The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 93 The Future Eldest Brother is Down on His Luck (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Hu Shunzi brought back a lot of seaweed.

The workers ate half of it and there were still about ten pounds left.

The foreman of the loading and unloading team with the big beard was named Zeng Zongjian.

He ate to his heart's content and then called over a few of his trusted confidants to join him for a meal:

"Exchange this for it!"

The stevedores brought in a roll of discarded waterproof tarpaulin.

Qian Jin laughed when he saw it: "What's the use of this thing?"

Zeng Zongjian glared at him: "Hey, comrade, don't say that. They are very useful."

"Ask your foreman Hu. This thing can be used to exchange for fishing nets with fishermen or as a patch to mend work clothes. It's very sturdy and durable, and you can even use it to sew."

"Seven or eight years ago, if you used this as a patch to mend your cuffs and then embroidered 'Sailing the Seas' on it, that would have been the trendiest workwear! It's still fashionable even now!"

He pulled open his shirt to reveal the lining, and sure enough, there were canvas patches on the clothes.

Money doesn't need a patch.

But he tried the waterproof canvas and found it to be of decent quality; a tailor could make him a denim outfit.

Alternatively, they could be given to Liu Wangcai; they are indeed good materials for patching things up.

A large roll of waterproof canvas was used to replace the remaining red broth seaweed.

Despite the lack of meat, both groups of workers ate until their bellies were round and they were sweating profusely.

Looking at their effusive praise.

The assault team gained confidence.

As they prepared to leave with their cart, the workers chased after them, asking, "Where is your restaurant?"

Hu Shunzi was a little puzzled: "But aren't you a labor shock brigade? How come you're running a restaurant?"

Zhu Tao retorted, "We're a security task force!"

The workers immediately changed their contemptuous attitude.

It's still a violent organization.

Wei Xiongtu spoke up for them:

“When we arrested smugglers before, Comrade Qian was the one who led the arrests. Actually, I was mainly responsible for keeping watch that day. It was they who went into the water to make the arrests.”

The workers were immediately filled with respect.

Since the market feedback has been very positive, Wei Xiangmi has been working diligently to apply for registration as a small collective enterprise.

Qian Jin began making preparations.

Preparations in name only.

Although he explained to the team members that the base ingredients were provided by Guan Dabao, this stuff is consumed in large quantities, and it can't be provided by Guan Dabao every time, right?
Guan Dabao should change his name to Guan Restaurant.

So he had to prepare some seasonings himself, and then he said that Guan Dabao provided the recipe and some key ingredients.

It just so happened that the port had the largest condiment store in the southern part of the city, so he brought Wei Xiongtu with him to buy condiments after get off work.

The storefront is quite large, resembling a supply and marketing cooperative, with "Developing the Economy" on the left and "Ensuring Supply" on the right.

Some people are queuing, and some are exchanging tickets.

A middle-aged man in a cadre uniform with four pockets was bargaining with an old woman wearing a headscarf: "Auntie, how about I exchange three catties of meat coupons for one catty of sesame oil coupons?"

The old lady waved her white headscarf like a rattle: "That won't do. How much pickled vegetables can one pound of sesame oil mix? All the pickled vegetables we make in winter depend on it—half a pound, at most half a pound!"

Some people were even more brazen, openly asking while carrying aluminum lunchboxes: "Want to exchange tickets? Condiment tickets and oil tickets can be exchanged for grain tickets and meat tickets..."

Qian Jin inquired and found out that soy sauce coupons and grain coupons were exchanged for two each.

He then shook his head.

This is a scam.

In the black market of Jiutiao Lane, one jin of soy sauce coupon could be exchanged for five jin of grain coupons.

Several large vats were displayed in the store. Despite the cold weather, flies were still crawling on the yellowish-brown vats, indicating that the hygiene conditions were very poor.

In addition to large earthenware jars, the shop also sells small utensils such as porcelain jars and earthenware pots.

A saleswoman with makeup on tapped a glass jar with a feather duster, the star anise and peppercorns trembling as the duster rose and fell.

But the flies weren't bothered; the saleswoman would clean the area thoroughly, ignoring the dirty spots where flies congregated.

Qian Jin's gaze swept over the greasy soy sauce vat, then turned helplessly toward the sweet bean sauce.

The customer in front of him wanted to buy sweet bean sauce, but when the salesperson scooped it up, several maggots were swimming in it...

The salesperson picked it out with chopsticks without changing her expression.

The customer complained, "Hey comrade, you need to pay attention to hygiene! Look what you've done to this perfectly good sauce!"

