Chapter 00007: This Is Just Bullying the Honest Folks!
# This Is Just Bullying the Honest Folks!
Chapter 7
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 7: This Is Just Bullying the Honest Folks!
"Your tea stall is really convenient for the public. Give me a bowl!"
"I'm from Tangshan. Whose idea was this? It's really good!"
"Your cooperative won't be shut down tomorrow, will it? Oh, there are so many people at the front gate. Having a tea stall is great."
"Is this jasmine tea? I can tell as soon as I taste it. Let me teach you a trick: boil a big pot in advance, then pour it into the teapot. Use the stove to keep it warm. That way, you can start selling as soon as you open every day..."
With someone taking the lead, the crowd no longer hesitated.
In these times, even spitting on the ground would draw a crowd, let alone something as novel as this.
Whether thirsty or not, everyone wanted a bowl, especially since it only cost 2 cents.
No one complained about the taste, though many still looked down on the cooperative in their words.
No one nominated her, but Huang Zhanying naturally became the backbone of the operation.
With one hand holding tea and the other collecting money, she was also busy greeting customers, barely able to keep up.
"Yingzi! Yingzi!"
A young man suddenly rushed over and said, "One pot is already sold out. Should we boil another one?"
"Sold out?"
Huang Zhanying went over to check and saw that one pot was indeed empty.
She hadn't expected so many people to buy tea.
"Boil another one, quick! Don't let the supply run out!"
After giving the order, she turned around and immediately felt a surge of anger.
"Chen Qi! What are you doing?"
"What's wrong?"
"Everyone is busy, and you're just squatting here?"
"I'm busy too!"
Chen Qi, squatting to the side like an old dog, pointed to his head and said, "I'm calculating something. Don't disturb me."
"You!!"
Huang Zhanying really wanted to kick him, but out of revolutionary camaraderie, she held back and turned to attend to the customers.
Chen Qi continued squatting, his eyes fixed on the passing crowd.
He observed the frequency of people passing by the watchtower, their clothing, whether they were walking or riding bicycles, or even riding in small cars.
He even checked if there were any foreigners...
The ownership of this tea stall was quite ambiguous.
Initially, 40 yuan was pooled together, with everyone contributing a bit, and the neighborhood committee also chipping in.
In principle, it was jointly owned by the neighborhood committee and all the members, but there were no detailed regulations at the time, so it was tacitly understood to belong to the neighborhood committee.
Currently, according to Aunt Wang, the neighborhood committee would bear the profits and losses, and each person would receive a monthly salary of 36 yuan.
Whether the stall made a profit or a loss, the earnings would be handed over to the neighborhood committee.
However, such cooperatives were generally profitable, and bearing the profits and losses collectively could easily lead to unfair distribution and dissatisfaction.
So, next year, the state would issue a document changing it to self-responsibility for profits and losses.
Chen Qi did a rough calculation:
Each person's salary was 36 yuan, and there were 13 people, totaling 468 yuan per month.
Adding the operating costs, let's say 600 yuan at most.
A bowl of tea cost 2 cents.
Selling 30,000 bowls would bring in 600 yuan, which meant 1,000 bowls per day.
Come on!
This is the front gate!
1,000 bowls a day? Who do you think you're underestimating? It could easily be several times that.
This humble tea stall had great potential.
Chen Qi was planning to run away, but leaving Huang Zhanying alone here felt a bit wrong.
So, he was thinking about how to improve the business, so he could leave with a clear conscience.
The crowd came in waves, and the novelty never seemed to wear off.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
Aunt Wang, seeing that they were getting more skilled, had already gone back.
Huang Zhanying finally got a chance to rest.
She brought over two coarse grain buns and sat down on the ground.
"Whew! I'm exhausted!"
"Hard work! Is this lunch?"
"What else?"
"It's too simple!"
Chen Qi took one of the buns and took a bite.
It was dry and rough.
"We don't even have any pickles to go with this?"
"Pickles? Let me ask..."
Huang Zhanying asked a young woman, who brought over a small piece of pickled vegetable.
She also shot Chen Qi a sideways glance and muttered loud enough for him to hear, "Everyone is busy, but some people are just slacking off, acting like they're some kind of young master. Hmph!"
Chen Qi couldn't help but laugh.
"Some people."
Back in school, he was the "some people" in the teacher's mouth.
One buddy was called "a portion of the students," another was "the more extreme ones," and yet another was "I won't say who, but you know who you are."
They were known as the school's F4.
Chen Qi silently broke the bun in half, stuffed the pickled vegetable inside, and made himself a giant coarse grain and pickled vegetable sandwich.
Huang Zhanying looked at him and said, "I've noticed something. You're getting more and more obsessed with material comforts, always complaining about this and that. What? Do you want to drive a car, live in a fancy house, and bring back capitalism?"
"I don't have that kind of ability. That's for future generations to figure out."
He quickly shook his head and asked, "How many bowls did you sell this morning?"
"No time to count, but business is good. I'm really motivated now... Oh, you need to start working later. Everyone has complaints about you. Don't cause discord," Huang Zhanying reminded him.
"Sure, sure, I'll work!"
