1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 309 A Glimmer of Light (1)

Light the hall with fire,

Light firecrackers,
eat dumplings,
Set off fireworks,
Watch the Spring Festival Gala,
Beat the waist drum,
Walking on stilts,
Yangko dance...

The Spring Festival in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s was much more lively than in later generations.

Of course, similar to later times, these excitements were mainly concentrated in villages and towns, as well as some small county towns;
In larger cities, although there are constant sounds of firecrackers and fireworks everywhere, for some reason, the few pedestrians and closed shops always give people a feeling of coldness and strangeness.

Those who are curled up in warm houses, chatting happily and watching TV may not have much feeling about this;
But some people, on the night of New Year's Eve, facing this seemingly prosperous and cold city, could not help but feel a sense of desolation that this world does not belong to them...

………………

On Sanba Road, there is a small shop that is still open.

"Hey, hey, don't worry, I'm living well here, I have plenty of clothes to wear and enough food to eat... The boss treats us well, we're having a New Year's Eve dinner at the construction site tonight, and he even has fat chicken and fat fish!"

"There is a lot of work on the construction site, and the boss is busy rushing the work. I can't come back for the New Year this year. After a while, when the work is done, I will rush back to celebrate your birthday... I will buy you a new coat by then, and it will definitely be festive... You don't know, the clothes in the shopping malls here in Texas are very beautiful, I will choose one for you by then, and you will look very energetic when you wear it!"

After chattering for three minutes, Yang Guangcai reluctantly ended the call to the village and carefully hung up the white receiver.

"Boss, how much is it?"

Yang Guangcai looked at the fat-faced boss with a slightly uneasily look, then squeezed his hands a little guiltily.

The boss, who was watching the Spring Festival Gala on a small black and white seven-inch TV, skillfully took the landline phone from the cement window, glanced at the time on it, and then glanced at him lightly: "Three minutes and seven seconds, seven seconds over, count it as four minutes... eight dollars!"

Eight, eight bucks! ?

Although he knew that phone bills were extremely expensive these days, Yang Guangcai was still shocked by the number.

His lips trembled for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he still lowered his head in frustration. Then, under the defensive look of his boss, he unbuttoned his dirty ant blue shirt and took out a small plastic bag from the rough and worn sweater that had several holes in it.

Looking at the few lonely bills in the plastic bag, Yang Guangcai gritted his teeth and finally handed over the only ten-dollar bill in the bag.

The boss took the banknote and glanced at it, finding that it was not damaged, so he skillfully took out a bill from the drawer and slapped it on the outside of the cement platform. Then he reached out and pulled it, and as the wooden window fell, the small shop, which originally had only one window, was half closed, leaving only a faint yellow light like old urine slanting through the dim street.

Seeing this, Yang Guangcai just smiled bitterly, silently put the two dollars carefully into the plastic bag, and then stuffed it back into the torn sweater.

Although the word "glory" is in his name, Yang Guangcai's life at the age of nearly 30 is really not glorious at all.

Like most rural men in Qi and Lu, he spent his first twenty-eight years in a cycle of digging the land, going hungry, digging the land, and going hungry.

For someone like him whose family only has one and a half acres of dry land and a small mud house, it is already lucky that he is not frozen or starved to death. Therefore, it is normal that he has not been able to find a wife until now.

He actually had no complaints about this. His ancestors had suffered for dozens of generations, and it seemed that there was nothing wrong with his generation continuing to suffer.

Living itself is an extremely difficult thing. No woman is willing to suffer with him, and no one is willing to take care of his old mother who has a limp in her right leg. He can fully understand this.

But he couldn't understand why the big boss wouldn't pay him even though it had been agreed upon in the first place?

He had obviously worked very hard. Even though his left little finger was broken by a hammer while he was chiseling stone last month, he didn't say a word and continued to finish the work. He also didn't ask his boss for any work injury compensation. So why didn't the boss pay him his wages?

