Hard times: I worked as a truck driver in the county town

Jiang Cheng spent a total of forty-eight yuan on two net bags of apples and ten pounds of fatty meat.

Jiang Cheng now regrets not spending all the money he had. But that's understandable; after three years in the army, his allowance and discharge pay were only a little over a hundred yuan.

That hundred-plus yuan was a lot of money in those days. At that time, Jiang Cheng wasn't really thinking about reselling things, so he was reluctant to spend more than a month's salary.

Station Chief Chen gave him ten yuan, and Director Liu sold him fifteen jin of apples and three jin of fatty meat at three yuan per jin.

Jiang Cheng kept three catties of apples and five catties of fatty meat for himself, and sold the rest for sixty-four yuan. In other words, he not only kept a lot of things, but also made eighteen yuan.

After putting away all the money and belongings, Jiang Cheng began another day of waiting to go out on his shift. He drank boiled water, read the newspaper, and if he got too bored, he would go to the bus station or somewhere else for a ten-minute stroll before coming back.

In the afternoon, Jiang Cheng went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Director Liu introduced him to a saleswoman named Zhou Li. He could then contact Zhou Li directly if he needed to buy anything that was difficult to find.

After returning from the supply and marketing cooperative, Jiang Cheng was about to lie down on a chair for a while when Station Chief Chen called him back.

"Stationmaster, do we need to dispatch a vehicle?" Jiang Cheng asked from the doorway outside the office.

"The vehicle is scheduled to depart, but not today. It will depart tomorrow morning. Here is the dispatch order," Station Master Chen nodded and said.

Actually, situations like yesterday's dispatch are rare. Yesterday's dispatch was temporary and considered an emergency. Of course, there's only one car in the entire county right now, and emergencies will likely continue in the future.

"Not a delivery note? Go to the county government department to wait, what does this mean?" Jiang Cheng took the note and asked in confusion.

This county's trucking station mainly transports goods, and there's only one format for the documents. It includes the type of goods being loaded, the tonnage, quantity, the shipping company, the transport address, and some notes and comments.

Jiang Cheng's shipment form now only lists the local government department as the shipping company, and the "description" section states that it will arrive at 7:00 AM and be waiting.

"The county leaders are going to inspect the canteens in the communes below, so this is a temporary assignment. When they return tomorrow, estimate the distance by kilometer, fill it out, and have the person in charge there sign it," Station Chief Chen said with a smile.

Anyway, the dispatching authority for the trucking station rests with the local government in the county. We do whatever the higher-ups tell us to do, but we still have to pay for what's due. The station is in its initial stage, and this is its first year celebrating the Lunar New Year. The unit doesn't have its own funds, and we don't even have the money to use connections to give out extra welfare gifts for the New Year.

The entire transportation station relies on this one truck for its profits. Next year, we need to hire a station attendant and a loader; we can't keep waiting for government funding to pay salaries.

The situation at the trucking station is a bit awkward right now. Unless there are special circumstances, they still rely on oxcarts and horse-drawn carts to haul goods. Even when going to the city center, they only use trucks to deliver goods when the steel mill in the suburbs needs coke.

The steel plant in the suburbs of Changcheng City is not large, and the main supplier of coke is not this one in the county. They only send a truckload over when there is a shortage.

"Going to inspect the commune canteen, does that mean I can get a free meal tomorrow?" Jiang Cheng said with a smile after putting away the transport documents.

"It's not just one meal. When you go to the local department in the morning, they'll treat you to a meal there," Station Chief Chen said enviously.

Everyone's food rations were rationed. Grain wasn't expensive, but you couldn't buy it without food coupons. That's the good thing about being a driver. When you went out to deliver goods, as long as you could load or unload around mealtimes, the company would treat you to a meal.

"Then I'll drive home after get off work and head over directly tomorrow," Jiang Cheng said with a smile when he heard Station Master Chen say that.

"OK."

Station Master Chen responded that he knew Jiang Cheng's home was a bit far, but not too far. However, the transport station and the bus stop shared a parking area, and if it was too early in the morning, a metal gate had to be opened for cars to enter and exit.

Of course, the transport station also has the key to the iron gate, but that would be a bit of a hassle.

Hearing that Station Chief Chen had agreed, Jiang Cheng didn't say anything more. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, offered it to Chen, and then prepared to do a simple check and maintenance on the car.

Although it's a new car and I haven't driven it many times, I still checked it before each trip. This is a rule that should be followed when learning to drive, and it's also related to the high failure rate of cars these days.

Jiang Cheng inspected the car and then waited in the break room for his shift to end. Apples and fatty meat were already placed in the driver's seat.

At 5 p.m., Jiang Cheng, who had packed his things in advance, immediately drove home.

I parked the car on any road near my home, turned off the engine, closed the doors, and took my things home.

No sooner had Jiang Cheng left than several children who had been eyeing the vehicle ran over. They first played beside the car, and then climbed onto the carriage.

