135 Foreign Exchange Certificates
On the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve, a group of young people in Ginkgo Hutong gathered and ran to the entrance of the hutong to help the street office staff install electrical wires.
"Did the neighborhood committee hire someone to show movies this year?"
"It's not a movie," an older woman explained. "It's the sunflower seed king's shop. They said they're moving their color TV to the alley entrance tonight, so anyone who doesn't have a TV can come and watch it."
Guazi Wang's family has another color TV, bigger than their old one. They specifically contacted the neighborhood committee to say they wanted to give back to Ginkgo Hutong.
Regardless of their motives, everyone will have access to television.
The children ran from yard to yard, promoting "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp," which premiered that night.
When Guan Yuehe went to courtyard number two to pick up the roasted melon seeds she had ordered earlier from Luo Guifang, she saw Zhao Dama's Shunshun proudly running to the front yard to show off, "My grandma said that our family is going to buy a color TV too!"
The kids in courtyard number two got together and started yelling and shouting, not caring whether their parents agreed or not. They all boasted that they wanted to buy a color TV bigger than the biggest one in the house, even bigger than the one owned by the "Guazi Wang" family.
Guan Yuehe shook her head as she listened, quickening her pace toward the backyard. Why hadn't she noticed before that there were so many children in the No. 2 courtyard?
They're chattering away, it's giving me a headache.
"Sister Yuehe."
Guan Yuehe looked up, paused for a moment, and laughed with Luo Guifang, "I almost couldn't tell which one was Bao'an and which one was Baoning."
"Sigh! You're busy with work, and they don't come back often either. We don't see each other often, and it's been so long since I've seen them that even I, as their mother, find their faces unfamiliar." Bao'an and Bao Ning have been getting plenty of nutrition these past two years, and they've grown quite a bit taller. Their personalities have also changed somewhat. Girls change a lot as they grow up, you know.
Aunt Zhao, who was standing nearby, was also waiting to pack roasted melon seeds. Seeing that Luo Guifang's three daughters were helping with the work, she thought to herself that other people's daughters are just more considerate.
"Bao'an will have to study at a vocational school for another year. Will Bao Ning also take the college entrance examination this year?"
Bao Ning poked her head in and replied in a crisp voice, "Aunt Zhao, our school is a pilot school. High school has been changed to a three-year system, so I have to study for another year."
Guan Yuehe was surprised, "It'll be three years from now on?"
“I think so. Our school and the high school for children of employees of the machinery factory are both pilot schools, and other schools should be switching to a three-year program soon.” Bao Ning continued, “Our teacher said that we didn’t study well before, so studying for an extra year will increase our chances of getting into university.”
"Also, in the past, those who didn't pass the high school entrance exam could attend a trial high school class for a year. Now that the trial class has been canceled, those who don't pass the high school entrance exam can stay in junior high school for a year of remedial study. If they still don't pass, they can't go to high school."
Is it changed to this now?
In the past, it wasn't difficult for students to get into high school. Even if they failed the entrance exam, they could still attend a trial class for a year and then follow the high school curriculum. Basically, there weren't any major problems. The main thing was whether the parents were willing to send their children to school.
In the past, people's conditions were generally poor, and high school was expensive. More importantly, there was no guarantee of a job after graduating from high school.
Things are different now. Conditions are much better. Students who go to high school have the opportunity to take the college entrance exam. It seems that the car factory is going to establish a Sino-foreign joint venture to manufacture cars. If it succeeds, they will definitely need to recruit workers, right?
But now even getting into high school isn't guaranteed?!
Aunt Zhao scoffed, "Why are all the pilot programs being implemented at the car factory's affiliated schools? Even the primary school is being piloted, and they say they'll be changing it to a six-year system starting next year. Six years of primary school, three years of junior high and high school, plus university—that'll be over ten years of schooling!"
She felt exhausted just listening to it.
Auntie Er chuckled and said, "If our Congcong can get into university, he can study for more than ten years if he wants."
