The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 58 The Supply and Marketing Cooperative Where Zhu Lan Works

Zhou Lingying was not disappointed about the lack of furniture in the room. She knew that Jiang Cheng had only been working for a short time and had only been allocated this house a short time ago. It was normal to have no furniture, especially since Jiang Cheng had said that he had already contacted someone to do it, and it sounded like he was planning to do more than just a few pieces of furniture.

"Jiang Cheng, can you ask the carpenter to make a dressing table for me?" Zhou Lingying asked.

In the dormitory for educated youths, several people lived in one room, but there was no dressing table. There was no dressing table, so each person only had a small mirror to use, and there was no place to put small things.

When Zhou Lingying heard Jiang Cheng say that he had found a carpenter to make furniture, she expressed her desire.

"No problem. Just tell the carpenter when you see him. You clean up the room first. I'll go get Secretary Wang's things from the car."

Jiang Cheng agreed immediately. He actually had to go to the side room next door. The rice and flour he bought at the grain store were all in his space. He also planned to take out some more things. He had to cook for dinner today.

Even if Jiang Cheng didn't say anything, Zhou Lingying would have to tidy things up. Even if she put things on the floor, she had to put them in order. So she let Jiang Cheng get the things and she could just tidy them up in the room.

After Jiang Cheng left, he immediately opened the door of the next room. He placed a few watermelons on the floor, and then some food bought from the grain store. The food was packed in bags, and Jiang Cheng suddenly found that there was a rice jar missing from the house, and of course the flour jar.

I have never cooked before, so I really didn't think of some things. In life, there are actually many things to buy. For example, in summer, if it gets a little hotter, I may not be able to lie down in the house.

We also had to buy bamboo beds and mosquito nets. When it was hot, the children would sleep on the bamboo beds outside the house wearing only their underwear. When they woke up in the morning, their bodies were covered with marks from the pressure.

Although it is time for people to go to work, there are still many people in the yard. After all, there are few families with two working parents, but the people in the yard are basically women and the elderly and children.

Jiang Cheng wanted to find someone to help him move the coal to the truck, but no one was there. It was not good to be with his wife, and he could not use the space freely. If Zhou Lingying was not there, Jiang Cheng would just put the coal he bought into the space and pile it in the corner of the kitchen.

Without the right person to help, Jiang Cheng couldn't ask the female neighbor in the yard for help, not to mention that other families bought coal by themselves with a cart. Jiang Cheng was just lazy. With his physique, he could easily get the 160 kilograms of coal in a basket.

Jiang Cheng returned to the car and took back the specialties sent by Secretary Wang, and placed them directly in the side room. Then he said hello to Zhou Lingying and asked her to clean up at home while he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy two jars for rice and flour.

There were casual workers at the supply and marketing cooperative who helped pull carts to load goods, earning about 20 cents per trip, and there were also casual workers at the coal sales side. Those who pulled goods did not have a fixed salary, and they could not make much money per month just by pulling goods.

Even if it is a temporary job like this, you can't do it just because you want to. You still need the consent of the street office. If anyone wants to do it, then now it is transporting goods, can it be converted into a rickshaw to transport people as a driver in the future?

This time Jiang Cheng was going to buy something at the supply and marketing cooperative where Zhu Lan worked. The supply and marketing cooperative where Zhu Lan worked was not the closest to this place. The supply and marketing cooperative to the east was the closest to Nanluoyuan, but the supply and marketing cooperative where Zhu Lan worked was to the north. It was the third branch of the supply and marketing cooperative in the east district.

There are dozens or even hundreds of supply and marketing cooperatives in a city. If you don’t know which supply and marketing cooperative to go to, you can ask which branch it is.

Jiang Cheng came to the supply and marketing cooperative where Zhu Lan worked. It was not very busy at this time. The busy time was usually from 8 to 10 o'clock. It was often crowded when it just opened. If it was a holiday, you might have to queue up to buy things.

The supply and marketing cooperatives are busy mainly because they sell so many types of goods, covering almost all the necessities needed for life.

Grain, oil, non-staple food, cloth, stationery, tobacco, alcohol, hardware, home appliances, daily necessities, and even farm tools were also bought in the supply and marketing cooperatives.

