My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 58: Selling goods is impossible. Let’s just make friends.

"I'll buy a bicycle sooner or later."

I got up early in the morning and walked for more than an hour to reach the commune. The soles of my feet have become hard recently, and the uneven dirt road is very uncomfortable for me.

Li Feng patted his trouser legs and shook his sleeves. They had changed color from the journey, and he casually shook off the two ounces of dust. "Do you think we should wear towels and hats next time? We're so dusty now."

Li Feng glanced at the two of them as he spoke. Okay, no more talking. Gao Ju and Gao Cheng were carrying loads, their heads wrapped in towels. What a fucking imitation show, and a high-end one at that. "Let's go get something to eat."

"Forget it, boss."

Gao Ju thought that Li Feng had only a few food coupons in his pocket, and this guy couldn't buy a few steamed buns at all. It would be better for everyone to eat steamed buns together, which would be more comfortable than Li Feng eating steamed buns alone.

"Yeah, save some."

Gao Cheng also said hurriedly, "We brought some steamed bread, so we can just eat a bite. The important thing is to get things done."

If they had enough food coupons, they would definitely agree to buy food at the breakfast stall, but the food coupons were pitifully few, not even enough for one person, so how could they eat the two buns they bought?

"It's about business."

Li Feng felt his pockets. He didn't have many food coupons, but he did have quite a bit of cash. He still had more than half the money left to buy a skirt and shirt. He couldn't take these with him, so he had to spend them here. "I'll go get some meat and bones later."

“You don’t need a ticket for this.”

Li Feng remembered the cigarettes he had brought with him. "Brother Er, give me two packs of cigarettes. I'll give them to the butcher later to see if he can get more meat."

"Boss, let's get a letter of introduction first."

Gao Juxin thought that the real business we are talking about is not buying meat bones. What we are here for is to get letters of introduction and visit villages and teams to find out if there are any porcelains or antiques. At least we can get some silver dollars and get commissions. Why are we talking about meat bones again?

"We have to wait a while before the commune starts working."

Commune cadres were able to get up early and go to work like ordinary people, but they only worked during the official working hours. "Let's go to the butcher shop first. They'll come in early to cut the meat and remove the bones. Going early will get some bones with meat on them."

So that's how it is. The two thought they had misunderstood the boss. The three of them went to the butcher shop. Sure enough, the door was closed, but there was movement. "Wait, I'll go get some meat bones, and then we'll go to the commune."

"Dong dong dong."

"Dong dong dong."

"Who?"

Butcher Guo roared in a rather unpleasant tone, and Li Feng said with a smile, "Brother Guo, it's me. I bought the meat bones last time."

"Buying meat bones?"

Butcher Guo thought for a moment. "I remember now, it's you." He opened half the door and hurried in, waving to Gao Jue and Gao Cheng. "It'll be a while." "Brother Guo, have a cigarette," he said, thrusting a pack of cigarettes into Butcher Guo's hand.

"What is this for?"

Guo the butcher repeatedly declined, but there was no way. His hands were covered in grease and blood, and he couldn't put it in his pocket for fear of staining his clothes. He reluctantly accepted the cigarette from Li Feng's pocket. "What do you want to order today? Or meat bones?"

"Oh, I do want some meat. Someone is coming to our house today, but..."

Forget it, there is no meat ticket. Guo the butcher understood what Li Feng meant. "There is no way. I can't do anything without a meat ticket. I will get you some meat bones to eat." He chopped off a few big bones. Not to mention that the bones looked pretty good with skin and meat.

"Three pounds."

"Thank you so much, Brother Guo."

After saying that, he stuffed two yuan into the butcher's pocket. Guo the butcher saw that the two yuan was a good price and he was quite sensible. He thought that his chopping was not in vain, as at least half of the meat was meat. Meat bones are rare. "Brother Guo, you are busy." Li Feng said and helped to close the door tightly.

After getting three pounds of meat, Li Feng casually stuffed it into the cloth bag he brought with him. If he didn't pack it properly, it would be covered in dust when he returned later, which would be bad. "Let's go to the commune and take a look. I'm afraid they are all up and going to the canteen to eat."