What he could not understand even more was that such a big boss, who usually wore a suit and drove a car, had delayed paying his wages for more than three months. Every time he said, he would pay him all at the end of the year and would also give him a big red envelope... But why would such a big boss suddenly run away just before the New Year?
He wanted to save this money to treat his mother's illness and to repair the walls and roof of the old house!
Why would such a big boss suddenly run away?

Thinking of his old mother who could never get up from the kang and shivered in a tattered quilt in the drafty room, Yang Guangcai felt choked up.

But he can't go back. He can't go back until he makes money!
Besides, the one and a half acres of dry land in the family has been contracted to Jiao Mazi from the same village. What else can he do when he goes back except waste the limited cornmeal at home?

Thinking of this, Yang Guangcai touched his armpit in confusion, where there was a thin plastic bag.

17 yuan, 3 cents.

No, it's only 9 yuan now.

He counted his remaining assets very clearly.

This money was left over from my first month’s salary… from the first 67 yuan salary I ever received in my life.

God had pity on him. It was the first time in his life that he received so much money. His hands were shaking.
After carefully hiding the money in his sweater, he even began to fantasize about the happy scene of returning to the village with several hundred yuan after finishing his work, curing his mother's illness, renovating the shabby house, and then the mother and daughter happily sitting on the kang and eating white flour every meal.

Because of this scene that made him laugh out loud several times in his dreams, he had not only worked the hardest among his co-workers for the past four months, but was also the most stingy with himself.

When others get together to play cards, he does not join in;

When others get together to drink, he says he doesn’t know how to;

Others are greedy and want to collect money to buy a roast chicken to improve their lives, but he said he doesn't like to eat meat;
When others wanted to try out dance halls and video studios after receiving their first month's salary, he resisted the urge.

It can be said that apart from daily necessities such as toothpaste and soap, plus the medical expenses for his last finger injury, he has not spent a penny more in these four months!

Just to fulfill that dream!
but……

Why did the big boss suddenly run away?
This honest man who had lived for twenty-nine years felt for the first time so clearly the malice of the world towards him.

So hungry!

Yang Guangcai tightened his belt and his dirty and old clothes which were not enough to protect him from the cold. He felt a strong sense of confusion in his heart.

Ever since the big boss ran away, he and his fellow workers could no longer enjoy free work meals. Even though he could stay in the shed that had not yet been demolished every day, wrapped in a tattered quilt, but without the warmth of other people, life was still extremely difficult for him with his daily food intake of three corn steamed buns.

Moreover, everything in the city was extremely expensive. The price of the cheapest steamed corn bread had risen to six cents each, and the tap water had been cut off in the shed, so he had to pay for water if he wanted to drink it. He only had 9 yuan left on him, and he had no confidence that he could survive until spring, and even less confidence that he could find a new job after that.

Why is this happening?

Should honest people be bullied?
Should honest people be deceived?

Don’t honest people deserve to live?
I looked at the gorgeous fireworks in the night sky a little absent-mindedly. In the night sky where snowflakes were gradually floating, the colorful fireworks seemed more and more out of this world.

Yang Guangcai touched the small plastic bag under his armpit, and a feeling of sadness surged involuntarily in his heart.

He did not regret spending eight dollars to call his mother to let her know he was safe and then to trick her.

Many times, the countryside is not the pure land that outsiders think it is. A mother who lost her son is certainly bullied, but if the villagers knew that her son was not doing well outside, they would also make things difficult for him.

For Yang Guangcai, the only thing he cared about in his long and tormenting 29 years of life was his lame and sickly old mother. On the special day of New Year's Eve, he took out half of his remaining money to make that three minutes and seven seconds phone call. He did not regret it... not at all.

but……

How much does such a beautiful big firework cost!

Seeing a few drunken diners coming from a big hotel from afar, Yang Guangcai felt even more sad.

Why can these ruffian-like young men wear such warm and fashionable leather jackets?
Why could they walk out of such a luxurious hotel openly with such a girl who looked so dishonest in her arms?

Why can they ride in their own cars?

That's a foreign car that costs tens of thousands of dollars. Even if the boss didn't owe me my salary, I would never be able to buy one in my lifetime even if I worked myself to death!
I'm afraid that with the money for a wheel, I can cure all my lame mother's illnesses, right?

