My 1978 Hotel

I rode a folding bicycle for an hour and a half to the commune. The road was dusty, but luckily I had packed the pork bone soup and stir-fried pork with chili peppers tightly, otherwise Da Ya would have been eating local pork.

It was almost five o'clock when Li Feng arrived at the commune. After waiting for a while, school let out. The school wasn't too strict at this time. Li Feng signed his name and went inside.

"Da Ya."

"Father."

Da Ya hadn't seen Li Feng for two days and missed him terribly, rushing into his arms. "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Tell Daddy, did someone bully our Da Ya?"

"No one bullied me."

"I miss my father."

"Dad has come to his senses. That's why I thought of you the first thing I made today, and I specially saved it for you in advance." Li Feng smiled and opened the lunchbox behind his back. "Look, there's pork bone soup and stir-fried pork with chili peppers."

"I'll secretly heat it up and eat it at night."

Li Feng whispered a few words of explanation: In those days, even the students in the commune primary school had limited means of living, and it wasn't easy for them to eat meat. It was somewhat inappropriate for others to eat pickled vegetables while he ate meat; it wouldn't be good for getting along with his classmates.

If it's a four-person or eight-person dorm, you can bring more, but with dozens of people in a dorm, it's hard to distribute them, so you might as well just eat them secretly.

"Ah."

"Okay, I'm going back."

"I'll take the lunchbox back with me when I have the weekend off."

"Ah."

Li Feng reluctantly left after seeing Da Ya off at the school gate, and waved goodbye. "Dad will pick you up this weekend."

"Ah."

"Go back, eat breakfast early, do your homework, and go to bed early."

"Ah."

Li Feng noticed it was getting late and knew he needed to hurry back. "Should we build a house for the commune later?"

"Building a foundation shouldn't be too difficult."

Upon thinking about it, Li Feng was indeed tempted. He currently had over two thousand yuan in cash, and once the furniture was delivered to the power plant, steel mill, and county town, he could expect to earn at least another thousand yuan.

Xu Mao and his daughters received a letter from the magazine saying their work was going to be published and they would receive a royalty payment. It was a pity there were no royalties, otherwise they would have earned even more. "We can get some clothes and shoes from the steel mill to sell now."

Once he was familiar with the area, Li Feng looked into the steel plant and power plant, noting that nearly 80% of them were built with aid from Shanghai. He thought, "Fashionable clothes, shoes, and stockings sell well there. It'll be easier to get some clothes and shoes once things loosen up a bit more in a few days."

Back home, Li Feng and Li Muchen talked about it.

"Why don't we wait a bit?"

Wu Tong was still a little scared. Last time, she almost got shot while buying clothes, which was a bit frightening.

"Sure, I'm not short of money right now."

Li Feng said with a smile, "I was thinking of getting a house in the commune during the winter. That way, it would be much more convenient for Daya and Erya to go to school. Living in their own home is much more convenient than living in a dormitory with dozens of other people."

"Can houses be built in a commune?"

"No problem. Just ask the commune for help and get a plot of land for a house." Li Feng said. "As for bricks and cement, needless to say, I'll find someone to help me out. Getting some isn't a big deal."

Li Feng has recently published many articles and achieved considerable success. The province held a seminar, and the region and county have repeatedly tried to transfer Li Feng to work in the regional and county cultural departments. The provincial magazine and newspaper also have this idea.

Li Feng refused, choosing instead to settle in Hanjiaba. Although some people privately criticized him for being foolish and stupid, his decision to settle in the countryside garnered high praise in the media. In addition, Li Feng's output was indeed quite high, and his status gradually rose.

The region and county officials respected Li Feng greatly, and many people gave him face. This network of connections naturally grew, and getting a plot of land for a house in the commune and getting some bricks and cement was no big deal for him.

"When we were building houses before, we didn't have any connections, but this time we can build a few large brick houses."

Building a two-story house here in the commune would be too conspicuous. Let's talk about the two-story house again in a few years. The houses in Hanjiaba are not made of adobe. It would be just right to rebuild them into two-story houses in a few years.

"This will have to wait a few days."

"We need to process all the pre-ordered furniture and deliver it to our customers soon."

Li Feng said with a smile, "Let's make a name for our Hanjiaba Furniture Factory."

"Tomorrow, let's go to the steel plant first. After Liu Wei and the others go to the river construction site, we'll deliver the first batch of furniture to the power plant." The furniture factory's orders are already booked until the end of December, even though almost a third of the workforce in Hanjiaba is on duty.

However, the furniture factory's output still couldn't keep up. There was no way around it; there were fewer than ten true carpenters, and the rest could only assist. Even though they worked fifteen or sixteen hours a day, the furniture production still couldn't keep up.

