Chapter 00098: Watching Movies
# Watching Movies
Chapter 98
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 98: Watching Movies
The next day, the whole family went to the Overseas Chinese Store, and they ended up spending way more than they had planned.
First, they bought an imported 12-inch black-and-white television for 420 yuan.
Chen Qi also picked up a Swiss-made watch, which cost several hundred yuan, and a pair of sneakers.
He was tired of wearing cloth shoes—even if they had red soles.
His parents wanted everything but were reluctant to buy anything.
Only after Chen Qi insisted did they each get a pair of leather shoes, a shirt, and a pair of trousers, all reserved for formal occasions.
They didn’t have much need for food or drinks, mostly just wanting to try something new.
Chen Qi bought a case of tiger whip wine and two cases of tiger bone wine to show his filial piety to his dad.
Yu Xiuli rolled her eyes but surprisingly didn’t object.
He wanted to buy more, but that was all they had.
The tiger bone wine was fine, but the tiger whip wine would be a rare find in the future.
He wondered how many bottles could be made from a single tiger whip—it couldn’t possibly be one bottle per whip, or else tigers would go extinct.
It was probably like those turtle essence tonics, where one turtle could make countless bottles.
Just as they were about to leave, Chen Qi remembered they needed to buy a camera.
But by then, they didn’t have enough money, so they had to withdraw more on the spot.
Yu Xiuli was heartbroken.
In reality, Chen Qi had about 15,000 yuan in savings, so spending this much was like splashing water.
The Overseas Chinese Exchange Certificates they used had expiration dates, usually a year, but some were valid for three or six months.
Families who couldn’t use them all would often transfer them to others.
These certificates were also useful for buying construction materials.
Those who were building houses or getting married often tried to get their hands on these certificates to buy scarce goods like wood and cement.
“Wow, are you three not planning to live anymore? You bought so much stuff!”
“Don’t even mention it. Our kid earned some money writing articles for Hong Kong, and he got some Overseas Chinese Exchange Certificates. He insisted on dragging us to buy things, and we couldn’t stop him. We figured we might as well go and not let his good intentions go to waste.”
“Oh, a TV! You bought one too?”
“It looks great! How big is it?”
“Not too big, just 12 inches. Come over tonight to watch TV, don’t be shy!”
When the family returned to the compound, they instantly became the center of attention.
Yu Xiuli was basking in the glory, reaching the peak of her life—though ever since Chen Qi had come into her life, she seemed to hit new peaks quite often.
The neighbors gathered around the 12-inch TV, marveling at it.
Uncle Zhang was among them, offering insincere congratulations while his heart ached: “Oh no, ours is only 9 inches!”
To put it in perspective, an iPad Pro is 13 inches, and a Xiaomi phone is a little over 6 inches.
After the commotion died down, the neighbors left, but their true feelings came out once they were out of earshot:
“Writing articles for Hong Kong? A few years ago, that would’ve gotten him in trouble for sure!”
“Did you hear? Her leather shoes cost 20 yuan! Who has the guts to wear shoes that expensive? Nothing good will come of it!”
People are always jealous of others’ success.
Yu Xiuli knew this well, but she didn’t care.
Her son was her pride, the shoes were hers to wear, and the good life was hers to enjoy.
Let them turn green with envy.
She was even happier now and said, “Son, what do you want to eat tonight? I’ll cook some hearty dishes.”
“No need, I have to head back soon. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“Come on, stay for dinner!”
“No, no…”
Chen Qi shook his head, not wanting to trouble them.
He added, “Keep the Overseas Chinese Exchange Certificates at home. Buy whatever you need, don’t hold back. They expire in a year… Oh, by the way, any progress on the house?”
“It’s a bit complicated!”
