1979: Reopening Wenhao Road from the Village

Early the next morning, Chen Weidong went to the brigade to get a letter of introduction and then followed the horse-drawn carriage to the county again.

Fortunately, it was the end of the year, and horse-drawn carriages from the village would frequently travel to the county town; otherwise, he would have had to wait several more days.

Chen Weidong went to the post office, mailed the letter, and then withdrew all the money using the money order, carefully hiding it away.

In twenty or thirty years, a hundred yuan might not seem like much, but it would only be enough for a meal. However, in today's world, it could buy several bags of flour and dozens of kilograms of pork, or even a secondhand Flying Pigeon bicycle.

This time, he didn't wander around. He followed the group's vehicle back to the village and went directly to He Yan's house.

"Brother Yan, this is the money I owed you before. Please keep it."

"What's the rush? You can use it for Sui Sui and the others first. I'm not in a hurry. Where did you get so much money?"

He Yan pushed it away but didn't take it, looking at Chen Weidong with some confusion.

"My family just sent some over, and there's still quite a bit left. It's almost Chinese New Year, and you'll need money too. If I ever need money again, I'll definitely ask you. I'll pay you back, and it won't be hard to borrow again."

"You!"

Upon hearing Chen Weidong's words, He Yan did not refuse again and accepted it.

After chatting for a few moments, Chen Weidong said goodbye, "Brother Yan, I have to go now. I'm going to Fu Xiao's place to pay him back."

"Then you go ahead and get busy."

Chen Weidong arrived at Fu Xiao's house and knocked on the door.

"Comrade Weidong, is something the matter?"

Fu Xiao opened the door and asked Chen Weidong.

"I have something to take care of. Here's the ten yuan I owe you. Please keep it."

Seeing that Fu Xiao had accepted the money, Chen Weidong left without saying much. After all, she was single, and he was a married man; it wouldn't be appropriate for them to stay together for too long.

Fu Xiao looked at the money in her hand. How did Chen Weidong get money so quickly? Could he have done something bad? She had to find a chance to talk to Su Man and ask about the situation.

Chen Weidong returned home and handed the money to Su Man.

"I just went to He Yan and Fu Xiao to pay them back. Keep the rest."

"Why did you give it all to me? Take these ten dollars and keep them for when you need them."

Su Man didn't accept all the money; instead, she left Chen Weidong one ten-yuan note and carefully put the other sixty yuan into an inner pocket of the quilt.

"When was it sewn?"

Chen Weidong asked with some curiosity, as he had never heard of this hiding place in his previous life.

"We've had it for a while, but we didn't have much money at home before, so we never used it."

Su Man took out a needle and thread, sewed up the opening, and her face was full of joy.

Having money in hand makes you feel at ease.

What should we eat tonight?

Chen Weidong asked casually.

"Let's make some noodles. Take the pig's trotters out of the pot, there's still oil in the pot, chop some green onions and salt, and put the noodles in."

"Okay, I'll go knead the dough."

"Remember to add more dark flour. We don't have much white flour left at home; we'll need to save some for making dumplings in a few days."

Suman reminded her.

"understood."

Chen Weidong added half a bowl of dark flour to the basin. It seems that it will take some time before white steamed buns become the norm.

Compared to dumpling dough, noodle dough only needs to be mixed with cold water and doesn't require much waiting.

The pig's trotter soup, which had been simmering all afternoon, was now ready. Even the skin of the pig's trotters had become soft, chewy, and sweet, just right for Chen Xiaohui to eat.

Chen Weidong gave all the pig's trotter soup to Su Man, then added two ladles of water to the pot and started cooking noodles.

"I heard from Fu Xiao that there's a market day in the village tomorrow?"

Su Man asked Chen Weidong.

"Yes, I heard it from Uncle Wang too."

"It seems things have really changed. I remember the last time I went to the market was when I was a child, and then it stopped for many years."

Su Man said with a sigh.

"Maybe it will happen every year from now on, and life will get better and better."

Chen Weidong knew that this was the starting point of everything, and no one dared to even think about the future.

