1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 364: Bank holds a lottery
"When you go back, you must keep these two deposit certificates carefully. When the deposit matures, you have to come here in person with the deposit certificates to withdraw the money. If you can't find the deposit certificates, you won't be able to withdraw the money when the time comes!"

The middle-aged female employee gave two more specific instructions.

In this era, there is no password for depositing or withdrawing money. In fact, without computers, it is impossible to set a password. To withdraw money, one must be present in person or look at the deposit slip.

For this reason, safekeeping of the deposit certificate is particularly important. If the deposit certificate is lost or damaged, it will be a big problem to withdraw the money.

Chen Xiangbei folded the two deposit slips neatly, then took out a handkerchief she was carrying, wrapped them in several layers, and then put them into the pocket of Liang Ziqiang's underwear.

They picked up the sweet potatoes and put them back into the bucket, then picked up the bucket and prepared to leave.

Only then did I notice that it was already noon and there was a queue behind me, with at least seven or eight depositors waiting to process their business. Some of them were still wearing factory uniforms with the factory name printed on them.

Now Liang Ziqiang finally understood. It wasn't that the bank was quiet, it was that he had chosen the right timing.

As soon as it was time for lunch break, many factory workers came to the bank to save money, and the number of them continued to increase. It was estimated that the line would be very long.

Fortunately, he came in the morning. If he had come at noon, the queue would have been so long that he would have lost his temper.

On the way back, Liang Ziqiang saw that his wife had finally come with him to the city, so he suggested that he accompany her to the department store to look around and buy some things. After all, he still had some spare change in his pocket.

The most important thing is that the department store sells clothes, which are different from those made by the tailor shop in town. They may not be as fitted, but there are more varieties and styles.

"It's inconvenient to carry the money in front. Now that the business is done, why don't we go in and take a look?" When they arrived in front of the department store, he pulled his wife.

Unexpectedly, my wife was very opinionated today. She only glanced at the door of the department store and retorted:
"Is it convenient to carry such an important thing with me now? Besides, my son must be looking for me anxiously at home, and I don't know if he will cry. He really has a good father, and he still has the mind to go shopping!"

No, I clearly wanted to buy her clothes with good intentions, so why was I scolded? But thinking about it, my wife's considerations were not unreasonable. Maybe today is not really suitable.

"My stomach is growling. It's already noon. I should finish my meal before going home, right?" Liang Ziqiang went to the street to look for a restaurant.

"That has to be done quickly. We are hungry, and our son at home is hungry too. How can he be full with just rice porridge, and he won't eat more than two bites! Noodles would be faster than rice, right? Why don't we just find a place to have a bowl of rice noodles and go home?" The daughter-in-law's mind was full of her son.

"Let's go to the one across the street!" Liang Ziqiang was very familiar with this area. There was a restaurant across the street that served rice or rice noodles.

The two crossed the street and ordered rice noodles which were served soon. Chen Xiangbei used to love to eat rice noodles with pig's trotters when she went to town, but she seldom ate it after she got pregnant. This time when she saw it in the store, she ordered it.

After finishing the rice noodles, she really didn't want to stay for a second longer, and hurried him back. As soon as the two put down their bowls and chopsticks, they hurried back to Sham Lo Wan and drove towards the village.

Sure enough, before anyone even reached the house, they could already hear Liang Jingcheng crying like he was about to explode.

Liang's mother kept calling Cheng Cheng "good boy" left and right, but it was all in vain. Liang Jingcheng just ignored her and cried more and more aggrievedly.

"I don't know how long I've been crying!" Chen Xiangbei's heart was almost broken, and she ran the short distance back home.

When Liang Ziqiang arrived at the door of his house carrying the empty bucket, he saw that his mother had actually learned the trick he had used before. She took Liang Jingcheng around the woodshed, trying to divert Cheng Cheng's attention by using a rooster fight.

Unfortunately, it completely failed this time.

Seeing his mother who had disappeared for a whole morning suddenly appear in front of him, Liang Jingcheng became even more excited and burst into two violent shouts, as if he was accusing her. While crying, he anxiously paddled his arms towards his mother, as if he was paddling a boat in the air.

It was not until Chen Xiangbei hurriedly took the baby from her mother-in-law that he stopped crying. His crying became softer, but it was still sobbing, which made people feel even more distressed and guilty.

Chen Xiangbei didn't even drink a sip of water. She hurriedly carried her son into the inner room to feed him.

Liang Ziqiang soon went into the inner room and planned to put the deposit certificate into the wooden box.

"You are sweating, change your handkerchief and wrap it up." His wife reminded him while hugging her hungry son, "There is a clean handkerchief in the drawer!"

Liang Ziqiang found a new handkerchief and wrapped the two deposit receipts in several layers, like treasures.

