The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 87 Liberation Shoes

The two of them stayed in the room for a long time. Jiang Chengcai suddenly remembered that he had something to give to Zhou Lingying, so he took out an envelope from his work clothes beside him and handed it to her.

"What is this?" Zhou Lingying asked after receiving the bulging envelope. Seeing that Jiang Cheng did not reply but motioned for her to look at it herself, she opened the envelope, then looked at what she took out with wide eyes and said, "So much money and tickets."

"Master Li, I gave him a deposit of ten yuan, and you can give him another forty yuan after he finishes the work. Dad's medical treatment costs a lot of money, and there's also the daily groceries and other things, so don't be too frugal." Jiang Cheng said. When he came back, he put a hundred yuan in the envelope for today's salary. Now he handed the money and the envelope to Zhou Lingying.

Jiang Cheng calculated the time. He had to go to Shanghai first. If the roads were easy to travel, it would take three or four days if he didn't rush. Then it would take a day to get from Shanghai to Nanjing. When he found Zhou Lingying's parents in Nanjing, he didn't know what would happen. And it would take another three or four days to come back from there.

Anyway, if everything goes smoothly and quickly, it only takes Jiang Cheng ten days to go back and forth.

According to the work progress of Master Li and his two apprentices, this furniture job can be completed in three to five days, let alone ten days.

The total salary was only 50 yuan, which was normally calculated based on the number of days. Master Li earned that much in just over 20 days. The apprentices he called in were all talented people, and they came early and left late every day.

It would take less than ten days for three people to work from the beginning. We have already worked for four days so it would be normal to finish in a few more days.

So at that time Zhou Lingying must have paid Master Li and the others, as well as the cost of Jiang Changhe's treatment for ten days.

"There's a flashlight ticket in here. When I go out later, you can take my car and go to the supply and marketing cooperative. Go buy a flashlight, and then buy whatever else you want from these tickets. Then we can ask where there's a movie theater. How about we go see a movie tonight?"

Jiang Cheng sat up and said, it's so hot, it's really unbearable for the two of them to stay together. Not only is it hot, but they can't do anything.

After hearing Jiang Cheng's words, Zhou Lingying immediately stood up and sat on the stool, put the ticket on the table and started searching for it.

Some soap tickets, match tickets, towel tickets and the like need to be used.

When she turned over a wine ticket, Zhou Lingying found that it was a loose wine ticket and couldn't help but said, "My dad loves to drink, but this is just a loose wine ticket. Jiang Cheng, didn't you buy two bottles of wine last time? There is still one bottle that hasn't been opened. You can bring a bottle of wine when you go to see my parents."

"Okay, I can't go to your house empty-handed the first time I go. Don't worry, I'll bring the wine, and I'll also bring other things for you to honor your parents." Jiang Cheng nodded and said.

There was still a whole pack of unopened cigarettes in Jiang Cheng's space. Even if Zhou Lingying didn't say it, he had to prepare gifts for his first visit to his father-in-law's house.

The girl who had been raised for 18 years, now had nothing to ask for, but was coaxed into marriage and sleeping together by Jiang Cheng. It was normal for Zhou Lingying to honor her parents, and Jiang Cheng would be able to get some fish to the door later.

Zhou Lingying took out the tickets she was going to use today and put the money she was going to use into her pocket, not the inner pocket of her pants this time. She searched for the rest of the money and tickets in several places in the room and chose one she thought was safe to hide.

After Zhou Lingying finished everything, the two of them went out to say hello to their parents before leaving. Outside, Master Li and his team had also rested and were ready to start working.

The weather in mid-July was really hot, so Jiang Cheng parked his car under a big tree. Even with the car door open and no ventilation, the inside was like a steamer. After all, even if it was parked under a tree, some parts could not be covered.

If you don't park in a shaded area, not only will the temperature in the cab be high, the seats inside will be enough to roast your eggs.

