Mixed in 1980

Chapter 2 I Want to Make Money
After washing up, Chen Fan went back to the house to get the money, said goodbye to his mother, got on the family's 28-inch bicycle and left. When he came out of the alley, he turned into Nanluoguxiang.

The capital city in 1980 was very different from later times. The sky was gray and mixed with a little dust, and a sandstorm might be brewing.

When Chen Fan went to Saihanba to work as a sent-down youth, he did so in response to the slogan of "building a green sandstorm barrier for the capital" and followed a group of classmates to eat sand.

Now thinking about it, I was impulsive!
Nowadays, junior high school and high school are both two-year programs. Chen Fan was only 15 years old when he graduated from high school in 1977. He could have delayed for a year before going to the countryside, but he could not resist the encouragement of the school, the street office, and his classmates, and thinking that Saihanba was close to his home, he gritted his teeth and went there.

By the second year, the policy of going to the countryside was cancelled.

He didn't have to go to the countryside, but he became the unlucky last batch of educated youth.

"The herd mentality is not good!"

Sighing secretly, Chen Fan rode his bicycle out of Nanluoguxiang and into the main road, riding his bicycle openly in the middle of the road.

There are basically only two types of vehicles on the road: buses and bicycles.

Private cars did not exist. Even if you came across a car occasionally, it was a government car. Private purchase of cars was not allowed until 1984.

Chen Fan rode very fast and arrived at Wangfujing in just over ten minutes. Along the way, he saw many slogans with unique characteristics of the times, among which "It's better to have only one child" was the most frequently appearing slogan.

There are so few jobs available, so you must tighten your belt and take care of your lower body.

In a few years, when the reform and opening up is in full swing, the slogan here will be changed to "Time is money, efficiency is life", urging everyone to hurry up and make money.

Arriving at Wangfujing, Chen Fan stopped in front of the Xinhua Bookstore as if he was familiar with the place.

This is the largest bookstore in Asia, with a total area of 6300 square meters. It is a paradise for book lovers, and a large number of people come here to buy books every day.

Chen Fan had a clear goal. After entering the door, he went straight to the textbook area, found a set of college entrance examination teaching aids, and bought paper and pen, planning to take part in this year's college entrance examination.

Originally he was thinking about going into business, but in the early days of reform and opening up, there weren't many places to go, especially before 1982, when the upper echelons were still groping in the dark and there wasn't much change at the lower level.

The crime of speculation and profiteering is quite serious.

The more time went by in the reform and opening up, the more open the country became. It was not until the mid-to-late 1980s that the situation of "900 million people have fallen, and 100 million are still looking for it" appeared.

It’s really difficult to be a trader nowadays.

In the early stages of the transition from a planned economy to a market economy, even buying a bag of flour required food stamps. Where could one get supplies?
If you want supplies, you need a permit. If you want a permit, you need connections. If you have connections, it would be so easy to exchange a permit for a sack of money. How can you do business then?

It doesn’t matter. If you still want to get rich, you have to go south.

It's not a good time to make a living during this period. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange is still a big construction site. Don't be in a hurry to go there. Without start-up capital, you will be destined to work there.

Chen Fan planned to stabilize himself for two years and get his body in good shape first. He couldn't let his life be like in his previous life, where he made money but had no life to spend it, which would be truly miserable.

If you don't rush into business, you have to find a job first.

I couldn't get into a formal company, and I didn't want to suffer the hardship of selling things on the street. After much thought, I felt that it would be most cost-effective to go to university, where I could study business systematically.

"How much is it?"

Chen Fan found six teaching aids, one each for politics, Chinese, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and English, as well as a large stack of writing paper.

"A textbook costs two yuan, and writing paper costs three yuan, a total of fifteen yuan."

Chen Fan took out the money with a painful look on his face. It was indeed true that "gold has a price, but knowledge is priceless". No matter what era it was, knowledge was never cheap.

I earn less than 15 yuan a month by planting trees in Saihanba. If I want to save 15 yuan, I have to live frugally for three months.

The receptionist took the money, quickly took out a thin rope and tied up the book.

I came out carrying the book, put it in the basket, and rode slowly home. The road was much busier at this time, and there were more stalls on the roadside.

Many stalls belong to street cooperatives, and only the street office can allocate supplies.

Most people who want to set up a stall have to go to the countryside to buy goods themselves, and they have to go back and forth to make money, and their main purpose is to support their families.

"How much are the fried dough twists? Do you need a ticket?"

Chen Fan stopped at a stall selling fried dough twists. The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He was holding a cigarette in his hand and puffing away.

"No ticket, five cents a stick."

"Ten, please."

