Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

The other person was not tall, wearing a slightly bulky red cotton coat and a white chunky knit scarf, revealing a slightly red nose and bright eyes.

Back in the 1980s, when blue, black, gray, and green were still the mainstream colors, this outfit was definitely very fashionable.

It stands out especially against the backdrop of a snow-covered landscape.

Xu Bei quickly recognized her as Song Guodong's sister, Song Guomei.

That is, the girl that Dahei mentioned was interested in him.

"I haven't been working lately. What are you doing here? Are you here to watch a movie?"

Song Guomei looked at Xu Bei with affection and smiled, "Yes. I made plans with my classmate from the cram school to see the next movie screening. She lives far away and we hadn't arrived yet when I saw someone riding by who looked like you. When I got closer, I realized it really was you... Brother Bei, you're here to see the movie too, right? Did you buy your ticket?"

When Xu Bei heard her mention her classmate in the repeat class, he roughly recalled that the other person had failed to get into university for several years and then took over the job of a worker at Song's mother's food factory.

"I haven't bought any yet. What movie will be shown next?"

"Wrangler!" Song Guomei exclaimed urgently, "Brother Xiao Bei, hurry up and buy tickets! They might not even be sold out yet, why didn't you come sooner!"

Xu Bei suddenly felt like a eunuch was more worried than the emperor, and immediately laughed, "It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. I have to pick up my sister from the train station later, so I won't be able to see the whole show. If you have a ticket, great; if not, forget it."

"How can we just let it go like that!"

Song Guomei got a little excited and her voice was a bit loud, then she blushed and quickly explained, "What I meant was... it would be such a shame to come all this way to the cinema and not see it."

Xu Bei wasn't a real twenty-year-old lad, so he could easily see what was going on. He smiled and said, "I understand what you mean. Since we're already here, I'll go check out the ticket booth first."

"Okay, Brother Xiao Bei."

Song Guomei watched Xu Bei's tall figure leave, feeling both happy and anxious.

Suddenly remembering something, she quickly took off her cotton gloves, pulled a small mirror from her coat pocket, and turned around to look at herself.

Xu Bei walked past the small groups of people standing in the cold wind and arrived at the ticket booth on the right side of the cinema entrance.

There's a small square window here selling tickets.

The window glass is always half-open, with the lower half inlaid with thick wooden panels.

There was also a small blackboard hanging on the wall next to it, with the recent movie schedule written in chalk, as well as the words "admission by ticket only" and "scalping is strictly prohibited".

Seeing that there were four or five people ahead of him in line wearing heavy cotton coats and hats, Xu Bei stood directly behind the last person.

Amidst the noise and the sound of people stomping their feet, a loud voice stood out.

"Comrade, are there any tickets left for the Wrangler?"

"Okay, two then!"

Xu Bei was indifferent to whether he could still buy a ticket, but he smiled when he heard that there were still tickets available.

When I subconsciously looked past the crowd at Song Guomei standing not far away, I noticed that there was a tall girl next to her, who was wrapped up very tightly.

Xu Bei guessed that this was the classmate from the cram school the other party had mentioned, so he didn't pay much attention and continued to queue up to buy tickets.

As the line moved forward, he could see clearly that a middle-aged woman wearing arm sleeves was sitting inside the fogged-up ticket window.

In front of her was a green tin money box, with stacks of banknotes and coins of five cents, two cents, one cent and five cents, two cents and one cent next to it.

Soon, it was Xu Bei's turn.

He called out through the glass, "Comrade, give me a picture of a Wrangler."

"Two cents."

The woman at the window took the money Xu Bei handed in, quickly tore off a receipt, wrote on it, and stamped it.

Xu Bei took the ticket that was handed to him and found that it was a red paper ticket that was only the length of a finger.

There were some black words printed on it.

The sign reads "Beishan Forestry Bureau People's Cinema," indicating seating arrangements, ticket prices, and that each film is invalid if shown twice.

The specific seat number was filled in manually, and the date and time were stamped in red on the back, still smelling of ink.

At this moment, Song Guomei walked over with her classmates.

She exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Xiao Bei, you got the tickets!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Bei looked up, waved the movie ticket, and smiled, "I got it."

As he spoke, he got a closer look at the girl who was half a head taller than Song Guomei, and a look of amazement flashed in his eyes.

She was wearing a dark cotton coat and a light gray woolen scarf, loosely wrapped around her neck, revealing half of her face, which was beautiful and refined without any makeup.

Xu Bei has seen many beautiful girls, but there are very few in real life who look so much like the actress who played the Queen of the Women's Kingdom in Journey to the West.

You could say they look seven or eight parts alike at first glance, and their temperaments are also very similar.

Especially her bright, expressive eyes, which were now looking at him with a hint of curiosity.

In an instant, Song Guomei, who was clearly quite pretty, appeared ordinary in comparison.

"This must be your classmate from the repeat year class..."

Song Guomei kept a close eye on Xu Bei.

Therefore, he noticed even the slightest expression on my face. Although I knew that I was not as good-looking as my classmates, I was still a little unhappy.

She quickly suppressed her displeasure and tried her best to introduce them in a generous manner, "Yes, Brother Xiao Bei, this is my classmate, Zhou Qingwan. Xiaowan, this is my brother's good friend, Xu Bei, whom I just told you about."

Xu Bei immediately greeted him politely and warmly.

Zhou Qingwan also said hello.

The clear and melodious voice sounded wonderful to Xu Bei, further increasing his opinion of the girl.

After the two greeted each other, there was a brief silence.

Xu Bei glanced at the movie ticket; there was still some time before the movie started, so he broke the silence.

"You guys keep chatting, I'm going to buy something."

Song Guomei snapped out of her daze and hurriedly asked, "Brother Xiao Bei, what are you going to buy?"

"Buy some food."

Xu Bei spoke as he strode away.

Song Guomei exclaimed in surprise, but her attempt to grab his sleeve failed, and she stomped her feet in frustration.

"That Xiao Bei guy, really. He didn't even let me finish speaking before..."

Her gaze fell on Zhou Qingwan's face, and she suddenly said in a hesitant voice, "Qingwan, actually... the person I told you about is him."

Zhou Qingwan revealed an expression of "I knew it," and covered her mouth with a smile, saying, "I guessed it."

Song Guomei patted her face a little embarrassedly with her gloved hand, "Was I that obvious?"

Zhou Qingwan smiled and nodded, "Yes. As long as your eyes are fine, you can tell. Look at how bright his eyes are."

Song Guomei hesitated for a moment before stammering, "Then...then do you think my brother Xiao Bei can find out too?"

Zhou Qingwan thought about it seriously for a moment, then said, "I don't know. I feel like there's something about your brother's friend that's hard to figure out."