Countercurrent 1982

Chapter 301 Special Offer
Duan Yun really couldn't figure out where he got this red wine steak. In future generations, it is not a luxury dish, but in this day and age, it is very difficult to buy such steak red wine.

However, red wine is not impossible to buy, but requires some special channels.

New China began in the mid-50s, and the first Friendship Store opened on Donghuamen Street in BJ.

The products sold include Hershey's chocolates, Marlboro cigarettes, Swiss watches and other imported products that have not yet appeared in the domestic market, as well as domestic luxury products such as Maotai wine and silk.

In addition, goods in short supply such as color TVs and refrigerators can also be found in the Friendship Store.

At that time, the Friendship Store was only open to foreigners, and ordinary people could only stop and look at the door.

In fact, the Friendship Store is a special product of the era of shortage of supplies after the founding of New China.

In the 50s, the Soviet Union had a "little birch shop" for the privileged class and foreigners.In the era when everything was on par with the "big brother of the Soviet Union", New China also learned this "special supply system".

Since 1951, some high-end state-owned consumer goods stores have successively appeared in BJ, Tianjin, Shanghai and other big cities.Some of these stores later developed into Friendship Stores as a symbol of friendship with foreign guests.

In the era of planned economy, the state implemented the mandatory management of "unified revenue and expenditure" for foreign exchange receipts and payments.Ordinary people have no chance to get in touch with foreign exchange, so they will not go to the Friendship Store to shop.

Until December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China established the national policy of reform and opening up, which made the scale of foreign trade continue to expand. The number of visiting foreigners, returned overseas Chinese, and people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan increased, and the number of friendship stores also increased accordingly.

When Duan Yun came back from going abroad last time, he used the foreign exchange certificates issued to him to buy some small gifts and brought them back.

There is also a Friendship Store in Daxing City, not far from the city government. You can buy a lot of imported goods from there, and things like red wine here should probably be bought from the Friendship Store.

However, Duan Yun did not ask Bain about the origin of these things. Since Bain was treating guests, Duan Yun was not polite, and sat on the opposite side of the table.

Although Bain is relatively rigid at work, he is a person who pays attention to quality and sentiment in life.

After taking off the dust cover on the head of the phonograph and replacing it with a record, after connecting the power supply and putting down the head, the old-fashioned gramophone immediately played the melodious tune of "The Blue Danube".

The next moment, Bain opened the red wine, poured it into two goblets, raised one of them and smiled at Duan Yun and said in English, "Cheers, my Chinese friend!"

"You're welcome." Seeing this, Duan Yun picked up the wine glass and touched it with Bain, and then took a sip.

The taste of this imported red wine is not delicious, even a little sour, but after the wine enters the throat, you will feel a strong fruity aroma, which is completely different from the blended red wine that Duan Yun drank in his previous life.

In front of Duan Yun was a plate of steak with a tempting aroma and a knife and fork beside it.

Bain motioned for Duan Yun to eat, and then began to observe how Duan Yun used cutlery such as knives and forks.

However, what surprised Bain was that Duan Yun was very proficient in using knives and forks. He held the fork in his left hand and held the knife in his right. He cut the steak very gently, without the slightest sound of the knife rubbing against the plate.

In fact, when I was in college in the previous life, in order to pursue my girlfriend Ronaldinho, Duan Yun often slapped her in the face to pretend to be fat and took her to eat in some western restaurants that looked good. The more times Duan Yun used the knife and fork, the posture became model Look up.

And later, after Duan Yun chased Xiao Luo into his hands, he never went to a western restaurant again, and the quality of the two people's dates and meals also plummeted. There are various fast food restaurants, roadside stalls, big partners, and after living together, sometimes they are too lazy to go to the western restaurant. Street, the two even shared a bucket of instant noodles without ham sausage...

What Duan Yun didn't expect was that after such a long time, it was a foreign old man who ate western food with him again...

After a bite of steak, the two began to chat.

It was only at this time that Duan Yun discovered that Bain was actually a very talkative old man, but he never talked about his personal affairs at work.

Through talking with Bain, Duan Yun learned that he was actually a very high-level engineer in this German car factory.

This time I came to China to cooperate with the manufacturer to install equipment. In fact, at the beginning, the company's senior management did not intend to send a high-level engineer like him, but arranged for a young engineer to come. Only agreed to his request.

The main reason why Bain will come to work in China this time is that the production line equipment purchased by Daxing Automobile Factory is exactly what Bain started to use when he first entered the factory when he was young. En many memories of life.

So this time Bain came to China to be in charge of the installation, in fact, he wanted to see his 'old friend' and its new home for the last time.

Duan Yun felt a little touched after hearing Bain's words. He never expected that someone would actually have feelings for the equipment he had used.

He finally understands why this German equipment has been maintained so well after 30 years, and also understands why Bain has such strict requirements on the installation of this production line equipment. Bain obviously hopes that this equipment can be used by the new owner. Have longer vitality.

Next, Bain told Duan Yun some more about his family.

Bain’s wife passed away due to illness three years ago, and his daughter is already married. Sometimes the father and daughter can only see each other once every six months. Germans don’t have the concept of relying on their children to provide for the elderly, so Bain never expects his daughter to visit him often .

In addition, Bain has a country house in the suburbs of Bavaria, which is far away from the city. In his free time, his favorite thing is to set up a barbecue grill in the yard, drink beer and eat sausages, and have a cozy time with a few old friends. chat.

Duan Yun quietly listened to some interesting stories about him in Germany told by Bain, and he could clearly feel the joy, nostalgia and some sad emotions inadvertently revealed when he told these stories. precious things.

In the end, Bain sincerely hopes that if Duan Yun can go to Germany again in the future, he must come to his house as a guest, and he will lead Duan Yun to hunt in the forest in the suburbs.

Duan Yun readily agreed to Bain's invitation.

Duan Yun also knows that Bain is not a polite word, and the word polite is not in the German dictionary.

He really regarded Duan Yun as a friend...

(End of this chapter)