Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Industrial Tickets

Wenxi Township County seat.

This was the first time Wang Nian entered the county town four years and five months after traveling to this world.

The sky was gloomy, the streets were crowded, the air was filled with a choking dust, and the whole county was gray.

Wu Ying was right, the construction of the county town is indeed not as good as that of Factory 431.

Shi Xiangming was often invited by factories in the county to provide guidance on their work, so he was already familiar with the roads in the county. After getting off the station, he led Wang Nian to a small road.

"After we get the marriage certificate, we can go to the state-owned store and queue up to get a furniture ticket with our marriage certificate."

Other people's weddings are arranged by their parents and elders, but when it comes to Shi Xiangming, the two of them have to do it themselves. Even the placement of bottles and jars for the house has to be decided by Wang Nian.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Shi, they replied early that they would not attend the wedding because they were busy helping their eldest brother take care of the children.

Shi Xiangming did not feel much about this, but many rules could only cause trouble to Huang Qiuhong and his wife and Wu Ying frequently.

After Wang Nian finished listening, he quickly lowered his head to look at the military bag with the straps tucked into his chest.

The bag contained Wang Nianjia's pocket money from all those years as well as the cash that Wang Yong and his sister-in-law had given him a few days ago.

Before getting on the bus, there was an additional 500 yuan and a handful of bills given to her by Shi Xiangming in her bag.

Carrying so much money on her made Wang Nian nervous all the way, and she even stuffed the bag into her coat before getting on the bus.

"When I counted my things yesterday, I found that I didn't have a frying pan, so I wanted to buy one," said Wang Nian.

This soon-to-be-completed little home was bought up bit by bit by the two of them, and right now, except for the house, everything else in the home is almost ready.

Shi Xiangming only had two industrial coupons, and after redeeming them for a steamer and a kitchen knife and spatula, he still couldn't get a frying pan.

Wang Nian heard that there was a man who specialized in reselling various tickets in front of the state-owned store in the county, so he took all his private money and planned to try his luck.

The family belongs to two people, and we can't let Shi Xiangming pay for it all by himself.

The alleyway that the two men took a shortcut through was uneven, and many of the old intact floor tiles had been pried away, leaving only countless pits.

No matter how carefully they walked, they were still startled by a bicycle that suddenly appeared from the corner.

Ding-bells--ding-bells--

The bicycle zigzagged past the two people and finally its tire got stuck in a pothole not far away and turned over.

When Wang Nian came to his senses, he found that Shi Xiangming was holding him in his arm with one hand, with his feet off the ground.

"No injuries?" Shi Xiangming frowned, his breathing was not disordered at all. After speaking, he gently put Wang Nian down and stood still: "I'll go and see, that comrade seems to be injured."

The middle-aged man who fell off his bicycle almost sat in a mud puddle, with half his body covered in mud.

The touch of the big hand seemed to still remain on my waist, and the burning sensation quickly spread along my skin.

Wang Nian rubbed the hot area through his clothes and then followed him.

Sometimes, inexplicable heartbeats will appear at some strange point.

"Comrade, are you okay?"

Shi Xiangming helped the middle-aged man to sit on a stone pillar by the roadside, and took the opportunity when he was calming down to help with the bicycle.

The chain of the bike got caught on a brick seam and fell to the ground. Shi Xiangming set the bike up and quickly helped fix it. He grabbed the pedal and turned it twice to make sure the wheels were turning smoothly, then clapped his hands.

All the movements were done in one go, so fast that the middle-aged gay groaned in pain and half of the sentence got stuck in his throat.

"Thank you... Thank you, comrade." The middle-aged man let out a long breath, wiped the mud off his face with the back of his hand, and looked around with a look of reproach: "I don't know who has ruined such a good road like this."

Wang Nian stood closer, and his eyes were quickly attracted by the middle-aged man's Mao suit.

He was wearing a grey Mao suit and carrying a black briefcase, typical attire of a government official. And judging by the seriousness with which he spoke, the middle-aged man must hold a high position.

Just now Wang Nian had discovered a phenomenon: every household in this alley had a table at the door to store their firewood or sundries.

Someone was worried that the firewood would get damp, so he pried up the floor tiles and laid them against his own wall, and then others followed suit.

"They are all at my doorstep."

As Wang Nian pointed casually, a corner of two layers of green bricks overlapped under the firewood appeared.

The middle-aged man looked over and his eyes immediately darkened.

"I see your hand is injured, how about I help you take a look?"

When the middle-aged man fell, he subconsciously supported his body with his right hand. After getting up, he kept rubbing his wrist. It seemed that he had sprained it badly.

"Are you a doctor?"

Shi Xiangming shook his head, walked to the wall, scooped some water from the big rainwater vat to wash his hands, and then walked to the middle-aged man and sat down: "I learned a little bit from my grandfather."

Huang Qiuhong said that Shi Xiangming comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, but in fact he may not know that much in detail.

The real traditional Chinese medicine was passed down from his grandfather's side, and the tradition was completely cut off by his uncle and mother's generation. Instead, Shi Xiangming learned a little bit.

While Shi Xiangming was inspecting, Wang Nian quickly lowered his head to check if his clothes were damaged.

Maybe it’s the only wedding photo you take in a lifetime, so there must not be a stain on the marriage certificate.

