Life 1984

Chapter 1 The Age of Fluttering White Clothes

Li Yunhai sat on his coffin and looked at the relatives and friends who came to express condolences. They all had expressions, some were whispering, and some looked sad.

But, she didn't come!
The gongs and drums were ringing outside, and accompanied by the sound of firecrackers, he seemed even smaller and dazed.

Li Yunhai didn't know where he would go next.

The people he wanted to touch couldn't see him, and people couldn't hear his hoarse screams.

A deep feeling of powerlessness surged into his heart, and he suddenly realized that he was just a fragment of his soul scattered here, and a messenger would come to take him back to hell.Waiting to go through the process, having the memory cleared, queued up, and re-selecting the script.

He just hopes that next time, he will not come to the human world again.

……

Fallen leaves leave the ground and float to the branches,

Blooming flowers gather into buds,

Dewdrops jump from the water to the lotus leaves,

The sun rises in the west and sets in the east,

The sky was turbulent, the world became abstract, and hundreds of millions of pedestrians stepped back in a hurry like a movie playing in reverse.

Time went back to July 1984, 7. Li Yunhai abandoned all his thoughts and wealth and returned to his alma mater, Xizhou Industrial Technical School. He had just graduated and celebrated his 1th birthday yesterday.

He finally came to the world.

Li Yunhai attended a junior high school.

In the late 70s, early 80s, and even the early 90s, many children born in rural areas chose junior high schools and high schools.

After graduating from technical secondary school early, you can jump out of the dragon gate, transfer your food relationship to the city, transform into an urban household registration, and have a food book that only urban residents have.What's more important is that the state distributes work, which can help families reduce their financial burden several years in advance.

Therefore, some children who had excellent academic performance in junior high schools at that time chose to attend junior high schools.

Three years ago, Li Yunhai was admitted to the radio major of Xizhou Industrial Technical School in the provincial capital with an excellent score of No. 1 in the county in the high school entrance examination.

If he follows the same path of his previous life in this life, he will be assigned to the machinery factory in Meishan County after graduation and will work there for ten years. Later, when the machinery factory closes down, he will be assigned to the county economic and trade bureau.

In the early 90s, it was popular for government agencies to run enterprises and divert civil servants. Some people chose to work in enterprises.At that time, the bureau made it very clear that people who go to work to start a business will no longer have the status of civil servants.

Ten years later, these companies collapsed, and these people were laid off.

Unfortunately, Li Yunhai was one of them. After being laid off, he became decadent and indulgent in unemployment.As everyone knows, cigarettes cannot relieve the suffering of life, and strong alcohol cannot eliminate the sorrows of the world.

His wife Shen Xiulan and he were classmates in a technical secondary school, majoring in accounting. After graduation, she stayed in the commercial bureau of the provincial capital. She and Li Yunhai fell in love freely. Although they were separated in two places, they united for love and gave birth to a lovely child. daughter.

During the reform process, Shen Xiulan did not choose to go overseas to work in the enterprise, but stayed in the agency. 20 years later, she became the director of the department. She often went abroad for inspections and business trips. Not only did she have a car and a house, but her salary was also very high. The life was very nourishing.

After Li Yunhai was laid off, he became depressed and lived in a hazy life. He and his wife were noisy all day long, which caused great conflicts.Finally one day, the two parties agreed to divorce, and the daughter was raised by Shen Xiulan.

In a marriage, if one person's financial situation deteriorates, the two people will suddenly lose their relationship.Without an economic foundation, no matter how good the relationship is, it will come to nothing.

At the same time, Li's parents passed away due to illness one after another. After the funeral, Li Yunhai became seriously ill for three days.

Li Yunhai realized that he was already in his forties and had lived half his life in poverty.I think back then, I was young and frivolous, and full of energy.In the end, the firewood, rice, oil and salt dampened the spirit and stopped thinking; in the end, the human world and sophistication sharpened the edges and bent the spine.

After awakening, he has been self-restrained and energetic, with an exciting mind.

He promised himself that in the future, he would wear bright clothes and angry horses, and look majestic and majestic!
Li Yunhai cheered up and started his own business. After ten years of hard work, he finally had his own small company. His wealth increased day by day. He got out of the trough of his life and became a decent and wealthy man.

After the divorce, Shen Xiulan never remarried or found another man. She only lived with her daughter.

Just when Li Yunhai prepared a diamond ring and a cart of flowers and was about to propose remarriage to his ex-wife, a sudden car accident caused him to lose everything.

At this moment, the campus of Xizhou Industrial Technical School is full of sadness after graduation.

The young men and women who have been together for three years are about to go their separate ways.

Graduation assignments, in principle, go back and forth wherever you go.

