The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 101 A Beautiful Neighbor Arrives, the Ghost Market Opens, and the Sentimental Mountain Birds Need Not Sing (Please Subscribe)

The night wind swept up the withered leaves on Taishan Road. It was already pitch black. The conductor on the No. 5 trolleybus rang the bell as it pulled into the station. The slogan at the rear of the bus was covered with coal dust and turned yellow.

When Wei Qinghuan got out of the car, she saw Qian Jin and immediately smiled sweetly:
"You don't need to pick me up. Do you think I don't know the way?"

"I was afraid you'd get lost." Qian Jin smiled and handed her a hot water bottle.

Wei Qinghuan showed him the scarf: "Auntie, this scarf is very warm. I just got off the bus, so I'm not cold. Hold onto your hot water bottle and don't catch a cold."

Qian Jin handed it to her: "I'm like a furnace, I'm not afraid of the cold. Come on, let's go to 204 first."

Wei Qinghuan obediently followed, casually asking, "Why are we going to 204 again? Isn't the study room closed there?"

Qian Jin laughed: "You'll know when you get there."

Two pairs of cloth shoes rustled on the sycamore leaves, their sound mingling with the crisp ringing of bicycle bells and the laughter of workers leaving get off work, creating a street symphony in 77.

Qian Jin walked ahead carrying a flashlight with three batteries. The beam of light swept across the mottled brick wall, scaring away a wild cat that was trying to dig out a wintering gecko from a crack in the wall.

As darkness falls early, the windows of the tenement building are already emitting a dim, warm light from low-wattage light bulbs.

Wei Qinghuan clutched her lesson plan book tightly; the hem of her blue cotton shirt was still covered in chalk dust.

She stared intently at the light, knowing that her future home was right behind such a window.

He walked briskly up to the second floor, where Huang Chui greeted the customer with a fawning expression.

This clever dog had already figured something out from its owner's attitude toward Wei Qinghuan.

Wei Qinghuan scratched its forehead and walked into room 204, its pupils suddenly contracting:
Under the 15-watt light bulb, a familiar, slender figure was hunched over.

Wei Xiongtu was cleaning the bed with a broom made of sorghum stalks. His work clothes, patched at the elbows, had long been starched and faded.

"Comrade Wei?!" Wei Qinghuan exclaimed in disbelief.

She casually handed him the lesson plan book, which Huang Chui quickly picked up.

Wei Xiongtu turned around, waving a half-broken sorghum stalk broom at her.

The lights weren't bright enough, but they were enough to clearly illuminate his handsome features.

Upon seeing his younger sister, Wei Xiongtu smiled and said, "Xiao Qing, how about it? Surprised? Unexpected?"

Qian Jin shook his head at Huang Chui, signaling it to go out, and then closed the door.

Steam rose from the kettle on the coal stove, and the slices of steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat, water, and flour, roasting beside the stove, were already golden brown.

Wei Qinghuan looked at her brother through the white mist, and couldn't help but rub her eyes again: "How could you..."

"How did I get here?" Wei Xiongtu smiled sheepishly. "Chief Qian picked me up."

"You don't know this, do you? We're actually coworkers who work together..."

"You two are coworkers?" Wei Qinghuan was even more surprised. "Weren't you assigned to Chaping as a tea picker? I even suggested you bring two packs of cigarettes as a gift for the leaders of Chaping."

Wei Xiongtu explained, "That was the original arrangement of the neighborhood committee. Later, a comrade who had worked in the countryside in southern Fujian was familiar with tea picking. So he wanted to be a tea picker, but he was assigned to the supply and marketing cooperative as a porter."

“He didn’t want to be a mover, but I thought the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives was a good place, so I switched jobs with him.”

"So you and Qian Jin were assigned to the same transport team?" Wei Qinghuan exclaimed in surprise.

Wei Xiongtu chuckled and rubbed his hands together: "Isn't that a coincidence?"

Upon seeing this, Wei Qinghuan immediately sneered: "That's quite a coincidence. Don't lie, you can't lie."

Wei Xiongtu explained: "I didn't lie. It was really a coincidence. I didn't know at first that Qian Jin had also gone to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to work as a porter."

“When I went to hand over my files on Sunday, I saw Qian Jin’s information on the list of new employees.”

