Exciting 1979!

Chapter 5: Peking University Leader

"Dad, are you back?"

When Wei Ming came out with his pants in hand, Old Wei was already lying on the bed.

"Well," Wei Jiefang advised him with his eyes closed, "You should go to bed early too. Your uncle will take us into the city tomorrow."

"Oh, I'll write for a while longer and try to finish this one." Wei Ming said with high morale.

Old Wei thought: What a waste of pen, ink and paper.

But they were about to separate, and he didn't want to teach his son a lesson. Although he didn't understand puberty, his son in the past two years was indeed not as obedient as he was when he was a child. He was like a donkey in the team and had to do whatever he wanted.

Unexpectedly, Wei Ming wrote until one o'clock in the morning. It seemed that his memory had been enhanced after his rebirth. Although it was a cartoon he watched in the 80s, he still remembered it clearly.

Looking at this short article of about 5,000 words, Wei Ming felt very accomplished. After correcting the typos, he put it in an envelope and went to sleep.

That night Wei Ming had a dream. He dreamed that he turned into Wu Song and went up Jingyang Ridge. He met a white-browed tiger, which scared him so much that he peed his pants.

The tiger laughed at this, and Wei Ming then noticed that the tiger had no teeth, so he grabbed the tiger, put it on his lap and spanked it.

"Clap! Clap!"

Wei Jiefang pushed Wei Ming, but failed to wake him up, so he simply hit him on the thigh a few times.

"Ah, what happened? An earthquake?"

Now he finally woke up.

Wei Jiefang snorted, "I told you to go to bed early but you didn't listen. Hurry up and get up. Don't let your uncle wait for us."

It turned out that it was already dawn.

Wei Ming put on his clothes and went to the bathroom to flush the toilet. When he came out, he saw that Lao Wei had already packed a small bag.

He said to his son, "If your uncle can get things done today, I will leave after lunch."

"Ah?" Wei Ming was a little reluctant, "Will it be a bit rushed? How about staying for another day and taking a good look around Yanjing?"

Wei Jiefang waved his hand and said, "I have been to Yanjing so many times, and I have visited almost all of it. That's it. I am also worried about your mother and sister at home, and the group of animals in the brigade."

Wei Ming didn't say anything more, he just thought about buying a house for his family in the capital when he made money in the future.

Although Lao Wei spoke with contempt, he knew how much he longed for the capital. His several trips to Beijing were his biggest asset for bragging in the village. This time he could finally update his material when he returned.

About half an hour later, Wei Ping'an arrived. Wei Jiefang asked anxiously, like a student waiting to hear his score: "How was it?"

"It's done!"

Wei Pingan sat down and said, "I got the deputy director of the security department drunk yesterday, and finally got a temporary job. Xiao Ming, you will report to the school security team tomorrow."

So, your first job was a security guard at Peking University?
Oh, now you should call the security guard.

Wei Ming comforted himself that he would be the head of Peking University in the future.

Wei Jiefang was very satisfied with this job. He noticed yesterday that the security guards at the gate were all wearing uniforms and looked very energetic.

"Brother Jiefang, you guys haven't eaten yet, let's go have breakfast first, and then go into the city!"

Now the Third Ring Road has not been built yet. Only Dongcheng, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Chongwen within the Second Ring Road are considered to be the city of Yanjing, which is also the most essential and lively part of this ancient capital.

Because the distance was far, it was inappropriate for three adult men to carry a bicycle, so they took the bus.

It took me an hour and a half to reach my destination, after a long and slow process and having to reverse twice. It was not as fast as riding a bicycle.

So Wei Ming felt that the first thing he would do after joining the company was to buy a bicycle. Yanyuan is so big, it would be more convenient to have a car to get around.

Considering that he had taken Wei Jiefang to visit the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, and Shichahai before, Wei Ping'an chose the Qianmen Dashilan area this time, which was closer to the lunch place.

In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, the Dashilan area was a famous commercial and entertainment center in Beijing, with many theaters, shops, and chicken farms.

The Eight Great Hutongs are located in this area.

In addition, you can also see time-honored brands such as Xiangyihao, Ruifengxiang, and Nei Liansheng, which are now basically public-private partnerships.