Chen Fan took a look and found that the fried dough twist was as thick as two fingers and more than ten centimeters long. It was quite good as a snack, unlike the fried dough twists of later generations, which were as thick as arms.

"Okay, please come in!"

The stall owner deftly tore off a piece of writing paper, counted out ten and wrapped them up, then took out a piece of straw to tie them up, "Authentic old Beijing crispy fried dough twist, delicious, come back again."

"Okay, see you later."

After paying fifty cents and putting the dough into the basket, Chen Fan got on his bike and arrived home in no time. His father had gone to work, leaving only his mother and youngest sister Chen Yi at home.

Chen Yi is only five years old.

After Guan Yuemei gave birth to her eldest daughter and Chen Fan, she no longer planned to have more children. She responded to the policy and got an IUD inserted, but the IUD was unreliable and she got pregnant again unexpectedly.

So I named the girl Chen Yi to commemorate this unexpected surprise.

Chen Fan walked in and started patting the little sister's head, ruffling all the little girl's braids. The little sister's eyes turned red and she opened her mouth to cry.

A twisted dough stick blocked her little mouth. It smelled fragrant and sweet. The little girl was stunned for a moment, then her face suddenly brightened up and she started to chew it happily.

"Snacks!"

He stuffed all the remaining twisted dough sticks into the youngest sister's arms. The little girl was about to laugh when a big hand reached out and took the twisted dough sticks away.

The youngest sister opened her mouth and was about to cry again. Guan Yuemei snorted, "If you dare to cry out loud, I'll take this one from you too."

The youngest sister was stunned for a moment, and then decided to stop crying.

"You are a master of face-changing!"

Chen Fan picked up the youngest sister. The pink little girl was so adorable no matter how you looked at her, but her expression was so changeable that she could switch between crying and laughing.

"Why buy this thing? It makes me angry."

Guan Yuemei gave her son a reproachful look and put the fried dough twist into the vegetable basket hanging from the beam.

“It’s okay to eat occasionally.”

Chen Fan kissed his sister lovingly. In his previous life, he was lying on a hospital bed with a catheter inserted. His own son rarely came to see him. He had to rely on his youngest sister and eldest niece to take care of him.

He was not left out in either the cleaning or the urination.

Before he died, he made a will, leaving all his property to his youngest sister and eldest niece.

Putting his youngest sister down, Chen Fan placed the book on the table and said, "Mom, let me tell you something. I plan to study for another half a year and take the college entrance examination again."

"Are you sure?"

Guan Yuemei was stunned. It was hard to find a job nowadays, and taking the college entrance examination was also a way out.

After graduating from university, you will be assigned to a cadre position, which is much better than working in a factory.

"I was just a few points away from passing last year, but I was working in a forest farm and didn't have much time to review. If I had studied hard, I should have been able to pass."

From the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977 to 1978 and 1979, a total of three years, Chen Fan never missed a single exam, hoping to pass the exam and return to the city.

The year 1979 was my best performance in the exam, I was only eight points away from passing.

"Just be confident. Tell your dad tonight and then study hard at home. The college entrance exam is only four months away."

"Thank you, Mom. I'll go back to my room and read."

Chen Fan took the books back to his side room, tidied up his desk, and found the pen and ink he used in school, thinking about writing something to earn some money first.

Living costs money, conditioning the body costs money, and intercepting Zhang Jianjun's opportunity costs money...

Fortunately, making money does not conflict with the college entrance examination!

Writing books is still quite profitable these days. Although the royalties are not much, only a few dollars for a thousand words, but dozens for ten thousand words, and hundreds for a hundred thousand words.

Many dual-income families can't save even a few hundred dollars a year.

If we were to say which literary genre is the easiest to make money in these days, it would definitely be scar literature. A large number of educated youth returned to the city, and books describing their painful experiences in the countryside are the ones that can most resonate with them.

However, Chen Fan did not intend to write scar literature, as this kind of thing carries too strong personal emotions, and the extreme exaggeration of suffering and trauma makes it seem like whining without any real reason.

It's not much different from those money-making variety shows in later generations.

If I don’t write scar literature, what else can I write?
Chen Fan took out a cigarette and lit it up. This habit was formed when he went to the countryside. Especially in the winter when it snowed, he always felt he couldn't get through the long night without lighting a few cigarettes.

"Educated youth, go to the countryside... Got it!"

Chen Fan flicked the ash off his cigarette, picked up his pen and began to write. He wrote about educated youth and going to the countryside. He didn't have to write scar literature. A living person can be suffocated to death by urine.

　At the beginning of the new book, if you like it, please give me a recommendation and add it to your collection. I would be very grateful!

(End of this chapter)