今天早饭过后去超市买菜，目标很明确，给小玥买排骨炖排骨吃。
After breakfast today, I went to the supermarket to buy pork ribs for Xiao Yue to enjoy with a clear goal in mind.
准备出发的时候，问媳妇今儿是多少号？因为门口超市每个月16日和26日打88折，这两天买东西比较划算。媳妇说，17号了，看你这小气吧啦的，该买啥就买啥！
As we were about to go, I asked my wife what day it was since the nearby supermarket offers an 18% discount on the 16th and 26th of each month, making shopping more cost-effective on those days. My wife said it was the 17th and remarked that I was being overly frugal, suggesting I should just buy whatever we needed.
我说，你还不一样，刚买了2000块钱的购物卡。门口超市买2000购物卡返120块钱，相当于买东西打94折。如果用购物卡，再叠加88折，折上折，比较划算，适合囤货。只希望超市别随便倒闭，因为之前的超市倒闭了.......
I replied that she was no different, having just bought a 2000 yuan shopping card. The supermarket offers a 120 yuan rebate for purchasing a 2000 yuan shopping card, effectively giving us a 6% discount on purchases. Using the shopping card combined with the 18% discount would be even more cost-effective, ideal for stocking up on goods. My only hope is that the supermarket doesn't suddenly go out of business, as the previous one did...
在去超市的路上，看到门口商业街越来越多的门面在关门，开发商贴上海报，号称：店面升级！其实就是店主倒闭走人了。除了关门的，一个卖礼品的店和中联大药房原来都是两间门面，现在都缩成一间了，都在降本增效！
On the way to the supermarket, I noticed an increasing number of storefronts closing down along the commercial street at our gate. The developers had posted posters claiming "Store Upgrade!" which essentially meant the owners had gone bankrupt and left. Besides the closures, a gift shop and Zhonglian Pharmacy, which originally occupied two storefronts, had both downsized to just one in a bid to cut costs and increase efficiency.
到了超市卖肉的地方，原来两个卖肉的柜台，现在只剩一个了，另一个改成卖豆制品了。这应该跟最近小区附近新开了几家生鲜店有关，抢了超市的生意。
Upon reaching the meat section of the supermarket, I found that there was only one counter selling meat instead of the original two, with the other now selling soy products. This change likely resulted from the recent opening of several fresh food stores near our neighborhood, which have been taking business away from the supermarket.
面对精品肋排（33元/斤），中排（28元/斤），前排（23元/斤），我很是犹豫！买精品肋排吧，倒是正儿八经的排骨，但也太贵了，旁边的牛肉才卖这个价！买中排吧，一半是脊骨+里脊肉，脊骨才十多块一斤，里脊肉也只有不到二十一斤，这不是忽悠人？买小排吧，倒是便宜，但脊骨以及软骨又占了大半......
Faced with the options of premium ribs (33 yuan/jin), mid-grade ribs (28 yuan/jin), and front ribs (23 yuan/jin), I was quite hesitant! Buying premium ribs would mean getting proper pork ribs, but they were also very expensive, costing as much as the beef next to them! Mid-grade ribs were half spine bone + tenderloin, with the spine bone costing just over ten yuan per jin and tenderloin less than twenty-one yuan per jin, which felt like a rip-off. Front ribs were cheaper but consisted mostly of spine and cartilage...
卖肉的大姐看我这状态，免不了投来鄙夷的眼神，好像在说，你到底买不买啊，一个大老爷们，也太掉面了!
The lady at the meat counter, seeing my indecision, couldn't help but give me a disdainful look, as if to say, "Are you going to buy or not? A big guy like you, really losing face!"
为了避免尴尬，我赶紧抱起小玥，问她吃哪个？小玥小手一指中排，那就它了！买了一斤多中排，花了39块钱！
To avoid embarrassment, I quickly picked up Xiao Yue and asked her which ones she wanted. Xiao Yue pointed at the mid-grade ribs, so that's what we got! We bought over a jin of mid-grade ribs for 39 yuan.
虽说是炖排骨，但是也不能光吃排骨吧，买了排骨后，免不了要看看蔬菜。前两天吃了山药炖鸡，大家都爱吃，一看山药，要八块钱一斤，买了一根，花了5块钱。
Although it was for cooking pork ribs, we couldn't just eat ribs alone, so after buying the ribs, I inevitably looked at the vegetables. We had eaten yam stewed chicken a few days ago, and everyone loved it. Seeing the yams priced at eight yuan per jin, I bought one for five yuan.
再看看别的蔬菜，长豆角要7块钱一斤，四季豆竟然要10块一斤！生菜、油麦菜之类都要六七块，最便宜的就是大白菜了，也要2.58一斤，好在，有大白菜+猪肉，我们老百姓就能活得很好！
Looking at other vegetables, long green beans were seven yuan per jin, while green beans surprisingly cost ten yuan per jin! Lettuce, oilseed rape, and similar vegetables were all six or seven yuan, with the cheapest being Chinese cabbage at 2.58 yuan per jin. Luckily, with Chinese cabbage + pork, we common folks can live well!
最终，买了排骨+一根山药+一个香瓜，准备收工回家了！
In the end, I bought pork ribs + one yam + one muskmelon, ready to go home.
刚要走的时候，思念水饺在做促销，是个小姑娘在当促销员，没什么生意，小姑娘很热情。25块钱两盒水饺，有煮好的，给小玥尝了一个，结果没吃到，掉地上了。
Just as we were about to leave, I noticed dumplings from Sinian on promotion, staffed by an enthusiastic young lady. With no customers, she offered Xiao Yue a taste of a cooked dumpling, which unfortunately fell to the ground.
出于不好意思（关键是便宜），我跟媳妇说要不买两盒？媳妇说冰箱还有自己捏的没吃完。我说，留着给豆子吃？媳妇拿了两盒，拿了之后，我又觉得一时半会吃不完，商量着说要不不要了，反正都是冻着，等豆子回来再买？媳妇白我一眼，递给我，你自己去退，人家都给打包了！
Feeling awkward (and considering the low price), I suggested to my wife that we buy two boxes. She mentioned we still had homemade dumplings in the freezer. I then suggested saving them for Dou Dou. My wife picked up two boxes, but afterward, I worried we wouldn't finish them soon and suggested returning them since they were frozen anyway and we could buy them when Dou Dou came back. My wife rolled her eyes and handed them to me, insisting I return them myself since they had already been packaged.
没办法，关键是脸皮还不够厚，就又买了两盒水饺。购物之旅至此结束，生活不易，且行且珍惜！
With no choice and lacking sufficient courage to do so, we ended up buying two more boxes of dumplings. And thus concluded our shopping trip, reminding us that life is not easy and to cherish every day in our life.