There were some tourists, but far fewer than in later generations. You could also see a few foreigners.

On the south side of the west entrance of Dazhalan Street is China’s first cinema, the “Daguanlou”, now renamed the “Daguanlou Cinema”. “Dingjun Mountain” premiered here.

A guy named Wang Qiankun was tearing down the poster of "Look at This Family" from Beijing Film Studio and replacing it with the promotional poster of "Gunshots in the Secret Bureau" from Changchun Film Studio.

Beijing Film Studio, Changchun Film Studio, and Shanghai Film Studio are considered the three giants in the current film industry.

"Come closer, both of you. Smile... I got it, I got it!"

Wei Ping'an was very thoughtful and borrowed a camera from the school to take some photos of the father and son.

Wei Ming went on to say, "Uncle, let me take a picture of you and my dad as well."

Wei Jiefang put his arm on his brother's shoulder. Wei Ping'an thought of the first photo he and Wei Jiefang took when he sent him to Beijing to attend university. It was taken in the same pose. It has been sixteen or seventeen years.

More than ten years have passed, I am still in my prime, but Brother Jiefang is already old. Fate is so cruel.

Wei Ping'an was sighing, while Wei Ming was touching the Seagull camera in his hand and thinking that when he had enough money, he would definitely buy one!
He also likes photography, especially portraits, and the 80s are very worth recording.

After a round of shopping, Wei Jiefang bought a hairpin for his wife, a notebook for his daughter, and some Yanjing snacks.

Feeling a little thirsty, they went to the west side of the Qianmen Arrow Tower to drink a bowl of tea from the "Youth Tea House" for two cents a bowl. The leader was Yin Shengxi. Putting down the bowl, Wei Pingan looked at his watch: "It's almost twelve o'clock, we can leave, Xiaoyan will probably be off work soon."

Wei Ming thought that he had to buy a watch as he had no concept of time at all.

There are so many things he wants to buy, and he is more motivated to make money.

As long as it’s a thousand words, I’ll write whatever you ask me to write!
~
"Children's Literature" is located at No. 12, Dongsi North 21th Street. It was founded in 1963. It is known as a banner of Chinese children's literature and is also the best-selling children's publication.

It was interrupted for a period of time due to special historical reasons. After it was resumed in 77, the publication cycle was not stable at first. An issue was published when all the manuscripts were collected, sometimes three months, sometimes four months. Since this year, it has been restored to a monthly publication, and the pressure to collect manuscripts has increased sharply.

Those literary masters usually look down upon children's literature, and the reputation gained from writing stories for children is far less than that of serious literature. Therefore, there are not many writers who write professional children's literature, and their levels vary.

Sister Mao, who was sitting across from Lv Xiaoyan, had just come out of the editor-in-chief's office and said proudly, "My article "Heihei on Honesty Island" was approved. I'm still a newcomer, Xiao Lu, you have to work hard too."

Just as Lu Xiaoyan was about to retort, Wei Xi came over and pulled her trouser leg: "Mom, Lele said she is hungry."

Lele who was reading a picture book: “???”

Lu Xiaoyan looked at the time and it was time to get off work: "Okay, okay, let's go."

After going downstairs, she put Lele on the front bumper and Xizi on the back seat. When she raised her legs, Wei Xi screamed "Ah" and he was hit by his mother's whip-kick.

"Oh, I'm sorry Xizi, I forgot you were behind me, are you okay?"

Wei Xi covered his mouth, and after a while he spat on the ground. A tooth fell out with a crisp sound.

He was so happy: "Mom, my cavities fell out, can I eat candy now?"

It was still unclear which one had fallen off. Lu Xiaoyan wiped the shoe print off her son's face and said with a guilty conscience, "Okay, you can dip the duck skin in some sugar when you eat it."

"Thank you, Mom!" Wei Xi was satisfied and felt that the tooth had died for a good cause.

It only takes about 20 minutes to ride a bike from here to Quanjude Hepingmen branch. When they arrived, Wei Pingan and his group were waiting at the door.

"Brother Jiefang, Xiao Ming, sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."

