The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 294 A New Venue for New Year's Eve, Light Spreads an Invitation to Heroes

After submitting the necessary documents for the procedures, it was already the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

It’s time to celebrate the New Year.

Zhou Tiezhen took the carpenter and returned to Xiping Production Brigade by car.

When Qian Jin saw them off, he made it clear: "I will pick you up and bring you back to work no later than the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."

"I'm too busy before the New Year, and I also have to deal with matters related to going abroad, so I won't be preparing New Year's goods for our Xiping commune members for now. When I come to pick you up after the New Year, I will definitely bring you some good things!"

What he said was very true; he had indeed been too busy lately to go shopping at the mall.

So far, the largest thing he owns is a gold chest that is over a meter long, wide, and high. He has to buy rice, flour, and cooking oil in individual portions and carry them out one by one, which is very troublesome.

The Xiping Production Brigade has a large population, and he needs to prepare a lot of supplies. Under these circumstances, it would take him a lot of time and energy to prepare everything, so it's not feasible for the time being.

The carpenters thought he was just being polite, since Qian Jin had given them plenty of things.

Even the carpenters who came later were given a set of work clothes, a set of tools, and a sleeping bag.

In addition, wages are deducted from wages in the form of goods, and each person receives more goods than they need.

The train car was half full of rice, flour, and cured meat; they were extremely satisfied.

After seeing them off, Qian Jin continued working in his school office.

Busy purchasing supplies from the online store.

Another Chinese New Year has arrived.

He was exhausted from giving out benefits and rewards to the commando team again.

The team now has a large population and many welfare benefits.

Busy as ever, it's Lunar New Year's Eve.

This year, the entire Qian family gathered together, marking the first time in over ten years that the siblings had reunited for the Lunar New Year.

Qian Jin still has to keep busy.

Last year, the labor shock brigade gathered in the study room to celebrate the Spring Festival together, which made a lot of noise and attracted young people from the nearby streets.

Young people like to join in the fun.

So, as soon as December began this year, the members of the commando team applied to continue celebrating the New Year together.

Public opinion cannot be defied.

Qian Jin had no choice but to agree.

As the top leader of the labor shock brigade, he definitely had to attend the New Year's Eve gathering.

In addition, this year, not only will the young people of the Taishan Road Labor Commando Team celebrate the New Year together, but they will also invite their classmates and friends to celebrate the New Year, which is roughly estimated to be over a thousand people.

The study room simply cannot accommodate so many people.

Fortunately, Qian Jin now has a training school with plenty of classrooms, so young people can come as they please without worrying about crowds!
However, celebrating the New Year together should have the grandeur and style of a collective celebration. Qian Jin made a plan and then prepared to decorate several classrooms to enhance the festive atmosphere.

On the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, he almost always locked himself in the training school to purchase various supplies from the mall.

Fortunately.

Now he has plenty of money and is very wealthy, and the daily necessities in the mall are cheap, so he can buy whatever he wants.

The next day, Lunar New Year's Eve arrived.

Qian Jin got up very early; it was early morning, and the sky was still dark.

He put on his new navy blue cotton-padded jacket, tucked his hands into each other's sleeves, and went out.

The cold seeps into your bones.

Hey, but I'm not cold.

He walked along the Taishan Road, his footsteps crunching on the thin layer of ice.

The scattered, distant firecrackers broke the silence, and the wind carried the smell of gunpowder and the sweet aroma of steamed rice cakes wafting from the alley, permeating one's lungs.

Scattered red firecracker scraps were piled up in front of every household, all from children playing with and setting off firecrackers after the twelfth lunar month.

These days, most families don't have much food stored up, but they still need to prepare new clothes and a string of firecrackers for their children as the twelfth lunar month approaches.

You don't need anything fancy, just a plate of cheap red dates will do. The kids can easily go through a whole plate of that in December.

The firecracker paper was frozen and then trampled apart, leaving messy dark red dots on the remaining snow.

The streetlights cast a soft glow, and his breath quickly dissipated in the dim light. Looking up, the dark outline of the study room in the distance was slowly emerging from the hazy morning mist, and the white paint on the newly painted gray walls gleamed with a harsh light in the dim light.

