The Prosperous Years of Siheyuan

Chapter 3
"Why are you two dead kids like this? On such a hot day, your sister and I light up the stove to cook for you every morning, and we have to rush back from school at noon to cook! It's still like this after class in the afternoon, how can you say that to me? "

The second sister, Chen Baohong, who had been wronged greatly, began to criticize her younger siblings with resentment. The main artillery fire was directed at the little traitor Chen Xue. Hearing these words, she was still naive, and it was too obvious to accuse Sang Sang and scold Huai Huai.

My parents were both cadres who came to the city in 49. Their combined annual salary is almost [-] yuan. The three siblings, including the eldest brother above and Chen Jisheng, have hardly suffered any hardships. I can certainly say that I feel full after every meal, but there is no such thing as being hungry or missing one meal.

After leaving the army in 55, my mother had a relatively leisurely job and took great care of her children.

If it hadn't been for Chen Jisheng's involvement, the family would have lived in the General Logistics Compound, and their conditions would have been much better than they are now. At least they wouldn't have to cook for themselves, and there was a canteen in the service club in the compound.

Therefore, the second sister's resentment was mostly directed at Chen Jisheng, but she just didn't dare to say it to her face.

The two younger siblings turned a deaf ear to Chen Baohong's questioning, and naturally turned a blind eye to the red circles in their eyes. The only thing they were thinking about was the feast they just mentioned.

I walked a few steps forward and entered the north room. I looked at the second sister's orchid-white dress. The exposed calves had a natural luster. They were slim or fat when they should be, and the double twists were half a foot long. The braid was dark and shiny, and when I saw the pitiful face, Chen Jisheng couldn't help but sigh again.

The family's parents are not from a good background. Only the three eldest children know about this, but the two younger ones don't know about it. They are afraid that they will go out and talk nonsense and cause trouble for the family.

Looking at the pink sandals on the second sister's feet that are incompatible with the general environment, she knows that she has not delved into the reason why her parents have transferred in a hurry.

"Second sister, He Yuzhu from the Central Court will come to the house later. Go and change your clothes. Don't wear a skirt. Keep your clothes simple. If you don't have any, wear what mom left. The same goes for my little sister."

The eldest sister, the second sister, the second brother, and the third brother are just the reasons why two twins are different from each other. Mom loves the younger brother and father loves the younger sister. That’s all. Chen Jisheng couldn’t help but murmur that his father and mother’s ranks are not the same. Having too many children may not be the main reason.

"I dress much more plainly than many of my classmates. Mom's clothes only come in two colors throughout the year. Apart from the old military uniforms, they are blue cloth pants. I won't change them!"

The smart little sister frowned and sat silently at the desk. The beautiful second sister raised her chin and argued. The bruised and bruised little brother stared at the sisters' jokes. Chen Jisheng shook his head helplessly. Sure enough, no matter what era women, It's all unreasonable.

"Change it within 10 minutes, or I'll slap you!"

It seems that Chen Jisheng was still a bit powerful in the past. He suddenly changed his color, and the sisters on the other side dispersed and hurried to the south room. Power is truth, and most of the time, he is right.

"Brother, would you really be mad if they didn't change?"

Looking at the little brother Chen Xiaobao who looks like a thief, he is so cowardly that he cannot be beaten, and he deserves to be whipped.

"cant!

My hand is heavy and they can't bear it. I will use the injury on your face as an excuse to whip you!
Why should they change their clothes? Why should I stop? I don’t believe they don’t want you anymore.

Go and see if there is anything else to eat at home, and see if Silly Zhu is here. Don't let me break in the door. "

Seeing the helpless little brother go out, Chen Jisheng didn't stay in the house for long. He walked under the tree and started to check the things he brought back.

There is a list of items in the cattail bag: two high-cold individual soldier sheepskin mattresses, two thick and thin quilts, two high-cold sheepskin coats, and four sets of 65-style new military uniforms. These should be in active service, but the matching wool marching blankets, cotton clothes and pants , leather shoes, and leather belts were flexibly moved, and nearly three times the amount of 55 old-style cotton clothes and pants, military uniforms, and some daily necessities such as socks, single shoes, toothpaste, and cups were obtained.

Flexible supplies are just like Silly Zhu coveting the sea soul shirt. Military uniforms are now the most popular color. Not everyone can be a soldier. If you can't be a soldier and still like military uniforms, then there will be a market.

The entire logistics compound has tens of thousands of people, all the compounds add up to more than 20, the entire army has millions of people, and the slightest demand of hundreds of millions of people across the country is a huge market, and the price of supply and demand has doubled several times.

