Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 506 Chapter 505 Changes
"Jingwen, do you have something to do today? If so, please leave first. I'll keep an eye on things for you here." After a while, Jiang Ye saw that Wang Jingwen had raised her wrist to check her watch several times, so he kindly reminded her.

"Thank you Sister Jiang, I'm fine." Xiao Wang smiled, then picked up the pen, lowered his head to look at the documents on the desk, pretending to be busy. He had nothing to do now, but that might not be the case in the evening.

The couple haven't seen each other for more than ten days. Apart from sending a telegram back from Anton, there has been no news from Tang Zhitong since then. According to the plan, he was going home today. Xiao Wang felt a little homesick.

At present, it is indeed a very enviable thing for a family member to have a job that allows them to travel on business. Being able to travel on business not only means that the work is important, the company attaches importance to it, and the individual's horizons are broader, but there is also a chance to buy some local specialties from outside.

But Tang Zhitong was asking for leave this time to visit his relatives, which was very different from a business trip. What's more, the matter he was going to do was not very glorious, so Xiao Wang did not tell the truth to Jiang Ye.

After get off work, Xiao Wang went to pick up his two younger sisters as usual.

Since it is a girls' school, parents are particularly worried.

During this period of time, more and more parents come to the school gate to pick up their children after school, some walking, some riding bicycles, and some even driving cars. It is most likely that these people are not parents, but drivers.

As for the reason for picking up the children, no one shouted it out, but everyone knew it and was in a tacit understanding.

After sending Wang Jingying home, Xiao Wang took his sister-in-law home.

When they got home, it was already dark. The bicycle at the gate indicated that his lover had returned. Xiao Wang was delighted when he saw it, but in front of Feng Zhen, he had to maintain his dignity as a sister-in-law, so he suppressed his emotion and did not show it.

"Sister-in-law, my brother is sleeping, and my mother won't let me go to find Beibei." As soon as she got home, Fengzhi came to ask for help.

"Then I'll go over and call her." Classmate Xiao Wang touched Fengzhi's head. The little girl had two little pigtails, which made her very cute.

Classmate Xiao Wang took the lead, and Fengzhi the dog followed quietly behind. Although the brother was important, Beibei was also very tempting. After not seeing him for a day, he must have missed himself!

Pushing open the door, Xiao Wang turned on the light, and Beibei meowed and ran towards the hostess, but after seeing the little devil behind him, he looked back at the nest, and saw that there was limited space to move, so he continued to run forward while meowing.

Beibei first rubbed against Xiao Wang's trouser leg, and when Fengzhi squatted down to take action, he ran out in a flash, with agility that was inconsistent with his age.

Seeing this, Fengzhi chased after him while shouting, "Beibei, slow down."

Tang Zhitong heard the noise, opened his eyes, looked at his watch, then stretched and sat up.

"Are you back?" Xiao Wang took a look at her husband's reply on the note she left, and her heart almost melted. The look she gave Tang Zhitong was so full of tenderness and affection that it was almost tearing.

"Well, I'm back." Tang Zhitong stood up, gently hugged Xiao Wang in his arms, and rubbed his ears.

After a long while, Xiao Wang pushed her husband away: "The door is not closed yet."

"Haha, is your work and life going well lately?" Tang Zhitong went over and closed the door. The stove had gone out. Although the temperature of a wood-burning stove rises quickly, it does not last long. After a while, the fire would not be strong enough.

Tang Zhitong sat on a stool and lit the stove again. Tonight was his first night back, so the house had to be as warm as spring.

"They're all good. Jingmin was clamoring for a fishing rod, and you said you'd have to hang it for a month. I saw that wasn't much of a difference, so I gave it to him." Student Xiao Wang stood in front of the desk, carefully folded the small piece of paper with the handwriting of both of them, and then put it away in the "Teahouse".

"Well, these few days won't make a difference, but I have to remind him not to go fishing in this kind of weather, it's too cold." Tang Zhitong said as he lit the fire.

"Yes, I told him." Student Wang replied as he took off his scarf.

"Oh, by the way, the officer's clothes are dirty and need to be washed before being sent back." Tang Zhitong turned around and saw classmate Xiao Wang packing his clothes, and spoke.

"It's okay. I'll have it dry-cleaned by Pland tomorrow." Xiao Wang smiled at her husband without any hint of blame.

A long-lasting love often does not depend on how many gifts are given, how many sweet words are said, or how many vows are made, but rather that when one party does something wrong or makes a mistake, what is greeted is not the blame from the other party, but the protection of the other party.

"Okay. I still have some money left, I'll leave it with you." Dry cleaning costs money. Tang Zhitong stood up and washed his hands, then took out fifty or sixty yuan from his pocket, both in small and large amounts, and handed them to Xiao Wang.