Congcong is the son of Zhang Chaonan and Hao Daren. Auntie Erda often slapped her thigh and sighed, saying that if Zhang Chaonan had had another child before ordinary workers were also required to comply with the one-child policy, it would have saved Hao Daren's parents from constantly thinking about changing Congcong's surname.
Others chimed in, "That makes sense. After working hard for over a decade, you can get a good job after graduating from university."
To say nothing of the distant past, there is a ready example of Guan Yuehe right here in the house.
They used to whisper among themselves, saying that Yuehe spent two and a half years in university, two more years in graduate school, plus primary, middle and high school, which would take more than ten years. It was really exhausting.
But looking back now, although they made a lot of trouble, they were able to get a leadership position in the Ministry of Foreign Trade!
The Lin and Guan families had kept their mouths shut before; the neighbors only knew that Guan Yuehe had been assigned to work at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but no one knew exactly what she did. It wasn't until Guan Yuehe appeared in the newspaper that someone dug it up—she's now a section chief! And a full-fledged one at that!
Even if they can't be assigned to a leadership position, it would be great to return to the factory as a technical expert like Xie Zhenhua.
"By the way, which unit did Zhang Desheng get assigned to?" Aunt Zhao suddenly remembered and added, "Last time someone came to our Lao Chang and said they wanted to introduce Zhang Quanbin to a girl. I think they were just after Zhang Desheng."
But no one knew which unit Zhang Desheng had been assigned to.
Guan Yuehe had prepared her portion of roasted melon seeds early on, and just to hear the gossip, she stayed at Luo Guifang's house for more than half an hour.
If Lin Yiku hadn't come looking for her, she could have continued listening; a small pile of sunflower seed shells had accumulated on the small table next to her.
No sooner had they left than Aunt Kang said, "That couple is so inseparable, they're both so busy, I wonder when they'll have a child."
"They've had a child, are you going to help take care of it?" Aunt Bai rolled her eyes. "Their own parents aren't even urging them, why are you, an outsider, worrying about it?"
Aunt Kang felt embarrassed and fell silent.
Aunt Zhao casually asked Aunt Bai, "Your Yuejin has found someone, but why hasn't Xiang Hong made any moves yet?"
"Can I force her to not want to talk? If you have someone suitable, you can introduce her to them."
As Aunt Bai spoke, she remembered that she had once considered having Xiang Hong and Chang Zhengyi date. Years had passed, and Chang Zhengyi's eldest son was already in third grade, but her Xiang Hong still didn't have a boyfriend.
"I'm not chatting anymore, I'm going home to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner."
Aunt Zhao frowned and muttered, "For no reason, she gets angry so easily. It's true that getting old makes her more irritable."
Just as he finished speaking, they heard firecrackers going off in the courtyard. Grandpa Chang was yelling at someone, "Set off firecrackers outside the alley! What if someone gets hit if you throw them into the courtyard?"
Aunt Zhao immediately stood up, "Let me see which bastard is causing this trouble?!"
When they went outside, they saw that every family in the second courtyard had children involved. The older women and their wives couldn't sit still anymore. Some grabbed spatulas, while others grabbed rolling pins and started whipping the little rascals' bottoms.
When Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku were carrying their things past Courtyard No. 2, they stopped to watch for a while the "stick-fried meat" scene unfolded.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, the neighbors invited each other to go to the alley entrance to watch TV.
Guan Yuehe didn't want to be outside in the cold wind, so she and Lin Yiku stayed home to watch black and white television.
This year's Lunar New Year's Eve looks more lively, but Guan Yuehe feels that it is a bit deserted.
To accommodate Lin Sitian's schedule, her family had their New Year's Eve dinner at noon. Lin Sitian returned to the hospital for her shift at 3 PM.
Xu Cheng and Qin Zilan took the children home for lunch in the morning and left in the afternoon, saying they would stay for lunch at their home this year.
Fortunately, the TV program tonight was somewhat interesting, otherwise she would have been bored to death.