Chen Jisheng felt that the best of these six cattail bags were four pairs of 55-style alpine officer big-toe shoes.

Suede and canvas three-joint, sheepskin lining, thickened cowhide midsole, rubber pineapple outsole with moderate hardness and softness. The shoe body is slender and not bloated. It is the best domestic military boots, but the shoe size is a bit too big for the two sisters. .

After looking at the list of supplies at first, Chen Jisheng roughly knew where his parents were going. The things were a bit excessive and were not particularly important items. How could there be such treatment? But he didn't know in what capacity his parents were going.
As for what was in the five canvas bags, he didn't know. He was awake for a few seconds when he came out of the water, and then he was drowsy and tossed around all the way. He only regained consciousness slightly in the past two or three days.

It was only this morning that I felt better. Originally, I was not allowed to leave the hospital, but I strongly requested it, and because there is really nothing that can be done about brain injuries in China, I reluctantly returned home.

I untied the two canvas straps and opened one side of the first pocket. I saw a stack of sea soul shirts. I counted fourteen long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts in total. The size was the same as my own, and there was a piece in the middle. A bottle of Maotai liquor, a Chinese cigarette, and two cowhide belts with copper buckles, mixed with blue socks and a white towel.

Opening the other side, there is still a bottle of wine and a cigarette in the middle. The others are blue pants, a white shirt with long and short sleeves, and two belts. A linen armed belt, which is hard and old, and it will be beaten if it is not easy. The U.S. enemy's late-stage equipment is either Soviet-style equipment or not.

I roughly gathered the things in my pockets. Except for two sets of blue breeches and uniforms, two cowhide belts with copper buckles, and two pairs of three-joint military hooks given by the chief, the rest of the things should have been collected by the seven comrades. The reason is that I am afraid that I will lose my ability to live in the future and raise money for myself.

"Chen San'er, we've changed our clothes, see if you need to be whipped!"

An angry sound came from behind the cool cloth curtain. There happened to be a bag in the room. After tying the bag he just opened and picking it up, Chen Jisheng quickly returned to the room.

Needless to say, there is some truth to the saying that it is hard to give up on natural beauty. The genes of this family are really good. The second sister is a junior in college and is 21 years old. She is 1.7 meters tall. The younger sister is the same age as when she was a soldier, 15 years old. The younger brother is 1.7 meters tall and the younger sister is about 1.6 meters tall. The eldest brother is serving in the army at the age of 25. He is also 1.8 meters tall and a good-looking man. The whole family is full of clothes. As long as the clothes are not particularly out of the ordinary, they can't cover up. The beauty of my sister and my little sister.

"Let's do this first and then we'll talk about the rest later. You two, bring in the things your parents left behind."

Ignoring the angry two sisters, they opened the last pocket. Apart from tobacco, alcohol, clothes, shoes, hats and belts, there were only two cowhide bullet boxes, which were quite special. When I opened it, I found that the rolls of cash were about [-] yuan, most of them were [-] yuan. Tickets, this should be your own allowance, compensation, etc.

In addition to a stack of national food stamps, the other bullet box contains mostly various vouchers, and all of them are from the capital. This should not be collected by comrades. It is most likely obtained through the army. Fortunately, there are no comrades. Get the money together, otherwise the sin will be huge.

At this time, except for the air force, most of the soldiers in the army and navy were rural soldiers. From now to 80, the life of workers and urban residents will definitely be the best. The rural areas are far different from the urban ones.Take cash as an example. Temporary workers in the city and serious old and weak people who stick paper boxes in the streets only get more than ten yuan a month. There are not many communes in rural areas that can share the money at the end of the year. The seven comrades Chen Jisheng saved are all Rural soldiers cannot say that just ten yuan can change the fate of their family. This money is of little use to them, but it is too important to them.

Without the same life and death experience as myself, these comrades will not be discharged within a year or two. Counting the turmoil after a year, coupled with the current rough communication methods and troublesome travel methods, comrades from all over the world may be separated. part forever.

Even after many years, we may not know each other. Because of the many difficulties, the comradeship now seems particularly sincere and profound, worthy of life and death.

"Brother, brother, we have a lot to eat at home. There is a bag and a half of stick noodles, a water pimple, and a few wilted eggplants left."

The younger brother Chen Xiaobao ran to the door in a hurry. The sky was falling and the earth was falling. He didn't know where he had thrown it. He told the family's food stock as if to offer a treasure. He looked careless and might not be afraid of the sky falling and the earth falling.

"Where are the rice, noodles, meat, and oil? What does Pang Hei eat? Sticky noodles and eggplant stew? If you are careless, watch it again."

