"oops"
Lin Tian stood up from behind the counter, stretched, and hummed.
"Director, I'm leaving first today. I have to go to the grain station later. There is no grain at home today." Lin Tian stretched his neck and shouted towards the office.
"Go ahead, I'll close the door today!" A middle-aged man's voice came from inside.
"Okay, Director, see you tomorrow!" Lin Tian responded while packing up his things. He spit out the stove behind the counter, pressed it with coal ash, poured some water on it, and put out the fire. Then he picked up the cotton jacket and hat on the shelf behind him and put them on.
Lin Tian walked to one end of the counter, lifted the partition separating the back and the front desk, and walked out from behind the counter.
"ah!"
He took a breath of the cold air outside, hummed, and the sound of snow crunching came from under his feet.
It was the winter of 1955. It snowed heavily in the capital city for a whole day. Lin Tian came out of the grocery store on the corner of Gulou Street.
It has been three months since 15-year-old Lin Tian, who just graduated from junior high school, was assigned to this grocery store by the street. The grocery store is about 30 to 40 square meters. He and a middle-aged man in his 40s named Wang Yigui are working at the counter. He was assigned to work here after retirement. He has a leg injury and walks with a limp. The weather was bad these two days so he took a leave of absence and stayed at home. The lame man is the store manager.
But because the director also works here, it is actually the director who is in charge.
For the convenience of management, the management of the grocery stores on several nearby streets worked in the room behind the grocery store. To facilitate access, the back of the grocery store was directly opened up to connect the two offices.
It was originally in the street office, but for some reason it was moved out. It was called management, but in fact there were only three people: a director, an accountant, and a purchasing and cashier.
Lin Tian looked in the direction and walked towards the grain store, sighing in his heart.
"I have inexplicably returned to seventy or eighty years ago. I don't need to talk about those past events. I will live a good life from now on. This era is definitely free of the annoyances of my previous life. I will live a good life and erase those auras that do not belong to this era from myself."
Lin Tian tightened his cotton jacket and stepped carefully on the snow. It was the third day since he came to this era. In fact, he was still a little confused. The memories of his previous life were intermittent. Fortunately, he had graduated from school and did not have to live at home. He was assigned a job.
I used to be very quiet and only said hello to my neighbors. During the two months I worked in the store, I rarely spoke. In addition, my colleague Wang Yigui took leave every few days due to health reasons, so no one noticed anything wrong.
In his previous life, Lin Tian had some understanding of this era. At that time, there were still many spies and bad elements in the capital, so people at this time were always particularly vigilant.
It was the winter of 1956, and the nearly 40-year-long coupon era had begun. Lin Tian was a light manual laborer, and he had a monthly ration of 29 jin of grain coupons, a jin of salt, and an oil coupon every month, which could buy 3 liang of cooking oil, a cake coupon, and a biscuit coupon every month, which could buy half a jin of cake and 2 liang of biscuits. As for peanuts, melon seeds, and sesame paste, they were only available during the New Year. Other side dishes on weekdays included yellow paste, tea, and edible alkali.
As for cloth coupons, cotton coupons, and shoe coupons, they were rare items. A family would have to save up for a long time to get them. After 1959, everything required tickets. It is said that there were more than 6,000 kinds of tickets in the capital at that time. It is estimated that many people living in that era had never seen so many tickets in their entire lives.
"Here you go!" The staff at the grain store was quite polite and handed over several bags of Lin Tian's food.
"Thank you!" Lin Tian said politely and took a few bags. Why a few bags? Because only a portion of the supply was flour, and a little rice. As for the rest, it was cornmeal, and sometimes there was sorghum flour and sweet potato flour, which was even more difficult to swallow.
Lin Tian walked out of the grain store, put the nearly 30-jin bag on his back, and walked home on the snow. Because the heavy snow had just stopped, Lin Tian was the only customer in the grain store, and there was no one on the street because it was not yet time to get off work.
"I should have borrowed the bicycle from home. Even though it only weighs 30 kilograms, I will probably be sweating after walking home for half an hour. I didn't eat enough before and my body doesn't have enough physical strength! It seems that the most important thing in the future is to have enough food," Lin Tian thought as he walked home with the bag on his back.
Lin Tian had not come into contact with his original body's family since he came here, but he had a general idea in his mind. Lin Tian had both parents. His mother was a worker in a textile factory, and his father was an accountant in a department store. He also had two older brothers who were already married and working, so his family conditions were pretty good.
The original body's job was arranged by someone his father found, and the original body's family was the kind that was deeply engraved with the mark of this era. After he started working, he moved out of the family home. As for later when he got married and had children, he just showed up at the family home. It was more of a matter of courtesy. The parents gave all their property to the eldest son and expected him to support them in their old age.
But Lin Tian thought about it and decided this was not a bad idea. If they lived together for a long time, the truth would probably be revealed in a few days. So his father arranged a job for him and used his connections in the street to get him a house of 30 to 40 square meters, and also arranged a civilized courtyard for him.
It was considered quite good to the original body. From then on, they separated and lived on their own. However, most families in this era are like this.
"I have finally gotten rid of the restlessness and pressure of my previous life. At least now I have a stable job and a courtyard house in Kyoto." Thinking of the warm life in the future, Lin Tian straightened his bent waist a little and grinned. Fortunately, there was no one around. This smile would still seem a bit vulgar if people saw it decades later.
After walking for more than half an hour, Lin Tian, dragging his somewhat tired body, finally returned to No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. He put the bag on the ground at the gate of the courtyard and took a rest.
Seeing the people coming over, Lin Tian slapped his head and muttered to himself, "I seem to be too happy too early. I forgot where I live!"
"Oh, you're back. What are you carrying? It looks heavy! Come here, let me help you carry it." A skinny middle-aged man came over from the other side of the gate.
Lin Tian panicked and said quickly, "No, no, this is all I have. I have no rice at home. I will go to the grain store to buy some rice before it's too early today."
After saying that, he turned the corner and ran into the yard and into the house, leaving the dumbfounded old man muttering, "I pay for it!"
Lin Tian’s house is located in the northwest corner of the backyard. It consists of a main house and a small ear room that was converted into a kitchen and utility room.
Lin Tian put all the rice and flour into the jar, packed up the bag, then went back into the house, sat on the kang, took off his coat, and wiped the sweat off his face.
I thought to myself, I can tell from just meeting the Third Uncle that the people in this yard are really dangerous. Stay away from them! Stay away from them!
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