The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 259: Jiang Lin's Stubbornness

Jiang Cheng, who was spending the New Year in Nanjing, naturally had no idea what Shen Li was thinking.

Jiang Cheng had not thought about whether to make public the two daughters in Hong Kong. It was just that Shen Li was overthinking it. He was not a public figure, so why would he deliberately publish an advertisement in the newspaper to declare that he had two daughters in Hong Kong?

As for property, the children are too young now and it’s not time to consider it.

During the Chinese New Year, Jiang Cheng took his family to travel around Nanjing and eat snacks everywhere. As a driver who has been traveling for many years, Jiang Cheng actually saved a lot of food coupons from all over the country. Many times when eating out, the food was stored in the space, and there was no need for food coupons at all.

So when buying wontons, pancakes, buns, etc. in Nanjing, you don’t have to worry about food coupons at all.

During the Chinese New Year, Zhou Lingying prepared a lot of one-dollar bills. She has many relatives on her mother's side, and her uncle's children may bring their children to pay New Year's greetings.

My uncle’s family is my cousin, so it’s OK for him to bring his children to pay New Year’s greetings, but my aunt’s family’s children will not bring their next generation to pay New Year’s greetings.

My aunt's children were already cousins, and at most they could have some contact with Zhou Lingying's generation. By the time the next generation of cousins ​​came around, they could have kept in touch or not.

Although Zhou Lingying prepared a lot of change, she did not lose out, because she and Jiang Cheng had four daughters. They could receive four portions of New Year's money.

In previous years, Zhou Lingying had always spent the New Year with her children at Jiang Cheng's parents' home. Since they were all from the countryside, their source of income was when they had extra work points, they would receive less food and then convert the work points into some money.

Rural children may only have one or two cents for the New Year, which is given by their parents. Relatives may not give each other New Year's money. Jiang Cheng has also taken on a lot of responsibilities in recent years. Every New Year, Zhou Lingying gives each child 50 cents.

Fifty cents is considered a lot in the countryside these days. I have three nephews and nieces. Jiang Cheng's sister has quite a few children now, four in total, three sons and one daughter.

This year, Jiang Cheng and Zhou Lingying brought their daughter to Nanjing to celebrate the New Year. Naturally, they will not give New Year's money to their nephews and nieces.

A few days before the Chinese New Year, nephews Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang received New Year's money from their grandparents. But they only gave them two cents and learned that their aunt would not come here to celebrate the New Year this year, so they had no more New Year's money.

In fact, even if Zhou Lingying spent the New Year in her hometown, she would not necessarily give Jiang Lin New Year's money. He will be going to junior high school in the second half of this year, and in rural areas, children over the age of eight or nine do not receive New Year's money.

However, because Jiang Yang is still young, he might give it to his two nephews as a side job, and at most he will only give it to them for one more year, and then the New Year’s money for them will stop.

As for Jiang Juan, she is actually 14 years old, and she has long since given up her lucky money. But because she is now living with Jiang Cheng and his family, they will give her some pocket money, which is not called lucky money. If Jiang Juan is one or two years older, she will be considered old enough to get married in the countryside, so it is normal for her to not have lucky money.

The last time Jiang Cheng and his friends brought Jiang Juan back, the change in Zhou Lingying's bag was gone, taken away by Jiang Lin. The child didn't dare to keep the stolen money, for fear of being discovered.

So in two or three days, Jiang Lin and his brother spent all the money, and after all the money was gone, they set their sights on their sister Jiang Juan.

Whenever the family was not around, Jiang Lin would look through Jiang Juan's things, but he could not find any money.

In the winter in the countryside, people of this era don’t take baths that often. After all, it’s not easy to boil water for a bath. When it’s time to bathe, the whole family bathes. Because boiling water is a good idea, you can’t boil a pot of water just for you today, and then boil water again for someone else tomorrow.

On the day when everyone was taking a shower, Jiang Lin found money on the clothes that his sister Juan took off. He found that there were more than 20 yuan. At this time, Jiang Lin was not stupid and understood that his sister put the money in her underwear. This time everyone was taking a shower, so he had a chance to get it. Maybe after taking a shower, he would not have this chance until after the New Year.

Jiang Lin made up his mind and took out a ten-dollar bill and left.

But people are too greedy, the whole thing is ten yuan. If it was just one yuan, even if it was discovered, they might not pursue it to the end. But the ten yuan was gone, and the remaining money was only enough for tuition and textbooks. Uncle and aunt said they would come back at least after the Lantern Festival. She went to the city after the New Year and had no money left.

That night Jiang Juan cried and told her mother that ten yuan was missing from the money her uncle gave her, and she was sure that it was taken away when she was taking a bath.

