1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 105: Collecting rags with two sisters
"Collecting junk~"

"I collect monkey stamps, old items, old tables and chairs..."

"Collecting junk~"

In the early morning, the cold wind blew gently in the alleys of Beijing, and it was chilly on the face. Cheng Kaiyan faced the wind, pedaled the tricycle, and slowly turned in the narrow alleys, occasionally tilting his neck and shouting a few words loudly.

Passersby sometimes cast curious glances at me.

Cheng Kaiyan didn't care. He was thick-skinned. After collecting the monkey stamps yesterday, the hundred yuan he had was gone again.

I went back home and tried to persuade Xu Yuxiu, and finally I got a hundred yuan after my lips were worn out.

He was planning to walk the streets to see if he could pick up some good stuff.

However, Xu Yuxiu was dissatisfied with his spending like water and angrily scolded him: "Who spends money like this? One hundred yuan can't be managed in ten days. This is the last hundred yuan. If you want more, it's gone. You're a waste of money!"

Cheng Kaiyan took the money and exchanged it for a simple military coat, big-toed cotton shoes, and cotton trousers of ordinary people, focusing on being simple and unpretentious. She also borrowed a tricycle from Aunt Xiao in the courtyard, and dragged Zhan Xinyu, who had nothing to do at home and wanted to watch TV every day, out to collect junk.

Well, collecting junk.

Cheng Kaiyan pedaled the tricycle with great effort and shouted.

Suddenly I looked back and saw two little girls about fifteen or sixteen years old sitting on the back of the tricycle. They were wearing hats and hiding their faces in their knees. They were shivering like ostriches in the cold wind and the sight of passers-by, for fear that their faces would be seen.

"Call now! You two little girls, this is to exercise your thick skin. Look how thin-skinned you are. Zhan Xinyu, hurry up and shout. You should set an example and take the lead!"

Cheng Kaiyan was immediately annoyed. He was pedaling the tricycle with great effort, carrying two grown people behind him, and shouting at the same time. He was exhausted.

These two little girls are just pretending to be dead in the back.

"Brother Yan, can we be the same as you? We still have to save our dignity. Is this what you call doing big things? World Resource Recycling Specialist?"

Zhan Xinyu buried her head in her knees and shouted in a muffled voice, her tone full of shame and humiliation.

Yesterday, Cheng Kaiyan told Zhan Xinyu that he wanted to do something big, like become a world resource recycling commissioner to supervise the resource utilization rate of the people of Beijing.

In short, she said a lot of high-sounding words, and she, Zhan Xinyu, was badly deceived. She also called her school deskmate and good friend Song Wan.

She was excited to get started, but the cold reality made her heart drop.
He's actually a junk collector?

Oh my god, how could it be a junk collector? I brought Wan Wan with me.

When Zhan Xinyu thought about the boast she made in front of her good friend Song Wan, she felt so ashamed that she wanted to dig out a three-bedroom apartment with her little feet in her snow boots.

"Young man, let me tell you, your way of thinking is wrong. What's wrong with collecting rags? Back then, Shi Chuanxiang was just a night soil collector, but he didn't meet the Chairman. Even if you collect rags, you can still be like Shi Chuanxiang in the future."

Cheng Kaiyan spoke righteously and without blushing or beating her heart, she did the PUA.

"Brother Yan, you are really the same as what the lady in the courtyard said..."

"What?" Cheng Kaiyan gave him an unfriendly look.

"I mean the same thing... noble and selfless!"

Zhan Xinyu was glared at and quickly changed her words.

"Hehehe~ Xinyu, it's so interesting to see you being angry but not being able to speak out."

Song Wan, who was wearing a red and white flowered jacket and a ponytail, suddenly laughed.

It was the first time she saw Zhan Xinyu being humiliated. It was really not easy.

You know, this girl is fearless in school, and even boys don't dare to bully her.

It was because this brother named Cheng Kaiyan had protected her since she was a child, from elementary school to junior high school, and he would beat anyone who dared to bully her. As a result, she became a person that no one in the school dared to provoke.

Under the current college entrance examination system, when students reach high school, many of their classmates are people they have known since elementary and junior high school. Only those like Song Wan who transferred from other schools are new classmates.

This made Song Wan, the new classmate, very curious about what kind of person this brother mentioned by his good friend Zhan Xinyu was.

I have never had the chance to meet him, so this time I finally fulfilled my wish.

A very different person indeed.

"Okay! How dare you laugh at me!"

Zhan Xinyu immediately started to play with Song Wan without giving in.

"Ouch, stop scratching, it's itchy..."

"Haha! I'll let you laugh at me."

Suddenly, silver bells rang, streams gurgled, and the clear, sweet voices of the girls spread from the alley to far away.

……

"Little comrade, you're collecting junk, right? Do you want any plastic bottles or waste paper boxes?"