“You mentioned him to me, so I gave the leader some gifts and got me assigned to the Jiagang Brigade of the Warehousing and Transportation Department, the place he was going to…”

The siblings, who rarely see each other, met and immediately started chatting non-stop.

The main reason was that Wei Qinghuan was kept in the dark about everything, so she kept asking questions.

Wei Xiongtu tidied up the bedding and said, "We'll talk later. Tonight is my first time teaching in the study room, so I have to hurry."

Wei Qinghuan lightly punched him: "You even went to the study room to be a teacher?"

"Well, Comrade Wei, you're becoming more and more like Old Wei, hiding everything from me! How many more things are you hiding from me?"

Wei Xiongtu was not good at dealing with people, even his own sister.

He grabbed his notebook and hurriedly left: "Just that one thing about going to Kaohsiung, just that one thing."

"I'm going to class now. You can move your luggage over tonight too. We'll have our own home now!"

The wooden bed in the inner room had been prepared, with a mattress on it, and a brand-new wool blanket on top of the mattress.

She knew without being told who was behind it.

Qian Jin gave her the same blanket.

Wei Qinghuan only thought that she and Qian Jin would live in this building after they got married, but she never expected that they would settle down here now.

She hurriedly went out and saw Qian Jin smiling at her.

This made her very embarrassed, and she said, "Hey, you two have been keeping everything from me?"

"It's a big surprise," she said, unable to suppress a laugh.

Happiness is simple: it's just about being together as a family.

Qian Jin said, "You have to blame your brother for this. I only just found out his identity myself."

"As soon as I found out you were siblings, I quickly moved his bedding over so you and Xiaotangyuan could move into this house too."

"In this way, you and Xiaotangyuan won't have to live in the dormitory anymore, and you won't have to rush back to the dormitory in the wind and snow at night."

Wei Qinghuan stroked the door, her gaze somewhat leisurely: "Yes, from now on I won't have to bring Tangyuan to listen to my colleagues' sarcastic remarks anymore, and my brother won't have to live under someone else's roof anymore."

She then asked, "You helped Comrade Wei move, did you meet his maternal uncle's family?"

Qian Jin was taken aback: "His maternal uncle's family?"

Wei Qinghuan laughed and said, "My brother is such a quiet person, it seems he didn't tell you anything!"

“My family situation is quite special. Comrade Lao Wei and I are half-siblings, and my mother is my father’s second wife.”

"So his maternal uncle is not my relative."

Qian Jin suddenly realized: "No wonder you didn't stay there. I thought it was inconvenient for you, a woman, to stay there."

Wei Qinghuan shook her head: "Even if he were my maternal uncle, I wouldn't go to stay there. If you had met his family, you wouldn't go either. Only Old Wei's good temper can tolerate their bullying and humiliation."

This is true.

"But Comrade Wei has no choice. I know he doesn't want to live there, so I've always hoped that the school could allocate me a house. Only then can my family escape this misery." As she spoke, Wei Qinghuan suddenly became a little shy.

“That time I went to Principal Duan’s house to make a scene, I had no choice but to do it, and it just so happened that you were able to see me make a fool of myself.”

Qian Jin said, "I didn't see a joke, I only saw a woman willing to pay any price to fight for a happy life for her family!"

"I didn't realize you were so eloquent," Wei Qinghuan laughed.

Qian Jin said, "So, Teacher Wei is off teaching, so can your Teacher Wei go move house?"

Wei Qinghuan looked back at the house and nodded repeatedly without thinking.

She turned back to Qian Jin and smiled, her eyes crinkling with laughter: "Would you like to help me move?"

Qian Jin exclaimed dramatically, "I'd go through fire and water for you, teacher!"

Just then, the mobile canteen had already closed for the day.

The tricycle was used to transport the goods back to the warehouse.

Qian went in to ride his bike, and Zhu Tao hurriedly led his men to unload the equipment from the bike: "Chief Qian, guess how much revenue we made today?"

Despite having been open for business for several days, the team members still get together and get excited every time they tally up their earnings in the evening.

Qian Jincai didn't care about any of that: "I guess it's three hundred yuan—get out of my way, Teacher Wei is waiting for me outside."

