Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After Zhou Xiujuan said a few words to Li Long, she pointed outside and said apologetically:
"Li Long, you go chat with Lao Chen first. I have to send the kids to school and go to work. If you haven't eaten yet, let my mother-in-law make you something later..."

"Sister-in-law, you go ahead and do your thing. I've already eaten. I came here after dinner. Brother Chen and I are family, so we shouldn't be polite."

"Okay, you guys continue chatting, I'm leaving." Zhou Xiujuan picked up a slightly old cloth bag from the sofa and walked out with it.

After lifting the door curtain and walking outside, Zhou Xiujuan whispered to the child:

"Zhi Xin, go say hello to Uncle Li and say goodbye. We are leaving."

Is this child called Chen Zhixin?
The boy lifted the door curtain and stepped into the inner room. He said to Li Long with a little embarrassment:
"Hello Uncle Li, Goodbye Uncle Li!" After saying that, he turned around and was about to walk out of the room.

Li Long hurriedly pulled him over, took out a ten-yuan note from his pocket and stuffed it into the child's hand:

"Zhixin, this is your first time here, and I don't know what to buy. Take this money and buy a pencil case or something at the school gate."

"Xiao Li, Xiao Li, how can you do this? Don't give money to the child, we don't do this..." Chen Hongjun hurriedly came up to stop Li Long, Li Long pushed him and said with a smile:
"As an elder, it's already very rude of me not to buy a gift for the child when I meet him for the first time. I must take the money. Okay, okay, sister-in-law, you should take the child to school quickly. Don't be late."

Zhou Xiujuan was also reluctant to accept the money, but after Li Long refused twice, she finally let the child accept it.

Zhou Xiujuan took her child to school on a bicycle, Chen Hongjun's mother was packing outside, and Li Long was chatting with Chen Hongjun in the inner room.

"This house was allocated to me by the company," Chen Hongjun could see the change in Li Long's expression, and took the initiative to explain, "I used to work in Ma County, my wife worked in the No. 1 Primary School in the city, and our children happened to be in school. When I was not at home, the house was more spacious, but now that I am back, it seems a bit small. Of course, it is no problem to live like this, as there are still many people in our company who do not have houses."

"Then buy a yard." Li Long spoke frankly and gave his suggestion, "Your family can't always be squeezed into these two rooms. It's too inconvenient. As the children grow older, they will need their own space in the back."

Beiting City is much larger than Ma County, so it is not difficult to find a suitable yard here. Although the yard will be more expensive than in Ma County, it is worth it.

"How can it be that easy?" Chen Hongjun shook his head. "I have been a webmaster in Ma County for a year. It is impossible for me to have no savings. Although I can afford a yard, after buying it, there will be nothing left.

My mother is old and ill, and my father-in-law's family has many children, and they all have jobs..."

This is what is called every family has its own problems.

"Then I am still a part of this, right?" Li Long said with a smile, "During this year's Fritillaria season, I collected a lot of Fritillaria and naturally made a lot of money. We also have a very good cooperation with Jia Tianlong, who you introduced to me. I haven't paid you the introduction fee yet."

As he spoke, Li Long took out a wad of money from his pocket, put it on the coffee table, looked at Chen Hongjun and said:

"Old Chen, I won't be polite with you. To be honest, without you, my purchasing station wouldn't be running so smoothly. This thousand yuan is your introduction fee, so don't be polite with me. We have known each other for several years, and we know each other well."

Chen Hongjun looked at the stack of one thousand yuan and was distracted.

I have worked so hard for so long but have not saved much money. To be honest, how many people who earn a salary these days don’t have poor relatives who need help?
This salary is used to support the family and occasionally help others. If I only rely on this salary, I really can't save much money.

Chen Hongjun used to work as a buyer, but he didn't have many extra benefits. After he became a stationmaster, he had a little bit of a small treasury, but he only worked as a stationmaster for a year before it was gone. After being transferred back to Beiting City, he now works in a government office with nothing but a fixed salary.

But this kind of thing is not something he can decide on his own. He has to do whatever his superiors tell him to do.

Chen Hongjun was not surprised that Li Long came to visit him, but he was a little surprised that he gave him 1,000 yuan.

"Is your purchasing station so profitable?" Chen Hongjun couldn't help asking.

“Originally, I didn’t make that much money, but the boss of the Happiness Purchasing Station in Beiting City was courting death. He had to use connections to ruin my purchasing station, and he ended up killing himself.

He was buying things at a very low price, so I promoted my purchasing station, and everyone came to it, and I made a profit this year."

Li Long's explanation was a mixture of truth and falsehood. After all, the initial trigger was that he scammed away a whole truckload of Fritillaria at the door of the Happiness Purchasing Station.

From that time on, the decline of the Happiness Purchasing Station began.

