Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 520 Buying groceries
To Chen Fan's surprise, the owner of this small courtyard was not Lin Yuanxiang, but that old man Li.

Mr. Li's real name is Li Shangde. He is 60 years old this year. In 52, he lost an arm and injured an eye on the battlefield. He could not continue to stay in the army and had to be discharged due to his injuries.

Despite his achievements, his superiors were going to give him a leisurely leadership position, but he turned it down, saying he loved watching movies. So he took a job at a movie theater and became an ordinary worker at Daguanlou.

Later, seeking peace and quiet, he spent "two million" yuan in 1953 to buy this small courtyard with only three rooms and a total living area of ​​less than 50 square meters.

Even at this price, it's expensive. Back then, many people were leaving because houses were really cheap!
But the old man felt that the price was too low and that he was taking advantage of the public funds, so he insisted on paying two million.

That was the first set of Renminbi, equivalent to two hundred new coins two years later.

After that, Mr. Li settled down here.

Later, Lin Yuanxiang retired from the army and gave up the special treatment he received in the retirement dormitory to come here and keep his old comrades company.

However, he didn't get a free lunch. He paid to reinforce and renovate the three rooms and also built two small rooms on the south side, one as a kitchen and the other as a toilet.

Even in the new century, many courtyard houses still don't have toilets, but that's because they are too deep.

Starting from the Intermediate People's Court, the distance and height difference between the building and the municipal pipelines will prevent the construction of toilets.

Moreover, the route would pass through so many households, and passing under their houses would be unpleasant for people, and also very difficult to construct.

Only when the front or back yard is right next to the alleyway or road, without disturbing other people's homes, is it possible to build a toilet.

Lin Yuanxiang's arrival improved Li Shangde's life.

Anyway, since Old Master Li was all alone, Lin Yuanxiang could come if he wanted, so the two of them teamed up.

A few years later, Zhang Xuansong, who had broken his leg and was transferred to a second-tier job, reached the age required to retire and promptly submitted his retirement application. He then abandoned his entire family and squeezed into the new position.

Doesn't the name Xuan Song sound a bit like that of a monk?
Ah, he really was a monk when he was young, and his Taoist name was Xuan Songzi.

"Taoism is divided into two schools: Quanzhen, which allows people to become monks, and Zhengyi, which involves people in the world."

Lin Yuanxiang pointed at Zhang Xuansong and said, "He was picked up and adopted by a master of the Quanzhen School. He was a Taoist priest from a young age. Later, during the chaos of war, he gave up being a Taoist priest and ran away to join the army. The abbot who picked him up was surnamed Zhang, so he took the surname Zhang and used his Taoist name as his surname. He ran from Shandong to Jiangxi and joined the army."

He climbed snow-capped mountains, waded through grasslands, fought the Japanese invaders, and battled the American imperialists. Then, he wasn't paying attention and his boat capsized in a ditch, losing a leg in a bomb.

Well, now that he couldn't fight, he stopped being a Taoist priest and married a nurse he'd hooked up with before. The girl didn't mind that he was old, ugly, and missing a leg, and she gave birth to a whole bunch of babies for him.

He retired two years ago, and this old guy abandoned his whole family to come here and freeload... There's no way to say anything to him!

Zhang Xuansong's eyes widened. "I was responding to Mr. Li's call to have more children to protect the country."

As he spoke, he patted the armrest of the chair and pointed to the daybed, "I also replaced the furniture in the room, and I pay for meals every month. How could I eat and drink for free?"

The two old men were arguing, but Grandpa Li wasn't in a hurry. He leaned against the bedside table, sipping his tea and even smiling happily.

He is now retired and originally wanted to continue contributing his remaining energy, but after hearing that many young people had returned without jobs, he decisively packed his things and went home, giving up his position.

When I'm bored, I'll go to the movie theater to volunteer.

But most of the time, it's just watching these two old guys bickering.

Back then, all three of them were company commanders. Even though he only receives a retirement pension of 30 yuan and the other two receive 200 yuan, their relationship is still treated the same as it was back then.

We're all the same; nobody's afraid of anyone else.

Chen Fan sat obediently to the side and watched the show... No one even poured him tea, and even if he wanted to pour it himself, there was no big teapot.

He simply took out the wine jug and dried meat again, just for fun.