The question of where to put it became a problem. They originally wanted to put it in the pocket of a piece of clothing in the wooden box, the kind that they rarely wear, but they were still worried that one day they might not pay attention and wear the clothing out, and then when they come back and wash it, the entire deposit slip will be ruined. Finally, they found an aluminum box, put the deposit slip and the handkerchief into the aluminum box, and then put it in the wooden box, at least to prevent it from being stained or bitten by mice.

The most important thing is that since the deposit certificate is placed in the wooden box, Liang Ziqiang’s ID card has to be placed somewhere else, and it cannot be placed in the box.

If a thief breaks into your house and steals only the deposit slip, you won't be able to withdraw money without the ID card. But if they steal both, it's a bit risky. Without the password, if the bank clerk is careless and doesn't carefully compare the photo on the ID card, something could go wrong.

Of course, it is much safer than last year. This thin laminated ID card was only issued this year. Before that, there were no ID cards in the whole country. At that time, you could withdraw money with just a deposit slip.

It was December in a blink of an eye, and the weather with strong winds and waves increased significantly, but fortunately Liang Ziqiang's large ship had strong wind resistance. In addition to taking shelter at home this month, he still went to the wintering fishing grounds three times and earned a little over 30,000 yuan.

At the end of the month, Liang Ziqiang chose the time when everyone in the city was at work and went to the bank to deposit another 30,000 yuan.

This time he specifically asked Chen Xiangbei to bring her ID card as well. Fifteen thousand of the money was deposited under Liang Ziqiang's own name, while the other deposit slip was filled in with Chen Xiangbei's name.

Don't keep all the money in your own name, this can also be regarded as spreading the risk. Anyway, when you really need money, both of you can bring your ID cards to get it.

"Let me ask, what is the minimum amount of money that needs to be deposited to get a prize redemption voucher?" After depositing 30,000 yuan, Liang Ziqiang suddenly asked the bank clerk inside.

"A five-dollar deposit certificate will get you a prize redemption coupon!" the clerk replied.

"Then deposit another fifty for me, divided into ten deposits!" Liang Ziqiang said as he took out a few Big Unity Banknotes from his waist bag, counted out five from them and handed them to the counter.

"What's the point of saving another fifty when you already have 30,000 in savings?" Chen Xiangbei looked at him in confusion.

But in a flash, she would come to her senses and ask, "Do you want to win more prizes?"

In fact, her guess was not entirely correct. Liang Ziqiang's real thought was that he had saved 60,000 yuan, a total of four deposit certificates. If it was the day of the lottery, the scene would definitely be crowded, and it would be too eye-catching to take out a deposit certificate of 60,000 yuan in public to draw a prize.

He left the four large-denomination certificates of deposit at home as he had no intention of participating in the lottery.

Since small amounts can also be redeemed with prize coupons, then you can take this five-yuan deposit certificate to participate in the lottery. Ten tickets at a time, and you can win ten times in a row. Isn’t this better than the 60,000 yuan? !
The bank clerk was stunned for a moment, but soon understood his plan. He couldn't help but smile and took the five big unity notes from his hand.

After a while, ten five-yuan deposit certificates were ready and handed to Liang Ziqiang.

There was no need to put it carefully into the inner pocket of his clothes. Liang Ziqiang stuffed it into his waist bag and left the bank with his wife.

"Your brain, you may say it's stupid, but it's very useful at the critical moment!" The wife praised him with a hint of sarcasm on the way, but she had a sweet smile on her face.

On the first day of 1985, which was New Year's Day, the couple went to the bank again, not to deposit money but to win prizes.

Of course, I didn't bring the four large-denomination certificates of deposit worth fifteen thousand yuan with me. I only had ten certificates of deposit, each worth five yuan.

This year, apart from Sundays, there are only 7 real legal holidays throughout the year, including one day off on New Year's Day.

Qianluo Branch specially chose New Year's Day to hold the prize redemption ceremony because it believed that depositors in the city would be able to take time out on that day to participate.

Unlike the time period Liang Ziqiang deliberately chose to save money on other days, on this day, the entire Qianluo branch was packed with people. Not only inside the bank, but even the street in front of the bank was filled with men and women who came to redeem their prizes.

There was only a simple red cloth at the scene with the words "Prize-winning savings, hot prize redemption" written on it, but the enthusiasm was everywhere.

Liang Ziqiang was still scanning the rows of jostling people, but Chen Xiangbei's eyes were all on a few new objects on the open space.

There were two sewing machines, two black-and-white televisions, two bicycles, two tape recorders, and only one refrigerator. Of course, the majority were other small daily necessities.

Liang Ziqiang looked sideways and found that his wife's eyes were completely glued to the sewing machine, unable to move away...

(End of this chapter)