There's so much food that restaurants no longer need chefs; nobody wants to watch TV or movies anymore, but people are constantly swiping their wallets to earn money; and everyone's wearing less and less clothing...

That life was like being in paradise!

Hopefully things will get better.

……

The next day, while Chen Weidong was still asleep, he heard a commotion outside.

He looked up at the sky outside; it was just getting light. He hadn't slept long; Chen Xiaoan had kept him up and down several times last night, and he was exhausted.

However, thinking about the market day today, he couldn't sleep. He quickly washed up, cooked some sweet potato porridge for Su Man and the other two, ate a bite himself, and then went out.

By this time, people were coming and going outside, especially closer to the brigade headquarters, the more people there were. In addition to people from Yangjiatun, many people from the surrounding villages of Yangjiatun also came.

People from other groups also came to join in the fun, herding sheep, riding horses, catching chickens... and some even brought cabbages and carrots. People had already started setting up stalls on both sides of the road.

There were vendors selling tables, chairs, and benches; judging by the wood, they were clearly made in the last few days, suggesting the seller was a carpenter. Besides these, there were also wooden stakes, brooms, shovels, sickles, hemp ropes, plowshares, and saplings of fruit trees such as apples, pears, and dates.

Even wheat straw, bean straw, corn stalks, and firewood were being brought over by people who planned to exchange them for something else.

Chen Weidong started his journey from the east end to the west end with great enthusiasm, enjoying food, drinks, and entertainment along the way.

Pork, mutton, beef, rabbit meat... even fish, which he rarely sees, were being sold. They were all "frozen ribbonfish" and "frozen mackerel," and there were also two basins of live carp and grass carp, which were considered "luxury items." He wondered how the sellers managed to keep them alive.

As for vegetables, the most sold items were still the three traditional types: Chinese cabbage, radish, and potatoes stored in cellars. A couple of production teams also brought in small quantities of finer vegetables such as garlic sprouts, spinach, and celery, but they were quite expensive and didn't sell as quickly as the three traditional types.

Nowadays, people value practicality when buying things. With the same amount of money, they definitely want to buy more things. Whether something is rare or not doesn't matter; as long as they can eat more meals, that's fine.

There were also some locally produced peanut candy, rice candy, melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts, and dried persimmons for sale.

The cheapest liquor, "Guaganjiu," was being sold in bulk, and a number of men had gathered around, but very few were actually buying.

However, at the fabric and clothing section, a large group of women had gathered, and some had already started negotiating prices.

Chen Weidong stepped forward and took a look. Most of the clothes were blue, gray and black "foreign cloth" and floral homespun cloth. The ready-made clothes were only the simplest cotton coats, liberation caps and corduroy shoes.

The seller was a young man in his late twenties; judging from his skin color, he was probably from the county town.

That's normal, though. You can't get these kinds of foreign fabrics and ready-made clothes in the countryside. If you did get them, you would have made them for yourself and would never sell them.

Chen Weidong even guessed that the other party was either from the county's supply and marketing cooperative or an employee of the textile factory. Even if not, their family members must be, otherwise they would not have been able to obtain these things.

However, it takes a lot of courage to put it out for sale now.

Thinking about Chen Xiaosui and Su Man at home, it seems like they haven't changed their clothes for several years. As for Chen Xiaoan, he is still wearing Chen Xiaosui's leftover clothes, but he only has one pair of pants. The shirt is still on Chen Xiaosui and hasn't been changed yet. Chen Xiaoan is mostly wrapped in a quilt.

"How much is this fabric?"

"The official price of this foreign cloth is nine cents a foot, and the width is two feet seven inches. If you want a whole ten-foot width, it'll cost you eight dollars and seventy cents."

"The homespun cloth is 7.5 cents a foot long, and it's narrow, 1.8 feet long. Twelve feet can make a coat. I'll give you 85 cents."

"What about these ready-to-wear garments?"

"A new cotton-padded jacket, twelve yuan; a liberation cap, one yuan and thirty cents; and a pair of corduroy shoes, three yuan and twenty cents; take them together and it's sixteen."

"Can you make it cheaper?"

"This is already very cheap. Go check at the counter; you still need to use cloth coupons!"

……