The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 44 The Story of the Production Team (asking for monthly tickets)
The sunset is orange-red, like a salted egg yolk.

The smoke from the seaweed roofs was torn into a gauze curtain by the sea breeze, covering the corn cobs and haystacks piled up like small hills.

From time to time, children from fishing families would come back from fishing, put down their buckets, and run around the streets with corn tortillas smeared with shrimp paste, scaring the chickens so much that they would flutter around.

Under the locust tree, several old men gathered around a semiconductor radio and listened to "Surprise Attack on the White Tiger Regiment".

The sounds were crackling and stumbling.

This machine, awarded by the commune in 1965, had circuit problems after being exposed to sea breezes for 12 years.

The children were making a lot of noise, and the old men, who couldn't hear the radio clearly, were angry: "Behave yourself, or we'll throw you into the sea..."

That’s half the story.

The children's voices were even louder, as if they had trumpets in their mouths:
"My dad is back, back."

"Dad, didn't you get hit by a car when you went to the city?"

"Uncle, what are you holding in your hand?"

The militiamen returned on a forced march.

Their legs were numb from exhaustion, but when they reached the village entrance, they were all full of energy again, with their heads held high and chests puffed out like regular soldiers about to be inspected by their leader.

Everyone was dangling a plastic bag with the State-Owned Second Hotel printed on it:

This thing is rare in rural areas.

It immediately attracted old men and women.

An old lady put down the basket she was holding and, without even bothering to mend her pants, quickly asked, "What's the city like? Didn't that young man Qian Jin get burned by the branding iron?"

Liu Youguang laughed out loud: "Auntie, what nonsense are you talking about? This is a new society, where do we still need a branding iron?"

"My dear fellows! We have seen a lot today!"

The militiamen nodded proudly.

They burped, and the smell that came up was a bit greasy.

It was time to get off work.

Many people gathered around.

Seeing this, the militiamen stopped moving and sat down beside the haystack to rest.

"Hurry up and drink some water." The old man handed over the enamel pot. "You must be very thirsty after the journey there and back, right?"

Liu Youyu said loudly: "I'm thirsty, but it's not from walking, it's because I ate too much meat at noon!"

"You guys went to the city to eat meat?" some young people were envious.

Several militiamen said in unison: "They went to the State-Owned Second Hotel!"

Someone else learned and applied it immediately: "It's the old Liujulou Hotel, which was specially used to entertain government officials."

"That big table at the state-owned restaurant can seat fourteen or fifteen people in a circle. It's even more spacious than the conference table at our brigade headquarters!"

One militiaman picked up a toothpick he hadn't used before and described it vividly: "We had stewed pork elbow today."

"That guy is so fat he's shaking. The waiter brings over a huge bowl, just like a maidservant in the old society serving a landlord's wife - Comrade, this is the energy you've reserved for the Four Modernizations!"

The kid who squeezed in sniffled and asked, "Sixth Uncle, didn't you guys go to rescue Uncle Qian Jin? Why are you going to build the Four Modernizations again? What are the Four Modernizations?"

The militiaman holding the toothpick slapped him on the back of the head: "Just to make you greedy and gesture around!"

Liu Wangcai also slapped the militiaman on the back of the head: "Just speak nicely, why are you trying to fool one of our own people?"

He looked around and sighed:

"The meat in the state-owned restaurant is delicious, but the waiters there look down on us farmers. If it weren't for the money, we would have been kicked out!"

"Let's not talk about the money first. Let's talk about what the state-owned restaurants are like. I haven't heard of anyone in our area going to a restaurant in the city." The members asked with interest.

This touched the militiamen's itchy spots and sucked on their hard parts.

Talking, gesturing, and for a moment, spitting foam everywhere:
"That restaurant doesn't have wooden or iron doors like ours. It has two large panes of glass, so transparent. Er Taozi almost crashed into it!"

"That area is paved with terrazzo, so slippery you can't stand there. You can't wear skirts in there because the terrazzo is so shiny you can see your underwear!"

"Hey, there are teacups on each table. We don't need to bring our own kettles. We can use the same white porcelain teacups we use when we have meetings with commune leaders!"

Liu Wangcai still sighed: "It's just that the waiters don't treat us country people as human beings!"

Militia leader Liu Jiashui said, "It's okay, Grandpa Ba, they don't treat city people as human beings either."

He stood up and gestured around:

"I'm not kidding. I saw with my own eyes a worker touch the back of a chair when taking an order. The waiter quickly took a feather duster and swept it—they said they were afraid his calloused hands would scratch the paint!"

"You dare to look down on the workers?" The members were stunned.

Some people were angry: "What has happened to the world? Even commune cadres don't dare look down on workers!"

Liu Youyu sneered, "What do workers count for? Let me tell you, there are also cadres from the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative!"

"But the restaurant doesn't care. They said they won't give you the braised pork, but he's lucky enough to know Qian Jin..."

"Oh, I'm telling you something," Liu Jiashui interrupted. "We've been deceived the whole time. We've been deceived by that young man Qian Jin!"

The members' hearts tightened when they heard this: Qian Jin was a liar? Liu Wangcai slapped him on the back of the head again: "If you can speak, then speak. If you can't, get out - what do you mean by being deceived?"

