du Wenting was very happy. She and Song Yuanchao were classmates. Not only were they in the same class, they had also been desk mates.
However, most of their generation later went to the countryside to become educated youth, and not many stayed in the city. When Song Yuanchao left Shanghai for the Northwest, Du Wenting seemed to be still in Shanghai, but no one knew what happened later.
"Comrade, stop chatting. How can you play instead of working? We still need to buy things."
Song Yuanchao and Du Wenting had just chatted for a few words when the people queuing behind them suddenly became unhappy and couldn't help but urge them on.
"Can't you see I'm talking to someone? The things are right here, why are you in such a hurry? If it's your turn, it will definitely be your turn. If it's not your turn, it's useless to be anxious! You're so old, but you're so anxious and don't understand the truth? People who don't know would think you're in a hurry to reincarnate." Du Wenting glared at him and cursed him back. The man who was urging her immediately got so angry that his face turned red. He pointed at Du Wenting and cursed back: "How do you talk like that? You...you...what's your attitude?"
"What an attitude! This is my attitude! What's wrong? If you want to buy it, buy it. If not, get out!"
"You...I..." The man wore a pair of glasses and looked gentle and refined. He looked like an intellectual or a teacher. How could he compare to Du Wenting, a salesperson, in terms of eloquence? She was so angry that she couldn't catch her breath after just a few words.
"Stop arguing, stop arguing. New Year's Day is coming soon, everyone calm down." Song Yuanchao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This was how sales clerks were nowadays. Not to mention scolding customers, even beating customers was the norm in some places. He remembered hearing that a state-owned store had even established a rule, which was "no beating or scolding of customers without reason."
This rule is really ridiculous. It is not allowed to beat or scold customers without reason? Then it is allowed to beat or scold customers with intention?
This can be regarded as a mark of the times. After the 1980s, the situation improved a lot. It was not until the mid-to-late 1990s that the service industry underwent a thorough change.
Under Song Yuanchao's persuasion, Du Wenting still gave him face and turned around to start selling sugar-roasted chestnuts again.
However, when selling to the customer with whom she had just quarreled, Du Wenting deliberately put some small sugar-roasted chestnuts into the paper bag.
The other party was immediately unhappy and started arguing with Du Wenting again. This time, Du Wenting put her hands on her hips and started to curse at him. The other party didn't even have a chance to talk back. Besides, there were people queuing behind him. Wouldn't it be a waste of their time? He shouted, "Just buy it and leave. What are you arguing about?"
The customer had no choice but to angrily grab his things and sneak out of the crowd. When he got outside, he couldn't help but turned back and cursed. Then he saw Du Wenting rolling up her sleeves as if she was going to rush out to cause trouble for him, so he got scared and ran away.
"What kind of person is this! He even ate the food and it went into his dog's stomach. He has no sense at all." After the person left, Du Wenting continued to work and could not help but say a few words while working.
After a while, she finished the work at hand and had some free time. She turned around to say hello to her colleagues inside, took off her apron and walked out from behind the counter.