She would count the money almost every night before going to bed, for fear that it would suddenly disappear like the five dollars she had before.

Now this time, they almost said that it was taken by a family member. Jiang Juan has been doing housework at home these days, except for washing clothes by the river. Besides, the money was put inside the clothes, so it is impossible for it to fall out. If it fell out, it is impossible for only ten yuan to fall out.

So that night, Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang were called into the room for questioning. At first, they could not get any information, so Li Xianglan beat them up.

This incident also alarmed Jiang Changhe and Zhao Yuxia, who both came over to ask what was going on during the New Year and why they were beating the child.

Then Li Xianglan told Jiang Changhe about the situation, and Jiang Changhe also got angry. The Jiang family could be poor, but they couldn't have the kind of people who steal. It was normal for children to steal. In rural areas, if not 100%, then 70 to 80 percent of children would steal.

It usually starts at home, and after being discovered, the child will learn his lesson after a few "educations".

Jiang Lin denied it, and this time Jiang Yang really didn't participate. No evidence is needed, just beat him first and talk later.

At this age, his mind is definitely immature, and soon everyone felt that it was Jiang Lin who did it. Even if he said it stubbornly, his expression and tone would betray him.

But the key is that this guy is really stubborn. Not only is he stubborn, he is also stubborn. He refused to say where the money was after being beaten three times, and even asked why he said he took it. It was useless even if his butt was beaten to a pulp.

Jiang Lin was still young, so he showed some clues when he was first questioned, and he didn't pretend too much when he spoke. If he had controlled his language and facial expressions, his family would have thought they had made a mistake if he had continued to beat him like this.

But we really can't beat him to death. If we break Jiang Lin's leg, his family will have to pay for his treatment. But this is ten yuan, so we can't just let it go.

The family thought that Jiang Lin might be trying to save face and had a strong sense of self-esteem, so he refused to admit it. They planned to wait for two days before asking again, and Jiang Juan also had to be taken care of. Jiang Changhe had no choice but to ask her where she spent money in the city.

Jiang Cheng gave her 20 yuan, which was a lot of money, and Jiang Juan also saved a few yuan for pocket money, which she had never been willing to spend. This was why Jiang Lin saw more than 20 yuan that day.

Anyway, Jiang Changhe thought that another five yuan would be enough for Jiang Juan. Why would a little girl need so much pocket money? So he paid Jiang Juan five yuan out of his own pocket.

No matter how reluctant Jiang Juan was, there was nothing she could do. She saw how her family beat her two younger brothers. After confirming that it was most likely Jiang Lin, they even pulled down his pants and hit him on the buttocks with something.

But my younger brother Jiang Lin was so stubborn, he looked like he would beat me to death if he had the guts, so there was nothing we could do. The family didn't dare to kill him, it was Jiang Cheng's habit. Usually the rationed coarse grains in the city were directly sent over to the people here, and during the New Year and other festivals, rice, flour and oil would be given.

Not to mention giving money for retirement, but whenever Zhou Lingying comes to her hometown during the New Year and other holidays, she will give something in return.

This means that the family members don’t think that ten dollars is a lot or that it is important.

If this happened in the 1960s, when people in the countryside were eating grass roots and tree bark, a bag of coarse grains was all that was needed for a wedding. If it cost ten yuan, the whole family could really take turns to fight. Because at that time, it might not just be ten yuan, but the lives of the whole family.

But now Zhao Changhe feels that ten yuan is not such a big deal. If it weren't for Jiang Cheng's help, it would never be like this if the rural people lost ten yuan.

Jiang Juan went home for the New Year, but it was not as good as staying at her uncle's house in the city. She went home for the New Year to help her mother relieve her burden. She did housework every day, and her two younger brothers played all day.

Even if Jiang Changhe gave her five yuan, she was still short of five yuan. Jiang Juan was in the city, and besides spending some money on her studies, she also spent money on her younger sisters, so she couldn't be happy this year.

After the second day of the Chinese New Year, Jiang Juan packed up and returned to the city. There was rice, noodles, and eggs in the city. There was even a bag of black sesame paste in her room. It was also because she was growing up and ate a lot, so her uncle Jiang Cheng gave it to her.

Black sesame paste is very fragrant and thick when soaked in water. In fact, it is also very fragrant if you put a little in your mouth and chew it slowly without soaking in water. Jiang Juan missed her black sesame paste and the chickens raised by her aunt.

Jiang Cheng didn't know what happened in his hometown. He took his family to Sijiucheng after the third day of the Chinese New Year and took a train for two days on the way. The train ticket was a sleeper ticket bought by his uncle Zhou Hewang through his connections, but it was not a soft sleeper with a compartment.

