1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 187: Make it a big deal
"So many foreign exchange certificates?" Zhu Lin looked at the stack of banknotes that Jiang Xian took out from his bag and was surprised. "Where did you get them from?"

"A Hong Kong director asked me to write a script, and I asked him to exchange some foreign exchange coupons for me." Jiang Xian answered calmly.

"Order? This is not an order." Zhu Lin's slender fingers rubbed the bills one by one, "How much is this in total?"

Unlike the RMB, the current largest denomination of RMB is the Great Unity, that is, the 10 yuan note, and the largest denomination of foreign exchange coupons is 100 yuan, with a Great Wall pattern drawn on it, so this stack of foreign exchange coupons is much thinner than the RMB in terms of thickness alone.

"Sixteen thousand." Jiang Xian looked calm.

"So many?" Zhu Lin blinked her almond-shaped eyes and happily put her arm around Jiang Xian's neck, "Comrade Xiao Jiang, you are so capable!"

Foreign exchange certificates and RMB are nominally equivalent. Sixteen thousand foreign exchange certificates are equivalent to sixteen thousand RMB, so Jiang Xian is now a millionaire.

In addition to this part of foreign exchange coupons, Renwen Publishing House also paid him the basic royalties for "Rice", which was nearly 15 yuan for a manuscript of 5 words.

"These foreign exchange coupons are just right for buying something for your parents. Since I'm going to visit your home, I have to bring something presentable."

"Oh, no need." Zhu Lin waved her hand. "Foreign exchange certificates are so precious and hard to get. Every time you spend one, you have one less. You should use them sparingly."

"We should save money and spend money as needed. To be honest, aren't you your parents' precious daughter? How can I be stingy at this time?" Jiang Xian made the decision in an unquestionable tone.

"Virtue."

Zhu Lin turned her head away timidly. Although she said this, she still felt sweet in her heart because of Jiang Xian's domineering attitude.

You have to know that the mainstream nowadays is not the mother-in-law looking down on the son-in-law, but mostly the son-in-law looking down on the mother-in-law. There is also a joke in Gangzi: When the son-in-law goes to his father-in-law's house, when it is time to eat, the son-in-law has to sit at the top seat.

"We need a washing machine. This thing washes clothes much faster than hand washing. It saves time and effort, and it doesn't hurt your hands."

The earliest washing machine in China was the first washing machine produced by the Shenyang Institute of Daily Electrical Appliances.

It was still the 60s, and washing machines were used in hotels and laundries, not in homes.

In the 70s, China began to produce household washing machines, and washing machines began to enter the homes of ordinary Chinese people. By the 80s, China quickly became a major washing machine manufacturing country.

"Don't spend the foreign exchange coupons to buy it. My family has a washing machine ticket. If you want to buy one, I'll ask my mom for it. Just buy a Little Swan. It's fully automatic."

In 1978, Little Swan produced the first fully automatic washing machine.

The two discussed what they wanted to buy for a while, and Zhu Lin frowned again and asked a key question, "Can you get into the Friendship Store?"

Friendship Store is a place in China that specializes in the consumption of foreign exchange coupons. It is a special supply store. This was learned from Big Brother and their "Little Birch Store".

At this time, the common people's understanding of the Friendship Store was only at the discussion level. They didn't even know what it looked like inside. At most, they would stand at the door and peek inside. Because "the Friendship Store was not friendly", Chinese people were generally not allowed to enter. Friendship symbolized economy, so only foreigners, overseas Chinese, and officials were allowed to enter. It was only later that it was gradually opened to Chinese people for viewing.

There is also an Overseas Chinese Store, which can accommodate Chinese people, but Jiang Xian naturally booked the Friendship Store on this trip.

"They're not too strict." Jiang Xian had already inquired about it and had an idea.

The existence of foreign exchange coupons has spawned many black markets, which is naturally illegal, but there is still a group of "speculators" who take the risk because the profits are huge.

Marx said that if there is a 10% profit, capital will be guaranteed to be used everywhere; with a 20% profit, capital will become active; with a 50% profit, capital will take risks; for the sake of 100% profit, capital will dare to trample on all human laws; with a profit of more than 300%, capital will dare to commit any crime, even at the risk of being hanged.

In name, foreign exchange coupons and RMB are of equal value, but in the black market, foreign exchange coupons are 30% higher than RMB of the same face value. It can be seen that the profit between the two is enough to make this group of people take risks.

These scalpers are very powerful. They can exchange foreign exchange coupons and RMB, and naturally they can also bring people into the Friendship Store. It just costs a little commission.

