Back to my 1980s

A scene surfaced deep in Zhao Hua's mind.

He couldn't remember exactly when, but he did remember that one day he went to a convenience store to buy cigarettes, and the store clerk was using a hose to fill a water dispenser with bottled purified water.

Those around them were clearly used to it.

In fact, after the 1990s, 20 to 30 bottled water plants could spring up in a county town. They would just dig a deep well, install a set of bottling equipment, and start selling water directly.

Thinking about this, Zhao Hua clicked his tongue. It seemed like he was thinking too far ahead. It seemed that there weren't even plastic bottles anymore. Even orange soda was made in glass bottles. However, glass bottles were not difficult to obtain nowadays, and even sealing machines were very common.

He suppressed the turmoil in his mind. There was no use thinking too much now. He didn't even have a venue. He still needed to find someone to understand the cost of those machines and the like in detail. The only people he knew who were involved in this kind of thing were probably Jiang Yue and Xu Qian.

Since we're going to give them a share of the money, how can we expect them to contribute nothing? The most important thing is that, no matter what we're going to do, we need to get the recipe first.

Zhao Hua glanced at Meng Qinghe's house, looked it over, then turned to Meng Qinghe and smiled, "Have you talked to your dad about opening a small shop?"

Meng Qinghe smiled and said softly, "I told him, Dad agreed. He also thinks that opening a small shop will make money, but he doesn't know if the necessary permits can be obtained."

Zhao Hua glanced at their house again and nodded, saying, "Well, but we probably can't put our things inside. If we put them inside, they'll take up a room, and we won't have enough space to sleep."

Meng Qinghe laughed and said, "Yes, Dad said the same thing. He said he would help me build a canopy so that if I really open a small shop, I can put all the things outside under the canopy and bring them back in when I go to bed at night. He can squeeze in with the other goods and keep an eye on things at the same time."

Zhao Hua pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, "Go home and get your household registration book. We'll get the certificate done today. Anyway, even if you and Zhao Ru go to sell fish during the day, your dad can keep an eye on things for you. The sooner it's done, the less trouble we'll have to worry about."

If Meng Qinghe's convenience store opens in the future, and I happen to actually sell beverages, then her convenience store could be my first distributor. There aren't many individual business owners these days, and each one is quite valuable.

Meng Qinghe glanced at Zhao Hua in surprise. She hadn't expected that they would be taking her to get the certificate today, just yesterday. She wasn't mentally prepared at all.

Just as she was at a loss, Zhao Ru pulled her up. Zhao Ru was now a real little rich woman and wanted to take care of her good friend. She pulled Meng Qinghe towards her house and said, "Come on, come on, I'll take a look at how to get that certificate."

A moment later, Zhao Ru pulled Meng Qinghe out again. They walked up to Zhao Hua, and Zhao Ru excitedly said, "Brother! We brought the household registration book! What's next?"

Zhao Hua smiled and took the household registration booklet. The household registration booklet of today is different from that of later generations. It is like a book, about the size of an elementary school Chinese textbook. You have to turn the pages one by one to read it, just like a small notebook.

Zhao Hua opened his household registration booklet, which had a "class background" section. His class background was completely blank, but his family background was listed as "employee". His household registration type was listed as "agricultural". Zhao Hua was a little speechless. He was listed as both an employee and an agricultural worker.

Born in 1965, Zhao Hua calculated that she was 18 years old. No wonder she looked a little taller than Zhao Ru. Fortunately, her household registration was agricultural, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

He thought for a moment. Since he wanted to open a small shop in the village, he would at least need to get a certificate from the village. Otherwise, how would the industrial and commercial administration office know where he was opening the shop? They couldn't just say whatever they wanted. He returned the household registration book to Meng Qinghe and said with a smile, "Let's go to the village and ask first. The village officials should know what the process is for opening a small shop."

The thought of dealing with those old fogies in the village made Zhao Hua scratch his head repeatedly.

The two of them knew nothing, so of course they listened to whatever Zhao Hua said and followed him to the village branch.

As Zhao Hua walked into the village branch office, he glanced around casually and thought to himself that these unused empty rooms were a kind of base for him and his friends. It had been a long time since he had been here.

"Uncle Zhao! Uncle Zhao!" Zhao Hua shouted as soon as he entered the door.

"What's up? What brings you here today? Aren't you building a house?" The village secretary steadied his reading glasses and glanced at Zhao Hua.

Zhao Hua walked into the house, glanced around, and said with a smile, "Uncle Zhao, why are you the only one here today? I came to talk to you about something."

"What's up?"

"I'm thinking of opening a small shop. Do I need any certificates or permits from you?"

"Huh?" The village secretary put down the newspaper in his hand, adjusted his reading glasses, and looked at Zhao Hua, as if he hadn't heard what he was saying.

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "I said I wanted to open a sales point in the village. Do I need your permission to provide a certificate?"

The village secretary was also a bit scratching his head. This guy was always causing him trouble. It was one thing to go fishing with great fanfare before, but now he wanted to open some kind of consignment point. He was asked if he needed a certificate. Who knew if he needed a certificate!

He waved his hand and said, "I don't know. What sales outlet? There are already government-run ones in the village. How can you open one? I've never even heard of it."

Zhao Hua pulled up the chair opposite him, offered him a cigarette, and chuckled, "Doesn't that town also have a supply and marketing cooperative, and people still run sales outlets there, right?"

The village secretary waved his hand impatiently and said, "I don't know, I don't know. Don't bother me with this nonsense. Go and build your house properly."

Zhao Hua was at a loss, mainly because the old man probably didn't know what kind of certificate he needed or what the procedure was. He glanced back at the two pretty girls standing at the door, scratched his head, said goodbye to the village secretary, and simply walked out.

"Brother, is it impossible to do it?" Zhao Ru greeted him as soon as he came out, and they could faintly hear the voices inside the house.

Meng Qinghe didn't say anything, but her eyes were fixed on him.

Zhao Hua glanced back at the village secretary, who had already started reading the newspaper again, completely ignoring the people at the door.

He said helplessly, "Nobody in the village has done this before. Let's go to the Industry and Commerce Bureau and ask. If that doesn't work, we'll just issue it directly. What's with all the proof and documentation? It's not that complicated. We can just get it reissued whenever someone tells us what to do. As long as we don't say anything, who will know if we have the proof or not?"

As he spoke, he turned to Meng Qinghe and said, "If it doesn't work, I'll write one for you later. You can take it back and stick it on the wall. If anyone asks, just say you have proof. They're just ordinary people; I reckon no one will care about these trivial matters."

Before Meng Qinghe could speak, Zhao Ru giggled and said, "Brother, why don't you just write down some money? Then we wouldn't need to go fishing."