What the hell is this world!
Thinking of the things that several co-workers discussed last month with red eyes after getting drunk in great disappointment, Yang Guangcai stared blankly at the two cars driving away in an S shape, his eyes slightly narrowed.

perhaps……

The workers’ decision was right!
Subconsciously, he touched his lower back and found that the chisel he used for self-defense was still there. Yang Guangcai took a deep breath, inquired about it, and quickly walked towards Xiangfang.

In this hazy and dim city, at the end of this road full of closed shops, only a corner in the distance seemed to still be shining with a faint light...

………………

After half an hour.

Yang Guangcai stood at the door of the Momobaichao NO:49 franchise store.

The dense crowd in the store certainly scared him, but it also made him more certain that he had come to the right place. Humph!
Business is so good, the boss must be rich!

Moreover, he still refuses to close the business on New Year's Eve. This boss must be the same as the big boss I met this year, a black-hearted capitalist who doesn't care about the lives of his workers and whose intestines are so stinky that even dogs wouldn't eat him!

I am doing justice for the heavens!
Taking a deep breath, Yang Guangcai was wondering whether to walk around the area first and wait until most of the customers had left before coming back...

A female voice with a southwestern accent sounded: "Are you here to eat blind box hot pot?"

Blind box hot pot?

what is that?
Yang Guangcai was stunned, but saw a short middle-aged woman directly stretched out her hand and pulled him into the store: "If you want to eat hot pot, just eat hot pot, why are you shy? There are seats in the store... Come in quickly, it's snowing outside, you are standing outside, what if you catch a cold!"

As she spoke, the middle-aged woman, who was estimated to be less than 1.6 meters tall, let out a roar that was totally inconsistent with her body shape: "Move aside, I don't see anyone coming in! Be more conscious and squeeze in if you can make room!"

As the middle-aged woman yelled, everyone in the restaurant subconsciously looked around them. In less than three seconds, a man at a table not far from the door raised his hand and said, "I can still make room for you, buddy, come over and squeeze in!"

Yang Guangcai was confused by this series of accidents and quickly pushed the middle-aged woman's hand away: "No, boss, this hot pot...how much is it?"

He originally wanted to reject this extremely unfamiliar solicitation, but his hungry stomach was stimulated by the strange aroma in the room and immediately rebelled.

Never mind, fill your stomach first before working!

Although this is a bit unkind, but... at worst I can just take less!

But out of a strange sense of reserve, he didn't want to not even pay for the meal before taking action, so after realizing his body's irresistible hunger for food, he originally wanted to ask what this blind box hot pot was, but subconsciously asked how much it cost.

If you don't have enough money...

At worst, I can just wander around outside and come back when the store is about to close!

Yang Guangcai thought so.

Unexpectedly, when the middle-aged woman heard him asking about the price, she just looked at him strangely and said, "Isn't it written on the sign at the door? Didn't you see it?"

Thinking of the large handwritten sign at the door of the store, Yang Guangcai shrank his neck in embarrassment: "Well... I can't read."

Among this generation of farmers, the proportion of illiterate and semi-literate people is frighteningly high. Therefore, after coming to the city, facing the ubiquitous billboards and posters, he felt inferior all the time because of this.

The middle-aged woman heard this, but she didn't show any contempt on her face. She just said nonchalantly: "Oh, don't worry, the hot pot tonight is not expensive, 50 cents per person, I guarantee you will be full!"

Fifty cents?
Yang Guangcai was shocked. The price of steamed corn bread had risen to six cents each, but this hotpot was only 5 cents each?
Just as he was looking at the middle-aged woman in front of him with a look of suspicion, thinking there was some kind of trap, the middle-aged woman in an orange apron impatiently dragged him to the table: "Hurry up and sit down... Do you have any dietary taboos?... Is there anything you can't eat?... Nothing? Then I'll serve the food!"

Seeing Yang Guangcai shaking his head in confusion, the middle-aged woman brought a small stool over neatly, pushed him onto the stool, and rushed towards the kitchen with a dazed look on her face.

