Countercurrent 1982

Chapter 47
There are basically no restaurants on the streets these days, and some are state-run.

It was a very enviable career to be able to work in a state-run hotel at that time.At that time, the waiters in the state-run hotel were very arrogant, and of course the service attitude was very general.

At that time, the food quality of state-run restaurants was absolutely guaranteed, and there was basically no phenomenon of adulteration, shoddy, and lack of food.

However, to eat at a state-run restaurant, in addition to money, you also need to pay food stamps. In addition, the state-run restaurant at this point has long been off work, so Duan Yun can't go to the restaurant to eat now.

Fortunately, there are often some hawkers pushing carts and selling food on the streets of Changmen, and Duan Yun can go to them to buy some food.

These are all farmers in the villages around the factory who are pushing old bicycles to sell things. They use some coarse grains stored at home to make corn cakes and sell them. They are all made on the same day, and the price is very cheap.

The tortillas are placed in a homemade wooden box and covered with a quilt to keep warm. Duan Yun asked for two pancakes, plus a small bag of pickles, and only spent five cents.

Two tortillas with some pickles in the middle is a 'simple version' of burgers, which is enough for Duan Yun to make do.

"call!"

Just when Duan Yun paid the money and reached out to pick up the cake, a short and thin figure suddenly ran from the side of the alley, grabbed the cake from the hand of the old farmer, and then desperately went to the dimly lit corner around him. run away!
"Stop!" The old peasant who sold the cake was stunned for a moment. After reacting, he shouted in Daxing's local dialect, "You bastard, please stop me!"

"Crack!" He hit the rear bracket of the car with one foot, and the old baker picked up a stone from the ground and chased after him.

To be honest, the local rural folk customs in Daxing are still a bit sturdy. Duan Yun did not hold back, but in desperation, he also chased after him on a bicycle.

In the past, Duan Yun would definitely avoid this kind of thing, but today he saw the old man standing on the street every day until late at night in order to earn some money, it was really not easy, he felt a little sympathetic, so he also rode followed.

The black shadow was running extremely fast. The old man was out of breath after chasing it for a few dozen meters. Fortunately, Duan Yun was riding a bicycle, otherwise it would be difficult for him to catch up.

The shadow in front ran several hundred meters in a row, then suddenly turned and rushed into a nearby alley with no street lights.

Duan Yun rode his bicycle to the entrance of the alley, and was hesitating whether to continue chasing after, when he suddenly heard a muffled sound, followed by a painful cry.

Then, in the dim moonlight, Duan Yun found that this was a dead end. The front door of a bungalow was directly in front of it, and the short boy seemed to have tripped over the stone steps outside the door of the bungalow next to him. He lay on the ground and cried out in pain, obviously falling. Not light.

Seeing the short young man who was already injured on the ground, and then glancing at the panting old man who was chasing after him, Duan Yun's mind suddenly moved.

"Shut up, hold back!" Duan Yun said in a low voice to the injured short young man at the entrance of the alley, then turned the bike around and rode towards the chasing old man.

"Where did that little bubble go?" After seeing Duan Yun, the old wheat cake asked out of breath.

"I ran over the wall from that alley just now." Duan Yun sighed, and then said, "Forget it, stop chasing, the cake money just now is mine."

"Hey, that's not good, that's not good, that pancake was taken from me..." The old man shook his head like a rattle when he heard the words. Although the folk customs were fierce, these farmers were also reasonable people.

"Okay, that's all for today." Seeing that the old man seemed to be holding a stone and wanted to chase, Duan Yun said quickly, "Master, I want all your cakes, come and help me wrap them."

"You want to make a round?" The old man was stunned when he heard the words.

"I'll leave if I don't sell it." Duan Yun said, and was about to pedal away.

"Hey, don't go, you sell it!" The old man hurriedly stopped Duan Yun.

Afterwards, Duan Yun followed the old man back to the gate of the factory. After spending fifty cents, Duan Yun wrapped the rest of the pancakes.

Carrying the whole bag of tortillas, Duan Yun returned to the alley again.

"Thanks!" At this time, the short young man limped out from the inside, holding half a piece of jade noodle cake in his hand. After seeing Duan Yun, he thanked him.

"Are you a child of our factory?" Duan Yun asked with a frown after sizing up the short young man.

"Ah."

"Then why are you doing such a thing?"

"hungry……"

"Don't work?" Duan Yun asked again.

"Why do you have so many problems?" The short young man was impatient, and turned to leave.

"I still have twenty tortillas here. If you're willing to answer my question, these are all yours." Duan Yun picked up the bag and shook it in front of the short man.

"you……"

The short young man glanced at the big bag of pancakes that Duan Yun was holding in his hands, and then glanced at the brand-new sophomore that Duan Yun was riding, with a bit of surprise in his eyes, and then said, "I said..."

It turned out that this short young man was named Cao Dong, two years younger than Duan Yun, and he was also an educated youth who went to the countryside in the south.

Cao Dong was an only son at home. His mother died of hemorrhage after giving birth to him. His father was a temporary worker in the factory. Due to the poverty of his family, he never remarried.

At the beginning of last year, Cao Dong learned that his father was seriously ill. He even picked up the train at night and ran back from the southern village, but after taking care of him for less than half a month, his father died of serious illness.

Since his household registration is still in the rural areas of the south, Cao Dong has become a 'black household' and can't find a job. Usually, he can only live by going over the wall at night to steal iron from factories and sell scrap stations.

During this time, the factory strengthened the manpower on night shift guard duty, and added sharp barbed wire to the factory fence, which undoubtedly meant that Cao Dong's only financial path was cut off.

In the past two weeks, Cao Dong's life can be described in one miserable word. His family is poor and he has no money. He can only go to the farmland of the nearby village at night to steal some radishes and tomatoes to eat. Been beaten a few times.

Duan Yun was also a little thoughtful when he heard this.

In fact, there are many young people like Cao Dong this year, who are unable to enter the factory or become workers, and become local second-rates and gangsters. Many of these people are not bad in nature, but sometimes they are helpless for their livelihood. .

"That's it..." After listening to Cao Dong's remarks, Duan Yun raised his brows and said to him, "Would you do it if I found you a job?"

"What kind of work?" Cao Dong suddenly became vigilant when he heard the words.

"It's definitely not illegal anyway, and I'm the boss." Duan Yun saw Cao Dong's thoughts.

"Are you the boss?" Cao Dong was stunned.

"If you are willing to work with me, I guarantee that you will earn more money than those workers in the factory, and if you do well, I will give you a bonus!"

"It's done! I'll do it with you, you just need to pay!" Cao Dong replied simply.

In fact, for Cao Dong, he has no other options right now.

"At one o'clock tomorrow afternoon, you will wait for me at this place." Duan Yun smiled at Cao Dong, threw the bag of corn tortillas in his hand, and said, "Okay, go home quickly!"

(End of this chapter)