Last night he held a meeting with the core members of the assault team. Before the team dispersed, he specifically instructed the most capable captain that they must bring their respective teams of quick-witted young men and women to the study room before six o'clock this morning.

"It's a big deal on New Year's Eve, so it's good to arrange things early so you can have peace of mind!" Qian Jin rubbed his face, which was numb from the cold, and muttered to himself before quickly putting his hands together.

While tidying up the training school, he also arranged for someone to tidy up the study rooms.

Once the training school is put into use, the study room will be converted into a restaurant.

1980 marked the beginning of the development of individual businesses and private enterprises in China.

Pushing open the two newly painted dark green doors, still smelling of damp paint, a warm breeze mixed with the dry scent of whitewash and fresh paint hit you.

In the empty room, Qiu Dayong had arrived even earlier than the money.

The sturdy-looking man had already lit the stove and was deftly binding the head of his newly bought large broom with thin wire. Several brooms were already poking around him.

Qian Jin nodded at him: "Hey, Captain Qiu, you're here early! You were busy all day at the Niangniang Temple Fair yesterday, why are you here so early?"

Qiu Dayong was already the captain of the Jiagang Transport Team, but not all the educated youth under his command were assigned to the transport team.

The main reason is that more educated youth have returned to the city in the past two years, and the educated youth who returned to the city later are classmates and friends of the group of people he used to work with.

Society simply couldn't provide enough work, and many educated youth were driven to the brink of exhaustion just to survive in the city.

So they tried every possible path, and many people, knowing that Qiu Dayong had connections, came to work for him through their friends and classmates.

Therefore, although the first batch of educated youth have all been assigned jobs, he now has another group of unemployed youth under his command.

Qian Jin also encouraged him to recruit people.

Because they would definitely need a lot of manpower in the 1980s.

In addition, he knew that all the people who came to find Qiu Dayong were formidable figures.

In his previous life, Qiu Dayong was involved in organized crime, and he relied on this group of educated youth who dared to take action and were capable of fighting to conquer the world.

Yesterday, Qiu Dayong continued to take unemployed newly arrived educated youth to the Niangniang Palace Temple Fair to watch bicycles and collect money, watching from morning till night.

Hearing Qian Jin's question, he looked up, a sincere smile spreading across his sun-darkened, ruddy face:

“Captain Qian, you’re here early too. I was really tired yesterday. After I got home, I had a couple of drinks with the brothers and then went to sleep. I went to bed early and got up early.”

“I know you’re lacking everything for running a school here. Just yesterday, when the temple fair was closing up, an old man gave me some broom grass at a cheap price.”

"Yes, I can make this myself. I'll tidy up a few for you. When you go to clean up the Kunlun Mountain Road area today, make sure to clean up all the nooks and crannies in the classrooms."

“Good!” Qian Jin nodded approvingly, not standing on ceremony with him.

Qiu Dayong continued working with his head down, casually remarking, "This study room looks much better now that it's been tidied up."

Qian Jin's gaze swept over the newly renovated classroom.

The cement floor is now smooth, and the potholes that used to be made by footsteps and table wear have been filled in firmly.

All the doors and windows were replaced with new ones, and the door panels and window frames were painted a fresh green.

The exterior walls of the classroom have been freshly plastered with whitewash, and this time it was done by a professional bricklayer who applied the plaster evenly and thickly.

The old warehouse, which was painstakingly built brick by brick by dozens of young men in the assault team, is now clean and tidy, like a newlywed bride.

Soon, Wang Dong arrived with his group.

Several young men carried buckets of paste in their hands, with rolls of red and gold paper tucked under their arms.

The others followed shortly after, all of them completely covered up.

The girls were all wearing red and green checkered scarves and small knitted hats, which covered most of their faces, leaving only their clear, excited eyes showing.

Men and women are matched, so work is not tiring.

Instantly, the chilly air was enlivened by the heat rising from the young people's bodies, their hushed laughter, and the sound of their footsteps.

With everyone present, the bicycle army set off.

After driving to Kunlun Mountain Road, the army turned into the training school.

The name of the Haibin Industrial and Agricultural Practical Technology Training School is already written on the sign at the entrance.

Qian Jin bought special paint from the mall.

These words can display different colors under different lighting conditions; like now, as the sun rises, they shine as if sprinkled with gold dust.