The salesperson said impatiently, "If we kill eight hundred flies a day, what are we supposed to do?"

The customer complained: "It's so cold, where are all these flies coming from? Or you could hang up a curtain..."

The sales clerk said unhappily, "Eight hundred people come and go every day, what's the use of a curtain?"

The two began to clash.

The elderly man in the back cheerfully stepped in to mediate and smooth things over.
"As the old saying goes, the lice on a person's body and the maggots in their saliva are things that are naturally born. They are all naturally born with these things, and there's nothing the shopkeepers can do about it."

"Besides, maggots aren't bad people. Back in the old days, there were always seven or eight floating in the soybean paste vats at the mill."

"Do you want it or not?" The sales clerk rudely bypassed the customer. "Hey, sir in the back, what do you want? I'll buy it for you first."

Qian Jin was speechless.

What an imposing official air!

And that’s nothing.

Qian Jin turned back to buy soy sauce, and a female sales clerk with a red hair tie shouted from behind the counter: "Supply by ration coupon! Those without coupons, stand aside!"

A strong young man in overalls was blocked in front of the counter, the burly burn scar on his neck resembling a grotesque centipede.

The young man's hands, gripping an empty soy sauce bottle, were bulging with veins, and the bottle bore the faint words "Baotu Spring Beer."

"Brother Dayong, is it absolutely necessary to use lard?" the young worker next to him asked in a low voice.

Brother Dayong said with a stern face, "Badger oil is the best, but we definitely can't get that. Lard will do."

Wei Xiongtu said in a low voice, "It's Qiu Dayong from the educated youth porter team."

"I heard that yesterday, when they were rushing to transport coke, someone accidentally bumped into a barrel of asphalt and suffered severe burns to his back."

Qiu Dayong?
Qiu Dayong!
Qian Jin silently recited the name in his mind and checked it against the information in the "Haibin Public Security Records".

This man, like himself, was a sent-down youth who, after returning to the city, founded the most notorious gang in Haibin City during the 1980s and 90s...

As Qian Jin reminisced, he gazed at Qiu Dayong's broad back in front of him.

Unexpectedly, when this future boss first returned to the city, he was working as a porter in Jiagang, just like himself.

At that moment, the glass counter suddenly trembled.

The saleswoman with the red ribbon slammed her ticket book down loudly: "What good is a burn certificate issued by the factory doctor?!"

"I've made it perfectly clear to you: supplies are provided by ration coupons, as stipulated by the state!"

Watching two tough guys cower and meekly obey as a woman scolds them.

Qian Jin was very unhappy.

He waved and said, "Hey, Comrade Qiu Dayong? Come here."

Qiu Dayong picked up the ticket book and asked, "Comrade, do we know each other?"

Qian Jin said, "They're all poor porters. Did any of your companions get burned? What good is lard? You need burn ointment!"

"Give me your address, and I'll have someone send you some ointment tonight. It'll work."

Qiu Dayong was overjoyed and quickly left his address and asked why he wanted help.

Qian Jin said that people don't understand the saying "giving roses leaves a lingering fragrance," so he said that workers and peasants are one family and the proletariat should help each other.

This is easy to understand.

Actually, Qian Jin gave away the ointment mainly to establish a good relationship.

They're all porters from Kapas, and we see each other all the time; you never know when we'll run into each other.

He had heard of the educated youth transport team before; it was the most valiant and cohesive team in Jiagang.

Like the members of the labor shock brigade, they were all educated youth who were not assigned jobs after returning to the city.

The subsidies for the labor shock brigades were too low. These people often had the heavy responsibility of supporting their families, so they came to the port and docks to do hard labor and earn a meager living.

Considering their difficult lives.

With the freight industry busy this year, the port's existing porters and stevedores could not meet the labor demand, so this team of unemployed porters was left behind.

Qiu Dayong gave Qian Jin a grateful smile.

He wiped the rust off his palms on his faded blue overalls before shaking hands: "There was a problem with boiler number 12 before I left work, so I went to help fix it. It got a bit dirty."

Qian Jin shook hands with him and said, "The proletariat doesn't care about outward cleanliness or filth, but only about the purity of thought!"

Qiu Dayong burst into laughter.

They left happily.

Finally, it was Qian Jin's turn to appear: "Comrade, I'd like to buy 5 jin of soy sauce."

He pushed the prepared plastic bucket onto the counter.