It's freezing cold; how can we let our beloved suffer from the cold?

Zhao Bo, who was squatting on the ground smoking, suddenly jumped up: "Damn it, Chief Qian, your brilliant calculations didn't work out. Today it's four hundred yuan!"

"Hey, hey, Chief Qian, our daily turnover is only four hundred yuan!"

They thought Qian Jin would also be shocked.

As a result, Qian Jin had already ridden his bike far away.

The three-wheeled vehicle had a spacious cargo bed, so Qian Jin let Wei Qinghuan sit inside. He then drove her to the People's Night School, just like Brother Biao delivered gas cylinders.

The late autumn night wind swept withered yellow leaves across the asphalt road, and the metal basket of the tricycle made a soft clanging sound as it bumped along.

Qian Jin pedaled hard, while Wei Qinghuan, wrapped in a scarf, huddled in the truck bed.

The dim yellow light from the streetlamp flowed over her hanging braids, like a layer of gold leaf adorning her dark hair.

A tram passed by, and the air currents stirred up fallen leaves, causing them to scatter.

Wei Qinghuan suddenly acted like a child, reaching out to catch the paulownia leaves one by one.

Cycling teams passed each other, bells jingling, and every now and then someone would peek at the bikes with gossip, followed by hushed whispers:

"Is this someone taking their wife back to her parents' home?"

Wei Qinghuan pretended not to hear, and kept her head down counting the leaves she had caught earlier as if she were counting money.

But she wasn't wearing a scarf, and the back of her neck was flushed.

After riding the tricycle to the night school and stopping, Wei Qinghuan got off and suddenly handed him a leaf:
"Here's a small gift for you. This leaf is quite pretty; look at the white frost on its veins."

Qian Jin carefully inserted it into the handlebars of the tricycle.

Compared to Wei Xiongtu, Wei Qinghuan had more personal belongings, mainly including clothes and other items for Xiao Tangyuan.

Fortunately, resources were scarce these days, so there weren't many left. Qian Jin estimated that a tricycle could carry enough to fill one truck.

A female teacher saw Wei Qinghuan packing her things and asked, "Teacher Wei, where are you going? Did the school assign you a house?"

Wei Qinghuan laughed and said, "I'm not counting on it. My brother and I are tutors for students on Taishan Road. The leaders of Taishan Road took pity on us and arranged a house for us since we had nowhere to live."

The female teacher looked at the busy Qian Jin and asked, "Was this arrangement made by this leader?"

Wei Qinghuan didn't know how to answer, afraid of causing trouble for Qian Jin, so she smiled and went to help Qian Jin move the boxes:
"This is made of camphor wood, it's very heavy, let me help you."

Qian Jin said, "I rely on my strength to work as a mover now. Don't worry, we workers are strong!"

He thrust his hips forward with force.

This box is damn heavy!
Little Tangyuan shouted to him, "One, two, one, eat shrimp! One, two, one, eat pear! One, two, one, eat roast chicken!"

Wei Qinghuan lifted the box from the side: "The main problem is that the things are scattered around, making it hard to maintain balance. You carry it and I'll support it..."

The two worked together to load the box onto the vehicle, and other female teachers came to help when they saw this.

One reason was to curry favor with Qian Jin.

Secondly, I'm happy because there will finally be no more kids in the dorm.

The car was quite full after the things were loaded, and it was difficult for Wei Qinghuan to get in. Qian Jin reached out and helped her find a place to get in.

He helped Wei Qinghuan up by supporting her waist when he saw her off to the car.

Very soft.

Wei Qinghuan sensed something, her body trembled, and she quickly found a suitable place to sit down.

Seeing this, Qian Jin felt a little embarrassed and quickly got into the car to prepare to leave.

The chubby girl blinked her eyes in confusion and asked, "Uncle, you want me to climb up myself?"

Even my aunt couldn't climb up there!
Qian Jin remembered that there was a baby, so he quickly got out and carried her into the car.

The return journey is on the third round.

The little chubby girl was riding in this kind of vehicle for the first time, and she was chattering happily.

Wei Qinghuan was also very happy, hugging her little niece and answering her questions, occasionally asking Qian Jin, "Are you tired?" or "Do you want to take a break?"