Chen Jianjun spoke up, slowly explaining, “Recently, the central government issued a document allowing private individuals to build or buy houses. But when I looked into it, the reality is quite messy. I went to see a house with two courtyards and 18 rooms. It’s a great place, near Drum Tower Street. It used to be privately owned but was confiscated by the government, which then assigned people to live there. According to the current restitution policy, the house should be returned to the original owner. But the owner can’t kick out the current tenants—they have to stay unless they find a new place. They’ll become renters, paying a few yuan a month. The real issue is this:”
Chen Jianjun, who was interested in policies, went on and on, “These are old houses, all in disrepair. The owner would have to cover the maintenance costs. It’s a mess—you can’t charge much rent, you can’t evict the tenants, and you have to repair the house. I think even if the house is returned, the owner would end up selling it back to the government. It’s just too much to handle…”
“Hey, hey, no political talk!”
Chen Qi was startled.
But this was indeed a lingering issue, one that persisted from the 1980s well into the 2000s.
The government still held onto many old houses, and the people living there had been there for decades, with their children continuing to live there without ownership rights.
“So, can we still buy a house?” Yu Xiuli asked.
“We’ll have to look. Maybe find a smaller courtyard with fewer rooms, one that’s run-down and no one wants. We can buy it, fix it up, and make some furniture. Or we could build our own house, but we’d need land. Where are we going to get land?”
“No rush, take your time. I’m still young!”
After chatting with his parents about the house, Chen Qi took his new camera and headed back to the Beijing Film Studio.
Now he could take as many photos as he wanted.
All reforms stem from some kind of contradiction.
Just like how collective enterprises and individual businesses were allowed, fundamentally, it was to address the massive number of unemployed youth.
The same goes for housing.
In the past, houses didn’t have a commercial value—they were all owned by the state and allocated to individuals.
This was essentially a welfare policy.
But as the population grew, there weren’t enough houses to go around, and the country was too poor to invest heavily in housing.
So, the commercialization of housing was an inevitable choice.
Leaders had proposed this idea long ago, but the reform was incredibly difficult and took about 20 years to complete.
That’s all we’ll say about that.
Chen Qi could buy a house or build one.
What mattered most to him was the location—if the location was good, that was all that mattered.
…………
At the China Film Corporation.
The second-quarter film screening was underway.
Representatives from provincial film companies across the country had gathered in Beijing.
This year’s national quota was 80 films, averaging 20 films per quarter.
They had a few days to watch them and decide how many copies to buy based on their judgment.
They would buy the copies and arrange screenings at city and county-level film companies.
Back then, there was already a concept of release schedules, with good films being shown during holidays, though it wasn’t as developed as it is now.
There were three types of film copies: 35mm, 16mm, and 8.75mm.
The first type was for large theaters in cities.
The latter two were for smaller theaters or mobile screenings, suitable for towns and rural areas.
When people talk about the glory days, like how Shaolin Temple sold over 400 copies, they’re referring to the first type.
If you include the other two types, the number of copies could reach into the thousands.
“…”
At this moment, in the screening room, Romance on Lushan Mountain, which had already been shown countless times before the official release, was being screened yet again.
Hong Kong and Macau hadn’t been returned yet, Chongqing was still part of Sichuan, and Hainan was under Guangdong’s jurisdiction.
So, representatives from 29 provincial companies were watching Romance on Lushan Mountain for the first time, the film that had caused such a stir.
It was indeed something special.
It didn’t have any profound themes, but it was enjoyable—a handsome guy and a beautiful girl falling in love against a backdrop of stunning scenery.
Who wouldn’t like that?
As per tradition, the representatives had to fill out forms.
The Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, with its dense population and many theaters, was always a big buyer of copies.
The Jiangsu representative thought about his scattered colleagues and felt a headache coming on.
The film was good, so he decided to buy more copies.
After some thought, he wrote down what he thought was a large number and handed it in, looking around proudly.
Buying more copies showed strength.
The representatives handed in their forms, and the China Film staff tallied them up.
Their brows furrowed, and their eyes widened.
Someone couldn’t help but ask, “How many?”
“Have you finished calculating? Give us the number!”
“Quiet, quiet!”
The China Film staff held up a piece of paper and announced the results:
“Romance on Lushan Mountain: 35mm copies—360! 16mm copies—2,200! 8.75mm copies—1,600!”
The entire room gasped in unison.
(End of Chapter)