◎First update (revised)◎
Liang Baozhen grabbed Shanshan's small hand and rubbed it, then smiled at the girl.
Xu Shengjie naturally noticed that his wife did not look well, but when he asked, Baozhen shook her head and just said that she was a little tired after playing all the way.
"Then lie down for a while."
Liang Baozhen lay on the bed, thinking about talking to Xu Shengjie about it when she got home. After all, they were outside now, on the train, and definitely couldn't talk openly about speculation.
After two days of traveling, the green train finally arrived in Beijing.
The family of three got off the train and returned to the large compound. There was no one in the compound and the Xu family's door was ajar. Zhou Yun heard voices outside the door and went to confirm that it was his grandson and his family who had returned.
"Xiaojie, baby, take a rest!"
After not seeing her for more than a week, the person Zhou Yun missed the most was naturally his great-granddaughter Shanshan. Shanshan was also good at coaxing people, and she hugged her grandmother's arm and chattered non-stop.
Tell grandma what you have seen and eaten in the past few days, and show her your new toy, a camera.
Zhou Yun had only seen cameras in photo studios. It was different from the small one in Shanshan's hand, so he just listened quietly to what his great-granddaughter said.
"Xiaowei went to training, and Xiaoya went to look for the girls from the Song family." Zhou Yun said to Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen.
"Okay." Liang Baozhen had something on her mind, and seeing that Shanshan was chatting well with her, she signaled Xu Shengjie to go back to the house.
As soon as the bedroom door was closed, most of the chattering outside disappeared.
Xu Shengjie was still sharp-eyed. He sat down beside the bed and pulled Baozhen over to sit down with him. "Tell me, what happened?"
Liang Baozhen glanced at him and asked, "Do you think there's something wrong with me?"
"Isn't it obvious? Something was wrong on the train back here. You didn't say anything when I asked you. Now you hurriedly pulled me into the house. Do you have something to say?"
Liang Baozhen spent the past two days on the train thinking about what to say. Their business is doing well, and it seems that there is a trend of becoming bigger and stronger. How can I pour a basin of cold water on them?
Is it useful to splash it?
Liang Baozhen cleared her throat and spoke slowly, "I am just worried."
"What are you worried about?"
"I'm worried about your business. Look, the clothing store is doing well now, and Brother Wu is also doing well, but have you ever heard a word?"
Xu Shengjie didn't respond and motioned for her to continue.
"The first bird to stick its head out gets shot." Liang Baozhen was indeed worried, and she was even more worried that Wu Xinglong would follow the old path in the book. Would Xu Shengjie and others who were buying the goods also be dragged into the mud?
"Don't forget that the crime of speculation has not been abolished yet."
Xu Shengjie nodded, and after a moment's silence, he spoke, "I know that the crime of speculation has not been abolished, but the policy has been relaxed. However, if everyone is afraid of this and that, they will never make money in their lifetime."
He is not a man who would sit back and do nothing. There is no reason for him to be afraid of starting a business.
"What would you do if one day, say next year or the year after, speculation and profiteering were suddenly arrested again?"
"Were you scared by what we said that day?" Xu Shengjie and Wu Er did mention it at the dinner table. They had some connections, and there were rumors from the top that they were going to crack down on speculation and profiteering again.
However, this kind of news comes out every month. Sometimes it says that the policy will be completely relaxed, and sometimes it says that the policy will be strictly enforced. Many people are torn between these two situations and feel very nervous.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine."
Liang Baozhen immediately became anxious when she saw his nonchalant attitude. "It's better to be safe than sorry. Don't you understand this principle? Money is easy to make now, but policies can change at any time. If you don't take it seriously now, but you are really arrested and put in jail, do you expect your nearly 70-year-old grandmother to bring you food? Or three-year-old Shanshan to bring you food?"
Xu Shengjie heard his wife's words and smiled, "Why, you won't bring me food?"
Liang Baozhen couldn't stand his nonchalance at this moment, and said angrily, "I won't send it to you! If something really happens to you, I will take Grandma Shanshan, Xiaowei and Xiaoya to live another life! You go to jail alone."