"Yuehe, the Wang family is going to set off fireworks. Come on, let's go out and take a look." Zhou Hongqi came over and knocked on the door.
"Huh? Fireworks? I have to go." Guan Yuehe, who had just felt that this year's Spring Festival was not interesting enough, sat up with a jolt, busily putting on her coat and scarf, and casually tossing Lin Yiku's coat and scarf over to him as well.
The Wang family of Guazi truly deserves its reputation as the number one dog-loving family in Ginkgo Hutong. While others set off firecrackers for the New Year, they set off fireworks!
She's never seen what fireworks look like!
When they went out, there were already crowds of people gathered at the entrance of the alley. The large circle in the middle was blocked off, preventing people from squeezing in, because they were afraid that the falling fireworks would hurt people.
Even though they are both tall, with so many people in front of them, they couldn't see into the circle no matter how high they stood!
After a short while, Lin Yiku held onto the ladder and waited for her to wave a flashlight down and beckon him to come up before he climbed up the ladder.
The two sat on the rooftop, able to clearly see the circle that surrounded them.
The wind is stronger on the roof than down below.
After settling in, Guan Yuehe turned off the flashlight. "We can't let them find out. Our roof can't hold that many people."
If the chair collapses, the two of them will have to sleep in the cold wind tonight.
Guan Yuehe sat next to Lin Yiku, her heart pounding with joy, having found yet another advantage of the house she had bought at great expense.
“Our house is in a good location. If anything happens at the entrance of the alley, we can see it clearly from the roof.”
"Oh dear, Sitian and Xu Cheng missed out on the big excitement," Guan Yuehe said gleefully.
Next, Zhou Hongqi and Jin Junwei, who were waiting to watch the fireworks, picked up Yuanbao. Yuanbao shouted excitedly, and when he turned around, he saw two people sitting on the roof of Guan Yuehe's house.
"Mommy, look at Auntie!"
Zhou Hongqi and Jin Junwei turned their heads in the direction she was pointing and saw Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku.
No wonder they didn't see the couple; they thought they had gone home because there were too many people.
"I want to go too..."
Before Yuanbao could finish speaking, someone shouted from ahead, "Ready! We're about to light some fireworks! Adults, keep a close eye on the children, don't cross this circle, everyone can see them, don't push..."
Someone in the back of the crowd impatiently urged, "Stop talking and hurry up!"
Yuanbao stopped clamoring to sit on the roof, afraid that the fireworks would be gone if he turned his head away.
A short while later, the melon seed king lit the fuse, and suddenly a beam of fire shot straight into the night sky, then burst open with a bang.
"Wow!"
The people below all looked up, opened their mouths wide, and exclaimed "Wow!"
Guan Yuehe held her breath until the fireworks disappeared before she finally exhaled.
"nice!"
But these things really don't last long. She thought back, from ignition to the fireworks disappearing, it definitely took less than two minutes. But she heard they're quite expensive.
The people below had just finished exclaiming in surprise when they heard the people in front say that there was more to be played, and that they should continue playing. The people who were about to turn back stopped in their tracks.
People in other alleys of Changhu Subdistrict seemed to have seen it too, as they could hear shouts in Ginkgo Alley: "Someone's setting off fireworks!"
The six boxes of fireworks became the biggest topic of conversation in Ginkgo Hutong this Spring Festival.
While visiting relatives and friends, some people were talking about the recently aired TV series "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp." People in Ginkgo Hutong said, "On New Year's Eve, our hutong had fireworks. Did you see them? Oh, it's such a pity if you didn't..."
When Cheng Shuang visited her home on the first day of the Lunar New Year, she also heard this "big news," which shocked Teacher Cheng.
"Yuehe, are all the people in your alley so rich?!"
Guan Yuehe laughed, pointed to herself, and said, "To be honest, a year ago, I was also a big shot in the alley."
"I figured it out a long time ago!" Cheng Shuang said, "Your Lin always brings you meat and fruit to school. Our whole dorm agrees that you're the biggest spender in the whole building."
