The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 237 Arrives in Succession, Bestseller Begins

Turning through narrow, dimly lit streets, and around corners piled with coal and discarded bamboo baskets.

The soles of my shoes slapped against the damp, cold cement pavement, sending withered yellow leaves swaying behind me.

Li Jinbao, who was running in the lead, was the first to turn around the street corner where the walls were peeling and mottled.

My eyes suddenly opened up.

Taishan Road!
The streets are lined with old-style arcade buildings of varying heights.

The shop had long since closed; the green-painted wooden door and the rusty iron security door were both locked, with only the faint state-owned enterprise number remaining in the door seams and on the lintel.

However, just a dozen meters ahead, a doorway lamp was shining a dim yellow light all by itself!
The lights illuminated the large characters on the white wooden signboard on one side of the gate: Taishan Road People's Clothing Factory.

In addition, a small sign has been added next to the main sign:

Bell-bottoms specialty store.

Zhang Haibo, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the words: "Yes, yes, they sell bell-bottoms!"

His voice even trembled with excitement.

At that moment, there were two young men at the door.

Li Jinbao rushed over like a whirlwind, excitedly shouting, "Comrades, three comrades, are you workers from this factory?"

The two young men were both male, one tall and one short.

Hearing his words, the two exchanged a glance and chuckled awkwardly: "No, we are workers at our second seafood processing plant."

The tall man asked Li Jinbao, "Are you planning to buy bell-bottoms?"

Li Jinbao nodded hurriedly.

Li Xiaomei, who followed behind, realized what was happening and asked, "Comrade, did you...did you just finish watching 'Manhunt'?"

The tall man laughed and said, "Yes, I just finished watching 'Manhunt' and I thought Du Qiu looked really cool in those bell-bottoms, so I wanted to buy a pair too, and that's why we came here."

He pointed to the People's Garment Factory on Taishan Road.

It turns out we're kindred spirits.

Wang Weidong exclaimed, "You two are really fast! The rest of us ran all the way here!"

The shorter man said, "What a coincidence, we also ran here. We were worried the garment factory would be closing so late..."

"It seems like everyone has already left work," Chen Xiuqin said dejectedly.

The young people looked at each other helplessly, staring at the closed door and dark windows.

Li Jinbao tiptoed and peered through a window.

The moon is beautiful tonight.

The autumn sky is high and clear, and the night sky is cloudless.

The bright moonlight shone through the window.

In the dim white light, he could clearly see several mannequins.

The model on the left is dressed as a woman, wearing a plain plaid top or a fitted polyester shirt.

The mannequins on the right are dressed as men, one in a dark blue work uniform and the other in a green military uniform.

then!

Their pants are all bell-bottoms!

The extremely unique lines he had just seen on the movie screen reappeared before his eyes, and Li Jinbao's breathing became rapid.

The trousers were straight, no, more accurately, extremely fitted from the knee up, but suddenly flared out below the knee!

Like two upside-down flowers in full bloom!

The trouser legs were disproportionately wide, almost reaching the ankles of the mannequin!
Li Jinbao let out a low growl, like that of a wild beast: "Damn it, that's it! There really are bell-bottoms here!"

Others crowded around to see.

Seeing the different styles of bell-bottoms for men and women, the flames that had been burning in the eyes of the young men from running and excitement spread like wildfire.

Impulsive Wang Weidong reacted to the clothes he liked with his body faster than his brain.

Like a bull, he completely forgot all concepts of "public property," "shop entrance," and "order." He pushed off the ground with his hind feet, lowered his shoulders, and leaped up like a cannonball, trying to climb onto the windowsill.

Li Jinbao instinctively used his shoulder to support his buttocks, making it easier for him.

The impulsive young people didn't think about the consequences; all they could think about was Du Qiu striding confidently through the streets of Tokyo in it, looking cool and aloof!

I want to be like that myself!

