Chapter 00003: Labor is the Most Glorious
# Labor is the Most Glorious
Chapter 3
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 3: Labor is the Most Glorious
Unknowingly, dusk had approached.
Chen Qi glanced at the time and put away the few pages of manuscript he had written, tucking them under his bed.
As the soft glow of the setting sun fell on the table, the large courtyard, quiet all day, finally came alive.
The ringing of bicycle bells, the noise of children playing, and the clanging sounds of chopping vegetables mixed together, with wisps of smoke drifting in the air.
"Mom, you're back!"
"What delicious food did you buy?"
"It's not a holiday or a festival, what delicious food? Just cabbage, potatoes, and pickles."
Yu Xiuli had returned from work on time.
Without delay, she took off her coat and started bustling around, giving instructions: "Put the pickles on a plate, and take out the half piece of tofu left from this morning!"
"How should I prepare the tofu? Stir-fry it with pickles?"
"Stir-fry your head! Just blanch it in hot water and mix it with sauce!"
There were two types of pickles: pickled cucumbers and sweet and spicy radish, both from Liubiju.
Liubiju was formerly known as "Red Flag Pickle Store."
In 1972, when Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei visited China, the delegation requested to visit Liubiju, and the old signboard was reinstated.
The small kitchen was built outside the house, a simple shed made of bricks and tarpaulin, with a stove and a cupboard taking up most of the space.
Next to the kitchen was a place for storing honeycomb briquettes, also covered with tarpaulin, neatly stacked—a sign of a tidy household.
Lazy people would just leave them scattered, and on rainy days, black water would pool around the coal.
Chen Qi volunteered to help.
He had only been here for a few days; what feelings could he have for his parents? Of course, none.
But since they were kind to him, he didn't mind reciprocating.
Yu Xiuli cooked briskly, occasionally glancing at him, wondering why this kid, who had been as lifeless as a salted fish a few days ago, suddenly seemed so lively.
As the sky darkened, dinner was served, and his cheap father, Chen Jianjun, also returned.
He was in his forties, tall and thin, with a scholarly demeanor.
Though his clothes were old, they were neat and clean, with a pen tucked in his chest pocket.
Chen Jianjun was a salesman.
Xinhua Bookstore was the largest book distribution unit in the country.
To publish a book or a magazine, one had to contact various salesmen.
The salesmen would make a preliminary judgment based on the book's content and report a number to the bookstore, say 1,000 copies.
The bookstore would initially order 1,000 copies and then adjust based on market response.
But later, the role of the salesman changed to sales, as the book industry opened up and the monopoly was lost.
"Dad!"
"Did you go to the meeting?"
"Yes!"
"Alright, let's talk after dinner."
Chen Jianjun smiled, his smile also scholarly, the kind of person who had never sworn in his life.
Dinner was simple: potato noodles stewed with cabbage, tofu, and pickles.
It wasn't that they couldn't afford meat; it was just hard to come by.
City residents were only supplied with 3-5 taels of pork per person per month.
During the three years of hardship, the annual per capita pork supply in Beijing was only 8.5 taels, and other places were even worse, with not even that much meat available.
Both parents were educated and had a certain level of refinement, so they didn't discuss matters during meals.
After finishing, Chen Jianjun asked, and Chen Qi repeated the contents of the meeting.
"What do you think?"
"I..."
Just as he was about to answer, someone outside called, "Is Chen Qi home?"
"Oh, Auntie Wang!"
"Please come in, come in! What brings you here?"
The visitor was an elderly woman with gray hair and a kind smile, a neighborhood cadre.
She sat down comfortably and said with a smile, "We had a big meeting this morning, and in the afternoon, we were assigned tasks. The neighborhood assigned me 13 people, and I must find them jobs. I thought everyone would be home in the evening, so I came to check. You're the first household."
"That's really troublesome for you, coming so late and not being able to rest..."
Yu Xiuli poured her a cup of water and took the opportunity to ask, "Auntie Wang, I heard from my child that they're planning to set up a production service cooperative. You know, that's a collective unit, and it's always been overlooked. Not that collective units are bad, but isn't there a clothing factory in our neighborhood? Can't they be placed there?"
"Oh, you make it sound so easy. Do you know how many unemployed youths there are in the district?"
Auntie Wang slapped her thigh and gestured, "80,000! Where is the government supposed to find 80,000 jobs? Everyone from top to bottom is worried sick. And many of these people are already in their mid-twenties, having been jobless for years. We need to prioritize placing them. That clothing factory, we managed to squeeze in over a hundred people after much effort. Don't even think about it."
