Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 822 821 Fake Grain Coupons

The naiveté and folly of college students do not change with the times. In just a few words, Xiao Wang managed to uncover the entire connection between Wan Xianghong and Tang Zhitong.

"You don't need to hide things from me about helping Xiao Wan in the future. If you have any difficulties, we'll figure them out together." As they left the school gate of the Post and Telecommunications Institute, Xiao Wang, sitting in the back row, gave this reminder, without much of a hint of blame in his words.

"Hey, okay. Actually, it's not that I'm helping Wan Xianghong, it's mainly because of her brother Wan Xiangyang. Before we met, Brother Yang helped me a lot. Plus, given their backgrounds, Brother Yang really had no other choice but to ask me for help, so I can't just stand by and do nothing." Tang Zhitong explained his relationship with Wan Xianghong in a few words. Although Xiao Wang didn't say it explicitly, Tang Zhitong could tell that she came because she had heard some rumors about him and Wan Xianghong.

"Yes, I believe you. Do you think men are really that heartless? They marry a new wife and then kick the child aside?" Xiao Wang already knew about Wan Xiangyang and his sister's background, but Wan Xianghong told him about it again in person this time, and even cried while talking about it, which made Xiao Wang even more indignant on their behalf.

"As the saying goes, a stepmother is followed by a stepfather, so it's not uncommon. But can you please not generalize about all men? Only a very few are like that." Tang Zhitong disagreed with Xiao Wang's angry words, but there are always some people who lack humanity, just like the naiveté and foolishness of college students, which won't change with the times.

Even in Beijing, this kind of situation has happened before; the Beijing Daily published more than one such case a few years ago.

Because many people had arranged marriages in their hometowns before moving to the city, and then divorced and remarried after moving to the city, the children born to their ex-wives became thorns in the side of their stepmothers.

In the construction engineering department, there was a section chief surnamed Zhang who divorced his ex-wife and remarried. His two children became the "punching bag" for his stepmother, Li Liying.

Li Liying usually referred to the two children as "animals" because they would come home late from school and have no food to eat. Li Liying would rather throw the leftovers in the trash than give them any to eat.

A colleague in the same hospital couldn't bear to see the child suffer, so he ordered some food for the child, but was scolded by Li Liying.

The food was so bad, and the clothes and housing were no better. The child's tattered cotton-padded clothes exposed his buttocks, and no one would mend them. The shoes were too small and rubbed his feet raw, but Li Liying didn't care. When the nanny felt sorry for the child and wanted to mend them, Li Liying not only refused to give her cloth coupons but also scolded her for meddling.

Li Liying wished her two children would die, but Director Zhang only had eyes for the young and beautiful Li Liying and turned a deaf ear to the plight of his many biological children.

Li Liying's section chief tried to discipline her, but she, relying on her husband's power, told him to get lost and to be blind. (Third edition, April 20, 1955)

There's also Zhang Weiying from Daheye Hutong who abused her adopted son.

Zhang Weiying and her husband Chen Youlin had been unable to have children for many years, so they adopted a little boy who was a little over ten months old and named him Xiaozhu.

At first, they treated Xiaozhu very well, but two years later, after the two had a child, Xiaozhu began to live a life worse than that of an animal. Going hungry was a common occurrence, and being beaten was an essential part of every meal.

Neighbors and the police station tried to persuade her to change her ways, but she refused. She was eventually sentenced to two years in prison during the rectification campaign. (April 25, 1958, fourth edition)

This has happened less often in recent years, but there's no guarantee that someone will still do it in the next two or three years.

Because of the difficulties in rural areas, many children who were fostered in their hometowns have been flocking to Beijing from all over the country in the past two years.

For those who seek refuge with close relatives, the local police station will grant them household registration.

For now, we can manage to get by with the quotas, but once they are further reduced, the problems will be much harder to resolve.

"I didn't say anything about you." Xiao Wang realized he had misspoke and mumbled a defense, then changed the subject: "Let's go pick mulberries later."

"Okay, let's go take a look." Since Xiao Wang was interested, Tang Zhitong naturally wouldn't spoil the fun.

Today is Sunday. When the two of them arrived at the mulberry trees, there were more children on and under the trees than Tang Zhitong had seen before.

"Never mind, let's go." With people in every tree, Xiao Wang could only leave with regret.

"How about tomorrow? There are mulberry trees near my workplace too. I'll pick some to take back with me tomorrow." Tang Zhitong didn't really want to climb trees anyway; last year, she had to trade candy for locust blossoms with the children.