Li Xiaomei, who was most eager to buy a pair of bell-bottoms, was the calmest. She grabbed her impulsive companion and shouted, "What are you doing? Are you going to go in and steal?"

"Have you forgotten what Liu Tiezhu said? If the garment factory sues us, just think how Liu Tiezhu will deal with us!"

These words were as heavy as a giant hammer striking thin ice.

Wang Weidong's scalp tingled as he rubbed against the windowsill, and then the impulse in his body seeped out through the crack, leaving him only with calmness.

What calmed him down even more was that his head hit the windowpane with a bang, and then a light came on inside.

There are people inside the house!
There is a bed!

A woman got out of bed: "Hey, what are you doing?"

The sudden appearance of people and the sudden sound were like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads, instantly extinguishing the passion and madness ignited by the movie among the young people.

"run!"

It was unclear who uttered this hoarse roar, so sharp it was distorted.

No one dared to look at the bell-bottoms in the factory any longer, nor did they have time to think about whether they had done anything illegal or unethical. At this moment, all they felt was fear, and they all ran away.

As a result, their noisy movements woke up an old man wearing a dark blue old-fashioned security uniform with a "duty" armband on his arm.

An old man emerged from a nearby grocery store, clutching a greasy broom handle tightly in his hand. Seeing someone running away, he instinctively gave chase, shouting hoarsely as he went:
"Stop! Who goes there! Stop right there..."

The sound trembled in the cold air.

Like a sharp alarm bell, it frightened the eight youths so much that they ran away like wild dogs that had broken free of their reins.

Driven by immense fear, they exerted their strength almost simultaneously, chasing each other as they raced into the dark, narrow alleyway that turned off Taishan Road.

Click, click, click...

The hurried, chaotic footsteps once again pounded violently on the cold, hard ground.

The group rushed forward headfirst, like headless flies, driven solely by instinct, heading in the direction they thought was away from the main road, their hearts pounding in their throats.

I ran through about two alleys.

Zhao Aihong was the first to stop.

The little girl bent over, supporting herself on her knees, her throat emitting heavy, hoarse breaths like a broken bellows, and gasped out:

"Stop...stop for a bit...I can't run anymore...rest...rest..."

The tall man at the seafood processing plant asked curiously, "Yeah, take a break, no, why are you running?"

Several people, like ropes that had been cut, collapsed one after another against a mottled and dirty cement wall deep in the alley.

Faced with the tall man's question, Li Jinbao said in a panic, "Run for what? Why do you think we should run?"

"Yeah, why are we running?" the tall guy asked again. "Have we done anything illegal? No, we just want to go to the window and see what's inside!"

Li Xiaomei was dumbfounded: "Right, right, it seems like we didn't do anything, did we?"

Wang Weidong and Li Jinbao looked at each other in bewilderment.

The two men were indeed excited upon seeing the bell-bottoms and considered breaking in through the window to steal a pair, but they only had the idea; they did not actually break the window or steal the pants.

This left the young men feeling helpless, and they all cursed, "Damn it!"

There wasn't a single ray of light in the alley; a thick, impenetrable darkness enveloped them.

Only the faint glow of the streetlights on the main road in the distance painted a barely perceptible, swaying gray-white arc at the alley entrance.

"What should we do?" someone asked awkwardly.

The tall man took the lead and said confidently, "What else can we do? Go to that bell-bottoms store and buy some pants."

“There’s someone inside, that’s even better. Let’s buy a pair of pants from her—but did you bring any money or cloth coupons?”

The group looked at each other again, bewildered.
"I brought the money, but who brings cloth tickets to the movies?"

"You probably don't have enough money, do you? These bell-bottoms are so fashionable, they must be expensive."

"Did you see bell-bottoms inside just now? What style were they?"

Li Jinbao said with great enthusiasm, "It's just like in the movies, there are men's and women's styles, the workmanship is really good, I think it's no worse than what those Japanese devils wear!"

