The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 2 The Four Liu Brothers

There were black soy sauce stains at the bottom of the enamel bowl, and Qian Jin picked up the cold noodles and put them into his mouth.

The dried beans that my predecessor brought back from the countryside were as hard as iron bars.

The sun in 77 was extremely hot. The beans that had been dried thoroughly in the sun still didn't swell even after being simmered in hot water for half an hour.

So he had no food to eat at noon.

But think about it, other families eat coarse grains, but at least he eats fine grains, so he is quite happy.

After eating the noodles, he washed the pot at a later time, thinking that there was no one around before carrying the pot to the public bathroom.

The bathroom is on the first floor, with two rows of faucets back to back in the middle, and buckets and basins commonly used by residents of the building placed along the walls around it.

These buckets and basins have paint markings on them.

It can be seen that buckets and basins printed with the state-owned factory logo occupy the best positions.

There were indeed not many people inside at this time. There was only a young man squatting on the water table washing a large aluminum pot.

Loose green military uniform and trembling Adam's apple.

Coincidentally, Qian Jin met the young man who helped him oil the door lock in the morning.

The young man turned around and saw him, and immediately smiled brightly and moved aside, motioning Qian Jin to come over to him and wash the pot:

"Brother Qianjin, have you just finished eating?"

"Yeah." Qian Jin smiled back.

He put down the small aluminum pot.

The boy turned his head inadvertently, and his eyes were glued to the bottom of the pot.

There were some noodles left at the bottom of Qian Jin's pot.

He knew that food was precious at the moment and could not be wasted.

Unfortunately, the noodles with soy sauce were not tasty and he really couldn't eat them.

It's a hot day now and the house is hot and humid. I don't have a refrigerator at home, so I dare not leave the noodles overnight. Therefore, I have to throw them away.

The boy found this unbelievable.

These are white noodles!

Fine grain!

Qian Jin looked at the large aluminum pot in his hand that he had seen in the public kitchen not long ago, and remembered the boy's words in the morning, "My father is from the port," and the compass woman's words at noon, "Liu's sister-in-law has "expended money at the port." He felt a stir in his heart and asked tentatively:

"Comrade Xiao Liu?"

The boy was startled by the sound and looked up suddenly and said, "Ah? Ah!"

"Brother Qianjin, you can just call me Liu Dajia."

Qian Jin was sure that he had guessed correctly. This young man was the son of Liu's sister-in-law.

Thinking about the lunch made by Liu's sister-in-law, he tentatively handed over the aluminum pot and asked, "If you don't mind..."

"I don't mind, I don't mind. Even the emperor wouldn't mind if I had noodles to eat." Liu Dajia jumped to the ground in surprise after understanding what he meant.

The noodles in the pot had become a little lumpy due to soaking, but because there was soy sauce in the soup, the noodles were flavorful enough that the boy slurped them up with great delight.

He quickly scooped up two chopsticks, hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Qianjin, why don't you go back first? I'll wash the pot and send it over to you."

Qian Jin thought that he had hurt the young man's self-esteem and went home.

Not long after, Liu Dajia came to the door carrying a pot that had been brushed to a shine.

The pot was clean inside and out, and filled with clean water.

He carried the aluminum pot into the house with difficulty. A pair of teenage twins were peeking at the door.

Both children had brown flour stains around their mouths and looked similar to him, so they must be his younger brothers.

Qian Jin suddenly realized that Liu Dajia asked him to go home just now because he was the one who took the noodle soup base to share with his two younger brothers.

Liu Dajia put down the aluminum pot and chuckled, "Brother Qianjin, is your water bucket empty? Sanbing and Siding, go and bring up a bucket of water for Brother Qianjin."

Qian Jin waved his hand: "Dajia, there's no need for that. I don't use much water..."

"How can there be less water in such hot weather?" Liu Dajia interrupted him and urged his two younger brothers to fetch water.

After his brother left, he looked around the room and whispered, "Brother Qianjin, is this house registered under your account?"

Qian Jin was stunned.

He is not clear about this.

Liu Dajia further said: "This house is not the residential building of your father's unit, it is a house on the street. It didn't have an account before, and Uncle Bai's family lived here."

"But your neighbor Du Daozui's family has many people, and there's not enough space at home, so she's always wanted this room."

"When Uncle Bai and his family lived here, Du Daozui was fighting with them. After your father moved in, Du Daozui also came to cause trouble..."

As he spoke, he pointed to Room 204 next door.

"You'd better finalize the ownership of this house."

This is something Qian Jin didn't understand.

His predecessor did not record this incident in his diary, but only recorded Qian Zhongguo's new house in the Workers' New Village.

Now, thanks to Liu Dajia's kind reminder.

He had a sense of urgency.

He must keep this house, as it is his current home.

After the two children returned the water, they left. Qian Jin studied the "Material Purchase and Sales Certificate" for a while and then lay down on the wooden bed helplessly to sleep.

There was a bamboo mat on the bed, which was very cool.

There is no urban heat island effect these days, and the sea breeze coming through the window is very cool and comfortable.

I woke up in complete darkness.

Then I was woken up by crying.

