Chapter 12. Post Office Philately
Shi Erge and his brother helped Shi Liu settle down and then left. These days, when traveling, one can only choose to stay in a guesthouse, and a guesthouse costs one dollar and fifty cents a night, which is three dollars for two people. This is not a small amount of money for a farmer, so the two brothers were reluctant to leave.
After watching her two brothers get on the bus, Shi Liu decided to wander around the city. Her first stop was the grain station. She'd spend a check-in point and get 100 jin (100 kg) of flour and 150 jin (150 kg) of cornmeal. She'd take 50 jin (150 kg) of cornmeal home on the weekend. She'd ask a classmate to buy it for her, as she had 20 yuan on her.
There were more check-in points in the city, but most were marked with white and green. The only unusual check-in location was at the city high school, which was all blue. Shi Liu simply checked in and, sure enough, received a high school curriculum, which was a relief. High school textbooks in this era were quite different from those of later generations. Of course, the most important thing was that the foreign language she was learning now was Russian, whereas she had learned English in her previous life.
Shi Liu casually clicked on the teacher's information and unexpectedly discovered that the Russian teacher was a Soviet national with a Russian proficiency level of 4 (99%), which was definitely professional enough. As for other teachers, the lowest level was 3 (56%). It can be said that the overall teaching level was quite good.
Shi Liu couldn't help but sigh at the thoughtfulness of the sign-in system. Even if she had the basics, it would be difficult for her to get into a top university in the future without professional teachers to teach her.
According to historical records, in 1977, when the college entrance examination was finally resumed, 5.7 million people entered the examination halls full of hope, and over 270,000 people realized their college dreams. This acceptance rate was incredibly low, and Shi Liu never underestimated anyone; she was determined to study hard.
As she walked, Shi Liu came to the post office. Thinking of the famous red mountains and rivers of her motherland, Shi Liu's heart was burning with joy. She didn't know whether the stamps of Lan Yu Country were different from those of China.
[I found a postal check-in location. Does it cost 1 check-in point to check in? ]
[Congratulations to the host for winning the "Republic of China Stamp Album"*1]
Although she didn't get the "red" stamp she'd been craving, this stamp album contained stamps from the entire Republican era, so it was quite valuable. Thinking of the stamps that had appeared in the late period of the previous dynasty, Shi Liu thought that if she came to the post office more often, she might be able to get one. Now she might be able to buy some.
"Comrade, I'd like to buy a stamp collection. Could you help me pick some out?"
The young man's eyes lit up. "No problem. Do you want the latest stamps or the older ones?"
Shi Liu, who had several hundred yuan in bills in her pocket, didn't care about such a small amount of money at all. She said generously, "I plan to pick a few from each edition, and also buy a stamp album."
The young man's mouth suddenly broke into a smile, his eyes wide with joy. "Comrade, wait a minute, I'll go find it for you." He didn't know what the boss above was thinking, but they asked them to sell the previous version as soon as possible. If they didn't complete the task, their bonus would be deducted at the end of the month. He must persuade the girl to buy a few more copies and try to meet this month's sales target!
After a while, the young man took out a stack of stamps: "Comrade, take your time to choose, and I will help you find some nice stamp albums." He took out all the stamps that had been hidden in the bottom of the box, hoping that the young comrade could buy a few more.
Shi Liu hadn't expected the other person to be so honest. These days, with everyone having a stable job, it was rare to find such friendly staff. She had originally planned to buy only a few sheets of rare stamps, but now she felt a little embarrassed. A sheet cost only a couple of yuan, which really wasn't much for her. She remembered the old man saying her lucky number was seven, so she decided to just buy a sheet of seven from every sheet.
"This edition is... The mountains and rivers of the motherland are all red!" Shi Liu never thought that in the small city of Lin, there were still collected editions of stamps that had been destroyed, and each edition was very complete.
The young man heard this as soon as he came out and hurriedly said, "This batch of stamps was ordered to be destroyed, but the old comrade just retired and there was a bit of chaos in the bureau, so everyone forgot about it. I just sorted this batch of stamps out recently. If you like it, just take it."
Does this mean it's free? Shi Liu felt completely dizzy. A stamp that would fetch hundreds of millions of yuan at auction was now being given to her for free! She seemed to be having some luck with money lately, but it was a pity there were no lottery tickets available. Otherwise, she would have to buy one and try; maybe she would win.
Shi Liu didn't refuse. After all, even if he didn't want the stamps, the other party couldn't sell them for money. "Thank you, comrade. I want all of them. Give me seven of each of the other versions."
The young man's voice trembled with excitement: "No problem, a total of twenty-seven dollars."
Shi Liu quickly took out the money and paid, then picked up the stamp album and looked through it. Finally, she selected three albums with pear wood covers: "Comrade, do you have any more of this kind of albums?" She still needed four albums.
The young man rolled his eyes and whispered, "I know a craftsman who can make this kind of thing. You can go to him to choose. The charges vary according to the type of wood, but the things there are cheaper than here. A book cover made of rosewood only costs 5 yuan." In fact, the person he was talking about was his grandfather, and it was his grandfather who helped him find this job.
Shi Liu's eyes flashed, it seemed that this was a person with connections: "Then I'll buy 7 rosewood ones." She originally wanted to buy 4, but then she thought that she didn't lack the 15 yuan, so she just bought 7 identical stamp albums.
"Okay. But do you still want these three booklets?" The quality of pear wood is indeed good, but it cannot be compared with rosewood.
Sure enough, Shi Liu shook her head and said, "No need for that. Next time your post office has new stamps, please leave me 7 sheets of each sheet. I will come directly to you then. Do you need a deposit?"
"No need, my name is Mu Hongxing, just say my name when you come." The young man didn't expect there would be such a pleasant surprise, and he was immediately happy: "I also know some friends who like stamp collecting. Some of them have family problems and are planning to sell their stamps. If you are interested, I can take you to see them."
Shi Liu's eyes suddenly brightened up a bit, and she looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Okay."
It was time to get off work, so the young man, Mu Hongxing, simply said goodbye to everyone else and left with Shi Liu.
The others watched Mu Hongxing sell a large number of stamps in ten minutes or so, and tears of envy flowed from their mouths.
"Now there's absolutely no problem for this kid to become a regular. Oh, why didn't I step forward just now? I missed out on such a big client in vain."
Others were also envious, but who could blame them? Who would have thought that a little village girl would be willing to spend a lot of money collecting stamps?
(End of this chapter)
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