In the courtyard of the new residence on Saturday, an iron pot on a coal stove was steaming. The rich aroma of meat kept wafting in the room, making Yang Dongxu, who was assembling a bicycle, keep looking into the pot.
It has already entered the twelfth lunar month, and Yanjing experienced its first snowfall last week, causing the temperature to suddenly reach below zero. Therefore, the assembly functions that were previously performed in the yard were moved to the side room.
No one else is willing to move here, so there are only Yang Dongxu and Wu Aibing here every day. Usually when he goes to school, Wu Aibing is alone.
It's quite a distance from Mao'er Hutong, and it's too cold in winter to go back for lunch. So a coal stove was built here. Wu Aibing returned here to deal with it at noon. In the afternoon, he gave the assembled bicycles to those who were originally scheduled. As soon as the door was locked, he could go home to take care of his mother.
"Cross, the car strips need to cross. The longer the brake line is, the better. When you hold the brake, you have to make the brake pads bear force." I got a car strip in the rim and glanced at the head next to it. Yang Dongxu, the sweaty martial arts soldier, reluctantly went over to teach him step by step.
Wu Aibing is good at everything and has a smart mind, but he is confused about the technology of assembling bicycles. He is like a smart child who can do anything, but looks like a fool when he learns to read.
However, with Wu Aibing's help, he could make money instantly by assembling the bicycle, which saved Yang Dongxu a lot of trouble. What's more important is that Wu Aibing is so honest. Sometimes when Yang Dongxu sees him so stupid, he can't bear to say that he can only teach him over and over again.
Bicycle parts are cheaper than Yang Dongxu imagined because they are purchased in large quantities every time. So on average, it costs about 60 yuan to assemble a bicycle.
Bicycles with bills and no worries are selling very well at a price of 150 yuan, and the supply exceeds demand at the factory where Wu Aibing helped buy parts.
At first, Yang Dongxu planned to only cost 120 for a car, leaving enough profit margin for Wu Aibing. How much he could sell it for depends on his ability.
But Wu Aibing didn't agree with anything he said, and said that as long as the apprentices were in charge of the food, they didn't need to be paid. Seeing how 'cute' he is, Yang Dongxu is really worried about how he will survive in the big explosion era where fraud technology is updated in future generations.
In the end, Yang Dongxu decided to set the price of the bicycle at 150 yuan to avoid selling it for 70 yuan. Every time he thought of Wu Aibing's look when he saw someone paying 150 yuan to buy a bicycle, Yang Dongxu felt that he was a black-hearted businessman.
150 for a bicycle, and Wu Aibing gets ten yuan for selling one. This was the last thing Yang Dongxu forced him to agree to. And then give his comrades 10 yuan for each set. You can't let people work in vain, right? So Yang Dongxu can transfer 70 yuan to assemble a bicycle.
Because of school, Yang Dongxu only assembled three cars in the past few days, one of which was given to his godfather. After selling the remaining two cars, Old Man Xuan felt uneasy for a while and ran here three times a day for fear of something happening.
Yes, you are all good people! I'm the only one with a dark heart. Yang Dongxu suddenly felt that his future business theory was so out of place in this era.
"Can we set up three cars today? Everyone who wants the car has paid a deposit, so it's a bit tight." Wu Aibing asked awkwardly as Yang Dongxu smoothed out the car strips that were just like a mess.
But he didn't know why he was obsessed with this. He could dismantle a machine gun used in combat and assemble it with his eyes closed. But I just can’t handle the car bars that require a lot of effort.
"It should be no problem. I'll do the bike strips and brake lines this afternoon. You just assemble these big pieces." Yang Dongxu nodded after looking at the four bicycle rims that had been completed.
"This is no problem." Wu Aibing patted his chest and assured him that as long as he was not allowed to get the car strips and the brake line, he could do the rest with ease.
After coiling the car rods in their hands, Yang Dongxu and Wu Aibing poured hot water from the kettle without rushing to straighten the car rims. Yang Dongxu and Wu Aibing washed their hands and prepared to eat. At this time, the chicken stewed with mushrooms in the pot has become thick and the meat is rotten, and the white flour steamed buns hanging on the pot are also see-through.
The chicken was naturally no ordinary chicken. It was caught by Wu Aibing last night. Nowadays, whether it is Qianhai, Houhai, or Beihai Park, the water is overgrown with grass. When it snows in winter, many people go there to chase rabbits and catch pheasants. You can even see foxes and other wild animals.
Authentic pheasant, paired with mushrooms that Mr. Xuan picked and dried in the summer, plus some dried vegetables and Mr. Xuan’s unique secret recipe. Although it is not the first time to eat it, every time I eat it, I feel like I might bite my tongue in a hurry.
"After dinner, while it's still warm, take me to the post office to mail the letter, and then we'll come back to assemble the bicycle." After shaking his head for a while, Yang Dongxu filled a bowl of soup and soaked the steamed buns in it. In fact, the pot stickers were more flavorful at this time, but unfortunately neither he nor Aibing knew how to make noodles, so they had to make do with ready-made steamed buns.