The dilapidated night school has now been transformed.

Some of the young people who were visiting for the first time exclaimed, "Wow, this is really impressive!"

Qian Jin stopped the car and called out, and the young people's eyes immediately focused on him.

Looking at the faces in front of him, red from the cold and eager to try, he raised his voice and said, "Comrades, let's proceed as we discussed last night."

"Wang Dong, take some men and turn the two large classrooms at the east end into a karaoke bar and dance hall. Set up our tape recorder and loudspeakers properly, so the songs don't fall silent."

"Old Xu, you take the men and clean up the biggest restaurant on the west side, make sure the hot pot stove is installed properly!"

"okay!"

"understand!"

The response was loud.

Qian Jin reached out to Xu Weidong: "Hey kid, don't just agree to my request. I've already put candy and snacks inside. Don't try to steal any."

Xu Weidong was displeased: "What do you take me for? Do you think I'm the kind of guy who can do this kind of work?"

"You need to show me more respect. I'm getting married next year."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dong asked sourly, "So, you, this wild boar, managed to ruin Teacher Su Ya's tender cabbage?"

Xu Weidong proudly raised his head, letting the morning sun shine on his face.

"Qiu Dayong, you and your brothers and sisters are responsible for fetching water and sweeping the yard. There will be a lot of people coming to your side in the evening, right? You need to lead the team to maintain order!" Qian Jin looked at Qiu Dayong.

Qiu Dayong nodded: "Don't worry, I've found a bunch of tough young men to run the place for you."

Qian Jin laughed: "You're an expert at this, so do a good job."

In his previous life, Qiu Dayong's Qingyong Alliance started by working as a bouncer and eventually became a powerful force in the business world, only to be shot in the process.

Qiu Dayong scratched his head.

I'm not an expert in this, so I need to do a good job.

However, he patted his chest and assured him, "Chief Qian, don't worry, I will definitely not mess up our important matter today!"

Qian Jin then assigned tasks to the team leaders, including Zhu Tao, Shi Zhentao, Zhao Bo, and Chen Xing.

Today we need to clean up four function rooms in total, and make sure this New Year's Eve party is organized perfectly.

His school was established for unemployed educated youth from the city and farmers from the suburbs. Many of the young people attending the gathering tonight are his students, and he needs to spread the reputation of his training school through these people.

This is very important.

The city leaders need to know that Qian Jin has done a great and practical thing, and they can't feel that he occupies such a large area of ​​Kunlunshan Road but does nothing.

Real estate development remains an absolute taboo, and leaders are unaware of the enormous potential this land holds.

Once they realize that if Qian Jin can't make the training school famous, the city government will definitely find a way to take the school back.

So Qian Jin is under a lot of pressure.

In addition, he also planned to use the young employees from various factories and units who were attending the gathering tonight to spread the word that the school needed teachers with professional skills.

No matter how well a school is built, the most important people are always the teachers.

Unfortunately, he currently lacks the resources to hire professional teachers.

As soon as the task was assigned, the crowd dispersed with a "whoosh" as if ripples were formed on the surface of water after a stone was thrown in.

Each of them headed towards their respective battlefields with a goal in mind, their movements swift and efficient, carrying a silent rhythm honed by long-term collaborative labor.

The classroom was almost instantly filled with the sounds of hurried footsteps, the rustling of wooden tables and chairs being carefully dragged, the rustling of papers being spread out, and the lively discussions and debates of the young men and women.

The commotion was the biggest on Wang Dong's end.

In the empty classroom, which was being prepared as a dance floor, the desks had been quickly moved to the wall, clearing a smooth cement floor in the center. Several young men were standing on the wobbly desks, heads tilted back, meticulously stretching and smoothing rolls of red paper along the roof beams, shouting as they did so:

"Hey you, the glue bucket! Pass it to me!"

"A little to the left! A little more to the left!"

"Hang these up, Chief Qian said they're decorative lights, they'll be really beautiful when they're powered on at night..."

In the corner of the room, a tall, thin young man was carefully unfurling a brand-new dark red velvet curtain:

The 1980 Haibin City Youth New Year's Gathering.

He carefully nailed thumbtacks to the wall to cover the ash stains, taking a few steps back and squinting to check after each nail, for fear of any slight misalignment.

