These days, it is really not easy to travel far away.
Many people have never even been to the county where they live in their entire lives, let alone take a train across thousands of miles to another province.
It is not popular to go south to work nowadays. The famous Shenzhen is still an unknown fishing village.
It was not until a few years later that the old man drew a circle here, and a future world-class city would rise from here.
It was at that time that train stations across the country began to enter into truly busy business.
The current Beijing Railway Station is far less messy and congested than it was in later generations.
Those who can get on the train at this time are either cadres on business trips or people visiting relatives.
Train tickets are not cheap either. For example, there is no direct train from Beijing to Baishan County. You have to first take a train to Chuncheng City and then transfer to another train.
It is about one thousand kilometers from Beijing to Chuncheng. The train ticket price at that time was about one cent and a half per kilometer, so the hard seat ticket from Beijing to Chuncheng was fifteen yuan. If it was a hard sleeper, the ticket price would double to thirty yuan.
It may seem cheap now, but it was quite expensive at the time.
The national average wage in 1977 was 576 yuan per year, equivalent to 48 yuan per month.
But this is the income level of urban employees, which includes government employees and employees of enterprises, institutions and factories.
In terms of the price of gold, 50 yuan at that time is equivalent to about 7,000 yuan today.
But for farmers, the average annual income is just over 100 yuan, and most of it is settled in kind.
There is almost no actual cash that can be received. In areas with good harvests and slightly developed economies, farmers can still receive dozens of yuan a year.
But in more areas, farmers work hard for the first year but don’t earn a penny.
The entire production brigade had to operate with debt and borrow money from the commune to survive.
It can be said that the vast majority of farmers in this era are still struggling on the line of poverty and food and clothing.
Hard work still cannot ensure that the family has enough food and clothing.
so……
From this perspective, a 15-yuan hard-seat train ticket is often equivalent to half of a city worker's monthly salary or half a year's labor income for a farmer.
That is quite expensive!
No wonder the cost of visiting relatives and friends is incredibly high these days.
If the two places are thousands of kilometers apart, a year's income will be lost in the round trip.
"Editor-in-Chief Yan! Actually, you don't have to sit in a hard seat with me. You are of a high enough rank to sit in a hard sleeper."
Editor Li Ying looked at Chief Editor Yan Chen, who had squeezed into the hard seat carriage with her, and said with a bit of regret in her heart.
At that time, you couldn't sit in the hard sleeper carriage just because you had money to buy a ticket. Instead, you had to have the corresponding level and only leading cadres could buy it.
As for the higher-level soft sleeper carriages, the requirements are more stringent and high, and not something that ordinary people can enjoy.
"What's the big deal? You young people can sit on the hard seats, and my old bones are not weak either!
Besides, if I take this hard seat, I can save thirty dollars for a round trip, which is my own extra allowance."
Editor-in-chief Yan Chen said without caring at all that in fact, there were many people like him in this hard seat compartment.
He could obviously sit in a hard sleeper car, and the ticket would be reimbursed by his company anyway, but he chose to sit in a hard seat.
The difference in ticket price you save is what you earn.
For many people, it's still a pretty good deal.
After Chief Editor Yan said this, Li Ying's guilt was alleviated a lot.
It is true that Editor-in-Chief Yan has a hard time. He works alone and has to support his family, so he usually saves as much as he can.
"Editor-in-chief, my cousin Xu Xiaodong and his team have already arrived in Baishan County.
They are also loyal readers of Zhong Yuejin and like the poem "Facing the Sea, Spring Flowers Bloom" very much.
When the time comes, can we let them go with us to look for Zhong Yuejin?"
The train started moving slowly, and Li Ying talked about this matter with Editor-in-Chief Yan.
"Of course! What's the big deal? It can also give Zhong Yuejin a taste of what a reader meeting is like!
By the way! Your cousin seems to have a remarkable background! Is he the child of General Xu?"
Obviously, editor-in-chief Yan Chen is very clear about Li Ying's family background.
There is no way around it. These days if you want to join a state-owned enterprise, you have to go through a political review.
As one of the leaders of Poetry Magazine, Chief Editor Yan knew about Li Ying's family relationships and structure when he joined the company.
"Yes, General Xu is my uncle. My cousins also have a poetry club. They are all descendants of generals and they like our Poetry Magazine very much."
Li Ying said proudly.
"That's great! It shows that our Poetry Magazine has a good influence and good quality.
If every issue... Oh no! If only a poet like Zhong Yuejin emerges every year, the influence of our Poetry Magazine will be even greater..."
At this point, Editor-in-Chief Yan laughed at himself and added, "But this is easier said than done! Good poets are like pearls in the ocean. You have to dive into the deep sea to dig them out. They are hard to come by!"
“Editor-in-chief, I believe! As long as our Poetry Magazine sticks to its original aspirations, more and more excellent poetry works will emerge.
There will be more and more outstanding poets like Zhong Yuejin, who will write poems that can be passed down from generation to generation..."
Li Ying said this with great enthusiasm, supporting her chin with one hand and fantasizing in her mind that more and more outstanding poets would be discovered by her in the future.
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