My 1978 Hotel

"Then let's set off."

Li Feng handed the whip to Gao Jiu, then rode his folding bicycle out of the courtyard following the donkey cart. Liu Wei and the others who were training nearby gave him a shout-out. "Train hard, we'll give you a snack at noon."

"Brother Feng, don't worry."

An Xin pumped her fist. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission."

"Thank you for your hard work, I'm leaving now."

"Brother Feng, this bicycle is really nice."

"Of course, it can be folded too, it's very compact."

An Xin and An Ying were filled with envy, while Liu Wei and the others just grimaced. This bicycle was clearly brought from later times. "Don't stop, keep pedaling."

"understood."

Liu Wei sighed. These two girls have too much stamina; how come they never get tired?

"I really want to go and see."

Zhang Wei muttered to himself, "I didn't really explore the commune last time I passed by; I just trained here."

"I'm afraid that if we don't lose 50 pounds, that guy won't let us leave the village."

"Ah."

Li Feng muttered to himself, wondering if those chubby guys were talking about him behind his back. "Looks like he's not getting enough training; he's got the energy to think about other things."

"Cousin, hurry up!"

"You guys are pretty fast. I was waiting for you." As he spoke, Li Feng sped up. It's worth noting that the little black donkey seemed to have become stronger after passing through the Time Travel Inn, and it was surprisingly fast pulling such a large cart.

"You guys should take it easy, there's too much dust."

"Don't worry, we were prepared."

With a towel wrapped around his head and a cotton mask, this guy was quite well-covered, Li Feng said with a smile. "That's good, Daya, make sure you're wrapped up tightly in your blanket, so you don't get dusty."

"Dad, it's all wrapped up."

They chatted and laughed all the way to the commune. After getting off the donkey cart, everyone shook the dust off their towels and patted themselves clean. "Why don't you guys wander around here for a while? The second brother and I will take Daya to school first."

"Row."

"Oh right, I'll buy the pork first."

After saying that, Li Feng took out two jin of meat coupons and two yuan and handed them to Wu Tong. "Buy it early, or you won't be able to buy good meat."

"Don't worry, we'll go and line up right away."

Wu Tong took the meat ticket and money, and happily led Qin Yue and Hua Ziyao to the meat stall, with Li Muchen and Hua Ziyan acting as bodyguards.

"Let's go to school then."

"We were originally planning to wait for Mingliang and the others to come together."

"Who would have thought these kids wouldn't come until next week?"

This matter is also related to the school; there aren't enough beds available, so the boys can only come next week when the beds are ready. Upon arriving at the school, Li Feng paid the fees before heading to the dormitory with Da Ya, who was carrying their luggage.

"This bed is really awful!"

It was just a few wooden planks that made it up. Li Feng glanced at it and thought, not to mention that this was a large communal sleeping area. There were probably dozens of children living in the three tiled rooms.

"This is a new board."

Gao took a look. "It's just a bit thin, and the burrs haven't been smoothed out."

"It was probably done first."

"This year, we need to increase the enrollment rate; that's what the documents from above say."

Li Feng listened to what An Jun said. In previous years, things weren't so strict. Some girls weren't even sent to school. But this year, the commune's Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu emphasized several times the importance of school enrollment for school-age children, especially girls.

As a result, the enrollment rate of girls has increased significantly. Although there are still quite a few girls who have reached the enrollment age but have not enrolled, the rate is more than 20% higher than last year and the year before. Don't underestimate more than 20%; today's children are not like those of the future.

There were quite a few children in the commune, which resulted in a shortage of dormitories and beds. In the end, they had to add new wooden plank beds to the old dormitories. "Put on the mats first, then the sheets. I should have brought some straw." Li Feng glanced at the beds and saw that most of them were made of straw, which would at least make them softer.

Li Feng gave Daya some instructions, mainly that she should tell the teacher if anyone bullies her. He didn't say anything else. After all, children go to school to learn, not only knowledge but also how to get along with others and how to handle things independently.

Of course, Li Feng wouldn't care too much about these things, but there was one thing he was quite concerned about: he couldn't let her be bullied. Da Ya had a good personality and was sensible, but he was afraid that if she was too sensible, she wouldn't be willing to speak up when she was bullied. So Li Feng specifically talked to the teacher about it.

"Don't worry, the child is with us, we will definitely take good care of him."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Teacher Chen."

After leaving the school, Li Feng met up with Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng and went to the post office first. "Comrade Li Feng, you've finally arrived! If you hadn't come, I would have come looking for you."

"Comrade Xiaoli, what's wrong? Have you received too many letters from readers?"

"No."

Huang Xiaoli said with a smile, "Look, we're almost out of space here. You must have written another great article, right?"

"No, it's an old piece."

Goodness, there are quite a lot, several large bags, and this one bag probably contains hundreds of packages. No wonder Huang Xiaoli said she wanted to find me.