"Here, use this to buy cigarettes." Classmate Wang was very generous. She only took the big bill and put the change into her husband's pocket.

"Okay." Tang Zhitong did not refuse. He took it with a smile and went back to continue tending the stove.

Tang Zhitong had heard of the name of Plande. Its full name was Zhong, Yang, and Plande Laundry and Dyeing Shop. It was first established in Hu County and was one of the earliest laundry and dyeing shops in China to use machines to dry clean clothes. It was well-known for its stain removal, fine mending, and hand-ironing.

In July 1956, the company moved from Hu County to Beijing. The head office was located in Dazhalan outside Qianmen, and it had branches on Wangfujing Street and Xi'anmen Street.

In the same year, photo studios, barber shops, clothing stores, etc. also moved in.

There are some things that no one mentions, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, just like no one is willing to talk about why they pick up their children.

The reason why we went to Hu County to investigate the service industry and moved the service personnel and equipment to Sijiu City was not only because the service quality in Sijiu City was not very good, but also because there was a certain gap in technology. After all, before liberation, Hu County had the Bund, and it dealt with foreigners and was at the forefront of domestic fashion.

In the past 56 years, a total of 19 people from the photography industry came to Beijing, represented by China Photo Studio and Cathay Photo Studio.

China Photo Studio is located at the south entrance of Wangfujing Street, which was located in Oriental Plaza decades later. It sells new wedding dresses and is the first choice for many open-minded young people to take wedding photos.

Cathay Photo Studio is located on Xidan North Street, and its hardware conditions are similar to those of China Photo Studio.

What the people of Sijiucheng talked about most was the barbershops. Four famous barbershops, namely "Hua Xin", "Zi Luo Lan", "Yun Shang" and "Xiang Ming", moved collectively to Sijiucheng, with a total of 108 people. At that time, they were jokingly called "One Hundred and Eight Generals Entering the Capital".

On July 56, 7, the famous "Si Lian Barber Shop" officially opened for business at No. 27 Jinyu Hutong at the north entrance of Wangfujing Street.

The name of the barber shop is quite long. In addition to "Si Lian Barber Shop", there is a line of small words below: Huaxin, Violet, Yunshang, and Xiangming Jointly.

To be honest, before the Si Lian movement came to Beijing, there were only a few hairstyles for women in Beijing. To put it nicely, they were solemn and heavy, but to put it bluntly, they were rustic and dull.

Silian is famous not only because of its warm service, but also because of the wide variety of hairstyles it offers. Its hairstyles are trendy and they can create big waves. Within a few days, it became famous.

On August 56, 8, the Beijing Daily even published a new version of the Silian, which was definitely 4 years ahead of the times (as shown below).

The masters of Silian Barber Shop make money by relying on their skills, which is fundamentally different from some of the Tonys who hang out with rich women decades later.

Before Silian entered Beijing, the price of a haircut in the old city was generally between 10 cents and 40 cents, but Silian started at 80 cents for a haircut and 2.2 yuan for a perm. Despite the high prices, the shop was still packed with customers, especially during the New Year. During the twelfth lunar month, there was an endless stream of female comrades coming to get their hair permed. The barbers did not even have time to eat during this month, and could work 14 or 15 hours a day. Correspondingly, their income was high, and they could earn more than 100 yuan.

In addition to the above, there are also tailors.

In April 1956, 208 "Red Gang tailors" from 21 clothing stores in Hu County, including Bowei, Leimeng, Zaocun, etc., were selected to go to Beijing.

Most of the tailors are from Ningbo. The reason why they are called "Red Gang Tailors" is said to be that after the Opium War, Ningbo was opened as a port and local tailors began to make clothes for foreigners called "red hair", hence the name.

Clothing stores moved to Beijing, and the Beijing Daily reported it on its front page headline: "To meet the capital's people's needs for improved clothing, 20 famous clothing stores in Shanghai moved to BJ."

But the people of Sijiucheng are not only quick-witted but also have a strong desire to explore. It wasn't long before someone said that a new garment factory had been added to Sijiucheng, and it would be a big deal if anyone wore clothes produced by this factory.

In fact, it is not a new addition. It was established on the basis of the "Garment Processing Department" under a very, very high-level unit, together with seven of the most famous clothing stores that came to Beijing, including "Jintai", "Lantian", "Leimeng", "Hongxia", "Zaocun", "Bowei" and "Wan Guo", to jointly establish the Sijiucheng Youlian Fashion Factory, which later became the famous "Hongdu".

The Friendship Association has three major tasks and is basically not open to the public. Only those who are going abroad with a letter of certification from their unit or a letter of introduction from a provincial or ministerial unit can go there to make a set of clothes, and the price is not cheap.

With the support of the brand, in the next thirty years, if someone wears red when getting married, it will be a very honorable thing.

The couple then shared their gains from the trip to Anton. Xiao Wang was very happy, as this was enough for the two families to eat for most of half a year.