Thinking about it, the commune was really good, and it even had a canteen. Li Feng didn't know that this canteen had a history. The canteen of Maya Commune was established in the late 1950s, and it has gone through many twists and turns until now.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Hello, uncle. I'm looking for Comrade Han Anjun, who usually follows Secretary Wu."

"Oh, you're looking for Xiao Han."

It would be easy to get things done since the old man knew Han Anjun, but you couldn't just enter the commune, you had to register.

Han Anjun was having dinner with Wu Xiaofeng and several colleagues. When he heard that someone was looking for him, he thought it was his family who came to see him.

"Hey, Li Feng?"

Han Anjun muttered, "Why is he here? What's going on?" Li Feng, however, grabbed Han Anjun in a familiar manner. "Anjun, I haven't seen you for a few days. How have you been lately?"

"Fortunately."

Han Anjun muttered, this is too enthusiastic.

"That's good. Comrade Wu Xiaofeng is here too, just in time."

Li Feng said with a smile. "I was thinking of coming to see you after I finished my work here."

"Is something wrong?"

Last time, Li Fengyun gave her a skirt. In recent days, she has been praised by her colleagues a lot, and someone even wants her to help buy one for them.

"I've been writing some manuscripts recently."

Li Feng said with a smile. "I plan to send it out and get some royalties to repair the house."

"Have you written a new manuscript?"

Wow, now not only Wu Xiaofeng and Han Anjun, but also his colleagues who were having dinner together looked at Li Feng in surprise. He was a writer at that.

"Really? I'll make a list for you later. I wonder what it says this time?"

"Nothing."

Li Feng thought to himself, with so many people involved, it's hard to explain my postpartum care for sows. "Oh, by the way, I also wrote a poem this time. I'm not very good at writing, so I just wrote it casually. Can you guys take a look and give me some feedback?"

"Writing poetry."

Not to mention, for today's young people, writing poetry is really quite classy. Look, the two female comrades next to them are a little curious.

"Can we take a look?"

These two were the commune's operators, and they were quite fond of literature. When they heard that Li Feng had written a poem, they came over. "Okay."

Fortunately, poetry is not something too awkward, and it is better than a sow's postpartum care.

"Facing the Ocean, Spring and Blossom."

The name was quite good. Wu Xiaofeng and the others continued to read it. After finishing, they said that it was written very smoothly. Although it was not very well written, it was still a poem after all, and it looked good. "Where are you going to send it?"

"Poetry Magazine."

"Poetry magazine?"

Huang Xiaoli exclaimed, she knew about the poetry magazine. She had a distant cousin who lived in the provincial capital. She had seen a poetry magazine at her house last time. But Baobei said it was run by the Writers Association and it was very impressive.

"What's wrong with Xiaoli? Is there something wrong with Poetry Magazine?"

Wu Xiaofeng standing by was puzzled. The name of Poetry Magazine sounded ordinary, even a little too ordinary.

"Poetry Magazine is a poetry journal sponsored by the China Writers Association."

Huang Xiaoli glanced at Li Feng and explained, "The headquarters is in the capital, and they have very strict requirements for poetry." She didn't dare to say in front of so many people, "Does your poem match the quality? Do you match the quality?"

"Comrade Li Feng, why don't you try another regional poetry magazine?"

After listening to this, Wu Xiaofeng pondered for a moment. This was Li Feng's first time writing poetry, so he shouldn't be too greedy. Besides, this poem was just average, too colloquial, without any ideas, just a few empty sentences. It flowed smoothly, but he couldn't see how good it was.

Good boy, this is really contemptuous, but think about it, this poem itself has a certain bonus, others are risking their lives, Li Feng can't do it. "It doesn't matter, give it a try, the worst that can happen is rejection."

"My attitude is pretty good."

Huang Xiaoli smiled, but they didn't really think that Li Feng could be published in a poetry magazine. He had no foundation at all, and although his poems were fluent, they were not particularly amazing.

"Then I wish you success."

"Thank you."