When the crew stopped working on the weekend, Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin walked from the busy Chang'an Avenue to the front of the Friendship Store at No. 17 Jianguomenwai Street.

This is a diamond location in the business world, adjacent to Jianguomen, with Ritan Park to the north, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Apartments to the east, and the International Club to the west. It moved here from Donghuamen in 1973.

Such a good location is inevitable because it is the face of foreign economy. Many foreign dignitaries regard this place as a "reserved repertoire" when visiting China.

For example, Imelda, the wife of Philippine President Marcos, once bought 1000 Jinhua hams at the Friendship Store. The Friendship Store searched the entire city to get the hams and sent them directly to the airport.

Emperor Selassie of Ethiopia came to the Friendship Store with 200 followers and was dazzled by the sight. “Buy, buy, buy!” The accompanying staff had no choice but to tell the salesperson, “Don’t even introduce them. The plane can’t hold them all!”

Of course, the most distinguished VIP customer is our Sihanouk, a loyal old customer who likes to go to the Friendship Store the most and likes to make a "negative list". What does it mean? It means listing a few things that he doesn't want and everything else he wants.

There are also Nixon, Kakuei Tanaka, and Samaranch. Friendship comes first and politics is in command.

The Friendship Store has four floors in total. Its architectural style is elegant and solemn. There is a golden store logo inscribed by the famous calligrapher Liu Bingsen. In front of the brown glass door, there is a large mythical beast. It was later sold for 80 yuan.

Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin quickly contacted the foreign guide hired by the black market scalpers, and Jiang Xian shook hands with him.

This person is neither from the Zhengheiqi nor from the Zhengbaiqi.

"Japanese?"

The man chuckled and spoke Chinese better than Ada Choi, "No, no, I'm Chinese, please call me Wu Yu."

Wu Yu? You are quite good at coming up with Chinese names.

Jiang Xian glanced at Wu Yu speechlessly. He saw that he was dressed in rags and had a tattered straw hat on his head. He didn't look like a foreigner at all. He thought that he must have had trouble doing well abroad and came to China to do these things.

However, after listening to Wu Yu's explanation of the arrangements, he realized that Wu Yu had dressed like this on purpose.

The three of them walked straight to the brown glass door as he arranged. The guard's eyes suddenly widened, and he walked straight towards Wu Yu in a snobbish manner, stopping him to check his passport. As for Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin, they entered the Friendship Store unhindered.

"These foreigners are quite resourceful." Zhu Lin said in a low voice while holding Jiang Xian's arm.

Jiang Xian chuckled, "Every trade has its own secrets."

He had heard Ma Weidu tell a similar story before. Ma Weidu went into the Friendship Store with a Japanese, but the Japanese went in and he was stopped.

Two days later, he went again. The Japanese asked him to dress more elegantly, but he wore tattered clothes. When the two of them walked towards the door, Ma Weidu walked in unhindered, while the Japanese were stopped to check their passports.

"Wow, I didn't expect this place to be so big." Zhu Lin looked up and around, her almond-shaped eyes twinkling with bits of light from a capitalist society.

"It has four floors, how can it be small?" Jiang Xian also looked around.

He must have seen more luxurious ones in the future, so he didn't feel so shocked, but this level was definitely far ahead of the times. The beige terrazzo floor of the lobby on the first floor was shiny and bright, with gray gauze curtains hanging inside, and the sales clerks all wore the same standard uniforms, all in small suits.

These days, being able to work at the Friendship Store more or less makes you a social elite. The language proficiency requirements for the sales clerks here are extremely high, and there are assessments before they are trained and employed. They are generally required to be able to use English and Japanese to serve foreign guests.

"You two?" A professional shopping guide who was responsible for receiving foreign guests came over with a suspicious look in his eyes.

Jiang Xian was not in a hurry and blurted out in fluent English, "We are waiting for our friends and don't need your help."

The salesperson immediately changed her expression, her attitude was as friendly as if she was seeing a family member, her little mouth was sweeter than her mother tongue, "Sau Rui, Sao Rui, sorry to bother you, please come to me if you need anything."

"The people here are so snobbish, from the security guards to the shopping guides." Zhu Lin whispered to Jiang Xian in dissatisfaction.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

It’s all for precious foreign exchange!

"You speak English so fluently?" Zhu Lin was a little surprised.

"I told you before that I'm good at English." Jiang Xian smiled and said, "Let me teach you a sentence: Ai Lao Hu You."

Zhu Lin burst out laughing, "Don't give me that, do you think I don't know what it means?"

