Chapter 24
In the countryside these days, there were neither televisions nor radios, and there were very few entertainment activities. Basically, one could only stare at the neighbors nearby, watch couples quarrel, and parents beat their children, just for fun.
Because of this, if there is any movement in a household, it will most likely be impossible to hide it.
As soon as Comrade Zheng Mei entered the village, the news that she had brought back a bicycle spread like wildfire. Everyone said that Carpenter Chen must have made a lot of money this time.
Chen Lanjun pricked up her ears while eating.
Zheng Mei smiled and said, "Really? That's good! You want to open a factory. Have you chosen a place?"
Captain Chen originally thought that Zheng Mei would definitely not be willing to do so, and he had prepared a speech before coming, ready to persuade her with both reason and emotion. But Zheng Mei showed no sign of objection, and he secretly sighed in his heart that she was indeed a person of high level.
He relaxed his tense legs, crossed them, and said, "How about the two houses on the west side of the village?"
"The two rooms where the educated youth originally lived?"
"Yes! It's empty now, you can use it after cleaning it up."
"That's good. Let's see if tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I'll take our old Chen to clean the house."
Captain Chen's old face smiled. Seeing Zheng Mei's active support for the work, he returned the favor and said, "Don't worry, it was you who came up with this idea. When we go to the commune, I will recommend you to be the director of the furniture factory in Fushui Brigade!"
He pointed at Chen Zhisheng and said, "Zhisheng will be the chief engineer!"
Chen Lanjun silently picked up the bowl to hide her smile.
Yes, my parents became the factory director and chief engineer respectively in two leaky and missing tile adobe houses.
Zheng Mei glared at her imperceptibly, her eyes full of warnings like "Don't laugh out loud, you damn girl!" She turned around, still looking happy: "Really? The captain is really taking good care of our family!"
"The organization will never treat you, a good comrade who is dedicated to the public, unfairly."
…
After a round of business exchanging compliments, Captain Chen went home humming the cheerful tune of "The sun sets in the west and the clouds are flying".
After confirming that Captain Chen had gone far away, Zheng Mei glanced at Chen Lanjun and asked, "Why did you look so weird just now?"
Chen Lanjun smiled and said, "No, I'm happy for Director Zheng and Chief Engineer Chen."
The ups and downs of the tone made the younger sister laugh, and she also learned to say "Director Zheng" and "Chief Engineer Chen".
Chen Zhisheng wanted to laugh but was afraid that his wife would be angry, so he silently picked up the bowl and shrugged his shoulders.
"You guys!" Zheng Mei wanted to scold them, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth rise wildly.
Chen Lanjun smiled and said, "But, Mom, you are really willing to give. For the commune-brigade enterprises, at least 50% of the profits must be turned over."
"If you don't 'give up', you won't 'get'." Zheng Mei took the opportunity to teach her daughter, "Our business was started thanks to the team. If you refuse outright, they will have plenty of ways to make things difficult for you."
"Besides, if it was just a few dozen yuan, it would be fine, but this month it's 300 yuan! To be honest, I can't sleep well, for fear of something going wrong, because I'm the first to get caught." Zheng Mei said, "With the commune-brigade enterprise, everyone can make money, even if it's less, but at least it will last for a long time. As a person, you can't take all the good things in the world by yourself."
Chen Lanjun was a little surprised. She only understood this truth after she hit a wall. There are more such cases in rural areas where people are not yet rich.
Chen Lanjun had heard that at the beginning of the reform and opening up, a village family became rich by raising fish through hard work. The fish fry of his family were fatter, bigger and grew faster than those of other families in the village. But on the day when the pond was dried up and fish were caught, this family walked to the fish pond with joy, but what they saw was the white water surface full of fish belly under the dawn. The fish in the pond were all dead because someone poured poison into the fish pond at night.
Mom is much smarter than she thought, Chen Lanjun thought.
On second thought, yes, before she was reborn, she and her mother had many arguments. They were both stubborn and fought like cockfighting cocks when they met. There was no chance for them to have a heart-to-heart talk, let alone listen to her talk about these experiences. Even if she said one or two words, she was afraid that they would just ignore it and not take it to heart.
"Second sister? Why are you in a daze?"
Zheng Mei's voice brought Chen Lanjun back. She shook her head slightly, then rushed over and hugged Zheng Mei's neck.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
"Mom - it's true that a tiger daughter has no dog mother."
"Chen Lanjun! Who are you scolding?"
Chen Lanjun, who became a rich second-generation overnight, suddenly became lazy. She almost slept through the weekend, but she remembered her promise to her classmates and printed out enough study materials.
With a bicycle, she was able to shorten the time she spent on going to school from home. As a result, she was late.
Xiaonian was almost looking forward to it. When he saw Chen Lanjun, it was just like Wang Baochuan, who had been waiting in the cold kiln for eighteen years, seeing Xue Rengui.
"Why did you come just now?"
"Something happened at home."
Chen Lanjun handed her the study materials she brought with her: "Please help give them the materials. However, this is the last batch of study materials. There will be no more after this."
