On the last day of the holiday, Wen Qian went to the small commodities wholesale market in An City.
Zhengyang Street was a famous street for goods, where you could find everything.
Not only was there a large building here that specialized in selling clothes, bags, leather goods, but the surrounding area was also full of small hardware stores, household appliances, shoes, ceramics, fabrics, sundries, plastics, handicrafts and other professional markets.
It was bustling with people coming and going every day.
The retail prices were not cheap either, but the wholesale prices were different.
Wen Qian planned to take a general look around the wholesale markets in An City, so as not to miss anything.
In the clothing building, summer clothing was in season now, and there were also inventory liquidations and off-season discounts. Clothes that had been stored for a year before being sold again were even more so.
Wen Qian bought two off-season down jackets for herself, spending 1,500 yuan.
It should be known that buying these clothes in autumn and winter would cost more than double, and off-season shopping was taught to her by knowledgeable colleagues.
For example, buying electric fans, mosquito nets and straw mats in winter, and thick flannel pajamas and padded jackets in summer, the quality is the same but the price is not so high.
After careful comparison of price and quality, she finally took the two pieces of clothing.
Wen Qian had always worn cotton clothes, and only bought down jackets after starting work. Wearing them was really light and warm.
In summer when everyone wore little, big differences were not apparent, but in autumn and winter, the texture of the clothes really showed.
Of course, fragile and precious luxury goods were not included. They needed more care than babies, and only wealthy people like Wen Qian's boss could treat them casually.
After buying this, she left. There were still many things she wanted to buy.
Wen Qian bought raincoats, rain boots, waders and dry suits, spending 2,000 yuan in total because of the large quantity. She could buy these online, but could not really confirm the quality, so she first bought a batch at a physical store.
Some cheap things were fine, but some things still needed to be felt in person at a physical store.
Next were winter shoes, thick, non-slip, short and long, Wen Qian bought six pairs for 1,000 yuan.
In fact, she wanted to buy more, but first bought some.
She also went to the fabric store and bought a lot of fabric. The money spent on ready-made clothes could buy more fabric.
Wen Qian chose fabrics suitable for close-fitting clothing, and would make her own clothes following their example in the future.
There was an old sewing machine at her rural hometown, which her grandma had used before. Wen Qian planned to buy another old sewing machine and accessories herself.
Wen Qian's first job was in the clothing industry, and she had also gone to clothing factories and design departments, so she was not so unfamiliar with the entire process of making clothes.
The shop owner thought she was not an outsider to the industry when hearing her speak.
The fabric cost 1,500 yuan. Wen Qian also planned to buy other cheaper fabrics online. Even if the quality was not good, it would be fine as long as it was usable. The material of chemical fiber may not be encountered again in the future.
Wen Qian bought several kinds of ropes and threads. Ropes had many uses, with a wide variety of thicknesses and colors.
She also bought fishing net thread specially used for weaving fishing nets online. She could weave fishing nets herself when she had nothing to do in the future.
She had seen adults weaving all kinds of fishing nets like this when she was a child in the village.
In the village, some people wove fishing nets, some were carpenters, some were wicker weavers, some fired kilns and made charcoal. There were many craftsmen in the countryside.
Looking at it now, their ability to work with their hands was quite strong. Wen Qian planned to try to pick up all of these skills and learn as much as possible.
It was very likely that Wen Qian would live alone in the future, so she must have the ability to live independently.
With clothing and warmth settled, Wen Qian went to the hardware area next. She bought old-fashioned door locks, door fittings, nails, screws, wire, and some commonly used wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers and other tools.
These things were familiar yet unfamiliar to her, but it was still better to have them on hand.
There were also pulleys, gears, rollers and belts that she bought.
These were things she had deliberately remembered when looking up hardware categories. Without electricity and fuel to drive things, she could only rely on human power to get things done.
Why not make tools to save effort if possible?
She had even searched for the tools of old carpenters, and even ways to make old waterwheels and windmills, which may come in handy in the future.
After buying 2,500 yuan worth of odds and ends, Wen Qian felt that her task for today was almost complete.
By the time she was ready to go back, it was already afternoon. Wen Qian walked lightly in the crowd, holding a shopping bag of clothes. The benefit of having space was that she could store most of the things she bought that day.
Her hands were free but Wen Qian could not feel happy. Passing through the square and seeing the coming and going people, her mood sank again.
Wen Qian took out her phone and took a picture of the square. She basically didn't take selfies or photos of others, but she would take pictures of beautiful clouds and lovely sun and moon, and also take photos of flowers blooming by the roadside.
But for some reason, there was an idea in her mind that she should start taking some now.
When Wen Qian walked into the subway entrance, she took a final look at this place, as if every look at a place was equivalent to saying goodbye to it.
After entering the subway, Wen Qian was no longer struggling with this. Instead, she thought about what to eat for dinner, and even wondered what foods she needed to stock up on that were reasonably priced and difficult for her to recreate.
Cakes seemed to be very complicated to make. Wen Qian began searching for cake shops online, thinking of buying several at once.
The boring ride finally ended. When Wen Qian came out, looking at the steamed bun shop sign on the side of the road, she suddenly remembered that she seemed to have not bought yeast and similar items yet.
Then Wen Qian placed an online order for a lot, including yeast, baking soda, baking powder and sweet yeast rice wine.
She had seen recordings of making steamed bread in the noodle section before. It was done so well, as if she could feel the softness and fragrance of the steamed buns through the screen.
Wen Qian thought she could try it when she returned home.
During the process of renting and living, Wen Qian had always cooked for herself. She had learned more dishes in the city than she knew from her rural hometown.
The diverse restaurant cuisine and takeout, Wen Qian would also make some home-cooked dishes for herself occasionally. Although she was not very picky about food, she was still curious about some foods.
She would occasionally buy something she had never eaten before to try it out, so she wouldn't have endless imagination about it.
Sometimes when Wen Qian saw cooking videos online, she would sigh and think that being able to cook and edit and share to gain fans, and then have advertising revenue, was quite remarkable.
People who needed eating videos or clear steps for cooking recipes really liked watching such videos.
Maybe she couldn't make beautiful cakes, but she could probably make cake batter.