After clearing up his scattered mood and putting away the two bullet boxes, Chen Jisheng walked into the yard with the curtains raised. The two sisters who had just left out in anger did not do any work. They were standing under the tree with hands held at a loss. They felt so innocent.

"You've finished eating those already, and you don't even care what day it is today."

"What number?"

"No. [-]! Brother, you don't know?"

"I don't know! You take the money ticket to the grain store to get some. We can't have a big meal and eat steamed buns and pancakes."

Chen Jisheng really didn't know what day it was. The pace of life nowadays is slow, and few people around him asked what time it was. He listened quietly back and forth, and he probably knew it was July these days.

"Get it? Brother, has your ration been transferred to your home?"

Listening to his younger brother's joyful tone, Chen Jisheng felt that there was no point in asking questions. Most of the trouble would come from asking questions, and he would ask more and more questions.

"Not yet. I just got the registration certificate for the steel rolling mill today. Many relationships don't change that quickly. It will take ten and a half days to get everything done, right?"

Anyway, having these three goods is already troublesome enough, and Chen Jisheng didn't get tangled up, so he answered whatever he asked.

However, when he thought about the registration certificate, he had to sigh at the strength of the army. With the empty stamped form, as long as the request was not excessive or outrageous, he would be able to respond to any request. He could fill in various positions casually, and the factory could not refuse, but he didn't know how to decide. Could it be possible that the Red Star Steel Rolling Plant was tricked by parents again?

The warehouse in my own space is quite large. Nowadays, there is a unified purchasing and marketing system. There is no formal private market. The black market for large quantities is too deep. If you are not tall enough, entering it will be no different than sending it to the crematorium.The piecemeal reselling in the small black market is too troublesome, and the risks increase exponentially due to too many contact points.

So he chose to be a buyer in a steel rolling mill, thinking about doing serious bulk sales. In that case, he would face a different market, with more opportunities and less risks.

"Then I can't get it. The grain store is not owned by our family. I can't buy anything without a ration. How about I take the money to buy some on the black market in the evening?"

Thinking about going to the black market again at night, Chen Xiaobao's expression also came alive. His eyes were like little girl Chen Xue's, spinning around. They were indeed twins.

"I remember that the ration for you and Xiaoxue is 27 kilograms. When you go to middle school, you will get an additional five kilograms of subsidies, which makes it 32 kilograms. The second sister's ration is the same, but there is an extra subsidy for going to college, including money and food stamps. According to The proportion of refined grains in this month has been reduced by [-] kilograms, and the three of you finished it in less than nine days?"

Although there were not many people asking about the time at this time, there were too many exchanges about how to eat a certain amount. What I know plus what I have heard in the past few days, I should be able to tell you about half a dozen points.

"Yeah! I've finished eating it all. Rice, noodles, oil, meat, eggs, sugar, and sesame paste. I finished it yesterday.

I didn’t know last month that I would be able to receive this month’s grain after the 26th, otherwise I would have eaten it all last month, and now there are still [-] kilograms of whole grains in the ration. "

Counting the fine grains, Chen Xiaobao took a sip of saliva. During this period of time with his second sister, it was really made. He could eat rice until he was full. It was so comfortable.

"What to eat?"

Without the rations and food stamps, I couldn't buy food at the food store. These three people were really brave. Only a few days into the month, they only had coarse grains. I didn't know if these three people would starve to death if I didn't come.

"First bake the pie, then make rice and stew, and then we finish it. Sometimes the pancake is burnt, the rice is uncooked, and the vegetables are too salty. If they don't eat it, I eat it, and there is no waste at all."

Looking at the smug human-shaped trash can, Chen Jisheng looked at the two sisters hiding under the tree to avoid the sun. He really wanted to send these three people to the third uncle's house so that they could learn how to live a budget-conscious life.

It was true that they had so much to eat and so many clothes to wear. They were poor even if they didn't plan on it. When their parents left, they left money for them. Thinking about the way Chen Xiaobao was so excited when he mentioned the black market just now, he must have done a lot of waste.

He hooked his fingers at the two sisters under the tree and looked at their slow manner, fearing that they knew something had happened.

"Chen Baohong, how much food do you have left at home?"

Listening to Chen San'er's questioning, the second sister, who was already furious, did not hesitate at all. She took out a pink woolen wallet from the pocket of the blue trousers she had just changed into and thrust it into his chest.

"My parents left five hundred. The tickets belonged to my family, and they are all here. You are so good, you can take care of it from now on."

He took the wallet, which was not too thick, but it was far from five hundred no matter how hard he squeezed it. Looking at the three guys in front of him, they seemed to be a little weak to describe them.

(End of this chapter)