1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 53 You are the villain

Jiang Xian was killing two birds with one stone, as he could both make progress and repay Aunt Ge for her courageous act.

He ate a lot, so after a while, he became familiar with it.

Aunt Ge only dared to set up her stall this year. In the past, she only dared to do so on market days. (Market days are the days when rural markets in the south open.)

[The public ownership economy is the main body, and various economic forms coexist.]
Jiang Xian had memorized this sentence countless times in order to prepare for the exam, and only now did he truly understand and appreciate its meaning.

With the crew taking care of the business, Aunt Ge's private stall suddenly became lively and prosperous, and the state-owned restaurant across the street was even less popular.

"Inspiration [Rice Tofu] progress +1, current progress (782/1000)"

Jiang Xian slammed the money on the table. These past few days, he had eaten so much rice tofu that he almost wanted to vomit at the mere smell of it.

When he returned to the guesthouse, he found a letter for him in the message room. It was from Bian Huawei and forwarded to him by the message room of Beijing Film Studio.

Inside were two copies of the second issue of Story Club in 1979, and a letter.

"Uncle Jiang Xian, long time no see Zhiyu:

After getting your "Animals Are Fierce", I went home and slept until late at night, then turned on the light and read until dawn. This masterpiece seemed to bring me back to that restless era.
I want to share a good news with you and Teacher Chen Qi: "Story Club" has earned foreign exchange!

A foreigner named James Anderson really likes Mr. Chen Qi's article "Ten Major Punishments of the Qing Dynasty" and he is looking forward to seeing more works by Mr. Chen Qi about Chinese history.

We also look forward to more submissions from Teacher Chen Qi.

Recently, the sales of Story Club has been rising steadily due to the popularity of Teacher Chen Qi's works. Previously, the monthly sales were 20 copies, and this month, 5 copies have been ordered. The growth is encouraging.
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of “Storytelling” written by you and Teacher Chen Qi.

I wish you good luck in your work.”

Jiang Xian folded the letter again and put it away.

"It actually earned foreign exchange?!" Jiang Xian had never expected this.

Why do foreigners like to watch this?

What does earning foreign exchange mean?

To put it simply, we exchanged our things for foreign currency.

In the early days of reform and opening up, the country needed foreign exchange to pay for the introduction of technology, purchase of production lines, and import of goods.

Our foreign exchange mainly relies on export trade. Before the boom, the Canton Fair was China's only window for foreign trade. It was obviously a drop in the bucket and supply could not meet demand.

So the country is thinking about ways to earn foreign exchange every day.

For example, special supply stores, the most famous of which is the Beijing Friendship Store, concentrates some of the scarce goods here and sells them to foreigners at high prices, thereby earning foreign exchange.

Later, it was discovered that some people were taking advantage of loopholes and engaging in speculation, so the country issued foreign exchange coupons again.

When foreigners come to China, they first exchange their money for foreign exchange coupons, use the foreign exchange coupons to buy things in specific places, and then exchange them back to their own currency after leaving the country.

Of course, it is still impossible to prevent it. There are also some black markets that resell foreign exchange certificates.
Glancing at the "Story Club" in his hand, Jiang Xian was not willing to read what he had written, so he simply gave it away.

I sent a copy to Zhu Lin and received a verbal thank you from her.

He sent a copy to Ge You, and Ge You almost called him godfather.

Just as he was about to go to the bathroom, Ge You went into the toilet with the book "Story Club" in his pocket.

This lasts for 30 minutes.

He, who had never liked reading, came out of the toilet trembling with trembling legs, sweat all over his forehead, holding on to the wall.

“That’s awesome.”

The next day, Jiang Xian and Ge You, the two most idle people in the entire crew, squatted in front of Aunt Ge's stall and ate rice tofu.

"Mr. Jiang, I found that you particularly like to eat this."

"Not that much love"

Jiang Xian was talking as he ate. He wanted to vomit but couldn't, and the reminders in his mind kept ringing.