"No more? But we still have classmates..."
"Really not."
At least until a proper copier comes out, Chen Lanjun doesn't plan to do this small business.
Without means of production, her productivity really cannot keep up. Her hands are as black as bear claws, and she can't make much money.
Moreover, Chen Lanjun had always been a little worried that in this era when intellectual property rights were virtually non-existent, the key points she had worked so hard to sort out might be easily copied by others. In this era, there were countless handwritten books or study materials. Now, it was only because they were all students with a high sense of morality, and because they were circulated in a small circle and had the habit of hiding study materials that the rules she had set were followed.
But if you really want to make money, you have to expand your business; once it expands, Chen Lanjun will definitely not be able to control it. Not to mention her, even a great writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature would not be able to control it.
A few years later, Gabriel García Márquez, the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude, came to China happily. He saw pirated copies of his books all over the streets. He was so angry that he swore: Even if I die for 100 years, I will never authorize China to publish my works!
It’s frustrating just thinking about it.
Now that she has her parents to support her, why are they not allowing her to take a few days off?
Chen Lanjun stopped doing it with a clear conscience, and studied honestly from 8 am to 9 pm, occasionally doing some after-sales service, and talking about study ideas and problem-solving methods in the "unorganized and undisciplined study group" she led. The rest of the time, she ate well and slept well, vowing to make up for the sleep she had missed before.
After two rains, the whole campus was filled with chill. Winter had arrived. Although we were in the south, the leaves on campus were still green, but the weather was much cooler, and getting up became difficult.
When the first alarm rang, although Chen Lanjun woke up, she still wanted to stay in bed for a while.
The fluffed cotton quilt was light and soft, like a cloud. Chen Lanjun was dozing off when she suddenly heard Xiaonian shout angrily, "Explain to me, what is this?"
"You stole my information and copied it!"
Chen Lanjun slowly opened her eyes and saw Xiaonian with one hand on his waist, holding a handwritten copy of study materials in the other, his face full of anger.
Xiaonian's anger was directed at another roommate, a girl named Ajing.
Although they were all from the countryside, the relationship between Ah Jing and Xiao Nian and others was always mediocre. The main reason was that Ah Jing had accepted money from Liu Li to do duty for her. After that incident, although Cao Hongyao did not say anything, Xiao Nian always disliked Ah Jing and called her a "little traitor" behind her back.
"sorry."
Ah Jing lowered her head, her short hair falling down to cover her face. Facing Xiaonian's anger, she just stammered and apologized repeatedly.
"How could you steal my study materials and copy them?" Xiaonian was furious. "I spent a lot of money and effort to get these study materials!"
Roommates also condemned:
"How could you steal Xiaonian's information and copy it?"
"Ajing, this is really not good."
“This is too much!”
Chen Lanjun was completely awake, and after listening for a while, she did not get up. To be honest, this kind of thing, whether she showed up or not, was quite difficult.
Forget it, let’s wait and see the situation first.
Ah Jing still kept her head down and just apologized.
"I'm sorry, it's really my fault."
"What's the use of you saying sorry...I really..."
Xiaonian was so angry that he tore up the study materials with a loud bang: "If I find you again, I will report you to the teacher and let the whole school know that you are a thief!"
The fragments were scattered all over the ground, falling to the ground.
A week later, Ajing didn't come to school.
On the first day that Ajing was not here, Xiaonian told Chen Lanjun bad things about her.
But Ajing didn't come on the second and the day after, and Xiaonian felt a little uneasy.
"No way, she did something wrong. I... I didn't hit her! This matter hasn't been spread to anyone. She shouldn't be afraid to come to school because of this, right?" Xiaonian complained to Chen Lanjun, "What's wrong with this person?"
Chen Lanjun was also a little worried. Ajing was a very good student and had never been late or left early before.
Did something happen?
The two went to ask squad leader Cao Hongyao, but Cao Hongyao didn't know either: "Ajing doesn't like to talk much. After that quarrel, she always hides when she sees me."
Liu Li happened to pass by, Xiao Nian hesitated for a second, and with the idea of trying everything possible, he called out to her: "Liu Li, do you know why A Jing didn't come to school?"
"Who?" Liu Li was confused. After realizing what was going on, he said, "How would I know? We're not familiar with each other."
"She is helping you with your duty."
Liu Li rolled his eyes: "You scolded me for this, and you still think she is a 'helper'? She is just short of money, okay?"
It seemed that the two of them were not on the same page and were about to start arguing.
Chen Lanjun quickly mediated, holding Xiaonian's arm and saying, "Forget it, Hongyao, Xiaonian, let's go ask Teacher Qin."
Seeing how seriously they took it, Liu Li also became curious, so he picked up an English exercise book and followed behind, under the pretext of asking Teacher Qin some questions.
It kept raining and there was a damp, unpleasant smell in the office.
Teacher Qin listened to their purpose, and the blue ink pen she was writing the lesson plan with was suspended in the air.
"You can ask Ajing."
Teacher Qin raised her head and sighed softly: "She applied to drop out of school, saying...she wants to get married."
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