Jiang Cheng opened the car door and sprayed some water with a kettle. After a while, he started the car and asked Zhou Lingying to get in and go to the supply and marketing cooperative.

This time, they went to the supply and marketing cooperative where Zhu Lan worked. In addition to the flashlights that can be bought now, Jiang Cheng also wanted her to help get another one, so that he could keep one in the car as a backup and one for home use. Nowadays, many people basically don’t go to the public toilet at night, and they use chamber pots or urine buckets at home to urinate. If they want to pee, they will do it when it is clear. After all, the flashlight is not used when sleeping, and you have to go out of the alley to go to the toilet at night.

But sometimes there are emergencies, and lighting a kerosene lamp is not as convenient as a flashlight.

When the car drove to the supply and marketing cooperative, the people in the supply and marketing cooperative noticed it. When Jiang Cheng got out of the car, a salesperson told Zhu Lan that her distant cousin had come and drove a big car.

Zhu Lan had naturally seen it a long time ago, and also saw Zhou Lingying, and went straight forward to greet them.

Jiang Cheng directly pulled Zhu Lan aside and told her the purpose of his visit, and then asked her to take Zhou Lingying to buy things. It was almost two o'clock now, and he was going to the Rubber Factory No. 2.

When Zhu Lan heard that Jiang Cheng wanted to get a flashlight, she thought about it and agreed. Flashlights were not easy to get for a salesperson in the supply and marketing cooperative, but they were not impossible to get. She should be able to get one by asking the director of the supply and marketing cooperative for a favor. In order to have a good relationship with Jiang Cheng, Zhu Lan felt that she had to ask for this favor.

After getting the answer, Jiang Cheng knew that favors must be exchanged. This time he went to Shanghai to see if he could get anything. At the very least, he would take the fish out of the space and let her deal with it.

Jiang Cheng drove away soon after. When Zhou Lingying wanted to buy something, she just had to give the money and ticket to Zhu Lan. Zhu Lan would ask her colleagues to bring it to her, so she didn't have to search and choose one by one.

In addition to buying a flashlight, which is an important item, Jiang Cheng also asked Zhou Lingying to buy a pot, which could sometimes be useful when traveling long distances.

The address of Rubber Factory No. 2 is in the west district of Changcheng, but as long as it is within the city, it is not far away.

After Jiang Cheng arrived by car, he entered the factory after a simple registration.

After entering the factory, there was a person in charge who received him and understood the rules. He stuffed two packs of cigarettes into Jiang Cheng's pocket. Perhaps knowing that the amount was not much, he also gave Jiang Cheng two pairs of Liberation shoes.

Jiefang shoes are a good thing. Giving two pairs at once is better than giving a pack of cigarettes.

But for the rubber factory, the cost is not much, and the Jiefang shoes can be bought in the market for just money, a little over two yuan a pair. The cloth shoes are also priced at the same price, but cloth coupons are required to buy them.

Of course, Jiefang shoes can be bought with money, but they are not sold in many township supply and marketing cooperatives. Even in county towns, they are often out of stock.

There are two reasons why Jiefang shoes are in short supply. One is that they were originally only supplied to the army. The other is that this kind of shoes needs equipment to be processed, unlike cloth shoes, which are mainly produced in workshops and small factories. Even if the factory has a large output, the supply and demand are still insufficient when the output is shared.

It is because no tickets are required that Jiefang shoes are sold at this price. The raw materials of Jiefang shoes are not as scarce as cloth shoes. Moreover, the production is fast, with rubber soles and canvas uppers, which are not considered fabric products.

In terms of cost, it is not allowed to be sold at a higher price, but being cheap does not mean that there is sufficient supply and demand.

So this is the case with many products in this era. Cheap things are not necessarily of poor quality. They are calculated based on cost, but because of their good quality, everyone wants to buy them, but they can't buy them.

Jiefang shoes are the same price as cloth shoes, but they are better quality and more durable, and they don’t require tickets. But people can’t buy them, so some people can only buy cloth shoes.

(End of this chapter)