Then it aroused Old Man Lin's craving.

He didn't bother arguing with Zhang Xuansong and turned to Li Shangde, asking, "Old Li, do you still have any meat tickets?"

My dear apprentice has come all this way, so I have to treat him to a good meal!

Li Shangde finally stopped laughing, squinted one eye and thought for a moment, then looked at Zhang Xuansong very seriously, "Do you have any meat tickets?"

Zhang Xuansong looked at Lin Yuanxiang blankly, "No, you're in charge of the meals. We give you the ration coupons every month. It's only the 10th, where are the coupons?"

Lin Yuanxiang looked slightly embarrassed. "A few days ago, you were all saying you were craving meat, and you ate it all over the place."

Zhang Xuansong wiped away a cold sweat. "That's eight pounds of pork, all gone?"

Since last year, the pork supply has surged from 6 liang per person per month to 2 jin per person per month. Senior cadres get an extra jin, so he and Lin Yuanxiang get 3 jin, and Li Shangde gets 2 jin. That's 8 jin of meat!
Seeing that he was relentlessly pursuing him, Lin Yuanxiang also got angry, "Did I eat all 8 catties of meat? Every time we get meat coupons, you all start nagging about wanting to eat meat? And then I just feed it all to you guys!"

Li Shangde chuckled dryly, wiped his face, and was about to get up. "I...I...I'll go borrow two meat ration coupons from my work unit."

He was the one in charge, after all, and it was a bit embarrassing to not be able to serve good food to guests.

Zhang Xuansong immediately stood up. "Alright, alright, your eyes are like a blind man's, don't run around. If you get lost, it'll be hard to find. I'd better go home. They must have meat ration coupons there. Besides, there aren't any vegetables left in the market now. I'll just take some extra vegetables with me."

Chen Fan stared wide-eyed for several seconds, then, after a moment, popped the beef jerky into his mouth, stood up, and said, "No need for all that trouble. I saw a lot of shops outside; I'll just go out and buy some."

Lin Yuanxiang was about to speak when he stepped forward and quickly stopped him, laughing, "It just so happens that I didn't have time to bring a gift either, so consider this my way of making up for it."

He had brought gifts, of course, in his suitcase, but he hadn't expected there to be two old men here, so there really weren't any for them.

Hearing this, Lin Yuanxiang finally sat down calmly. "Alright, then you can go."

He himself didn't care, but there were two "outsiders" here, and it was indeed impolite to come empty-handed. It would be good to make amends.

Moreover, these days, when visiting someone's home, you have to bring your own food coupons. If he really didn't bring any gifts, meat and vegetables would be fine instead.

Zhang Xuansong and Li Shangde felt something was amiss when they saw that Lao Lin had agreed, but they did not stop him.

Chen Fan smiled at them and walked out.

After he left, a while later, Zhang Xuansong asked curiously, "Old Lin, does Xiao Chen have a hostage in Beijing?"

Lin Yuanxiang paused for a moment, then thought for a second and said, "Probably, otherwise he wouldn't have taken it on, right?"

When Xiao Liewen wrote to him, although most of the letters described Chen Fan's training, they also revealed some other information.

For example, Chen Fan is now a director of the Jiangnan Provincial Writers Association, at the deputy division level. With Chen Fan's suggestions and joint efforts, Lujiawan has undergone tremendous changes. This year, the production team had an unprecedentedly prosperous year, and things will only get better in the future.

If it were any other organization, it wouldn't matter, but this is the Writers' Association, and he's an official of the Writers' Association. He has status and ability; he can get by anywhere!
In addition, the production team had a bumper harvest, received generous dividends, and was rich!
At this point, you're taking on all the responsibilities, bringing back some meat and vegetables shouldn't be a problem, right?
Chen Fan swung his arms and went out the door. Soon he arrived at Dashilan Hutong. He looked around, found the right direction, and strolled off.

There are quite a few shops here, and many sell food, but Chen Fan didn't stop walking and didn't plan to buy anything here.

Because there are no tickets!
I really don't know how those people who come to the capital on business trips and then bring back loads of stuff manage to buy it.
You don't need meat coupons to order meat dishes at restaurants, just give more grain coupons. But it's not like you're bringing several boxes of hot food to someone else's house. It doesn't seem like that's polite.
However, Chen Fan was not in a hurry. It was still early. He had left Shanghai at 11:30 and landed at the Capital Airport in less than 3 hours. After taking a car here, it was not even 4 o'clock yet. There was still plenty of time.