Yang Guangcai finally came to his senses after swallowing his saliva at the steaming nine-grid hot pot on the low table. He turned his head to look at the group of people busying around in the transparent kitchen, and then whispered to the man who raised his hand just now: "Um, second brother, I want to ask, what is this box hot pot?"

The man next to him was wearing a brand new down jacket. He glanced at Yang Guangcai and showed no disdain for the dirty clothes of his new neighbor. “Oh, this guy should be in Momo Baichao for the first time, right?”

Yang Guangcai rolled his throat nervously and subconsciously touched his lower back, but stopped halfway through, then nodded honestly: "Yeah."

Seeing this, the man laughed and said, "This blind box hot pot is just like the blind box fast food they launched a few months ago. It is to deal with the food that was not sold out on the same day at a low price. Simply put... we eat whatever they put in... The only difference is that blind box fast food gets cold easily, and even with the thermos bucket, it can't last more than an hour, so they simply turned fast food into blind box hot pot for more than a month. Do you understand?"

Blind box fast food?

When Yang Guangcai heard this similar unfamiliar word, he was stunned for a moment, then he began to understand.

After all this fuss, they are just selling leftovers. No wonder they are so cheap.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the man finished speaking, another man at the same table became unhappy: "Hey, hey, hey, buddy, what are you talking about? What do you mean by selling their unsold leftovers at a low price... Do you have any conscience when you say that?"

As he spoke, the man slapped his chopsticks fiercely. "Are you blind? Don't you see how popular Mo Mo Bai Chao's business is every day? With their business like this, can they leave you some leftovers? It's good enough if they don't sell out before 5:30!"

After giving him a defiant look, the man turned his gaze to Yang Guangcai: “Brother, I am at least a few years older than you, but you are so shameless to call yourself your elder brother… I tell you, whether it is the blind box fast food in the past or the blind box hot pot now, they are all specially prepared for poor people like us. The food and ingredients are all fresh, so you can eat as much as you want… I wouldn’t do such a chilling thing as eating leftovers!”

"Humph, selling leftovers at a low price? Why don't you find me another restaurant like them that will serve us vegetables and meat for only 50 cents!"

With the man's opening words, the rest of the people at the table also started to denounce: "Yes, yes, they are taking care of us in the name of selling at a low price, how come it becomes such a dirty thing in your mouth? I have come to Mo Mo Bai Chao to eat more than once or twice, and I can see clearly that these ingredients were delivered at four or five in the afternoon, and they are intact and fresh!"

A ruffian-like young man at the same table stared at the man with an unfriendly look, holding the chopsticks in his hand slightly backwards, as if he was going to poke him in the next second: "Brother, we may be poor and miserable, but we should speak with conscience... Miss Li usually speaks in a threatening manner, and she looks down on us Texans, but can't you see how they actually feel about us?"

"How many times has the company fined them for exceeding the food supply limit?... You are still saying these sarcastic words here, are you a Texan?... No wonder Miss Li looks down on us Texans... Bah, I'm embarrassed to sit at the same table with you!"

As he spoke, the young man stared at the expensive down jacket on the man with disdain and raised his chin towards him: "Damn it, Mo Mo Baichao started this blind box hot pot to take care of us cheap people who have no food to eat, but ended up letting rich people like you get in... What's the matter, buddy, you really saved up your wealth and came here to take advantage of others' kindness!"

"Hey, are you still looking at me? What are you looking at me for... Not convinced? Why don't we go out and practice together?"

Seeing the young man looking for trouble, the man laughed bitterly and immediately threw a fist to beg for mercy: "My dear brothers, I spoke without thinking just now and caused you to misunderstand. Sorry! Sorry!... So, I'll order a bottle of wine as an apology to you all!"

Although his words were full of apologies, looking at the man's expression, he did not look afraid at all. It was obvious that he was not afraid of the provocation from the young man sitting at the same table.

Seeing this, the young man spat fiercely: "Who the hell cares about you treating me to a drink? I can tell at a glance that this is not a place you often come to...Drinking here, do you want to be beaten by Miss Li with a broom, right!?"