"Have you seen Du Qiu's clothes? Like a jacket but longer," the short man gestured, "the kind where the collar can be turned up, see?"

Li Jinbao and the others shook their heads: "It seems not."

The short man said dejectedly, "Sigh, I think that outfit is really cool. If I wear it, I might be able to find a girlfriend."

He then asked, "Do you think the department store in our Haibin City sells them?"

"Dream on!" Li Xiaomei laughed. "That's a Japanese product; I heard you need foreign exchange certificates to buy it."

She said to the group, "Forget it, let's buy bell-bottoms first. I... I absolutely have to wear a pair of bell-bottoms home tonight!"

Li Jinbao sighed, "We were too impulsive just now. Actually, we can't buy it tonight. Putting everything else aside, does anyone have cloth coupons?"

Li Xiaomei became stubborn and said, "I don't care, I have to go and ask first, maybe I can get credit?"

The tall man laughed after hearing this: "Comrade, you're thinking too simply. Why would they give us credit? Unless someone has a relative on Taishan Road..."

“It’s okay if I don’t have any relatives,” Li Xiaomei said, expressing her thoughts.

“We are workers from the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill. As far as I know, the Taishan Road People’s Clothing Factory gets its supplies from our factory. The fabric used for bell-bottoms might even have been produced in our workshop!”

"It's said that the person in charge of this factory, Qian Jin, is related to our factory manager, Wang Dong..."

The short man was itching to go: "Then what are we hesitating for? Let's go take a look." No one knows who started running first, but by the time Li Xiaomei reacted, a group of people were already sprinting towards Taishan Road.

Tonight, all I did was run around.

She gave a bitter smile to herself.

The young people introduced themselves on the way.

It turns out the tall guy was named Zhang Jianjun, and the short young man was named Wang Xiaobing.

Zhang Jianjun is tall and has long legs, so he runs fast. He rushed to the front, and his jacket puffed up like a balloon in the night wind.

Wang Xiaobing was wearing a pair of leather shoes, the soles of which made a crisp, rhythmic clattering sound on the stone pavement.

The lights in the factory were not turned off this time, making it bright and white inside.

Li Xiaomei mustered her courage and went up to knock on the door: "Is anyone home? We want to buy pants!"

Light shone through the crack in the door, followed by the sound of slippers dragging on the floor.

A middle-aged woman wearing a work shirt opened the door a crack and said, "I'm off work. Please come early tomorrow."

"Big sister!" Li Jinbao squeezed to the front, pulled out her work ID, and said, "We're workers from the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill. We just finished watching 'Manhunt'..."

"Oh!" Before he could finish speaking, the woman laughed, "You came to buy bell-bottoms after watching the movie, right? Hey, you're the third group tonight."

She opened the door. "Come in. You're lucky. Our factory manager is incredibly insightful. He said that after this movie is released, young people will definitely come to buy pants overnight, so he arranged for us to be on duty."

This so-called storefront was just a small room partitioned off by wooden boards at the entrance of the factory, filled with the smell of new cloth being starched.

The six young men from the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill were very familiar with this smell.

The smell made them feel like they were back in their familiar work environment.

Small but complete.

The makeshift storefront had a sign on the wall that read "Quality First, Customer Supreme," and bell-bottoms of various sizes were neatly stacked on the wooden counter.

Li Xiaomei and Chen Xiuqin immediately took a liking to the navy blue bell-bottoms, which were almost identical to the ones Mayumi wore while riding a horse in the movie:
"I want this one!"

"Me too, this one is so beautiful."

The two almost started arguing.

The woman chuckled helplessly, "A restaurant owner like me is afraid of big-bellied men? Let me tell you, we have plenty of bell-bottoms here!"

As she spoke, she glanced at the two women's figures and handed them two pairs of dark blue bell-bottoms to Li Xiaomei.