He then put his hands in his pockets and strolled around leisurely.

Having witnessed the prosperity of later generations, the bustling traffic of Dashilan held little appeal for him. Rather, due to his personality, he had never liked to go to crowded places, so he quickened his pace and turned into a relatively quiet alley.

Following my memory, I walked north, then through two more alleys, and suddenly the area ahead became lively again.

It wasn't a group of people selling things; rather, a group of people were gathered around a wall, chattering away.

Chen Fan walked by and glanced at it casually. When he saw the words on the wall, his eyes widened.

(Column for Unsuccessful Candidates)

There is such a thing?

He couldn't help but turn and walk in that direction.

As you get closer to the crowd, you can see large characters pasted on the wall; a quick glance reveals that they are mostly expressions of determination.

Of course, there are also dissenting voices; it's all about letting a hundred flowers bloom.

This naturally refers to those who, due to unsatisfactory exam results, criticize the reinstatement of exams and strongly support recommendations for school admission.

After figuring out what was posted there, Chen Fan chuckled twice and turned to leave. Suddenly, someone stopped him, asking with a serious expression, "Excuse me, do you support the exam or the recommendation?"

The chattering voices from just moments before vanished instantly, and a dozen pairs of eyes were fixed on him.

Chen Fan stared blankly at the man, then blurted out in a standard local accent, "I graduated from a literacy class."

The man rolled his eyes and said, "Bad luck."

He abandoned him and went on to argue with others.

Chen Fan stood there innocently, waiting for several seconds, but no one paid any attention to him.

Tsk tsk, this year's students are not very good, they have no manners at all.

What's wrong with literacy classes?
Did they eat your rice after graduating from the literacy class?

Oh, I forgot that people here eat noodles.

However, after overhearing what he said, he was still somewhat moved.

Of course, this isn't about exams or recommendations, but rather the fact that one of the students is a vocational school graduate who wants to continue to university. However, the college entrance exam tests basic subjects, while vocational schools teach professional knowledge—it's completely mismatched.

If he wanted to take the college entrance exam, he would have to do the same thing as those self-taught students: either study at home or attend night school to relearn Chinese, math, English, history, geography, politics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. Naturally, he was dissatisfied with this and insisted on petitioning the Ministry of Education to create a special college entrance exam for vocational school students!
The career advancement path in vocational education is a long and arduous one!

Continuing forward, we had already exited the alley, and Tiananmen Square was not far away.

The square was crowded with people, mostly tourists, all in a hurry.

Chen Fan's eyes suddenly lit up. He sprang to his feet and rushed across the square like a gust of wind, heading straight for a cute young man. "How much are the radishes?"

(The vegetable vendor in the square)
Seeing Chen Fan ask the price, the young man immediately stood up and said enthusiastically, "One cent per pound, how many do you want?"

Chen Fan looked around, then suddenly pointed to the bamboo basket on his stall and asked, "How much is this basket?"

The smile on the young man's face gradually disappeared. "Are you buying radishes or a basket?"

Chen Fan said matter-of-factly, "I didn't bring a basket. I wanted to buy two radishes, but I had nothing to put them in, so I thought I'd buy your basket along with them."

Upon hearing this, the young man fell silent for a moment, and after several seconds, he pondered and said, "Basket... 3 mao? If you want it, I'll give you two radishes for free."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, thinking to himself, "No wonder it's the capital; even baskets are more expensive than in Lujiawan."

He didn't haggle, agreed immediately, and then gave her 35 cents.

Because he bought two extra radishes.

He put four radishes into a bamboo basket, carried the basket forward, and finally felt like he was buying groceries.

Walking past the memorial hall and seeing the long queue at the entrance, I decided to come and pay my respects early tomorrow morning.

After crossing Chang'an Avenue and turning west, we soon found ourselves in a cluster of alleyways.

I wonder what the situation is like in the capital now. There's even a flea market here?
(Capital Flea Market, 78)
A piece of cloth is spread out on the ground, and a rope is tied to a tree; that's how the goods are hung or spread out.

