Su Wenxing had drunk some alcohol last night and went home to cause a scene, shouting and yelling in the yard, which woke up the neighbors in the middle of the night to watch the commotion. Finally, Old Man Su spoke up, instructing Su Laoda and Su Wenye to drag Su Wenxing into the house, promising to help him get tickets for the "three turns and one sound" (a type of radio, a sewing machine, and a radio). Only then did Su Wenxing quiet down.
The next day, those who went to school went to school, and those who went to work went to work. When they came home from working in the fields for lunch, Old Man Su said to Su the eldest, "Wenxing, making a scene like this will only make you a laughing stock. Sigh, you take out your money, and your mother and I will also contribute some, so we can make enough to exchange for tickets. I'll go to the old village chief and ask if he has any tickets."
Zhao Xiaohua was reluctant to take the money, but thinking that as long as Wenxing could successfully marry the workshop director's daughter and she could live the life of a wealthy lady, she had no choice but to go back to her room to get the money. Su Laoda also dreamed of becoming the workshop director's father, so he agreed to take the money as well.
Zhao Xiaohua went back to her room, took out two hundred and sixty yuan, and handed it to Old Man Su. "Dad, this is all the money my eldest son and I have. I've kept ten yuan in case we need it." Actually, Zhao Xiaohua had kept fifty yuan. Over the years, her family had relied on Old Man Su and Old Woman Su for their livelihood, and they mostly used their money.
In addition, Old Mrs. Su frequently visited Su's father's house to take things and occasionally asked him for money. This saved the family a lot of money. Zhao Xiaohua wasn't stupid; she knew she couldn't give all the money out, since her in-laws were sure they were hiding some.
Old Mrs. Su went back to her room, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out three hundred yuan. Old Mr. Su looked at the five hundred and sixty yuan in his hand, and his heart ached. The family's money was almost gone. When his father divided the family property among his three brothers, each of them received several hundred yuan, as well as some gold and other valuables. The money was long gone, and he had taken some of the gold to town to try and sell it. He got a little over two thousand yuan, but even that was almost gone for his eldest son's family.
Old Su, shameless as ever, went to the old village chief's house. The old village chief's granddaughter-in-law opened the door for him. The old village chief, seeing him, didn't want to acknowledge him at all, thinking him senile and incompetent. Old Su was somewhat embarrassed, but remembering the purpose of his visit, he still brazenly called him "Uncle."
"Hmph!" The old village chief snorted, glancing sideways at Old Man Su. "You don't come here without a reason. Tell me, what brings you here today? Just say it directly. I don't like beating around the bush."
Old Su swallowed hard. "Uncle, I came today to ask if you have any spare tickets—tickets for bicycles, watches, or radios. If so, could I exchange money for your tickets?"
Does your family have a grandson getting married? The eldest grandson, Su Wenxing? The old village chief usually only needs these things when it's for a wedding. I have a watch voucher that's not in use. If you want to exchange it, just pay my eldest son the price of the watch; he doesn't need to take the voucher back.
"Uncle, thank you! Thank you! Please come to our house for the wedding feast and have a drink with us on Wenxing's wedding day." Old Su accepted the watch voucher given to him by the old village chief. It was a Shanghai brand watch, now worth 110 yuan. Old Su took out the money and handed it to the old village chief. "Uncle, is the amount correct?" "I need to go and see if I can get vouchers elsewhere. I'll be going now. Please remember to come to Wenxing's wedding feast."
Old Su went to the village head's house and the brigade leader's house, but couldn't get any tickets. Bicycle and radio tickets were extremely hard to come by these days; ordinary families simply couldn't get them. There were only a handful of households in the entire village with bicycles. Old Su was somewhat disappointed, but he still had to keep looking. He asked around at some of the slightly better-off families in the village, and one family told him that there was still someone in the village who should have one.
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