The two men were from the city's bicycle factory and had been tasked with delivering bicycles to a state-owned store in the provincial capital.
Lin Guoqing handed the address and letter of introduction written by the master chef to the young man. He took a look and found that this food station was on the same road as the state-owned store they were going to, and it was even a little further away.
Ye Juncai folded the letter and returned it to Lin Guoqing. "Brother, just sit back and relax. We can deliver it directly to the food station."
Lin Guoqing thanked him repeatedly, then held his basket and sat as close to the side as possible. He placed one basket at his feet, and Ye Juncai placed the other on his lap. Lin Guoqing felt very embarrassed.
"Brother, why don't you give me this basket? I'll just stack it on top. Your clothes look very expensive. The mushrooms in this basket haven't been washed yet..."
Ye Juncai smiled heartily and said it was okay.
"You're delivering to the food station, aren't you? How can you deliver if your clothes are already washed? Besides, you sweat a lot in the summer, and you're supposed to wash your clothes when you get home. What's the big deal if they're a little dirty?"
Ye Juncai was much more amiable than Lin Guoqing had imagined, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. He felt like he had run into Old Shi. After all, there were more good people in the city, right?
The driver didn't talk much, so Ye Juncai called him Lao Liu, and Lin Guoqing politely called him Brother Liu. It was mostly Ye Juncai who chatted with him along the way.
As they chatted, he realized that Ye Jun was only one year older than him? Even his eldest son was two years older than his eldest daughter.
Lin Guoqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He just called himself "big brother" and he called him "little brother" all the way. To put it bluntly, he looked old because he had been exposed to the sun in the fields for too long.
Ye Juncai was also a little embarrassed. "Big... um, we are only one year apart in age, there's no need for so much formality. Let's just call each other by our names. What do you think, National Day?"
Lin Guoqing nodded quickly, "Of course, of course."
"How are you going to get back after delivering the mushrooms during the National Day holiday?" Ye Juncai asked.
Lin Guoqing didn't know either, so he scratched his head. "First, take the bus to the suburbs, then see if there's a bus. If not, I'll just walk a bit. It should take about two hours to walk back from the suburbs."
Ye Juncai exclaimed, "A two-hour walk? This was something he had never experienced in his life. His father was the director of a bicycle factory and had worked there before liberation."
He felt that his family had had bicycles as long as he could remember, and now he could even ride on the factory truck. No one around him had ever told him that he had to walk so far. It turned out that farmers really had a hard life.
"We have to return right after unloading the bikes. If you can wait for us, we can come back together."
Lin Guoqing's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Is that okay? Isn't this too much trouble for you?"
"It's not a trouble, it's not a trouble. We're on the way anyway. You should wait for us, not us waiting for you." Ye Juncai waved his hand and helped Lin Guoqing arrange the transportation back.
"It would be much better if you had a bicycle." He then sighed again, making Old Liu next to him almost laugh out loud.
This young master is really a loser. He is from the countryside, working in the fields for a living, and can barely save a few dollars all year round. Yet he actually asks someone to buy him a bicycle?
Unexpectedly, Lin Guoqing didn't think there was anything wrong with Ye Juncai's words at all, and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you need money to buy a bicycle. Money is easy to make, but money is hard to come by!"
He was thinking about whether he should ask Lao Shi to help him get a bicycle ticket by the end of the year? No, no, no, Chunhua said that bicycles are more practical than tricycles, and their family must buy a tricycle!
Thinking of this, he turned around and asked Ye Juncai, "Hey, Juncai, does your bicycle factory produce tricycles?"
Ye Juncai was stunned for a moment, "Yes, but the production is not high, and the market demand is not as high as bicycles."
What does market demand have to do with Lin Guoqing? He actually has a real need for their tricycles. "Do you need a ticket for that tricycle?"
"No, just pay for the tricycle. No ticket required."
"How much is it?"
"Two hundred and eighty one."
In fact, a tricycle is more expensive than a bicycle. Firstly, it requires more steel materials than a bicycle, and secondly, it does not require a ticket.
These days a bicycle only costs 158 yuan, and the price of a tricycle is almost doubled. No wonder the market demand is not high.
Lin Guoqing was calculating the family's money in his mind. They had been secretly selling vegetables in Guanqian Lane for four or five months. Although they spent more on food and daily necessities than before, with the previous savings, there should be at least one hundred and fifty yuan in the drawer.
If they save for another five months, they should be able to afford a tricycle by the end of the year, and they won't have to carry baskets on their backs this winter.
Lin Guoqing was so busy rejoicing in his heart that he didn't say anything. The two people next to him thought that he wanted to buy it, but it was too expensive, so he felt a little inferior and didn't say anything.
Old Liu glanced at Ye Juncai secretly. What did he say? Why doesn’t the young master eat meat porridge?
Ye Juncai saw Lao Liu's look and felt a little surprised that he had just spoken nonsense. Just when he was about to say something to comfort Lin Guoqing, he saw Lin Guoqing asking again,
"So, if I want to buy it, should I go directly to your factory or to a state-owned store?"
Ye Juncai looked at him, a little stunned, "...then they should have bought it from a state-owned store. Our factory is only responsible for the production..."
Lin Guoqing nodded, grinning and showing off his big white teeth. "Okay, then when I save enough money, I'll go to the state-owned store."
Seeing him smile happily, Ye Juncai also laughed. This fellow was truly optimistic. He wasn't discouraged by difficulties at all, but instead faced them head-on, determined to overcome them. If all New China were like this, catching up with the US and surpassing Britain would be just around the corner!
He felt that he was moved by Lin Guoqing's spirit, and after thinking for a while, he said,
"When you've saved enough money, come see me at the Municipal Bicycle Factory! I'll see if I can give you my employee discount. You can save at least twenty or thirty bucks!"
"Really?" Lin Guoqing was surprised. There was such a thing as an employee discount? No wonder everyone in the city wanted to be a worker!
"This isn't good... That's your benefit. If you give it to me, you'll lose it..."
Ye Juncai waved his hand and said, "You're not buying a bicycle, and I don't need a tricycle. Besides, I'm not sure if I can do this. I'll have to go back and ask my dad."
Lin Guoqing stopped being pretentious. He thought, "If you can get a good deal, you're a bastard who doesn't take advantage of it. That's their profit from selling vegetables for a month! If he could really save thirty yuan, when he rode his tricycle back that day, Chen Chunhua would definitely hold his head and kiss him hard!"
Thinking of this, Lin Guoqing laughed again.
These days, I am becoming more and more hopeful!
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