The saleswoman in the polyester Zhongshan suit didn't even lift her eyelids, and tapped the wooden sign that read "Limited Quantity with Ticket" with a feather duster:

"Each household receives two jin of bulk soy sauce per month, while units need a permit from the supply and marketing department to purchase it."

"Do you have the approval slip? These rules and regulations must be shown!"

Qian Jin shook his head: "No."

"You still want five pounds? You might as well just bring the whole store home with you." The saleswoman was quite sarcastic.

Qian Jin was dissatisfied and banged on the table, wanting to scold her.

Anyway, I'm a full-time employee, so even if I take this to the company, I won't be fired.

Broadly speaking, both the moving teams and the condiment shops were under the management of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.

Wei Xiongtu has gotten to know his temperament after working with him for a while.

Seeing his face darken, his eyes widen, and his hand raised, she immediately went up and dragged him away: "Two jin, we each want two jin, four jin in total!"

Just then, a three-wheeled vehicle with a "Supply Guarantee" sign was ridden over.

The young man sitting in the front of the truck jumped off decisively, pushed open the door, and shouted:

"Ten pounds of star anise, ten pounds of Sichuan peppercorns, ten pounds of chili powder, and also lard and soybean oil—are you ready?"

The saleswoman with the red ribbon smiled and said, "It's ready, Manager Ma. I'll go get it for you right away."

Bags of seasonings and canned oil were delivered, and the young man unloaded them onto the truck.

Upon noticing this, Wei Xiongtu stepped forward and asked, "Madam, do they have approval slips? I didn't see them showing any approval slips."

Red Rope said impatiently, "Of course they have the approval slip; this is for the higher-level unit to transfer the goods."

Wei Xiongtu asked seriously, "What about the approval slip?"

The young man returned to fetch soybean oil, and upon hearing this, he pulled up his trousers unhappily and said, "Is there the sea right in front of your house? Mind your own business!"

The person with the red ribbon chimed in, "You're really something, treating our colleagues from higher-ups like speculators?"

Wei Xiongtu remained serious: "Comrade, please show me the approval slip. You yourselves said it; it's a regulation."

This time it was Qian Jin's turn to go and take him away.

But the young man pulled up his pants again.

The pant leg was rolled up, revealing a fleeting blue anchor tattoo mark on the ankle.

Qian Jin felt the tattoo looked familiar; where had he seen it before?

At the same time, I felt that something was wrong:
The superiors of condiment shops are either supply and marketing cooperatives or commerce bureaus. No matter which unit it is, how could they possibly hire an employee with tattoos these days?!
With such a relaxed social atmosphere in the future, government agencies won't hire them!
He stared at the young man.

The young man glared at him: "What are you looking at? You want to see the approval slip too?"

Qian Jin suddenly remembered where he had seen this before!

Just last week, in order to help Wang Dong make a contribution, they went to the black market in Jiagang to conduct a sting operation. At that time, the trouser leg of a young robber was torn by the barbed wire, revealing this tattoo!
Same location, same thing!

Qian Jin immediately smiled.

He pulled a red armband with the insignia "Security Strike Force" from his pocket, put it on his arm, and said:

"Kid, the police station has been looking for you guys, and you just delivered yourself to their doorstep."

Upon hearing this, the once arrogant and domineering young man's eyes widened involuntarily, his expression instantly turning panicked as he turned and ran!
Actually, Qian Jin was bluffing him.

Although in this day and age, people with tattoos are generally not good people, and this young man's tattoos are the same as those of robbers.

However, it cannot be ruled out that he reformed and successfully landed a job in a government agency through family connections.

As a result, the young man was so frightened that he ran away!
Qian Jin knew something good was happening, so he ran after them.

Wei Xiongtu suddenly pushed him aside, and a scraper swept across and stabbed directly into Wei Xiongtu's ribs!
There were accomplices of the young man in the store!
Qian Jin took out the pepper spray he always carried with him from his bag and sprayed it on.

The young man holding the scraper was about to put it away with a fierce expression, preparing to attack him again, when pepper spray got into his eyes. He immediately screamed, covered his face, and curled up into a ball.

It looked like I'd been scalded in the face with boiling water.

Qian Jin didn't have time to chase after the tattooed youth or deal with the razor-wielding youth; he quickly went to help Wei Xiongtu up, shouting, "Uncle, smash it!"

Wei Xiongtu gripped his wrist and said earnestly, "My party dues, this year's party dues..."

"Don't be so sensible now, I'm taking you to the hospital right away!" Qian Jin hurriedly covered his ribs.

It doesn't feel sticky at all when you first touch it.

