50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 607 The Fierce Year of 1984

"Give it to me, don't bother me if I'm not coming out."

He came back so late last night, and then ate a huge meal. He doesn't want to eat breakfast now, so it's a good time to get the photos printed.

Afterwards, Sun Zhiwei took the four rolls of film to the basement, as the only place in the house with space for developing equipment was the basement.

Fortunately, he had enough space to store things because of his work, so he prepared enough developing chemicals and photographic paper.

Otherwise, he would have to go out to buy materials today to get all the photos developed.

The atmosphere in the courtyard relaxed after Sun Zhiwei left.

Yang Guihua went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and several of her skilled colleagues also went to the kitchen to help. Only the remaining people had time to look around the Sun family's yard.

It has been more than 20 years since Sun Zhiwei renovated this place. The traces of the original renovation have gradually settled into the past over time.

The long, antique-style corridor that you enter right at the entrance is already stunning. In the narrow, clear pond next to the corridor, red carp swim among the lotus leaves from time to time.

Upon entering the courtyard, one sees two large trees with thick canopies that block out most of the sky above the courtyard.

Large jujubes peek out from among the dense branches and leaves of the jujube tree; under the jujube tree, a stone table and four stone stools give the whole courtyard a leisurely atmosphere.

Large swathes of blooming seven-mile jasmine climb the wall, and in the corner there is a vegetable garden, an ancient well, and a simple and rustic main house.

This was completely different from any other courtyard house they had ever seen.

A colleague who loves to eat said enviously, "Hongying, your family gets to eat so many red dates every year. It's so great!"

Unexpectedly, Sun Hongying sadly raised her head, looked at the red dates above her head, and then sighed:
"If you were asked to eat hundreds of kilograms of dates every year until you were sick of them, you would never want to see them again."

That's right. Ever since she was very young and could eat dates, she has eaten them year after year, month after month, until she was full and stuffed.

Moreover, these dates are too many to eat raw; they can only be made into pastries, candied fruit, or dried fruit to prolong their shelf life.

As a result, before the jujubes from the previous year were even finished, the jujubes from the following year were already ripe.

Moreover, the jujube trees that were barely alive back then have become increasingly healthy and robust in recent years, as if they've taken some kind of medicine, and naturally, they're producing more and more jujubes every year.

Now that her father, mother, and younger brother are all away from home, and the family is small, the jujubes that grow every year can't even be given away all, and Sun Hongying has been suffering for a long time.

While preparing the medicine in the basement, Sun Zhiwei kept an eye on the commotion upstairs. Hearing his daughter's distress, he was both amused and exasperated.

He had never imagined the problem of the jujubes being so abundant. He had even investigated it back then and found that it was just an ordinary variety, not a high-yield jujube tree.

How could an ordinary jujube tree suddenly produce so much more fruit? Curious, he enveloped the entire underground space.

Then he discovered that the roots of the jujube tree in his yard had penetrated nearly a hundred meters underground, and the main root system had even inserted into an underground water vein. No wonder the jujube tree was growing better and better.

I initially thought there was something miraculous about it, but it turned out to be because it was connected to a water vein.

After thinking for a moment, he took a small handful of clear water from the water veins of the jujube tree roots, carefully tasted it, and found it sweet.

Sure enough, this jujube tree was lucky; it was connected to an underground sweet water vein.

In this city of Beijing, only wells with access to sweet water veins can be drunk from, and the well in the courtyard is also a sweet water well.

Before the advent of foreign-made wells, sweet water wells were limited, numbering only a few dozen, which led to the rise of water tyrants.

Seeing the sweet juice on the lucky jujube tree's face, he thought it was also a lucky tree, and Sun Zhiwei, who had originally planned to address the issue of high yield, gave up the idea.

Let it be, high yield is good, we can just deliver more to the company cafeteria next time. Half an hour later, breakfast was ready.

Fortunately, Sun Zhiwei's family had a lot of grain in stock and plenty of ready-to-eat ingredients; otherwise, Yang Guihua would have been too busy to handle so many guests.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, and as it was already broad daylight, they yawned and said their goodbyes to go home.

After seeing her colleagues off, Sun Hongying collapsed onto the bed, exhausted, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

It wasn't until lunchtime that Sun Zhiwei finished printing all the photos, after which they would be left to air dry.

This step didn't require anyone to watch over him. He clipped all the photos onto a cotton thread suspended in the darkroom, and then put all the tools back into the space.

After disposing of the waste medicine and debris, he closed the door, left the basement, and went back upstairs.

In the kitchen, Yang Guihua had already prepared lunch.

However, Sun Hongying was still fast asleep in bed at this time, and the two of them didn't wake her up and started eating right away. It's estimated that she will sleep until evening.

In the afternoons when he had nothing to do, he would turn on the TV to see if there were any new programs, and also flip through the latest newspapers.

Recently, besides the anniversary celebration, the most talked-about topic has been the women's volleyball team's three consecutive championships, and the slogan "Women's Volleyball Spirit" has also been officially put forward.

The daily newspaper launched a special column called "Learn from the Women's Volleyball Team and Take Action," and the newspaper frequently featured articles promoting the spirit of the women's volleyball team.

For example, after watching the story of the women's volleyball team, a female worker in a factory came early and left late every day, worked diligently, and her shift's output exceeded the plan every day.
After watching a women's volleyball match, a coal miner voluntarily took extra shifts and worked overtime every day.

Even students from Peking University, inspired by the "spirit of the women's volleyball team," shouted the slogan "Unite and revitalize China."

"Learn from the women's volleyball team and revitalize China" became a slogan, sparking a wave of enthusiasm for learning from the Chinese women's volleyball team throughout society.

Having witnessed the bustling construction boom across the country and participated in the exciting celebrations, Sun Zhiwei, after calming down, began to miss his wife again.

I wonder if the newly recruited veterans will be able to adapt to life abroad.

This was the first time he had entrusted his family's safety to someone else. No matter how much he trusted his own soldiers, he was still a little worried.

Thinking that there was nothing much going on at home, he decided to return to North America as soon as possible. So, after resting for one night, he went to the Diplomatic Building the next day to say goodbye to Xu Yimin.

Three days later, Sun Zhiwei boarded a flight to San Francisco.

After the plane took off, Sun Zhiwei looked down at the ancient city and saw more and more its hidden vitality awakening.

This year was not just about the reports in the newspapers; much more exciting information was brewing in the torrent of society.

That year, in the southern part of Shenhe, ration coupons were officially abolished, a labor contract system was implemented, and a unified income tax rate was adopted.

That year, many elites within the system gave up their secure jobs and started their own businesses.

That year, Jianlibao became a bestseller across China and spread to the world.

That year, Vanke's CEO, Mr. Wang, earned his first pot of gold.

That year, Zhongguancun was filled with the first generation of entrepreneurs who were full of ideals and wanted to build "China's Silicon Valley".

The land of China is thriving.

(End of this chapter)