"Aunt Miao, your little treasure is back. He is at the entrance of the village now. He also brought you a TV."
Old Mrs. Miao was feeding chickens in the yard when a woman from the same village ran out of the yard with great joy and said to her, "Your little treasure has made it big. I took a look and it's a full 17 inches. My nephew's TV in the provincial capital isn't that big. You two old people are going to enjoy a good life."
There was a hint of envy in the woman's words. When the eldest son of the Jiang family and his wife gave birth to four daughters in a row, many people in the village gossiped behind their backs, saying that the eldest son of the Jiang family would become extinct. It turned out that the reason they had such a long time to give birth to this son was because they had saved up their best blessings for the youngest son.
"Xiaobao is back and we bought a TV for our family. How much money will this cost?" Old Mrs. Miao complained in her words, but her face was beaming with joy. She put down the winnowing basket in her hand, and a group of fat hens and roosters swarmed over and pecked at the food in the winnowing basket. Old Mrs. Miao casually wiped her hands on her clothes and had no time to wash them.
"At the entrance of the village, right? I'll be there right away. Auntie, thank you for notifying me. Come to my house for dinner tomorrow." Old Mrs. Miao had no time to exchange pleasantries. She hurried out without even bothering to lock the door.
At this time, there were already many people gathered at the entrance of Qingshan Village. Jiang Yiluo came back without informing his family in advance because he and Ouyang Huzi still had some things to discuss, and the other party had a car, so he could ask him to take him back to the village.
Just then, people who were working in the fields came back and saw Jiang Yilu getting off the truck with big and small bags. They surrounded him curiously.
"Xiaobao, why did you come back just now? Didn't the college students have their holidays long ago?" A middle-aged man who was nominally Jiang Yilu's cousin asked, carrying a hoe.
"I went out for a while and just came back after finishing my work." Jiang Yilu didn't elaborate.
"Oh, this is a TV, wow." The villagers gathered around the things Jiang Yilu brought to look at them. Among them, there was a TV in a large cardboard box, which made everyone exclaim.
Qingshan Village is a remote place, and electricity was only available two years ago. Some frugal families are reluctant to spend money on electricity, and still often use kerosene lamps for lighting. It is the early 1980s, and black and white TVs are not yet popular. A small 12-inch TV set costs several hundred yuan in addition to the TV ticket. It is simply not affordable for ordinary farmers. Even if they have the money, they are reluctant to spend it.
Therefore, even though electricity has been connected, no household in the village has bought a TV yet.
The first thing Jiang Yilu bought was a 17-inch TV, which was enough to make the villagers dumbfounded.
"This thing is not cheap, is it?" a villager asked tentatively.
"Seven hundred yuan, Shanghai Xinghuo brand, the TV and plane tickets cost two hundred yuan." Jiang Yilu was talking about the market price. He sold all the color TVs he bought from Gangcheng in Shenzhen and bought a black and white TV from Haicheng. This was a clear solution. Even if Grandpa Ruan came to his house in the future, he would not notice anything wrong.
Most of the TV sets on the market now are 12-inch and 14-inch, because they are cheaper and easier to be accepted by the public. For example, the smallest 9-inch black and white TV set only costs more than 200 yuan. Compared with the popular color TVs in the past few years, the price of black and white TV sets is extremely reasonable. The 17-inch screen that Jiang Yilu bought is the largest screen he has found, although it is not that big in the eyes of later generations. It is said that there are 21-inch ones now, but Jiang Yilu has not found them.
It's not that Jiang Yilu didn't want to show his family the color TV he bought in Hong Kong, but there are probably only a few color TVs in the country now, and the production line hasn't even come out yet. Moreover, the domestic channels now broadcast black-and-white movies. Even if you have a color TV, it's no different from watching black-and-white TV.
"You are now rich, your grandparents are so lucky."
After hearing the price, everyone took a deep breath. Who could afford such an expensive TV? They could have built a few more brick houses. I heard that the grandson of the Jiang family started a small business outside and spent a lot of money to buy vegetables in the village. It seems that he made a lot of money.
Jiang Yilu asked Old Lady Miao to collect vegetables in the village to make pickles. The price she gave him was higher than that sold at the purchasing station, and there was no need to transport the vegetables to the county town. Now every household is working hard to grow vegetables, and every year they can earn a few dozen yuan more than selling to the purchasing station. It may not seem like much, but it is a considerable income for farmers.
Looking at the TV in front of me, at first I thought that Jiang Yilu was not studying hard, but was tinkering with the unconventional business of individual business. The village name became active.
"People really don't know how to be talked about. I was just talking about you two old people, and you came." Old Mrs. Miao hurried over, and the villagers smiled and made way for her.
"You kid, you ran outside without saying a word. Grandma was worried that you wouldn't come back for the New Year." Old Mrs. Miao didn't have time to look at the legendary TV brought by her grandson. She looked at the man carefully first. She was relieved to find that he was not thin or injured.
"Aunt Miao, Ren Xiaobao brought you a TV. Are there any other good things?" Everyone saw that there were quite a few bags and wanted to take a few more looks.