Some of the roommates in boys' dormitory 306 have already left. Apart from Li Yunhai, there are two other people there, one is the thin Liu Xing and the other is the fat Lu Jun.

Some people joke that their dormitories are equipped with land, sea and air. The army is the army, Li Yunhai is the navy, and Liu Xing is the air force, because the stars must be in the sky!

Lu Jun stuffed the few clothes and books into a red, blue and white striped woven bag. He turned around and saw Li Yunhai sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, and shouted: "Yunhai! What's wrong with you?"

Liu Xing smiled and said: "Isn't it because you broke up with Shen Xiulan?"

Lu Jun said: "Liu Xing, don't talk nonsense. Shen Xiulan and Yunhai have been in love for two years, how can they break up?"

Liu Xing said: "It's hard to say. People nowadays are very realistic. Last night, there was a lot of crying in the playground, all of which were about breakups. After all, Shen Xiulan is from the provincial capital. She will stay in the provincial capital to work after graduation. Listen He said he has entered the Commerce Bureau. And what about our Yunhai? He is going back to work at the Meishan County Machinery Factory, isn’t Yunhai?”

Lu Lu sat next to Li Yunhai, patted him hard on the shoulder, and comforted him: "Yunhai, last night was your birthday. We had dinner outside. Did you and Shen Xiulan go to the playground? She really broke up with you. Really? I didn’t expect that Shen Xiulan is such a woman! Yunhai, you don’t have to be sad. A man is a real man. He cares about society and not poverty. Where in the world is there no fragrant grass? "

Li Yunhai, who was deep in thought, was awakened by Army's slap. He smiled and said, "Xiulan and I have not broken up. Don't talk nonsense. I was thinking about something just now! I don't want to go back to work in the county!"

Liu Xing also squeezed over, clinging to Li Yunhai's shoulders, staring with his small single-lidded eyes and said: "Yunhai, you are not going back to the county? Then where are you going?"

Li Yunhai took a deep breath and said calmly: "I want to stay in the provincial capital and develop."

Liu Xing said in surprise: "For Shen Xiulan? You are willing to work in the provincial capital. The question is, which unit is willing to accept you? You don't have any acquaintances in the provincial capital."

The army patted Li Yunhai's arm hard and said with a sigh: "Yunhai, accept your fate! Report back to the Meishan County Machinery Factory, otherwise you will lose this unit. If you have the opportunity in the future, slowly find a way to transfer to the provincial capital. alright."

"Well, I will report to the unit first. I will send you to the car first, and then I will say goodbye to Xiulan." Li Yunhai has already made a calculation. Even if he has other ideas in this day and age, the unit must be affiliated with someone. , otherwise many things would be difficult, but in this life, he will definitely take a different life path!
He helped his two roommates pack their bags and sent them outside the school.

On the bus stop, the three of them hugged and cherished each other.

The No. 2 bus to the train station came, and Lu Jun and Liu Xing got on the bus with their luggage bags.

Lu Jun was sitting by the window, stuck his head out of the window, and shouted to Li Yunhai: "Yunhai, remember to write to me! We are good brothers, and we will meet again if we are destined to meet again!"

Li Yunhai was moved when he saw tears in Fatty Lu's eyes and waved his hands: "We three brothers, let's play ball together again when we have time!"

After seeing his good friend off, Li Yunhai turned around and returned to school.

"Hai of clouds!" A clear and melodious shout came from the school gate.

It's Shen Xiulan!
Wearing a white skirt and floral top, she looks very elegant. Her round face and fresh makeup give people a unique sense of purity. She looks charming, with a slim and delicate body, graceful, front and back, fair and clean. .

Under the white skirt, a pair of straight long legs are fully exposed. Paired with small high-heeled sandals, she looks tall and slender. Coupled with her black hair, it adds a bit of hotness under the sunlight. , bright and beautiful.

She ran towards Li Yunhai and said a little aggrievedly: "I thought you left without saying goodbye!"

In his previous life, Li Yunhai did say goodbye without saying goodbye because he was afraid that this separation would last forever.

After returning to Meishan County, the two exchanged letters and maintained their relationship for two or three years. Then they broke through all worldly obstacles and registered for marriage.

At this moment, Li Yunhai looked at the beauty from another life. She was so young and cute, which made people secretly fascinated.

Even if he lives another life, he will still be heartbroken when he sees the woman he loves.

"Yunhai, come to my house for dinner? Let's go!" Shen Xiulan tugged on Li Yunhai's sleeve, "I made an agreement with my parents to take you home to meet you."

Li Yunhai hesitated and said, "Xiulan, is this appropriate?"

Shen Xiulan said: "Hey, didn't we agree in the woods on the playground last night? You will marry me in three years! Shouldn't you meet my parents?"

Li Yunhai thought for a while and said, "Okay!"

