Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 437 Chapter 436

Tong Wang was watching over the stove, and was a little absent-minded for a moment.

He could use his money to buy a mink coat that a peasant could not afford even if he saved money for his entire life. The coat was soft and smooth, and shone with a dazzling luster, as if wearing it would bring him endless dignity and glory.

He could use money to buy the imperial dragon bed that a commoner would never be able to see or touch in his lifetime. The bed was carved with exquisite dragon patterns and was magnificent, symbolizing the authority and status of the royal family. It seemed as if lying on it would allow him to own the whole world.

He can also use money to buy precious artworks that ordinary people cannot even imagine, such as calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, rare jades, and priceless jewelry. These artworks not only represent extremely high aesthetic value, but are also symbols of identity and status.

He once lived a life of wealth and glory, ate delicacies from land and sea, wore silk and satin, slept with famous ladies in the capital, and even had several concubines.

Although Tong Wang had lost his fortune, his ancestors had laid a solid foundation. Even though his wealth in old age was less than one hundredth of what it used to be, he could still live a carefree and happy life.

But things are different now. Everything is based on tickets, and money is not so easy to use.

How could he bear the same treatment and rationing as the peasants?

He looks down on the peasants. He thinks that rich people's consumption is also a kind of contribution!

Tong Wang's family, young and old, all had a small ration. A while ago, they could still spend money to eat out and buy canned food, cakes and dry goods in stores, so they were not too troubled.

Who would have thought that the unfilial son's bad habit of gambling would drag the entire family into the abyss.

Thinking of the long queues in front of the stores recently, Tong Wang shook his head.

How could a person who enjoys all the glory and wealth have ever suffered such injustice? ?
Tong Wang tried to borrow food from his friends, but he was not an ordinary person and his friends were all well-off. They all complained to him that they had money but no food, let alone meat.

The meaning behind his words was the same: "Master Tong, if you have a way to fill your stomach, don't forget our old brother!"

Tong Wang was so angry. If this had happened back then, he would have let these bastards know why the flowers are so red!

But this is a new society, and Tong Wang can only give up his fantasies.

In fact, Tong Wang knows another bright spot – overseas remittances.

Those of my friends whose families have overseas connections once secretly told me that I could use my overseas connections to send goods or money to China.

It is easy to remit goods. You can just mail them from overseas. Grain, oil and other supplies are tax-free.

If you want to remit money, you must first take the remittance receipt to the People's Bank of China for exchange.

Of course, what you finally get is definitely not green bills, but RMB.

In addition to RMB, overseas remittance coupons will be issued according to the amount of remittance. With the overseas Chinese remittance coupons, you can go to overseas Chinese stores to buy things.

每收到价值100元人民币的侨汇，可凭侨汇证购买大米21斤、食油3斤、棉布10尺、食糖5斤、猪肉2斤。

But the things in the Overseas Chinese Store are not cheap!
1 US dollar is exchanged for 2.4618 RMB. Tong Wang asked his friend about the prices of the purchasable items, and was shocked.

Of course, what’s more important is that Tong Wang himself blocked the overseas remittance system.

When the family was divided, Tong Wang had a falling out with his brothers over a fight for the family property, and they have not had any contact with each other since then. Now he has no idea where his brothers are, or whether they are alive or dead. How can he contact them to send food and foreign exchange?
In desperation, the Tong family now has to eat rationed food while buying some food coupons from the black market to make up for the deficit.

Tong Wangze squatted at the intersection to catch someone, waiting!
There was no other way. For the sake of food and meat, Tong Wang could only trust his physiognomy skills.

In order to feel less cold and less bored, Tong Wang bought such a stove.

Since he was already here and had nothing to do, Tong Wang casually stuffed two sweet potatoes into the stove.

Tong Wang has lived for most of his life, and he has only had a limited amount of roasted sweet potatoes. He just treats them as a toy. When has he ever used them as a staple food? ?

But facing the reality, Tong Wang had to admit that the situation had changed and the situation had changed. He didn't know when it would be his family's turn to stand up again.

Under the roasting of charcoal fire, the skin of the sweet potato gradually becomes brown and crispy, and the starch inside is converted into sugar under high temperature, exuding an indescribable sweetness.

This kind of sweetness is a stereotype of many people's childhood winter. Sitting around the fire, holding freshly baked sweet potatoes in their hands, blowing on the hot air, and can't wait to taste them. As long as you think of it, your saliva will be secreted uncontrollably.

The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes is like a hymn to winter, floating in the air and making people irresistible.

What's more, now is a special period when people are hungry. The fragrance is amplified countless times, as if it has a magical power that can pass through the cold air and float into everyone's nose, evoking people's desire for warmth, deliciousness and fullness.

With the help of the northwest wind, the rich sweet aroma of roasted sweet potatoes is like a large-scale magic attack, drifting into the nostrils of pedestrians traveling from north to south and from east to west, awakening an invisible monster called "hunger" in people's bodies.