Qian Jin's emotional value was maximized, and he pedaled the bike incredibly fast.

Perhaps only in this era would a pretty girl feel happy not only not ashamed to ride in a rickshaw.

A few years later, in the 1980s, pretty girls would be pursuing motorcycles, and in the 1990s, they would be pursuing cars.

Back in the tenement building, Wei Qinghuan carried her bedding roll, while Little Fatty hugged her small pillow as they entered room 204.

"From now on, this will be our home. This is your father's room, and this is your aunt's room. Who will you live with?"

"I live with my uncle who loves to eat, so there must be lots of delicious food at his house," the chubby girl said expectantly.

Qian Jin blinked.

Wow, you guessed right!
He brought Wei Qinghuan some candy to coax the child, which finally persuaded the chubby girl to stay.

He also gave Wei Qinghuan some throat lozenges: "If your throat feels uncomfortable while lecturing, suck on these."

This is a throat lozenge for acute bronchitis, containing herbal ingredients such as licorice and platycodon. After being taken, it forms a protective film in the throat, making it suitable for continuous care after speaking for a long time. It is more suitable for teachers than products like Watermelon Frost and Golden Throat Lozenges.

Wei Qinghuan put a piece in her mouth, and the cool and refreshing feeling invigorated her.

The four children already knew him, and they all ran over curiously to ask, "Teacher Wei, are you moving in? Are you going to be neighbors with Uncle Qianjin?"

Wei Qinghuan nodded with a smile: "Yes, we'll be neighbors from now on, so don't call me Teacher Wei anymore..."

"Hello, sister!" Liu Sanbing said hurriedly.

Qian Jin waved his hand and said, "Uh, don't call her 'sister,' she's actually about the same age as your uncle..."

He gave a sharp look.

The four children exchanged glances and suddenly realized, "Hello, Auntie!"

Qian Jin waved his hand vigorously: "Get lost, get lost! You've eaten rice for nothing, and you're not even as sensible as a little dumpling!"

Wei Qinghuan immediately saw through his thoughts and gave him a playful punch, saying with a smile, "You're just making fun of the glutinous rice balls."

Tangyuan is indeed very sensible.

She gave each of her four older brothers a piece of candy, and then her four brothers would take her to play.

Tangyuan didn't run after them; instead, she went to the neighbors' houses, knocked on their doors, and distributed candy to them.

Qian Jin praised her, saying, "Little Tangyuan is so generous."

Wei Qinghuan said in a low voice, "She shares her good things with others to please her neighbors. I used to teach her that."

However, Qian Jin is the king of this floor, and the neighbors all have to curry favor with him...

Qian Jin waved to the four children, who, upon receiving the instruction, took the little dumplings and went to find the other children in the building. More than a dozen children of varying ages began to make a ruckus up and down the stairs.

Huang Chui chased and pounced after him, having a great time.

Qian Jin helped Wei Qinghuan start packing her things.

She put down the boxes, set up the table, and laid out the blankets. Then she picked up the hand warmer and went to fetch hot water: "I'll fetch you extra water, two jugs, it'll be nice to soak your feet tonight."

His footsteps faded into the distance in the hallway.

But there was clearly a kettle boiling water on the stove, emitting steam.

The lights in the inner room have been replaced with incandescent bulbs, which are bright and convenient for reading.

But Qian Jin still brought a desk lamp. Wei Qinghuan sat on the bed and looked around, feeling that this house felt more like her own home than her previous ornately decorated house.

After getting ready, she went straight to the study room.

The study room was filled with the rich scent of ink.

The students were operating the two wooden roller printing presses with great enthusiasm, and as the printing plates were put in, lesson plans printed with black ink were constantly being taken away.

Wei Xiongtu instructed them: "Blow it well, don't rush to use it, this ink dries relatively slowly."

Upon seeing these two learning gadgets, Wei Qinghuan was pleasantly surprised: "Wow, where did this printing press come from? I can print test papers for my classmates now!"

"It was brought by Teacher Wei!" the young man operating the printing press said happily.

Wei Xiongtu explained in a low voice, "It was Chief Qian who found me, but in order to make the students like me more quickly and for me to gain more prestige, he said that I brought him."

Hundreds of Chinese language lesson plans were passed down.