He helped Shen Xiulan carry her luggage and got on the bus to Shen's house.

The two of them sat in the last row of seats on the bus.

Li Yunhai turned his head and said: "Xiulan, if one day we get together, but I can't give you a happy life, and divorce you because of my incompetence and self-abasement, will you blame me? "

Shen Xiulan's eyes were as clear as water, and she said softly: "Being with you is the happiness I want! Will you give me happiness?"

Li Yunhai didn't know what to say. Who would believe something that would only happen after more than ten years of marriage?
In the girl's heart, there is only longing and yearning for a better future.Shen Xiulan's father is an ordinary government cadre, and her mother is a bank staff member.

Today happens to be Sunday, and her parents are both at home.

In fact, Li Yunhai knew the situation of her family very well.

Arriving outside the family courtyard where Shen Xiulan's family lived, Li Yunhai saw a non-staple food sales department and walked in.

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, with the development of the national economy, the supply of commodities in the market has fundamentally improved.By around 1985, in addition to grain, oil and bulk commodities such as televisions, bicycles, and washing machines, all other commodities were basically open to supply.

Among them, the first to be liberalized is the two waters: fruit and aquatic products.Fruit and aquatic products are open. You don’t need to have a ticket to eat watermelons and apples, you can buy them freely.

In the early 80s, with the development of agriculture and light textile industry, the supply of cloth became increasingly abundant, and cloth stamps were cancelled.

Non-staple food, miscellaneous grains and other supplies can also be purchased at bargain-price miscellaneous grain counters. Bread, noodles, candies and other items can be bought by customers even if they do not have food stamps, with an appropriate price increase.

Even for supplies such as meat, if you don’t have meat coupons, you can go to the special supply store to buy them with money.

Due to regional differences, the timing of liberalization in each province is also different. The more developed regions, the earlier they liberalize.

Xizhou is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and its economy is pretty good. Many supplies were liberalized much earlier than those in the central and western regions.

In fact, purchasing materials with tickets is more beneficial to the poor in an era of material shortage, otherwise the limited materials will be controlled by the rich.

For example, meat stamps are designed to solve the problem of poor people eating pork. With meat stamps, a person can buy pork for only 9 cents a pound once a month.

The remaining pork on the market can be sold in special stores, even if it sells for 5 yuan per pound.If a rich person feels that one pound of pork a month is not enough, then buying special meat will not have a big impact.

In this way, the poor can not only eat some pork, but also meet the luxury needs of the rich.

Seeing Li Yunhai walking into the grocery store, Shen Xiulan took his arm and said, "Yunhai, you don't need to buy anything. I have everything at home."

Li Yunhai said: "I have to buy something when I visit your house for the first time, right? Don't reach out to hit the gift giver, otherwise your parents will kick me out of the house, which won't look good."

Shen Xiulan knew that he was from a rural area and his family conditions were poor, so she didn't want him to spend money.

Li Yunhai's family also has two younger brothers and two younger sisters who are in school. Rural people can't make much money and are extremely poor. Fortunately, Li Yunhai has excellent grades and is studying in a publicly funded technical secondary school, which requires very little money. .

But Li Yunhai still insisted on his opinion, took out a big unity card from his pocket, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I have money!"

These days, the average monthly salary of urban workers is only 40 yuan.In fact, the monthly salary of most ordinary people is only 30 to [-] yuan. Some people's income is even lower, but it is averaged out by high-income earners.

Ten yuan for workers, peasants and soldiers is indeed a lot of money!
The current price of rice is 9 cents per catty, and even buying a catty of pork only costs [-] cents.

He first looked at the prices of various items on the counter of the grocery store.

The retail price of apples is 4 cents. Bananas are a bit higher, costing 6 cents per pound. Watermelons are very cheap, and it’s the season to eat watermelons. A pound of watermelon only costs 5 cents. money.

Li Yunhai bought a ten-pound watermelon.We also weighed more than two kilograms of bananas and more than two kilograms of apples.

Shen Xiulan was anxious beside her and kept shouting: "Enough! Enough! Don't buy it! It's such a waste of money! Comrade, we don't want these apples and bananas, just buy a watermelon!"

The salesperson of the grocery store was a woman in her forties. She looked at the two of them and asked with a smile: "Who do you listen to?"

Li Yunhai said: "I spend money, of course you listen to me."

He turned to Shen Xiulan and said, "Listen to me this time, and I will listen to you in the future."

Shen Xiulan pursed her lips and said, "What a waste of money!"

Li Yunhai said: "It's not a waste to honor your parents. Your mother likes to eat apples, and your sister likes to eat bananas."

The salesperson smiled and said: "Hey, I guess I heard it. Are you two in a relationship? Are you going to your mother-in-law's house?"

Li Yunhai said: "Yes, this is my first time."

