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

Chapter 134 Ideological Liberation
Monday was November 1979, 11, and the Qiu father and daughter settled down in the small side courtyard.

They buy groceries every day and cook their own meals in the small kitchen. Most people cannot afford to eat out every day.

Anyway, it was very convenient to buy vegetables and eggs, so he just went to Lin Yan to get the wholesale price. Mr. Qiu left the meager supply of food and oil at home for his mother to eat.

When the father and daughter wanted to eat meat occasionally, they only needed to share some with Mrs. Cui. The father and daughter could eat very well by buying two or three taels of meat at a time.

Mrs. Cui knew that they were from the travel agency, so she was happy to give them the original price. After all, their small restaurant, oh, now called a private restaurant, would have the opportunity to take over the business of tourists brought by the travel agency in the future.

People may want to eat at century-old restaurants in the capital, but they may also want to try home-cooked food. The key is to have someone to guide them.

Fang Mingche's family of three rarely used the kitchen. They only cooked three eggs in the morning, one for each person. The rest of the time, even the various soups, were all made by Cui's wife. The kitchen was usually used by the Qiu family father and daughter.

Fang Mingche had no choice. He could not provide the father and son with better accommodation. The daily commute was too tiring, so he had to let them live in the empty small room of his house for a while. He tried to move the things in the small room to the big room or the corner of the kitchen.

Lingzi and Xiao Hu came early in the morning to take English class with Sister Qiu. Teacher Qiu taught one-on-three.

Fang Mingche and Teacher Gao could only participate in the class during the breaks. Old Cheng and Xiao Xu, who wanted to work part-time, also rode their bikes back with Fang Mingche. They would go back to school after class in the evening.

Teacher Qiu broke the teaching routine and taught completely practical English.

Wang Dexian came over after get off work these days, bringing advertising brochures and large posters to show Fang Mingche. The two of them, together with Teacher Gao, worked on the final preparations for the opening.

Wang Dexian also attended a few evening English classes.

Fang Mingche asked someone to connect a 100-watt headlight in the courtyard, and then put up thick cloth on all sides to block the wind.

That night, during the break, everyone went to the toilet one after another. Aunt Yuan came over.

Aunt Yuan would definitely not interfere with learning English. When they heard that they were going to open a travel agency to earn foreign exchange for the country, the street office was also happy to see it happen.

Everyone now has a strong sense of collective honor, knowing that this is something the country urgently needs. In addition, as for employment, there are actually only three people on the list: driver Xiao Hu, tour guide Sister Qiu, and clerk Lingzi. The others are all employed or university students.

So at first Fang Mingche was really a little puzzled as to what Aunt Yuan was doing here.

As for the vegetable business, Aunt Yuan has always turned a blind eye and pretended not to know about it. She can't possibly block the financial path of several young people in the compound. Blocking someone's financial path is like killing their parents! People always have to eat. Without a stable income, it will force people to make mistakes. There will be endless troubles!
Fang Mingche looked at Aunt Yuan with some suspicion, and reflected in his heart that he didn't seem to have done anything too out of the ordinary recently.

Aunt Yuan said, "Xiao Fang, don't look at me like that. It's as if I came here to pick a fight with you. If you want to blame someone, you should blame yourself. If you hadn't been a blind drifter here for four months, would I have kept an eye on you every day? I came here today to inform the three families in your small courtyard that one person from each family should go sweep the snow tomorrow morning. It has snowed these two days and the roads are not easy to walk on. The road section assigned to our street is... Tomorrow at a certain time, come out with a big broom and take turns. This way, everyone can go to work on time."

The road really needs to be cleared so that bicycles and people can move around. Fang Mingche suddenly realized, "Oh, okay."

This is hard work, we have to finish the cleaning before everyone goes to work or school. So we divide the area and clean it.

He said, "Aunt Yuan, there are still many young people in the street who have not found jobs. Why don't you ask everyone if they are willing to pay some money and ask these people to be responsible for cleaning every day. If most people are willing, you can report it to the higher-ups. This way, both parties will benefit. Those who are unwilling to pay can just contribute their labor."

