Reborn during the early days of China’s reform and opening, the narrator finds himself in the 1980s countryside. In this setting, the past is still a cold reference, yet it is also a fresh start....
The area around Sijitun Wharf is not the main residential area of Sijitun. There are not many families here, probably only a few dozen.
There is a supply and marketing cooperative, and the original team headquarters is also here.
Wan Feng accompanied Wang Tang and the other two as they walked upstream on the riverbank. Only Han Guangjia and Zhang Xian followed them.
Li Mingdou and Zheng Song ran to the store to hide in the shade.
The two of them came along just to travel, there's no point anyway, so let them go wherever they want.
Wan Feng and his team mainly observed the freight terminal in the area of the upstream grain depot.
The wharf where passenger ships dock downstream is not suitable for unloading. It is full of steps, and there are fifty or sixty of them. Unloading steel there will make your pants fall apart.
There are no steps at the grain storage wharf, so heavily loaded ships can dock at almost the same height as the wharf, making unloading very easy.
There are also two small tower cranes here. Although they look like they can only lift about ten or eight tons, they are still better than manual loading and unloading.
The entire length of the cargo terminal is about 60 meters, which can accommodate one large barge in Heilongjiang. If it is a small bulk carrier of 100 tons, it can accommodate three.
There is no problem in parking a 500-ton cargo ship at the dock, so Wan Feng doesn't worry about unloading the cargo at the dock. He believes that Wang Tang and others can handle it.
Unloading the cargo at the dock was no problem, but there still needed to be a warehouse to store the cargo and a place for twenty people to live.
The goods that have landed may not be able to be shipped out in time, so a temporary storage place is needed.
I wonder if there are any idle warehouses in the granary?
Just when Wan Feng and his group were looking for a place to live and a warehouse to store the goods, a loud noise came from the direction of the restaurant where they had just eaten.
I saw more than ten people gathered in front of the store door, arguing and making noises, and I didn't know what they were doing.
Wan Feng didn't take it seriously at first, but when he thought about Li Mingdou and Zheng Song going to the store to cool off, a bad idea flashed through his mind.
Could it be that these two guys had a fight with the locals?
He knew the nature of the people in Sijitun, and Li Mingdou and Zheng Song were not good people either.
"Let's go and take a look. Li Mingdou and Zheng Song might be fighting with the locals."
Wan Feng ran over with all his might, and when he got close he almost got angry.
Li Guangyin grabbed Zheng Song's collar and cursed at him.
Over there, Li Mingdou was confronting four or five local youths, and a girl was pulling Li Guangyin's clothes from behind.
What is this?
"Stop it!" Wan Feng yelled, his voice very loud.
Li Guangyin grabbed Zheng Song's collar and turned his head to look at him. Then a rainbow-like color flashed across his face, and surprise, astonishment and joy flashed around like a revolving lantern.
The hand that was holding Zheng Song's collar loosened, and then he ran towards Wan Feng: "Brother Wan! How the hell did you get out of here?"
Zhang Xian was originally preparing to do a sweeping kick from the side, but when he heard his brother's call, he quickly retracted his outstretched leg.
When Li Guangyin got outside, he was about to give Wan Feng a hug, but was blocked by Wan Feng.
"Go, go, what are you doing?"
"Brother Wan, didn't you go back to Bei Liao? Why are you here again?"
"I came back to do business and planned to set up a base here in Sijitun, but the first time I saw you, you started fighting with my people. Tell me how you got into a fight with my people?" He waved to Zheng Song while speaking.
Zheng Song came in front of Wan Feng and stood aside obediently.
"He looked at me." Li Guangyin said a little embarrassedly.
What are you looking at? What are you looking at?
"Brother Yin, you're already in your twenties? How come you're still like this? Even gorillas have evolved to the point where they can ride bicycles, but how come you haven't changed at all? Just look at me and you're so bad?"
Li Guangyin scratched his head.
"It's already late, can't you be a little taller like a giraffe? You're almost getting married, but you're still fighting and killing all day long. By the way, are you married yet?"
Li Guangyin then remembered something and turned around to wave to the girl who had just pulled her clothes.
The girl came over shyly.
"My partner is from the Khormoki tribe and we are getting married on October 1st."
Hormoki is the name of the location of Yanjiang Commune. Locals call Hormoki "Red-feathered Chicken".
The girl was not pretty but not ugly either. She had an average face and a good figure. She was a traditional Chinese woman, a little shy.
He complements Li Guangyin's tiger-like appearance.
"Can I call you sister-in-law?"
Li Guangyin said nonchalantly: "No problem!"
"Hello, sister-in-law!"
When Wan Feng called out "Hello, sister-in-law," the girl rushed behind Li Guangyin like a frightened chicken.
Although I am young, I can't just talk nonsense when I meet my sister-in-law.
Wan Feng took out ten fifty-yuan bills from his pocket and slapped them into Li Guangyin's hand.
"This is my first time meeting you, sister-in-law. I haven't prepared any gifts, so this is just a token of my appreciation! Just buy whatever you like, and don't keep a cent."
Li Guangyin looked at the stack of fifty yuan in his hand and blinked for a long time.
"Brother, is this okay?"
"I'm not giving this to you. It's none of your business whether it's good or not. Let me introduce you. This is my cousin Zheng Song, and this is my senior brother Li Mingdou. Whether you fought or not, we've known each other since we started fighting."
Li Guangyin perked up: "What temple did the flood wash away? It turns out we are all family. I need to drink some of this."
Wan Feng was so angry that he laughed: "What the hell are you drinking? We just finished our meal."
Li Guangyin was unhappy: "Brother, I didn't pick you, but now that you're in Sijitun, don't you know to go to my house? My family can't afford a meal, right? It seems like we're running out of food now."
"Don't bother with these useless arguments. I just got ashore and had dinner. Did I see those three people over there?"
Wan Feng pointed at Wang Tang and Han Guangjia who were still walking towards this side from the granary wharf.
"There are two people in military uniforms there. I'm renting a place with them in Sijitun. Can I just leave? Once everything is arranged in the afternoon, I'll come visit you in the evening."
"A soldier? How did you get mixed up with soldiers? Are you planning to join the army?" Li Guangyin asked in a low voice.
"What do I need to be? I'm already 20, I'm over the age limit."
"Who said that the conscription this year seems to be 20 people."
"I don't know about that. I don't plan to join the army. I just want to do business with them and make Sijitun my home."
"How can I help?"
Li Guangyin is a local and is familiar with this place, so we might consider asking him for help.
"We want to rent a warehouse and a house that can accommodate 20 people. Is there such a place in Sijitun?"
The reason why we need a house that can accommodate twenty people is that once this place is chosen as a transit point, there must be accommodation for a squad of soldiers.
This is important military supplies, so of course someone has to protect it.