Touching the fabric of the bell-bottoms, Li Xiaomei's emotions surged, and her voice trembled slightly: "Sister, can I try them on?"

The woman pulled up the curtains hanging around the wooden bed behind the door: "That's all the terms. If you're willing, give it a try, but don't get it dirty."

Li Xiaomei nodded frantically: "Okay, okay, thank you, big sister."

After a few rustling sounds, she quickly came out wearing bell-bottoms, and the young men who were choosing bell-bottoms fell silent.

The trousers gradually widen from the knee down, finally flaring out into a perfect bell shape at the ankle.

She tried to take a few steps, her trouser legs swaying like waves.

Zhao Aihong hurriedly walked over, clutching her bell-bottoms: "I want to try them on too! I want to buy them!"

"How much?" Zhang Jianjun had already taken out his wallet.

"Fifteen yuan and eighty cents, cloth coupons required." The woman began fiddling with the abacus. "However..."

She lowered her voice and said, "Our factory manager said that our fabric is supplied by the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill. Your factory is a sister unit of our factory, so sister units definitely get preferential treatment. You can get the internal price of 12.5 yuan."

Wang Xiaobing suddenly wailed, "Only the comrades from the Sixth State-Owned Cotton Mill can..."

Zhang Jianjun suddenly elbowed him and then winked at him: "We are all workers from the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill!"

Wang Xiaobing shrank his neck.

"Lady, can we buy on credit here?" Li Xiaomei asked anxiously, stamping her feet after searching through all her pockets. "I... to be honest, lady, we came here on short notice after watching a movie, and we didn't bring that much money with us."

“But I have money. I’ve been working for six years and have over 800 yuan in savings. I can afford dozens of these bell-bottoms!”

"So you're letting me pay on credit tonight, and I'll come to pay first thing tomorrow morning!"

The woman shook her head: "I'm sorry, ladies, you can buy cloth coupons on credit, as long as I show you my work ID and you sign it, but you can't buy money on credit."

Zhang Jianjun hurriedly said, "No need to buy on credit. My second aunt lives on Wushan Branch Road next to you. I'll go to her house to borrow money."

He winked at his companions and then said to the others, "Quickly calculate how much money you have on you and how much you need. I'll lend it to you all."

These words made the eyes of the six young men from the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill suddenly light up: "Thank you, Comrade Zhang Jianjun..."

Zhang Jianjun waved his hand and called the six of them away: "I can lend it to you first, but we just met, so I have to go with you to your homes or dorms. You must have money at home, right? You have to pay me back tonight."

Li Xiaomei readily agreed, "No problem, Comrade Jianjun. All six of us live in the dormitory. You can get all the outstanding payments when you go to the second dormitory area of ​​our No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill later."

Zhang Jianjun winked again: "But you guys have to cover for us so we can also get the bell-bottoms at a discounted price."

The six young men became somewhat worried.

Li Jinbao said in a low voice, "It should be fine. As long as we have cloth coupons and money, they won't register our names."

They nodded and agreed to the terms.

Zhang Jianjun ran out quickly.

A moment later, footsteps were heard outside, and someone hurried over.

The young people thought Zhang Jianjun had returned and rushed out to see him.

It turned out to be a young man and woman who came in: "Excuse me, comrades, does this store sell bell-bottoms?"

Li Jinbao laughed: "Ha, just finished watching 'Manhunt'?"

The young woman nodded shyly: "Yes, and then we found out that they had bell-bottoms here, so we rushed over overnight."

Li Xiaomei kindly reminded them, "A pair of pants costs fifteen yuan and eighty cents, and you also need cloth coupons. Do you have any with you?"

The young woman subconsciously patted her shirt pocket and said, "I brought it with me."

So the two of them went into the clothing factory and each chose a pair of bell-bottoms.

After putting on bell-bottoms, the young woman's legs appeared even longer and she stood out gracefully: "Hey, comrade, what's that thing here?"