"No need, I just wanted to pick some with you, not because I'm craving it," Xiao Wang shook his head and refused.

"Hmm, I believe that." Tang Zhitong chuckled. Little Wang wasn't greedy, but he genuinely liked to eat.

When the two returned home, Zhang Guifang was making arm warmers while guarding her "treasure box".

It's called a treasure chest, but it's actually a sewing basket.

This sewing basket was used by the old lady; it contains scissors, needles, thread, thimbles, scraps of cloth, and even voter registration cards issued a few years ago.

As the saying goes: Laugh at the dirty and the rotten, but don't laugh at the patched-up.

For a long time, many families had such a sewing basket. Even Xiao Wang has one now, which contains needles and thread as well as leftover fabric and leather scraps from making clothes, pencil cases, and school bags.

"Mom, there are still a few days before Fengzhen goes to the countryside. There's no rush to make the sleeves. Let's make them when it's brighter tomorrow." Most old houses in Beijing don't have back windows, and her own house was no exception. The light inside was a bit dim, so Tang Zhitong advised.

"I'm free right now, I have things to do tomorrow," Zhang Guifang replied without looking up.

"Alright, then you should also take care of your eyes. A pair of reading glasses isn't cheap," Tang Zhitong persisted, continuing to persuade her.

“I’m not old enough to have failing eyesight yet. You should go do whatever you need to do.” Zhang Guifang remained unmoved, but this time she did glance up at her son.

"Alright! I still have things to finish." Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Tang Zhitong stopped trying. He figured his mother could just get new glasses when her eyesight deteriorated; they weren't short of money for glasses anyway.

Tang Zhitong's so-called important matter was the cooperative medical proposal. There was a lot of data involved, and the wording needed to be carefully considered, so he hadn't finished the draft yet.

When Xiao Wang left home this morning, he closed the door to the side room. After a day of being exposed to the sun, the room was a bit hot.

The vast majority of residents in Beijing face the problem of summer heat, and many families hang curtains on their doors and leave them open for ventilation during the summer.

A door curtain can block out some mosquitoes, but it doesn't do much to protect personal privacy. You can see pretty much what the people inside are doing from the outside.

However, the summer heat makes people indifferent, and no one cares about such things.

"Where do you think we should put the fan?" As soon as he opened the door and entered the room, Xiao Wang began to plan where to put the fan.

Last year, not long after the couple got married, summer arrived. They were in the throes of their romance, and whenever they needed to do anything, they had to close the doors and windows because it was very hot inside.

This year, Director Ye provided an electric fan, which sparked Xiao Wang's interest; she didn't want to experience the sweltering heat of last year again. "I'll run an extension cord and connect it to a power strip, a longer cord. I'll put it here when I'm reading, and at the foot of the bed when I'm sleeping," Tang Zhitong said, glancing around the room. The room wasn't large, but it was artificially divided into three sections by screens, making it impossible to use one fan to cool the entire room; it would have to be moved around as needed.

"Okay, then this task is yours," Xiao Wang said happily.

"Okay, I'll handle it, don't worry about it." Tang Zhitong agreed with a smile.

Although he agreed, Tang Zhitong was actually not convinced.

An electric fan only speeds up airflow and doesn't actually cool things down. However, combined with the cool air I create outside, my home will definitely have a cool summer this year.

Monday, April 5th.

The Tang family's breakfast consisted of pickled vegetables and French corn chowder.

After two bowls of soup, I felt quite full and broke out in a light sweat. I hopped on my bicycle and felt the breeze, making it another cool and comfortable spring day.

Tang Zhitong did not finish writing the proposal last night and plans to continue refining it after arriving at work today.

After finishing his daily work, Tang Zhitong was writing down instructions for the commune members when Tong Xiangsong rushed into Tong Wang's study excitedly: "Father! We bought grain coupons!"

"You're such a grown man, yet you're still so impulsive. How many times have I told you to stay calm in the face of important matters?" Tong Wang was currently wiping his family heirlooms in his study. There were vases with vibrant colors and intricate patterns, as well as bowls, plates, and teacups with simple, unassuming colors. They were all different in shape and color, but they all had one thing in common: they were exquisite.

The supply of non-staple foods has been insufficient lately, and meat prices are rising day by day. Although my family stocked up on some liquor around the Spring Festival, we don't have much grain left.

Back when there was a black market, you could buy grain coupons there. The Tong family not only didn't buy much, but they only bought fine grain coupons.

The grain supply structure in Beijing has changed. In the past, coarse and fine grains could be bought freely, but now the proportion of coarse grains has increased, and grain stores only recognize receipts, not people.