The salesperson said: "Young man, you have to bring a bottle of wine!"

She turned around, took down a bottle of wine from the shelf at the back, and put it on the glass counter: "Here, just this bottle, Xizhou Daqu, one and a half yuan per pound, enough quantity, and enough face, Xizhou Daqu People in the state love to drink it.”

Li Yunhai said: "Okay, just buy this bottle."

Shen Xiulan reached out and pressed his hand: "You really don't want to buy any more! My dad doesn't drink!"

Li Yunhai knew that her father was a drinker, so he smiled and said: "He will definitely drink the wine I bought. We agreed, this time I will listen to you, and I will listen to you in the future."

Shen Xiulan couldn't resist him, so she stamped her foot lightly and pouted in displeasure.

The salesperson quoted the price while calculating the abacus: "Ten pounds of watermelon, 7 cents per pound, which is 5 cents; two pounds of bananas, 5 cents per pound, 4 cents per pound, which is one dollar and 6 cents; two and a half pounds of apples, [-] cents [-] a pound is one dollar and fifteen cents; a bottle of Xizhou Daqu is one dollar and five cents. The total is four dollars and seventy-eight cents!"

Shen Xiulan's mental arithmetic was as fast as the salesperson's abacus, and she said: "Yes, that's right, it's four yuan and seventy-eight cents."

Li Yunhai handed over the Great Unity in his hand.

The salesperson took the money, squeezed it, looked at it again, and said, "I charge you ten yuan and give you five and two cents."

Li Yunhai took the money and put it in his pocket.

This is all the money he has. If he goes back to his hometown, he still has to pay [-] cents for the bus fare and [-] cents for the regular express hard-seat train ticket. When he reaches his hometown of Meishan County, he has to take a bus back to his hometown.

The five dollars and two cents left after shopping was enough for him to go home.

The salesperson packed the fruits and other items in a net bag, handed them to Li Yunhai, and said with a smile: "Young man, if your good deeds come true, remember to treat auntie to some wedding candy later!"

Li Yunhai smiled and said: "Okay! Let me borrow my aunt's good advice!"

Shen Xiulan blushed with embarrassment and tugged at Li Yunhai's clothes: "Let's go! I didn't realize that you are pretty good at chatting and you are not afraid of anyone. Where did you get ten dollars?"

Li Yunhai replied: "I saved it by living frugally."

Shen Xiulan said: "How about saving it and buying some meat to eat? This fruit is really too expensive!"

Li Yunhai listened to her endless chatter, but he was not bored at all. Instead, he felt very happy.

He carried several bags of fruit liquor and followed Shen Xiulan into the courtyard.

This is a very old-fashioned community for family members. The buildings are all three-storey, made of bricks and tiles, with neat rows of rooms and corridors outside, similar to the layout of a Tongzi building.

Standing at the entrance of the courtyard, Shen Xiulan pointed to her door and said, "Here we are, my house is on the first floor, the first door by the stairs. Remember it!"

An old-fashioned anti-mosquito curtain was chosen in front of the door. The door was open and the sound of the TV could be heard from inside. There were several women cooking in the corridor.

Li Yunhai suddenly stopped.

Shen Xiulan said: "Hey, Yunhai, why don't you leave?"

Li Yunhai looked at the back of a woman cooking vegetables and pursed her dry lips: "I'm a little nervous."

Shen Xiulan chuckled and said, "What are you afraid of? My parents are both intellectuals and very reasonable. You don't have to be afraid."

Li Yunhai asked: "Do they know we are in a relationship?"

Shen Xiulan said: "We have been in love for two years, and we exchange letters during the winter and summer vacations. I want to hide it from them, but I can't! Many of the letters you wrote were received by my sister. After she gets them, she will tell them in front of me I have to read it in front of my parents!"

"Ah? Then did all your family members listen to what I wrote to you?" Li Yunhai blushed in a rare blush, "Then I don't dare to go in. Forget it, I'd better go home!"

Shen Xiulan stamped her feet anxiously, pointed at him and said: "Li Yunhai, go away. Don't look for me again after you leave!"

Li Yunhai turned around and said with a smile: "I was just kidding. We are already at the door of my mother-in-law's house. How can I pass through the house without entering?"

Shen Xiulan spat softly: "We are not married yet! Who is your mother-in-law's family?"

Li Yunhai said: "Sooner or later you will be my wife, there is no need to run away! Hey, Shen Xiulan, my wife, look at me, there is nothing unclean about me, right? Can I see your parents?"

Nong Xiulan's pretty face turned red and she stretched out her hand to push him on the shoulder: "How come I didn't notice you were so glib before?"

Li Yunhai laughed, gritted his teeth, and walked towards the familiar yet unfamiliar mother-in-law's house.

(End of this chapter)