As long as people smell this fragrance, they will stop and look for the source of the fragrance.

Although the regulations prohibit private transactions, it has not yet reached the point of cleaning up the streets.

Driven by hunger, many people came forward to ask Tong Wang how much the tempting roasted sweet potatoes cost per pound.

Uncle, fellow villager, uncle, brother, man, comrade, all kinds of people call Tong Wang by different names.

Except for the one who called himself "comrade", Tong Wang refused all the offers and gave a very strong reason: the sweet potatoes were not for sale, there were only two pieces in it, and he roasted them for himself.

Although Tong Wang was unwilling to admit that he paid attention to the person who called him "comrade", he was envious deep down in his heart and wanted to become one of the "comrades".

"We are all comrades, why do we need money?" Tong Wang took out a sweet potato from the stove, picked a small one, and handed it to the man in front of him.

The man had four pockets on his shirt, wore glasses, and rode a bicycle. In Tong Wang's opinion, he was still a man with some power but not enough to eat.

"Oh, thank you, comrade, but I can't take advantage of you for nothing." The man took the sweet potato, poured it from his left hand to his right hand, and then simply put it on the tricycle. He reached out to unbutton his shirt pocket and took out money to give to Tong Wang.

"Hey, comrade, if you want to pay, I won't give it to you." Tong Wang stretched out his hand to stop him.

"Well, how can I eat your roasted sweet potato for free?" The man wanted to eat it, but he could see that Tong Wang didn't seem to be joking.

"Well, I won't let you eat for free. Let me ask you about someone. You often go to and from get off work from here, right?" Tong Wang waved his hands, looking harmless.

"Yes, I walk this way every day." The man nodded in confirmation.

"Then did you notice a young comrade, probably in his twenties, with short hair, very energetic, wearing an Enicar watch, about 1.8 meters tall, riding a bicycle model from a few years ago." Tong Wang described Tang Zhitong's main characteristics.

The man thought about it seriously and shook his head: "No, I haven't seen it."

"Okay, thank you." Tong Wang was not disappointed and handed the roasted sweet potatoes on the tricycle to the man again.

"Thank you, comrade. What do you want to do with this young man? I'll keep an eye out for you. When I find someone who fits the bill, I'll come over and let you know." The man took the roasted sweet potato and asked while peeling it.

"Thank you, thank you, there are still many kindhearted people in the world. I fell down a while ago, and this guy carried me to the hospital. I asked him his name and where he worked, but he wouldn't tell me. Oh, I felt bad, so I squatted on the roadside just to run into him again, and I have to thank him." Tong Wang lied. "What a good guy, he does good things without leaving his name. I'll keep an eye out for you, and if we can match, how can I contact you?" The man muttered while stuffing roasted sweet potatoes into his mouth.

"I'll come here from time to time. When I stop coming, it means I've found it." Tong Wang doesn't believe there are any purely good people in this market. He believes that except for your closest relatives, anyone who treats you well is just thinking about getting something from you, either money, sex, or power.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it for you." The northwest wind was fierce, and the sweet potatoes were not big to begin with, so they cooled quickly. The man quickly stuffed the roasted sweet potatoes into his mouth, and after wolfing them down, he said to Tong Wang, "Comrade, I have to go to work, so I'm leaving first."

"Let's go, let's go. The road is slippery. Ride slowly and be careful." Tong Wang was wrapped up tightly, wearing not only a leather jacket and leather pants, but also a hat, scarf, and gloves. He said goodbye to the man with a slight smile.

The man got on his bicycle, turned into a small alley, and got off immediately.

The man looked at the sweet potato skin he had peeled off, carefully scraped off the remaining dirt, and stuffed the remaining sweet potato tip into his mouth. He then got on his bike and went out the other side...

The students from the Post and Telecommunications College came to the fields and were assigned to different plots of land according to their departments and classes.

One class is responsible for about one acre of land.

According to Tang Zhitong's experience in harvesting cabbages in the escort department, one acre of cabbage yields about 5,000 kilograms of cabbage, which means that each student has to carry about 200 kilograms of cabbage back to school, and it is definitely impossible to transport all of it in one trip.

Before harvesting the cabbage, local vegetable farmers explained again the key points of pulling cabbage, including where to grab, how to apply force, etc., and gave a demonstration.

All of you chosen ones were not surprised at all and listened carefully to the old farmer's experience.

In fact, this is nothing surprising for students these days.

As everyone knows, last year's output was exaggerated, with serious cheapness in both steel production and per-acre yield, but many places organized activities for farming experts to pass on their experience to college and high school students.

This is incredible decades later. How can a farmer who can't even read a single word impart knowledge to college and high school students? On what basis can he impart knowledge to them?
However, these facts actually happened.

The snow in the cabbage field has not melted yet. The snow covers the tops of the cabbages, and from a distance, they look neat and orderly.

