bookrebus Chapter 103 Buying a Black and White TV
Chapter 103 Buying a Black and White TV
In the afternoon, the people who had been strolling through the market dispersed. Li Ju'an counted the results of his sales for the day, and they were not bad.
After the wolf pelts were skinned and the best ones were processed into raw hides, they were sent to the supply and marketing cooperative's purchasing station, where each pelt was sold for 150 yuan. Most of the wolf teeth and meat were sold at the market, with some left over that each hunter took home and divided among themselves.
Many hunters shared the spoils from the wolf hunt. The hunters from Niubei Village later led the wolves down the mountain with their large livestock, along with Lu Zhiqiang's group and the Niu brothers. In the end, he received 480 yuan. He carefully put the ten-yuan note on his person, intending to go to the Postal Savings Bank.
He pulled out the deposit book that the Postal Savings Bank had issued him last time—a small current account savings booklet given to depositors as proof of their savings. The old hunters around him looked at it with curiosity. Uncle Niu, one of the old hunters, laughed at him: "Why keep that kind of stuff in your account? Money is precious; of course it's safest to keep it with you."
In this day and age, older people prefer to keep their money at home, don't understand how to deposit money in banks, and don't trust the banking system.
Li Ju'an laughed and said, "I'm afraid it will be stolen if I leave it at home, or chewed up by rats."
The old hunter, Uncle Niu, patiently lectured him: "You young people don't know any better. You'll understand when you get married. All the money we earn from hunting is managed by our wives. If you want to smoke a cigarette, you'll have to hide a secret stash under the bed or in the drawer."
The hunters squatted down, rolling cigarettes and laughing heartily as they smoked.
Song Desheng was very helpful; he went back and brought back the TV tickets that Li Ju'an had asked for last time.
The document, written in black and white with a large red seal, reads: "First Commercial Bureau, Television Set Purchase Ticket (Permitted to Purchase One Unit), Valid Until the End of 1980."
There are still two weeks left until the end of the year, so I need to use it quickly. If this kind of voucher were seen by young people in later generations, they would be a joke, but this is indeed his life now.
Li Ju'an slapped his forehead and grinned, "It has to be you, Xiao Desheng! Your relatives at the textile factory are really capable."
He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he hadn't gone to the Postal Savings Bank to queue up, otherwise he would have wasted his money and had to go through the trouble of queuing to withdraw it.
Song Desheng, panting from running, shouted, "How could that be? It wasn't my aunt who got it. My brother-in-law said he couldn't get overseas remittance certificates, so he went through a lot of trouble to get this stuff. Just make do with it. As for the money, give me whatever you think is appropriate."
He winked, and Li Ju'an understood. With a brother-in-law involved, the money had to be handed over properly. As he counted the money and handed it over, he said, "Your brother-in-law is quite capable."
"Well, my brother-in-law is good at nothing except spending money. Our relationship isn't entirely bad either; it's all about how we get along. Take this time, for example. I asked him for help, and he talked to his drinking buddies, and they actually got it for me. I'll have to repay him next time."
Li Ju'an looked at him and laughed, then pulled out another five-yuan note. Song Desheng took it with a beaming smile, calling him "brother" over and over again, as if he were his own brother.
He put away the cloth bag, tucked the TV ticket in his pocket, and a stack of ten-yuan bills close to his body. He first needed to go to the department store to pay with the ticket, and then go to the Peony TV Factory to pick up the goods.
Several hunters had already packed up and headed back. Song Desheng, a local from the county town, accompanied Li Ju'an to the department store.
That year, there were no minibuses yet, so Li Ju'an rode the bus with Song Desheng.
The driver was a man, and the bus fare collector was a woman. When we arrived at the stop, she started shouting, "Hurry up and get on! Hurry up and get on!" Her shouting posture was particularly standard.
As soon as the bus started moving, Li Ju'an got on, and the ticket seller slammed the door shut at any moment! He was afraid the door would be broken! If he were to take the bus for the entire route, the fare would be 0.15 yuan, but he was taking the cheapest fare of 5 cents.