The Tong family had been used to a life of luxury since childhood. Occasionally eating coarse grains was considered healthy, but they couldn't stand eating a meal of refined grains followed by a meal of coarse grains.

I would buy some fine grain coupons on the black market and use them, along with my own family's fine grain coupons, to buy small amounts of fine grain from the grain store each month.

The coarse grain coupons were used to queue up at restaurants, where you had to endure the cold for one or two hours to get a meal, which wasn't very convenient.

Tong Wang had always disliked this method of using grain coupons, but after the black market was shut down, he suddenly realized that no matter how difficult it was, having them was better than not having them at all.

There are no more channels to buy food coupons now, and life is even worse than before.

Tong Wang was happy to hear that his son had bought grain coupons, but he couldn't lose his dignity as a father, so he still put on airs.

"Oh. Father, I bought the grain coupons." After hearing his father's scolding, Tong Xiangsong steadied himself and repeated the words softly, handing over the grain coupons he was holding.

"Hmm. You did a good job." Tong Wang took the grain coupons and examined them carefully. He never thought he would see grain coupons as close as his parents.

Tong Wang's hand brushed against the grain coupons, and he keenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Go and get this month's food coupons." Tong Wang waved his hand to send his son away, then sat down at his desk, put on his reading glasses, and carefully examined the food coupons his son had bought.

When Tong Wang was young, his family had lent money at exorbitant interest rates and run a pawnshop, and he had dealt with banknotes quite often.

Whether it's a pawnshop or a money exchange, they all put a lot of effort into anti-counterfeiting measures to avoid unnecessary losses. Although Tong Wang wasn't an expert in this field, he was still quite knowledgeable. Although he couldn't see anything wrong with the grain coupons, he still felt an inexplicable sense of unease looking at them.

After Tong Xiangsong brought over the grain coupons issued by the street office, Tong Wang laid them out and carefully compared them, but he couldn't see any difference.

“Father, this ticket is definitely genuine. The scalpers said that the regulations are strict now, and they can't get many.” Tong Xiangsong had checked the ticket carefully when he bought it and didn't notice anything wrong before paying for it.

"Where did you buy it?" Tong Wang straightened up, took off his reading glasses, and asked.

"It was Dongdan Park again. I heard the checks have loosened recently, and people have started selling tickets again, so I went there." Tong Xiangsong thought he had handled the matter well, relieving his family's urgent need, and there was a hint of pride in his voice.

Tong Wang nodded without saying anything more, but silently picked up the magnifying glass next to him and bent down to observe carefully.

Upon closer inspection, he did indeed find a difference: the position of the dot in the character "废" in "过期作废" was different.

The grain coupons issued by the neighborhood committee were definitely correct, so Tong Wang focused on the grain coupons his son had bought.

I picked it up and rubbed the surface of the ration coupon with my hand. The ration coupon issued by the street had a slight embossed feel, probably caused by the impact and crushing of the machine during printing. However, the ration coupon that my son bought did not have this feeling.

“There’s something wrong with this ticket.” Tong Wang held a grain coupon that his son had bought back in his hand and gently rubbed it, feeling for the subtle differences.

"How is that possible?" Upon hearing his father's words, Tong Xiangsong's smugness vanished, replaced by astonishment.

Tong Xiangsong didn't explain to his son. Instead, he dipped his finger in the teacup next to him and smeared the water on the grain coupons he suspected were problematic.

In less than a minute, the patterns on the grain coupons visibly blurred, leaving Tong Xiangsong, who had come closer, dumbfounded. He pointed at the grain coupons in disbelief: "This...this..."

“They’re fake. These coupons are hand-drawn.” Tong Wang placed the grain coupons on the desk, neither sighing nor scolding his son for being impulsive.

"Sigh! I still fell for that kid's trick!" Tong Xiangsong said dejectedly, looking at the grain coupons on the table.

"Does that ticket scalper only sell grain coupons for Beijing?" Tong Wang asked, pointing to the scattered grain coupons on the table.

"Yes, there are no national grain coupons, only local grain coupons," Tong Xiangsong nodded in confirmation.

"Hey, you're not entirely clever." Tong Wang laughed. The circulation of grain coupons in Beijing was large, and they were destroyed monthly. Once a month had passed, even if the relevant departments wanted to investigate, they would have no evidence.

Tong Xiangsong didn't care whether the ticket scalper was clever or not; he only knew he couldn't let his money go to waste: "I'm going to find him right now! That bastard, he's trying to rip me off!"

(End of this chapter)