Courtyard House: A Prosperous and Joyful Life

He needed to buy a car, and he also needed to install a telephone. When he left the garment factory, Wang Jun took the permit, drove his Changjiang 750, and went to the post office to apply for telephone installation.

The government awarded four installation slots, so Wang Jun decided to install one at each of Huanyu Garment Factory and Huanyu Cannery. He also planned to install one at his home. He would save the remaining slot for later use.

The Beijing Post Office was bustling with people coming and going. Wang Jun glanced around and saw that many people were there to mail letters and send telegrams.

Sending letters is something everyone knows. But sending telegrams, decades later, is something many people don't even know what. Before the widespread use of telephones, the fastest way for people to communicate was by sending telegrams. Every child of the 1970s and 80s is familiar with sending telegrams. In the 1970s, Chinese language textbooks even specifically taught how to send telegrams.

According to data, starting in 1981, the number of telegrams sent annually in Beijing exceeded 3000 million. By 1990, the telegram business in Beijing had reached its peak, exceeding 4440 million telegrams in a single year.

However, generally speaking, telegrams were only sent in emergencies, because they were very expensive, charged per word! Before 1983, each word cost 3.5 cents. After 1983, the price doubled to 7 cents per word, with addresses and names included in the word count.

"Beep beep beep!" "Tap tap tap!"

Inside the telegraph room, several girls were rapidly sending telegrams, a scene reminiscent of intelligence agents sending telegrams in a TV drama.

Wang Jun looked around for a while before remembering that he had come here to apply for telephone installation, so he went inside. However, after searching around, he still couldn't find the window for applying for telephone installation.

Having no other option, Wang Jun approached a young woman in a red hoodie at the mail window and asked, "Excuse me, which window do I apply for telephone installation at?"

The girl glanced at Wang Jun, and her eyes lit up. These days, handsome and charismatic young men like Wang Jun are rare. Her attitude immediately became enthusiastic. Good-looking people are always more popular, no matter the time.

"Comrade, you want to apply for telephone installation, right? Let me tell you, you need an approval document for that, otherwise you can't apply."

"some."

Wang Jun then showed her the approval document.

The girl in the red hoodie glanced at it and was completely shocked. She said, "These are the permits for Huanyu Garment Factory and Huanyu Canned Food Factory! Comrade, what's your relationship with these two factories?"

Wang Jun knew he had to answer this question; otherwise, the girl would probably ignore him. So, he honestly replied, "I'm the person in charge of these two factories, you know, the boss."

The girl was stunned when she heard this. She looked Wang Jun up and down as if she had discovered a super treasure. He was handsome, had a great temperament, and was the owner of two factories. He was every woman's dream man.

At this moment, the girl in red secretly decided that she must ask Wang Jun for his contact information. Actually, she didn't need to ask; Wang Jun was applying to install a telephone, and she could just memorize the phone number later.

The girl in the red hoodie said enthusiastically, "So, you're the owner of Huanyu Garment Factory! I'm your customer, and look, this hoodie was made in your factory."

After saying that, the girl puffed out her chest, turned around in front of Wang Jun, and showed off her red hoodie.

Wang Jun really didn't expect to run into one of his customers inside the post office, so he smiled and said, "How's this shirt?"

The girl exclaimed happily, "This is wonderful! I feel so much prettier in this dress, everyone is envious of me!"

At this point, the young woman added with distress, "I was thinking of buying a coat, but it turns out there aren't any left in the entire capital. I wonder when I'll be able to wear a coat from your Huanyu Garment Factory. By the way, you're the owner of Huanyu Garment Factory, so when do you think the second batch of goods will be available?"

At this moment, the words "owner of Huanyu Garment Factory" caught the attention of several girls, and instantly, seven or eight girls surrounded them!

"Is this the owner of Huanyu Garment Factory?"

"Yes, I just heard it from Wu Xiaoni."

"My goodness, this boss is so young!"

"So cool."

"yes."

In an instant, seven or eight girls were sizing up Wang Jun. He felt like he was being stared at by a pack of hungry wolves and almost wanted to leave. Being stared at by a group of women was stressful, too.

