The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 121: Consolation Gifts

Jiang Cheng and Zhou Lingying came to the bookstore to look for books they were interested in. Jiang Cheng didn't care about anything else and looked for the four great classics first.

In the 1970s, there was actually no such thing as the Four Great Classics. It was Feng Menglong who first called Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, and Jin Ping Mei the "Four Great Classics."

During the Republic of China period, they were "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "The Scholars" and "A Dream of Red Mansions".

The concept of the Four Great Classics was not coined until the 1980s. Now when Jiang Cheng goes to a bookstore and asks to buy the Four Great Classics, the librarian doesn't even know which ones they are.

Jiang Cheng asked the librarian here to help him find the books according to their titles. Even though Jiang Cheng knew the four major names - Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber - since he was a child, he had never actually read the books.

Even as a man, he still thinks that "Dream of Red Mansions" is something for women to read. He has never even watched the TV series. I have only watched the TV series of others.

Zhou Lingying chose two volumes of Mao's Selected Works and two novels with revolutionary content, and as for the others she picked up a lot of picture books.

However, comic books are comic books, but they are not just for children. Many comic books have stories. A comic book is a good story, and young people will also read it when they are bored.

If you choose a good book, you have to pay for it. Books in this era are really not cheap compared to wages. A copy of "Water Margin" is divided into two volumes, each volume costs more than two yuan. Other books have more volumes. Anyway, a set of classics has eleven volumes. Including the ones selected by Zhou Lingying, the total cost is more than thirty-four yuan.

A picture book costs just over ten cents, and buying ten costs just over a dollar. Other books are more expensive.

Books are so expensive. In fact, there is a group of very wealthy people in this era, and they are literary creators.

In 1950 and 1960, when everyone was still using the Big Black Ten, the writer Liu Shaotang published four books and earned 18,000 yuan in royalties. He paid 5% of his royalties to the party, but no taxes were paid.

But Jiang Cheng just thought about it. Even if he didn't have a portable space, he wouldn't dare to write anything in this era. It's very likely that if he wasn't careful, he wouldn't make any money, and his life might be even worse than Zhou Lingying's life as an educated youth.

It would take at least six years for him to write something, but after six years, it would be only for his own interests and hobbies. After the opening up, Jiang Cheng would let himself go.

Others spend a month's salary on ten books. No wonder everyone rents books instead of buying them. Borrowing a book costs only two cents a day, and it only costs a little more than a dime to finish reading it in a week.

But if you calculate carefully, excluding those who read the whole book within a few days, a book that costs two yuan a copy will only pay for itself after being rented out for more than 100 days. The profit from renting books is not low.

On the way back from the bookstore, I bought a scale at the supply and marketing cooperative. This is something that few people buy because there is no individual trade.

But some units and professionals like doctors will buy it and call it medicinal materials or something.

A scale is not cheap, even a small one, because the wood used for the scale has some requirements. In addition, the craftsmanship must be good and accurate. In addition, the weight is made of iron, so even a small scale costs several dollars.

Some large scales in the supply and marketing cooperative that can weigh hundreds of kilograms may cost dozens of yuan. I bought the scale now to sell lotus root powder to my neighbor, but I may need to weigh some heavy things in the future, so I bought a scale for more than ten yuan.

It is neither too big nor too small, and can weigh up to 30 kilograms. I keep it at home as a backup and can borrow it from neighbors when they need it.

After returning home, Zhou Lingying arranged the books she had bought on the desk, and she also had to wash a bunch of clothes for Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng went out with a processed wild duck. He told the people in the street office yesterday that he would go to find Director Li and Li An.

We got three wild ducks back yesterday, and we'll have one at home today. Unless we pickle the rest and dry them in the sun, we'll have to find a way to eat them today. It would be nice to give one to Director Li of the Street Office.

Don't really use people to move forward and not backward. Through Zhou Lingying's feces throwing incident, it is necessary to build a good relationship with the street office. Others may want to get close to Director Li but cannot.

Jiang Cheng brought a slaughtered duck to the subdistrict office, which was a simple two-story building with very simple facilities. It was nothing like the office environment of later generations.

Moreover, when you come to the street office, only people will come up to you and kindly ask you what you want. If you just say you want to see Director Li, no one will stop you and ask you what you want before letting you see him.

In later generations, it would be difficult for you to meet a small cadre. If the other party didn’t want to see you, someone would definitely stop you.

I went up the stairs to the second floor and entered the room. It was the same as when I came a month ago. There were several people in the office. Director Li only had a single desk to work at, but no single office.

"Jiang Cheng, why are you here? Why do you bring things with you?" Director Li immediately stood up and greeted Jiang Cheng when he saw him come in.

"Director Li, I should have come earlier, but I was so busy when I just started working that I forgot about it. This is a wild duck, and it's quite fat. I shot it with a gun over at Qinglan Lake. You have to accept something you shot yourself." Jiang Cheng said. No matter what kind of person Director Li is, there are other people in the office, and if you give a gift with money, basically no one will accept it.

Moreover, in this situation, Director Li was already considered restrained by calling Jiang Cheng by his name directly. After all, after the last drink and dinner, they had been calling each other "Big Brother Li" and "Brother Jiang".

Director Li accepted the duck. It was not a burden to accept a wild duck. Besides, he was the director of the subdistrict office, so he had a friend. More importantly, even if Jiang Cheng sent something better, with his identity as a driver, no one would investigate the source of his things.

Director Li was very happy to know that Jiang Cheng was just visiting him and didn't need his help for anything else. Although Jiang Cheng was not a cadre, his status as a driver was enough to be equal to him, and even better than him in society. So Director Li pulled him aside to complain.

The affairs of the street office are too complicated and the workload is too heavy. The key is that sometimes we often feel powerless.

Changcheng is an old revolutionary base, and it was also the site of the August 1st Uprising. There are many revolutionary martyrs in such places, including many five-guarantee households whose men and children were all beaten up, or martyrs' families and veterans.

Although these people can receive some benefits every month, almost everyone has to take some things to comfort them. There are several street offices in Changcheng, and each street office is responsible for the affairs of a certain area.

What Director Li is worried about now is how to get something for those who need comfort, usually food, cooking oil and cloth, not in large quantities, after all, they are comfort items.

But it remains the same year after year. If you want to make progress, you still have to do something new. Li An is still young. If he wants to make progress, he has to surpass the street offices in other districts.

"Director Li, here are the fish. Do you want some?"

Seeing Director Li was worried, Jiang Cheng tried to ask him. The easiest thing to catch in his space was fish, and there were also abundant freshwater resources.

After returning from the reclamation farm, his funds were less than one-third. If the street office wanted his fish, he could earn it back in a short time if he ordered in large quantities.

(End of this chapter)