1979 Golden Age

Early April.

It was another morning.

The family had dinner. Chen Qi wore a set of gray clothes and pants, a cotton shirt inside, and the black cloth shoes with red soles on his feet. He was excited to sell tea, but his parents looked bitter, as if they were about to kill him.

"Look at you, you don't want to work so hard, but you have to ruin yourself."

"Don't I know what kind of person you are? Do you have the nerve to yell? You don't even count the money people give you."

Yu Xiuli was crying and snotting, and Chen Qi was speechless: "Mom, don't make me look like a fool, I'm smarter than a monkey!"

"Anyway, be careful, and tell us if you can't do it anymore."

Chen Jianjun also reminded him.

Finally, Yu Xiuli took another cotton hat and wanted to put it on him, but Chen Qi refused to wear it. This thing would make his appearance look very vague, with a maximum of Edison Chen and a minimum of Zhao Benshan.

Huang Zhanying had been waiting by the side. Compared with her, her parents didn't care at all.

Chen Qi waved his hand, and Huang Zhanying followed silently behind, forming a sharp contrast. Those who knew that the two were going to sell tea, and those who didn't know thought that the turtle man gave 800,000 betrothal gifts and finally got married.

The meeting point was at the Qianmen Arrow Tower.

It was only a few hundred meters away, and the two walked there and arrived in ten minutes.

This central axis of the capital, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen, the Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Memorial Hall. To the south of the Memorial Hall is Qianmen, and to the south of Qianmen is the Arrow Tower. Starting from the flagpole in Tiananmen Square, it is only 1.5 kilometers.

It belongs to the core area.

This Arrow Tower was built in the Ming Dynasty. It is 38 meters high and quite spectacular. There is a big doorway below. The People's Liberation Army entered the city through this doorway in 1949.

"Huang Zhanying!"

"Chen Qi!"

At this moment, on the east side of the Arrow Tower, the 11 unemployed young people have arrived and are busy under the command of Aunt Wang. Aunt Wang saw them and called out: "Come and help, put the bowls on the table, and light the stove!"

"Okay!"

Chen Qi rolled up his sleeves and got to work without saying a word.

There are not many things to prepare for selling tea. Everyone pooled 40 yuan and bought two large teapots, tea leaves, and 50 large coarse porcelain bowls. The table was borrowed, and the stove was built by themselves. Yes, the stove was built at the front door!

This is nothing, there are also people selling radishes in Tiananmen Square...

Tea is the cheapest high-end, 2 cents a bowl, you read it right, 2 cents. A bottle of Beibingyang soda costs 1.5 cents, which is called light luxury. How much does a big bowl of tea with a much worse taste and temperament cost? Of course, I will go with the Pinduoduo price.

Chen Qi looked busy, but he actually did nothing.

Schrodinger's busyness

"Oh, I'm so tired!"

The guy wiped his sweat in a pretentious manner and said, "Auntie Wang, can I have a bowl first?"

"Come and try it. Although our tea is cheap, it quenches thirst. Passers-by don't look for the taste of water to drink, but only to quench their thirst. Come, you are tired too, take a break first..."

Auntie Wang is a very capable person. She poured several bowls of water for everyone to share.

Chen Qi picked up the big bowl, and it felt very rough. After taking another sip, his taste buds suddenly hit a memory nerve: that was when he was still working in his previous life, he spent ten yuan on Taobao to buy half a catty of Biluochun.

The taste is mainly "Puh, Puh, Puh!"

"It's all tea leaves and stems!"

My friends didn't feel anything, they have been drinking it since they were young.

What is Gao Mo?

The poor people in the old capital couldn't afford good tea, but they liked to drink tea, so the tea shops named this thing "high-grade tea leaves". By selling it in this way, the poor people could drink tea and have face.

Hey! It's called a local!

The old brand "Zhang Yiyuan" in Dashilan still insists on selling this kind of high-grade tea leaves in later generations.