They climbed up, made a ruckus in the carriage for a while, and then jumped down. Then some kids started having a competition to see who could climb up the fastest and who could jump off the train.

Jiang Cheng returned home, only to find the house empty again. In the entire county, almost everyone with labor capacity can now find work. Work means money, money means a better life; in short, many places are now thriving.

Jiang Cheng didn't stay home for long before his father, Jiang Dahe, came home first. As a textile worker, he always left work on time. In fact, he'd start packing up to leave even before the scheduled time, and as soon as it was time, he'd leave the office and go straight home.

Other contract workers and temporary workers dare not pack their things in advance to wait for the end of the workday; they all obediently follow instructions.

"Chengzi, what time did you leave this morning? Fangzi and Juanzi were talking about not seeing you this morning. That car on the side of the road is from your workplace, right?"

Jiang Dahe saw Jiang Cheng sitting at the door and immediately asked him what was wrong. When he came back, he saw a Jiefang truck parked on the side of the road not far away. There was only one such truck in the entire county, belonging to the transportation station. Before he got home, he suspected that it was a car from his second son's workplace that had been driven over.

"Yeah, I went to work early this morning and made a trip. I brought back some good stuff this time," Jiang Cheng said in a boastful tone.

It's normal for young people to like showing off when they get something good.

"Oh, what did you make?" Jiang Dahe asked, his heart filled with surprise.

Jiang Cheng didn't directly answer what he had done, but instead led his father, Jiang Dahe, into the house. Then he saw some apples on the dining table, as well as fatty meat in a small bowl.

Everyone says being a driver is a lucrative job, but Jiang Dahe never expected it to be this lucrative. Yesterday, he helped the supply and marketing cooperative with a trip, got two packs of good cigarettes, and even got a free meal.

Today it's just fruit and fatty meat. This small bowl of meat is more than one person could eat in a year.

Although the weather is still quite cold, all this fatty meat needs to be processed first. Jiang Dahe could tell that the meat didn't seem very fresh, but as long as it wasn't rotten, it was considered good meat these days.

"We need to leave for local departments at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. We have to leave around six o'clock so we can have breakfast there. Then we'll take the county leaders to the commune to inspect the canteen," Jiang Cheng said to Jiang Dahe.

"The county leaders, it can't be the Party Secretary and the County Head, can it?" Jiang Dahe asked.

Jiang Dahe works at a soy sauce factory, which is under the jurisdiction of the Light Industry Bureau. When a minor official from the Light Industry Bureau comes to the factory for an inspection, the factory treats him with utmost courtesy and hospitality.

Jiang Cheng had only been working for a short time when he first got to know the deputy director of the supply and marketing cooperative. Now he was able to meet the top leaders in the county. The driver's high status was no joke.

Jiang Dahe felt that if he talked to the leaders of the soy sauce factory about his son's situation, they might treat him very politely.

Jiang Cheng didn't know who would be inspecting the commune's canteen tomorrow, but the only people in the county qualified to inspect it were members of the county committee, or at least the top five in the county.

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Dahe talked for a while about which leader might be coming to inspect the commune, and then they started talking about their own interests.

Going to the commune below, I'll definitely be having lunch with those leaders tomorrow at noon, and I'll be able to eat my fill.

"Dad, when the leaders go down to inspect, do the people down there give them gifts?" Jiang Cheng asked curiously.

"If I were from the commune, I would definitely send them something. Whenever the cadres from the Industry Bureau come to inspect our factory, we always send them some soy sauce," Jiang Dahe said.

"If they're giving me a ride, will they also give me, the driver, a ride?" Jiang Cheng asked cheerfully.

"I'll make arrangements for everyone who comes to my factory. If I give this person a gift but not that one, what if someone gets upset and reports me?" Jiang Dahe said with a smile.

These days, everyone is really short of all kinds of supplies. It's not that Jiang Cheng and Jiang Dahe are fussy about these things, but even just getting a little something can make things a little easier for the family.

Jiang Cheng nodded, agreeing with the logic. If you don't take it, and I don't take it, would the leaders dare to take it? Besides, the gifts are mostly just "ordinary" items.

Just as the father and son were discussing with great interest what benefits they could gain, Jiang Yong and his wife Zhou Hong returned with their child.

Jiang Dahe immediately told his eldest son, Jiang Yong, and daughter-in-law to go to the kitchen to render the fat from the pork. Five pounds of pork fat could yield three and a half to four pounds of lard and more than one pound of pork cracklings.

However, with so much fat, you can't render all of it into pork cracklings at once; it's impossible to eat more than a pound of pork cracklings all at once.

These pork cracklings are fragrant and crispy when they're fresh out of the pan; they lose their crispness and become less delicious if left out for too long.

So if you're making a lot of pork cracklings, just render them until they're half-dry at first. When you want to eat them later, just add a little oil and fry the half-dry cracklings briefly; they'll become crispy and fragrant.