Each salesperson in the supply and marketing cooperative is responsible for a fixed area. Jiang Cheng saw Zhu Lan wearing a blue Lenin suit at the place where non-staple food was sold. Salespeople in the supply and marketing cooperative had to wear work clothes when they went to work. Men usually wore Zhongshan suit-style work clothes. The top had four pockets, and a fountain pen was often inserted in the upper left pocket, showing culture and professionalism. The pants were straight-leg pants, giving people a solemn and rigorous feeling. The material was mostly cotton, which was relatively strong and durable.

The saleswoman's work clothes are the same as what Zhu Lan is wearing now, both are Lenin suits. The top is a lapel, double-breasted, with a belt around the waist, which looks very capable. The bottom is usually a skirt or pants. It is also mainly made of cotton and the color is relatively simple.

Salespersons will wear a uniform work badge, which may have their name, number, etc. written on it.

The only bad thing is that the work clothes are not divided into seasons. When it is hot, the work clothes are a bit stuffy, and when it is cold, they are not warm enough. However, many units are like this. It is good to have work clothes. How can they be divided into summer and winter?

"Jiang Cheng, why are you here? What do you want to buy?" Zhu Lan, who was working, saw Jiang Cheng who had just appeared in the supply and marketing department. She greeted him directly without caring whether he was buying non-staple food or not.

"Sister Zhu, I'm here to buy two rice jars, two bamboo beds, a large wooden basin and a large mosquito net. I'm also going to buy two bottles of wine and some seasonings." Jiang Cheng answered, and then asked in a low voice: "How is the carpenter's business going?"

Zhu Lan smiled when she heard Jiang Cheng asking about the carpenter in such a low voice. However, if you were doing this for someone else in private, you would have to speak in a low voice, but Jiang Cheng was different.

Zhu Lan did not mention the carpenter first, but asked Jiang Cheng to bring the food and wine tickets. After asking how to take the jars back, she asked her colleagues to pick out two good jars and ask the cart driver to bring them. She also asked the colleague who was in charge of selling cigarettes and wine today to get the wine.

After arranging everything, Zhu Lan talked loudly to Jiang Cheng about the carpenter making furniture for him.

"Jiang Cheng, I have asked the carpenter to pick out some old furniture and I am waiting for you to come and discuss the salary before starting work. The carpenter is an old master and everyone says he is quite skilled. It is not easy to hire him. If he works for someone else, he would get two dollars and fifty cents a day. But since I introduced him, I will just pay him two dollars a day."

Zhu Lan began to talk to Jiang Cheng about carpenters. Carpenters these days can be said to be craftsmen. Their skills are not bad, and they make furniture with traditional craftsmanship. They don't even use a single nail to make tables and stools.

Today's tables and benches are made with mortise and tenon joints, which are a technique that cleverly cuts and splices the wood so that the various components are tightly combined together, allowing them to be firmly combined into furniture such as tables and benches without the need for nails.

So some master carpenters do private work for others, and two dollars and fifty cents a day for good skills is not much.

To make a set of tables and stools, a skilled craftsman would need four or five days. However, Jiang Cheng bought old furniture as materials, which added time for disassembly, so it might take another day.

Therefore, the labor cost of making a set of tables and stools may be based on six days of preparation, which is twelve dollars. This does not include the cost of wood and some consumable materials.

This was just a simple set of tables and stools. Jiang Cheng also needed to make cabinets, wardrobes, and the dressing table that Zhou Lingying wanted. He even had to make a bed, and then move the bed in the main room to the side room.

Anyway, the price is a bit exaggerated. In fact, Jiang Cheng learned the price of the furniture from Zhu Lan a few days ago. At that time, he also felt incredible. A whole set of furniture, that is, thirty-six legs, cost about one hundred and eighty yuan.

　There are still 10 days until National Day. I would like to wish you all a happy National Day in advance.

Since I've given my blessings in advance, today can be considered as National Day. If it is National Day, can you guys give me some tips during the holiday? 100 Starting Coins will be enough.

Let me tell you a secret. I actually traveled back to the 1970s, but I have no food to eat and no so-called space. The money you give me will become the money of this era. It's a holiday, and I just want to buy some steamed bread to eat. Please give me some.

　
(End of this chapter)