Back to 1979: Sending the Educated Youth’s Wife Back to the City

Chapter 114 Ultimatum
Fang Mingche didn't say anything more. "Dahai, tomorrow, August 7th, you should stay at home and think about it. If you can accept this salary level and want to continue working, leave with us early on the 8th. However, because you haven't performed well these past few days, let Liu Qingfeng take the lead."

He hired three people in total, and they all had to be put to use. Is it so easy to get his salary? How can he just stand by and give orders? His wife is still cooking. In such a hot day, won't he feel hot just standing around the stove?

He packed up his stall and went back to work. In front of him, Zhu Dahai did not dare to be lazy.

Speaking of which, he went back before the college entrance examination. It wasn't too hot at that time. Then he came back and continued to set up the stall and prepare for the opening of the scrap yard. He was really busy. He didn't even have time to buy a fan. The family of three all used cattail leaf fans.

However, there are only a few households in the compound that have fans nowadays.

Song Quan bought one this year because his cooperative set up a stall in the square to earn income; Grandpa Gu also bought one when he received rent. He sold his house to pay for his son's leg treatment before buying the fan.

But if you want to buy it, you need more than just money, you need a fan ticket. If you don't have one, you need to buy the ticket on the black market.

He went back and told Lin Yan about it, but Lin Yan waved her hand and said, "It's already August, what are you still buying? Let's talk about it next year."

After saying that, he couldn't help but say, "It's better for people to have foreign exchange. People take foreign exchange to the Friendship Store and buy whatever they want. They don't need receipts at all! You don't know, I went in and saw everything there. Fans, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions."

There is no supply restriction. Even in the black market, someone has to sell the relevant bills before you can buy it. But with foreign currency, you can really buy anything you want in the Friendship Store.

Fang Mingche said, "You also said that they used foreign exchange. The country is desperately short of foreign exchange! Neither of our two families has overseas connections, and we have remitted large amounts of foreign exchange back. However, we can just buy these one by one in the future. I will definitely let you use the washing machine before winter comes."

It was so cold to wash clothes in winter! My fingers were soaked in cold water and they looked like carrots. Of course, that was when I was still in the countryside. There was no firewood to collect and no way to boil water for washing.

Nowadays, it is not a big problem to get honeycomb coal tickets on the black market in the capital. In winter, you can have hot water by spending a little more money.

By the way, I need to tell the educated youth who deliver honeycomb coal that they don’t need to deliver so much next month. Without the tea stall, my family won’t need much.

Lin Yan said: "Okay, I'll remember what you said. By the way, how did you talk to Zhu Dahai?"

"I told him to rest at home tomorrow and think it over. Either accept the current salary level, or go out and work on his own. He is not an indispensable person, so why should I slowly persuade him?"

The next day, Lin Yan and the others didn't actually go there, as the preparations had already been made. They took a day off on the 7th, and went there to open the store early on the 8th.

After Zhu Dahai found out about this, he breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, if everyone else went and he was the only one left at home, he would have to face a lot of strange looks.

He found out yesterday that Fang Mingche was not going to want him anymore, and he felt a sense of crisis. He didn't know what else he could do after leaving here.

He kept the two hundred dollars and never touched it. His parents asked him if he wanted to buy a 28-inch truck for easy commuting. It would be considered an asset for the family.

He said no, Mr. Fang would provide a car for commuting. In fact, he kept the money just to see if there was any business he could do.

But Fang seemed to have found a business right away. Although this time it was just a business of collecting scraps, which most people would not be interested in, he had no idea where to start. So on the 7th, Lin Yan, who had been busy preparing for the opening of the business for several days, stayed at home to recuperate. Fang Mingche went to the stall as usual and took time out to teach English to the people in the cooperative.

It has been busy these days, and at noon, Lao Cui sent a waiter to deliver meals to Fang Mingche in front of the busy market.

Lin Yan was a little lazy today and didn't want to go shopping for food. She was still going to take her daughter to Lao Cui's restaurant for lunch. But she didn't need him to arrange for someone to deliver the food. She waited for the food to be served and took out a portion.

After eating with her daughter, she went home to take a nap. After asking Grandpa Gu to look after her for 20 minutes, she went to take her daughter home. The first few days were really hard. Especially on one side, it took to minutes to ride a bicycle.

In the morning, Fang Mingche went to the stall, and Lin Yan rested for a while before taking off the quilt cover and bed sheets to wash. After soaking the things in the big basin, she remembered Fang Mingche's words that she should use the washing machine before winter.

Lin Yan is quite satisfied with this small courtyard now. The house and the courtyard are about 100 square meters, and only the three of them and the Gu family father and son live there. Gu Zhiguang is still in the hospital. It is quiet and peaceful, especially the toilet is in the courtyard.

Oh, by the way, Xiao Xie comes to learn 20 characters from me every day. He also fulfilled his promise and helped me fill a water tank every three days. This saved me a lot of trouble.

When Gu Zhiguang was hospitalized, the people in the compound and the Fang family of three pooled their money to buy nutritional supplements and asked Aunt Yuan to visit him on their behalf.

The money was not much, so we just spent the money on the gift. Everyone had something to do. For example, the Fang family was self-employed and didn't even have Sundays. Those educated youth who returned to the city without finding a job didn't want to show up in public. So, it was the aunt of the management institute who went there on Sundays and represented them fully.

The educated youth who returned to the city was hired to take care of him in the hospital day and night. Uncle Gu would go there in the morning and evening when the sun was not too high. It was said that he would be discharged soon. It was said that he recovered well after the operation and would be able to walk again in the future.

When Aunt Yuan came back, she said that it was worth it for Uncle Gu to sell two houses and invest a lot of money. Of course, it was also thanks to the excellent medical skills of the doctors at Union Hospital.

Lin Yan scooped clean water from the water tank to soak the sheets and quilts to be washed. Soaking for five to ten minutes and then scrubbing them directly can remove 30%-50% of the stains. It saves detergent and effort when washing.

After she got the girl, she looked for her daughter and saw her playing games with her little sister in the compound, so she didn't bother with her.

Washing machines, a semi-automatic washing machine, cost hundreds! Although the tea stall can still be open for another three weeks, it is unknown when the scrap yard will be able to turn a profit. Lin Yan was reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars to buy a large item.

So, we still have to generate income! I was indeed too narrow-minded before.

The couple also discussed whether to start a business during college. Lin Yan said that they would have about 3,000 yuan by the end of August. With the monthly allowance from both of them, they would be able to live very well during college.

Lin Yan’s initial thought was that we should just concentrate on studying.

But Fang Mingche said that three thousand yuan was far from enough. If you want to buy home appliances, it is far from enough. Nowadays, electrical appliances are very expensive! They cost hundreds of yuan.

(End of this chapter)