Xu Shengjie was even happier when he heard this. He held his wife in one hand, not understanding why she was angry. "What a cruel little wife!"
"You deserve it, don't you? I told you to pay attention to me."
"Okay, okay!" Xu Shengjie raised his hands in surrender. "I will definitely go and find out, okay? For the sake of my young wife, I must not be arrested and go to jail."
"And what about Second Brother Wu? Don't you think his business is too big now?" Liang Baozhen thought of what was written in the book. Most of the people he arrested were famous people. "The bigger the business, the more of a target he becomes."
Xu Shengjie was now serious. He stroked Baozhen's arm with one hand and agreed with her words, "Yes, things have been going too smoothly recently. The day before yesterday, Second Brother Wu told me that he felt that no matter what he did now, it was easy. It was too easy!"
Liang Baozhen kept nagging Xu Shengjie for several days, and Xu Shengjie gradually became alert. There were indeed some rumors outside, and his wife was worried about him. No matter what, he had to consider himself and his partners Qin Huai and Hong Saner.
A week later, he brought Hong Saner's agent to have a meal with the deputy section chief of the Municipal Economic Development and Planning Bureau.
After the meal, Xu Shengjie felt a chill on his back.
This day, it seems, is really going to change!
——
The first time he went to Guangdong twice in one month, he found newspapers from the past three months in the middle of the night and studied them carefully. Since he started his business, he read newspapers only when he had free time, and even if he did, he would just glance at them.
This time, he spent the entire night in the clothing store flipping through newspapers from the past three months, writing and drawing with a pen. He finally discovered some problems. From the content in the newspapers, the policy was indeed tightening a little bit, but it was difficult to see and had to be compared.
Combined with what the deputy section chief of the Planning Bureau said, Xu Shengjie bought a hard seat ticket to Guangdong City early the next morning.
Liang Baozhen couldn't remember when the book said that the crackdown on speculation would begin next year. The time was vague, so she could only hold Shanshan and wait for Xu Shengjie to come back.
During this time, she went to the canteen where she worked with her elder sister, just to give her elder sister a chance to take a break.
Liang Baoying was quite surprised. Her business was doing well and she was working hard. "Baozhen, what happened? Why do we have to close down when we are doing well?"
Liang Baozhen naturally couldn't tell anyone the contents of the book, as no one would believe her even if she did, so she could only find some vague excuse.
"Recently, we have been reading newspapers and have always felt that the wind direction is not right. Sister, do you still remember the strict crackdown on speculation and profiteering in the past?"
Liang Baoying certainly remembers who dared to do business in the past.
"We've made a lot of money now, so you can take a break and have a vacation," and if everything goes well, we can continue.
Liang Baoying didn’t quite understand those things, and she couldn’t read newspapers, but since the girl said so, she could only believe her.
Although she was sad to close the store.
Liang Baozhen settled her own issues, and Xu Shengjie also came back.
When Xu Shengjie came back, the snow in Beijing was getting heavier. Xu Shengjie returned home covered in snow and drank a cup of hot water before going to the bedroom to talk with Baozhen.
"Things should really change." He only said this, and Liang Baozhen felt relieved.
In the end, we will find a way.
"We're closing our store first. We won't be open for the next few months. Second Brother Wu will also have to withdraw first."
Liang Baozhen didn't know the specific situation, but Xu Shengjie told her not to worry.
"There shouldn't be any problem with your store." Xu Shengjie knew that he had shot the first bird to be shot, and he would not pursue the matter too much for some retail investors.
"I've already turned it off." Liang Baozhen would not gamble with herself and her elder sister. It would be troublesome if something happened.
Xu Shengjie didn't say much, it's okay to turn it off.
"I'll take a break in the next few months. I've been busy for a year and I'm exhausted."
There is already 50,000 yuan in the family's savings account, which is richer than most people and enough for them to rest.
Zhou Yun and Xiao Wei and Xiao Ya had no idea about the two closing the store. They lived their lives step by step, and it didn't matter whether they opened or closed the store.
......
After the beginning of the year, a document was issued from above, which really called for strict investigation and crackdown on speculation and profiteering, and it caused a huge uproar.