Wei Jiefang: "No, no, no, we just arrived."

Wei Pingan took Lele with a smile: "I have already reserved a seat, come in."

This new store is located in Building 14, Qianmen West Street. It is four stories high and was built only half a year ago, and has only been open to the public for the past two months.

Because it was built after the reform and opening up, it is more in line with international standards. First of all, it is large, enough to accommodate 1500 people dining at the same time.

Then there is the multi-functional “Golden Hall” on the fourth floor, which can be used for both dining and meetings.

Moreover, after its opening, it began to receive dignitaries and celebrities from various countries, and took on the important task of spreading food culture.

The prices of Quanjude in later generations are outrageous, and Dezi today is not affordable for ordinary people.

Wei Jiefang looked at the menu and put it down. What kind of duck is this? It costs ten yuan a piece! And the sauce costs money!
However, compared with the price of live ducks at RMB 1.5 per kilogram, the current premium of Quanjude Roast Duck is not serious. It would be outrageous in later generations.

The roast ducks at Quanjude range in price from 8 to 10 yuan each depending on the size. Wei Ping'an knew how much Wei Jiefang ate, so he ordered the largest one.

"Also, a big bowl of duck bone soup. The duck bones will be fried later. You can pack them up when you leave."

Afterwards, I ordered a few more stir-fried dishes, including Mu Shu pork, pork slices with tofu, Kung Pao chicken, crab, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and some lotus leaf cakes.

Normally, Wei Ping'an would not order so many meat dishes when he went to a restaurant as they would be too greasy, but he knew that there was a lack of oil and water in the countryside and it would be too difficult to get a meal of meat, so today he mainly wanted to give Wei Jiefang and his son a good meal.

Old Wei's mouth started to water just by listening to him ordering dishes. Fortunately, he didn't eat all the buns he had eaten in the morning.

In addition to lamenting the high price of RMB 20 for the crab, Wei Ming also roughly calculated the cost of the meal, which was probably just under RMB .

I wonder if his monthly salary as a temporary worker at Peking University is even 20 yuan.

Uncle Ping'an is worthy of being a level 13 administrative cadre. He earns more than yuan a month, and the couple's combined monthly income is at least yuan, which is equivalent to the income of their family of four working hard in a year!
The chef who sliced the duck performed a cooking show in front of them. The meat was meat, the skin was skin, and there was also meat and skin together, a total of three plates, showing his excellent knife skills.

Everyone ate roast duck first. It was obvious that this was not the first time for Xizi and Lele to eat it, and they were enjoying it.

Several dishes were served one after another. Wei Ming paid special attention to the crab. It smelled just right, and if you tasted it carefully, you could distinguish the granular texture of the salted duck egg yolk.

Lv Xiaoyan is the same age as the Republic. She has lived with her parents in a military compound since she was born. She has the most say about Quanjude as she had eaten there when she was a child.

"I ate it twice when I was Xizi's age. It was really delicious then. But after the public-private partnership, the taste changed."

Wei Pingan: "That's right. The price has dropped, so the quality is bound to drop, but at least more people can afford it. However, as long as the sauce recipe remains the same, most people can't actually tell the difference in the meat quality."

Lv Xiaoyan nodded. Seeing that Wei Jiefang was eating happily, she said, "We had the roast duck from Quanjude this time. Next time, when Brother Jiefang comes, we'll eat at Bianyifang."

After swallowing the meat in his mouth, Wei Jiefang asked, "They are all roast ducks, so why are they different?"

Lv Xiaoyan: "Quanjude is cooked in a hanging oven, while Bianyifang is cooked in a stewing oven. The cooking methods are slightly different. The crust of Quanjude is crispier."

She looked at her watch and said, "Oh, it's half past one. I have to go to work. I won't be with you guys later."

Not only did she leave early, she also left Xile to Ping An, since he was having the day off anyway.

When Wei Ming saw Lu Xiaoyan going out, he hurriedly followed her.

"Oh, Xiao Ming, you don't have to send me off. I have hands and feet."

"Aunt, I have something to ask," Wei Ming took out the envelope that he had been holding for a long time, "I want to submit an article..."

(End of this chapter)