Counting the days, Yang Dongxu has been away from home for almost half a year. Although he has the heart of a forty-year-old, he has been away from home all year round. But I don’t know why I feel so homesick recently, so instead of one letter a month, now I write half a month, or once a week.
"How about you give me the letter and I'll send it to you. It's still the same address, right? I remember, it's quite cold outside." Wu Aibing, who was sweating from eating, said.
"I also want to go over and call Uncle Chen Weimin, my godfather's student. It seems like there is no way to go back this year. My godfather is too busy and can't spare the time. So I want to call Uncle Chen. Call me and ask him to take care of my parents' place." Yang Dongxu sighed and said.
Originally, when summer came, we agreed to go back for the Spring Festival. It happened that Yang Dongxu was also on winter vacation at that time. But who would have thought that Zhou Yiren would be so busy that he couldn't spare any time.
Although there are no child abductors in this era, no one would be at ease if Yang Dongxu, a child, traveled thousands of miles home. So there is no need to think about going home for the New Year. I can only see if there is a chance to go back next summer.
Thinking about the thrifty character of my parents, even if they have money, they will aggravate their temper. So Yang Dongxun planned to say hello to Chen Weimin in advance and let him have time to send something and send some new year's goods over during the New Year. Since everything is sold, you can't just ignore it and not eat it, right?
Of course, although Chen Weimin was very willing to help, Yang Dongxu didn't take advantage of him in vain. When writing home, he would occasionally write a letter to Chen Weimin, which contained some suggestions on some economic markets and how to develop agriculture.
Chen Weimin benefited greatly from these suggestions, and sometimes even sent Yang Dongxu unsolicited letters. I heard from my godfather that the fertilizer plant built in Chengwang District at the beginning of the year has been put into production. This incident has made Chen Weimin a big star, and maybe he can start working on it next year.
After dinner, Wu Aibing took Yang Dongxu to the post office by bicycle, and he called Chen Weimin. Some things cannot be explained clearly in a letter, so it is more convenient to make a phone call.
Unfortunately, telephones cannot be installed in private homes now. Even in Yanjing, if you want to make a call, you can only go to the subdistrict office or a national institution such as the post office.
As for whether you can install a telephone in your hometown, don’t even think about it. The telephone lines in Anhui Province have only been laid in the district. There are no telephones in the town. If there is anything, you have to ride down to notify me, let alone the lower level. The countryside.
But one good thing is that it’s free to make phone calls now. That’s right, it’s free. Because there are no private telephones, all calls are business-to-business, so there is no charge for phone calls. This allowed Yang Dongxu to see that this era was even more advanced than later generations, and the phone bill was completely free.
Of course, even if it is free of charge, ordinary people generally cannot use telephones, which means that current telephone calls cannot be made by anyone who wants to. What's more, Wu Aibing had a childhood friend who worked at the post office, so Yang Dongxu took advantage of this convenience.
After making the call and coming out of the post office, Yang Dongxu handed the new letter to Wu Aibing. Wu Aibing ran to the counter and bought a stamp to put on it. The counter was too high for Yang Dongxu to reach.
"It's done, let's go back." Wu Aibing shook the letter in his hand at Yang Dongxu to indicate that it was done, and then threw the letter to the person receiving it at the post office.
Yang Dongxu nodded without saying anything and turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and came out. Wu Aibing, who was following him, almost bumped into him.
"What's wrong?" Wu Aibing looked at Yang Dongxu strangely.
Yang Dongxu looked blankly at the frowning expression on the other side of the counter. A flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind just now, but it disappeared too quickly and he didn't catch it, but he instinctively felt that he seemed to have overlooked something important. things.
Seeing that Yang Dongxu was silent and staring blankly in the direction of the counter, Wu Aibing turned around and looked carefully at everything in that direction. He found nothing wrong and turned to look at Yang Dongxu in confusion.
"Ai Bing, you haven't left yet, haven't you sent the letter yet?" Liu Shengli asked, as Wu Ai Bing came out from behind with a tea cup.
"It has been sent. I am not..." Wu Aibing didn't know how to explain it for a while.
"By the way, send the letter!" Yang Dongxu's eyes lit up and he ran towards the counter. Although Wu Aibing was surprised, he could only follow from behind. After arriving at the counter, Yang Dongxu put his feet up and blinked his big innocent eyes and said: "Auntie, help me get a page of stamps. I want a full page. The one just now is red with monkeys printed on it."
"Kid, why do you want so many stamps? A whole page of stamps is not cheap." The staff behind the counter looked at Yang Dongxu with a smile, obviously treating him as a seven-year-old kid who was interested in bright things. Treated.
"It's okay, I have money." Yang Dongxu took a ten-dollar bill and handed it over through the small window on the counter.
"This..." The post office worker was a little dumbfounded. After working for several years, the money passed through her hands, ranging from 100,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan. This was the first time she saw a child take out 10 yuan. She He couldn't help but look at Wu Aibing behind Xu Dongxu. The meaning in his eyes was very clear, please hurry up and take care of your children.