Grandpa Gu, standing under the eaves, echoed, "I think Xiao Fang's idea is good, too."

Aunt Yuan said, "Okay, I'll go door to door tomorrow. But you still have to go out and sweep the snow tomorrow morning."

"Ok."

At six o'clock the next morning, Fang Mingche had to leave his warm bed. Ayan was pregnant, and Yanyan was just a little over three years old. For the family of three, he had to be the only one to go.

He walked out of the room and stamped his feet. Sister Qiu also came out from the kitchen. Both of them were wearing Lei Feng hats, with only their eyes showing. They were wearing gloves and holding big brooms.

Sister Qiu asked, "Do you want to wait for Gu Zhiguang?"

Before he finished speaking, the light in Gu Zhiguang's room came on.

Fang Mingche said: "Then wait for him."

Sister Qiu said, "It's only a few days away from opening. Are you nervous?"

"How can I not be nervous? I have to pay the 4500 yuan for the six-month car rental fee in one lump sum. That's 25 yuan a day! Add in other expenses, even if we are a makeshift team, the monthly cost is more than 1000 yuan. If there is no business, I will still have to bear the debt. Everything will depend on how many passengers we can attract at the Capital Airport in two days."

Gu Zhiguang also dressed up quickly and came out, "Sorry, I didn't wake up with the first alarm."

Fang Mingche said, "Let's go. I hope there will be good news from Aunt Yuan soon."

Otherwise, it would be a bit too much to get up so early every few days to sweep the snow.

Gu Zhiguang said: "It's mainly because we used to take turns to clean the place. Aunt Yuan and the others didn't expect that there would be 40 more educated youth returning to the city this year. We can definitely arrange for special people to clean the place."

Normally, the cleaning is done by the cleaners. But when it snows, the workload increases suddenly. The cleaners alone cannot clean the road in time, so every household has to send one person to do it.

They arrived at the designated section of the road and started working with others, some with shovels and others with brooms.

The person who was designated as the team leader said, "Everyone hurry up, the sooner we finish sweeping, the sooner we can go home. We still have to go to work and school!"

After sweeping for a while, Fang Mingche felt hot all over. Fortunately, the three of them were either young people who returned to the village or educated youth who went to the countryside. They had all worked and suffered. As for the others, there were no lazy people nowadays. They still managed to get it done before the peak of the big guys' visits.

When Fang Mingche came back on his bike in the afternoon, Aunt Yuan notified them: Those who are willing to work can work, and those who are willing to pay can pay. Anyway, the educated youth who returned to the city and couldn't find a job were willing to do this temporary job. No matter how hard it is, it is better than doing nothing.

Fang Mingche expressed his opinion yesterday, and Aunt Yuan directly put them in the group of those who were willing to pay. If every household contributed, there wouldn't be much money left for every household. Sister Qiu also gritted her teeth and contributed!
Three generations of their family now live on the 3 yuan a day training fee from Teacher Qiu. But this money is not small. Moreover, she will soon be able to earn the tour guide fee.

Fang Mingche must have made a promise to her that she could get a commission as a tour guide. If the business was good, maybe within a year, they could buy one or two houses nearby. If they rented, it would be even faster. That way, they wouldn't have to share this 30-square-meter house with the Fang family of three.

As for the Gu family father and son, they must have saved trouble by paying money. Grandpa Gu collected dozens of yuan in rent a month. Gu Zhiguang was a university librarian and also taught a basic course. His income was not bad at the moment. The father and son could not spend more than a hundred yuan a month.

Fang Mingche paid the fee and said, "Great, I can have a good sleep tomorrow."

Aunt Yuan registered them, and these three households paid the money.

"You couldn't do this before. I didn't think of it for a moment."

After the liberation, there was a mass production movement, and everyone participated. When we first built the reservoir, everyone was a volunteer. At that time, the people of the whole country were united. In the first few years after the liberation, everyone worked as a volunteer to build more than 80,000 reservoirs. Bring your own dry food!