Liu Jiashui said aggrievedly, "Really? I always thought Qian Jin was just an educated youth, but it turns out he's the son of a cadre!"

"I'm not kidding, the cadres from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative all went over to toast him! We didn't pay for lunch, so what? It was the owner of the state-owned restaurant who treated us..."

"That's the team leader! He's the chef!" Liu Wangcai continued to slap her. "Get out of here!"

The onlookers grasped the point: "Didn't you pay for your lunch?"

"Not only is the meal free, look what this is!" The militiamen raised the plastic bags in their hands.

The bag was thick, black and opaque. The members had never seen it before and no one knew what it was.

Liu Wangcai took a firecracker rolled out of newspaper and said, "After we finished our meal, the restaurant team leader came out to see me off and gave me all these delicious dishes and meat."

"Actually, you have to pay to get in," Liu Jiashui added.

Liu Wangcai looked at him, and he immediately covered the back of his head: "Eighth Grandpa, what's wrong with this?"

"That's right." Liu Wangcai took a puff of his cigarette.

He turned out his bulging pockets and showed them to everyone:

"Qian Jin brought money and tickets to treat everyone to a meal, but as soon as he entered, the waiters and team leaders all behaved themselves when they saw him."

"The waiter looked down on us at first, saying, 'You must have come in through the wrong door, right? What are you doing in our restaurant?'"

"Qian Jin is a good comrade. When he heard the waiter look down on us, he immediately said, 'I came to the restaurant to eat, what else would I do? To take a shit? You can't even take a shit in a toilet!'"

The members felt relieved after hearing this and burst into laughter.

"The waiter behind him recognized his identity and ran away quietly, and went to call out their team leader."

"The team leader is really powerful. How else could he be a leader? He spoke honestly to Qian Jin and the cadres of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. When Qian Jin led him out, he must have told him his identity."

"Guess what happened after we got back? The team leader said he'd treated us to a meal! What was it? Roast chicken, braised pork, stewed pork elbow, fried meat, fried fish, giant prawns..."

The members slurped their saliva.

The militiamen opened the bag:
The trembling pork belly, the golden and fragrant fried meat, the chicken legs as big as a palm, and the ham slices with meat exposed!
The crowd was restless!
Liu Wangcai stood up and waved his hand: "Don't worry!"

"This is what Qian Jin treated our team to. It doesn't belong to me or anyone else."

"Let's have another big pot meal tonight. No matter if it's fish or meat, just chop it up. Erzhu, go to the warehouse and get 50 kilograms of white flour. We'll have dumpling soup from the state-owned restaurant tonight!"

The members cheered loudly.

Many people envied: "Is this what you eat in restaurants?"

The militiamen nodded proudly: "Every bite of meat and every sip of wine, we have never been so rich in our lives!"

"Let me tell you, this fried pork tenderloin is delicious. At the commune's flood relief celebration banquet this summer, the batter for the fried pork tenderloin was as thick as a shoe sole. The batter in state-owned restaurants is thinner than my mother's foot bindings!"

"Hey, hey, hey, just a plate of braised pork—two yuan, and a pound of meat coupons are required from all over the country!"

The members exclaimed in unison.

Liu Laogun, a household member who received five guarantees, squatted on a bench eating dried sweet potatoes. He curled his lips and said, "People in the city use a strainer to eat fried pork tenderloin, but we have to count the dried sweet potatoes piece by piece!"

Everyone sighed and said, "City people are still the best."

Liu Youguang straightened his back calmly and said, "This is the truth. Eating commercial grain is definitely better."

"I went to see Jiaqing a few days ago. He's gained a lot of weight since he was in the team. He said he gets plenty of steamed buns every day!"

Many people said longingly: "I will go to the city in the future and find Comrade Qian Jin."

"Don't go, don't go and be looked down upon!" Liu Wangcai became serious.

"I really can't tell." The members whispered to each other.

"Yes, the enthusiasm with which he drilled into the cornfield is the same as our farmer's grandson. It turns out that the children of cadres have high consciousness!"

"Actually, I already knew that. He said he could drive a car. How could a cadre's son learn to drive at such a young age?"

Liu Youguang quickly said, "I won't hide it from you now. I was actually the first one to know that Qian Jin was the son of a cadre!"

"Jiaqing was able to go to the city because of his connections, but the neighborhood committee director didn't agree to let Jiaqing go to the city."

"When the money came in, he criticized and scolded him harshly, and only then did he do his job honestly."

"Can he find a job for our son Liangliang in the city as well?" a woman asked impatiently.

Many people hold this view and say they will ask Qian Jin later.

Liu Wangcai glared at Liu Youguang: "You're looking for trouble for him!"

Liu Youguang quickly said loudly: "Hey, Comrade Qian Jin can't arrange a job for Jiaqing just by talking nonsense, he has to be a good person!"

"Gold bar! The gold bar my father left me! I guess he used it to build a road and buy a job!"

The members were secretly wondering: Are there any good things at home?
If there is something good, I must have a good chat with him next time Qian Jin comes.

Some people's homes are already empty, and they think of their relatives and friends: Are there any good things in my mother's family?

If there is, then you have to take it all!
(End of this chapter)