Since joining the security task force, he has fought in several tough battles and witnessed bloody scenes.

Wei Xiongtu's actions are not right!
He pulled open his clothes and took a look.

His work clothes were cut, and he had something like a bandage wrapped around his waist. This thing was very sturdy and stopped the scraper. He was perfectly fine!

Wei Xiongtu's pretty face turned deathly pale.

"He was terrified!" Qian Jin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Why are his intestines sticking out?"

Wei Xiongtu said fearfully, "No, no, it can't be that bad, can it? I didn't feel anything—could it be numbness?"

He reached out to touch it.

Each one is perfectly intact.

Qian Jin ignored him and ran out the door.

The young man jumped into the truck bed, while the young man riding the bicycle behind him pedaled hard.

They can't escape!
really.

A bicycle sped up like a whirlwind, then suddenly appeared at the side and kicked the burly man on the bicycle behind.

The young cyclist screamed in pain.

The tricycle overturned on the ground.

The young man in the truck bed tried to run away, but Zhang Aijun chased after him on his bicycle and ran him over mercilessly from behind!
Qian Jin returned to the chaotic shop with peace of mind; the young man with the scraper was still rolling around in pain, covering his face.

He pressed his knee against the young man's chest and asked, "Your eyes hurt, right? Let me stop the pain for you."

The young man screamed, "Thank you!"

Qian Jin stood up and smacked the young man in the crotch: "You're welcome!"

That bastard is a piece of trash.

If Wei Xiongtu hadn't reacted quickly and pushed him away, he would have been stabbed at least once!

If Wei Xiongtu hadn't been lucky enough to have a stiff bandage wrapped around his waist, he would definitely have been injured!

Zhang Aijun dragged a person into the condiment store like a dog, one hand on each side.

The sales clerk, dressed in a red ribbon, asked in a panic, "What's going on?"

Why did you suddenly start hitting someone?

"Comrades, please make way, we need to deal with this matter..."

The sales clerks treated Qian Jin much better after that, and the store manager smiled obsequiously at him: "Comrade, which unit are you from? What's going on?"

Qian Jin asked them, "I also want to ask you what happened!"

"Tell me, how did you end up colluding with criminals? Are you trying to embezzle state assets?!"

The sales clerks were so frightened that they shook their heads repeatedly.

The person in charge even invited Qian Jin into the office next door: "Comrade, come in with me first, let's talk things over."

This attitude is very wrong.

Qian Jin winked at Zhang Aijun, signaling that he was a good person.

He followed the person in charge into the office, wanting to see what tricks they were up to.

The person in charge went inside and immediately went to brew tea, providing extremely attentive service: "Comrade, first of all, I want to thank you for your act of bravery today..."

Qian Jin, being more cunning, also tried to trick him: "I didn't do a good deed today; I've been keeping an eye on this group of people recently, and some of them have already been arrested by my workplace!"

The person in charge looked frightened and offered him tea and cigarettes, repeatedly explaining that his store was also a victim.

Qian Jin held the enamel mug with the word "award" printed on it without saying a word, just watching the tea leaves tumble in the boiling water with a gloomy face.

The person in charge gritted his teeth, took out a small notebook, and handed it to him.

Qian Jin glanced at it quickly.

Collective Procurement Certificate!
There was a stamp on the corner of the certificate, which was specially approved by the city. He had only heard of it but never seen it.

Qian Jin accepted the procurement certificate without saying a word.

The person in charge breathed a sigh of relief: "This must have been a case of a bad person impersonating a staff member of a higher-level unit. Some of our employees are young and inexperienced and were deceived."

"Could you let me take charge of investigating this matter? I will definitely investigate it thoroughly and handle it seriously!"

Qian Jin sneered inwardly.

What young comrade being deceived? It's probably you, old codger, who's undermining socialism and colluding with vagrants to sell off state assets and people's property!

He looked up at the office and saw slogans on the wall such as "Be honest and serve the people, take risks without thinking of yourself" and "Be brave enough to cut off the tail of capitalism".

I don't know when it was pasted up, but the writing on the paper has been soaked in paste and is swollen, making it look lifeless.

Qian Jin then said, "I'll give you one night. I'll report this to my supervisor tomorrow, and then it won't be up to me how to handle it."

Since the incident has occurred, it must be reported. How to handle it is the responsibility of the security officer. Regardless of what happens afterward, he has no responsibility.

The person in charge repeatedly expressed their gratitude: "Okay, that's settled then."

One night is enough time to do it!