When the Ming Tombs Reservoir was being built, everyone was very active and took the initiative to go. Even Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou volunteered in their spare time.

Fang Mingche nodded and said, "Yes, at that time, everyone was united. The will of the state and the people were highly unified. But it is still the same now! Reform and opening up is also a high degree of unity between the will of the state and the people. Everyone has only one goal: to make money and stop being poor! Of course, the first priority is to give people jobs. The country is thinking of every possible way now!"

Aunt Yuan thought for a moment and said, "That's right."

After asking every household for their opinions, most people were willing to pay. People without jobs were also willing to work hard to earn this money. She reported the situation to her superiors, and it was approved immediately. This was really not the case before. This is how specific problems are analyzed and solved.

After dealing with this matter, Fang Mingche began to get busy with business promotion at the Capital Airport. On Saturday, November 11, Wang Dexian drove over a 24-seat, % new business car.

Fang Mingche gave him 1500 yuan. In this way, Wang's share capital was paid, and the travel agency's car rental fee for the first half of the year was also paid. Teacher Gao did the accounting, keeping a clear record of everything, and then asked the parties to sign.

They opened a few days earlier than expected. However, the rental period was still calculated from December 12st to give face to the Wang family.

Wang Dexian said, "Xiao Hu, you and Sister Qiu will go to Capital Airport to solicit customers tomorrow morning. Xiao Hu will drive the car. Lingzi, you will go with me to Friendship Hotel and Capital Hotel to meet some people. From now on, you will deal with the hotel staff. There will be more phone calls, but we can get to know each other in person." Lingzi nodded quickly, "Okay."

She is not only responsible for answering the phone, but also for booking hotels for tourists, tickets to other places, etc. She is currently the only staff member in the office. She works in her own home.

Fang Mingche painted a big picture for her: in the future, she would become a big boss with a big office. He would promote her to be the office director and she would have subordinates under her.

Teacher Qiu said, "I will go with you to pick up the foreign tourists tomorrow. If there are not enough seats on the way back, I will take the bus back."

Foreign tourists certainly don't want to see overloading and crowding.

Wang Dexian said, "Teacher Qiu, I will drive there too. You can come back with me then."

There are no direct buses nowadays, and transferring is very troublesome.

"it is good!"

Lin Yan exhaled, "I hope to have a good start tomorrow!"

There are no direct flights between China and the United States. Last December, the first batch of people who went abroad at public expense transited in Paris, France.

Direct flights between China and France started relatively early, with direct flights between Shanghai and Paris in 1966. France established diplomatic relations with China when General Charles de Gaulle was still alive. In 1974, direct flights were also opened between the capital and Paris.

Nowadays, flights from the United States or other European countries to China all transit through France. Tomorrow, a flight from Paris to the capital will arrive.

Fang Mingche's current travel agency is really a makeshift team, and it is impossible to contact the people before they board the plane in France. Everything depends on picking them up at the airport tomorrow.

Fang Mingche said, "Okay, Xiao Hu, you should get familiar with this car. Why don't we go to the airport and run back and forth now? This will make it easier to estimate the time tomorrow."

There were thirteen seats, and all the people from the travel agency went. Yanyan, Xiao Xie, and Lingzi's mother also had a seat as family members.

There were still two empty seats when they set out. Fang Mingche saw Aunt Yuan and leaned out to say hello, "Aunt Yuan, we're going to the airport for a ride. Do you want to come along?"

Aunt Yuan is the current manager, and she can read their pulse better than the county magistrate.

The old lady was delighted when she heard this, "You'll be back soon after you go?"

"Yeah, at most I'll just take a look at it at the airport."

Aunt Yuan got on the car and followed along. After all, they were all acquaintances. There was still one seat left, so Wang Dexian's mother also got on. The car, including the driver, had 13 people, and it was fully packed and headed for the Capital Airport.

Many people have never been here. They don’t usually have the opportunity to interact with airplanes. Only county and regiment level or above can get a letter of introduction to buy air tickets. It was quite fresh for a while.

After looking around, Wang Dexian's mother said, "Hey, I heard there is a mural of naked women on the seventh floor of the Capital Airport. Let's go take a look!"