Furniture was quite simple back then. Even modular furniture couldn't compare to later styles. It was relatively simple. Of course, the furniture produced in Hanjiaba was even better than that of the county furniture factory.

That's sanding. Several sets of electric sanders, even though they're small models, are a game-changer compared to the county furniture factories that still rely on manual sanding.

Dong Qing and Wu Yu's chainsaws have caught up with those of the county furniture factory. Of course, there's still a gap in overall large equipment, but they're just as good in some smaller aspects. "It's a pity that the generators require too much fuel, and the commune isn't supplying enough."

We only work five or six hours a day at most, cutting large pieces of material. Smaller pieces are still handled manually or with small equipment. Fortunately, we don't have a shortage of manpower recently, so we've extended our working hours. "It would be great if we could produce a dozen or twenty sets of modular furniture a day."

"Mr. Li, you really have a bold idea."

The county furniture factory's output is so low that it's almost impossible for Li Feng to achieve the sales target of 100,000 yuan within the year, unless he hires carpenters from other brigades.

"Isn't this just a thought?"

Li Feng laughed and said, "If all else fails, we can recruit people from the future."

"That's an idea."

Li Muchen clapped his hands. "A lot of carpenters in later generations are idle, aren't they?"

"Nowadays, mechanical equipment has long replaced carpenters."

“It has been quite rare to learn carpentry in the last twenty years.”

"That's true. The youngest person who still knows the old craftsmanship is probably in their fifties," Li Feng said with emotion. When he was in elementary school, his uncle used to make furniture for his family. Around 2010, he hadn't heard of anyone hiring someone to make furniture anymore.

This is still in the countryside. In the city, probably no one made furniture around 2000. The last batch of carpenters were probably born in the 1970s, and there are probably not many born in the 1980s anymore.

"Hey bro, could you help me look for it later?"

"If necessary, I'll hire a few more to speed things up," Li Feng thought. There was no rule against selling furniture, so it wasn't considered speculation. He'd get a commission, and if he could sell a hundred thousand or twenty thousand worth, he'd be a millionaire.

It sounds pretty good. When I have money, I can go to the Shanghai Culture Store and Friendship Store and buy some nice things to take back with me. I'll make a fortune!

"Let me try."

Li Muchen thought for a moment and decided that he might try looking for places like the hometown of carpenters. After all, he was sure he could find some carpenters if he paid them.

The discussion went on until after nine o'clock. If we hadn't had to get up early the next morning to go to the steel plant, we probably would have talked even longer.

How many sets are there?

"Five sets will be delivered today."

At the entrance of the furniture factory, three large flatbed carts were being loaded with furniture. Li Feng took a look and saw that the wooden boards of the furniture were quite thick, and the wood used was of good quality.

"How much more is needed at the steel mill?"

Li Feng asked Chengcheng, who had been working as an accountant at the furniture factory for the past few days and had all the pre-orders in her hands. At first, Han Futian was not at ease with her, but after testing her several times, wow, this girl was even more capable than him, who had been an accountant for many years.

Chengcheng studied finance and minored in accounting, and even got certified. She's much better than Han Futian, who only attended a few training courses and didn't really have the skills.

“There are still more than twenty sets left.” Chengcheng. “That’s still because our production can’t keep up. People heard that they won’t be able to get the goods until December at the earliest, so many hesitated and didn’t place an order. Otherwise, I’m afraid we could have even more.”

"There's nothing we can do; our furniture factory has limited production capacity."

More than twenty sets, that's quite a lot. I went to the steel mill almost every day a few days ago and probably delivered a dozen or twenty sets. If you calculate it this way, the steel mill will have earned several thousand yuan this month.

"It's tied up."

"All right?"

Li Feng saw that the ropes were tied up. "Let's go, while we're at it, we can still get a hot meal at the commune."

"Brother Feng, the breakfast stalls over at the steel mill taste much better than those in our commune."

"Especially the meat patties, they smell so good!" Anton said with a smile.

"Great, you're even getting meat pies now."

Li Feng thought to himself, "These kids used to love eating steamed buns, but now they're complaining that the breakfast stalls at the commune don't taste good."

"Okay, let's go to the steel mill and see if their breakfast is any good."

Li Feng waved his hand.

"It must be delicious."

"You guys ate a lot, didn't you?"

An Chun and the others chuckled. They had been getting paid a little extra for delivering goods recently. Although it wasn't as much as the sales commission they gave Li Feng, it was still a few yuan each time. That was enough for them to buy a meat pie or a bowl of wontons.

The steel mill was indeed quite lively in the morning, with five or six stalls at the entrance and quite a few people.

"Doesn't the steel mill have a canteen?"

