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....
"Don't laugh. I'll go to the brick factory later. Please find Jiang Li. I want to talk to him." Wan Feng gave an order to his aunt and went into the house to get the electronic watch.
My aunt came out with a smile and started to clean up the lunch.
Wan Feng went into the inner room, opened the box and took out ten electronic watches. He turned around and saw Zhu Ping looking at his box.
"Stop looking in my box. If something is missing, I'll come after you. You definitely can't afford to pay for it."
"I came to see if you had any new tapes. Your aunt said it was boring to listen to the same old tape all the time."
Wan Feng sighed, took out a collection from his most recent purchase from the box and threw it over.
"I'm giving you a tape recorder. Send it to your wife's house right away. You're such a loser. How does your father-in-law treat you now?"
"Hey, ever since I got the tape recorder, he's been treating me much better."
Old money fan.
"Are you and Jiang Xue planning to get married right away without any engagement?"
Zhu Ping nodded: "That's what I think."
"Will the Jiang family agree?" Engagement is a big deal for the girl's family, and they can ask for money.
"His family hasn't made any statement yet."
"It's okay if we don't get engaged. It would save us the trouble. You can find a matchmaker and ask her family how much money they want. Give them a real number, and then you can pay them directly and bring my aunt over to avoid any more trouble."
"But I have no money."
"You don't have money, but I do. But remember to pay it back."
Isn't it just about getting married? If Jiang Xue's father forces her again, she can throw money at him. Wan Feng estimates that 500 yuan is enough to knock him out.
While eating, grandma, who was feeling conflicted, told grandpa about her aunt's story.
After hearing this, the grandfather said, "Ask my grandson and let him make some decisions."
"He has taken everything and asked the Jiang family to prepare for the engagement."
Grandpa squeaked and took a sip of wine: "That's all, don't worry about it."
After grandpa spoke, grandma fell silent.
When my aunt eats, even her back teeth are smiling.
"Laugh! If I ask for a thousand yuan as a betrothal gift for grandma, I wonder if you can still laugh."
My aunt was petrified immediately.
Prestige is very important. Wan Feng has become the backbone of my grandfather's family.
After lunch, Wan Feng walked into the ditch with his electronic watch in his pocket. When he arrived at the construction site of the commune construction team, he saw that the construction team was having a meal.
Most of these workers came from various brigades of the Yongshi Commune. They all brought their own meals from home, and Old Li would heat them up in the two pots at the team headquarters.
Xue Jianguo stood on the side of the road with his hands behind his back, watching the workers eating at the construction site.
Wan Feng came to Xue Jianguo and asked, "Boss Xue, have you eaten?"
"Not yet, I'll go back and eat."
"It's a pity there's no restaurant here. If there were one, we could go in and have a meal."
Xue Jianguo had been in Wahou for three or four days and had heard of Wan Feng.
"If there was a restaurant here, you would never say that."
Of course, you would only say that if you don't have a restaurant. Of course you wouldn't say that if you have one. Even though the next meal in the restaurant will only cost a few dollars, it's still money.
"Hehe, Boss Xue, the people under you are not very good at their work. They have been digging the foundation for four or five days and haven't even dug half of it. Isn't this just slacking off?" Wan Feng changed the subject.
"A tall building starts from the ground. How can you build a house without a good foundation? Therefore, the foundation is very important. Only with a good foundation can the house be strong."
You're talking bullshit again. The commune is paying your wages, so why would you just want to dawdle for a few more days?
If they want to dawdle, let them dawdle. You don't have to worry about their food or wages, so why should you care how they dawdle?
Wan Feng chatted with Xue Jianguo for a while and then went to Luan Feng's house to hand the electronic watch to Shen Hongjun. He told Luan Feng that he would be back later and then walked towards the brick factory.
Since he made the decision on behalf of his aunt, of course he had to talk to Jiang Li about it.
Before I even got to the brick factory, I saw that it seemed to be in chaos. It seemed like some people were wrestling and fighting.
Wan Feng ran over and saw a group of people gathered in a circle at the brick factory, with someone pulling and tugging at the middle.
Someone is arguing about whether beating a dog depends on the owner.
Turning around, he saw Xiao Jun standing on the wing of the tractor, craning his neck to look, so he ran over: "What's going on?"
"Two people from your team got into a fight. It seemed like it was about something like a dog or a cow."
Wan Feng hasn't seen his teammates fight since he arrived in Wa, so he must take a good look at this.
Wan Feng also wanted to stand on the tractor, but he was worried that he would be so excited that he would forget his feet and fall down, which would cause a concussion. So he gave up the idea of watching the scenery from the tractor and ran to the night watchman's room to drag the old night watchman's chair over.
"Make way, everyone. You're all standing in the front, so the people behind you won't be able to see clearly."
The people inside made way for him, and Wan Feng carried a chair to a distance of about ten meters from the people in the center of the fight. He put the chair on the ground and sat on it, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.
Although he doesn't smoke, he has to smoke one at this time.
Some people were arguing, some were trying to break up the fight, and only Mr. Wan Feng Daban was sitting on a chair like a weirdo, watching the fun, with his hands stretched out in front of him, as if he was ready to applaud at any moment.
The people who were trying to stop the fight dispersed first when they saw Wan Feng. The two people who were pulling the collars and hair also let go of their hands in boredom when they saw Wan Feng.
"Ah! You're not going to beat me anymore? Shit! I ran over ten meters to get a chair from the watch room. Is that easy for me? I just sat down and you're not going to beat me anymore? No, you're going to beat me for another ten minutes."
Wan Feng was unhappy. These people were too disrespectful. I finally got a chance to watch a show, but they refused to perform.
The onlookers were at a loss for words, wondering how could they expect the other party to continue fighting even after they were pulling like this.
The two parties involved came to Wan Feng hesitantly and said, "Nephew, please give us your opinion on this matter."
"Go to Zhang Hai for the verdict. I'm just here to watch the show."
"Zhang Hai has been to the commune and hasn't come back yet. You are the only one who can judge the situation here."
No wonder I didn’t see Zhang Hai.
"I don't care. I'm really upset that you didn't let me see the show. How about you two fight again, and then I'll judge after I've had enough fun? If you make me happy, I'll give you money."
The two main players realized that Wan Feng's words were not in their right taste. They looked at each other and shook their heads: "No more fighting."
"Not fighting anymore? Are you sure you don't want to fight anymore?"
"I really don't want to fight anymore."
Wan Feng stood up from his chair, his expression turning grim. "I'm not saying anything bad about you two. If you were eighteen or twenty-three, your fight would be just that. It's normal for young people to have some friction. But look at you two, you're probably seventy or eighty years old between you. I have to call you uncle and grandpa, and you came here to start a fight? Tell me, did you seduce his wife, or did he seduce yours?"
There was a burst of laughter in the crowd.
Two middle-aged women who hurried over from outside the crowd had green faces. They were shot while lying down.