Before he could grab the handrail, the bus suddenly accelerated, and he tumbled down the aisle to the back. On a large bus, the driver doesn't wait a moment; even with people chasing after the bus shouting "Driver!", it doesn't stop.
Song Desheng kept rambling on and on, complaining to him about the pain of getting married: "Brother Li, we really envy you for being able to live so carefree without a wife. My relationship with my brother-in-law is like this, we can't even be friends. He keeps asking me to borrow money and my car. Where am I supposed to get a car? Besides, even if I bought a bicycle, what if he accidentally crashes into it?"
He was angry with his brother-in-law and wanted to express his dissatisfaction, but he didn't want to strain his relationship with his wife, since she only had one younger brother and cherished him dearly.
Li Ju'an said, "Why don't you talk to your brother-in-law?"
"Hey, it's not as simple as you think. Every family has its own problems. My brother-in-law lives with me and treats me like I don't exist. One time I couldn't hold it in anymore, so I took advantage of my wife's good mood and brought up the issue with her. And guess what my wife said?"
"What do you mean? Your wife sides with her brother-in-law, not with you."
As if struck on a sore spot, Song Desheng slapped his thigh and said with a pained expression, "That's right! My wife said that even my parents can't control him, and he won't listen to her. She even told me to treat my brother-in-law like air. The other day, he asked me for money again, and I couldn't hold back, so I slapped him. But my wife protected him and slapped me back. How could I swallow this? So we started fighting."
Offending your wife is a serious matter. A weaker wife might cry and say that her parents have never hit her since she was a child, and then call both sets of parents. As a result, both sets of parents will come over in the early hours of the morning to scold her.
A wife with a bad temper is fearless in a fight; she'll grab a table and chair and start fighting, and the incident can escalate to the police station.
Song Desheng sighed and said, "It's fortunate that my relationship with my brother-in-law has improved now, otherwise my wife would look at me like I'm an enemy, which is really disheartening."
Every family has its own troubles. Li Ju'an didn't marry in his previous life and didn't have this problem. He was curious about how he would get along with his wife's family if he were to get married in the future.
The bus driver slammed on the brakes, and the bus arrived at its stop.
Li Ju'an and Song Desheng were lucky to have been holding onto the handrail; otherwise, they would have rolled down the aisle to the cylinder head area. The two went to the department store to pay with their receipts, and after receiving their vouchers, they took a bus to the Peony Television Factory to pick up their goods.
The entrance to the Peony Television Factory is often crowded with customers eager to buy. Large trucks line up outside the manufacturing department, ready to haul away televisions as soon as they're finished and off the production line.
In an era when goods were scarce, black and white televisions were a highly sought-after product. A 9-inch Peony brand black and white television cost 404 yuan, and local television factories could sell 6-8 units a day.
Li Ju'an excitedly queued up, and when he handed over his receipt and received the best 9-inch black and white television, his excitement rose and fell.
In his previous life in 1988, he got some remittance certificates through someone and bought a color television for 3588 yuan. He wasn't as excited as he is now back then.
Back when he went south, he was always alone, even when watching TV. Now it's different. Now he has his mother and sister by his side. The black-and-white TV improves their lives and brings joy to his mother and sister. The satisfaction of being surrounded by family love is something money can't buy.
Li Ju'an grinned and said, "Come on! Little Song, let's go to my house to watch TV this weekend."
Song Desheng was equally excited, rubbing his hands together and drooling with envy over the television. However, he only had one share of the profits, not enough to buy a television, and he still wanted to save up to buy a bicycle. He excitedly clung to Li Ju'an, his mouth full of honey: "Brother Li, you're like my own brother! I didn't get a day off this week, so I'll definitely sit on your kang (heated brick bed) and watch TV this weekend."
……
The black-and-white television was a treasure, and Li Ju'an couldn't bear to let the mule carry it, lest it fall and smash his newly acquired television. He carried the television and slowly rode the small train from the forest farm back to Lijiatun.
When he entered the village, he found the production team holding a meeting, attended by all the commune members and villagers. The brigade leader's office was full, and a large crowd of people sat outside, making a ruckus.