Li Feng smiled and said, "As for the sow's postpartum care, it's not a good idea to bring it up right now, because poetry is the key to our conversation." The conversation got a little more involved, and somehow the topic turned to skirts. "Xiao Feng, did you get your skirt from Comrade Li Feng?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"I quite like it too."

Huang Xiaoli glanced at Li Feng, but was a little embarrassed to say it, after all, she was not very familiar with Li Feng.

"Speaking of this skirt, there's a little story behind it."

Li Feng saw that Huang Xiaoli seemed to like it and thought that this could be a good opportunity to sell the skirt at home. After all, he couldn't wear skirts. "My two cousins didn't know when they came and thought I was home. This is the first time they came and brought two skirts."

"Tell me, I'm a grown man, what's the big deal about having a skirt at home?"

"Comrade Wu Xiaofeng, I wonder if anyone here wants to share the space? Could you please ask for me?"

Li Feng was filled with worry. "It would be such a shame if such a nice skirt got eaten by mice at home."

"And a skirt?"

Huang Xiaoli was delighted. "Can you give it to me? I'll pay more."

"What do you mean?"

Li Feng waved his hands repeatedly. "I'm not doing this to make money. It's really a waste to keep it at home."

"How about this."

Li Feng looked at Wu Xiaofeng and Han Anjun. "You're Anjun's colleague and Wu Xiaofeng's friend. How can I have the nerve to ask you for more money? I'll give it to you at the price Wu Xiaofeng agreed. It would be a waste to keep it with me."

"Ah, that's it."

Huang Xiaoli whispered to Wu Xiaofeng, asking how much her skirt cost. She was afraid it was not cheap. "Xiaofeng, how much is your skirt? It's expensive." She was also worried that Li Feng might be involved in speculation.

Wu Xiaofeng saw what her friend was thinking and smiled. "Fifteen yuan, a few yuan cheaper than at the department store. And it's a new style from Shanghai."

"Really?"

Huang Xiaoli heard that fifteen yuan, less than half a month's salary, was too cheap. She thought it was definitely not speculation. After all, no one would be stupid enough to speculate and sell for less than the price of a department store. "Comrade Li Feng, I want that skirt."

"Okay, I'll bring it to you when I have time."

"No need. An Jun and I will go back to Hanjiaba and bring it back to Xiaoli."

Wu Xiaofeng said, "After all, it's not easy for Li Feng to come here."

"Okay, I'll give you the money."

Although Huang Xiaoli was a little anxious, she couldn't go to a man's house to get a skirt. Li Feng had never expected to get a free breakfast and sell a skirt, and the letter of introduction was also opened smoothly.

"I finally got a letter of introduction from the commune."

Li Feng was delighted. With the letter of introduction, he could finally wander around the area openly. "The big fair will open in a couple of days. I'll go see what I can buy." After all, he had written an article on postpartum care for sows, and it would be best if he could raise piglets.

After coming out of the commune compound, Li Feng handed the letter of introduction to Gao Ju and Gao Cheng. The two of them took the letter and set off happily. They planned to go to two production brigades on the edge of the commune today. These two brigades were richer than Hanjiaba.

"I wonder how many heads I can shave today and how much money I can earn."

Li Feng looked at the two people he hired to make money with some anticipation. Alas, it was not his fault. The value of their work points was really too low. Three people earned less than 90 cents a day, and after deducting the system's share, they still got less than 40 cents.

It's enough to buy knife loaches and ditch crawlers, but Li Feng wants to get rich, so he certainly can't just rely on these wages.

“I originally wanted to bring some articles to make money.”

Now, it's good. This guy might not be able to publish it. Even if it is published, Li Feng will not admit that he wrote it. He is just a tool copyist who only wants the royalties. "Should I send this poem to the poetry magazine?"

Haizi isn't dead yet, and I, Li Zi, don't plan to die either. This is a difficult situation. This poem has no story, no hook, and I wonder if the editor will appreciate it. "The system's compensation is terrible. You could imitate something like Tengwang Pavilion Preface, with more words."

"Forget it, just send it."

Li Feng sent it out with some extravagant hopes, facing the sea and the spring flowers.

(End of this chapter)