The others laughed when they heard this: "Yeah, no matter who you are, Miss Li's broom is very good at hitting people, so don't dare to drink here!"

Seeing the man admit his mistake, the matter was just covered.

If an outsider saw this scene, his jaw would surely drop in shock.

The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s were a time of bravery and aggressiveness, and the situation was even more serious in the northern region. No matter whether it was New Year's Eve or not, if an argument really broke out, not to mention the young man sitting at the same table who was obviously not doing a legitimate business, even if it was other people, if they got angry, they would definitely use all kinds of tricks on you.

Therefore, it is unknown what kind of superb martial arts skills Miss Li, who is less than 1.6 meters tall, has, but it is certain that these people who are obviously regular customers are very afraid of making her angry.

Just when Yang Guangcai was hesitating whether to ask who this Miss Li was, he saw the young man who had just looked down on everyone suddenly jumped up, and then greeted him with a flattering face: "Aunt, I'll do it, I'll do it... There are so many things and the ground is slippery, don't fall!"

Yang Guangcai turned his head and saw Miss Li walking towards him from the dense crowd, carrying two large enamel drawers.

This is a type of enamel drawer box that was very popular in the 1970s and 1980s. It was once widely used by family members to deliver meals to hospitalized patients. Up to five or six layers of food boxes were stacked together to form a barrel. It was easy to carry and hold food, and it did not take up much space. It was a convenient artifact.

And it is obvious that the two drawers that Miss Li mentioned are the largest ones, estimated to be three liters. Let alone filling them up, even if they are only 60% filled, there will definitely be a lot of things.

Glancing at the streaks of water on the ground left by the melting snow, Miss Li glared at the young man in anger: "Get lost, I'm not so old that I can't even walk... Li Bo, you unlucky kid, where are the soldiers? Why don't you call them over? The ground is so dirty, if they don't come over to sweep it, what if the guests fall down?"

This may sound a bit too arrogant to outsiders, but after hearing it, the young man looked at the middle-aged woman whose height was only up to his chest with a bitter face and said, "Miss Li, it's embarrassing for the soldiers to come."

The middle-aged woman glared at him, then kicked the young man in the knee fiercely: "If they don't come, why don't you just pick them up? The ground is so dirty, and these seven or eight-year-old kids don't come to sweep it, and you ask an old woman like me to do it!"

Yang Guangcai was listening at the side and became angry.

He relies on his wealth to treat people like slaves. On New Year's Eve, he even doesn't let go of children who are only seven or eight years old. What an evil capitalist!
If I were that young man, and was beaten and scolded in public like this on New Year's Eve, I would definitely slap him in the face!
Unexpectedly, the young man who had been so unruly before stood still like a quail after being kicked. Not only did he not fight back, he also carefully supported the middle-aged woman, as if he was afraid that she would lose her balance and fall.

"Aunt, I really called them, but they refused to come. They said... they said they have found a way to make a living now, and they don't have the face to come here to continue eating and drinking for free. Otherwise, if the inspection department sees you, you will be fined by the company again... And Niu Wa and the others are not having an easy time now. If it really doesn't work, can you ask Niu Wa and the others to come and help you sweep the floor now?"

The young man's face was full of confusion, and he looked a bit shy like a grown girl.

The middle-aged woman was furious: "Bullshit! Would I be afraid of those girls from the Inspection Department who haven't even grown all their hair yet? Would I be afraid of being fined by them?"

"Hurry up and get back here and drag those bastards out of here... As for those unlucky bastards of Niu Wa... There are so many scavengers in the store, can't I send them to work?"

Yang Guangcai looked at this scene, and then looked at the nearby tables who were constantly making a fuss and asking the young people to call the group of children over. He was really dumbfounded.

What's happening here?
Why……

I can’t seem to understand it myself!

------

PS: You guys are really ruthless. You got 43 monthly tickets in one day.

Well, it seems like I can't avoid adding more chapters. Even though I can't finish today's homework, I will add another chapter for you tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)