Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

The snow fell quite heavily last night, and a thick layer has accumulated in the yard, reaching above ankle height. It crunches when you step on it.

Xu Bei first cleared a passageway leading to the toilet and the main entrance, and then piled the snow together.

Just as he was working hard, the door was pushed open, and Xu Juan came out, wearing a hat and gloves.

The little girl instinctively shrank her neck from the cold, but her eyes shone with excitement. "Brother, the snow is really thick! We can build a snowman with it!"

"Then let's build it up." Xu Bei loved seeing his younger sister's childlike spirit and suggested with a smile, "Go back inside and find some buttons or something to use as eyes, I'll lay the foundation for the snowman first."

"Okay, then I'll ask Mom for a carrot for a nose, and find something else for a mouth." Xu Juan said excitedly, then turned and went back into the house.

Xu Bei watched his sister's figure disappear through the doorway, and soon he could faintly hear his mother's laughter as she busied herself making breakfast in the kitchen.

I guess it was the mother and daughter looking for something together.

Xu Bei smiled and shook his head, picked up a shovel and patted down the snow pile to make it more compact. Then he went to the side and gathered the loose snow together, trying to build a big snowman for his sister.

When Xu Juan came out with light steps, wearing a button, carrot and scarf, the snowman's body had already taken shape in the photos.

The brother and sister worked together to build a round snowball, and then rolled a smaller snowball for its head.

Xu Juan pressed black buttons onto the snowman's head to make eyes, then inserted carrots for a nose, and used the peel from the sweet and sour radish she made last night to create a mouth shape.

Finally, a bright red scarf was wrapped around the snowman's neck, circle after circle.

A chubby, adorable snowman appeared in the yard.

"Wow, bro, that looks great!"

Xu Bei also admired their work with satisfaction, and smiled in agreement, "It's really beautiful. It would look even better if you put a hat on the snowman."

Zhao Fengying, who came out of the house, chimed in, "Yeah, it's just that the two of you made the snowman's head too big, it can't even fit that woolen hat inside."

Xu Bei and Xu Juan looked at each other and smiled. "Then let's use something else. We can just cover it with a bucket."

The latter immediately responded positively, "My brother is right, then let's use the bucket as a hat."

Soon, a red bucket appeared on the snowman's head, making it look particularly festive and somewhat comical against the backdrop of the snowy landscape.

It made Zhao Fengying and Xu Juan laugh until tears streamed down their faces.

Xu Bei was also very happy, but unfortunately he didn't have a camera and couldn't immediately press the shutter to record such a wonderful moment.

Therefore, he planned to buy a camera at the department store when he went to the city later today to deliver the goods to Fan Baoli.

As for telling my family the truth, I definitely can't, so I can only make up lies.

After all, the money earned through legitimate means couldn't buy a camera, which was a luxury item in those days.

After breakfast, Xu Juan stayed home waiting for Zhou Qingwan to come and tutor her, while Xu Bei rode his bicycle with his mother to the shop first.

Because of the snowfall, the snow removal work on the roads was not as fast as it would be in later times, and the mother and son had to ride for a while and walk for a while, which took them longer than usual.

When they arrived, Xu Li and Zhu Wenliang, who had left home much earlier that day, were already at the shop, and the wooden shutters outside the windows had been removed.

Zhu Wenliang hadn't gone to work yet; he was tending the stove and heating the kang (a traditional heated bed), and the shop smelled strongly of burning firewood and pine resin.

Seeing that his job had been taken over, Xu Bei didn't linger in the shop. After giving a few instructions, he set off to take the little train.

With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, in addition to commuters, many people are going to the city to buy New Year's goods, making the Sengoku Railway train extremely crowded.

During the hour-long drive, Xu Bei felt like he hadn't had a moment's peace and quiet, and his head was starting to spin.

It wasn't until I got off the train and stood on the platform of the city's train station, breathing in the cold and fresh air, that my muddled mind cleared up considerably.

When discussing cooperation yesterday, Xu Bei learned about the place Fan Baoli had asked him to deliver goods to—a warehouse near the guesthouse.

Therefore, after leaving the train station, Xu Bei quickly found a safe place and released the sled to load the goods.

Since it was their first collaboration, and Ah Cheng and Ah Long had just seen how much he had given to Old Scar, they decided to send fifty wooden stools and ten folding tables as the first batch.

As Xu Bei pulled his sled along the road, he noticed that the snowfall in the city was less than that in the Beishan Forestry Bureau, and the main roads were being cleared much faster.

When he arrived at the warehouse, he found the metal door open, and Fan Baoli, dressed in bulky clothes, was directing some people to work.

As Xu Bei called out "Brother Fan," he also quickly glanced at the situation inside the warehouse.

Then they discovered that in addition to some wooden products such as tables, benches, and cutting boards, there was also a lot of wood that looked like scrap.

Fan Baoli smiled warmly and said, "Brother Xu, you've arrived very early."

"It's already past nine o'clock, not early anymore," Xu Bei said with a smile, then casually asked, "Brother Fan, what are all these pieces of wood you have?"

Fan Baoli looked in the direction he pointed, his smile unwavering, and said softly, "They're almost all semi-finished products. Brother Xu, to be honest, what's scrap and offcuts here is a treasure trove for us—used for making furniture, decorating..."

Xu Bei instantly understood the key point.

In the 1980s, timber was a state-allocated resource, and privately reselling logs was illegal and considered speculation.

Thus, there are both sound policies from above and countermeasures from below.

Some shrewd Southerners have a very sophisticated and discreet operating manual.

They avoid handling raw logs, only making handicrafts or scraps, in order to circumvent legal risks.

Xu Bei genuinely admired these trendsetters of the times, who always managed to make money ahead of many others. He sincerely gave them a thumbs up, "Brother Fan, brilliant, truly brilliant. We're just too inflexible; we can't make money beyond our comprehension."

Fan Baoli smiled and waved his hand modestly, saying, "Not at all, not at all. I mainly learned this from relatives in my family; otherwise, I wouldn't know how."

After the two chatted for a while, the wooden stool and folding table on Xu Bei's sled were also removed.

Fan Baoli immediately instructed his accounting staff to make the payment upon receipt of the goods, thus completing the first transaction very quickly.

After Xu Bei put away the money, he didn't linger and took his leave.

Fan Baoli even escorted him to the outside of the warehouse, and the two chatted and laughed for a few more minutes before waving goodbye.

With no initial investment and pure profit in hand, Xu Bei was naturally in a good mood.

Pulling the sled with light steps, he had just reached the vicinity of the road crossing when he unexpectedly encountered Old Scar, who had turned in on a bicycle.

Although the other person was dressed in thick clothes with a hat and scarf, the exposed eyes and the scar on their cheek made him recognize them at a glance.

Old Scar's eyes widened instantly, and he instinctively squeezed the handbrake to stop the bicycle, but almost fell on the snow.

He finally managed to land on his feet and regain his balance, then asked anxiously, "What are you doing here, kid?"