When they went to the main house to eat, Fengzhi reported to Tang Zhitong: "Brother, our mother has been eating on time at noon recently. I'm watching her."

"Okay, I'll reward you with a candy. I'll ask your sister-in-law to redeem it later." Tang Zhitong pulled his sister's two little pigtails and played with them in his hands.

"I want White Rabbit milk candy!" Feng Zhi asked.

"Then you have to ask your sister-in-law if she still has it." Tang Zhitong became a hands-off boss.

"There are a few more. I'll give them to you after dinner." Student Wang responded with a smile.

"I just gave it to her two days ago. Don't spoil her all the time." Zhang Guifang said, glancing at her daughter.

"It's okay, Mom. One candy is not much." After saying this, Xiao Wang told his sister-in-law, "I'll give it to you tonight, but you can't eat it tonight. Eating candy at night will cause tooth decay."

"Okay! I promise to eat it tomorrow." Fengzhi raised her little fist and vowed.

Tonight's meal was quite rich. Zhang Guifang re-steamed the sauerkraut and pork dumplings that Tang Zhitong had brought back from the Northeast. Everyone had some, and then everyone had a fixed amount of cabbage stew.

After the meal, Tang Zhitong said, "Mom, you guys share the frozen pears and persimmons. It's almost time, I'll go out for a while."

"Okay, drive slowly on the road," Zhang Guifang instructed.

Tang Zhitong went out, first took two sweet potatoes from the cellar, and then went to borrow a cart from Uncle Ma opposite.

Pulling the cart, Tang Zhitong went out of the east gate. Using the moonlight, he picked up a few bricks from the city wall, then sat on the cart and smoked two cigarettes.

After estimating the time, I drove the cart home.

The temperature is low right now and people are not full, so the streets in Baiqiao are very clean. Tang Zhitong didn't see anyone on his way back.

It was pulled all the way to the gate before Tang Zhitong took out the stone mill from the space and threw it on the cart. Then he walked a few steps inside and lifted the cart directly, and the things on the cart rolled into the yard.

The temperature at night is below zero, so the cement can be mixed, but it is not good for solidification. Tang Zhitong plans to wait until the sun comes out tomorrow to do this work.

There was a stove in the yard, and water was boiling on it. Zhang Guifang heard the noise and came out of the bathroom: "Don't tinker with it so late at night. Take a shower and go to bed. We'll do it tomorrow."

"Okay, Mom, let's build a toilet for Beibei first." Tang Zhitong agreed happily. The cat's toilet can be built first. This thing does not require cement.

A toilet is easy to make. Just stack five bricks into an open rectangle and then pour sand into it.

Xiao Wang came up with a slightly red face, followed by Bei Bei: "Mom asked us to boil some water for a bath."

"Hey, it's okay. The bathroom is not that cold. Go ahead and take a shower." Tang Zhitong stood beside and looked at Xiao Wang. He was shy. Beibei was not shy. He didn't even need anyone to ask him to do so. He squatted down in the sand and urinated. Then he dug twice with his hind paws to cover his mouth and turned around and ran away.

Zhang Guifang was very careful with her money and did not throw away the old stove that she had replaced. She moved it to the bathroom a while ago.

Whenever I took a bath, I would add some hard coal and burn it vigorously.

Although the stove is a bit crowded in the already small bathroom, it is warm. Whenever the water gets cold, you can take the kettle off the stove and add some hot water. It can be said to be a simple version of a boiler.

Tang Zhitong felt that life would be more perfect if there were less gossip and supervision from the neighbors.

"Our mother can't process the corn, so let's get some cornmeal from here tomorrow as an emergency. Once the stone mill is installed, you can bring it over in batches." Although it was a bit cold outside, the temperature was much higher than Anton's, so at least he could stand outside.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Xiao Wang had no objection. He had heard more and more news recently. Except for a few big cities where the supply was better, the supply in other places was not very optimistic.

Only the young couple took a bath at night. Tang Zhitong simply rinsed himself. He had bathed in Anton two days ago, so his body was quite clean.

Only after changing Xiao Wang's bath water to a pool of warm water from the Huaqing Pool did we invite her in.

Student Xiao Wang's relatives just left yesterday and he hasn't taken a bath for several days. He felt dusty on his body and called Tang Zhitong to rub the mud off him.

"It's too small. Now that we've bought the food, you have to try to grow it back." As Tang Zhitong rubbed his hands, they became a little dishonest.

"Okay, your task is completed. Get out quickly. There is a stove in here and it is quite crowded." Student Xiao Wang gently hit her husband and ordered him to leave.

That night, Tang Zhitong also ate White Rabbit.

White Rabbit is different from White Rabbit. Although White Rabbit milk candy is sweet, how can it be as sweet as love?

(End of this chapter)