"Inspiration [Rice Tofu] progress +1, current progress (912/1000)"

"Inspiration [Rice Tofu] progress +1, current progress (913/1000)"

"Inspiration [Rice Tofu] progress +1, current progress (914/1000)"

As the collection was getting closer and closer, a short-haired woman suddenly walked up to the rice tofu stall in two steps.

"Manager Qu, are you not busy today?" Aunt Ge stopped working on her bowl and spoon and greeted the manager of the state-owned restaurant across the street.

Manager Qu frowned and stretched out his hand.

"My friend, please show me your business license."

Aunt Ge was stunned.

"Manager Qu, I run a small business and I have to pay taxes at the tax office."

"Business license! I want to check your business license!" Manager Qu stretched out his hand and raised his voice, "Without a business license, I will ask our staff to close your stall."

Aunt Ge, who was always docile and obedient, was dumbfounded.

"Manager, I'm selling some rice tofu. It's open and aboveboard. This is not the black market."

Ge You next to him was a little angry. This was clearly looking for trouble. How could an individual business owner have a business license nowadays?
The country now recognizes individual business owners, but has not fully recognized them. They won’t approve business licenses, so where can you find a business license?

But he was too timid to speak.

Jiang Xian said again, "She sets up her stall, and you open your shop. We don't interfere with each other. Why are you making things difficult for her?"

"Yes."

Other diners also joined in.

"She didn't step on anybody's grave."

"Today is a good day, a horse's head is sticking out of the cow trough!"

"Manager Qu, you should go and clean up your own shop. Don't let the three-fresh noodles have any more bad tastes."

Manager Qu's face turned red with anger.

"She's messing with ZBzy, and you guys are ZBzy's tail!"

Jiang Xian was an old hat emperor, but he was still afraid of her and slammed the table.

"Stop using that bullshit. What era is this? If you have anything to say, go to the Municipal Administration Committee or the Taxation Bureau!"

"Okay, okay, okay." Manager Qu glanced at everyone fiercely and turned back. After a while, he came back from the restaurant with three or four strong men carrying their weapons.

Aunt Ge turned pale with fear. The other diners didn't know what was wrong with this Qu and they scattered away.

"Close her stall for me!" Manager Qu pointed with his hand, and several people prepared to move the table.

"Let's see who dares to take it!" Jiang Xian stood up suddenly.

Ge You hurriedly tugged at the corner of his clothes and winked at him.

A wise man never suffers a loss in front of him. I don't have the strength to fight, so let's go back and ask for help.

Jiang Xian ignored his hint and glared at Manager Qu fiercely.

"You want to take over her stall, right?"

"She doesn't have a business license, why can't I take it!"

"Then don't regret it."

The atmosphere was full of gunpowder, and just when everyone felt that a conflict was about to break out.

Jiang Xian overturned the table with a loud bang and in a very cool manner.

The dishes and chopsticks fell to the ground with a clatter.

No one has reacted yet.

He kicked again, knocking Aunt Ge's pots and pans to the ground.

Then they picked up a long bench and started smashing things. In the blink of an eye, the rice tofu stall was reduced to shatters.

The diners were stunned.

Not only the diners were stunned, but Manager Qu and her employees were also stunned.

This isn't right.

Who is the bad guy between us?
Jiang Xian ignored all that and patted Ge You's butt who was hiding on the side, "Quick, take pictures of them and this mess."

Ge You asked while taking pictures with confusion.

"Writer Jiang, why are you filming this?"

"Do you still have the photo of Aunt Ge jumping into the water to save someone?"

"Have."

"That's it."

"What's the matter?"

"Go back to the newspaper office: store tyrants are bullying fellow citizens, a 50-year-old woman was forced to jump into the river."

"Hmm???" Ge You had a lot of questions in his head, "This isn't right."

"What's wrong?"

Ge You was completely unable to understand Jiang Xian's jumping thoughts, and stood there stupidly, "That's not the case."

"Let me ask you, are they store bullies?"

"Yes."