The two men were like snakes and rats in the house, engaging in petty and despicable acts, each taking what they wanted.

Once I stepped outside, I realized that the world was a huge makeshift operation, and things didn't always go as planned.

The conflict broke out just as they were leaving the house.

For some reason, the red ribbon and the small tattoo are at odds:

"You want them to arrest me and put me in jail? Zhang Guifang, you're really something, you really have a way with words. If it weren't for you, how could we have gotten those things out of the country!"

"Shut up! You're talking nonsense! You're slandering me! Security officers, don't believe him..."

"I'm making things up and slandering you? I have evidence, I have evidence!"

The little tattooed boy, who had been lying prone at Zhang Aijun's feet like a turtle, was now excitedly pacing around in circles.
"Comrades, take a good look! She has two wine vats in her shop. One is undiluted and sold to old drunkards, while the other is diluted and sold to easily fooled people!"

"If you can't tell the difference in the alcohol, try their soy sauce. Why does their soy sauce taste sour and astringent? Because it's mixed with rice water containing coloring!"

"Nonsense! If the old soy sauce vats were smashed before, the newly brewed soy sauce will be like this!" the person in charge shouted anxiously.

Qian Jin understood immediately.

The collusion with outsiders may indeed have nothing to do with the person in charge, otherwise Little Tattoo wouldn't have only targeted Zhang Guifang.

However, the matter of diluting liquor with water and soy sauce with rice water is inextricably linked to him.

Qian went inside to look at the sauce jars in the counter, which had the words "Joint Public-Private Enterprise - 1956" written on them.

It turns out this was fake.

When someone entered the counter, one of the sales clerks was about to lose her temper.

She became obedient as soon as she saw the red armband on Qian Jin's shoulder.

Now Qian Jin is increasingly understanding why his team members value the identity of the security task force so much.

Although he was just a temporary worker without a formal position or benefits, the status and deterrent power of the violent authorities were completely different from those of service units!
Just as people in later generations were wary of community defense team members, people today are also wary of security task force members.

Especially after Qian Jin arrested the vagrants who came to commit illegal activities, the sales clerks, who had something to hide, became even more wary of him.

Qian Jin said to the person in charge, "You should suspend business for now and clean this up quickly. The person must be sent to the police station tomorrow!"

The person in charge nodded repeatedly: "Understood, I understand. Don't worry, leader, we won't let a single bad guy get away with it!"

"By the way, what are you here to buy, boss? Xiaoxia, hurry up and buy it for him!"

Qian Jin said vaguely, "Let's serve the customers here first. We'll be at the back of the line."

The onlookers were extremely satisfied with his attitude and applauded him.

Another customer rushed to report to him: "Comrade, you must thoroughly investigate this store; there's something fishy going on."

"I can testify that last time I bought half a pound of sesame oil, I tasted it at home and found that it had at least two ounces of peanut oil mixed in!"

Qian Jin had no choice but to give the person in charge a cold look.

The person in charge personally greeted the customers and quickly took care of their needs.

Finally, there's Qian Jin.

This time, he didn't need any identification, and the store didn't stop him.

They gave Xiaoxia whatever she wanted to buy. Finally, after the customer left and the store closed, the manager gave Xiaoxia a final instruction:
"Give the leaders an extra pound of dried shrimp, an extra pound of dried shrimp, and five pounds of soybean paste!"

Qian Jin accepted the supplies but paid in cash and gave receipts according to the price.

That collective procurement certificate was extremely useful to him and could not be obtained through ordinary channels, so he kept it.

He doesn't take other goods for free because he has money and wouldn't want to take advantage of others and give them something to talk about.

Carrying large and small bags of store-specific canvas bags printed with "Safety in Production," Qian Jin happily went home.

He gave Wei Xiongtu a pound of dried shrimp: "Xiaoqing likes to make dumplings. It's getting cold and the chives will be available soon. I'll ask her to make some chive and dried shrimp dumplings for us!"

Wei Xiongtu sighed, "I don't want to."

Qian Jin frowned: "What's wrong? You saw it, this is what I bought, not what I embezzled!"

Wei Xiongtu stammered, "Of course you didn't embezzle anything. You still have a sense of justice, but why do you always seem to get involved in trouble?"

He only hoped that his sister would live a peaceful and safe life.

Because their family had already experienced too many ups and downs and turbulent times over the years!
He didn't crave wealth or status; he just wanted his family to live a peaceful and stable life together.

Qian Jincai didn't care.

What can he do?
It wasn't him who started the trouble today!