Her Majesty the Queen is very motivated and one of the most educated actors. She said she wanted to learn English and she has never given up on learning it.

Wu Yu lingered outside for a long time, took out his passport, showed it to others, and then came in.

Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin followed him and walked around. The snacks, bicycles, and carpets were all brands that Zhu Lin had never seen before. They were very rare.

The things sold here are not available on the market, they are "specially supplied" products, such as canned food from Shanghai Meilin, pastries from Tianjin Qishilin, double-sided embroidery from Suzhou, brocade from Hangzhou, and cashmere sweaters from BJ Xuelian.
Imported items, such as home appliances, Remy Martin liquor, Marlboro cigarettes, etc., are exclusively sold here.

The slogan of the Friendship Store is, "We must have the best products on the market, we must have the products that are lacking on the market, and we must also have the popular products from foreign countries!"

Jiang Xian first bought some clothes for the two of them, including some white and gray sportswear, and a few pairs of sneakers and leather shoes, replacing the pair of inner-shoes he was wearing.

It’s not that inline shoes are bad, he’s just not used to them. The lack of support at the arch of the cloth shoes makes it very uncomfortable.

It is still the habit of people of this era to wear their own clothes. I heard that the old comrade especially loved to wear Nei Lian Sheng. In 97, Nei Lian Sheng specially made a pair of special black leather loafers for him, hoping that he could wear them when he stepped on the land of Hong Kong.

I bought some snacks that are hard to find on the market, such as chocolate, coffee, and several packs of Marlboro cigarettes.

"The sun rises, the morning light appears, this is the world of Marlboro!"

This was a must-play ad during prime time before the broadcast of "Heroes of the East" in the 80s. It was for Marlboro.

Marlboro is the best-selling cigarette in the world. There is also a song called "Marlboro March", which is a classic. Everyone has heard the chorus. It is a must-play song at all award ceremonies, big or small, at home and abroad, in the past and present, and even company annual meetings.

"This bloodstone is nice." Jiang Xian took a look at a bloodstone seal, which was made of pure material and exquisitely made.

"Your dad must like this stuff, too."

He thought, how could Professor Zhu, a high-level intellectual, not like this kind of thing?

"Too expensive." Zhu Lin pulled his arm, already showing some signs of being frugal, and quietly reminded him, "You buy everything, and when you've spent all the money, won't you just spend it?"

"I'll earn more later." Jiang Xian refused to budge. He waved his hand and took two pieces immediately.

The Friendship Store has a seal engraving department that can engrave directly. As long as you have foreign exchange coupons, the service is very thoughtful.

In an era where friendship comes first and politics is in command, service must be provided regardless of cost and with every effort spared!

"Do you want bedding?"

"Bedding?"

"This blanket is very good. Look at the texture."

He got a few blankets and some family planning supplies for bedding.

Zhu Lin rolled her eyes and whispered, "Why did you buy this?"

"This thing will always be used. We can't just wash the old one and use it again. It's not fun to sew and mend this thing." Jiang Xian was very clear.

This thing is still better from abroad, whether it is now or in the future. No matter what, at least it is thinner than domestic ones.

Moreover, the bags used in China now are basically made of thin rubber. According to the "Handbook of People's Commune Health Workers", it is called a Ruyi bag. After taking it off, wrap it with cloth, wash it with cold water the next day, wipe off the water, apply talcum powder, roll it up, and put it in a cool place for later use.

Well, just wash and reuse.

Regardless of whether Zhu Lin would accept it or not, he would not accept it for the time being.

Listening to Jiang Xian's fierce words, Zhu Lin's face turned red as if blood was about to drip out, and she hit him lightly on the arm.

This is the first time for everyone. How do you know so many tricks?
Could it be that he read the materials while writing the novel?
Tui, these writers are so dishonest.

Even if two people buy so many things, there is no need to worry about not being able to take them back. Just buy as much as you want and the Friendship Store will deliver them.

In addition to the scattered items, Jiang Xian also bought a big thing - an air conditioner.

It's from Japan, costs more than 220 yuan, and is a split-type air conditioner, much better than a window unit. You need a special step-down device to reduce 110v to v. The remote control panel of the indoor unit is connected to the machine by a wire and hung under the indoor unit.

Well, I have to go to the power supply bureau to pay the capacity expansion fee.

Jiang Xian bought two machines at once, one for his family and one for Zhu Lin's family.

It is the hottest month in the capital right now. Without a mat to sleep on at night, the kang is too warm.

On such a damn day, as a son-in-law, he directly carried an air conditioner to the door, which was so impressive.

(End of this chapter)