The test-takers eagerly devoured the content, now they had a clear outline for their studies!
With the printing press, Wei Qinghuan no longer needed to write the answers to problems on the blackboard.

She took a sheet of printing paper, wrote the questions and solutions on it, printed it out, and distributed it. The test takers would answer the questions first, and then study according to the collective approach. Only when they still couldn't figure it out would Wei Qinghuan step in.

Qian came over and took a look.

He felt that Wei Qinghuan would still have a hard time.

After all, she also has to teach at night school during the day.

So he prepared hot tea for Wei Qinghuan and Wei Xiongtu: "Have a cup of tea and rest for a bit, you don't have to keep busy."

“Especially Professor Wei, you have to teach students during the day and now you have to teach at night, how tiring that must be.”

Wei Xiongtu was taken aback: "But I work as a porter during the day."

Qian Jin said, "Teacher Wei uses his voice to lecture, do you use your voice to do manual labor?"

Wei Xiongtu sighed.

Wei Qinghuan took a sip of tea and smiled, "It's alright. That's how it is when you're a teacher. Some of the students here have a very poor foundation in math, physics, and chemistry, so I have to find a way to help them build a solid foundation."

Qian Jin said, "Isn't it unnecessary to go through all that trouble? Just be true to yourself."

"Why don't you take a rest, and then we can go out for a walk together?"

At this moment, a student raised their hand to ask a question.

“I’m not tired, I don’t need to rest,” Wei Qinghuan put down her cup, turned around and smiled: “Peach and plum trees do not speak, yet a path is formed beneath them.”

Wei Xiongtu, who was drinking tea, suddenly coughed upon hearing this.

Qian Jin patted him on the shoulder: "How old are you? Don't you know how to drink water?"

Wei Xiongtu looked at him in surprise.

Qian Jin asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Wei Xiongtu beckoned him to the door, first letting out a long sigh, then shaking his head helplessly at Qian Jin.

Qian Jin asked, "Are you drunk from drinking tea?"

Wei Xiongtu said, "Don't you understand this? Didn't you understand what Xiaoqing just said?"

Qian Jin said, "Do you think I'm illiterate? Of course I understand."

"Peach and plum trees do not speak, yet a path is formed beneath them." This means that although peach and plum trees cannot speak, their sweetness and deliciousness attract people to pick them, so much so that a path is formed beneath them.

"When applied to education, this means that excellent teachers can earn the respect of students through their character and teaching, without needing to promote themselves; students will naturally come to them, or rather, a good reputation will naturally follow..."

Wei Xiongtu nodded and said, "My good comrade, you are indeed cultured, but there is still room for improvement."

"I'm asking you, what did you ask her?"

Qian Jin said, "Didn't you hear me ask, 'You don't need to work so hard, do you?'"

Wei Xiongtu said helplessly, "I'm not deaf, I heard it, but I also heard Xiaoqing's reply. She said she wasn't tired and didn't need to rest!"

"What else did you ask?"

Qian Jin was speechless: "What exactly do you mean?"

"I'm not a student asking you to teach me problem-solving strategies, just give me the answer!"

Wei Xiongtu sighed and said, "Her words were a response to your 'Let's go out for a walk together!'"

Qian Jin said, "So how does that respond to my invitation?"

Wei Xiongtu said, "Because the phrase 'peach and plum trees do not speak, yet a path is formed beneath them' comes from the great patriotic poet Xin Qiji and is the ending of 'A Spray of Plum Blossoms'."

"There's another sentence before it, and they should be used together. Xiaoqing used this sentence to respond to your invitation to go out for a walk!"

"The sentimental mountain birds need not sing!"

Wei Xiongtu patted him on the shoulder and returned to the study room:
“You should treat her better, don’t be like that heartless bastard before, wasting Xiaoqing’s sincerity.”

Qian Jin was stunned.

Is this how cultured people date?
He walked back with his hands behind his back.

The breeze feels especially gentle tonight.

Back in his room, he brought out some books: "Keep learning, you'll never stop learning!"

What they brought out were comic books.

He turned on the desk lamp and looked at it carefully.

The art style is indeed very good.

It should be quite valuable.

He locked the door, took out a gold chest, and stuffed the entire set of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" inside.