Shi Zhentao led his men to move the commando team's precious equipment.

Qian Jin sold the tape recorder and stereo to the commando team, which is one of the reasons why he has money in his account.

For example, Qian Jin didn't pay for this party himself.

As a mere director of a foreign business office, he didn't have enough money to organize a large gathering that could accommodate hundreds or thousands of people.

So he held a meeting in advance to discuss the procurement of supplies, purchasing them from the online store and receiving the money from the commando team's account.

The tape recorder was placed on the newly erected empty desk, its connecting wires coiled like black vines, while the loudspeaker was placed high up.

Xizi, who was in charge of managing the electronic equipment, kept pressing the buttons on the tape recorder. The intermittent electronic music or the female singer's melodious singing would bounce off the wall and back, making the hands of the people around her work a little lighter, and some even hummed along.

The restaurant area is the most lively and bustling.

Xu Weidong directed several young people to assemble the desks one by one, eventually forming a huge square tabletop in the center.

The mobile canteen staff were here; they brought over several heavy aluminum pots and started cooking them on a makeshift stove in the corner.

There is a stove for boiling water, which is then used to make milk tea.

Milk tea tastes absolutely amazing.

After being steeped in hot water, a sweet aroma immediately fills the air.

The rich, sweet aroma was incredibly pungent, relentlessly penetrating the nostrils of everyone in the classroom, making them distracted and restless.

The other large pots contained pork and beef bones boiled all over the city; this was the bone broth we'd use for hot pot tonight.

Steam rose and popped, lifting the lid of the pot. Next to it, there were piles of beef and mutton rolls, stacked like small mountains.

After entering the house, Qian Jin glanced around and said to Xu Weidong, "There are stoves all inside, so it will heat up quickly. Hurry up and take the beef and mutton rolls out to freeze them first, otherwise they will collapse inside."

"What do you mean by 'collapsed'?" Xu Weidong was taken aback.

He had never seen so many beef and mutton rolls before; hot pot wasn't popular in Haibin City these days.

The few times the commando members had hot pot were when they ate with Qian Jin. Back then, the beef and mutton rolls were snatched up as soon as they were served, and they wouldn't collapse due to the high temperature.

Qian Jin gave him a brief explanation and told him to move the meat rolls away: "Move them to a shady spot, then tear off all the packaging and put them together."

These beef and mutton rolls are all imported goods from the mall, packaged in transparent plastic bags with no production information on them.

The production information was on the cardboard boxes, which Qian Jin had collected, so now the young people could be safely assigned to unpack them.

Several of the most clever girls were also in charge of unpacking the candy bags.

They carefully unwrapped the various colorful wrappers and poured out the candies.

These are all good candies.

There are White Rabbit milk candies in cardboard boxes made in Shanghai, fruit gummies wrapped in colorful cellophane, and even rarer "foreign candies" with foreign language printed on their cardboard packaging.

Candies, along with plates of plump sunflower seeds, peanuts in their shells, spiced peanuts, peanuts fried with chili peppers, and other dried fruits they had never seen before, were all laid out on the long table that had been pieced together.

The young men carefully placed the hot pot stoves one by one in the center of the square table.

The furnace has a round, brass body with a slender iron chimney.

Some people opened the stove lid to check the coiled iron wire inside, while others went outside to get the dried charcoal hanging under the eaves, in preparation for cooking hot pot later.

When Qiu Dayong came in and saw it, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Chief Qian, how much did it cost to organize this party? You've prepared so many nice things, it must have cost a lot of money."

Qian Jin laughed and said, "It is a lot of money, but I didn't spend it; the labor shock brigade paid for it."

"Besides, this money has to be spent. I have to treat the educated youth and young workers in our city to a good time."

Qiu Dayong couldn't understand and shook his head, saying, "What's the point of this?"

Qian Jin really did have ulterior motives.

For fame.

Also, they wanted to build connections among the young employees...

Qian Jin didn't explain in detail to him, and went to check out a chess and card room, which was a special leisure room he had prepared.

In the card room, several school desks were put together in pairs to form a relatively large card table. Dust was swept away, and some of them were covered with large sheets of old calendar paper that had been found from somewhere, printed with tiger and landscape paintings.