After greeting her, Comrade Lin went out to help his neighbor set up a shed, and also made room for the two of them to talk.
Cheng Shuang recalled an amusing incident and said, "The teacher from the school's labor union said she wanted to introduce me to someone and asked what my requirements were. I said I wanted someone who could cook, had a relaxed job, and could take care of the family. The teacher said she would introduce me to an older woman who could cook another day. I thought to myself, my requirements aren't that high."
“Your requirements aren’t high. It’s just that the guy that teacher wants to introduce you to can’t cook and doesn’t have time to take care of the house.” Guan Yuehe patted her shoulder. “You have to be careful when looking for a partner, Teacher Cheng.”
"If you see anyone suitable, you can introduce them to me."
Guan Yuehe waved her hands in horror; she couldn't stand hearing someone say, "Introduce me to someone."
I don't know who spread the rumors, but they insisted that she was the one who brought Sitian and Chen Lizhong together. Several elderly people came to her asking for help in finding partners for their children.
They need someone good-looking, with a good job, and from a decent family... the requirements are quite high. Guan Yuehe suggested they burn more incense for their ancestors, hoping it might help them find a suitable candidate sooner.
She's not cut out for being a matchmaker.
"Look how scared you are."
As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Shuang noticed the photos and newspapers on the wall and quickly got up to take a closer look.
Cheng Shuang's startled expression reminded Guan Yuehe of her college roommates, who had also gasped in surprise when they visited her home.
After looking around the house, Cheng Shuang praised it repeatedly, saying that she had bought a good house and kept it very well.
"You should buy one too."
"Then forget it." Cheng Shuang waved her hand. Her parents were furious when they heard she had chosen to stay at the university as a teacher. Now they're not angry anymore and want to send her nephew and niece to me so I can arrange jobs for them. If she had an apartment, her nephew and niece would never want to leave her house again.
She now lives in a single dormitory room assigned by the school. She has a lot of books, and it's just enough for her alone. If there were any more people, there wouldn't be enough room.
Guan Yuehe was just saying it offhand.
Despite the common perception that having a property ownership certificate provides greater peace of mind, in reality, only a minority are willing to spend a large sum of money to buy a house.
I saw she bought a house before and said I wanted to buy one too, but nothing's happened yet.
"Come and have some apples, they're grown in our hometown brigade."
"Delicious!" Cheng Shuang said, "We don't have apple trees where we're from, and they're hard to buy. We have a lot of lychees, though. Have you ever tried them?"
"Round it up to say you've eaten it?" Guan Yuehe laughed. "The supply and marketing cooperative sells canned lychees."
Cheng Shuang calculated the time, but unfortunately, the lychee season was still far off during the Canton Fair.
"It's okay, I'll bring back a couple more bottles of canned lychees."
Cheng Shuang scoffed, "The canned lychees sold in Beijing are also transported from the south. It's a waste of effort to bring them back. You should have bought Coke instead. It's black soda. When I went to my advisor's house for dinner during the Spring Festival, she had Coke on display. She said it was brought back from Guangzhou."
Guan Yuehe noted it down. "Okay, I'll bring you a bottle later, and while I'm at it, I'll go back to school and get my degree certificate replaced... Why are you checking the almanac?"
Cheng Shuang continued flipping through the almanac on the wall, "Let me count... I still have to wait two months before I can drink a Coke. That's a bit long."
Actually, two months will pass in the blink of an eye.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Guan Yuehe set off with Grandpa Lin and Grandma Fang.
To make it convenient for Lin Sitian, who only had half a day off, the two families decided to meet at a state-run hotel near the Five Star Automobile Factory.
Chen Lizhong is an only child, and only his parents, his elders, came to have dinner with him this time.
Both sets of elders were amiable people. After sitting down and exchanging pleasantries for a while, they had a lot to talk about.
"Li Zhong studied at the high school for children of employees of the automobile factory. His aunt worked at the automobile factory at the time."