Chen Qi hummed and hawed, munching on his giant coarse grain and pickled vegetable sandwich, washing it down with a big bowl of tea.
It was absolutely terrible.
Because it was so bad, he ate it very gently, even more gently than if he were kissing a girl.
He had only eaten half when he suddenly heard a commotion.
Huang Zhanying sprang to her feet and rushed over.
The crowd was still large, but a few frivolous young men were standing at the front, laughing and joking.
"Hey! Where did these drifters come from?"
"What drifters? Show some respect. They're called self-employed!"
"I heard self-employed people are all released from prison!"
"Oh, really!"
The term "drifter" had appeared as early as the 1950s in a document titled "Instructions on Persuading Farmers from Blindly Flowing into Cities."
Simplified, it became a highly derogatory term.
Huang Zhanying bravely stepped forward, facing the leader of the group, and shouted, "What are you doing here? If you're not here to drink tea, then leave!"
The way they were dressed made it clear they had good jobs.
They jeered, "Wow, this woman is fierce! No wonder she's self-employed!"
"You don't know anything. They're not self-employed; they're called a cooperative!"
"Oh~~ so it's called a cooperative!"
The group burst into laughter.
Their sarcastic taunts drew laughter from the crowd, but no one stepped forward to stop them.
Everyone agreed with the hierarchy: state-owned units were iron rice bowls, collective units were despised, and self-employed? Sorry, not even as good as dogs.
You can't expect everyone to be kind, especially with such strong biases of the times...
The young people couldn't take it anymore and spoke up: "You're so rude!"
"How can you talk like that?"
"Exactly, we're doing legitimate work!"
"What legitimate work? You're just unemployed youth! Don't think we don't know! You're just doing whatever job you can find. Who would have thought someone would actually sell tea!"
"Hey? Won't you be shut down tomorrow? Pack up and get out!"
"How does that song go?"
The leader of the group, looking more and more pleased with himself, started singing:
"Abarakadabra~ Abarakadabra~ Oh oh oh..."
This was a song from a 1950s Indian movie called "The Vagabond," which had been shown in China and was very popular.
The melody was catchy and had spread everywhere.
Xu Jingqing had borrowed from it to write "The Heavenly Maiden," and Bai Zhan Tang had sung it in "My Own Swordsman."
Basically, everyone from their parents' generation had heard it.
Translated, it meant: "Wandering everywhere... wandering everywhere..."
As soon as the song started, one of the girls in the team burst into tears.
Several boys turned pale with anger but didn't know how to fight back.
Huang Zhanying was furious, ready to flip the table and start a fight.
Her fists were trembling.
The small sense of accomplishment she had felt earlier had completely vanished under the weight of their mockery.
But along with her anger, there was also a sense of inferiority.
Why did she have to sell big bowls of tea???
After all, she was a girl, and a mix of emotions welled up inside her.
Her eyes reddened, but she held back her tears.
"Comrades, which unit do you belong to?"
At that moment, a voice came from the corner of the tea stall.
A young man lazily stood up, took a few steps forward, and asked again, "Which unit do you belong to?"
"What do you mean?"
The leader of the group retorted, his neck stiff.
Seeing Chen Qi approach, he sneered, "What? Looking for a fight?"
"A fight? No, no. I just want to go to your unit and ask your leaders, in front of them, if it's your teaching staff who discriminates against the working class? Is it your teaching staff who disregards unity, mocks their brothers and sisters, and flaunts their class superiority here?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
The leader's face changed.
"Who's more daring than you?"
Chen Qi pointed behind him and said, "Look, we're the Dashilan Production Service Cooperative. There are 13 of us. You call us drifters, say we're from prison. Do you know how many unemployed youth there are in the city? 400,000! You've insulted 400,000 people! You're something else!"
Chen Qi gave a thumbs-up and continued, "The newspapers have said that settling unemployed youth is a national policy, the top priority this year. From the leaders to the neighborhood cadres, everyone is working hard to find a way out for everyone. And what? In the end, we have to endure your garbage discrimination, your sarcastic remarks? What's wrong with selling tea? We're earning our keep through our own labor. We're proud! You discriminate against tea sellers, against the working class. Were your ancestors landlords? Or capitalists? How many years has it been since the old China fell? Have the three big mountains returned? Are you trying to bring back capitalism???"
"You, you, don't talk nonsense!"
The other guy's face turned green, and he took small steps backward.
Chen Qi stepped forward, grabbed him, and raised his voice: "There are 13 of us here. We haven't stolen or robbed. Our hearts are red and loyal to the motherland. Wherever the organization needs us, we go. And now you're here spewing nonsense! Are we wrong to listen to the organization? Are we wrong to serve the people? Should we not be honest and hardworking? Should we cry and beg for the organization to give us good jobs? Since when is that the way of the world!! Tell me! Which unit do you belong to? I'll go to your unit's gate and put up a big-character poster. I'll let everyone see..."
Chen Qi waved his arms, the veins on his neck bulging.
At that moment, he seemed possessed by the spirits of Zhang Mazi and Tang Shiye, shouting hoarsely:
"This is just bullying the honest folks!!!"
(Thanks to jamesxu-SBZ for the support, that's all...)
(End of chapter)