The phrase "fated one" has a certain magic to it.
Seeing the bright, sparkling look in Jiang Si's eyes as she examined that coat, Huo Tingzhou guessed she must like it, and so he asked Shopkeeper Luo.
"Can we try this on?"
Shopkeeper Luo immediately took the coat down. "Of course. The size should be right."
Huo Tingzhou wasn't mistaken; Jiang Si genuinely liked it.
She took the garment and went into the fitting room.
While waiting, to placate the two little ones who had been sitting patiently for quite a while,
Huo Tingzhou took out some small cookies Jiang Si had prepared in advance from his pocket and gave one to each of them.
"Once Mommy finishes trying on the clothes, we'll go to the department store to pick out your new clothes for the New Year."
Hearing this, the siblings asked in surprise, "We're buying more?"
Huo Tingzhou ruffled their little heads. "Yes, everyone wears new clothes for the New Year. Don't you two want to?"
Suisui blinked his big eyes. "But we already bought some!"
He then recounted how Auntie Chris had taken them for a fitting the day before yesterday.
Suisui's outfit was a dark-colored little suit with a bow tie.
Zhaozhao's was a white puffy dress, with a very pretty hair clip. Auntie Chris said it was called a tiara.
As if remembering something, Suisui added, "Auntie Chris was also wearing a white puffy dress. Mommy said she looked very pretty in it, like a princess."
Huo Tingzhou listened thoughtfully. "A white puffy dress?"
"Yes!" Zhaozhao nodded vigorously. "Auntie Chris even took lots of pictures wearing it. It was so pretty."
"That's a wedding dress," Shopkeeper Luo chimed in with a smile. "Thirty or forty years ago, it was quite fashionable here in Shanghai for a while. Many modern gentlemen and ladies wore them when they got married."
Just as they were talking, the fitting room door opened, and Jiang Si walked out.
The coat fit perfectly. Its unique "sleeve-wrapped shoulder" design made her appear both tall and graceful, exuding an intellectual elegance.
"How is it?" Jiang Si asked.
Huo Tingzhou's gaze fixed on her, and he nodded without hesitation. "Beautiful."
As soon as he spoke, Suisui and Zhaozhao immediately covered their little mouths, circled their mother several times,
and the next second, exclamations of wonder followed, complete with earnest little claps!
"Mommy, you look especially pretty in this coat!"
"Yes, this coat looks like it has your name written all over it!"
It has to be said, the emotional support was absolutely top-notch.
Jiang Si smiled and glanced at Huo Tingzhou, a hint of playful triumph in her eyes. "What to do? You've been outdone by your own son and daughter."
Huo Tingzhou didn't mind this at all. After all, they were his own children, and as long as his wife was happy, that was what mattered.
In the end, that coat, along with two pairs of leather shoes picked out afterwards, were all purchased.
Six sets of clothes plus two pairs of shoes came to nearly six hundred yuan, plus almost forty industrial coupons.
After paying, as Jiang Si was about to go back into the fitting room to change out of the coat, Huo Tingzhou took her hand.
"Just wear it," he said, looking at her with particular seriousness. "It looks very nice."
"Alright," Jiang Si nodded.
Since clothes are bought to be worn, and the weather was nice today anyway, she happily agreed.
Leaving the shop, the family headed east along Nanjing Road.
It was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the crowds on this street were no less than on New Year's Eve in later years.
The further in they went, the denser the crowd became, with all sorts of noisy sounds filling the air.
The two little ones tightly clutched their face masks. At their height, looking out, the street was a sea of moving backsides!
Just moments ago, some uncouth person had unleashed several silent but deadly ones right near their little faces, leaving the two kids with expressions as sour as bitter gourds.
Fortunately, Huo Tingzhou noticed immediately and quickly scooped one up in each arm, letting them sit in the crook of his elbows.
"Honey, stay close."
Jiang Si nodded, gripping his arm tightly with one hand.
And so, using his height and build to his advantage, Huo Tingzhou soon navigated his wife and two children through the most crowded section.
However, the people inside the department store were no fewer than outside.
There were several department stores along this road, but in terms of size and variety of goods, the No. 1 Department Store was still the most comprehensive.
Otherwise, the saying "The nation's supplies protect Shanghai, Shanghai's supplies are in the City's No. 1 Store" wouldn't have circulated.
Sitting high up with a good view, the two little ones noticed something strange as soon as they entered the department store.
"Mommy, what are they looking at?" Seeing a crowd gathered by a dark staircase, the two asked curiously.
Jiang Si didn't need to look to know they were looking at the escalator.
Installed in 1936.
At that time, the No. 1 Department Store was the only place in all of Shanghai with escalators, reportedly installed as early as the early 1930s.
Jiang Si remembered that in her childhood, riding it required spending ten cents to buy an "escalator sightseeing ticket."
Later, after the Cultural Revolution began, the two escalators were deemed "bourgeois extravagance" and stopped running.
Otherwise, she would have loved to let the kids experience it once.
But it didn't matter; the Yihe Hotel also had two elevators installed.
Hearing this, the two little ones instantly perked up, asking a string of questions as they went upstairs.
Jiang Si explained as best she could in terms they could understand. So Zhaozhao grasped that once you step onto the escalator, it moves by itself, taking you to whichever floor you want.
Suisui, however, was curious, "Mommy, why can it move by itself?"
"..."
Jiang Si handed this tricky question directly to Huo Tingzhou.
She herself seized the time to shop.
The lower floors were too crowded, so Jiang Si decided to go to the relatively less busy fourth floor first, planning to browse from the top down.
That way, after buying things, they could leave directly without having to lug bags around the store.
Her thinking proved correct.
Compared to the first three floors, the stationery and toy counters on the fourth floor were indeed much emptier.
With many children in the extended family and a rare trip back to Shanghai, naturally she had to bring something back for her nieces and nephews.
With this in mind, Jiang Si headed straight for the largest toy counter upon reaching the fourth floor.
The tinplate toys she played with as a child were bought here.
Over a decade later, the variety of toys was now much richer.
On the salesperson's recommendation, Jiang Si bought a whole set containing a jumping chicken, jumping frog, jumping sparrow, and swimming duck.
Once wound up, they would hop and waddle forward.
Zhaozhao particularly liked these. Additionally, she picked out a "Bear Photographer" for herself.
Also powered by a wind-up mechanism, the bear could rotate left and right, and after a moment would raise a flash camera to take a picture.
The salesperson said proudly, "This is a new product this year. Currently, only our No. 1 Department Store in all of Shanghai has it."
Of course, the price was also quite something. Just this little bear photographer cost five yuan, plus two more industrial coupons.
It really seemed like everything required coupons, but what could she do when her own daughter liked it?
Buying just one wouldn't do. Jiang Si didn't forget to buy one each for her little niece and for Teacher Hu's daughter, Qingqing.
Suisui wasn't very interested in these things. Among all the toys, he picked out a 'Ten-Thousand-Ton Hydraulic Press'.
Jiang Si: She didn't understand it, but she respected his choice.
