Relying on their youth, the two of them quickly took a break.
"Recent investigations have been strict. It is said that the quality of our leather shoes in Wenzhou is too poor. Our shoe sellers were caught by the industrial and commercial enterprises. Not only were the goods confiscated, but they were also fined and sent back." Li Tongfu broke the silence, "Mother Exibi (Wenzhou) (local curse word), I can’t do it anymore.” Li Tongfu’s helpless curse was directed at the industrial and commercial inspectors, and even more at the Wenzhou shoe factory that made counterfeit shoes.
During that time, in addition to the large shoe factories in Wenzhou, some shoe repairmen who were far away from other places also returned to their hometowns and opened small workshops at home. In order to make more profits, these shoemakers who had just developed the consciousness of being a factory, the trend of counterfeiting was prevalent. The leather shoes produced in Wenzhou were once called "twilight shoes", and consumers across the country complained about them. As a last resort, salespeople like Li Tongfu can only set up street stalls and sell in the name of "export to domestic sales." Industrial and commercial personnel across the country are also confiscating Wenzhou leather shoes and leather everywhere. When arresting Wenzhou leather shoe salespeople, in addition to fines, the local government of Wenzhou will be asked to collect them.
Yang Liufang only found out about this two months later when he met shoe shiner Li Tongfu again at Xizhou Railway Station. And not long after he left, at Hangzhou Wulin Square, the Zhejiang Provincial and Hangzhou Municipal Industry and Commerce Departments joined forces to confiscate inferior Wenzhou shoes from vendors and Huanbei Market, and burned them together. Wenzhou's shoe industry fell into a trough.
"Brother, our goods have been confiscated. Maybe it's a blessing rather than a curse. Look at the three people who bought shoes from the northwest. They approve of our shoes. We can batch a batch of shoes and sell them locally." Li Tongfu used his keen With his sharp eyes, Yang Liufang discovered this business opportunity, but the ignorant Yang Liufang was chased twice a day, he was still breathing, and he didn't understand at all. But seeing Li Tongfu's eyes shining with excitement when he discovered the business opportunity, he felt that this strange and sincere "brother" was worthy of trust. Otherwise, the unaccompanied Yang Liufang had no other choice but to nod in approval.
"I'll take you to a place to live first. You wait there. I'll go back and get a batch of shoes. Let's go to the northwest to sell them."
Yang Liufang followed Li Tongfu and took a detour in front of a row of dilapidated bungalows behind the Huanbei Small Market. A white banner trimmed with yellow cloth strips had the word "Hotel" crookedly written on it. Walking in through a small door, there was a row of passages. There was a dim light from the window, and under the light, behind a tall desk with the front blocked by a wooden board, an old man wearing glasses sat. Seeing the guests coming in, the old man raised his head slightly and rolled his eyes to look at them through the gap between his lowered glasses.
"Uncle, my brother, stay in my bunk. I'll go back and get the goods." Li Tongfu smiled habitually.
"Well, follow the rules and don't mess around."
"That's it, that's it." Li Tongfu said as he led Yang Liufang along the passage and stopped in front of the door of a room. The door was open. There were four beds, and three people were already lying inside. The one by the window A middle-aged man was smoking. Although the doors and windows were open, the ventilation may not be smooth, and the room was still filled with smoke.
Li Tongfu took Yang Liufang into the small room that was filled with smoke, the choking smell of sweat, stinky feet, and a slight musty smell. Yang Liufang was a little reserved. Li Tongfu looked at the three roommates in the room familiarly, and said with a smile: "Uncles, I will go home to pick up the goods, and I will let my brother live with me temporarily. Please take care of me."
"It's okay, Afu."
"Don't worry, we are all fellow villagers."
"Hmm" the three roommates agreed.
Li Tongfu found his bed, and Yang Liufang settled here for the time being. This was the first time he had a permanent home after he turned 17 and five days away from home. Liu Fang went to the small shop in front of the hotel to eat a full meal. A big bowl of Pianerchuan, and then fell into a deep sleep.
The roommates all went out early in the morning to sell goods. Some came back very early, and some stayed away all night. Those who came back and loved to smoke still smoked hard, and they were too tired to wash their feet and face and fell asleep on the bare bed. These people all It is the epitome of the early Wenzhou people who left their hometown and walked around the streets to make a living.
Three days later, Li Tongfu returned from Wenzhou. He had no choice but to hire a human-powered tricycle from Wulinmen Station to bring the goods back. In addition to bringing two large bags full of goods, there was also a bag of Ou manganese. All his roommates had gone out to sell goods. , the two of them struggled to move the two packages indoors and put them under the bed. They sweated profusely and opened an orange. They ate it deliciously. Liu Fang remembered that after waking up after being washed away by the flood during the typhoon, he ran to Ou. The scene of wolfing down the citrus orchard.
"Brother, let me treat you to a piece of Sichuan." After eating the tangerine, Liu Fang said to Li Tongfu from the bottom of his heart. One is to express the sincere gratitude of a 17-year-old boy, and the other is to have extreme trust in a strange brother.
"Okay, let me guess, you should not be willing to eat meat. Each bowl of noodles costs 7 cents. You should have 4 yuan and 8 cents left. I want to eat a big bowl with meat." Li Tongfu said slyly.
"Okay, let's go." The two followed each other downstairs.
One person ordered a large bowl of Sichuan noodles with meat from the small shop in front of the hotel, and there was not even any soup left. Later, Li Tongfu told him that he was not willing to eat meat with meat in the past, as he is a hard-working and frugal Wenzhou native. This is how wealth is accumulated bit by bit.
"Brother, I've thought about it. Let's go to Xizhou first. You come with me. I'll buy you a ticket. I'm selling a pair of shoes and I'll give you 20 cents. When you have the capital, I'll take you to buy shoes. , you can do it alone." Li Tongfu said solemnly.
"Thank you, brother." Yang Liufang was sincerely grateful. He met the real Li Tongfu for the first time when he went out, and he finally had a job.
After returning home, Li Tongfu distributed the mandarin oranges he brought to his roommates who came back. He also placed one on the bedside when he didn't come back. The rich orange fragrance washed away the odor in the room. The two placed their travel bags between the two beds and lay sideways on the bed to sleep. Perhaps for Ou Gan's sake, or perhaps it was the nature of Wenzhou fellows to take care of each other when they went out, no one had any objection.
Early the next morning, taking advantage of the cool weather, the two hailed two human-powered tricycles at the hotel door, each carrying a travel bag, and went straight to the Hangzhou Railway Station 5 kilometers away.
In the 1980s, the old train station in Hangzhou was an antique bracket building. Under the double eaves was a waiting hall formed by four towering pillars. Later, Liu Fang, who worked in real estate in the northwest, learned that it was a "Japanese Nara period architectural style." Early in the morning, the train station hall was already filled with people buying tickets to travel to various parts of the country to make a living. Liu Fang was guarding the goods outside the hall, while Tong Fu entered the hall alone and queued up to buy tickets.
Few people go to the barren northwest to make a living from here. They just take a train from Hangzhou and have to pass through Shanghai, Zhengzhou, and Baoji along the way to reach Xizhou, so it is easy to buy the final ticket to Xizhou. It's just that there are many passengers in the first few cities, so it's not easy to buy tickets, especially for Shanghai, where it's almost impossible to get a ticket.
