Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 47 The Beginning of Technical Secondary School Life

The overall construction of the Bubble Palace in the residential area has also been basically completed. The residential area covering an area of ​​130 acres is completely a modern green resort. The environment of the manor is elegant and pleasant, with mountains and waters complementing each other. The gurgling water is looming among the garden hills, connecting the 8 small lakes, like a jade belt surrounding the Bubble Palace. In the lake are the koi carps newly cultivated by Xiaoqi, whose small figures create ripples on the mirror-like water surface;
From a distance, the breeding area looks similar to the residential area, with forests and water interspersed, and all kinds of chickens, ducks, geese, and fish, both domestic and wild species, are in a green ecological cycle breeding system. Pigs, cattle, and sheep are also collected, and meat freedom is just around the corner;

Not to mention the seafood area, on the white beach, the sea water rises and falls regularly under the action of the tide generator. It should be said that the seafood area is the most complete of all the areas now, which can fully satisfy Ma Qing's arrogant style of eating one bowl and throwing away another;

There is not much to say about the storage area. In addition to the grain warehouse, there is also a low-temperature vacuum cold storage, a food processing workshop, and a lawn.

Looking at the prosperous scene of Dream Town, Ma Qing felt that his running around in the past six months had not been in vain. Now that Dream Town had basically taken shape, he could lie down and rest.

Regardless of how Ma Qing visited relatives and friends after returning to Beijing and distributed the specialties he brought back, on September 9, Ma Qing reported to the Sijiucheng Agricultural Machinery School.

Sijiucheng established the Agricultural Machinery Bureau in 1959. Sijiucheng Agricultural Machinery School is a new school formed by the merger of several schools. At that time, Ma Qing specially chose a school with the name of Agricultural Machinery for a stable life in the future. In fact, he knew nothing about the school. Of course, for Ma Qing now, many things don't matter.

The enrollment of Sijiucheng Agricultural Machinery School is mainly from the vicinity of Sijiucheng. A group of half-grown children, led by their parents, were cleaning everywhere in the school. Ma Qing was more cunning. He had arrived at the school in the morning, but as soon as he entered the school, he saw a group of teenagers cleaning the campus with brooms and hoes. Ma Qing turned around and went shopping. When he returned to register in the afternoon, looking at the clean campus, Ma Qing smiled secretly in his heart, "Brother is smart, didn't he avoid this cleaning?"

After asking around, Ma Qing finally found the office where he was going to register. While checking Ma Qing's admission letter, introduction letter and other identity documents, the teacher asked, "Your family is from the inner city of the city, why did you register in the afternoon?"

Ma Qing was straightforward, "Teacher, I am an introvert and afraid of crowded places. I thought there would be more people in the morning, so I came in the afternoon."

"You think a lot and are a thoughtful person. But why did I seem to see you by the window this morning? Are you trying to avoid labor?" the teacher asked, staring at Ma Qing.

Ma Qing looked at the teacher's bottle-bottom glasses and said firmly: "How is that possible? You must have seen it wrong. I was not here in the morning. I went to visit my relatives in Northeast China after the entrance examination. I just came back and was so tired that I did not get up this morning." He could not admit this even if he was beaten to death. He could not bear the charge of being absent from labor. How could his luck be so bad? This teacher was not working properly, but looking around everywhere.

"Really? Has my myopia gotten worse again?" The teacher didn't say anything else. He handled all the procedures for Ma Qing, assigned him a dormitory, and re-registered his food relationship. Starting from this month, Ma Qing's ration increased from 28 kilograms to 35 kilograms, and he also received a living allowance of 18 yuan per month from the state. With the teacher's gentle words, Ma Qing officially became a secondary technical school student at the Sijiucheng Agricultural Machinery School.

"Teacher, can I ask, is it necessary to live on campus or can we go to school as a day student?"

"Because the school mainly serves students from the surrounding areas of the city, many students live not far from the school, so the school does not have any mandatory requirements in this regard. Because we are a new school and you are the first class, student accommodation is not tight, so as long as the students are assigned dormitories, you can live on campus or go to school as a day student. Tomorrow you will officially start school. First, go to the office next door to get your books, and then go to the cafeteria to exchange them for meal tickets. Of course, you don't have to eat in the cafeteria. You can exchange your rations for food coupons and take them home."

"This school is quite humane. Fortunately, I don't live on campus. Otherwise, with so many people sharing one dormitory, my dream town would be ruined." Ma Qing thought to himself. From then on, every morning, Ma Qing rode his bicycle to school. Yes, it was a bicycle. The bicycle ticket was given to Ma Qing by the leaders of the Red Star Factory when they visited him after he finished writing "My Motherland and Me". In fact, Ma Qing had tickets for watches and radios. In fact, these things were not rare at all for the employees of the Red Star Factory in the old city. The only question was whether they needed to buy them, not whether they could buy them.

Why do I say so? It may be that readers have applied things from their hometowns to the story of the Siheyuan. In fact, it is not like that at all. It is not that difficult for people in Sihecheng to own a bicycle.

In 1948, the permanent population of Taipei City was about 203 million, and there were 176970 bicycles in the city, with an average of one bicycle for every 12 people.

In 1965, the total population of urban areas reached 770 million, and the number of bicycles in urban areas was 94, which means there was one bicycle for every eight people.

It was 1959, and even if one in every ten people owned one, the ratio was not that scary. However, bicycles were definitely not a rarity for the employees of the Red Star Factory, especially those living in Nanluoguxiang.

Ma Qing rode his bicycle to school and had lunch in the school cafeteria. In the evening, Ma Qing packed food in a lunch box in the school cafeteria and pretended to take it home. Of course, he would have extra meals and dishes in Dreamland when he got home.

Ma Qing made a plan for himself to exercise. It was obviously necessary to have extra meals, and it was definitely not to satisfy his own appetite.

Ma Qing's way of commuting to school made people restless. So after dinner, Liu Haizhong brought a bottle of wine and came to Yi Zhonghai's house.

The two old men sat at a small square table and chatted over a sip of wine and some peanuts.

"Old Yi, the last time I asked you to help me with something was not right. Ma Qing doesn't live on campus, which makes me feel awkward. Do you think I can still go to him to discuss renting a room for me?"

"This is difficult. Ma Qing doesn't live on campus. He stays at home. Your plan to rent a room for your eldest son to live together is probably not going to work. Ma Qing doesn't need your little money. It will be a nuisance to have an outsider living in his northeast corner yard. I wouldn't want that either," said Yi Zhonghai.

"Help me think of a solution, or call a meeting in the compound and help me mediate. Then I will never let you work for nothing."

"Stop it, can this be brought to the meeting? You are getting old and confused, your only chance now is if Ma Qing agrees. I think you can only use soft tactics, do you know how to ask for favors, play the favor card, pretend to be pitiful, and put Ma Qing on a pedestal. If he agrees, then he will agree. If he doesn't agree, then there is nothing you can do. But I advise you not to bother, this thing will not work. Ma Qing is a very righteous guy, and this trick is probably useless."

(End of this chapter)