"So many people are out here to improve their lives," Li Feng muttered as he glanced around. Sure enough, there was quite a lot of stuff for sale, including wontons, which smelled like meat filling. "This owner is really something, managing to get meat every day."

And the meat patties are even more amazing, they're deep-fried. This guy must have secretly slaughtered a pig, otherwise, where would he get so much lard?

"what is this?"

"Bamboo tube sweet rice".

Good heavens, this is even more remarkable. Sugar rice, rice and sugar are not something you can just get your hands on. Li Feng couldn't help but sigh that none of these stall owners were easy to deal with.

"Tea eggs?"

"Mmm, it smells delicious."

The congee and steamed bun stalls were just average, and the knife-cut noodles were alright too. No wonder the steelworkers came out to improve their lives; these stalls were no worse than the early morning stalls in the commune, and even the state-run restaurants in the county might not be as good.

Of course, the reason so many stalls have appeared is mainly because the steel factory employees are really rich. Their wages are probably much higher than the county average. Dual-income couples earn at least 130 or 140 yuan a month, and if they get older, their wages are even higher.

People who have money to spare want to eat well, and this demand gradually forms a small market. Because the county is a third-tier city, it can't really regulate this area, so they turn a blind eye. This is how the stalls in front of the steel mill started to appear morning and evening.

This is similar to the power plant. The Third Front construction project was not under the jurisdiction of the region, but managed by the county. The region and county were too lazy to care and turned a blind eye. Over the years, these stalls have been formed.

"Good."

The meat patties tasted pretty good, and most importantly, although the price was a bit high, they didn't require food coupons.

"That's really impressive, the stall owner is definitely a capable person."

Like other stalls, the prices were a bit higher than those of state-run restaurants, but they didn't require food coupons, which made the steel mill workers like them. They weren't short of money, but they couldn't be considered rich in food coupons.

"Give me some tea eggs."

Li Feng bought some tea eggs and invited An Suan and the others to try them.

"Thank you, Brother Feng."

"Eat it while it's hot, or we'll give you furniture as a gift."

After breakfast, everyone was full and energetic, and the furniture deliveries went smoothly.

"Brother Feng, you're really strong."

"Yes, you can go up to such a high floor in one go."

"It is okay."

Li Feng's physical fitness is getting better and better; he can carry a desk up six flights of stairs without stopping.

"Is there one more?"

"Yes, there's one more, in Building 6."

Chengcheng flipped through her little notebook. "Fifth floor."

"The fifth floor?"

An Dun gave a wry smile. "The building is really high up today."

"It's alright, let's go. Wait a minute, I'll carry the table."

Li Feng said with a smile, "You guys carry the smaller items."

"Let's go, after we finish delivering, we'll look around a bit more. It's not like we came all this way; this place looks just as good as the commune. The supply and marketing cooperative is almost like a department store."

Li Feng thought to himself, "Could this be a mini-Shanghai? There are quite a few interesting things being sold here."

“Of course, I heard from the workers here that a lot of the goods in this supply and marketing cooperative are supplied from Shanghai,” An Dun said. “I saw those incense sticks, and each one had a portrait on it.”

"right."

"Great, great," Li Feng thought to himself. "This place is actually a good place to sell clothes and such. You can tell by looking at the breakfast stalls in front of the door. The management here is lax."

"That's nothing. I heard that other places have big cinemas that can show foreign films. I heard someone say that martial arts movies are really exciting."

"Martial arts film?"

Li Feng really hadn't expected that the steel mill in Hong Kong would have such connections. Wow, there are quite a few capable people hiding here, and they probably have close ties with Shanghai. Otherwise, these things wouldn't be so easy to obtain.

Not to mention Li Feng, Li Muchen and the others were all shocked. They thought the steel factory was just a bit richer, but they never expected that the people of Shanghai were truly Shanghai people. Life here was even more exciting than in the county town.

"Wait a minute, let's see if we can buy some things to take back."

I wonder if the supply and marketing cooperative has any Shanghai snacks or milk candies. If they do, wow, this place is really something else, a special supply!

The last household was a middle-aged couple who ordered two desk sets and a bed.

"These guys are all cultured people."

"Haven't you heard that other people's daughters are preparing to take the college entrance exam?"

Li Feng also met the girl. She was probably in her early twenties. She was quite pretty, dressed much more fashionably than the rest of them, and had the air of a cultured person.

"If you pass the exam, you probably won't come back."

Li Feng didn't remember when the steel plant was handed over to the local government for management in the 1980s. He only remembered that the steel plant went bankrupt in the early 1990s, and the people who helped build it back then had long since returned to Shanghai.

I only occasionally see people returning to visit or travel in the local news, and they sigh at the passage of time. (End of Chapter)