After getting up, he felt an itch on his back, and when he touched it with his backhand, he found traces of the mat. Qian went in and looked in the mirror.

These densely packed marks are well-proportioned, and paired with the slender back and waist, they look quite charming.

The crying became more tragic, mixed with the woman's furious roar:

"You bastard, you're asking for death! Eat, eat, eat me too!"

"Dajia, what are you looking at? Go get me some willow branches! I'm going to teach you a lesson today..."

The wailing was even more miserable.

Qian Jin pushed open the door out of curiosity. The corridor of the tube-shaped building was always filled with the smell of coal smoke.

The half-length blue cloth curtain next door with the words "Advanced Family in the Street" printed on it was lifted up, and a woman came out to look up.

Qian Jin took a quick look and saw that it was the compass woman he had met before.

Suddenly, he understood where the malice shown towards him in the public kitchen came from.

She is Du Daozui who covets his house.

Thinking further, he suddenly remembered what the woman said, "You will be unhappy in a few days."

Is the hidden meaning of her words that she is going to rob her house in two days?
Du Daozui rolled her eyes at him, then pointed to the third floor and said, "You look young, but you're quite adept at watching the fun—Look, the boss is beating the kids again."

Qian Jin asked, "Why did you hit the child? It sounded to me like he was stealing food."

Du Daozui smiled. "Hey, the Liu family's second son didn't have lunch, so he was so hungry he climbed over the wall into the Children's Palace and ate some raw eggplant from someone's experimental field. The teacher caught him and brought him to our house."

"Come on, I'll take you up there and take a look."

People these days lack entertainment activities. If someone farts in public, people will discuss it for half an hour.

Someone beats a child, it's a grand sight.

There were already more than ten people blocking the entrance to the corridor on the third floor, and the people living on this floor also opened their doors to look outside.

Qian Jin looked over and saw Liu's sister-in-law, whom he had met at noon, snatching a wooden stick from Liu Dajia.

There was a young boy squatting at the door of his house.

The boy was as dark and thin as his brothers. He curled up with his head between his knees and cried, like a puppy that was beaten with nowhere to escape.

The two little brothers Liu Sanbing and Liu Siding stood against the north wall.

The two men were so terrified that they could only use their cracked nails to pick at the "Prepare for War and Famine" slogan that had fallen off the wall.

Liu's sister-in-law slapped the curled-up boy in the face.

Liu Dajia wanted to stop him but didn't dare, so he cried and said, "Mom, Mom, the second son didn't lie. He never stole anything from the Children's Palace before..."

Liu's sister-in-law said nothing and just kept beating the boy.

Seeing that no one among his neighbors seemed to want to intervene, Qian Jin shook his head and walked out.

The three children of the Liu family helped him wash the pots and bring him water at noon.

He has a good impression of the Liu family's children.

Although the second brother stole something, Qian Jin felt that it was forgivable.

This child secretly eats raw eggplant.

Why would anyone eat this unless they were extremely hungry?

Qian Jin went up to stop Liu's sister-in-law.

He didn't try to stop the fight or ask about the cause and effect, but just pleaded, "Sister-in-law, I'm a little overwhelmed with work at home."

"I'll ask you to get some help. Ask your four children to help me."

As he said this, he winked at Liu Dajia.

Liu Dajia was very smart. He wiped his tears and quickly pulled his second brother away.

The third and fourth brothers were like two black tails, running very fast following their two older brothers.

Mrs. Liu threw away the willow branches in her hand, her face filled with sorrow: "These dog coins are feeding these bastards!"

"His father only gets a ration of 40 kilograms a month. In order to feed these little guys, he works night shifts and overtime, and only gets a ration of 50 kilograms."

"That thief went out and caused a lot of trouble. My family lost 20 kilograms of food coupons. How are we going to survive for the next half month?"

The crowd of onlookers dispersed.

Qian Jin led the four children home like a hen leading her four chicks.

Liu Dajia slapped his second brother: "Why don't you thank Brother Qianjin?"

The second son of the Liu family lowered his head, trembling and silently shedding tears.

Liu Dajia said gratefully: "Brother Qianjin, thank you. If it weren't for you, my mother would have broken my bones today..."

"No need to thank me. Your mother has had a hard life. She beat your second brother because she was afraid that he would go astray." Qian Jin sighed.

He thought of the scene of Liu's sister-in-law counting food coupons at noon.

I counted more than a dozen food coupons five times!
Liu Sanbing has a cough.

He picked up a piece of unsoaked dried beans at the door and was now stretching his neck to swallow them.

"Don't eat this." Qian Jin hurried to pat his back, otherwise he would have to perform the Heimlich maneuver. "Come and do some work for me, and I'll take care of dinner tonight."

"You know I just came back from out of town, and there's no food or coal at home. Please help me buy some food and coal."

Liu Dajia said cheerfully, "It's a small matter, Brother Qianjin, how can this be considered a favor?"

Now is the era of tickets.

Ordinary people depend on tickets for their livelihood.

Qian Jin didn't understand this lifestyle, nor did he know where shops like grain stores and coal stations were.

So he had to find a master to lead the way.

The young boy Liu Dajia is a suitable candidate.

(End of this chapter)