Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 40 Letter from Uncle
1981年9月18日，农历8月21日
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The crowing of a rooster woke Wang Jiankun up. He changed his position and prepared to continue sleeping. He looked at his watch and found that there were only more than 10 minutes left before class.

He stood up suddenly, went to the yard, turned on the faucet and wiped his face with his hands. The cold water on his face shocked him and he became sober instantly.

He checked the radio and found that the power was off, so he hurriedly closed and locked the door, then rode his 28-inch bicycle to school.

He finally stepped into the classroom when the bell for morning reading rang. The head teacher was a little displeased to see him come in on time, but thinking that Wang Jiankun's grades were okay, he didn't say anything and asked Wang Jiankun to go back to his seat for morning reading.

Wang Jiankun sat down in his seat, breathing heavily, and took out his English book to read.

My deskmate picked up a book to cover his mouth and leaned over to whisper, "What's wrong with you today? You came in so late, and you barely even caught your breath. Did you run all the way to school?"

Wang Jiankun also held up a book to cover his mouth and said, "I was playing the radio last night and forgot to check the time. I slept too late, so I woke up late today."

"Is radio so fun? Staying up late to play it."

"It's OK. It's quite interesting. I don't have a license now so I can't send signals without permission. So I keep listening to the 'hams' chatting there."

"What does 'ham' mean?"

"It's a nickname for amateur radio enthusiasts. I won't tell you the origin. I'll show you the magazine the monitor gave me yesterday and you'll understand."

"Well, you'd better not stay up late. I don't want to see you losing yourself in pleasure."

"Uh~~, I won't be so late next time. I'll set an alarm and go to bed at a certain time."

"That's good, otherwise I wouldn't want my dad to help you get that license."

"No, just yesterday. I won't do that again."

"Okay, read. I like to hear your English accent. Hurry up."

"Okay, I'll read it a few times in London accent and New York accent."

So Wang Jiankun slightly turned his body to the side, so that the sound could be concentrated as much as possible towards his deskmate.

After the morning reading get out of class, Wang Jiankun gave the lunch box and meal ticket to Fang Guihua and asked him to help make three steamed buns and bring some pickled peppers he brought from home. He needed to take a rest during breakfast time.

After giving the instructions, he fell asleep on the table. When the steamed buns were served, he ate them quickly with some pickled peppers and then continued to sleep for a while until his deskmate woke him up during class.

After catching up on some sleep, I finally felt a little more energetic. After finishing math and physics classes, it was already noon and time to go home from school.

As usual, we went to the scrap recycling station for dinner. The squad leader asked about the radio station. Wang Jiankun said truthfully, "I went to Yuyu Garden yesterday to install it. Now we can only listen to it. We have to wait for the license to be issued and the call sign to chat with the 'hams'."

"Do you need help with your license?"

"I've asked my classmate Yu Zirun to help. His father happens to be in charge of this. I'll go to the Post Office after dinner to find someone to handle it."

"Is that so? Then go ahead. If you can't handle it, come to me. Don't be polite."

"Okay, I'll take you to have a look after I get the license and the call sign. Mine is more sensitive than your brother's and can receive shortwave signals from all corners of the world."

"So awesome! I'll go see it for myself then."
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After dinner, Wang Jiankun walked to the Post Office. Since the appointment time was 1 p.m., he walked there just in time, so he left the bicycle for Fang Guihua to practice.

I arrived at the post office and waited for a while at the door of the director's office. Then I saw a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit walking towards the office.

Wang Jiankun took a few steps forward and said, "Hello, Director Li, I am Wang Jiankun, and I am here to ask you to apply for an amateur radio license."

The middle-aged man stretched out his hand and shook hands with Wang Jiankun, saying, "You are Wang Jiankun, the person that Leader Yu introduced to apply for an amateur radio license, right? Come in and talk."

After saying that, he let go of his hand, opened the office door and led Wang Jiankun in.

"Would you like some tea?"

Director Li went to prepare tea, and Wang Jiankun hurriedly said, "No, no, Director Li, please don't bother."

Seeing this, Director Li poured him a glass of boiled water and added hot water to his own cup.

After Director Li sat down, he asked about Wang Jiankun's situation, where he was from, how he thought of applying for this license, where the radio station was going to be installed, etc.

Wang Jiankun replied, "I am from the Wangjia Production Team of Zheyuan Commune. This year, I was admitted to No. 2 Middle School with the third highest score in the county. I usually like to read magazines and study some things. During the summer vacation, I learned that radio stations can contact radio enthusiasts all over the world, so I want to apply for a radio license."