Individual business owners who have made a lot of money in the past year or so have begun to be noticed and investigated.
However, some retail investors did not have serious problems and were released after being taken away for a talk and education. To kill the chicken to scare the monkey, it is natural to catch the big ones.
Across the country, various bigwigs have been arrested and sentenced for speculation and profiteering.
Xu Shengjie and his colleagues reacted quickly and closed their business despite the pressure and ridicule. Now they are able to protect themselves.
However, the street market that had finally become lively suddenly became quiet again. Individual business owners were all worried and no one set up stalls on the street for a while.
Of course, there are also some brave ones who are still trading quietly.
Liang Baozhen gradually breathed a sigh of relief after this wave of events had passed.
At night, Xu Shengjie held his wife in his arms, and Shanshan slept in a small bed next to them.
"I'm so sorry for you this time." Xu Shengjie didn't expect that the situation would change so suddenly. If it weren't for Baozhen's reminder that time, they would definitely be caught off guard.
Liang Baozhen leaned against his warm chest, finally feeling relieved, "You must be more careful in the future, and think more about us, so that nothing happens."
Xu Shengjie touched her forehead and promised solemnly, "I will."
——
This round of strict control lasted until the summer, and Liang Baozhen was about to enter her junior year. There were not many courses in school, and through the relationship with the teachers and seniors she met at the radio station, she was assigned to an internship at a local TV station during the summer vacation.
The teacher at the radio station recommended her to her classmate at the TV station, Song Wenjing, who also graduated from the Chinese Department of Peking University. Song Wenjing was already in her forties, but she was energetic and looked only in her early thirties.
Now on the evening news.
Liang Baozhen got an internship certificate from a TV station, on which was pasted a one-inch photo of herself, with her name and department written on it.
Xu Shuping found an opportunity to be an intern teacher in a middle school. The No. 1 Middle School and the city TV station were not far away, so Xu Shuping came to have lunch with Liang Baozhen.
The two met in Damian Village, met again on campus, and now they are each doing their own internships.
Sitting in a state-owned hotel, each with a bowl of noodles with soybean paste, Xu Shuping talked about her experiences as an intern teacher and couldn't help but admire Liang Baozhen.
"I used to think I liked children, but after two months of internship, I already have a headache just looking at them."
Liang Baozhen teased her, "Can you still cheer up?"
"I think so!" he answered weakly. "How about you? How's it going?"
Liang Baozhen was somewhat excited when talking about her internship.
"It was great. It was the first time I saw how a TV program was made. It was magical."
She had only seen television at school, and never thought that she would now work at a TV station. She dreamed that in the future she would have the opportunity to become a broadcaster like her senior sister and appear on the screen of a black and white TV.
However, the compound doesn’t even have electricity right now.
Yueya Hutong is a slower-developing area in the city. I didn't catch up when the electric wires were installed for the residents a few years ago. I was supposed to wait for the next batch, but I heard from the people in the area where the wires were installed that there were power outages every now and then. They still had to use kerosene lamps, and the electricity bill was expensive. Gradually, few ordinary residents were willing to tinker with lights, and the light switch rope on the wall became just a decoration.
They didn't even think about pulling the wires anymore, because it would be useless.
In the past few days, the street office has organized all the crescent-shaped alleys and courtyards to prepare for the installation of electric wires. Now that electricity development has made a step forward compared to a few years ago, this matter still needs to be put on the agenda.
On the day of pulling the wire, everyone went to watch and had a great time. Gradually, every household had a light bulb and a long, thin light switch cord.
Shanshan likes to pull the rope. When she pulls it, the light bulb lights up and emits warm light.
She pulled it open, then closed it, playing with it.
The availability of electricity did not change the lives of the people in the compound that much. Most people still felt bad about the electricity bills, and the occasional power outages were really inconvenient. So the kerosene lamps were not put away, but placed in conspicuous places for easy use.
However, the Xu family's life has undergone many changes. One day, Liang Baozhen came home from the TV station and found a black and white TV in the house.
Three-year-old Shanshan was squatting on the ground, watching the TV carefully. When she saw her mother coming back, she waved, "Mom, look, there's a TV!"
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