Don't say things like, "I have a lot of pork cracklings, so I'll give some to my neighbors to try." There's no such thing as a close neighbor being better than a distant relative.

These days, it's fine for neighbors to help each other out with chores, but don't go around asking for food.

Let alone the neighbors, if Jiang Cheng moves out after he becomes an adult, he can come back here for a meal without being asked for money, but he'll have to give them food coupons. Everyone's food is rationed, and if he comes here for a meal without paying with food coupons, everyone else will have to eat less food.

Moreover, these days, when you invite someone to dinner, the person being invited has to pay with food coupons. You can afford to spend money, but you can't afford to spend coupons.

What's wrong with pork cracklings? Ordinary people needed meat coupons to buy fatty meat to render pork cracklings. These days, people would hide their good food at home and eat it themselves. When they were struggling to make ends meet and lacking in oil and fat, they couldn't be generous with their food.

Mother Wang Lan, and younger sisters Jiang Fang and Jiang Juan all returned around the same time. Jiang Yong had just started a fire, and Zhou Hong was preparing to render lard.

Normally, the cooking would be done by the daughter-in-law who had married into the family. But when it came to rendering lard from the fatty meat, Wang Lan was worried that Zhou Hong would render the meat too dry, so she told her to go into the kitchen and get out of there immediately.

The aroma of pork cracklings soon filled the air, and the smell made the neighborhood kids drool.

However, the day after tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve, and the day after that is Lunar New Year's Day. It's quite normal for some people to render lard at home during this period close to the New Year.

~~

I cooked sweet potato rice for dinner; it was rice, not porridge.

Because there's stir-fried radish slices with pork cracklings, it would be a shame not to eat some rice with this "meat" dish. Make sure you read that right, it's stir-fried, not boiled.

I usually boil dishes. When they're almost cooked, I add some salt and then drizzle a little oil on top.

Stir-frying was done by first heating the pan with lard. For people of that era, stir-frying with lard was delicious even without adding anything else, let alone with the addition of pork cracklings.

In addition, after the meal, an apple was cut into eight slices, and everyone had a taste. The apple was washed clean and not peeled; except for the seeds, nothing was wasted.

After having a meal and some fruit, Jiang Cheng took his family for a ride in the car. He started the car and drove it around a bit; it didn't use much fuel.

At least now that my sister-in-law Zhou Hong has ridden in a car, she can better brag about how amazing her brother-in-law is when she goes back to her parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year. She'll at least have ridden in a car before.

Zhou Hong's brother-in-law is a truck driver, and her family always boasts about this relationship. Even if she couldn't marry a truck driver, marrying his brother would still elevate her family's status among relatives.

This is just like tonight at dinner, when my parents brought up my younger sister Jiang Fang and Jiang Juan's future partners, saying that Jiang Cheng is their older brother, so they can't find partners who are too bad, or they'll lose face.

In addition, Jiang Cheng has started working and is now looking for a partner.

Knowing that Jiang Cheng would be driving back from the commune tomorrow, he decided to arrange a meeting with a matchmaker and drive to see a girl tomorrow.

Jiang Dahe and Wang Lan entrusted a matchmaker to help Jiang Cheng find a wife. With Jiang Cheng's qualifications, he could easily choose any woman he wanted to meet. However, finding a woman with good qualities was not so easy, so they had to rely on a matchmaker to find one.

Jiang Cheng doesn't really care about the woman's family background. Influenced by his family and the current social environment, he just wants to find someone who is pretty and good-looking, who can take care of him at home and have a few children for him.

In the local dialect of Changcheng, "zai" means child or kid. Young girls are called "nüzai," and men are called "nanzai." Of course, actual children are called "xi ning," meaning small; so "xi ning" means a relatively small person.

At night, after washing up, Jiang Cheng chatted with his two younger sisters in his room for a while before going to sleep.

Perhaps it was because entering the era sixty years in the future today was so shocking and profound for Jiang Cheng that he dreamed about it at night. That night, Jiang Cheng had a dream in which he also had that "chicken" thing, and he could buy things by simply scanning a QR code and pressing a few buttons to pay.

Jiang Cheng bought a lot of things, regardless of whether it was a good deal or not. Just as he was about to bring everything back to his own time, he discovered that he couldn't find his way back.

Then, Jiang Cheng heard the broadcast outside at exactly six o'clock, playing the song "The East Is Red." He woke up, got up at six to wash up, and drove to the local government office to grab breakfast.

(If you don't give me votes, and he doesn't give me tips, how can my new book achieve any results? Without results, I write slowly, and it's so late that I've only written a little over four thousand words, and I haven't even divided them into chapters yet. Originally, each chapter was supposed to be a little over two thousand words.)

Of course, I want to thank my two brothers, Dragon Beard Candy and What's Too Short and What's Too Long, for their monthly tickets today. (I haven't broken my virginity with donations yet, any kind soul willing to do it?)