Chapter 00026: Teresa Teng
# Teresa Teng
Chapter 26
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 26: Teresa Teng
"Why do you know the prices so well? That means you want to buy it too, right?"
"I... I don’t want to buy it. Can’t I just look?"
"Stop arguing. Let me say something..."
Chen Jianjun rarely spoke up, but when he did, it meant his mind was made up.
He said, "Forget about the TV. With our family’s situation, we can’t get our hands on one. Only those with connections can get one. As for the bicycle, there’s no need to buy one either. Your mom doesn’t use it often, and I ride the one from my workplace. I think we should buy you a watch. You’re not a kid anymore, and having a watch will be convenient."
"Hey, that’s a good idea! Wearing a watch will make people respect you wherever you go."
Yu Xiuli agreed.
"A watch? Alright, let’s get one then."
Chen Qi nodded.
He had experience with how wearing certain items could change one’s fortune.
In his past life, his luck with women had been terrible, but after buying a Patek Philippe watch and a Maserati, his luck turned around instantly.
Women would always complain about the car’s air conditioning being bad and start taking off their clothes.
It was annoying...
"As for the tape recorder..."
Chen Jianjun scratched his head and suddenly chuckled, "Actually, I’ve been wanting to buy one too. I was planning to save up for it, but now’s the perfect time."
"Chen Jianjun, have you no shame? Using your child’s money to satisfy your own desires? Where’s your sense of party discipline?"
Yu Xiuli scolded him.
"Alright, alright. It doesn’t matter who buys it. So it’s settled—a watch and a tape recorder," Chen Qi said with a smile.
"That’s going to cost so much money. It’ll be gone in the blink of an eye," Yu Xiuli said, feeling the pinch.
"Don’t worry, I’ll earn more. Today it’s 800, tomorrow it’ll be 8,000," Chen Qi reassured her.
The general impression of this era was that people were poor.
And indeed, many were, but it depended on the place and the group.
Some people were quite well-off, like workers in large factories, state-owned enterprise employees in good positions, and cadres with a certain rank.
Their salaries were higher, and they didn’t have many expenses since their workplaces covered most things.
Naturally, they could save money.
Of course, if you looked at the country as a whole, especially in rural areas, it was a different story.
Farmers were lucky if they saw any money after a year of hard work.
There were many brands of watches, with the more famous ones being Shanghai, Seagull, and locally in Beijing, the BJ brand.
A Shanghai watch cost about 120 yuan.
Chen Jianjun hadn’t managed to get a watch ticket yet, only a ticket for the tape recorder, so they bought the tape recorder first.
Last year, the Ministry of Commerce had sent a delegation to Hong Kong and bought 10,000 cassette tape recorders at 93 Hong Kong dollars each.
They were brought back and priced at 200 yuan each (at the time, 100 Hong Kong dollars was roughly equivalent to 30 yuan).
People had started lining up in the afternoon and waited until the next morning, nearly crushing the counters.
Today was Sunday, a day off.
At the time, people only had one day off a week.
It wasn’t until 1995 that the two-day weekend was introduced, and even by 2024, it wasn’t fully implemented.
The family of three headed to the Wangfujing Department Store, the first large-scale department store in New China.
Zhang Binggui worked here.
Was there anything Zhang Binggui didn’t know? He was a candy salesman, a national model worker, and a representative of the National People’s Congress.
He was more famous than any celebrity.
When he rode the bus, people would give up their seats for him.
When he went to the bathhouse, someone would scrub his back.
When he was seriously ill and hospitalized, state leaders visited him.
After his death, the department store erected a bronze statue of him in the square, with an inscription by a leader: "The spirit of a flame illuminating China!"
The store had the most comprehensive selection of goods, and Sundays were always crowded.
The family followed the flow of people inside, not in a hurry to buy anything, just browsing around.
The first floor sold things like face cream and shampoo, but there was a special counter for Zhang Binggui to sell candy.
People crowded around, eager to buy candy weighed by his hand.
He had a special skill—he could grab exactly the right amount.
If a customer wanted two taels, he’d grab two taels.
If they wanted half a catty, he’d grab half a catty.
It was said he practiced with small stones to perfect this skill.
In this era, labor was truly glorious.
Zhang Binggui and Shi Chuanxiang were role models.
Some people said they had secure jobs, but would you want a job that had you shoveling manure every day?
