Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 573 The Outside World, Here I Come

July 17, 1991, Wednesday, the sixth day of the sixth lunar month.

Sunny turning cloudy, southeast wind force 3 to 4.

Xiao Wei and Xiao Hong, holding hands and dragging their suitcases, along with Xiao Liu from Jixian Police Station, led Ga Zi, and the four of them entered the Taoyuan Airport terminal.

Originally, Xiaohong wanted to bring more people, but then she felt that having too many people would be troublesome, so in the end it became a trip for four.

Xiao Liu was the most excited. This good thing had fallen into his lap; a publicly funded trip was just too wonderful.

Gazi was very nervous; his palms were sweaty, and his hands were trembling as he pulled his suitcase.

This is the first time in my life I've left my hometown, the first time I've been to the provincial capital, and now I'm going to Beijing, all by plane. I'm feeling incredibly dizzy.

"Xiao Wei, I need to go to the outhouse." Ga Zi was covered in sweat, his new clothes were all wrinkled and crumpled from being twisted.

Xiao Wei stood up and said, "Come on, I'll go with you. From now on, don't say 'outhouse' in public; say 'toilet' or 'restroom' instead."

Why?

"Outsiders can't understand."

"Oh. Xiaowei, do you think a plane can come down after it takes off? Probably?"

"It's like a train, just faster. One runs on the ground, the other flies in the sky. Why are you so nervous?"

"Could it fall down if it stops halfway? What's an aerial train station like?"

"There are no stops in between, and there are no stations in the sky. It takes only two hours to fly directly to Beijing from here. If we take the train, it will take almost a whole day. The reason we take this is because it's fast."

"Have you ridden this before?"

"No, it's my first time too. All four of us are doing it for the first time. If we're not afraid, why are you?"

"I'm not afraid, no, I'm not afraid, I'm just unsure."

"Wash your face, are you thirsty? You won't get dehydrated from sweating, will you?"

"This toilet, this bathroom, is so damn clean, I'm almost tempted to live here."

Xiao Wei licked his lips and kicked Ga Zi in the butt: "Can you be normal? It's just going out for a bit, what's with all the nervousness?"

Gazi dipped his head under the tap for a while, then took the towel Xiaowei handed him and wiped himself, saying, "I can't control it! This thing is like pooping and peeing; once it comes, it comes. Can you hold it back? Can you hold it back?" He paused for a moment, then asked, "Xiaowei, how do you poop and pee on an airplane?"

Xiao Wei said, "There's a restroom, and besides, it's only about two hours. I can take a nap and we'll be there."

The two came out of the bathroom, and Xiaowei asked, "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Gazi looked around and said, "It's okay to eat something. If you want to eat, I'll eat with you." Reaching into his pocket, Xiaowei said, "Smoking isn't allowed here. You have to go over there. That's the smoking room, a place specifically for smoking." He pointed to the cigarette sign next to the restroom.

Gazi turned his head and glanced at it, then shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm not smoking anymore. Let's eat."

Back in his seat, Xiaowei asked, "Xiaohong, Liu, would you two like to get something to eat?"

Xiao Hong jumped up with her hands raised: "I want to eat! I've been wanting to have a meal at the airport for a long time. My classmates and I have been bragging about it to each other."

Xiao Wei said with a twitch in his face, "So you're living for your classmates? You're expected to do everything they do?"

Xiao Hong rolled her eyes at Xiao Wei, while Xiao Liu laughed and said, "We're classmates, isn't that how it is? It's like you're inferior just because others have something and you don't. Are you hungry? Food at the airport is ridiculously expensive, a bowl of noodles costs tens of yuan. Why don't we eat in Beijing?"

Gazi swallowed hard and said to Xiaowei, "Forget it, can we even afford it? What are the noodles made of?"

Xiao Wei said, "Eat what you want, eat when you're hungry. Why think so much? It's not like we don't have money. Let's go."

The four of them dragged their suitcases around looking for food. Back then, airports didn't have as many options as they do now, and they were basically imitations of foreign airports. They really weren't suitable for Chinese people to spend money there. Coffee and Western food were just torture for Chinese people to eat as a main meal.

After looking around, Xiaohong finally decided to eat at KFC, because her classmate had been raving about it. Compared to a palm-sized piece of meat costing over a hundred yuan, KFC's prices were still acceptable. No comparison, no harm done.

Back then, KFC also sold beer. Yes, that's right. KFC initially only had seven products, and beer was one of them.

None of the people had ever tried this kind of Western fast food before. Hamburgers, chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, soft drinks, bread, and beer—although it only offered a few items, it still attracted a large number of Chinese people to try it out. The store was constantly packed with people.

This fast food chain, which entered China under the banner of serving foreigners, was called KFC back then, and its main brand was American fast food. With just a few products that seem ridiculous now, it once achieved daily sales of 300,000 yuan in China. 300,000 yuan in 1987, for a single store.

KFC is the Western fast food chain that understands Chinese people best, bar none. To be closer to the Chinese people, it moved its headquarters from Hong Kong Island to Singapore before entering China, because people in Hong Kong Island don't speak Mandarin, while people in Singapore do. That's the reason.

KFC's initial management team all came from Singapore rather than the local area or Hong Kong Island, which allowed it to quickly integrate into the local community.

Xiao Hong ate with a beaming smile, while Ga Zi ate with a cold sweat pouring down his face. He kept calculating the price as he ate, feeling a pang of heartache with every bite, but his hands and mouth never stopped. In the end, he ate as much as Xiao Wei and the other two combined. This is powerful proof that he channeled his grief and anger into his appetite.

Get your boarding pass, go through security, wait for your flight, and board. Back then, security wasn't as complicated as it is now. You could bring a lighter on board, but you were only allowed one lighter per person, though you could bring ten boxes of matches.

Once seated on the plane, Ga Zi wasn't so nervous anymore; instead, he became curious, touching and fiddling with everything, showing a strong interest in everything.

The flight attendant explained, "Fasten your seatbelts, start the engine, proceed to the runway, accelerate, takeoff." At that moment, Ga Zi's face flushed, and he tightly closed his eyes. Xiao Hong gripped Xiao Wei's hand tightly, squeezing him into his arms. Xiao Liu stared wide-eyed out the window, while Xiao Wei gritted his teeth, pretending to be nonchalant, his fists clenched tightly.

The tilting and weightlessness made me feel like I was floating, with the roar of the engines filling my ears. Back then, they were all small planes, and the engines were incredibly loud and the shaking was severe.

The plane was laid flat, and the flight attendants came out to move around, informing the passengers that they could move freely. The plane stopped shaking.

Outside the window, there were towering mountains, plains, and waterfalls formed by snow-white clouds, stretching as far as the eye could see. The shadow of the plane twisted and changed on the white clouds. Above was a sky completely different from the one seen from the ground, and the plane's upright tail swayed in the void.

(End of this chapter)