The pain in his wrist gradually eased under the massage. The middle-aged man saw Wang Nian bending down and carefully wiping the mud on his shoes, and asked with a smile: "Are you in a hurry to take pictures?"

The women were wearing new blouses and leather shoes, and the men were wearing suits with their hair neatly combed, and it was obvious that they were going to take a photo.

Looking at their ages, it's either a work photo or they are married.

"Looks like they're going to take wedding photos."

Wang Nian didn't need to answer, the gay man's uncontrollable smile said it all.

"Your hand is not seriously injured. Don't lift anything heavy these days. Just take a two-day rest." Shi Xiangming said with a smile.

"Where do you live? How about we take you home?" Wang Nian suggested kindly.

There were already a lot of white strands mixed in the middle-aged man's black hair. With the wrinkles around his eyes, he must be at least fifty years old.

It was really painful to fall so hard!

"No need to bother you!" The middle-aged man waved his hands generously and stood up on his knees. "How can I delay your happy event? This photo won't be available for a while."

This is why the two of them hurriedly took the first bus to the county town.

After taking the photos, they had to wait four or five hours to get them. After finishing all their business, they had to catch the last bus back to the commune in the afternoon.

Shi Xiangming was a busy man in the factory, and even after he reported to get his marriage certificate, he was only granted one day off.

"Then let us help you to the side of the road, as the road ahead will be even more difficult to walk on." Shi Xiangming said immediately.

At least there are still some paving bricks in the back half of the alley, but in the front half there is not even a trace of bricks.

Last time, a colleague led Shi Xiangming to take a shortcut through this alley. Halfway through, they happened to be run over by a car, splashing mud all over both of them.

This time the middle-aged man did not refuse and let Shi Xiangming push the bicycle in front.

"I think the man is very familiar with the situation on this road. Do you remember exactly when the bricks were broken?"

The middle-aged man walked very slowly, and his tone unconsciously slowed down as he asked questions.

Wang Nian guessed correctly. The middle-aged man was indeed an official, and he was the mayor of Wenxi County, Yang Mingsi, who fell on his first day at work after being transferred to Wenxi Township.

However, it is certainly impossible not to see the specific identities of the two people at the moment.

Shi Xiangming simply told the truth about what he knew, and mixed in a bit of personal emotion.

"You're right! It's wrong for ordinary people to do this, but they have no choice."

This road is a shortcut into the city, and people and vehicles all go through the alley. Over time, a lot of blue bricks have been crushed and no one cares.

The residents living nearby thought that rather than being crushed by cars, they might as well dig up the firewood themselves, as the road would sooner or later be too rotten to be passable anyway.

As soon as the car reached the entrance of the alley, Yang Mingsi suddenly stopped the two of them.

"I just heard you mention the iron pot. Do you have the industrial coupons to buy the iron pot?" Yang Mingsi took out two coupons from his briefcase and stuffed them into Wang Nian's hand: "Thank you for your help today. This is my wedding gift to you."

"How can that be possible!" Wang Nian didn't even look at what the ticket was, and quickly stuffed it back: "It's just a matter of convenience, it's not worth such an expensive thank-you gift."

"I say it's worth it!"

Wang Nian refused and continued to push back.

She didn't dare to accept any thank-you gifts. If the person had bad intentions and turned around to report her, she would not only not be able to eat fried food, but would probably have to eat labor reform rice for a few years.

After pushing and shoving each other, the middle-aged man frowned and glared at Shi Xiangming.

"Why don't you ask your partner to accept it? You guys have done me a big favor today."

Shi Xiangming nodded inaudibly, walked up, grabbed Wang Nian's hand and put it down: "Since it is a kind gesture from our comrades, we should just accept it with confidence."

"You are a gay man who thinks quickly."

The middle-aged man laughed, patted the mud that was beginning to solidify on his legs, wiped his face, and got on his bicycle.

"See you again if we are destined to do so."

Wang Nian: “…”

If I saw correctly, the man just deliberately smeared mud on his face!

"That's the Wenxi Township Government in front." Shi Xiangming looked at Yang Mingsi's retreating back and said calmly, "We received a notice in the factory a few days ago that a new mayor has arrived in our county. It seems that the new official is going to do a lot of things right after taking office..."

An alley full of potholes and no one is taking care of it, isn't that the political achievement that comes to your doorstep?

It was a coincidence that the two of them had caused a lot of trouble with just a few words. Yang Mingsi got the benefit, and they also...

Wang Niancai didn't care whether he had just saved the county governor or some important leader.

The two tickets made his palms itchy. He couldn't wait to take them out and see what they were, but his hands were still in Shi Xiangming's hands.

He tried to struggle away gently, which startled Shi Xiangming, and he let go awkwardly.

"Let's go to the photo studio first and look at the tickets later." Shi Xiangming smiled.

Wang Nian carefully unfolded the ticket and identified what the wrinkled ticket was. When the words "Industry" jumped out, he couldn't help but cheer with joy.

"These are two industrial tickets. Not only can we buy a pot, we can also buy two!"

The girl next to me jumped excitedly, her eyes sparkling with smiles, and her whole body seemed to be shining with happiness.

A breeze blew by, and the hem of her skirt swayed in the wind. The hem of her skirt brushed across the back of Shi Xiangming's hand, and the warmth spread along his hand.

If I remember correctly, turn left and walk 200 meters to the photo studio.

They walked side by side, step by step, towards the home they had built with their own hands.