"So, what do you suggest they do?"
Chen Jianjun asked.
"This is what I think..."
Auntie Wang took a sip of water and said, "Qianmen is a treasure trove. People from Beijing love to go there, and so do out-of-towners. Every year, countless out-of-towners come on business trips and make a point to visit. But with so many shops in Qianmen, not a single one sells water. When these people come, they can't even get a drink. You say buy Beibingyang soda, but that's 15 cents, and you need a coupon. No one wants to spend that. I've seen people drinking from garden hoses with my own eyes. So, we thought, if we set up a stall selling tea in Qianmen, people would definitely buy it."
Sell tea???
The parents looked at each other.
This was beneath their dignity! Both of them were cultured people, working at Xinhua Bookstore, and now their son was going to sell tea? In the old society, that was the work of the lower class!
How lowly was it?
In "Camel Xiangzi," there's a part where an old man can no longer pull a rickshaw and has to sell tea from a shoulder pole to barely make a living, a pitiful existence...
You see, even Xiangzi, who at least had a rented house, a rickshaw (bought three times, all lost), and a wife (who died in childbirth), was better off than a tea seller.
"Auntie Wang, are there really no other positions?"
"There are, technical positions. Does your boy know carpentry?"
"No!"
"Can he sew?"
"No!"
"Can he cook?"
"No!"
"Well, there you go!"
"..."
The parents looked at each other again, even feeling a bit ashamed.
Was their son really that useless? What was even more infuriating was that the useless one was still smiling, as if it wasn't about him.
"Alright, you discuss it. I need to visit the next household."
Auntie Wang got up and left.
The family of three sat in silence for a while.
Yu Xiuli said, "Speak up, what do you really think?"
"I'll follow the organization's arrangements. Whatever they want me to do, I'll do it!" Chen Qi said.
"You'd even sell tea? And in Qianmen, so close to the bookstore? My colleagues would laugh at me!"
"They won't, because their kids will be selling tea with me."
Yu Xiuli was almost furious, "Stop being cheeky! I'll apply for early retirement tomorrow, and you can take over my position!"
"I don't need you to retire. If you retire, I'll set up a stall overnight."
"Xiao Qi, stop being glib. Tell us the truth, why do you want to do this?"
Chen Jianjun, who had been silent, finally spoke.
"No particular reason. I just think labor is glorious. I can contribute to the country no matter where I am. It's your old-fashioned thinking that looks down on tea sellers. Shi Chuanxiang, who cleaned out cesspools, became a National People's Congress representative and a national model worker. What's wrong with me selling tea? I might even stand in the Great Hall and shake hands with leaders someday!"
Wow, Chen Qi's party spirit was shining brightly.
Shi Chuanxiang was a cesspool cleaner from Chongwen District.
In 1966, during the National Day celebrations, he stood on the Tiananmen Gate tower.
At that time, Beijing even had a craze for voluntary cesspool cleaning, with university students, writers, reporters, and actors lining up to clean cesspools with him.
It was said that a female student from Tsinghua University, unable to get a spot, pretended to be Shi Chuanxiang's goddaughter and finally got to clean cesspools with her godfather.
Shi Chuanxiang's story used to be in elementary school textbooks, but it's unclear if it still is.
That was the era when laborers were the most respected!
Chen Jianjun, hearing this irrefutable argument, was momentarily speechless.
He glanced at Yu Xiuli, thinking, maybe we should have another child? This one's gone mad!
The spirit of sacrifice is something you preach to others.
When it comes to yourself or your loved ones, being willing to sacrifice without hesitation is what makes you a role model, and many people can't do that.
The conversation couldn't continue, so they went to bed.
The house had no TV, and power outages were frequent.
Apart from a broken radio, there wasn't much entertainment.
The courtyard gradually quieted down, with moonlight shining through the curtains and the low hum of spring insects.
Chen Qi lay on the bed in the outer room, listening to the whispers inside, surely still discussing his job situation.
He really didn't want Yu Xiuli to retire early because he knew he wouldn't last long in the position, which would be a waste.
Besides, he wasn't interested in working at Xinhua Bookstore.
Others had generations of tobacco workers, oil workers, power workers, and bankers.
What about him? A third-generation bookstore worker?
"..."
Chen Qi turned over and closed his eyes.
Whether it was selling tea or doing something else, it didn't matter.
He was ready to pack up and leave at any moment.
(End of Chapter)