"Alright, alright, why don't you go back to eat? You guys aren't hungry, but my grandson is. It's so cold outside, what if our little treasure gets frozen?" Old Lady Miao urged the blind date who were watching the fun on the side like an old hen protecting her cubs, "Wait until we get home to see if Dahai and Dongmei are still in the field. I'll go call them and ask them to help move the things."
"In the field, Aunt Miao, I'll go get someone for you."
"There are so many things. Let us help you move them."
The villagers were talking about it. Although everyone was gossiping and loved to watch the fun, they were not bad people at heart. They were all from the same village and came up to help.
"Okay." Old Mrs. Miao was not pretentious. Everyone in the village was like this. You help me today, and I help you tomorrow. Except for those who are annoying, everyone else is happy to help each other.
Jiang Dahai and Gu Dongmei had just been called over from the fields when the things on the ground had already been moved away by the enthusiastic villagers, leaving only Jiang Yilu's small suitcase. If he hadn't insisted on taking it himself, I'm afraid those uncles would have helped him move it away.
"Xiaobao is back, and I heard he bought a TV."
In the middle of winter, Jiang Dahai and Gu Dongmei came out of the fields sweating profusely, their trouser legs were covered with mud, and they were holding hoes and sickles in their hands.
"Dad, Mom," Jiang Yilu called out.
"Where is the thing?" Jiang Dahai looked around but didn't see any trace of the TV.
"I moved back home a long time ago. You and Dongmei should hurry back as well. There must be a lot of people around the house." Old Lady Miao thought to herself and urged Jiang Dahai and Gu Dongmei, "You two go to Ge Dazhuang at the village entrance to buy a piece of pork and some pig leg bones. If there are pig livers and pig hearts, buy them too. I'll stew some pig hearts for Xiaobao."
"Just owe him the money for now. I'll go to his house and pay him when I'm free in the afternoon." Thinking that neither of them brought any money, Old Mrs. Miao asked them to keep the account first.
"Okay, Mom, I'll go. Dahai will go back with you. We've already bought a TV, and Dahai is the only one among us who knows how to install it." Gu Dongmei nodded in agreement.
“That’s right.” Old Mrs. Miao nodded. When Dazhen’s family installed a TV, Dahai went to help and knew how to install the TV.
"Our little treasure is really capable. He even bought a TV for our family." Old Mrs. Miao held her grandson's hand and refused to let go. "So how is your business going? Did you make a lot of money?"
Jiang Yilu was about to answer when the old lady quickly muttered a few words: "No, let's talk about these things when we get home. Be careful not to be heard by others." The old lady covered her mouth and looked around, looking cautious.
Jiang Yilu smiled. He didn't know why there was something so special about this that shouldn't be known to others. But since the old lady thought so, he would go back and talk about it later.
When they got home, there were indeed a lot of people crowded outside their yard. In addition to the people they met at the village entrance at the beginning, there were also many people who came after hearing the news.
Jiang Yilu underestimated the impact of this black and white TV on the villagers. After all, compared to color TVs, this TV was not too expensive. Many people in the city also bought one, but for the villagers of Qingshan Village, it was still unique. Some people had never seen a TV in their lives, and only heard about it from some villagers who had relatives in the city. When they heard that the Jiang family had bought a TV, they rushed from home to watch the fun. Some even had their rice bowls in their hands, and they hurried over before they finished their meals.
For a moment, the Jiang family was even more lively than during the New Year's Day.
"Come on, come on, have some candy." Jiang Yilu took out a bag of candy and distributed it to the children who were watching the fun.
The conditions of the people in this village are better now. The children are all plump, unlike a few years ago when they were all as thin as firewood sticks. However, the children in the village are all naughty. Others are white and plump, but they are black and plump.
"Brother Xiaobao, can you play movies on the TV?"
"I want to watch Little Soldier Zhang Ga."
"I want to watch Tunnel Warfare"
"No, I want to see the White-Haired Girl. She's pretty."
A group of little kids were chattering and happily eating candies while talking about the movies they had watched. Everyone wanted to watch a different movie and they were almost about to start quarreling.
Jiang Yilu did not get involved in the children's quarrel. Rural children are all like this. They quarrel a lot, and the more they quarrel, the better their relationship is. Even if there is a big quarrel, the adults will not care. As long as it is not too excessive, no one will pay attention to the children's quarrel.
"Where should we put this TV?" Jiang Dahai followed the villagers to carry the TV out, looked around the house, and asked in confusion.
"Need I ask? Of course it's in Xiaobao's room!" The old lady patted her son, angry at his pig head.
"No." Jiang Yiliu quickly refused. Looking at the attitude of the villagers, he was ready for a "grand occasion" of a group of people watching TV at home every night. If the TV was placed in his room, he would probably have no peace and quiet.
"Let's put it in the main room. It's spacious here." Jiang Yilu said after thinking for a while.
"Okay, let's put it outside." The old lady was worried that it was not safe to put this valuable TV outside. She thought that instead of putting it in her grandson's room, it would be better to put it in their room. She said this hesitantly and reluctantly.
She directed the villagers to bring a low cabinet from the house and placed the TV on it. Jiang Dahai then climbed onto the roof to install the antenna. After more than half an hour, the TV was finally installed and Jiang Dahai was sweating from the busy work.
Everyone watched Jiang Yilu's actions with wide eyes, waiting for the moment he turned on the TV.
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