50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 665 The Perilous Subi Island
Actually, washing machines and televisions are easy to deal with, but refrigerators are a real luxury these days. However, he has already come up with a reason for it.

Taking advantage of the elderly couple's tender moment, he said, "And this refrigerator, I have my reasons for buying it too."

"What reason is there? In our residential area, whose leftover food isn't sent to the logistics department to feed the pigs? What's the point of buying this refrigerator?"

"You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Vegetables are so hard to buy these days. If you find something suitable, buy more and put it in the refrigerator. It will still be fresh in three to seven days. Eggs can be stored for two or three months, not to mention meat. If you freeze it, it can last for half a year."

"Also, the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Leftovers can be put in the refrigerator and reheated for the next meal. Isn't that following the superiors' spirit of thrift?"

Tong Guodong hugged his wife, wanting to argue, but Sun Zhiwei added, "So, you don't actually like Mom's cooking at all, which is why you're thinking of feeding the pigs the leftovers?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Hongxia's eyes turned dangerous, and she gripped Tong Guodong's hands tighter and tighter.

Comrade Tong Guodong, with a strong will to survive, immediately said, "That's impossible. I've loved your mother's cooking for decades."

"That's great! We made the right choice buying this refrigerator. If Mom cooks too much food, we can save it for the next meal. Isn't that wonderful?"

Wow, in this round, son-in-law Sun Zhiwei sabotaged the enemy's unity from within, successfully winning over his mother-in-law to launch a counterattack, achieving a complete victory.

After his victory, Sun Zhiwei did not get carried away. Instead, he immediately pulled his mother-in-law aside and began to introduce the newly purchased appliances.

"Look, this twin-tub washing machine has a washing machine on the left and a spin-drying machine on the right."

"The top pipe connects to the tap to get clean water for washing clothes, and the bottom pipe can be picked up and placed on the ground to release dirty water."

"The steps are as follows: first, connect the faucet, then put in the clothes and laundry detergent, then press the switch to release clean water, and finally rotate the button to set a timer for washing."

"If you have a lot of clothes or they are thick, spin them for a longer time. If they are summer clothes, spin them for a few minutes less. You can wash dirty clothes more often."

"After washing, drain the dirty water, then rinse again with clean water without adding laundry detergent."

"Finally, take the cleaned clothes out and put them into the bucket on the right, then press them down with this rubber lid, and turn this knob to start spinning them dry."

"You don't need to touch cold water at all, which is especially useful in winter. Foreign families have been using washing machines for a long time."

"And this refrigerator, it has two layers, the smaller one on top is for freezing, it can freeze food solid and it won't spoil for a long time."

"The bottom is for preservation; fresh vegetables and leftovers can be stored there and won't spoil for several days."

Sun Zhiwei was patiently teaching his mother-in-law how to use these appliances, since they were all foreign-made and had no Chinese characters on them.

To make it easier to use, he also used cut pieces of adhesive tape to write Chinese characters on each button.

In short, as Sun Zhiwei introduced himself, his mother-in-law looked at him more like she was looking at her eldest son.

Now, if his brother-in-law Tong Xuebin stood next to him, he would definitely look more like his mother-in-law's biological son.

It's foreseeable that in the next few days, the aunties from the surrounding neighborhoods will definitely find excuses to come over for a visit, and take the opportunity to see the foreign appliances that the leader's son-in-law has presented as a gift.

This is a piece of news that will make us proud. Don't be fooled by the fact that this is a naval family compound; the elderly men and women here are no different from those in any other compound.

They all loved listening to gossip and chatting, and they loved to boast to their neighbors about the gifts their sons and daughters-in-law or daughters and sons-in-law had given them. Given Tong Guodong's status, it was unlikely anyone would be foolish enough to spoil the old lady's mood.

Sun Zhiwei stayed at the Tong family's house for three days before heading back because his daughter called to say that the neighborhood committee was urging him to go back to get his ID card.

The first generation of ID cards started being processed at the end of last year, but Sun Zhiwei has been coming and going in a hurry lately and hasn't seen anyone near his home much.

So, after they had finished processing all the paperwork in the neighborhood, they discovered that Sun Zhiwei and his wife had been overlooked because they were away on a business trip.

Just a few days ago, he was seen by his neighbors when he came back, and that's when the neighborhood committee came knocking on his door. As a result, Sun Zhiwei ran off to Qingdao again.

After returning from Qingdao, Sun Zhiwei took his and Tong Jiajia's headshots to the street and, after several hours, finally obtained their first ID card.

This is a card sealed with two pieces of hard plastic. It contains a photo, personal information, and a 15-digit code, which will form the basis for your future ID card number.

Looking at this old-fashioned ID card, Sun Zhiwei examined it with great interest for a long time before finally putting it into his storage space for safekeeping.

Anyone who has used this knows that if it is used frequently and not stored properly, the plastic seal will peel off and crack over time.

Another problem is that first-generation ID cards are easy to forge and there are also duplicate numbers. Therefore, it is foreseeable that various small advertisements for making fake ID cards will soon be plastered all over the streets and alleys.

These problems will not be largely resolved until the second-generation ID card is introduced 20 years later.

(It's impossible to completely solve this problem. There are fake second-generation ID cards too. Didn't you see those fake ID card ads plastered in the underground city of The Wandering Earth?)
After spending two more days in Beijing, Sun Zhiwei said goodbye to his daughter and prepared to fly directly to Hong Kong Island.

He has already notified Captain Ivan, who is on standby at Anatahan Island, to fly his Gulfstream III to Kai Tak Airport to pick him up.

On May 10th, Sun Zhiwei arrived in Pontianak aboard a Gulfstream 3. He didn't stay there for long, but instead called over Dong Haoyang, who was overseeing construction on Subi Island.

He introduced Dong Haoyang to Huang Huizhong, so that daily supplies for Subi Island could be purchased directly from Pontianak.

Subi Island is rapidly constructing training facilities, which will later become the headquarters of Pinkerton Asia. Sun Zhiwei will be personally overseeing operations there recently to deal with any emergencies.

He also needs to find some heavy weapons and equipment for Subi Island to guard against unexpected threats.

The main threats include the fleets of the two Javanese forces and the pirates in the Malacca area who can never be eradicated.

I won't go into details about the threats posed by the Javanese fleets; he's already witnessed the true nature of the Javanese navy, so staying vigilant is the right thing to do.

Pirates are even more common. Don't think that pirates only exist in Somalia and the Caribbean. In fact, the place in the world where pirates are most rampant is the Strait of Malacca.

Half of all piracy incidents worldwide each year occur in the Strait of Malacca.

Especially since the mid-20th century, Southeast Asian countries have experienced a wave of nation-building, with many countries facing regime changes, political instability, economic difficulties, and serious social problems.

Coupled with the resulting stagnation in development and poverty, many locals were forced to take risks and turn to piracy in order to make a living.

(End of this chapter)