"Alas, actually, when the county and city purchasing stations were closed, I thought about quitting and opening my own business, but I couldn't bear to give up this iron rice bowl." Chen Hongjun sighed. Li Long gave him a thousand yuan as an introduction fee, which means he has made at least tens of thousands of yuan this year.

That’s tens of thousands, equivalent to my salary for ten years, right?
In other words, if you work steadily at this purchasing station for three to five years, you can earn back your lifetime salary.

Of course, it’s not that comparison. The hidden benefits of a stable job are higher. For example, housing allocation. Although the house allocated by the company is smaller, it is still a house.

It's almost free to live in a place, what's the point of picking it up? It's a bit more troublesome for a family with more people like Chen Hongjun's, but otherwise it's enough for an ordinary family of three.

Moreover, when commercial housing development begins, most of the houses allocated by these units to individuals will eventually be registered with the individual's household registration and used as personal real estate, which is equivalent to giving them to unit employees.

These old communities are usually renovated and there will be compensation for demolition.

In addition to allocating housing, each unit also has other benefits. The union distributes benefits during the annual holidays, singles are introduced to partners, and children's schooling is coordinated, and so on.

This is why, even though the rural areas had already implemented the household contract responsibility system and some people earned more than the workers in the cities, when the “sale” of the rural-to-urban household registration was opened up in the early 1990s, a large number of rural people still spent money to buy the urban household registration.

In fact, at that time, there were no obvious benefits for urban hukou, commercial grain had been cancelled, and no jobs were arranged for those who settled in the city. Without a job or an employer, it was impossible to get housing, and one had to work hard for everything.

But even so, there are still many people waving money to buy that household registration.

It can only be said that the temptation of a stable job is too great, and many people fail to see the situation clearly. Thirty or forty years later, they regret it and want to move back to the countryside.

"Then I won't hesitate to pay for this." Chen Hongjun went over and picked up the money. "I am also taking advantage of you. To be honest, I did see a yard, but I was hesitant and didn't buy it."

"That's perfect, isn't it? I'm helping out now." Li Long said with a smile, "You know my place, and you know the phone number of the supply and marketing cooperative. My Section Chief Li has now become Director Li. If you have anything, just call me. Why are you hiding it? If I hadn't come, you really wouldn't have known."

"That's because I don't want to trouble you." Having solved a big problem, Chen Hongjun's heart was relieved of pressure, and he said with a smile, "Who doesn't have difficulties these days? At least we still have the house we live in. There are people in our unit who are waiting in line but haven't been allocated a house. Without a house, some people can't get married, and they are still waiting."

Yes, very few people buy their own houses these days. Except for some who inherit their family’s original houses, most of them live in the houses provided by their work units. This group of people who are working basically have several brothers and sisters, so their houses must be crowded. After all, the first houses were built in the 1950s and 1960s, or even earlier, and it was rare to build large houses at that time.

That is to say, the rural land of the fourth team is large and there are fewer rules, so the starting area is a yard of more than one acre.

"Okay, I won't delay your work." Li Long stood up and said, "If you have anything to say, call me. If you can't find me, you can just take a car to my place. I'm driving anyway, so I'll come over when I'm free and talk to you."

Li Long knew Chen Hongjun's character. He had endured the difficulties and never asked for help from him. His character must be fine. How could he not know that he was making money? Even when Li Long did not open a purchasing station, the Fritillaria sold to Chen Hongjun every year made a lot of money.

If Chen Hongjun really asks, can I refuse to lend it to him?

He has helped me so much, let alone lending me money, if he really asks me for some money, I will definitely give it to him.

But Old Chen didn't even mention it. If I didn't offer it to him, he definitely wouldn't ask me for it.

This guy is really easy to get along with.

Lao Chen was also pushing his bike to go to work. He felt really relaxed at this time. One thousand yuan could solve a big problem at this time. Although it couldn't buy a yard in Beiting City, wouldn't it be enough to add a little bit for myself?

So after arriving at the office, Lao Cheng rarely smiled and took the initiative to greet several colleagues.

After being transferred back to the company this year, Lao Chen was actually depressed for a while. Last year, he successfully competed with someone else to become the head of the purchasing station. The person he competed with worked in the city and has now become a deputy section chief.

He was transferred back from the county, and although he was treated as a deputy section chief, his salary could not be compared with that of a deputy section chief.

So after he came back, he was actually excluded and ridiculed in some ways, but fortunately, Lao Chen had the ability and was soon assigned to be in charge of a specific job. With the authority, fewer people laughed at him.

But no matter what, the psychological emotions are still suppressed. Now I suddenly feel that it is not a big deal. After having the thousand yuan given by Li Long, many things are like dominoes. Once one thing is solved, the rest can be solved subsequently.

That's why Lao Chen is so happy today. And his colleagues at work also feel a little strange. What's going on?
"Hey, Lao Chen, what good thing happened to you?" Lao Qin from the same office greeted him.

"Nothing, an old friend came to see me, and we had a nice chat at noon." Chen Hongjun explained, "I was busy."