When they were busy, the crowd had already gathered around.

Qianmen has been a prosperous place since the Qing Dynasty. There are many shops here, and the transportation is convenient. There are bus stops, bus stations, subway stations (opened in 1971), and a large foreign-related hotel "Qianmen Hotel". There are cars parked at the door...

The current population of Beijing is 8.97 million, plus business trips from other places, overseas guests and overseas Chinese from Hong Kong and Macao, there are countless people passing by every day.

Men, women, old and young wear gray, blue and military green clothes, three layers inside and three layers outside, and they are surprised like NPCs, with question marks on their heads. As long as you take a step forward, you can trigger the "task of drinking a big bowl of tea".

When Huang Zhanying and others came to their senses, they saw this scene.

Then, they all got scared.

"Auntie Wang, what should we do?"

"Shout!"

"We have a sign."

"Even if we have a sign, we still have to shout. This is called business. Where would people come from if we don't shout?"

"Shout, shout, shout..."

The 12 people, including Huang Zhanying, were like those clear and stupid college students in later generations. No one had ever done this, and they couldn't let go of their faces - let alone 1979, even if you were asked to set up a stall and shout in 2024, many people wouldn't be able to shout.

Auntie Wang was very good, saying, "Don't count on me. Can I help you again and again if I help you once? You have to rely on yourself."

"Hey, what do you do?"

"What are you selling?"

"Why don't you even make a sound?"

The onlookers saw their embarrassment. They had no good intentions or malice, they just watched the fun and started to make a fuss.

Huang Zhanying glanced at Chen Qi, who was counting ants for fun. She had no choice but to grit her teeth, her face flushed red, and her teeth chattered: "Big, big bowl of tea! 2 cents a bowl!"

Boom!

Even if the sign said "Big Bowl of Tea for 2 cents a bowl", even if the crowd was mentally prepared, it was still blown away with a bang.

This shout, like China's first bottle of Coke, the first TV GG, the first poster showing thighs in a swimsuit, the first disco, the first song by Teresa Teng, the first red skirt... are all countless waves that merged with the masses and slowly gathered into a tide of reform.

Someone asked a few steps away: "Comrade, which unit are you from?"

"Dashilan Production Service Cooperative."

"Do you want a ticket?"

"No ticket!"

One question and one answer, to verify the identity.

The crowd became more and more agitated, and the person asking the question seemed to hesitate, but he finally took a step forward. This guy looked like a middle-aged cadre, carrying a bag and speaking with a Shandong accent: "Give me three bowls!"

"Okay!"

Huang Zhanying quickly signaled his friend, who was stunned for a moment before reacting. He hurriedly poured water, and the yellow soup-like tea was poured into the large white-bottomed blue-and-white coarse porcelain bowl, with steam rising.

They had no experience, they should have poured it out first and covered it with a lid, so that the tea would be warm and ready to drink immediately.

The middle-aged man reached out and touched it, it was so hot, so he simply chatted for a few words: "We ran for most of the day and couldn't find a sip of water to drink. Your tea stall is so nice, we express our gratitude."

"We all serve the people. Are you on a business trip?"

"Yes, we are from Shandong."

"Welcome to Beijing. You can visit more when you have time. The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace are all good."

Huang Zhanying slowly stabilized and began to show his true character.

The middle-aged man had two companions. Each of them finished a bowl. After drinking, they were not satisfied, so they had three more bowls. Then they took out two five-cent and two one-cent coins and lined them neatly on the table. Hey, the word "line" is well used!

"Thank you for supporting our work!"

"Welcome again!"

Huang Zhanying's hands were shaking when he took the money. He felt a little ashamed, but also felt very accomplished. He sold six bowls of tea at once. The four coins were thrown into the money box, and the jingling sound was very pleasant. The same expression appeared on the face of his friends.

Chen Qi is still counting ants for fun.