Chapter 70: Traveling Across the Country
"What else can I do? I can go to Yinxia to find work and earn money! There is someone from the neighboring village in Yinxia. I'll ask him when I go back if he can take me with him!" Gao Jiawang had never left Kuanzhou County before, and rarely even went to the county town. Now, in order to make money, he has to go to a big city he has never been to.
"A skilled worker gets five dollars a day. If there is always work, you can earn a lot throughout the year! But they all have skills, and you only have strength. I'm afraid you can only be a laborer, earning two dollars a day, and it's hard to find work! Even if you go to Yinxia, I'm afraid it won't be easy to get by!" Gao Jialin thought of Sun Shaoping's experience of looking for work in Huangyuan, and felt a little emotional for a moment.
Gao Jiawang misunderstood and said after a moment of silence, "No matter how difficult it is, I will definitely find a way to pay the money back!"
"What are you thinking about? That's not what I'm talking about! What I mean is to find a way for you to make more money, which means going far away. See if you are willing or not!" Gao Jialin thought about it and felt that Gao Jiawang was a reliable person who knew how to study, and was very suitable to go to Shanghai with him.
"Jialin, I said the wrong thing. You are not in a hurry to take such a huge sum of money. But I think the sooner you can take it, the easier it will be. As long as I can make money, I am willing to go to a far place!" Thinking of what he said just now, Gao Jiawang wanted to slap himself. Who do you think Jialin is?
"Don't worry, we are a family, and we should help each other! Think about it carefully, and then discuss it with your family. If they don't object, then you can go to Shanghai with me in a few days when your uncle recovers and comes home! But if you leave, what will happen to your family?"
"My younger brother is at home, and he can finish all the work in the fields! I told him before that I would go to Yinxia to find a job, and he would stay to farm and take care of my parents. Now you want me to go to Shanghai, then I will go with you, and my parents will definitely not object!" Gao Jiawang didn't even ask what kind of work he would do, he knew that Gao Jialin would definitely not cheat him.
A few days later, a tractor pulled Gao Yuting back to Gaojia Village. That afternoon, his aunt killed the old hen that laid eggs at home, cooked a table of dishes, and invited Gao Jialin's family to his house for a drink.
After dinner, Gao Yuting called Gao Jialin and the brothers Gao Jiawang and Gao Jiasheng to his bedside. "Jialin, Jiawang's things have been packed. He will go with you whenever you leave! Jiawang, you must listen to Jialin when you arrive in Shanghai. If you dare not listen, I will break your legs when I come back after the New Year! Don't worry about the family affairs. Jiasheng is here. We only have this little land for our two families. He can grow crops. Besides, I am here. The doctor said that I will be able to go out to work in the fields in another month."
"Uncle, you'd better take care of your health first. Don't be too stubborn, otherwise you will have to go to the hospital again. Just take care of yourself peacefully so that Jiawang can be at ease outside! When he goes to Shanghai, I will ask him to write to you every month." Gao Jialin knew that Gao Jiawang's family must be worried since he was so far away.
Gao Jialin chatted with him for a while and made an appointment to leave for Shanghai the day after tomorrow. All the things that needed to be done at home these days had been done and it was time to go out.
Two days later, Gao Jialin and Gao Jiawang prepared to leave. Except for Gao Yuting who still had to recuperate, everyone from young to old from both families went out to send them to the road outside the village. They watched them get on the bus to work before they went back, looking back every few steps.
Then the shuttle bus was changed to a mail bus, and the mail bus was changed to a train. Along the way, Gao Jiawang looked at the scenery outside the window, which was completely different from the Loess Plateau. He was so surprised that his mouth almost never closed and he kept exclaiming in admiration.
"With such good land, the people here must eat white steamed buns every day, right?" This was when we passed by the Guanzhong Plain.
"Oh my God, how can there be such a wide river!" This was when the train crossed the Yellow River.
“.”
After entering Shanghai, Gao Jiawang finally shut up, because he was so overwhelmed by such a prosperous city that he didn't know how to express himself. Before that, the most prosperous place he had been to was only the two-street Kuanzhou County. How could he have seen such a scene? It was not until he entered Gao Jialin's big house that Gao Jiawang regained his speaking instinct, "Jialin, is this your house? You... you are a capitalist now? I'm afraid the houses of big capitalists in the movies are not as spacious as yours, right?"
"I'm a capitalist. I just made some money from writing books. This house is not expensive. If you are willing to work hard, you can have a big house like this in the future!" Gao Jialin took the opportunity to start making promises, but his promises were achievable.
"I dare not even think about it. My biggest wish in this life is to have a few new kilns as good as yours for my family!" Gao Jiawang shook his head repeatedly.
Before the summer vacation, Gao Jialin bought two beds and prepared bedding. The two tired people from the journey fell asleep. When they woke up, Gao Jialin went to the alley entrance to make two phone calls. When he got off work, he took Gao Jiawang to meet Niu Xinliang and Xie Chao.
"This is my brother. He's here to help me clean up the house. I'm going to Guangdong to collect folk songs in a few days. If anything happens to him, please take care of him!"
The two of them readily agreed. Xie Chao also introduced Gao Jialin to several reliable carpenters and bricklayers. After meeting them, Gao Jialin felt that their skills were indeed good, so he asked them to come and work. Gao Jiawang helped with the work and supervised the work.
Gao Jialin hired someone to come up with the decoration plan. This kind of old villa is best renovated according to the original style. Fortunately, there were still some old architects from before the liberation at that time, so it was not difficult to make a plan.
Gao Jialin stayed for a few more days. Seeing that the workers were quite down-to-earth and Gao Jiawang had gradually figured out the ropes, he left with peace of mind. He bought a hard sleeper ticket to Guangzhou and boarded the No. 49 express train. The journey took 36 hours, which was considered very fast at the time.
A day and a half later, at around seven in the evening, Gao Jialin arrived safely at Guangzhou Station. As soon as he got off the bus, he felt the stuffy heat. He bought a map and followed the instructions to take the bus to Xingang West Road. He showed his letter of introduction at the guesthouse of Sun Yat-sen University and asked for a single room to sleep in.
After waking up in the morning, Gao Jialin prepared to go and see what Guangzhou was like in the 1980s. But as a northerner who had never been to Guangzhou, did he know where to go?
Gao Jialin was well prepared for this. He walked into the campus of Sun Yat-sen University and asked students whenever he met them, "Students, do you know which student union cadres did not go home during the summer vacation and are still staying in the dormitory?"
"I know. What do you want from them?"
"My name is Gao Jialin. I've written some novels. This time I came here to learn about the daily life of students at Sun Yat-sen University and the changes in Guangzhou during the new era of reform and opening up!"
"Ah! You are Teacher Gao Jialin! Oh, I really like your "Young Friends Come to Meet". Come on, I will take you to find them!"
This scene was not beyond Gao Jialin's expectations at all. With his current influence among college students, he could definitely travel across the country to gain fame.
(End of this chapter)
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