Passing by a large courtyard, the big red door creaked and an old lady leaned out and asked.

"Yes, why not?"

Although Cheng Kaiyan collects old items, he is not just talking about collecting waste for fun, he really does collect them. A pound of waste paper costs five cents, a pound of plastic bottles costs six cents and a half, and the price of copper and iron is as low as ten cents.

There was a legendary figure in the scrap collection in the 1985s. In 15, 2000-year-old Qiao Baofeng from Gushi, Henan Province, went north to collect scraps and earned yuan in the first month, which was a considerable income at the time.

As he got deeper into the scrap recycling industry, his income increased year by year. In just three years, he had accumulated a fortune of one million and became the local "junk king".

It can be seen that you can really get good things by collecting waste these days.

"Children, come into the house and pick up junk! I will sell the scraps I collected today to buy you some delicious food!"

Cheng Kaiyan waved his hand and led the two into the yard.

This lady has collected a lot of things, which are piled all over the floor of the storage room.

"Comrade, it's a good thing you're here. I was just planning to clear out this room and put a bed in it."

The old lady smiled as bright as a chrysanthemum, and looked at them as if she had found her savior.

"It's fine if you clear it out. This house is not big. Give me one dollar."

"Forget it then."

When the old lady heard that money was required, she immediately gave up the idea.

There are a lot of things in the utility room, but fortunately Cheng Kaiyan has help.

Let these two lovely little girls fully demonstrate their spirit of not fearing hardship or fatigue, and put on gloves to gently pick up the waste paper and bottles.

Ten minutes later, the job was done. I threw it into a snakeskin bag and put it on the scale.

Fortunately, Zhan Xinyu and Song Wan knew how to use the scale. After they hung the snakeskin bag on the hook, they reported, "Two catties and three ounces!"

"How much is two pounds and three ounces, little comrade?"

"Eight points."

The old lady frowned when she heard this, thinking it was a little too little. She suddenly asked, "Young comrade, do you want to keep this? It's a pen holder, and it was left to my grandfather."

"Okay, bring it over and have a look. We don't want everything."

Cheng Kaiyan's tone was neither salty nor bland, but she was delighted in her heart. It turned out that collecting junk could really bring you good stuff these days.

After a while, the old lady came out of the house with a black object in her hand. She handed it over and said, "Look at how much it's worth. This is something the old man left behind. It's been many years."

Cheng Kaiyan took it and took a closer look. It was the size of a palm, black all over, with a smooth and delicate surface, and a very faint scent of ink and wood. It looked like a rosewood pen holder.

"It's just a broken pen holder. There's a piece missing from the bottom. It's worth a few cents at most."

Cheng Kaiyan said directly.

"A few cents? Just this much? I thought it was more than ten yuan! Are you kidding me, young comrade?" the old lady said doubtfully.

"Go to the BJ Antiques Store and take a look. There are a lot of pen holders. Which one is not better than your black one? Or is there any with a signature?"

Cheng Kaiyan tossed the pen holder up and down, not caring at all that it fell.

This made the old lady feel a little guilty. A few cents is still money, so she gritted her teeth and said, "Little comrade, how much is it?"

"Eighty cents."

"make a deal."

After exchanging the money and the goods, the three of them left the compound.

Cheng Kaiyan was pedaling a tricycle in front, humming a little tune.

The two girls behind me were sitting in the car, whispering to each other.

"Xiao Yu, here's some candy for you. Look, it's White Rabbit candies, and they're in an iron box!" Song Wan took out a handful of candy from her pocket. These were two boxes of candy that her eldest brother bought for her during the Chinese New Year.

Because her elder brother's poems were included in "Today", she gave him a royalty of 26 yuan.

"Thank you, Wanwan. Give me a kiss."

Zhan Xinyu quickly took it, put it in her pocket, unwrapped the candy wrapper, stuffed it into her mouth, and immediately showed a happy smile.

"Hate."

Song Wan pushed her mouth open and asked curiously, "What is your brother doing at home now? He actually brought us here to collect junk? Isn't he so weird?"
My second brother is a college student at Beijing Normal University, and my eldest brother is a professor at Beijing Normal University...! Xinyu, what does your brother do?"

When he said the latter part, Song Wan raised his chin proudly.

"What's so great about that? My brother is also a teacher at BJ Normal University."

Zhan Xinyu curled her lips and muttered.

"My brother is a professor!"

Song Wan emphasized again.

When the little girl heard this, she was dissatisfied. "What's a professor? My brother is a great writer! He can also write songs!"

"I do not believe."

"Then let me sing a song for you. There is a girl in the village named Xiaofang. She is pretty and kind..."

"Isn't this Xiaofang?"

Song Wan's face was startled for a moment, and she turned back to glance at Cheng Kaiyan who was riding a tricycle.

"Yes, he wrote it, and there's also the fragrant grass."

