Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Time flies by.

As the weather in the city gets colder, the old and the young all put on thick cotton-padded clothes, and the festive atmosphere becomes stronger and stronger.

For Wang Dong's family, this year can definitely be called a year of harvest.

Not only did his daughter-in-law Chen Jun successfully transfer from the steel rolling mill, but Dongjun Hotel also expanded to four branches at a very fast speed and has begun to inspect the next branch in surrounding cities.

If nothing unexpected happens, three or four more branches will be opened in Sijiucheng and surrounding cities in the first half of next year.

As people's income increases, their pursuit of material things and living conditions also becomes higher and higher.

The four current branches of Dongjun Hotel are operating at overload almost every day, and new branches are urgently needed to divert customers.

My sister-in-law Chen Li is now in her sophomore year and will graduate from college in two years.

The eldest of the two children has already started primary school, and the second child will also go to primary school in two years.

Now that his wife is pregnant again, Chen Weinan is ready to seize the last window of full implementation of family planning to have one last child.

In the face of these achievements, Wang Dong decided to celebrate it properly during the Chinese New Year this year.

Maybe this will be the last year the whole family spends in the Red Star Courtyard.

Two months ago, Wang Dong had already renovated a two-story courtyard house with all the necessary facilities. He even left a large vegetable plot for his mother-in-law, so they could move in at any time.

Considering that Dongjun Hotel is in the process of expansion this year and my wife has just been transferred to a new unit, it is not suitable for major changes at home, so we did not move this year.

If nothing unexpected happens, the whole family will definitely celebrate the New Year in their new home at this time next year.

"Rumble..."

The roar of a car suddenly sounded outside the courtyard, and the roar stopped abruptly when it reached the door.

Many neighbors ran out to watch the fun.

This is a transport vehicle, which was specially purchased by Wang Dong to facilitate the circulation of raw materials between restaurants and is managed by the logistics procurement department of the head office.

Wang Dong jumped out from the passenger seat of the car very swiftly.

The driver turned off the engine, jumped out of the driver's seat, climbed onto the car trunk nimbly, and together with Wang Dong carried a large cardboard box down.

Yan Fugui lived in the east wing next to the main gate of the courtyard. Watching the fun and taking advantage of his neighbors had unknowingly become his job.

Seeing Wang Dong and the driver carrying a large box into the yard, Yan Fugui knew at a glance that it contained good stuff, otherwise they would not have used a car to transport it, and furthermore, they would have wrapped it tightly in a cardboard box.

Immediately, with a red face, he asked: "Dongzi..."

"What's in the box? It's so big?"

There are no secrets in the courtyard. Once you carry the things home, everyone in the courtyard will know what you bought in a few minutes.

So Wang Dong didn't intend to hide what was in the box, and said bluntly: "A color TV..."

"I went to several supply and marketing cooperatives before I could buy one like this..." "Color TV..." Many neighbors had puzzled expressions on their faces, not knowing what the color TV Wang Dong was talking about was.

Although color TVs appeared a long time ago, ordinary people could not afford them due to their high prices. In addition, at that time, you needed a TV ticket to buy a color TV. For ordinary people, let alone buying a color TV, they could not even touch one.

Even after the reform and opening up, when it was free to buy a television at the supply and marketing cooperative, what people bought were basically black and white TVs, and only a very small number of people could afford them.

Because a black and white TV costs four or five hundred yuan, which is equivalent to the entire annual income of many workers.

Looking around the entire courtyard, except for Tang Dashan's family who bought a black and white TV, Wang Dong looked down on black and white TVs and did not buy one. No other neighbors had a TV at home, and even radios that cost more than a hundred yuan were rare.

Yan Fugui was a teacher after all, and he was knowledgeable and knew what a color TV was. An expression of genuine shock immediately flashed across his face.

Seeing Wang Dong's face full of disbelief, he asked back: "Dongzi... is there really a color TV in the box..."

Wang Dong nodded: "Not only is it the latest model, but it is also imported from Hong Kong Island. It's 22 inches, and there are only a few of them on the whole street..."

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..." Yan Fugui took a breath again when he heard Wang Dong's introduction.

As a cultured person, his biggest dream is to own a radio and a TV, so that he can listen to books and news on the radio and watch various programs on TV.

For this purpose, Yan Fugui often went to the supply and marketing cooperatives to learn about the prices of radios and televisions and to determine when would be the most cost-effective to buy them.

He had seen quite a few televisions in the supply and marketing cooperative, but they were all black and white, and any one of them cost four or five hundred yuan.

I once had the opportunity to see two 14-inch color TVs, and was immediately shocked by the price.

Because the price of a color TV is three times that of a black and white TV, reaching a staggering price of more than 1,400 yuan.

And such a high price is only the price of a 14-inch color TV.

The color TV that Wang Dong bought is 22 inches in size. If nothing unexpected happens, his selling price will be at least twice that of a 14-inch color TV, which is more than 3,000 yuan.

Spending so much money to buy a color TV is absolutely foolish behavior in Yan Fugui's opinion.

But when he thought of Wang Dong’s current income, he felt relieved.

Although it is unclear how much Wang Dong's actual income is, based on the more than 100,000 yuan in wages he pays to his more than 1,000 employees every month, we can roughly guess that his income is definitely beyond everyone's imagination.

Although color TVs are very expensive for ordinary people, for Wang Dong, who owns four restaurants, it may be like an ordinary person buying a chicken to add to his family's meal.

"Brother-in-law...you really bought the color TV..." The excited voice of sister-in-law Chen Li suddenly rang out in the yard, and then she ran towards Wang Dong with her two nephews, with smiles on her faces.

It turned out that the idea of ​​buying a color TV was suddenly proposed by Evacuation last night.

She had seen some TV programs on the color TV at school and found them very tempting. She mentioned them accidentally during dinner last night. Unexpectedly, Wang Dong was so reliable that he bought her a color TV the next day. He also bought a 22-inch color TV that was twice the size of the one at school.

This way, she can watch TV series at home, and it's hard for her not to be happy.

Just as Chen Li was following Wang Dong home with her two nephews, the neighbors who were watching the fun turned their attention to Yan Fugui, trying to find out from him what the color TV Wang Dong had bought was.

When they learned that a color TV would cost more than 3,000 yuan, and that it could display color images, all the neighbors could not help but exclaim in surprise, and looked at Wang Dong's family with nothing but envy. (End of this chapter)