Shi Zhentao brought out two old-fashioned three-band radios and placed them next to the table for backup: "You need a certain atmosphere when playing cards, wouldn't it be nice to tune into the radio?"

The screening room will be the most popular place then.

Qian Jin moved two television sets over.

One machine from the Liu Family Production Team in Hongxing.

One unit in Xiping Production Brigade.

They can use it tonight.

He originally intended to pack up the screen and movie projector, but then he thought that wouldn't work.

Once a movie is shown, everyone will gather together to watch it, and the places where people play cards, dance, or sing will all be deserted.

Therefore, a television is more suitable.

These days, there's no Spring Festival Gala, and there aren't many good programs on TV. It might be a good way for some young people who are tired of playing to pass the time, but it won't attract everyone.

The voices rose and fell, the rhythm was fast but not chaotic.

The sound of brushes applying warm paste to red paper is the main melody, while the sound of moving table and chair legs and scraping the cement floor is the heavy bass.

The girls' scissors moved swiftly across the red paper, making "shh" and soft "snap" sounds.

Then, butterflies, bunches of peonies, and chubby babies holding carp—these simple and lively silhouettes quickly appeared on the red paper and were then pasted onto the windows by skillful hands. Bright red light shone through, giving the cold classroom its first layer of warm and cozy New Year's atmosphere.

Qian Jin constantly inspected the various battlefields.

He lingered the longest at the makeshift restaurant, arranging the New Year's Eve feast:

"...Make a big pot of radish ball soup first, so it's warm and everyone can have some when they arrive. Hot pot is the main dish, so we'll put lamb rolls, vermicelli, cabbage, and potato slices next to the hot pot so everyone can eat them as they please, while they're still hot."

After making the arrangements, his gaze swept across the classroom, passing the corner piled with raw meat, the neatly arranged hot pot stove, and the bundles of dry firewood and charcoal stacked beside it, then he frowned slightly:
"Move the wood and charcoal away from the hot pot and stove. There's plenty of space, so don't gather things together. Safety comes first."

"Yes, yes, move it right away!" Xu Weidong and the young men immediately started moving it.

Qiu Dayong came in carrying a tin bucket.

Seeing large barrels of liquor in plastic buckets in the room, he shook his head and waved to Qian Jin: "Chief Qian, I think there's something I have to say."

“I heard from the brothers that a lot of people will be coming over tonight, especially young men. It will be hard to manage when there are so many.”

"I'm thinking, we can't put this liquor on the table. If there are too many people, after a few sips, they might get impulsive and start yelling and shoving each other, and the whole scene would be ruined!"

"Everyone wants to have fun and create a lively atmosphere, so we can't let things fall into chaos. Therefore, you need to think about this matter more carefully..."

His large eyes swept over the young men playing outside, and he nodded: "Look, these are just a bunch of energetic teenagers with nowhere to release their energy."

Upon hearing this, Xu Weidong's face showed a troubled expression: "Dayong, what you said is right, but it's the New Year, the eve of the Lunar New Year. If we can't enjoy a hearty sip of vinegar on New Year's Eve, is that really the New Year? And what's the point of eating dumplings if they don't have vinegar?"

The men who were helping him carry firewood all looked a little embarrassed, and one of them muttered under his breath:
"If we don't drink alcohol, what should we drink? Plain water? The New Year should have a festive atmosphere; drinking plain water is so boring..."

A sense of resentment and frustration, with nowhere to vent it, filled the classroom.

"Brother Dayong made a good point." Qian Jin nodded after a moment of silence. He had been thoroughly plied with alcohol last year.

So much so that when Wei Qinghuan learned that he was going to organize a New Year's Eve dinner event this year, she specifically told him not to get drunk.

Because Qian Jin had to go home for the second round of the New Year, the entire Qian family celebrated the New Year together.

“This wine is a double-edged sword,” Qian Jin said. “Gathering is what we young people need, but losing control is not the goal.”

Xu Weidong gave a wry smile: "But we can't really expect everyone to be drinking plain water from thermos flasks, can we? The atmosphere would be so dull just thinking about it."

Qian Jin pondered for a moment and said, "We must drink, for good luck and to mark the occasion, but we can't drink to our hearts' content."

