Chapter 3 Era
By the time Yu Zhiyuan and the other person came out of the street office, it was already around half past ten.

It's really inconvenient that there is no mobile phone or watch here.

Yu Zhiyuan took his wife and went straight to the mall.

First, I used the cigarette coupons to buy two packs of Panda cigarettes and two bottles of Fenjiu, and four bottles of Erguotou without coupons.

Look at cloth, cotton, radios, sewing machines, watches, and bicycles.

It will be better to have an idea in mind when buying it next time.

After coming out of the mall, he discussed with his wife how much cloth to buy for them to make clothes, and also discussed how much cloth to bring back from his wife's parents' home in a few days.

The two of them discussed it and went to the grocery store to buy eggs.

Originally, Yu Zhiyuan wanted to buy some meat, but there were only pork bones left. If he wanted to buy meat, he had to queue up early in the morning, so in the end he could only buy some leftover pork bones.

After returning home, Yang Xuemei started to prepare vegetables and cook.

Yu Zhiyuan took a sip of water, stood up and walked into the alley next to the ear room.

He squatted down and pulled up a wooden board.

There was a black hole under the wooden board, and a wooden ladder was placed diagonally under the black hole. I turned on the flashlight and went down the ladder. The vegetable cellar was not very high, only about 1.5 meters dug down. It was also 1.5 meters wide, but nearly four meters long. It was indeed not small!
Looking at the cabbages and potatoes on the wooden racks on both sides, it seems that they are enough for the winter.

There were a few baskets at the back, filled with radishes and carrots. He opened them and saw that none of them were rotten, so he picked up a radish and two carrots and left the vegetable cellar.

Sitting at the small square table drinking water, I thought that the vegetables in the vegetable cellar could not be just radishes, potatoes and cabbages every day, so I still had to think of how to make some money.

After lunch, Yu Zhiyuan strolled to the commission store.

Go in and walk around and look around, there are really a lot of good things here.

Watches, cameras, radios.

There was actually a bathtub in the place where the furniture was placed, which really made Yu Zhiyuan re-understand China in the 1960s.

When he walked to the back of the hall, he saw several 50% new bicycles placed there, and then Yu Zhiyuan carefully checked them one by one.

The tires, gears, pedals, chassis and pillion are all quite sturdy, which really gives me a new understanding of the industrial quality at that time.

The problem is that these bicycles are older than Yu Zhiyuan. They are Diamond bicycles imported from Germany and Miyamoto bicycles imported from Japan.

It already has the style of a 28-inch bicycle.

Yu Zhiyuan thought to himself: "I have to think carefully about buying a bicycle. It will be convenient for me to do things in the future. As for watches and other things, I can only save money and find a way to buy them next year!"

"As for the sewing machine, that depends on luck!"

"In this social atmosphere, it is better to be low-key and honest, especially in a slum."

"Forget it, I won't watch it anymore. The more I watch, the more upset I feel."

After leaving the consignment store, I walked to the bus stop and headed for the West City Library.

Yu Zhiyuan wanted to see if there were any mechanical books on benchwork.

I have been working in the factory for four years, but I am only a second-level fitter, earning only 37.5 yuan a month. This is still a long way from enough. When will I be able to buy a car to support my wife and daughter and live a good life?

"I will try to pass the third level after the Spring Festival, then I will have 45 yuan. I have to plan well and pass the sixth or seventh level fitter exam before 66. That means I have to upgrade one level every year!" Yu Zhiyuan looked at his calloused hands. He knew he had to use these hands to work hard to create a better life for his family.

Yu Zhiyuan thought of his wife and daughter, and felt that they were blessed by God!
Yu Zhiyuan walked and looked at the slogans on the wall, thinking: "We need to temper the impetuous hearts of the new century and the quick success and instant benefits of that era in this era. More importantly, we need to pay attention to our language and behavior in daily communication, so as not to cause unnecessary troubles for ourselves, our wife and children."