"Comrade, are you the owner of Huanyu Garment Factory?"

"Comrade, how old are you this year?"

"Comrade, when will the next batch of clothing be available for sale?"

"The clothes from your Huanyu Garment Factory are good, but they are too hard to buy. I've been to four or five shopping malls and I still can't find a single one."

"Comrade, what's your name? Are you married?"

"You're not married, are you? Do you have a boyfriend? What do you think of me?"

The group of girls were all talking at once, even asking about marriage, and Wang Jun was almost overwhelmed.

Having no other option, Wang Jun said, "Comrades, I'm here to apply for a telephone installation. Please help me resolve this matter first."

The girl in the red hoodie smiled and said, "Comrade, don't worry. You have the installation permit; it will be installed within three days after you apply. By the way, to apply for telephone installation, you need to contact a supervisor; I'll find one for you right away."

Currently, there is no dedicated application window; if you want to install a telephone, you have to go directly to your supervisor.

With the help of the girl in the red hoodie, Wang Jun successfully completed his application. He didn't dare linger and left in a flash.

There's no way around it, these girls are just too enthusiastic.

After leaving the post office, I checked the time and realized it was almost lunchtime.

Wang Jun thought for a moment and decided to just eat out, since he wouldn't have to wash the dishes.

So Wang Jun drove his Changjiang 750 to Yu Li's hot pot restaurant.

Wang Jun parked his car at the outer gate and went inside. He took a look and saw that business was pretty good; there were already four or five tables of customers eating hot pot.

When Yu Li saw Wang Jun arrive, she smiled and said, "Jun, you're such a busy man, what brings you here?"

Yu Li had been in a great mood lately because the hot pot restaurant was doing incredibly well. On a cold day, enjoying a steaming hot pot and beer created a wonderful atmosphere. Therefore, people preferred to treat everyone to a meal at the hot pot restaurant.

Another reason why hot pot restaurants are so popular is that they are inexpensive; a meal for four or five people doesn't cost much.

Seeing this, Wang Jun smiled and said, "Judging from your smiling face, this hot pot restaurant must be doing quite well!"

Yu Li nodded and said, "A while ago, when business was at its best, I could earn more than five hundred a day. Now, business is a little worse, but I can still earn one or two hundred a day. I'm already very satisfied."

At this point, Yu Li couldn't stop smiling. Even if she only earned a couple hundred yuan a day, it was equivalent to two or three months' wages for a worker, which added up to three or four thousand yuan a month.

Wang Jun said, "Three or four thousand a month is a pretty good income. Over a year, you can earn thirty or forty thousand, which will be enough to buy a courtyard house."

Yu Li smiled and said, "This is all thanks to you! Jun, you lent me money and helped me open a hot pot restaurant to make money. I don't know how to thank you enough. In the future, if you need anything, just tell me. I'll definitely do what I can!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jun smiled and said, "You can't just say things like that. Do you expect me to invite you to warm the bed?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Li glared at Wang Jun, but she wasn't angry. In her heart, she thought that after her divorce, she could easily have anything, let alone warm the bed.

At this moment, Wang Jun said, "I don't want to go back to make dinner. I'll just eat here. Sister Yu Li, bring up whatever good food you have."

Yu Li said, "Great! I just got two live fish and some fresh ingredients. I'll get everything for you."

Soon, the ingredients were delivered one after another.

……

The next day, just as dawn broke, a small truck pulled up outside, and several workers came in, calling out, "Comrade Wang Jun, which one of you is Comrade Wang Jun! We're here to install a telephone!"

Immediately, the entire courtyard was in an uproar.

"Install a telephone?"

"Oh my god, Wang Jun's home improvement phone number?"

"They've even installed a phone! This is amazing!"

"Quick, go check on installing a telephone!"

Some children, upon hearing that telephones were going to be installed, ran over as fast as they could, cheering incessantly.

"Time to install a telephone!"

"A telephone has been installed! A telephone has been installed!"

"Hello, hello, the phone's been installed!"

Some children, while running around, sang a children's song: "Two little children are on the phone, hello, hello, where are you..." (The book, *Siheyuan: A Prosperous and Joyful Life*, has received rave reviews and overwhelmingly positive feedback.)

