GHML – Chapter 21.2: Hubby, We Won’t Have Anything To Eat Tomorrow (2)
As for the teams going to the supermarket, the production team had made sure to limit public entry to protect the guests from being swarmed by fans during their visit.
He Jiang and Shang Jing were naturally one of the teams going there. As they walked hand in hand towards the entrance, guilt hit Shang Jing. He lowered his voice and suggested, “Let’s visit the street stalls instead.”
The overall price point in the household section of the supermarket was on the high side. A four piece bed set would set them back by at least 1000 yuan and that was not even inclusive of a comforter.
He Jiang: “Sure.”
It was quite interesting to explore the traditional roadside stalls once in a while.
…
Shang Jing spent 600 yuan in total on an entire bed set. Even though the price was much lower, the designs were ugly. They were the kind that would ensure their last place in the competition.
Other than bed sets, the shop also carried a variety of wedding accessories at cut throat prices. From red paper flowers to line the walls, ‘double happiness’ cutouts with golden glitter on them, couplets with the words ‘Hundred Years of Harmony’, window decoupages, to balloons.
The shopkeeper enthusiastically recommended their collection to Shang Jing, “Youngsters nowadays purchase everything online. I don’t blame them though, you can even see decoration ideas there. It’s not easy running a physical store. If you buy more, I’ll give you a discount.”
Shang Jing’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Whatever the shopkeeper brought out, he would sigh with appreciation like they were the most precious treasures the shopkeeper had in her shop.
“The festive chinese style! I want all of them!”
“This looks good too!”
An entire room of bright red decorations with a black rose patterned white bed set… He Jiang envisaged the room in his mind. The overall style seemed a little… off.
But seeing as Shang Jing was in such a great mood, he decided not to be a wet blanket.
It would be great if the room they were decorating was really their nuptial room. He would not mind even if Shang Jing turned it into a mourning hall.
After ten minutes of shopping, Shang Jing approached the cashier with an armful of festive pull flowers and ‘double happiness’ cutouts. They were all low-cost items that added up to less than 100 yuan.
His shopping enthusiasm was truly infectious. Coupled with his pleasing aesthetics, the shopkeeper was transported back to those days when she shopped for her own wedding. She had visited multiple shops to get the wedding decorations to save some money. Even though it was more tiring to do so, they were happy.
She eyed the bed sheets Shang Jing bought. Even though it was the cheapest, it did not look festive at all. She said, “I still have the bedset I brought with me when I got married. Since my husband found the bright red color unappealing, we never used it. But it’s really beautiful! It has a hundred ‘double happiness’ characters hand-sewn on it by my mother. I’ve only taken them out to wash and maintain periodically. If you don’t mind, I can lend it to you.”
Shang Jing’s eyes brightened. “Can I really? Thank you, auntie!”
To carry the embroidery of her mother, it must be full of love!
The shopkeeper promptly went upstairs to get the blanket. It was vacuum-packed and looked well-maintained. The blanket itself was exquisite. The hundred ‘double happiness’ characters were delicately embroidered on the back with a slightly darker colored thread, giving it a fleece-like effect.
“I’ll not sell you this black and white set then. Who sells black and white bed sheets to a newly wed couple anyway? It will be on my conscience.”
But without the blanket, their expense at the shop would have been insignificant.
Shang Jing: “I’ll still buy it as a spare for when he sleeps on the floor.”
He Jiang, who was counting on getting into bed with Shang Jing: “…” He can be so alert sometimes.
Before leaving, the shopkeeper pulled Shang Jing aside and handed him a rolled up poster. “This is a free gift we give to customers who make purchases of more than 100 yuan. Remember to put it above your bed frame.”
Looking at the apparent excitement of ‘warehouse clearance’ on her face, Shang Jing accepted it, “Thank you, auntie.”
They were the first ones to return to the hotel. After sending the bedset off for dry cleaning, they returned to their room to put up the decorations.
He Jiang, situated on top of a ladder, was in charge of hanging up all the pull flowers and ‘double happiness’ cutouts while Shang Jing supervised from below, handing the materials to him one after another.
It was a blissful scene. He Jiang’s heart was warm with happiness, it was filled with the purest kind of happiness that came from the simple pleasures of life. It was as though they were a run-of-the-mill couple decorating their nuptial room in the most traditional way that reflects their Chinese heritage.
The second team that came back was the idol couple. He Jiang was sure they had included a bed full of rose petals in their budget.
In fact, that was what he envisaged for their nuptial room too.
But he had no qualms on how their room turned out.
Shang Jing counted the remaining cutouts in the bag. “Hang every one of them up, don’t waste any.”
Handing the rolled-up poster to He Jiang, he said, “As for this, we will put it right in the center, above our headboard.”
There must be some last generation wisdom in whatever the shopkeeper auntie said. Even though Shang Jing was not sure what the rationale behind it was, he liked it.
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He Jiang unrolled the poster and froze when he saw the contents. In a roundabout way, he said, “I don’t think this is applicable to us.”
Shang Jing: “Hang it up.”
“As you wish.” He Jiang proceeded to apply some glue to the corners of the poster and, after ensuring the sides were aligned, pasted it on the wall.
When he was done, Shang Jing looked up happily to admire it, but was quickly taken aback by the picture of a pair of babies, twins to be exact, on it.
Is this the kind of poster used to bless couples with… abundance offspring?