1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 60 Everyone’s Attention
On the way home, Qiao Erhe brought out the medicinal wine as a powerful weapon, naturally to increase his standing in the eyes of the Su family.

Let's be frank, Qiao Erhe has truly taken a liking to this beautiful girl, Su Jinxiu.

During his several encounters with Su Jinxiu, Qiao Erhe had already realized that the Su family was no ordinary family. If he, a country man, wanted to marry Miss Su, he would have to demonstrate his worth. Otherwise, even if Su Jinxiu was interested in him, her parents would not agree to the marriage.

After all, Qiao Erhe had a daughter in his previous life, so he understood the mentality of a father-in-law choosing a son-in-law.

But with this miraculously effective medicinal wine, everything changed. As long as the Su family members were of sound mind, they would not look down on him because of his rural background.

In this way, as long as he can successfully win over Su Jinxiu and capture her heart, the marriage will be a sure thing.

After dropping Su Jinxiu off at home, Qiao Erhe whistled and walked happily toward the supply and marketing cooperative. He had long guessed that Su Jinxiu had a powerful background, but he never expected that her family's background would be with the Industry and Commerce Bureau.

This was quite a surprise for him!
At the beginning of the reform and opening up, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce had a great deal of power and a prominent position among many government agencies. During this period, the employees of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce were allowed to carry guns and could decide the fate of many enterprises.

No one in business dares to offend the Bureau of Industry and Commerce.

Qiao Erhe is definitely going to be a businessman in this life. With the Su family's connections, he can at least avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble, if not domineering. He doesn't ask the Su family to give him any special treatment. With his extraordinary abilities, all he needs is a fair and just platform, and he can thrive.

Soon, Qiao Erhe arrived at the city supply and marketing cooperative, spent 180 yuan and a bicycle ticket to buy a Forever brand bicycle, and then rode the brand-new bicycle toward Cenhe Commune.

An hour later, Qiao Erhe rode his bicycle back to Qiaojiawan.

It was already dinnertime, and there wasn't a soul in sight at the village's central square. All the other villagers were at home eating dinner, so Qiao Erhe rode his bicycle home without seeing anyone.

"Second brother, did you buy this bicycle?"

"Wow, this is a Forever brand bicycle, it's so beautiful!"

"Great! We have a bicycle now, and it's even a Forever brand bicycle."

"..."

Hearing the noise, the Qiao siblings came out of the house and were excited when they saw the Forever brand bicycle parked at the door.

In that era, the three major bicycle brands—Forever, Phoenix, and Feiyu—were equivalent to the modern-day BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi (BBA) for city dwellers, while for rural residents, Forever and Phoenix bicycles were like limited-edition luxury cars.

The main reason for such a big difference is that bicycle tickets are too rare for rural people. Even if you have the money, you can't buy one without a bicycle ticket.

Seeing his siblings' happy faces, Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "It's just a bicycle, what's the big deal? When the family makes a lot of money next year, I'll buy a motorcycle and show it to you. That's much better than a bicycle."

Qiao Sihai's eyes widened and he asked, "Second Brother, are you talking about the kind of motorcycles in the movies?"

Qiao Erhe nodded and said, "Yes, but it's not a three-wheeled motorcycle with a cargo bed, but a two-wheeled motorcycle. But it's too early to talk about that now. Let's wait until we make a lot of money."

Qiao Sanduo stroked the bicycle lovingly and said, "Second Brother, I've seen a lot of people wrap their bicycles with ribbons. It looks pretty and it protects the bicycles. Should we buy some ribbons and wrap our bicycles with them too?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Whatever, keep bothering me if you want!"

Qiao Sanduo said excitedly, "Okay, I promise to wrap the bicycle up nicely."

Seeing the brand-new bicycle in front of him, Qiao Dajiang was also very happy. He finally had a bicycle, and a Forever brand one at that! He could ride it to his girlfriend's house as a gift during the Spring Festival; it would make him look good!

Soon, the news that Qiao Erhe had bought a Forever brand bicycle spread throughout the entire Qiaojiawan area.

Then, everyone in the village rushed to Qiao Erhe's house to see what was going on. After all, it was a Forever brand bicycle, one of the most famous brand bicycles in the country. Anyone who owned one was the center of attention.

"Erhe, you're really something, you actually bought a Forever brand bicycle."

"Erhe, where did you get this bicycle ticket?"

"Erhe, how much does this Forever brand bicycle cost?"

"Erhe..."

As the villagers rushed over to see what was going on, they couldn't help but ask questions.

Upon hearing the villagers' questions, Qiao Sihai, who was standing to the side, eagerly answered.

When the villagers learned that the bicycle ticket was a gift from the beautiful city girl who had visited the Qiao family that day, they were all shocked and envious.

Even Aunt Qiao couldn't help but ask, "Erhe, was this bicycle ticket really given to you by that pretty girl who came today?"

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "She gave it to me."

Aunt Qiao asked in shock, "Erhe, what is your relationship with her? Why would she give you something so precious?"

Aunt Qiao couldn't help but say, "Yes, Erhe, this is a bicycle ticket! What's your relationship with this girl? Why would she give you something so precious?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "As Sihai just said, she is my friend, and I have given her gifts before. She gave me bicycle tickets, which is just a matter of reciprocity."

Seeing that the villagers were getting more and more gossipy and wanted to continue asking questions, Qiao Erhe changed the subject and said, "Alright, everyone, stop asking. Since everyone is here, I want to buy some chickens and ducks. I'll take as many as you have if anyone is willing to sell them."

These words stunned all the villagers present.

Someone immediately asked, "Erhe, you raise thousands of chickens, why do you need to buy more chickens and ducks?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "These are all egg-laying hens at my house. I want to buy some chickens and ducks to slaughter and eat."

The villagers suddenly realized that those who had extra chickens and ducks at home and wanted to sell them for money started to count them on the spot. One family would sell one, another would sell two, and soon Qiao Erhe bought 18 chickens and ducks and counted them for several tens of yuan.

There were 12 chickens and 6 ducks.

After the villagers had all left, Qiao Erhe said to his siblings, "Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, and our family will start making preserved meats. I've already bought the chicken, and fish and tofu are easy to find. It's just that we need a lot of different parts of the pig. Do you think it's better to just slaughter a whole pig to make them, or to buy them from the commune?"

Qiao Dajiang said, "It's best to save that big pig at home for slaughtering during the New Year. Anyway, Xiao Su brought a lot of meat coupons today, so let's just go to the commune to buy some!"

Qiao Erhe said, "Okay, I'll go to the commune first thing tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)