Tang Zhitong thought, if a young artist stood here, he might praise the scenery in front of him and then derive a more progressive meaning, right?

The fact is, Tang Zhitong saw the old farmer who was explaining the key points of harvesting to him crying.

The old farmer's face was covered with wrinkles left by time and hard work, as if they were carved by a knife or an axe, and even a smile would not be able to erase them.

His skin looked dark and rough due to long-term exposure to wind and sun, his eyes were full of helplessness and worry, and he pursed his lips tightly, as if he was trying hard to suppress the grief in his heart.

The fists that were clenched and unclenched from time to time and the tears that dripped from the eyes seemed to be silently accusing God of the injustice.

Tang Zhitong couldn't imagine how his wife, children and the elderly at home would survive this difficult winter.

The first harvest went smoothly. The students removed the dirt from the roots of the pulled cabbages and put them into their own sacks.

The space in the sacks was limited, so in order to make it easier to grab the sacks, many students did not fill them up and then carried them to the field to be weighed.

The weighing area was staffed by teachers from the college and cadres from the commune. The weight of each sack was recorded, and then the sack was carried directly back to school by the students in charge.

Tang Zhitong did not ride a bicycle this time. Instead, he tilted his neck, carried a sack, and followed his classmates towards the college.

On the way back, the students were no longer divided into classes. Whoever finished weighing first went first. Perhaps because they did not know each other, most of the students remained silent along the way.

Tang Zhitong was born in the countryside, and seeing the old farmer's tears made him feel very sad and uncomfortable, so he did not wait for other students, but kept on going without stopping.

After arriving at school, Tang Zhitong followed the group and, with the help of classmates from other classes, took out the cabbages and put them aside.

Tang Zhitong was already out of breath at this moment. He folded the sack and put it on the ground, then squatted on it.

He took out a cigarette and lit it, then took a break while observing what the students in other classes would do next.

The students were in an orderly manner. Some were responsible for helping to pick the cabbages, some were responsible for picking the frozen leaves and spreading them at the bottom of the storage ditch, and some were responsible for stacking the cabbages on top of the frozen leaves.

Looking further away, some students were waving their heads and using shovels to dig storage ditches, while others were covering the stacked cabbages with soil.

Tang Zhitong is quite familiar with this storage method, as he has used it at home before.

The advantage is that it is low cost, you don’t have to worry about it freezing when the weather gets cold, and you can eat it whenever you want.

The downside is that there is a lot of soil on the surface of the dug cabbage, which makes it difficult to clean, especially in the bitterly cold winter when the tap water is not very hot and it will freeze your hands.

The students of nearly half of the college are like worker ants in an ant nest, with clear division of labor and everything in order.

After finishing his cigarette, Tang Zhitong patted his butt, picked up the sack, took his bicycle, and drove to the area that his class was responsible for.

Before the second trip, the college teachers arranged for the students to help the vegetable farmers harvest cabbages from other fields and transport the cabbages to the location designated by the commune. This was also done to reduce the number of trips students had to make.

Since Tang Zhitong was riding a bicycle, he hung four sacks on the back seat and front handlebars and pushed the bicycle towards the commune.

Along the way, Tang Zhitong saw people of all ages in the commune. Some were driving animal-drawn carts, some were pushing chicken carts, some were carrying sacks, some were carrying baskets, and there were even children staggering forward with cabbages in their arms.

The child with a childish face was blowing bubbles with snot. Not only was there no smile on his face, but there was also a paleness and confusion that was inconsistent with his age.

In this regard, Tang Zhitong could only sigh and try his best to keep the cabbage intact.

At this time, Tong Wang was still guarding his stove, hoping to wait for Tang Zhitong.

As it grew darker, the disappointment on his face grew stronger and stronger, and finally he let out a sigh.

Tong Wang took out the over-roasted sweet potatoes from the oven, broke them open, and ate the flesh in the middle.

"Master, please be merciful, please be merciful." The vagrant with disheveled hair and a beggar's face knelt in front of Tong Wang's car, kowtowed repeatedly, regardless of the snow on the ground.

Tong Wang looked at him with disdain, threw the roasted sweet potato in his hand, which he had almost eaten, in front of the blind drifter, and said in a foul language: "Get lost!"

The migrant workers didn't care about the dirt on the surface of the roasted sweet potatoes, or the snow and mud stuck to the ground.

He didn't care about anything at the moment, whether it was burnt, cold, stained with saliva, or dirty. He didn't even bother to get up. He just knelt on the ground, impatiently picking up the food and stuffing it into his mouth.

It was getting late, and Tong Wang knew that he could not guarantee his safety if he stayed any longer, so he clapped his hands, got out of the truck, and pushed the tricycle towards home.

The setting sun hangs in the sky, stretching people's shadows very long, but people can't feel the slightest warmth...

(End of this chapter)