He took the seasonings home, making sure the team members could see them clearly, and then explained them to them:

“We can’t rely on my good brother for everything. The main seasonings aren’t rare things, so we can buy them ourselves!”

The team members nodded.

Qian Jin went home and bought burn ointment at the mall.

It was half-filled with a canning jar.

The address Qiu Dayong left was in an air-raid shelter, a place teeming with all sorts of people and quite dangerous at night, so Qian Jin asked Zhang Aijun to accompany him.
"Where's Dajun?!"

He didn't see the guy on his way back.

After searching around, the team found him in an alley behind the building: "He was repairing a tricycle."

Qian went over and took a look.

It was the same car that the vagrants were driving!

He was both amused and exasperated: "When did you get this car back?"

Zhang Aijun said nonchalantly, "When we left, I left my bicycle on this and rode it back."

"Didn't you want to sell kerosene stoves and aluminum pots? Pushing a cart won't work, riding this bike is both light and safe."

Qian Jin stared at him blankly.

What's this?

Is it a case of the wicked eating the wicked?

But Zhang Aijun's consideration was really comprehensive. These days, tricycles are a good thing. I don't know where the vagrants got them from.

It's most likely stolen.

Zhang Aijun repaired the broken spokes and crooked sheet metal of the tricycle, and then needed to find a painter to repaint it.

That means it won't be easy for law enforcement to find the car.

Qian Jin had no choice but to go to the mall and buy another box of strong anti-rust enamel paint.

The paint has a very good texture.

It can adhere strongly to metal, is wear-resistant and scratch-resistant, and even if someone scratches it off later, the original paint color of the three-wheeled vehicle will not be noticeable.

In addition, it uses rapid film-forming technology, so it can harden completely in two hours even in cold weather without sunlight.

The rusty tricycle has been transformed into a brand new blue car.

Seeing that there was still a lot of paint left, Zhang Aijun repainted the bicycle he had stolen from Wei Qinghuan and her gang of vagrants.

He was very satisfied with his craftsmanship, singing as he worked:

"When we have no food or clothing, the enemy provides them. When we have no guns or cannons, the enemy makes them for us..."

“We grew up here, and everything we have was earned through our own hard work. If anyone tries to take it back, we will fight them to the bitter end…”

Qian Jin called him to go find Qiu Dayong.

Many air-raid shelters in Haibin City have now been renovated, and the Taishan Road construction team participated in this project.

The air-raid shelter was damp, and slogans on the brick walls such as "Dig deep tunnels, store plenty of grain, and never seek hegemony" were corroded with honeycomb-like holes by nitrates.

Qiu Dayong was eating cornbread outside in the sunset. Oil droplets condensed on the aluminum lunchbox lid, and he would carefully dip the cornbread into the oil droplets from time to time, eating very carefully.

Qian Jin handed him the canned food jar, which made him jump for joy.

He smelled it and exclaimed, "It smells like medicine!"

Qian Jin said, "It's a burn ointment made with herbal remedies. Try it on your colleague and see how it works."

Qiu Dayong ran into the air-raid shelter, and soon came out again, saying happily, "Great! Your medicine is very effective. My buddy said it doesn't hurt as much after applying it."

This is not an exaggeration.

Burn ointments all have the ability to astringe the wound and relieve pain with a cooling effect.

He rubbed his hands together sheepishly and asked, "Comrade, how can I repay you?"

Qian Jin waved his hand: "The working class and people of the proletariat, what's with the talk of repaying? If we have any trouble at the port in the future, we can just look after each other."

Qiu Dayong nodded emphatically and made a promise: "From now on, your affairs in Jiagang are my affairs!"

Not far from the air-raid shelter was a company canteen, and the aroma of fried meat or fish wafted through the "No Reselling" sign on the glass window.

Qiu Dayong was a little embarrassed and asked uncertainly, "Brother Qian, you haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Qian Jin laughed and said, "We've already eaten. We can eat together again sometime."

"Your buddy got burned. Make sure he gets enough nutrition, otherwise his immune system might not be strong enough and he could catch a cold or fever, especially with the weather like this."

Using this as an excuse, he pulled a stack of tickets and certificates from his bag and handed them to Qiu Dayong:
"I'll borrow yours first, pay me back later. I'm borrowing from someone else too, haha."

He waved and led Zhang Aijun away.

Qiu Dayong held the hard ticket in his hand, biting his lip as he watched him leave.

They were complete strangers, with no family or kinship to me, yet they sent me all these useful things.

What a huge favor!

(End of this chapter)