These days, telephones are such a rarity. As soon as people heard that telephones were going to be installed, they couldn't sit still and rushed over to watch.

At this moment, Wang Jun had just gotten up. He was a little surprised to hear the staff calling him. He didn't expect that he had applied yesterday and the installation would be done today. That's pretty fast.

Wang Jun had originally planned to go out and buy a car after breakfast. Now that the telephone installer had arrived, he decided to let them install the telephone first.

Wang Jun came out of the door and said, "Hello, I am Wang Jun. Please come inside."

After finishing speaking, Wang Jun took out several packs of cigarettes and handed them to the staff. These cigarettes were all caught while fishing; they were called Peony Cigarettes, and each pack cost more than 50 cents.

Several staff members accepted the Peony cigarettes, their faces immediately lighting up with smiles. In the north, there's a saying: "Provincial officials smoke Zhonghua cigarettes, city officials smoke Peony cigarettes, and ordinary cadres smoke Spring Festival cigarettes." These Peony cigarettes are top-grade; normally, they're something you can't bear to smoke.

A staff member said enthusiastically, "Comrade Wang Jun, just tell us where you plan to install the phone."

Wang Jun thought for a moment and decided that it would be better to install the phone in the living room and then connect an extension.

Thinking about this, Wang Jun said, "I'd like to install the telephone in the living room, and then connect an extension to the attic. Is that alright?"

The staff member said, "No problem. We'll go and run the cable. You need to run 200 meters of cable, so it will probably take two hours to install."

Nowadays, the most time-consuming part of installing a telephone line is laying the cable; the longer the distance, the more troublesome it becomes. In some remote areas, just laying the telephone line can take one or two days, which is incredibly slow.

However, things are better for Wang Jun; all he needs to do is run a 200-meter telephone line, which will be relatively quick.

Soon, the staff got busy and started pulling the cables.

At this moment, everyone in the courtyard gathered around to watch the excitement.

"They really did install a telephone."

"Wow, that's amazing! Director Wang from the factory wanted to get a phone installed at home, and I heard he'd been applying for six months and still hadn't gotten one. But here at Jun's place, it got installed without us even noticing!"

"Yes, yes, a relative of mine, who's a leader at his workplace, has been applying for a long time but still hasn't gotten his turn. I heard there are at least tens of thousands of people waiting to have their phones installed."

"Yes, telephones cost thousands of yuan just for the initial installation fee. And for ordinary people, even if they have the money, they can't get one."

"Tsk tsk, upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones. The army has achieved the Four Modernizations ahead of schedule."

"yes."

"Jun, if we need anything in the future, could we use your phone?"

"Yes, if we need anything, could we give you a call?"

Wang Jun chuckled and said, "No problem. If you have any urgent matters in the future, you can call me here. Don't worry."

An hour later, the phone installation was complete.

Wang Jun paid another four hundred yuan, which was for the telephone and telephone line; the initial installation fee had already been paid.

While tidying up his tools, a staff member reminded him, "Comrade Wang Jun, please be mindful of the time when you make the call. The call costs 1.2 yuan per minute, which is not cheap."

Wang Jun nodded. This amount of money was nothing to him, but it was good to save some time.

After the phone was installed, Wang Jun didn't hesitate any longer. He closed the door, drove the Changjiang 750, picked up Lü Guangrong, and headed straight for the trust company.

In the 1980s, car purchases were generally made by work units, factories, and some collectives. Therefore, trust companies still had a considerable number of vehicles available.

The trust company's vehicles were parked in the large playground behind the building; there were dozens of them. The onlookers looked at the vehicles with awe, moving very carefully, as if afraid of damaging them.

Nowadays, any car is a luxury item for most people; if it gets damaged, they simply can't afford to pay for it.

"This car is beautiful."

"Yes, look at these car windows, they're so bright and airy."

"This chair is filled with foam, so it's soft and comfortable to sit on, just like sitting on a sofa. You can even sleep in it at night."

"I heard this car is really sturdy; you don't need to slow down when going over potholes."