"I rented a house from a family in Yuyu Garden. There is a hill over there. I will install the radio there and the antenna on the hill."

"It seems that you are quite knowledgeable about radios. You know that the antenna should be installed at a high place. Since you were introduced by Leader Yu, I hope you will strictly follow the radio management regulations. It will be bad if something goes wrong."

"I will definitely abide by the law and strictly follow the regulations, please rest assured, leader."

"I hope you will do what you say. If you are found to have violated the rules, your license will be revoked and your radio station will be confiscated. It is not easy for your family to buy you a radio station."

"Yes, I won't do anything rash. I just want to exchange some scientific and technological knowledge through the radio."

"Come and register, and fill out this information. I will expedite it and send it to you. I will try to get you the exam in Raozhou on the 17th of next month. I will write you a note about the exam address and time. If you can pass the exam, you will receive your transcript in about a week. The transcript will be mailed to the address you filled in. Then you can go and buy and install the radio. After the installation, we will check whether it is the same as what you filled in on the application form. If there is no problem, the license will be issued to you in the following week."

"Okay, thank you for your support, I will fill it out right away."

Under the guidance of Director Li, Wang Jiankun filled out the information and asked Director Li for advice on power and channel. Because he wanted to apply for the highest level, Director Li looked up the latest management regulations and asked Wang Jiankun to fill them out accordingly.

After completing the form, Wang Jiankun asked Director Li about the scope of the exam. Director Li mentioned two book titles and asked him to go to Xinhua Bookstore or the library to read or buy them.

Thanking Director Li again, I left the director's office and walked towards the school with the handwritten note.

The license has entered the application process. With the help of the leader, there shouldn't be any problem. If things go well, you can get the license and call sign in early November.

After returning to the classroom, I said to my deskmate, "I just went to the Post and Telecommunications Bureau to see Director Li to apply for a radio license. Director Li is quite nice and said he would help expedite the application. If it goes fast, I will get the license in early November."

"I heard there's still an exam to take? Are you so confident you can pass it?"

"Have you forgotten my abilities? I will definitely pass the exam." Wang Jiankun said proudly.

"Hmph, you arrogant king, you are not so great for having a photographic memory. The monthly exam is in a week. Let me see how I can surpass you." "Come on, I not only have a photographic memory, but also a very clever study method. Do you want me to teach you?"

Wang Jiankun felt that he owed Yu Zirun a big favor and wanted to use Zhizi's intelligent analytical ability to diagnose her deskmate's weaknesses and give her some remedial questions.

"You're just bragging. You don't even pay attention in class. This time, you're testing all subjects. You didn't pay attention in arts at all, and you were often distracted in science. Do you still want to do well in the test?"

Wang Jiankun knew that she did not trust her learning ability, but there was nothing he could do. He would wait until after the exam. Then she would understand that he was an honest person, and at least he did not brag about his studies.

After school in the afternoon, Wang Jiankun went back to the scrap station to eat and checked the accounts with Ye Wei.

Recently, more and more people come here to sell waste, and I can recycle about 10 yuan of waste every day.

Wang Jiankun plans to transport some of the scrap metal to the newly rented house to make a stamping machine, because the second phase of equipment should be installed in the middle of next month, so preparations must be made as soon as possible.

After Ye Wei left, Wang Jiankun used his superpowers to make two wooden boxes and a shelf. When the squad leader returned the motorcycle in the evening, he put the boxes on the motorcycle and transported the scrap metal over bit by bit.

It was still early, so Wang Jiankun picked up the text machine to check the information.

Cheng Yong talked about the wholesale situation of lighters in recent days, which is becoming more and more popular.

He said he had already agreed with his father to deliver every two days, at least 1 each time. If more could be sent, that would be no problem, because he had already started to sell in limited quantities. If he released it, 1 would not even make up a day.

He has already started to cultivate capable provincial wholesalers, and has also contacted friends in several coastal areas in the south, asking them to help find houses, with the goal of opening wholesale and retail outlets next month.

He again raised the possibility of deploying this mobile communication system in coastal areas, and he could invest money for it.

Wang Jiankun replied to him not to be anxious and to wait a little longer, as base stations would be laid in more places in the future.

My father talked about the transportation situation and said that the truck had not had any problems recently. Cheng Xing's friend asked how he did it. He didn't know, so he could only say that the goods he transported were not heavy, and the truck was still empty when he returned.

