Chapter 58

Wei Ming slept for a few hours and got up at midnight for the 4:00 AM night patrol shift, so he could go into the city to shop during the day.

This was also Seeing Biaozi's first day on patrol, and Wei Ming was leading him.

Wei Ming: That's right, I've become a senior!

Seeing Biaozi was also very excited, hoping that something would happen at Peking University tonight—it didn't need to be big, just enough for him to show off a little.

However, it was a pity that this night was even calmer than Wei Ming's usual night shifts; even the wild cats in Yannan Garden weren't in heat. Nothing happened tonight.

After dawn, Seeing Biaozi ate and went to sleep. Although he really wanted to go into the city to play, he was truly exhausted.

Wei Ming changed his clothes and was ready to go. He estimated the speed of cycling; it would take at least an hour and a half.

To avoid being late, he set off at seven.

By October, the mornings in Yanjing were slightly chilly. He pedaled his "Flying Pigeon" hard, and soon he was warm.

The tires were hot too.

On the side of the road, Wei Ming stared at the flat front tire, speechless. Damn it, sure enough, cheap goods are never good. He should have thought of this earlier; the brakes and chain were broken, so how could the tires be spared?

His current position was a bit of a dilemma. He knew where there was a repair shop if he went back, but it was too far. If he went forward, he wasn't sure if there was one.

In order to keep his appointment as soon as possible, he had no choice but to push forward and walk the bike.

After pushing for about an hour, asking along the way, he finally found a repair stall just as he was about to enter the city.

After turning left, left, and left again, he saw an old master tinkering with a broken bike.

Wei Ming hurriedly handed over a cigarette.

"Yo, Da Da Qianmen." The old man smiled and tucked it behind his ear.

"Grandpa, I have an appointment with my partner at nine. Look at the time, can you fix it for me first?"

The old man was easy to talk to: "Sure, let me take a look."

After opening the outer tire and seeing the inner tube covered in patch upon patch, the old man laughed.

"Are you going to patch it, or just replace it?"

Wei Ming rubbed his forehead: "Just replace it, it's faster."

He touched the rear tire again: "How about replacing the back one too?"

Repairman: "I only have one left of this model, come back tomorrow."

"Alright then." Wei Ming thought that as long as he kept his center of gravity forward while riding, it should be fine.

After getting back on the road, Wei Ming didn't dare to ride too fast. He leisurely entered the city and arrived at the famous Wang Fujing Street.

Wang Fujing Street was very lively. Although it was a workday, the atmosphere of the National Day was still there, and there were many people shopping.

On both sides of the road were storefronts, such as the Wang Fujing Xinhua Bookstore, the China Photo Studio, and the Arts and Crafts Building. Along the street were also time-honored restaurants like Quanjude, Donglaishun, and Fengzeyuan.

The liveliest was the Wang Fujing Department Store, the first large-scale department store in Yanjing after the founding of the People's Republic, known as the "First Store of New China," with a constant flow of customers.

As he approached the department store, Wei Ming asked a passerby for the time.

Oh my god, it's ten o'clock!

An hour late, Wei Ming wasn't even sure if the other party was still there.

As it turned out, before he even reached the entrance, he saw the lady holding a radio standing outside.

It really was her!

Medium-short hair, wearing a blue jacket, with a blue bag slung over her shoulder. She was more fashionable than the average person; even without the tape recorder, she was the brightest one in the crowd.

I said so, even if this name is very common, but with the same name, similar age, and in the same unit, it should be her.

Zhu Lin. In the future, thanks to her deeply rooted role as the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom in *Journey to the West*, netizens paired her up as the "South Gong Xue, North Zhu Lin" CP.

In reality, there was still a big gap in their industry status. Gong Xue was a double Best Actress winner of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards; she was not just the top person in the film industry at the time, but also in the top three of her generation.

Zhu Lin didn't have many representative film works, but the sentiment for the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom was too deep, and netizens loved it. In fact, Gong Xue, who retired too early, also gained curiosity and love from many young people who were unfamiliar with her because of this bundling; the two could be considered mutually beneficial.

In his previous life, Wei Ming hadn't met Gong Xue, but he had seen Zhu Lin in her early 50s; even then, she still had an outstanding temperament that made people drool.

Wei Ming first deposited his bike for two cents, watched by an old lady with a red armband, and then walked up to her: "Excuse me, are you Comrade Zhu Lin?"