She is an artist in the art troupe and her ideas are more open than the average person.

Aunt Yuan said, "I've heard of it too. Let's go and have a look. Comrade Xiaoping ordered this to be preserved."

Fang Mingche smiled. The three naked Dai women bathing in the mural "Water Splashing Festival" at the Capital Airport are very famous.

The mural was unveiled a few months ago. In order to pass the review, the painter Yuan Yunsheng drew an extra line on the draft, which made it look like the person was wearing a skirt. When the mural was completed, he secretly removed the line. By the time he discovered it, it was too late to correct it.

This incident caused a great uproar in the country. Under social pressure, the relevant departments asked Yuan Yunsheng to modify the mural, "at least let the women wear shorts." But Yuan Yunsheng refused to modify it. Fortunately, the chief designer said that this was a normal artistic expression, and it was finally preserved.

Newspapers at the time reported the event and published the paintings as well.

Later, when Huo Yingdong was interviewed, he said that even he was a little hesitant about investing in the mainland at that time, fearing that the policy would change suddenly.

Therefore, every time he arrived at the Capital Airport, he would check to see if the naked woman mural was still there. If it was, it meant that the mainland's policy had not changed. This naked woman mural thus became one of the artistic symbols of China's reform and opening up.

Everyone from the travel agency ran to the seventh floor where a large mural was displayed, laughing and joking.

After looking at it, Xiao Hu whispered, "There's nothing in this painting." It's just three silhouettes.

Wang Dexian laughed, "What else do you want to see? This has already caused a nationwide uproar."

Lingzi was also embarrassed while watching. On the contrary, Wang Dexian's mother and Aunt Yuan watched openly.

Fang Mingche's family of three, Teacher Gao and Xiao Xie, and the Qiu family's father and daughter were also watching.

Yanyan asked, "Why are they taking a bath outside?"

Fang Mingche said: "The ethnic culture of ethnic minorities. This was painted by the artist after he went to Yunnan to collect materials last year."

Lin Yan smiled, "This painter is really brave! However, displaying it like this really has a sense of liberating thought."

Fang Mingche nodded. Two years later, in the 1980s, people’s mindsets were actually quite open.

The three naked women's key parts were covered with scarves for a long time until the Asian Games in 1990, when the scarves were removed. As a result, due to the long-term covering, the shades of the covered parts were different, making them particularly prominent!

Therefore, these few years should be very suitable for the development of foreign travel agencies. He must seize the time to make money and strive for a higher social status!

When driving here, Xiao Hu looked at the time. Naturally, he had to count the time when driving back. He drove directly to the Friendship Hotel and parked the car. Then Wang Dexian took Lingzi out of the car and went in. The others were waiting in the car.

Aunt Yuan said, "Xiao Fang, you guys seem to be doing a very organized job. I hope your business will flourish and you can earn more foreign exchange for the country."

With the protection of earning foreign exchange, she no longer has to pretend she doesn't know.

Fang Mingche said: "We will definitely work hard. This way the country can earn more foreign exchange, and our travel agency staff can all get rid of poverty and become rich."

Aunt Yuan nodded. "You are right. Now is the same as it was in the early years after liberation. The whole country is united."

"Yes, some details do not affect the overall situation."

Aunt Yuan glanced at Teacher Qiu and nodded. She had no aversion to such a person living in the compound she managed. After all, he was a staff member of Beijing Normal University.

When faced with Aunt Yuan and some people wearing red armbands, Teacher Qiu avoided them reflexively.

If Fang Mingche hadn't paid him a real salary and given his daughter this job opportunity, he really wouldn't have had the courage to come out of the boiler room.

Fortunately, when he moved here, Grandpa Gu was the first to greet him warmly. Others were also quite nice to him. The people in the compound were quite friendly. Especially Lingzi's family, who would bring whatever delicious food they made to them.

Fang Mingche told him that the social atmosphere has been getting better and better. Those active elements in the past have become low-key and honest.

He also hopes that this job can enable his family to live a good life.

(End of this chapter)