Speaking of empty trucks, Wang Jiankun thought that in the future he should ask his father to go to Dexing Copper Mine to transport some rare earth ore back, and then put it in the scrap yard for refining and storage by himself. It would be good to use up that much cash to buy some ore.

So I sent a message to my father, asking him to go to a mine in Dexing Copper Mine to buy some ore and transport it to the scrap yard if he came back with an empty truck in the future.

Then I checked the messages sent by my mother. The first few messages talked about the production situation of the lighter factory. There was also a message from Tuokou Production Team where a man named Fang sent cotton and cotton core samples. After checking them, I found they were OK. I agreed with him to deliver cotton and cotton cores once a week, and the price was the same as purchasing from other production teams.

The last two messages were a bit strange. My mother said that her brother had replied to her letter and left his phone number in the letter. My mother planned to come to the county town to call him tomorrow.

Because the phone number in the letter was from Guangzhou, it was difficult to make a cross-provincial call in Qinghua Town, so it would be better to call in the county town.

Wang Jiankun asked his mother to go to the county post office to call at noon tomorrow. He also wanted to know the news about his uncle, whom he had never met, and why he hadn't replied to his letters for so many years, but suddenly replied now.

My mother might be busy and didn't reply to the message. I looked at the time and it was almost time for evening self-study, so I folded up the antenna, turned off the power and put it in the drawer.

Wang Jiankun has just taken the time to build a new desk using recycled furniture, and also set up a safe to store some important things.

During evening study, Wang Jiankun recalled some of the stories his mother had told him about his grandparents and his uncles.

After returning from studying in the Soviet Union, my grandfather joined the army and eventually transferred to Peking to serve as the leader of a machinery department, where he was in charge of connecting with Soviet aid to China's heavy industry projects. My grandmother also studied in the Soviet Union and started out as a military doctor in the army. Later, she transferred to a Peking Hospital as a doctor.

My eldest uncle was working in an automobile company in Northeast China at the time, and my younger uncle was a freshman at BJ University of Science and Technology.

After my grandparents had the accident, my mother was unable to see my uncle, and the letters she wrote went unanswered.

My uncle went to the south of Yunnan at that time. We communicated via letters in the first two years, but after that, he never received a reply to the letters he sent.

When my mother suddenly received the news that my grandparents were gone, she was completely devastated.

There is no one around to discuss things with, my elder brother is nowhere to be found, and my younger brother is thousands of miles away.

At this time, my father saw my mother's helplessness, talked to her, and took her up the mountains and down the rivers. After more than half a year, my mother gradually came out of her grief.

After that, the two of them naturally came together.

After getting married, my father took my mother to the place where my grandparents died to pay their respects, but there was no news from my brother-in-law, nor did I hear that they went to pay their respects.

It was not until the news of reform and opening up came that they went to the old house in Peking to look for their uncles. After wandering around Peking for several days without finding any news about their two uncles, they had to go home.

It was not easy to go to Peking, and after spending all my savings, I never went there a second time. But every year my mother would send a few letters, thinking that my two uncles might receive news when they returned to their original places.

It wasn't until today that my mother received a reply from my uncle.

After evening self-study, Wang Jiankun exchanged cars with the class monitor.

Go back to the recycling station and turn on the text machine to receive the message.

The mother replied that she and her father would go to the county town to make a phone call the next day at noon, and asked Wang Jiankun to wait for her at the waste recycling station at noon.

Wang Jiankun replied that he had received the letter and would see you tomorrow.

Seeing some recycled old furniture in the yard, he used his superpowers to transform them into wooden boxes.

He packed the recycled scrap metal into boxes and put them on a motorcycle. He made 5 or 6 trips back and forth and finally transported all the scrap metal to the house in Yu Yu Garden. He also used his superpowers to synthesize 3 sets of lighter production equipment and prepared to let his father take them home tomorrow.

Over at Yu Yu Garden, Wang Jiankun has used his superpowers to build a wooden bed and some daily necessities, and he has also bought a new set of bedding. He will sleep here from now on.

Turning on the radio, Wang Jiankun began to search for and record the frequencies of the "hams". There were too many people in this crowded frequency band, and there were all kinds of voices and accents. It was a hassle to distinguish and record them one by one. Wang Jiankun began to wonder whether he could combine the computer and the radio station and use the computer to analyze the recorded data.

However, I don’t have the physical computer at hand at the moment, so I have to wait until Peter buys it and sends it to me before I can study the modification myself.

There were hundreds of call signs recorded in the notebook. Wang Jiankun looked at the time and it was almost 12 o'clock.

So I turned off the radio, unplugged it and went to bed.

(End of this chapter)