In 1983, a small island started from a large farmer

Chapter 73 Bicycle Fish Balls

Looking at the watch below, it was more than four hours before my little sister took the train to Rongcheng.

Li Duoyu simply strolled around the square for a while.

There are many dry goods stores in the square, and this kind of store has a very good business in this era.

Dried shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots are the most sold in dry goods stores, as well as a large amount of dried squid. The small ones are in bulk, and the large ones over 30 centimeters are wrapped in plastic bags with four big red characters "Fresh Squid King" printed on them.

In addition to dried squid, the store also sells a lot of dried salted fish and dried sea oysters.

Most of the people who buy dried seafood in places like the railway station are mainlanders rushing back to their hometowns, especially this kind of dried squid, which is very fragrant when used to make pork ribs and salty porridge.

Li Duoyu looked around and found that there was no dried kelp. As long as there were no problems, the stall owner might sell his dried kelp by this time next year.

Seeing that he was looking so seriously, the boss hurriedly greeted him warmly: "What do you want to buy, I have very cheap things here."

Li Duoyu smiled, it's a ghost that the things sold at the train station are cheap, but he still asked:

"Boss, how do you sell this squid?"

The boss smiled: "Little brother, your vision is really good. This big squid is a top-notch product. Fishermen on the seaside may not be able to catch such a big one in half a month. Seeing your first time here, I will sell it to you for a cheaper price. One is worth nine yuan, and I will sell it for ten yuan for others."

Li Duoyu smiled awkwardly when he saw the boss coming with his mouth open.

Big squid are not common, but third uncle and his fishing boat, when they go deep sea trawling, sometimes they can catch dozens of such big squid in one net.

There are also fishermen in their village who often dry this kind of dried squid. After drying such a big one, the selling price is less than one yuan. I didn't expect it to be almost ten times higher.

The one-time business that this boss is doing seems to be able to kill one person at a time.

"Then how much is this dried sea oyster?"

"This one is cheaper, six yuan a catty."

Li Duoyu knew that this place was not cheap, but he really didn't expect it to be so expensive. If Lao Li came to this place to set up a stall, he would probably sell it.

But it is not so easy to open a shop and set up a stall in such a mixed place. It is estimated that most of the money earned will have to be handed over to the people above.

"It's too expensive to buy."

"Then let's do this, little brother. Don't tell other people, I'll sell you eight yuan for this big squid."

"It's still expensive."

"Seven yuan, really the lowest price."

Li Duoyu shook his head and left. He found that most of the merchants and vendors in the square were scammers, and those with slightly normal prices were all fairy scales.

But there is nothing wrong with thinking about it. If you do serious business in this kind of place, you may be shut down by your colleagues the next day.

What Li Duoyu didn't expect was that the scams of marbles and chess already existed in this era.

He watched it for less than half an hour.

It was found that many people were recruited.

After strolling around, Li Duoyu checked the time and went to the station to wait for someone. In this day and age, it is common for trains to be late. If you want to pick someone up at the train station, you have to rely on patience and good eyesight.

And not far from the exit, a large group of passengers carrying bags, quilts, and enamel teacups around their waists were queuing up to buy tickets.

At this time, the railway stations still sold hard board tickets, which were pre-printed and the date on them had to be stamped by needles.

Even for a skilled conductor, it takes three to four minutes to open a ticket. Perhaps because of the inefficiency, the line to buy tickets is very long.

It is really hard to find a ticket. In order to buy a ticket to go home, some passengers live directly at the train station. As soon as the quilt is opened, they find a place to sleep directly.

You have to fight wits and courage with the scalpers, after all, in this era when there is no ID card, there are quite a few scalpers among the people queuing up.

Especially when the end of the new year is approaching, the scalpers are directly dispatched by the whole family. Their division of labor is still very clear. Some people are responsible for queuing up to buy tickets, while others are selling train tickets everywhere.

As for his father, Lao Li, how did he know that the younger sister was coming back in this era without the Internet.

One is that there has always been correspondence, knowing the school holiday time of Xiao Rong, and Lao Li repeatedly asked Xiao Rong to send a telegram to his family as soon as possible after he got the tickets.

In the 80s, the telegraph was arguably the fastest way to communicate, but it was also the most expensive, money by the word.

It costs about 7 cents per word, so when sending a telegram, everyone will not be long-winded, and try to use the fewest words to explain things clearly.

And the content of the telegram Li Xiaorong sent to his father was very simple, only a few words, not even a single punctuation mark.

"The ticket has been bought (72) and it will arrive at twenty-five hours."

It means: I have bought a ticket, and I have to take a 72-hour train ride, arriving on the [-]th day of the lunar calendar.

In addition, the receiving address also requires money, and they are charged by the word, so Li Xiaorong tries to write nine characters every time, because the telegram has a minimum consumption, and if it is less than ten characters, it will be counted as ten characters.

When the telegram was sent out, the telegraph operator at the Rongcheng Post Office would translate the contents of the telegram after receiving it, and then write it into a letter and hand it to the post office postman.

Even on an island like Dandan Island where access is inconvenient, the telegram can be received within three days, which is why Lao Li knew that Xiaorong was coming back.

However, except for a piece of overseas, the rest of their province is full of mountains. It takes three full days to ride back from the province where Xiao Rong studied in a green leather car.

After waiting at the train station for five hours, Li Duoyu waited for several people who had dialed out of the station, but he still did not see Li Xiaorong coming out of the station.

Li Duoyu looked at his watch, and he was already late for more than an hour, but Li Duoyu was not in a hurry. If I remember correctly, he was late for a whole day last time.

It was almost evening, and an old man was riding a [-] pole. This bicycle had been modified, and there were two rectangular iron boxes hanging on both sides of the bicycle.

There is also a place below for burning charcoal. The uncle rode a bicycle and walked through the square, holding a pair of bowls and spoons, knocking out the clang of ceramics, and shouted in a unique tone:

"Fish Ball~Fish Ball~"

“Delicious fish balls~”

Li Duoyu, who was already a little hungry, couldn't help swallowing after smelling this fragrance.

"Master, how are you selling this?"

"Ten fish balls and three hairs."

Li Duoyu bargained: "Fifteen thirty cents."

"Then give you twelve."

"Success, give me one."

Immediately afterwards, Li Duoyu took out three ten cents from the inner pocket of his trousers.

In fact, he has two inner pockets, one of which holds small change, and the other holds a few coupons.

These two inner pockets were sewed by his mother overnight after Li Duoyu knew that Li Duoyu was going to pick up Li Xiaorong at the train station last night.

It's just under the trousers. If you want to steal the money here, you can't steal it at all unless the pickpocket digs his hand in.

After receiving the money, the uncle took out a washed bamboo tube and put the fish balls and soup into it separately.

Li Duoyu said, "Master, put more white vinegar, pepper and green onion."

The uncle smiled and said: "Your way of eating is very authentic, you are from our local area."

"Almost, I'm from Lianjiang."

"Your fish balls are good."

Li Duoyu smiled: "It's okay, but I still like your flavor the most."

"You are right. The fish balls over there are too straight and have a strong fishy smell. Most people are still not used to them. It is really hard to sell them at the train station. The taste of mine is lighter, but it sells better."

The uncle felt that this young man was very nice to him, so he said to him: "Don't throw away this bamboo tube later, if you meet me again, I will give you two cents back."

"okay."

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(End of this chapter)