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....
After the week, Wan Feng's life entered into the same monotonous cycle again. In the morning, he would take a bus to the county town to deliver goods, and then take a tractor home. However, there was an additional step today: he had to go to Jiang Hongguo's house to pick up the blueprints.
Jiang Hongguo is now full of energy, and even Wan Feng, who is sitting opposite him, can feel the surging power from him.
"Based on my recent experience, I modified some of the wheelchair's design flaws and removed some unnecessary load-bearing steel tubes from the frame. This not only made the design more reasonable but also reduced manufacturing costs. I believe its current design is sound."
While talking, Jiang Hongguo pushed the views of the whole vehicle and its components that he had drawn to Wan Feng.
As for mechanical drawing, Wan Feng had learned it when he was in vocational high school, but he returned it all to the teacher when he graduated. The part he could understand now was still figured out by himself when he was fiddling with the machinery later, and there was still a lot he couldn't understand.
"As long as it's reasonable, I'll take these pictures back and find someone to make them."
With the blueprint, Wan Feng went to Yan Shufang to pick up the pants and also came to Xiao Dexiang's house.
It is noon now, and Xiao Dexiang is naturally at home.
He had just finished his meal and was about to rest when Wan Feng came.
"Take a look at these drawings. Whether you're going through public or private channels, give me an estimate. Don't be sentimental this time. Just ask for whatever price you want. If I think it's reasonable, I'll have you do all the work. This time, I want to make a profitable product. Not just one or two, but often, maybe even in batches."
Xiao Dexiang used a pen to gesture, write and calculate on the paper for more than ten minutes.
"Ten thousand, let me tell you the truth. The material cost of these things is six yuan, if they are all made of high-quality seamless steel pipes. According to our factory's processing fee standards, including welding, polishing, painting, and labor costs, another four yuan will be added. But this is just the standard. Our factory does not accept private jobs like this that are not in sufficient quantity, but we accepted it."
Only ten yuan? This was far below Jiang Hongguo's budget and beyond Wan Feng's expectations.
Jiang Hongguo's budget was fifteen yuan, which saved him five yuan in costs.
"Uncle Xiao, I'm a man who values speed and efficiency in my work. It's a win-win for everyone, both you and me. Your offer is incredibly generous. Here's how: I'll give you an extra two dollars for this frame, making it twelve dollars. We'll both be happy. Just make three pairs for me first."
After that, Wan Feng counted out thirty-six yuan and gave it to Xiao Dexiang.
Wan Feng was no stranger to machinery. He had worked in a factory for two years. In 1992, he worked as a driller at the auto parts factory in Hongya for two years.
The name of the auto parts factory sounds very impressive, but it actually only produces air pumps.
Wan Feng worked there for two years, earning a monthly salary of more than 200 yuan. Later, he realized that he would be single for the rest of his life with this salary, so he quit after two years.
So he understands everything about the factory.
As long as you have a good relationship with the workshop director, doing some private work is a common thing. After all, it is not difficult to rely on the salary that can only keep you from starving.
For people like Xiao Dexiang who secretly take on private work, if they use new materials, they must pay for them; there's no way to save on that. If they use old parts, a little scrapping here and there will suffice. For a machinery factory, finding some scraps is no big deal. As for welding and polishing, they're all secretly taking advantage of public funds, so there's no cost. The only cost is paint, which doesn't necessarily cost money. Gushan Machinery Factory produces water pumps, and they paint the private work while they're painting their factory products.
Therefore, the four yuan for the processing part in Xiao Dexiang's asking price was actually the profit from their private work. He didn't ask for much for this money, after all, it was not something he could do alone.
The main reason why Wan Feng gave me two more dollars was that he wanted you to do your job well and not fool me. I won't tolerate you fooling me again after I gave you more money.
Xiao Dexiang only charged thirty-five yuan.
It was agreed that Wan Feng would come to pick up the goods in two days. The reason for the urgency was that September 1st was approaching.
After finishing these things, Wan Feng came to Xiao Jun and transferred all the people and books here to Xiao Jun. These one yuan and eighty cents of income were no longer in his eyes.
Hongya County seemed to have undergone great changes overnight, and the biggest changes were among the young girls.
Ever since the female workers in the hosiery factory dared to be the first to wear those skinny pants, after just a few days of brewing, skinny pants flooded the hearts of those beauty-loving people like the rising tide.
Although their clothes didn't change much, and the color of their pants wasn't anything surprising, people wearing skinny pants were still obviously different from others.
Similarly, women wearing these pants in the crowd obviously have a graceful and elegant look.
It is said that women dress up for men to see. This statement definitely contains profound philosophy. No matter how beautiful a woman is, it is useless if men don't see her and she doesn't dress up.
And can a man still be called a man if he doesn’t look at women?
No matter if you look at it unscrupulously like a gangster, or pretend to be serious and look at it secretly with the corner of your eyes, or you look at it with ulterior motives by lying in the crack of the wall with a humble heart.
No matter what method, I watched it.
When men look at women, they usually focus on three points and one line: first, the face, second, the breasts, and third, the buttocks. The first line is the figure.
This has nothing to do with "se qin". Whether this is a man's advantage or disadvantage, 90% of men do this anyway. Parentheses: except for those who are not interested in women.
But in the 1980s, men only cared about the three things about women. They only cared about their faces and nothing else.
They all wear baggy clothes and pants, so even if you have a fairy-like figure, you can't show it off. If you don't show it off, who will see it?
But now it’s different. Almost overnight, the men in Hongya County suddenly discovered that some women in Hongya County seemed to have two more attractive features: buttocks and figures.
These women wear pants that are very skinny from the buttocks to the legs and gradually widen at the ankles. Although the buttocks are not stretched too tight, the outline can still be roughly seen.
Coupled with personal rich imagination, it can basically meet the needs of YY.
As a result, these women have captured the attention of most men and found satisfaction in their vanity from this gaze.
But another group of women are not happy. Why do you occupy all the men's attention? They also want to get the attention of men.
As a result, more and more such pants appeared on the market, and finally formed a trend.
The biggest beneficiaries of this trend are not men or women, but those who make clothes.
Who is the biggest beneficiary among them?
That’s right, it’s Wan Feng and Luan Feng.