She lifted the hem of her shirt, revealing two small leather characters protruding from her trousers: Han and Tang Dynasties.

“This is our clothing brand,” the woman explained. “You’re wearing brand-name flared pants, Han Tang brand.”

"Han and Tang? The Han and Tang dynasties?" The young man was quite cultured. "The Han and Tang dynasties were the golden ages of our descendants of Yan and Huang."

"So these are bell-bottoms from the Han and Tang dynasties? Bell-bottoms of the descendants of Yan and Huang? Or aren't they bell-bottoms of the Japanese devils?"

The woman smiled and said, "Yes."

The two young men were overjoyed. They immediately changed into bell-bottoms, and after confirming that the size was correct, they happily went out.

Soon, the faint voices of two people could be heard outside again: "Yes, the People's Garment Factory on Taishan Road is just ahead."

"We have bell-bottoms! Look at what we're wearing, these are Han Tang brand bell-bottoms! Our own Chinese bell-bottoms!"

'Ta-da!' Another young couple came running excitedly.

The woman muttered, "What's with this 'Manhunt' movie? Why does everyone suddenly want to buy bell-bottoms after watching it?"

The young people immediately perked up upon hearing this, chattering excitedly as they began discussing "Manhunt":
"This movie is incredible. Let's not talk about the plot, because it's hard to explain in a few words. Just look at the living conditions of the Japanese soldiers in it—they're amazing!"

"Yes, any family can own a camera, even the gatekeeper has a TV..."

"The girls inside were all wearing necklaces, some of them were platinum necklaces, I've never seen platinum before..."

"They hold their parties in skyscrapers, sitting on sofas drinking imported liquor, some even with two women on their arms—ugh, how shameless!"

“This capitalism is truly corrupt and decadent…” The young man’s Adam’s apple trembled as he said this.

The woman shook her head repeatedly as she listened: "What are all these things? I can't look at them. I can't let the bourgeoisie corrupt my mind."

Zhang Jianjun finally returned at this moment.

He handed over the money and cloth coupons to the women, and each of them chose a pair of bell-bottoms to go out.

Some put them on immediately, while others couldn't bear to wear them, so they put them in plastic bags and hugged them tightly to their chests.

I'm terrified someone will steal it from me!
"Wear this to work tomorrow!" Li Jinbao announced.

"No way!" Li Xiaomei said seriously. "There's a lot of cotton lint in the workshop. Wouldn't it be a waste if such nice pants got covered in lint?"

"Besides, you all know what kind of person Liu Tiezhu is. Hey, whatever you do, don't wear anything other than work clothes in front of him, or he'll criticize us for wearing weird clothes..."

Others nodded.

Chen Xiuqin hugged her pants to her chest and subconsciously looked up at the late autumn night sky of Haibin City. For the first time, she felt that the stars looked different than before.

Just like the line Mayumi said to Du Qiu in the movie, it suddenly popped into her mind:

"Look, how blue the sky is."

They chatted and laughed as they walked briskly toward their dormitory, only to encounter two more groups of young people hurrying toward Taishan Road.

Seeing this, the group felt smug and kindly offered to point them in the right direction.

As they were about to return to their dormitory, they ran into their colleagues again. Several colleagues who had seen the movie were excitedly discussing the plot under the streetlights outside the factory.

When the group of people wearing bell-bottoms appeared, they were stunned and spontaneously gathered around Li Jinbao, Li Xiaomei, and the others' legs:

"Where did these bell-bottoms come from?"

"You...you've already put them on? The workmanship doesn't look like you altered them yourself."

"There's a store on Taishan Road that specializes in selling bell-bottoms? Is our No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill a sister company of theirs, and therefore cheaper?"

"Let's go, let's go buy bell-bottoms..."

"Let's go together, let's go together..."

The nights in the dormitory area of ​​the No. 6 State-owned Cotton Mill were far from peaceful!

(End of this chapter)