It was an ordinary sleeper ticket, which meant that the leader Zhou Hewang was looking for was not of high status and could not get a soft sleeper with a door.

This trip to the old city is just to watch the flag-raising ceremony, see Tiananmen Square, take photos, and go to Wangfujing to eat delicious food, mixed bean curd noodles, and roast duck.

Of course, if you come to Beijing in this era, you must go to "Lao Mo", the Moscow Restaurant.

It is a very prestigious thing to have a meal at "Lao Mo", where you can eat cream salad, red fish roe, Caesar salad, beetroot soup, chicken and mushroom rolls and the like.

Whatever these things say, in Jiang Cheng's opinion, the tea restaurants in Hong Kong are more suitable for Chinese people. Eating at "Lao Mo" is just to show off, eating for the atmosphere and sense of ceremony.

How can you eat freely in the tea restaurant in Xiangjiang? There are all kinds of snacks and staple food. Of course, when eating in Xiangjiang tea restaurant, you have to pay attention to a man called Brother Crow. Those who eat with him will never be full.

Of course, there is also a guy called Fly Brother, and you can't eat with him because this bird guy will always ask you to eat shit.

Anyway, Jiang Cheng had a lot of fun with his family on this trip to Sijiu City.

This also changed Jiang Cheng's view on traveling. In the future, Jiang Cheng always thought that those who liked to travel were idiots. They had too much money and nowhere to spend it, so they went out to suffer. They were suckers. If he had money, he would eat and drink in his hometown, thinking that eating food was the most substantial.

Now Jiang Cheng suddenly realized that traveling is very interesting. He can truly experience the local customs, various delicacies and beautiful scenery.

But to have this kind of awareness requires a prerequisite, that is, to have money. Traveling is indeed a big rip-off, but who doesn't enjoy spending money? If you have money, you can do whatever you want.

This time when I went to Beijing, it cost some people a month's salary just to buy film and take photos.

The price of a roast duck at Quanjude has risen to more than 10 yuan per piece, which is really unaffordable for ordinary people. Jiang Cheng remembers that it was only more than 8 yuan per piece six years ago.

The roast duck at Quanjude is actually called "Sliced ​​Duck", while the roast duck at Bianyifang is the real roast duck. The cooking methods are different and the prices are also different. Eating roast duck at Bianyifang is much more affordable.

And "Lao Mo" became fashionable and spent a month's salary on it.

Zhou Lingying buys souvenirs not only for herself but also for her family and relatives, all with money.

Traveling is a way to experience life when you have enough money. If you don't have money and still want to go out, you might as well stay at home.

After a week of playing in Sijiucheng, Jiang Cheng and his friends took the train back to Nanjing. They planned to spend the Lantern Festival in Nanjing and then return to Changcheng. On the way back to Nanjing, they couldn't find a connection to buy sleeper tickets. It was really painful to be with four children and not be able to lie down.

After returning to Nanjing, Zhou Lingying distributed the gifts she bought in Sijiucheng to everyone. Then they celebrated the Lantern Festival in a lively manner, and then asked her uncle Zhou Hewang to help buy tickets back to Changcheng.

As for the ticket back to Changcheng, Jiang Cheng discovered that it was a soft sleeper. It seems that when buying a train ticket, besides personal connections, it may also depend on where you are going.

If you go to Shanghai and Beijing, there may be many big shots there, and those without strong connections cannot buy the best tickets. But if you go back to Changcheng, a city with an underdeveloped economy and little industry, it is much easier to buy a soft sleeper.

As soon as the year was over, Bao'an County took a big step to change its name to Shenzhen and become an urban area. Zhang Jincai had a good time and became the head of the "Public Security Department" of the entire urban area.

When it was a county town, it could only be the "Public Security Bureau", but now it is a department. In Shenzhen, if you open a factory or run some projects, with the protection of the "Public Security Bureau", basically no blind people will come to cause trouble.

Since Bao'an County is going to become SZ City and the Public Security Bureau is going to become the Public Security Department, Jiang Cheng is also preparing to give Zhang Jincai the first gift.

Fang Li, also known as Ali, entered the country through formal channels after the Chinese New Year, and donated more than ten cars to the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau in the name of a Hong Kong businessman.

Since this is a donation, it is natural to go through the tax-free procedures here. You can't collect tariffs from Hong Kong businessmen who donate things to support domestic development.

In addition to donating these vehicles, the cars used for investment and factory setting here will naturally also be exempted from tax.

After this year, Jiang Cheng could continue to be a driver. With his own car, he could make better use of the space when he went out. It was convenient to travel, and driving a sedan made him the most popular person in this era.

(End of this chapter)