After entering the library, I asked at the front desk about the procedures and process for borrowing books.

"It seems I can only wait until next time and bring my residence registration and work certificate to apply for a library card."

Afterwards, Yu Zhiyuan quietly searched for books on mechanical fitter, and then read them slowly in the reading room.

I waited until the library closed before packing up and getting ready to go home.

Sitting on the bus, Yu Zhiyuan was still thinking about preparing a notebook and starting to take notes seriously. You know, from the fourth level of work, it is not enough to just have work on your hands, you also need to be able to read drawings.

Yu Zhiyuan of the new century was a science student and had learned some engineering drawing.

A long way to go!

I strolled to the grocery store after getting off the bus.

I bought half a pound of snacks that didn't require a ticket.

Then he walked towards the compound.

When I arrived at the gate of the courtyard, I saw a boy with a toilet-shaped haircut leading a little girl running into the courtyard.

Seeing Yu Zhiyuan carrying a snack bag, he stopped, glanced at him and said, "Hello, Uncle Yu!"

"Young man, take your sister home for dinner. It's getting dark now, be careful not to let her fall." Yu Zhiyuan said as he touched the little boy's head and walked into the yard.

It's strange that Yan Bugui is not on guard even though it's cold.

It's not right for someone to be so calculating!

When I got home, I gave the snacks to Yang Xuemei and told her to send Qiaoqiao to the old lady before going to work tomorrow, and to deliver the snacks as well!
Amid the sounds of his wife chopping vegetables and his daughters surrounding their mother and asking what they wanted to eat, Yu Zhiyuan silently looked at the layout of the house.

There is a small living room at the entrance. There is a door on the left side of the living room, and behind the door should be a small kitchen.

The door on the left side of the living room leads to the north room of the east wing, where my mother lives.

The door on the right side of the living room is Yu Zhiyuan and Yang Xuemei's bedroom.

I was so absorbed in the thought that I didn't realize it, and only came back to my senses when my daughter called me for dinner, then I washed my hands and started eating.

After dinner, I coaxed my daughter for a while before washing my feet and getting ready for bed.

I put on my cotton clothes and went out before going to bed. When I went to the public toilet in the alley to flush the toilet, I saw Liu Guangqi from my second uncle's family carrying a lot of bags and walking towards the gate of the compound.

He quickly took two steps to catch up with him and called out, "Guangqi, why are you moving things so late?"

Liu Guangqi turned around and saw that it was Yu Zhiyuan, and shook his head slightly: "Zhiyuan."

Then he handed the big bag in his hand to Yu Zhiyuan and started walking towards the gate without saying anything else.

When Yu Zhiyuan helped carry the bag to the door, he saw a cart outside with some things on it.

Liu Guangqi's new daughter-in-law was stamping her feet and looking at the luggage.

Yu Zhiyuan put the big bag on the cart, said hello to Liu Guangqi's wife, and went straight to the public toilet.

It turns out that this is the eldest son of the Liu family who left home!

Poor Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, the second uncle spent almost all of his family fortune to find a wife for Liu Guangqi.

Yu Zhiyuan smiled and shook his head, quickly drained the water, then folded his arms and ran on tiptoe to the backyard.

He went to the door of his little room, took the chamber pot and went in to sleep.

This is an era without entertainment in the evening!

Yu Zhiyuan woke up early the next day, put on a cotton coat and walked to the wall clock with a flashlight. He saw that it was only five o'clock.

He yawned, put on his cotton coat, cotton pants and cotton shoes, and quietly left the bedroom.

He wiped his face with the freezing cold water, picked up his Lei Feng hat and scarf, and left the house.

He walked to his own ear room, found a 1.5-meter-long iron wire as thick as a thumb and a thick rope about ten meters long, then quietly put them into the space, closed the door and left the ear room.

He took out a small ladder from the vegetable cellar in the alley next to the ear room, leaned it against the courtyard wall and climbed out of the yard!
He lowered his head and walked towards the east gate along the moat.

(End of this chapter)