Zhu Lin checked her watch. Although Wei Ming was very handsome and very pleasing to the eye, which could offset some of her anger, she was clearly displeased: "Yes, are you the writer Wei?"

It seems Sister Southern Murong had told her about his deeds, but this first impression was not very good. So what if he's a writer? Can a writer make her wait for an hour!

Fortunately, it wasn't a blind date, just a transaction without emotion.

But Wei Ming felt it was necessary to explain: "I'm really sorry to have kept you waiting so long. My tire broke on the way, and I pushed it for a long time before finding a repair shop. I didn't expect you to still be waiting. There is an ancient story of Wei Sheng holding onto a bridge pillar; you are truly a modern-day Wei Sheng."

Zhu Lin nodded. She couldn't be bothered to guess whether the other party's words were true or false; it was just a transaction anyway.

She handed the radio to Wei Ming: "Take a look. It cost 78 yuan when I bought it, and I've used it for half a year. Here is the receipt. I'm willing to sell it for 70 yuan."

Although it was only a 10% discount, in this era of material scarcity, selling it at the original price wouldn't be strange, and even a premium wouldn't be surprising, after all, she didn't require a ration coupon.

Wei Ming took the device. This was a popular Red Lantern transistor radio, also a brand from Modou. It wasn't too big, was well-maintained, looked like new, and even came with batteries, so it could be turned on and used immediately.

!

In this day and age, television coverage was far inferior to radio, and programs were not as rich as radio. This thing was the mainstream. Even in rural areas without electricity, it wasn't hard to find a few radios.

As soon as he turned it on, Wei Ming heard a familiar voice. Hey, isn't this Minister Heshen!

This should be the audio version of *The Gadfly* he performed on the Central People's Broadcasting Station. His voice was too distinctive, unchanged for decades.

"No problem, I'm very satisfied, thank you very much." Wei Ming readily took out the money, seventy yuan, and the transaction was completed.

This person was actually quite polite. After receiving the money, Zhu Lin gave him a smile and walked into the department store, and Wei Ming followed.

Zhu Lin paused and glanced at him.

Wei Ming smiled: "I need to buy some things too."

To avoid looking like he was tailing her, Wei Ming walked two steps faster, moving to the front, and then it became Zhu Lin following him to the second floor.

Electrical appliances were on the second floor, and watches were on the third floor, so they separated after going upstairs, and there was no interaction in between.

In fact, Zhu Lin wanted to speak up several times. She was still very curious about Wei Ming's amazing talent and legendary experience, but thinking about the frustration of waiting for an hour, she didn't open her mouth.

Wei Ming didn't take the initiative to communicate either. He thought that since he had made her wait for an hour and the initial impression was bad, Zhu Lin was currently giving him the cold shoulder, so there was no need for him to rush to use his hot face to stick to her cold butt.

So what if she's pretty, so what if she's the "North Zhu Lin," I even know the "South Gong Xue"!

Wei Ming hadn't done any research beforehand. After finding the watch counter, he saw many brands. Besides the famous Modou, there were also brands like Hongmei, Yanjing, and Dongfeng. Cheaper ones like the Zhong Shan brand from Nanjing only cost about 30 yuan.

But can this thing last?

Looking bulky wasn't the problem; the fear was that it would break with a slight bump. Moreover, at this price point, there was almost no need to consider the issue of water resistance; he would have to take it off every time he washed his hands or face.

He hated trouble the most!

So Wei Ming asked directly: "How much is the Modou brand?"

"It varies, there are expensive ones and cheap ones."

The price ranged from 120 to 200 yuan.

Because production was limited, there were often situations where they were out of stock. Today, Wei Ming was lucky; there were three Modou watches at different prices waiting for him.

After all, it was a big purchase, so he needed to be cautious. After buying the radio, Wei Ming's cash flow was less than 400.

So he learned about the performance of the three watches in detail.

In a nutshell: expensive has its reasons.

The expensive watches were not only stylish, but also waterproof, shockproof, made of better materials, highly accurate, and didn't need to be wound often.

Although the salesperson behind the counter had no sales skills, Wei Ming was somewhat moved.

However, in the end, he weighed his wallet and chose the middle path, buying an all-steel Modou watch (including the strap) for 165 yuan.

Within half an hour, Wei Ming spent 235 yuan, leaving only a little over 200 in his hand, but it was enough. He even wanted to browse around here to see if he could buy something for his mother; anyway, since he was already here~

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(End of chapter)