50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 86 New Era

Seeing the girl and a group of boys going crazy, Sun Zhiwei looked at Tong Jiajia beside him with a little worry. Although she didn't move, her eyes were shining.

He quickly grabbed Tong Jiajia's hand and pulled her to his side. But he had to keep a close eye on her. If she really ran over to the children like Nannan did, she would be embarrassed.

"Jia Jia, your birthday is March 3th, right?"

Tong Jiajia was a little dazed when he pulled her closer. When she heard this question, she was stunned for a few seconds before she said dejectedly, "Yes."

Yes, after your birthday, you will be eighteen years old. You are not a child anymore, so you can’t throw stones.

The three of them watched the excitement for a while. The beggar had been beaten with a bloody head and was about to die. Sun Zhiwei prepared to take the two of them away.

At this time, the people from the police station finally arrived. They took the prisoner back to the police station. As for the fact that the people around beat up the bad guys, they didn't care at all. The bad guys deserved to be beaten.

After the kidnapper was taken away, the people around him began to chat with each other, while Sun Zhiwei took the two girls and started walking south.

Their first destination today was Wangfujing. They followed Fuyou Street straight to West Chang'an Avenue, then turned left and passed in front of the city wall to reach Wangfujing.

We encountered several intersections along the way. There were no red lights at that time, but there were traffic police. There was a round platform in the middle of the intersection, and a traffic policeman in white was standing on it directing traffic.

There are public-private joint-venture shops all along the way, and the closer you get to Chang'an Avenue, the more crowded the street becomes.

What's going on? Today is already the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and the Spring Festival is over, so why are there still so many people? There is no long Spring Festival holiday at this time. The Spring Festival only lasts for New Year's Eve, the first and the second day of the New Year, a total of three days of vacation.

There are only 7 statutory holidays throughout the year now: one day for New Year, one day for May Day, two days for National Day, and three days for Spring Festival.

The weekends were also one day off, Sunday. The entire country was rushing to complete the First Five-Year Plan, and the country had a lot of work to do, so there was a shortage of manpower everywhere.

Factories need to be built, farmland needs to be cultivated, and infrastructure needs to be improved—all of which require human effort? Too many holidays mean work can't get done.

There were no large-scale machines at that time, and the level of productivity was not high, so many jobs had to rely on a large number of people to speed up the progress.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be any "major battles" or "fifty days of hard work" going on all the time.

Only some high-risk industries can take more rest, such as coal mines, chemical plants, etc. Since 52, the "work three days and rest one day" policy has been implemented, that is, work three days and rest one day.

Ordinary industries do not have this treatment. If you are in the service industry, you cannot take a day off on Sundays and can only exchange days off. This is normal in later generations.

It can't be that it's the weekend and people finally have a day off to come and buy things, but then you, the salesperson, also have a day off.

They couldn't figure out why there were so many people on the street today. Just then, a tricycle came towards them, so Sun Zhiwei went up to ask what was going on.

"Master, Happy New Year. You came from the front. What's going on today? Why are there so many people?"

"Hey, Happy New Year to you too. There's a running race going on up ahead, and there are a lot of people watching. It's really lively."

Sun Zhiwei calculated the time. Today was February 2th, the day when the first Beijing city race - the Victory Cup City Race - would start.

This was the first city race. The race started from Tiananmen Square, passed through Xidan, Xisi, Ping'anli, Di'anmen, Tieshishi Hutong, Mishi Street, Dongdan, and finally returned to Tiananmen Square. The total distance was 12000 meters.

1450 people participated in the race, and the top six received their prizes in front of the city wall in the square, including a set of fleece jackets and pants. This event was subsequently held many times, becoming a traditional cultural sport in Beijing and later evolving into the "BJ International Long-Distance Running Festival."

The three of them finally squeezed to the entrance of Chang'an Street, but found that both sides of Chang'an Street were already crowded with people. For safety reasons, Sun Zhiwei decided to walk along the wall.

This side is still some distance from the road, so there are fewer people. Unfortunately, you can't see any long-distance running.

The three of them walked along the inner bank of the Jinshui River, sticking close to the city wall from west to east. When they approached the museum, they saw an advertisement for the "Dunhuang Art Exhibition" above a small gate.

Just as they were passing the Jinshui Bridge, a gunshot was heard in the distance. In an instant, the whole square was boiling, and shouts of "Come on!" resounded through the sky.

"Brother, has the competition started yet?" Nannan stood on tiptoe and looked towards Chang'an Avenue.

"Yes, it has begun. There are too many people and it's easy to get lost, so we won't go in to see it."

"We didn't get the news in advance this time. Next year I'll sign up in advance and participate. You can come and cheer me on, okay?"

"Okay, but I want to participate next year too."

Haha, little thing, you may be thinking too much. It’s more than 1 meters.

As they were talking, they had already passed through the city wall and arrived at Wangfujing Street. Turning left at the intersection, they soon arrived at Wangfujing Commercial Street.

The entire street here is lined with stores, and the centerpiece is the Wangfujing Department Store, which opened last year.

The streets were crowded with people, many of whom came to shop, and the large windows in front of Wangfujing were surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

Sun Zhiwei looked at the women's clothing in the window and felt that the design of the T-shirt had been seen before decades ago.

He took the two girls and followed the crowd into the mall. It seemed that there were even more people inside, especially the clothing counters, which were packed with people.

Sun Zhiwei didn't dare to compete with those uncles and aunts for things, so he quickly took the two of them to look at other goods. The goods here were richer than he had imagined, and there were also many foreign imported goods.

There were no supermarkets at that time, and some small scattered commodities were placed on the counter, such as cigarettes, alcohol, candy, etc., and the salesperson had to help you get them.

At this time, various advanced producers (model workers) had already begun to be evaluated, and the competition for the enviable profession of salesperson was also very fierce.

A good salesperson pays attention to "grabbing everything, cutting accurately, and speaking clearly".

What does it mean? It means that if you want to buy as much bulk goods as you want, the salesperson does not need to weigh them slowly, he can just grab a handful and it will meet your requirements.
The buyer asks for a certain amount of meat, and the chef cuts with his long knife to ensure that the meat is neither too much nor too little.
No matter how many items you buy, when you check out, the salesperson will tell you the amount without you having to wait or calculate with an abacus, and will guarantee it's accurate to the last cent.

This is just the basic requirement for being a model worker. Other requirements must be outstanding to be selected.

The requirements for advanced producers (model workers) are so high, and the treatment they deserve is also exaggerated. Those who win the title of advanced producers (model workers) this year can receive an honorary allowance of 100 yuan per month.

This is equivalent to receiving an additional 5000 yuan per month when your monthly salary is 1 yuan, for a year until the next selection.

Therefore, now everyone is striving to become an advanced producer (model worker).

(End of this chapter)