Siheyuan: A master brewer starts with a jar of bone-strengthening wine!

Chen Xueru smiled slightly: "My husband is so clever. He really angered me last time. People like him won't wake up until they suffer a bit!"

"Don't worry, their family of three has a ration; they won't starve. Want to live a comfortable life? Not a chance!"

"Okay!" Liu Dong nodded. "I'll do as you say. When he comes, I'll tell him you're in charge at home!"

The old ways of Beijing:

A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; she is no longer there.

Typically, the bride's family doesn't interfere in the son-in-law's affairs, regardless of whether he's rich or poor, alive or dead.

Conversely, if a daughter always brings her husband's things back to her parents' home, the neighbors will gossip about her behind her back.

The rules are set in stone; no one can break them.

Chen Xueru's move also had a sense of setting rules.

"Brother Liu Dong!" After lunch at the steel rolling mill, Xu Damao approached with a grin. "Did you know? A new department store just opened next to our factory. I heard they have a huge selection!"

"Have you been there?"

"Not yet," Liu Dong shook his head.

"Let's go for a walk!" Xu Damao urged. "It's almost Chinese New Year, so it's good to buy some New Year's goods while we're at it."

"Okay, I'm free anyway." Liu Dong got up and went out with him, heading straight for the three-story department store.

The first floor is full of agricultural and sideline products, as well as large items such as furniture and bicycles.

As soon as you enter, there are rows and rows of Phoenix brand bicycles, crowding the entrance and almost blocking it.

There, Liu Dong bumped into familiar faces—Liu Haizhong and Jia Dongxu.

"Hey! Liu Dong!" Jia Dongxu perked up as soon as he saw him. "You really ripped off! That bicycle you bought before, wasn't it 230 yuan? Guess how much it's worth now?"

Liu Dong didn't bother to respond.

Jia Dongxu continued, "One hundred and sixty! Now you can get a new car for just one hundred and sixty yuan!"

Liu Dong gave a soft "hmm".

That's right, since the cancellation of car purchase quotas, prices have indeed dropped significantly.

Why?

To put it bluntly, it's to cater to those who can get tickets, by offering them a cheaper price.

"Excuse me, sir," Liu Dong said as he walked to the counter, "Can I still use my old car purchase quota?"

This is a tricky question.

The salesperson shook his head: "They're invalid. The last batch of quotas expires on January 31st, and they'll be cleared after that. If you have a ticket but haven't bought a car, you'll lose out completely."

"Now we don't look at quotas, we need bicycle tickets."

"But the price is cheaper."

Liu Dong smiled.

Luckily, I acted early and managed to exchange my quota for a car.

If things had dragged on until now, losing everything wouldn't even begin to describe it.

"Thank you."

After asking the question, he walked away, showing he had no intention of buying anything.

Jia Dongxu was still excitedly shouting from the side, "See that? It's so much cheaper now! Did you get ripped off?"

Liu Dong replied casually, "Yeah, I lost a lot of money. Why don't you hurry up and buy one?"

Liu Haizhong sighed, "We don't have any tickets. 160 yuan is cheap, but we still need a ticket, and we're completely broke."

"Second Uncle, don't worry!" Jia Dongxu slapped his thigh. "Didn't they say at the last street meeting that niche ticket types aren't uniformly allocated by the state, but you can apply to the street office for them!"

"Let's go make a trip together and apply for two tickets. It'll be a piece of cake!"

Before he could finish speaking, a cold laugh came from the side:

"Young man, you're dreaming. There are no bicycle tickets on the streets, what are you going to apply for?"

The speaker was an old man in his fifties wearing a black hat, whose tone was disdainful.

Jia Dongxu protested, "How is that possible? How could the neighborhood committee not have any tickets?"

The noise grew louder and louder, even reaching the ears of the sales clerk.

The sales clerk chuckled and interjected, "Don't argue, the neighborhood really doesn't issue bicycle tickets."

"Huh?" Liu Haizhong, Xu Damao, and Jia Dongxu were all stunned.

Huh? No?

Just moments ago, Jia Dongxu was full of enthusiasm, but now he felt as if he had been doused with ice water, chilled to the bone.

"Well..." Liu Haizhong swallowed hard and cautiously asked the sales clerk, "Excuse me, where can I get this ticket?"

"After the new policy is implemented, there are only quotas for companies and factories," the salesperson answered clearly. "The prerequisite is that you have to be employed. If you don't have a job, don't even think about it."

Upon hearing this, Liu Haizhong and Jia Dongxu's eyes lit up again.

factory?

"Let's go! Uncle, let's hurry!" Jia Dongxu grabbed the man and started to run. "If we're any later, all the spots will be gone!"

"Ouch..." The two of them took off running and rushed out, heading straight for the factory.

Xu Damao gave a wry smile: "Brother, I also need to go back and ask my wife to see if there's any chance."

"Go ahead," Liu Dong waved his hand.

Xu Damao also left. Liu Dong wandered around but didn't buy anything, because like most people, he didn't have a bicycle ticket at all.

It was almost 1:30 when I got back to the office.

"Did you get it?" Liu Dong asked Xu Damao as soon as he entered the room.

Xu Damao hung his head, waving his hand dejectedly, "Don't even mention it! Director Yang said it's all nonsense, there's no such thing at all, our factory didn't even get a single bicycle ticket!"

"Oh..." Liu Dong smiled, showing no surprise at all.

Actually, he had expected it long ago.

Bicycle ticket?

The country struggles to even build a bicycle, like assembling parts; where would it get so many tickets to issue at will?

The bicycle itself isn't particularly advanced, but the problem is that China's foundation is too weak right now. Its industrial chain is broken in three places, and being stuck in any of them won't be a problem for just a day or two. But that's not the most critical issue.

Most importantly, those foreigners have long since united to tightly control all kinds of raw materials that China needs, especially natural rubber used to make tires, which simply cannot be imported.

Without rubber, the wheels won't even turn, so how can we talk about mass production?

Ordinary people who want to ride a bicycle have to pedal on their legs.

We were talking about that—

"Xiao Liu! Xiao Liu!" Factory Director Yang stormed into the propaganda department, shoving a piece of paper into Liu Dong's hand. "Get this broadcast over the loudspeaker right now! I'm going crazy from all this!"

"Remember, broadcast this message ten times today! Every half hour, it has to be done!"

"Okay, okay, okay." Liu Dong took the manuscript, glanced at it, and pursed his lips.

"Pfft pfft pfft..."

He coughed twice to clear his throat and immediately began to recite.

"Dear leaders and colleagues: Good afternoon, everyone. This is Liu Dong, the broadcaster from the Publicity Department of the Steel Rolling Mill. I will now be broadcasting an important announcement—"

"Recently, many colleagues have been flocking to inquire about bicycle tickets. The factory leadership held a special meeting to discuss this matter, and based on the actual situation, hereby provides the following unified response—"

"First, our factory does have a limited number of bicycle vouchers, but only two per month!"

"Secondly, these two tickets are specifically awarded to outstanding employees and excellent managers who demonstrate exceptional work performance and are hardworking and dedicated; not everyone can apply for them."

"One last reminder: stop asking questions. These two tickets will definitely go to the Outstanding Individual and Outstanding Manager of the Year. Don't even think about getting them for free!"