Product information appears quickly:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms comic book (first edition, first printing) - complete set - 1957-1963 - People's Fine Arts Publishing House - 95% new.

145000 yuan.

Qian Jin cheered up.

Why is this comic book set so expensive?

He chose to sell it without hesitation.

In addition, he had a lot of comic books in his possession; there were as many as two hundred comic books that were found in the box at the time.

But most of them are short stories, such as "Searching for the Sun", "About to Explode", "Beautiful Road", "Growing Up in the Storm", etc.

These are of little value.

Qian Jin ordered twenty books to be put on the shelves, with a total value of only 860 yuan.

He also put other short stories on the shelves, but the value was still not high. All fifty-plus books only sold for four thousand yuan.

The remaining two sets of comic books are "Traditional Chinese Folk Tales", which has as many as 70 volumes, and "Romance of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms".

Among them, "Traditional Chinese Folk Tales" was printed quite early, in 1959, and includes stories such as "Li Shimin's Ascension to the Throne," "The Legend of Tianchi," and "The Long-Nosed Old Man."

Qian Jin launched the product on the online store with great anticipation.

There were no surprises, but no disappointments either.

This set of comic books isn't that valuable anymore; the entire set of 70 books is worth a total of 70000 yuan.

Several volumes of "The Romance of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms" are missing, making them even less valuable.

But Qian Jin was already very satisfied.

After all, it was unexpected wealth.

He sold all the comic books, and his mall savings exceeded 350,000.

After thinking it over, Qian Jin bought a lot more barbecue seasoning.

He plans to ask Huang Laotie and his friends to bring out a few barbecue grills when he goes to the countryside, and he'll start barbecuing now.

No grilled meat or vegetables, just grilled flatbread!

This stuff is delicious and filling. The main thing is that flatbreads aren't uncommon these days; you can buy all kinds of soft and hard flatbreads at grocery stores.

When the time comes, grease it with oil, add seasonings, bake it, and sell it for several times the price; it will definitely sell well.

He habitually went to pick up Wei Qinghuan at ten o'clock.

Now that Wei Qinghuan wasn't in a hurry to go back to her dorm, she said, "I'll work for another hour."

Qian Jin felt sorry for her: "Let Teacher Wei do it, you go back and put the child to sleep."

Wei Xiongtu was very hardworking and resilient, or rather, he enjoyed it.

He also advised his sister to go back first: "I'll wait a little longer. It's okay if it's 12 o'clock. Anyway, it's only a month left. I'll do a quick review."

Although Qian Jin generally favored Wei Qinghuan over Wei Xiongtu in the study room, he actually took good care of Wei Xiongtu when they arrived at Jiagang Wharf.

The next day, Qian Jin and Wei Xiongtu each carried a large satchel and rode their bicycles to the port.

He had decided to give his coworkers more food and adjust Wei Xiongtu's workload so he could get more rest.

When the two arrived at the office, they found that Hu Shunzi and the others were behaving very strangely.

When they saw the handbag, they didn't swarm around it like the men who had seen the beautiful young woman; instead, they avoided eye contact and looked embarrassed.

Qian Jin immediately became alert: "What's wrong? What have you done to offend me?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Shunzi stood up angrily: "What are you saying? Xiao Qian, is this how you talk to your comrades? Don't you trust your comrades?"

Qian Jin asked suspiciously, "Then you didn't do anything to wrong me?"

"Of course I haven't done anything to wrong you!" Hu Shunzi said firmly.

Qian Jin was about to apologize.

He continued, "We only did things that offended you two, hehe."

Old Guai said weakly, "Xiao Qian's situation isn't our fault—last night when we were leaving get off work, Captain Song suddenly came to check our attendance."

Kang Xin nodded heavily: "We've explained it to you both, and Hu Tou even helped you both get leave."

"But it's no use, Captain Song insists on recording your absence this afternoon!"

Qian Jin breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Oh, this? Okay, I understand. I don't blame you."

"That's great." Hu Shunzi smiled.

"I hate you all!" Qian Jin continued viciously.

Hu Shunzi exclaimed "Ah!" and stared in disbelief.

Qian Jin then laughed and stood up: "It was just a joke. Captain Song has no right to fire us. Let him record our absences if he wants. It's no big deal."

