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....
Wan Feng thought that Luan Feng was not here to eat, she was planning to eat him. Her fierce gaze made him feel like he was going to become food.
Is the fire in this woman's heart about to explode?
I, a man, am not that passionate, why are you so passionate?
After dinner, Wan Feng went to Luan Feng's room, climbed onto the kang and lay down. Feeling a little tired, he wanted to rest for a while.
Luan Feng pulled a pillow and a quilt for him, and he fell asleep in a daze on the kang.
He probably slept for more than half an hour when his classmates who came to pick up the couplets arrived.
Yesterday, there were less than 200 sets of couplets picked up, so today's task is relatively simple. He just needs to pick up 300 more sets and he will be done. He doesn't think the sales volume of Gushan Market will be better than that of Black Lagoon.
Thanks to yesterday's experience, the students all knew how to operate it, so Wan Feng did not do it again. Instead, he walked out of the house and planned to go into the sewing workshop to take a look.
As soon as I walked out of the house, I saw people from the Wahou team walking towards the team headquarters in groups of three or five, and a question mark appeared in my head.
Why does this scene look like a big play, but there is no stage?
Wan Feng stood at the west wall of Luan Feng and stretched his head to look at the team headquarters. He saw that the yard of the team headquarters was full of members from Wahou.
What is Zhang Hai up to now?
Wan Feng wanted to go over and take a look, but there were more than a dozen classmates working in the room, so he gave up the idea of going over.
At around 1:30, after the students had picked up all the couplets they were supposed to, and went home, Wan Feng was finally able to hang out at the team headquarters.
When he reached the gate of the team headquarters, some people had already come out of the team headquarters. One of them was holding a stack of not very thick banknotes and was counting the money with spit.
It turned out to be the starting salary.
The members have been busy for a year, and today they finally know how much money they have earned this year.
This is meaningless. Wan Feng was about to turn around and go back, but then he remembered that he also had money. Even though it was like a grasshopper's leg, it was the money he deserved. So he walked into the yard with a heroic and confident look.
In the yard, Wan Feng saw his second uncle and Xiao Jun.
All these people from other teams got the news that they would be paid, but he, a person who lived in Wahou, didn't even know about it. Wan Feng felt that he was discriminated against, and he had to talk to Zhang Hai about this.
Wan Feng's second uncle Wu Qing bid more than 180 yuan and came out of the team headquarters with a happy smile on his face.
Although he did not start working in the brick and tile factory from the beginning, the work he did was the highest-level work, which meant the most strenuous work, so he earned nearly 200 yuan.
He originally worked as a temporary worker in a cement factory, earning more than 20 yuan a month, and that was all he could earn in half a year.
Now he earns a job at the Wahou Brick and Tile Factory, and Wan Feng's second aunt also does some small jobs for Luan Feng at home, earning more than ten yuan a month. This year, his family's total income has exceeded two hundred yuan.
In the countryside in 1981, earning this much money in just half a year was a huge sum of money.
Because Xiao Jun arrived at the brick factory late, he only paid about 100 yuan.
When he came out to get the money, he met Wan Feng.
"Are you going to stay home after the holidays?"
"What else can I do? Those comic books at home can bring me 30 or 50 cents a day, so I do this every day."
"Tomorrow my classmates and I are going to your Gushan market to sell couplets. Would you like to take part?"
Xiao Jun immediately perked up: "There's a sale, count it! Of course I have to count it, what are you selling?"
Wan Feng rolled his eyes at Xiao Jun and said, "You idiot! I told you I'm selling couplets, but don't hold your hopes too high. You can only make a few bucks a day."
"Selling couplets? That's fine. Staying at home is boring, so it's nice to have something to do."
Xiao Jun was in a hurry to go back, so he chatted with Wan Feng for a few minutes and then left.
When there were fewer people collecting wages, Wan Feng walked into the team headquarters with a swagger.
"Damn, you actually came here on your own initiative when it was time to collect the money." Zhang Hai teased Wan Feng.
Wan Feng made a gesture of twisting the money, so the accountant pushed a small stack of money in front of Wan Feng.
Wan Feng counted them and said, "Fuck, that's just a few. Captain Zhang, did you embezzle my money?"
Zhang Hai didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I gave you this based on the mid-range price, that's all. How much more do you want? I'm the same as you."
Mid-level work points are the same level as those of women, which is more than 140 yuan, not a small amount.
Upon hearing that Zhang Hai was at the same level as him, Wan Feng instantly felt balanced.
"Don't go, I still have something to ask you." Seeing Wan Feng was about to leave after taking the money, Zhang Hai hurriedly stopped him.
"It's so cold in this room, only an idiot would talk to you here. Let's talk tonight."
A few days ago, when the Third Construction Team was working here, the team headquarters was converted into a place for workers to live. Now there is no fire, so Wan Feng will not freeze here.
When I returned to my grandma's house, she was sitting on the kang, covered with a quilt, sewing an apron.
"Grandma, I bought so much firewood but you didn't burn it. What's the point of covering yourself with a quilt on the kang?" Wan Feng also climbed onto the kang and put his feet into the quilt.
"Now that everything is burned, what should we do next?"
The old man's head is just confused. The older the firewood gets, the worse it gets. The heat it emits and the shorter its burning time will be. What kind of calculation are they making?
Wan Feng had no intention of changing his grandmother's ideas. Their ideas had been formed for decades and were basically deeply rooted and could not be changed with a few words.
He took out the wages he had just received from the team headquarters from his pocket, counted out ten ten-yuan bills and stuffed them into grandma's pocket.
"This is the salary the team gave me. This hundred yuan is for you to support your back."
"Giving money now? Isn't it still early for the New Year?"
"Who said it was for New Year's money? It's for your waist now. You and my grandfather are old. Just buy whatever you want to eat. Don't be stingy. I still have some money after you spend it."
Grandma was so happy that her forehead wrinkles disappeared. She looked at the time and went to the field to start cooking.
Wan Feng went into the inner room and counted out three hundred electronic watches. Qingshan asked for some.
Zhang Xian has been staying in Qingshan since returning from Bohai. He hasn't been back for two or three days. The letter was brought back by Zhang Guangpu, who will come to pick up these watches later.
Zhu Ping came over quietly from his room.
"Find something for my uncle to do, so he can earn some money for the New Year."
Because we live in a shared house, most of the money my uncle earns has to be handed over to the family and distributed by my grandmother.
Therefore, even though he had just received his wages and had very little money in his pocket, he was not as good as Jiang Xue in this respect. At least the money Jiang Xue earned from working for Luan Feng was her own and she did not have to hand it over.
Wan Feng understood his uncle's desire to get some money for the New Year.
But he didn't plan to give it to him for free, because that would make him a lazy man. If he wanted to make money, he had to work hard himself and not expect pie to fall from the sky.
Wan Feng shook the electronic watch in his hand and asked, "Can this be sold?"
Zhu Ping shook his head like a Dutch windmill.