The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 210 Zhang Yan's Family and Jinan Dough Figurines

In the 1960s and 1970s, being an educated youth was not necessarily a bad thing.

Although the life of the educated youth was hard, there was still hope for success. At least after returning to the city, there would be policy preference and the educated youth would be given priority in arranging jobs. Moreover, the educated youth also had a network of connections, similar to comrades-in-arms.

For someone like Zhou Lingying, it was impossible for her family to arrange for her to go to the countryside, after all, her parents were just ordinary workers. If both of them were not working, and her eldest uncle was away, and they were willing to spend money to take care of him, her second brother might have gone to the countryside too.

If Zhou Lingying did not go to the countryside, with her family's connections, it would not be difficult to arrange an ordinary job for her at a cost in the future.

Zhang Yan in Jinan, on the other hand, comes from a poorer family with a large family. Her father is the only one who works and supports a family of six. Even if a job can be inherited by a son these days, it is impossible for a son to pass it on to a daughter if there is a son in the family.

So Zhang Yan went to be an educated youth, and after seven or eight years, her future might not be too bad. It also depends on fate. In seven or eight years, she will be 25 years old. Young is young, but in this era, if you don't get married at the age of 25, you will be an old maid.

If you find a husband from a town or even a rural area, then the most difficult decision will be whether to stay in the commune for the sake of your husband and children, or to abandon your husband and children and return to the city.

According to Zhang Yan's home address, Jiang Cheng drove from the east area of ​​Jinan to the northwest area.

There are many self-built houses with blue bricks and gray tiles, which are also considered a type of bungalow. Although Zhang Yan's family is poor, they have always been locals in Jinan. Although the house is old, it is their own house and they don't have to pay rent.

In fact, before 1965, some special groups with high incomes, such as literary authors who could earn tens of thousands of yuan in royalties, spent thousands of yuan to buy a whole house with a courtyard to live in, and ordinary houses could actually be bought and sold privately.

It’s just that no one spends money to buy ordinary houses. Everyone is waiting for the government to distribute houses. Who would be stupid enough to spend money to buy a house?

Before Jiang Cheng parked his car on the side of the road to look for Zhang Yan's home, he prepared two hens in the car. When he set out, he didn't have time to contact Zhang Yan. These two chickens were given to Zhang Yan's family, and Jiang Cheng would ask Zhou Lingying to go to her to get them.

I found Zhang Yan’s house number, confirmed it carefully, and then knocked on the door.

In Jinan, the streets are quite cool in the evening, and many people stay at home with their doors closed at around 6 or 7 o'clock.

"I'm coming, wait a minute." There was a knock on the door, and a girl's voice responded from inside the room.

"Hello, Zhang Yan lives here."

Jiang Cheng waited for a while at the door and it opened. It was a little girl who opened the door. She was less than 1.4 meters tall. As for age, Jiang Cheng couldn't tell the age of people of this generation.

This era has too many young people who are mature, and too many middle-aged people and people in their sixties who are similar to those in later generations.

"Zhang Yan is my sister. What are you related to my sister? Why are you looking for her?" the girl replied.

Hearing the little girl say that Zhang Yan is her sister, that place is right. Jiang Cheng took out a photo of Zhang Yan from his pocket and continued, "It's OK if it's your sister. I came from Changcheng and passed by here to bring two chickens to her family."

Zhang Yan's sister took the photo from Jiang Cheng's hand and saw that it was indeed a photo of her sister, taken in a field while she was standing next to rice.

"Dad, Mom. Come quickly. I've asked someone to bring something home." Zhang Yan's sister stood at the door and turned around and shouted loudly inside.

After hearing this, several people came to the living room, almost all of Zhang Yan's family members: Zhang Yan's parents, grandmother, and a younger brother.

Zhang Yan's parents immediately welcomed Jiang Cheng into the living room and asked him to sit down and talk. The living room was also very simple, with only a few stools.

Looking at the clothes of Zhang Yan's family, only Zhang Yan's father's work clothes looked OK. The others were wearing patched clothes and were mostly pale and skinny.

In the family, only Zhang Yan's father has a formal job. Her mother has no job and can only do odd jobs in the street office to supplement the family income.

Zhang Yan's brother is sixteen and her sister is thirteen, both of them are good eaters. They would eat a bitter steamed bun with wild vegetables with great relish.

Zhang Yan's grandfather had passed away, leaving only her grandmother. For a family like this, it was normal that Zhang Yan had not received anything from home after working in the countryside for a year and a half, but she still had contact with her family through letters.

"Young man, what is your relationship with my Zhang Yan? You are from Changcheng, how did you come here?" Zhang Yan's father asked.

Jiang Cheng didn't plan to stay here for long. If it wasn't for the sake of making his wife look good in front of her friends, he would not be willing to do such a thing.

Taking out his work ID from his pocket, Jiang Cheng said to Zhang Yan's father, "My wife and Zhang Yan are educated youth from the same place. I'm a driver for the Changcheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative. I was passing by here, so I brought two hens that Zhang Yan raised here for her. Um, and some eggs. My car is parked outside, and the chickens and eggs are in the car. You take the things and write me a note, and I'll leave." When Zhang Yan's father heard that Jiang Cheng's wife had a relationship with his daughter, and added to the identity Jiang Cheng said himself, he looked at the work ID on the table.