"And here are the packages."

"These are quite heavy."

When Li Feng saw that the person had asked the editor to buy magazines, he realized that they were meant to be given away as gifts. There were about a hundred copies, which not only cost a lot of money but also left him indebted to the editor. These days, sending things is quite a hassle.

"It's a sample copy; I'll give you one."

"Thank you very much."

Li Feng casually opened the package and took out two books. "One is for you, and the other is for Comrade Xiao Feng."

"Thank you, and I'd like to thank you on Xiaofeng's behalf as well."

"Too polite."

After asking Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng to help him pack the meat onto the donkey cart, Li Feng left the post office and drove the cart to the meat stall. "Cousin, you've finally arrived."

"How's the meat purchase going?"

"Look, there's so much fat. I have to say, cousin. As soon as I mentioned your name, the butcher cut off a good piece of meat for me." Wu Tong's flattery made Li Feng feel quite pleased. "That's right, the butcher and I have known each other for a long time."

"Let's go, get in the car, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative and see if they have any non-staple foods."

There's no shortage of eggs lately; several of the chickens we brought have started laying eggs, one a day, which is quite frequent.

"Let's go, let's go, I just saw the donkey cart carrying tofu pass by."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Tofu is currently in limited supply and at limited times, usually only available two or three days a week. You can only buy one or two pieces if you're lucky. "I'll buy a few more pieces of tofu later; Liu Wei and the others are training very hard and need to replenish their protein."

"Unfortunately, there weren't enough eggs, so we had to eat tofu instead."

"The tofu is fine too."

"That's true."

Li Feng said with a smile, "Let's see if we can get some snails from the reservoir later. We can stir-fry them; they're excellent sources of protein."

"There might not be any at the reservoir. Let's wait until we buy the air rifle and then hunt some rabbits or pheasants."

"That's not easy either."

Li Muchen thought to himself that it wasn't easy to encounter pheasants or rabbits these days. However, there were some sparrows and doves that were quite common. A rifle shot at these things would turn them into a bloody mess, so he rarely shot at these small birds.

Air guns are quite suitable; the small lead bullets are perfect for small birds and animals like pheasants, small birds, and rabbits. Arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, sure enough, there was still some tofu left. Li Feng quickly told Wu Tong to pay, otherwise the tofu would probably be gone in no time.

We bought tofu and were lucky enough to find some dried tofu, which is usually hard to come by. "Let's put it in the car first and then check out the air guns." But when we finally decided to buy them, we realized that the supply and marketing cooperative only had three air guns available.

"Not many people usually buy it."

After all, the militia already have rifles, and air rifles aren't very powerful, so buying them wouldn't be of much use. Normally, they wouldn't sell even one or two a year, but these young men came and wanted five. "Then three will do. Do you have lead bullets?"

"Yes, they're all here."

Lead pellets were cheap, so Li Feng bought a lot more. Air guns aren't cheap these days, no wonder not many people are buying them. "The workmanship is really good."

"well enough."

"Want to keep shopping?" Li Feng glanced at the time; it was getting late. If he went back now, it would probably be past eleven o'clock by the time he got home.

"Let's go back."

"There's not much to see, it's not a big market after all."

The market, held every ten days, was quite lively. Back then, members from all the surrounding brigades would come to sell handicrafts, and if you were lucky, you could even find piglets or lambs for sale.

"Let's come back to the market again later; this time we'll stay for a while."

Liu Wei and his team had been training for at least twenty days, and if they were delayed a few more days, it would be almost a month. Fortunately, they arrived before eight o'clock this time, so they had plenty of time. Back home, Li Feng prepared the meat.

"Braised pork slices with tofu for lunch."

"Stir-fried green peppers, shredded pork, and dried tofu".

"Let's make a cold red sausage salad."

"Another egg and vegetable soup, please."

Li Feng said with a smile, "How about it? Not bad, right?"

"Three dishes and a soup, with meat and eggs, it's such a feast."

"too exaggerated."

Da Ya has gone to school and is speaking much more freely now, since Er Ya is still young and doesn't quite understand. "Second sister, give me a hand."

"okay."

I haven't had anything oily or greasy for the past couple of days, and I'm actually craving meat. After a flurry of activity, I said, "Egg drop soup, Second Brother, you make some." Li Feng took off his patched apron and handed it to Gao Jiu. "I'll go and fetch An Bing and An Min. Little Brother, you go and call An Xin and An Ying."

"We'll have to trouble Liu Wei and the others with their training and their return to the river work."

"I'll go right away."

Li Muchen nodded; he had a good relationship with An Xin and An Ying.

When Li Feng came to the team and told An Min and An Bing that he would treat them to a meal, the two were overjoyed. Usually, Li Feng would treat their fathers to meals, so why would he treat them to a meal?

"Oh, this meal is really plentiful."