Chen Hongjun was a little absent-minded the whole afternoon. He was a little impatient to go and see the yard to see if the original owner had sold it. After all, he had been looking at the yard for a long time and was quite satisfied with its location and the conditions inside.

After get off work, Chen Hongjun deliberately delayed for a few minutes before packing up and leaving. Although he looked calm, his heart had already flown away with his bicycle. He first went to the large yard to take a look. The door of the yard was half open, and the original owner was still inside. Chen Hongjun felt relieved.

The main house of this courtyard has three rooms on the open side and two small rooms inside, which means there are four rooms in the main house. There are two kitchens and a storage room on the side. There is a toilet in the corner of the courtyard. If you move here, you don't have to compete with other people in the family compound for the dry toilet.

To be honest, the most painful thing every morning is running to the row of dry toilets in the staff quarters and competing with others for use.

The owner of the house was also a little surprised to see Chen Hongjun at the door. Mainly because many people came to see the house, but to be honest, not many of them were willing to offer a price sincerely. The house had been renovated, and his asking price was relatively high. Many people bargained aggressively, so he drove them away.

Although the price offered by Chen Hongjun was lower than his expectations, the difference was not that big.

And he could see that Chen Hongjun really wanted to buy it.

He thought the price could be raised further, so he didn't give in. But Chen Hongjun hadn't come for a while, so he thought he had given up. Unexpectedly, he came again today, which was a good sign.

"Comrade Chen, come in and sit down." The host of the room resisted the urge to immediately say that he could lower the price. He first invited Chen Hongjun in and said with a smile:

"Look at the vegetables I planted. The chilies will be ripe in a few days."

"Comrade Huang, you haven't sold this yard yet?" Chen Hongjun said straight to the point, "If you can lower the price, I'll take it. I'm telling you, I really want it. How about paying in cash?"

"How much?"

"Last time I told you to lower the price by 200, but you refused. So let's lower it by 100." Chen Hongjun now turned into a penny-pinching businessman, lowering the price bit by bit.

"No, the maximum reduction is fifty, no more." The owner of the house also felt that there was a high probability that he could make the deal today, but he still wanted to insist, "And you have to give me at least half a month to move."

"I'll give you twenty days, and you can reduce the price by eighty." Chen Hongjun gestured with two fingers, "That's the price. If you lower it again, I won't buy it."

"Okay, then let's go to the Housing Authority to sign the contract tomorrow?" Old Huang felt that the price was acceptable and said, looking into Chen Hongjun's eyes.

"Okay." Chen Hongjun also agreed. "I'll tell the company after work tomorrow and then come to find you. How about we go together?"

"Okay, I'll wait for you tomorrow."

When Chen Hongjun rode his bicycle home and arrived in the yard, he saw that his wife's bicycle had been parked. He put the bicycle away, locked it, and then went into the house with his bag.

Zhou Xiujuan had already finished her meal and was helping her child with homework. When she saw Chen Hongjun come in, she habitually asked:
"Are you working overtime again today?"

"No, I went to see the yard." Chen Hongjun put down his bag and went to wash his hands. The food was on the table. He said as he prepared to eat, "I plan to go sign a contract with Mr. Huang, the house manager, tomorrow to buy the yard."

"What?" Zhou Xiujuan stopped what she was doing in surprise and looked up at him. "We don't have enough money. Don't we have some for emergencies?"

"When Li Long came over today, he gave me some money, enough for buying a house." Chen Hongjun said with a smile.

"Why should he give you money? Don't make any mistakes!" Zhou Xiujuan asked anxiously, "We only earn clean money. If we don't become a webmaster, then we don't become a webmaster. It's good to have a stable life like this now."

"The money is quite clean." Chen Hongjun explained where the money came from. "I introduced these two merchants to him. He made tens of thousands more this year. The one thousand yuan he gave me as an introduction fee is not much."

"Oh, is this purchasing station so profitable?" Tens of thousands. This number scared Zhou Xiujuan.

"Well, it's quite profitable this year. Some of our specialties from northern Xinjiang are sold at a high price." Chen Hongjun has heard about this. "As long as we find a good market, we will definitely have no problem selling our products."

"Alas, we can't do this kind of thing." Zhou Xiujuan thought for a moment, shook her head and said, "We can still take the referral fee, but let's forget about the rest. We are not cut out for business. By the way, are you sure you want to buy that yard?"

"I've decided to buy it. Do you still want to squeeze into a public toilet with those people early in the morning?"

At that time, the dry toilets had no doors, and the partition in the middle was only one meter high, so it was quite embarrassing to use the toilet with others.

"I don't want to!" Zhou Xiujuan blurted out. She realized that she had been a little out of control recently, but when she thought about it, it would be great if she had a yard where her family could live and just close the door.

Although you may have to shovel more snow in the winter, if you live in a staff housing estate, you still have to go out and clear the snow when it snows.

Well, a big yard is still better! (End of this chapter)