Each stall doesn't have much stuff, usually just a few pieces of cloth, a few pairs of shoes, and very few ready-made clothes. Judging from the style and workmanship, it's obvious that they made them at home and brought them out.

I didn't expect people to have this kind of business acumen these days. Impressive!
Chen Fan carried a shopping basket and walked through the middle of the flea market, constantly looking at the stalls on both sides, but unfortunately nothing caught his eye.

As they passed through the flea market, their eyes suddenly lit up, and they quickly ran to the side, asking, "Grandpa, how much are your pigeons?"

(The old man selling pigeons)
The old man looked at the basket in his hand, his face full of hesitation. "Are you buying groceries?"

Chen Fan blinked and chuckled, "Could it be that you're a carrier pigeon?"

The old man thought for a moment, "If you're willing to pay two yuan per pigeon, it can also be a meat pigeon."

A pigeon weighs about one pound. If it costs two yuan each, then it's two yuan per pound. Chickens, on the other hand, only cost 90 cents to 1.2 yuan. Even in the capital, Chen Fan believed that the price wouldn't exceed that.

Pigeons are currently less expensive than chickens because they have less meat. So two yuan a pigeon is a high price!
However, after thinking about it for two seconds, Chen Fan decided to buy it anyway.

Two pigeons make a perfect stir-fry, and we'll have a meat and vegetable dish!

However, these two pigeons are just a safety net; he wants to get more.

The last time Mr. Lin went to Lujiawan, he had a very deep impression of him. He ate three bowls of rice in one meal and ate a piece of braised pork the size of his palm in two bites. He was a real glutton.

Old Zhang and Old Li also like to eat meat. Their monthly meat quota of 8 catties was used up by the three of them in just a few days. These two pigeons probably won't be enough for the three of them.

There was no need to go any further; not far away, a group of old men sat in a row, holding fishing rods and stretching them into a lake that they couldn't even identify as "sea."

Chen Fan ran over happily and saw that there were fish.

He carried the vegetable basket around for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly, and muttered to himself, "These fish aren't very big."

Unfortunately, an old man nearby overheard this and immediately turned around and said, "What's wrong, young man? You don't like the fish we caught?"

As soon as he said that, more than a dozen heads turned around, their eyes all fixed on him.

Chen Fan coughed lightly and waved his hand casually, "No, no, I was just looking."

"Wait a minute."

The old man took it seriously, glancing sideways as he said, "Don't think I'm blind. Your expression doesn't look like you're just casually looking at something; you practically have your disgust written all over your face."

Another old man scoffed, "Young man, I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

Immediately afterwards, calls for conquest arose from all sides.

"Young man, you're just ignorant, you know? Shichahai is fished every winter, and the nets were just hauled in two months ago. All the big fish have been caught, so where would you find any big fish now?"

"The fish in this lake follow the months; they are small at the beginning of the year and big at the end."

"No matter how big or small the fish is, fishing is a skill. We can catch fish right after we've finished fishing. We're both experts. Can you do it?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately coughed lightly, "Me? You really can do it!"

These words immediately drew a large number of criticisms.

After a brief silence, the scene immediately erupted in excitement.

"Hey, you're really not modest."

"Insanity!"

"If you're so capable, then you do it!"

Chen Fan put down his shopping basket and raised one hand high, shouting, "Can anyone lend me their fishing rod?!"

The old man who spoke first immediately handed him his fishing rod, "Here, let's see just how big a fish you can catch!"

Chen Fan didn't hesitate. He sat down on his small stool, glanced at the lake, adjusted the float, baited the hook, and cast the line.

The surroundings immediately fell silent. A dozen or so fishermen stared at him without blinking, ignoring their own fishing rods.

Less than a minute later, Chen Fan's hand suddenly trembled, and he stood up and pulled the lever.

Seeing the fishing rod stretched into a bow, the old man's eyes nearly popped out of his head. The next second, he reacted, "Quick, quick, net it! A big fish is on!!!"

After a flurry of activity, Chen Fan retreated to the back and watched as a group of idle old men helped him lift the three-pound carp. Someone even found a rope to thread onto it for him, and finally... everyone lifted it for a bit.
Chen Fan wiped away a bead of cold sweat and said, "Gentlemen, is this fish mine?"

The old man who had lent him the fishing rod reluctantly handed it over, saying, "Young man, will you come again tomorrow?"

(End of this chapter)