"That's just how Russian stuff is."

At this moment, everyone was gathered around a brand-new Volga car, pointing and praising it.

As Wang Jun walked, he observed that most cars of this era were boxy and lacked any distinctive lines. The interiors were also sparsely equipped; cars with radios were considered high-end.

Suddenly, a car caught Wang Jun's attention.

This is actually the seventh generation Toyota Crown, also known as the S120.

Wang Jun's heart skipped a beat. This seventh-generation Crown was the first imported high-end car in China. It was this car that showed everyone what a high-end car and a luxury car were.

The most eye-catching feature of this car is its crystal-style C-pillar, which is unforgettable at first glance, hence the nickname "Crystal Crown".

Its interior is luxuriously equipped, featuring power windows and standard ABS. It also includes a cigarette lighter, air conditioning, radio, and cassette player. Higher-spec models even come with an automatic transmission and a refrigerator!

Without a doubt, in the 1980s, before Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi became widely available, the Crown was the ultimate luxury car, a dream car for many. Even decades later, some people still buy one to keep at home as a collector's item, looking at it from time to time.

"This car is nice." Wang Jun nodded. "Let's look around a bit more. If there aren't any other cars, this is the one."

Wang Jun wandered around for a while longer when suddenly a car came into view.

"This...this is a Mercedes-Benz W126 SEL?"

"This car is actually sold in China?"

Wang Jun stared at the car, utterly astonished.

Decades later, anyone with even a basic understanding of cars knows that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a top-tier luxury car, often referred to as the "Tiger Head Benz." This Mercedes-Benz W126 SEL is the predecessor to the Tiger Head Benz!

This car is 5.135 meters long and has an amazing wheelbase of 3.075 meters, making it very spacious and perfect for a date with your girlfriend.

Furthermore, its center console and door panels are covered with real wood and genuine leather, exuding luxury without appearing gaudy. Its features are also quite luxurious, including ABS, a driver's airbag, and power seats with memory function. Automatic air conditioning was practically cutting-edge technology for people at a time when even home air conditioning wasn't common.

By this time, a large crowd had gathered around the Mercedes-Benz, all marveling at it.

"This car looks really cool, I wonder how much it costs."

"Yes, I thought the Toyota Crown was the best, but I didn't expect there to be a Mercedes here. This car is even better than the Crown."

"Just looking at this car makes it seem expensive. I wonder what its price is."

"Hehehe, it's definitely over a million. My company wanted to get a Mercedes a while ago, but after asking about the price, they didn't dare to buy it."

"My God, a million dollars? That's way too expensive. Who can afford to drive a car like that? Even a minor bump would cause serious repair costs."

"I heard that some wealthy companies in the south buy Mercedes-Benz cars to drive. My company is better off not buying one; we simply can't afford it."

"Yes, yes. If such an imported luxury car breaks down, you can't find the parts or the repairman."

Everyone crowded around to take a look, but no one dared to touch it. This car is more expensive than a Crown; who the hell would dare to touch it?

At this moment, Wang Jun approached and examined the car closely. The car's exterior design was quite impressive, with very stylish and unique taillights that were ahead of their time and would not be outdated even decades later.

After looking at it for a while, Wang Jun decided that this was the one.

Owning a Mercedes-Benz is the dream of countless men; now that you've seen it, choose it.

Wang Jun beckoned Lü Guangrong over and said, "Director Lü, we're going to buy a Mercedes later."

Lu Guangrong glanced at it and immediately gasped.

Although he didn't recognize Mercedes, just by looking at its imposing appearance, he knew that the car must be incredibly expensive.

Lu Guangrong quickly said, "Boss, this car doesn't look cheap. Let's choose another car. I think the Lada 2105 is pretty good, and the price is cheaper. Why don't we buy the Lada?"

Wang Jun shook his head and said, "Compared to this car, the Lada is utter garbage. I've decided, I'll take this one. Go ask them about the price. Tell them we can pay in US dollars."

In the 1980s, many people liked the US dollar. Some items that were extremely expensive would have their prices drop several times if paid for in US dollars!

That's why Wang Jun explained that payment could be made in US dollars.