He paused for a moment, glancing around at the stares coming his way: "How about this? We'll make 'beer tickets.' Whoever comes in, we'll give them a little slip of paper as soon as they walk in. They can redeem a beer with the ticket, but each person can only get one bottle!"

"One bottle?"

"Just one bottle?!"

Some people were surprised and doubtful, their voices revealing a hint of disbelief.

Qian Jin gestured with his hands to reinforce his logic: "Yes, just one bottle, one big green stick for each person, to make it feel like New Year's. Taking a couple of sips is enough."

"Actually, it's not a small amount," Qiu Dayong said, speaking up for him. "One big green bottle weighs a pound and a half."

Qian Jin said, "Yes, one and a half jin is enough for one bottle, which is usually not enough to get drunk."

"If anyone wants to drink more after finishing their drink, then that's it. Go home and drink there. You'll only get one bottle of wine at most while you're here."

"But if everyone has such a big green bottle in their hand, doesn't that bring out the festive spirit? Raising a glass and taking a picture isn't embarrassing at all. As far as I know, that's how parties are held abroad, one bottle of wine per person, and they drink for a whole night."

The brilliance of this method lies in the fact that it's like a slipknot.

It leaves an opening for the festive season while precisely controlling the surging enthusiasm within the measure of a single bottle.

They looked at each other; their earlier frustration had vanished, replaced by a sense of eagerness.

One bottle of beer per person is really not much.

However, if foreigners do this, there must be something to it.

Qian Jin turned to Qiu Dayong: "Brother Dayong, you'll have to work hard. Keep an eye on the corner where the wine is kept. You can only get the wine after you collect the tickets. One bottle per person, no doubt about it."

"Okay, Captain Qian, don't worry! I'll keep an eye on things and make sure not even a fly gets a drop more than necessary!"

Xu Weidong laughed: "Where would there be flies in this weather?"

Qiu Dayong laughed, then asked Qian Jin, "Chief Qian, everything else is easy to arrange, we've prepared food and drinks, and we've also prepared places to play, but the lack of electricity is a problem, isn't it?"

The training school has no water or electricity.

This is a problem that Qian Jin plans to address after the New Year.

However, water and electricity are easy to arrange.

He bought a small generator at the mall. It was diesel-powered, had a voltage of 220V, and a power output of 3300 watts.

It doesn't have much power, but it's enough to power several televisions and light bulbs.

For this era, the generator he bought had a rather futuristic design, so he didn't intend to expose it. He smiled vaguely and said, "Don't worry, I've prepared a generator, so there will definitely be electricity."

Sun Liang, a young man under Shi Zhentao, was taken aback: "Huh? Chief Qian, the school is all cleaned up so well, but the power system isn't done yet?"

Qian Jin explained, "Yes, the old circuit was no longer working, so I had someone remove it. I plan to talk to the power company after the New Year and ask them to re-lay the circuit."

Sun Liang nodded thoughtfully: "I see. Perhaps I can earn some merit for our assault team."

Lunchtime is for everyone to go home and eat steamed buns, or those who don't want to go home can cook noodles at the restaurant.

The noodles in the piping hot beef bone broth didn't have much meat, but they were very fragrant.

Qian Jin naturally wanted to go home to eat steamed buns.

He has to attend a gathering at the training school in the evening, so he will have to spend more time at home during the afternoon.

He stayed at home until 2:30 p.m., and then, taking advantage of the still-hot sun, rode his motorcycle to Kunlun Mountain Road.

This time when he came back, he brought a satchel containing a large stack of papers that he had printed out with a printing press.

Training school teacher recruitment flyer!
His purpose in organizing this large-scale gathering of young workers at the training school was to get the workers to spread the leaflets.

Send out invitations to many heroes!
As soon as he parked his car at the school gate, he saw Sun Liang excitedly shouting at him, "Chief Qian, you're here? Happy New Year! I've come to wish you a Happy New Year, and my New Year's gift is electricity!"

"Yes, Chief Qian, it's working! It's working! The power's on!" Another young assault team member, covered in dust and with grime on his face, came running over like a whirlwind.

More people followed, all smiles and nodding.

Organizing a New Year's Eve party for the commando team this year has yielded unexpected results!

(End of this chapter)