"Oh, I haven't seen it yet."

……

"You guys keep arguing, I'm going to go buy something."

Passing by the street, Cheng Kaiyan ran to the newsstand and bought a copy of Yanjing Daily. The review written by her aunt was probably published today.

As expected, I saw the article "On Survival and Legal Spirit from the Perspective of Grass" written by Jiang Ting, a professor of the Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University: "Governing by law and enforcing the law is a truth that everyone generally believes.

But reality and ideals are often at odds with each other. After losing their parents one after another, the brother and sister who depended on each other in the grass were forced to take the road of breaking the law and rely on stealing to maintain their survival...

Survive or obey the law?

This must be a point that many people are very confused about after reading this novel.

This is also what puzzles me. The development of legal theories in currently developed international countries is more advanced than that in China, but it still cannot solve this kind of problem.

This is a social issue, not a legal issue.

Our society needs to establish a more complete protection system...

I would like to end with one sentence: I know that I have no place to stay in this world, but who are you to judge my soul? "

……

After reading it, Cheng Kaiyan couldn't help but admire her aunt's broad perspective on the issue, and folded the newspaper and put it in her pocket.

With a quick glance, I saw rows of grayish-white, short, plump porcelain bottles on the bed next to the newsstand.

A piece of blue and white paper is covered on the mouth of the bottle and held in place with an elastic band. "Honey Yogurt" is written on the paper, with a cow drawn in the middle.

yogurt!

And this thing?

Cheng Kaiyan was amazed.

In fact, this thing has been sold since the 1960s. It is also packaged in porcelain jars. A jar weighs half a pound. Add a spoonful of sugar when eating. Only wealthy cadres' families can afford it.

Now that reform and opening up have taken place, this snack has become affordable for most Beijingers.

This was the heyday of yogurt, and there were more than 30 different factories in BJ producing yogurt in porcelain pots.

Because of its extremely short shelf life and the need to be refrigerated, yogurt in porcelain jars is often placed at newsstands, grocery stores, and cold drink stands on the streets, and delivered daily by milkmen on tricycles.

"Three bottles of yogurt, please."

Cheng Kaiyan glanced at the two girls not far away and said to the stall owner.

"Two cents a can, drink it here, and give me the bottle when you're done."

"Come here!"

Cheng Kaiyan waved her hand, and two little girls came running over happily. Then the three of them squatted happily on the curb, holding a large porcelain bottle in their arms, watching the people coming and going, with a straw in their mouths.

suck suck~
Sour and sweet, very delicious!

……

The whole morning was spent in the comparison and chat between the two little girls, and Cheng Kaiyan collected more than ten kilograms of waste in the process.

A few small items, a small jewelry box, a rosewood pen holder, a paperweight, and a small porcelain bowl from the Ming Dynasty.

Take it all to the recycling station and sell the waste.

Today I spent a total of 4.2 yuan, and sold more than ten pounds of scrap including iron and copper for more than 2 yuan.

"Call it a day! Ten cents per person."

"Goodbye."

Song Wan was sent to the station by Cheng Kaiyan, and then he watched the two people riding the tricycle gradually going away, feeling a little reluctant.

Even though it's just junk collecting, it's actually quite fun.

Song Wan thought about it, then turned and walked into a bookstore.

"Comrade clerk, do you have any fragrant herbs? I want to buy one."

……

Dormitory for old teachers of Beijing Normal University.

Song Wan went upstairs with disheveled hair and a red face, then she opened the door and sat down on the sofa.

"Ouch! Where have you been? You're all dirty and sweaty."

When Song Ma saw the marks on her body, she immediately screamed in a shrill voice.

"I...I went out to play with my friends."

Song Wan shrank her neck. She didn't dare to say that she was going to collect scraps. Then she looked at her two brothers for help.

"Forget it, it's Chinese New Year."

"That's right, who would beat their kids on New Year's Day?"

Song Jianchun and Song Jianming quickly expressed their support.

"Go get some water, take a shower, and change your clothes!"

"Got it! So annoying."

Song Wan was carried away by Song Ma.

Song Jianming looked at the two people's backs as they walked away and laughed. His status in the family had been rising steadily during this period. He was already a formal teaching assistant and had published two poems in Today, for which he received more than 20 yuan in royalties. He also sold the bicycle ticket he won in the poetry competition for 20 yuan.

For a while, the family had a prosperous year, which made Song Jianming very proud.

He finally made it through, and the road ahead will be much easier.

"Although not as fast as that one..."

When Song Jianming thought of Cheng Kaiyan's face, he suddenly realized something.

He looked down and saw a red book appear in front of him.

He picked it up curiously and flipped through it.

Fragrant Grass, by Cheng Kaiyan.

Song Jianming raised his eyebrows and continued to look down. Slowly, his whole face turned red as blood, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

(End of this chapter)