“Yes, he just likes to write things down, he just does.” Hu Shunzi came up and put his arm around his shoulder.

Qian Jin knew that Song Hongbing, with his petty nature, would definitely come looking for trouble with the two of them.

But he is not afraid.

The title of "captain" sounds impressive, but in reality, he just manages a bunch of porters.

He doesn't have much power; at least he's not qualified to fire permanent employees.

Since he can't be fired, why should Qian Jin be afraid of him?
Seeing that Qian Jin didn't blame them for their lack of loyalty, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and came up to give him a thumbs up, praising his 'magnanimity'.

Kang Xinnian even said, "I told you we were worrying for nothing. Who are Xiao Qian and Xiao Wei? They're as magnanimous as a general who can beat a horse with his fists and as forgiving as a prime minister who can hold a boat!"

"In that case, Xiao Qian and Xiao Wei, what did you two bring today?"

Qian Jin opened his satchel and began sorting: "These are all good things. Today I went to Nine Alleys and exchanged all the good stuff there for our comrades."

Air-dried chicken, cured meat, sausages, various dried fruits, and common dried fruits such as peanuts and melon seeds.

These are foods that only cadres and their families could access in this day and age, including peanuts and melon seeds.

Although peanuts and melon seeds are no longer eaten by anyone 27 years ago, they were a delicacy that urban residents could only enjoy at the end of the year in 77.

Peanuts and melon seeds are not sold at supply and marketing cooperatives, farmers' markets, or food processing plants on ordinary days.

Qian Jin handed the food to Hu Shunzi so that he could distribute it.

Hu Shunzi said, "The usual rule is to distribute benefits according to weight."

"Why are we divided by weight? Xiao Qian, Xiao Wei, and Xiao Li are newcomers and don't understand. Lao Kang, can you explain it to them?"

Kang Xinxin said with a bitter face, "Because our distribution principle is based on the amount of labor, but the amount of labor is difficult to calculate. In fact, we all know that the labor force of the old movers is directly proportional to their strength."

"Strength is directly proportional to weight, so we distribute benefits according to weight."

Qian Jin had no objection.

Anyway, I'm not going to give it to myself.

Li Chenggong objected, saying, "Hu Tou, this is unreasonable!"

"Wouldn't it be more reasonable to distribute the money according to seniority?" Hu Shunzi glared at him angrily.

Li Chenggong immediately deflated.

He doesn't have any seniority yet.

Hu Shunzi put the largest portion of the benefit into his own bag.

He tied the bag strap with satisfaction and said, "Don't think that I, as the foreman, will take advantage of you. Actually, I have a great benefit for you today."

"I've heard that an American passenger and cargo ship is arriving in port today. I'll take you to see the foreigners then."

Qian Jin chuckled to himself.

Not really.

These days, watching foreigners has become a form of entertainment?
Wei Xiongtu shook his head: "What's so interesting about foreigners? They're just blond hair and green eyes, aren't they just human beings like us?"

Old Guai winked at him: "We're not really going to see the foreigners, we're actually going to explore the ghost market."

"The foreign devils brought some good things, and we also brought some things to trade with them. Since this is a market organized by the foreign devils, it is called the Ghost Market."

Upon hearing this, Qian Jin's mind immediately became active.

This is okay!
Wei Xiongtu asked in surprise, "Isn't this smuggling?"

Kang Xin hurriedly said, "What smuggling? Don't talk nonsense. The Public Security Bureau and the Port Authority don't care. This is an old rule of the port that has been around for many years. It's a benefit for us old porters!"

Others chimed in, offering their opinions:

“Wei, we all know you have a high level of awareness and have done meritorious service in catching smugglers, but don’t let your head get clouded this time. We’re not smuggling.”

"Even if you call the police, it won't do any good. This is really an unspoken rule in the port. You'll see when other workers also try to enter the 'ghost market'."

"You might even run into plainclothes security guards or customs officers!"

Qian Jin laughed and said, "Don't worry, everyone. We'd better not. Would we harm our fellow workers? We'll definitely go and see for ourselves."

"That's good." Everyone laughed.

But someone suddenly widened their eyes: "Wait, don't worry?! Don't be afraid!!"

(End of this chapter)