Chen Qi wanted to take a look too, but the crowd was too thick, so he gave up.
After wandering around for a while, they reached the tape recorder counter.
Surprisingly, there were quite a few people here too.
Chen Qi couldn’t help but chuckle.
It felt like, "Didn’t they say the economy was bad and money was hard to come by? Why does everyone seem richer than me?"
Due to Sino-Japanese friendship, the first batch of foreign-brand appliances to enter the mainland were Japanese—Panasonic, Sharp, Hitachi, Sanyo, and so on.
The tape recorders they were familiar with were the big ones that could hold two cassettes and had multiple speakers.
The ones now were single-cassette, smaller but thicker, like a brick.
The family was lucky.
They didn’t run into any stock issues and ended up spending 200 yuan on a Sanyo single-cassette tape recorder.
"Good heavens, this thing costs 200 yuan!"
"Why not just rob us? It’s more expensive than a bicycle. We’re not a wealthy family. You’ll bankrupt us sooner or later."
Yu Xiuli kept complaining, but Chen Jianjun couldn’t help but say, "We only buy a big item like this every few years. It’s not like we’re buying it every day. Our salaries are decent, and our son is doing well. It’s not a big deal."
"Exactly, spend when you need to!" Chen Qi said with a laugh.
"You two have already surrendered to capitalism. I can’t even look at you."
His parents wanted to keep browsing, but Chen Qi was too lazy to move.
He carried the box and left first.
As he walked, people looked at him with envy.
He was the coolest guy around.
As he walked downstairs and out the door, someone suddenly tugged at him.
Chen Qi was startled, thinking it was a robber.
But when he turned around, it was a shifty-looking guy wearing a hat, his voice sharp.
"Hey, buddy, just bought a tape recorder?"
Seeing Chen Qi’s wary look, the man smiled.
"Don’t worry, I’m a businessman... You want tapes?"
Tapes!
Chen Qi’s eyes lit up.
"You sell tapes?"
"Want to take a look?"
"Not if it’s too far."
"I’m in this for the long term. I won’t cheat you. Let’s talk over there."
The man led him to a relatively quiet corner, opened his coat, and like Doraemon’s pocket, pulled out one tape after another.
"10 yuan per tape!"
"Are you robbing me?"
"These are all from the south. You know how it is. I’m just making a little profit."
The man was enthusiastic, introducing the tapes.
"Check this out—Teresa Teng. She’s the hottest right now. Everyone in the south listens to her."
Chen Qi flipped through them—"When Will You Return," "Seeing the Smoke Again," "Don’t Pick the Wildflowers by the Roadside"... all familiar songs.
The covers were simple, the packaging rough, but they were tapes nonetheless.
"Do you have Liu Wenzheng?"
"How about Sam Hui?"
"Not even Roman Tam? You don’t have anything, and you dare to sell?"
"You’re an expert!"
The man was shocked.
Chen Qi chuckled.
Why would he act like a clueless lamb in front of a random guy like this?
The man slapped his thigh.
"Alright, for your expertise, 8 yuan per tape. Take them!"
Damn, smuggling really pays! 8 yuan could support a person for a month.
If Chen Qi hadn’t been "cheating," he’d probably be struggling to make ends meet, digging in the dirt.
He bought three Teresa Teng tapes, tucked them into his coat, and left.
His manuscript fee was 800 yuan, plus a 50-yuan subsidy.
Before heading to the Beijing Film Studio, Yu Xiuli had given him another 30 yuan.
His total assets were now 880 yuan—a lucky number.
After spending 200 on the tape recorder and 24 on the tapes, he had 656 yuan left.
He wasn’t planning to hand over the money he earned to his parents.
If they asked, he’d say he was saving up to get married.
That night, when everything was quiet, Chen Qi locked the doors and windows, lit a candle—since the power was out again—and placed the brick-like tape recorder on the table, turning the volume down.
His parents sat on the bed, suddenly looking very solemn.
In the candlelight, a voice of unparalleled softness and beauty filled the room:
"After tonight’s farewell, when will you return? Finish this cup, and have some snacks. How many times in life can we get drunk? If not now, then when?... Ah, let’s have one more drink and call it a night..."
(Thanks to Er Liang Liu Qian for being the alliance leader!
That’s all...)
(End of Chapter)