It was supposed to be three dishes and a soup, but the meat, eggs, red sausage, and tofu were not exactly plentiful. There were also a few side dishes, such as stir-fried dried fish with green peppers and stir-fried river shrimp. The eight-immortal table was full of food, and there were also two bottles of Xinghuacun wine on it.

"Sit down quickly."

He invited everyone to sit down. As for Liu Wei and his friends, he even made them some tofu and egg soup. As for meat, he said it was too oily and not suitable for those on a diet. Even so, Liu Wei and the others felt that the meal was pretty good today, and they had finally had some time to sit down.

"Come on, fill it up."

"An Ying, An Xin, bring some wine."

"Have some, it'll help you relax."

Although An Xin and An Ying were both young and girls, they didn't feel there was anything wrong with drinking, and their alcohol tolerance was somewhat beyond Li Feng's expectations. "Wow, you must be able to handle half a jin (250ml)!"

"almost."

"I don't usually drink much."

Goodness, you guys have almost gotten this guy drunk. Seriously, if he hadn't stopped them, they probably would have ruined half of those two bottles of wine. "Anmin, Anbing, let me toast you one more time. I'll need your help again later."

"What are you talking about?"

"Small things."

The two men had average alcohol tolerance, about the same as Li Feng, and could easily drink a pound of liquor. Of course, they had things to do in the afternoon, so they couldn't drink too much; three or four ounces each would be just right. "Luckily, I prepared two more bottles, otherwise it really wouldn't be enough."

The meal lasted for more than an hour, and they drank more than three bottles of Xinghuacun liquor, which Li Feng had not expected. Originally, two bottles would have been enough, so he blamed the two girls for making trouble.

"You've finally finished drinking."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue, along with Hua Ziyao, helped clear away the dishes.

Would you like some tea?

"No need, it's fine. Thank you for washing the dishes and pots," Li Feng said with a smile. "I suppose Zhiyao rarely washes dishes and pots at home?"

"It's not just less, it's never existed."

Wu Tong smiled and said, "Right, Zhiyao?"

"It's alright, I wash it occasionally."

Hua Ziyao suppressed a laugh.

"Tch, sis, how dare you say that? I remember the last time you washed dishes was when you were in elementary school." Before Hua Ziyan could finish speaking, Hua Ziyao grabbed his ear. "Would you die if you didn't talk?"

Good heavens, I thought Hua Ziyao was a gentle and refined young lady. Looking at her like this, Li Feng shook his head. Her future boyfriend is probably going to suffer.

"I'm not wrong."

Hua Ziyan rubbed his ears and moved away before daring to speak. "It's still because I want to buy a phone."

"Hua Ziyan, are you looking for death?"

"If you don't say it, don't say it."

Hua Ziyan was quite pragmatic; he had experienced his sister's power firsthand more than once, so it was best not to provoke her.

"Mr. Li, have some tea."

"Thank you."

Li Feng thought to himself, "This is rare. Even Hua Ziyao's father might not get to drink the tea she brews." "Are the dishes and chopsticks all washed?"

"All right."

"Sister Wu Tong and Sister Qin Yue washed them, and I just helped out a little."

"Actually, Zhiyao learns quite quickly."

Wu Tong wiped her hands, walked over, sat down, and started drinking her tea. "Where's Li Muchen? Why didn't he come over for tea?"

"I sent them away."

"Those two little girls?"

Wu Tong put down his teacup and leaned closer to Li Feng. "Mr. Li, don't you think those two young girls are interested in Li Muchen...?"

"You see it too?"

"I hadn't noticed before, but I only realized this time when I came here that Li Muchen didn't know?"

Wu Tong wondered if Li Muchen knew about this.

"The young man probably hasn't realized it yet."

Li Feng took a sip of tea.

"Then why did you let him go and see them off?"

"What can I do? Can I stop this from happening?"

Li Feng sighed helplessly. "It's like trying to break up a couple. It's up to you, young man. If you're interested, it's probably useless for me to stop you."

"That's true."

Wu Tong muttered. "If Li Muchen really has feelings for her, the young girl really can't resist. He's even better looking than his brother; he's probably one of the best-looking guys in our circle."

"I agree with that."

Hua Ziyao laughed and said, "I was almost blinded by that guy when I first saw him, but I heard he broke up with his girlfriend a few days ago?"

"Of course, let me tell you..."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue suddenly got excited, leaving Li Feng speechless. These women, no matter when or where, would get excited as soon as gossip started. "Ziyan, have some tea."

"Thank you, Mr. Li."

Hua Ziyan was no longer as aloof as before; now he looked up to Li Feng with a sense of superiority and was very cautious in his words and actions.

"What's all the commotion about?"

Li Muchen was a little curious. Wu Tong, Qin Yue, and Hua Ziyao looked at Li Muchen and couldn't help but laugh. "I'm talking to you, you heartbroken handsome guy."

"Pfft." (End of Chapter)