Upon further inquiry, Mr. Lin discovered that Yang was his old colleague. "We used to work in the same workshop. Later, when the main factory expanded, Comrade Yang was transferred to the third factory."
"Yes, yes! She was working at the third branch of the car factory at that time. After Li Zhong was sent to the countryside, she and my brother-in-law applied to go to a third-line factory in central Taiwan."
It's quite a coincidence.
Chen Lizhong got into the high school for children of employees of the automobile factory through his aunt's connections. There, he met Ding Xuewen, who was in the same grade. Later, the two were assigned to Sidaogou in Northeast China.
As the conversation continued, it was discovered that Chen Lizhong's father's classmate was also Guan Yuehe's teacher at Peking University.
"Teacher Qin is my mentor. She was your high school classmate?" Guan Yuehe asked in surprise.
After going through all this trouble, a closer look reveals quite a few "connections".
Aunt Fang smiled from ear to ear, "It just means they were meant to be."
She was already satisfied with Chen Lizhong, and after meeting his parents, who were open-minded and mild-tempered, unlike those who were troublesome, she was even more satisfied.
Chen Lizhong's parents were more satisfied.
Lin Sitian is very likable, and her parents, brother, and sister-in-law are all reasonable people.
With both sides satisfied, discussing the wedding date was a natural next step.
The elders all shared the same idea: to set a date as soon as possible, get married, and hold a wedding banquet.
But February was too rushed, and March... Lin Sitian glanced at Guan Yuehe, not forgetting that her good friend would be away on business in March, and suggested that April be the better time. In the end, they tentatively set the wedding for the second Sunday of April.
Guan Yuehe smiled at her, and when the party was over, she pulled her hand and said, "I'll bring you a Coke when I get back from my business trip to Guangzhou!"
"Hmph! With our relationship, it wouldn't be right if you weren't there." Lin Sitian asked curiously, "What's cola?"
Guan Yuehe shrugged. "Black soda? Never tried it before. We'll find out when we bring it back."
Lin Sitian laughed at her, "Director Guan, you're on a business trip, not a shopping trip!"
"My first two trips to the Canton Fair were almost like buying goods." Especially the first time I went, it was like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden. Everything was so amazing, and I wanted to bring everything back with me.
But she thought that this time she should also have a great harvest, as she had heard that there were many good things in the south.
From that day on, until the day before her business trip, Guan Yuehe worked overtime at her workplace almost every day.
She's going on a business trip for a month, and she needs to explain all her work to others.
One day during that time, Lin Sitian brought her back a small stack of foreign exchange certificates.
How did you know I wanted to exchange foreign exchange certificates?!
Foreign exchange certificates are for use by foreign guests and tourists in places catering to foreigners. Although her work involves contact with foreign businesspeople, she doesn't live or eat in such places. She heard that the Friendship Store in Guangzhou is now fully open, doesn't check IDs, and doesn't matter if you're not a foreign guest; as long as you have foreign exchange certificates, you can go in and make purchases.
Lin Sitian sighed, "Luckily I mentioned it to Chen Lizhong, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to bring back the black soda!"
Lin Sitian pointed to the foreign exchange certificates on the table, "The Coca-Cola you mentioned can only be bought at the Friendship Store. These certificates were collected by Ding Xuewen and Chen Lizhong."
Guan Yuehe really didn't know that Coca-Cola could only be bought at Friendship Store!
"Please thank them for me. They were really good tour guides; they know a lot!" Guan Yuehe said as she put away the foreign exchange certificates. She then went inside to get money, calculated the amount according to the exchange rate outside, and asked Lin Sitian to help her pass it on.
"I'll bring back a bottle of Coke for each of you!" Guan Yuehe said generously.
Having traveled all this way on a business trip, my bag is full of heavy sodas; just bringing them back is a struggle. Lin Sitian's expression was complicated. "There's no need to be so generous. Bringing one or two bottles to share is enough."
Guan Yuehe didn't listen; physical labor was no problem for her.
Author's note: Before today ends, let's [eat melon seeds] (i.e., enjoy the gossip).
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