The young man in front of me turned out to be a driver of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. This identity is really amazing. He looks handsome and tall. The first thought was, it’s a pity that he is the husband of my daughter’s friend. It would be great if my daughter could find such a partner in Changcheng.

He was a car driver, and he worked for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Although he was not from Jinan, he was the husband of their daughter's friend, and the seniority should be determined by their daughter's side, but Zhang Yan's parents did not dare to act like an elder to Jiang Cheng.

"Master Jiang, thank you for taking care of my Xiaoyan in Changcheng. Afang, please go to the kitchen and light a fire to make a soft-boiled egg." Zhang Yan's father said to his wife.

In China, there are many repeated names for women these days, and there are countless names like Fang and Lian. The main reason is that names that are too elegant and feminine are embarrassing to choose these days.

For example, many girls in later generations have poetic names, such as Shihan, Ruxue, Mengyi, etc. But in this era, if a woman had such a name, men might be embarrassed to call her out loud. It feels like just calling out the name is like courting.

After it was released in China, two songs with female names became very popular, one is "Alian" and the other is "Xiaofang".

As for Zhang Yan's father thanking Jiang Cheng for taking care of his daughter, he actually hoped that Jiang Cheng could take care of his daughter in Changcheng.

"No need to go to such trouble. I'm just here to deliver something and will leave later. The photos are also for you. If you have anything to say to Zhang Yan, you can write a letter and I will give it to her for you when the time comes." Jiang Cheng said.

But Jiang Cheng's politeness was useless here. No matter if he was on the way or not, for Zhang Yan's family, it was a long journey. There was no good thing to treat, and the family happened to have eggs bought during the National Day. Now that the weather was cool at night, it was necessary to boil a soft-boiled egg.

And after hearing what Jiang Cheng said, they would definitely write a letter to their daughter and ask Jiang Cheng to help take it over. It would also be good to save the money on stamps.

Jiang Cheng did not refuse the invitation from Zhang Yan's family, but asked Zhang Yan's brothers and sisters to get the chicken and eggs from his car. Jiang Cheng did not want to get the eggs, but Zhang Yan's family conditions were really not good.

Anyway, Zhang Yan and other female educated youth were catching eels in the fields, so she could afford to pay them back if they gave her a few more eggs.

Now, whenever the female educated youths brought eels to Jiang Cheng's house, Zhou Lingying would eat two of them. She also told them that they also wanted turtles, and that the ones Zhou Lingying ate were her reward for helping to deal with the eels.

However, in Changcheng, soft-shelled turtles are called "foot fish". In rural areas, if you say soft-shelled turtle, many people don't understand what it is.

"Uncle Zhang, now that these things have been delivered, please write me a note and write that you received two hens and 32 eggs. I will take them back to Zhang Yan for reconciliation. Don't say that I delivered some things for her and gave her too little." Jiang Cheng took out a Zhonghua cigarette and gave one to Zhang Yan's father.

"You don't need to write this note. You are a driver of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and you are interested in her things. If she dares not to admit it, I will~~I~."

Zhang Yan's father didn't know what to say when he got to this point. He originally wanted to break his daughter's legs if she dared to question Jiang Cheng, but his daughter was far away in Changcheng, so how could he do that?

Zhang Yan's father said so, but Jiang Cheng had to ask them to write it. Because Jiang Cheng paid for all the things, the money was not worth much, but this time it was Zhang Yan's family, and next time, he would not write a note when he brought things to other people.

Therefore, under Jiang Cheng's persuasion, he said that it was not a question of trust or not, but a matter of being rigorous and clearly stating how much he had given.

In this way, Zhang Yan's family wrote a note saying they had received something. Jiang Cheng ate a soft-boiled egg at their house and received a letter for Zhang Yan. Then Jiang Cheng left Zhang Yan's house.

When leaving, Zhang Yan's sister stopped Jiang Cheng and gave him an old dough figurine, asking him to bring it to her sister Zhang Yan. The dough figurine actually belonged to Zhang Yan, but she didn't take it with her when she went to Changcheng to work in the countryside.

Dough figurines are also a specialty of Jinan, and their official name is Jinan dough sculptures. They are made of glutinous rice flour, with pigments and preservatives added to shape various figures or animals.

Dough figurines are considered handicrafts and may not be sold in supply and marketing cooperatives, but they are definitely sold in state-owned stores or cultural and sports goods stores in Jinan.

Jiang Cheng looked at the dough figurines in his hands and found them quite interesting. It would be nice to get a few and take them home as decorations.

When he came out of Zhang Yan's house, it was already late and the temperature was still cold. Jiang Cheng hadn't put on winter clothes yet, but he was just wearing work clothes outside. In Jinan, wearing work clothes outside at night would make him feel cold, but wearing a coat or fur coat seemed too much.

Jiang Cheng found a guesthouse nearby and stayed there. When he parted ways with Song Wei and Chen Guodong, he agreed to go see them around 7:30 tomorrow morning. It was the first time he didn't have to get up so early in the past few days of traveling.

　I failed to adjust the update time on the first day, but this chapter is already 3000 words, so don't wait after midnight. I will slowly move the update time forward, but now the weather is getting colder and I can't stay up at night anymore.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)