The prosperous era of courtyard houses

Chapter 29, Buying a Bicycle

Half an hour later, Li Weiguo came out of the factory office building.

As expected, I exchanged a 300-pound fat pig for a bicycle ticket from Li Huaide.

Such a large steel rolling mill only issues a few bicycle tickets a year.

For the entire steel rolling mill, including the director, deputy directors, heads of departments, and other leading cadres, there are dozens of people. A few votes a year are not enough, and there will be no chance for the next one.

It is not easy for ordinary workers and ordinary people to buy bicycles. After all, money is useless.

If you don’t have a ticket, you can’t buy it anywhere, unless you’re willing to go to the black market and pay a high price for it, but it’s also very troublesome to buy it back if you don’t know the source.

Ordinary people who want to buy a bicycle will have to wait until the end of 61 when the industrial coupons are issued. By then, you can buy a bicycle by adding the corresponding industrial coupon to the car purchase price, and no bicycle ticket is required.

Not only bicycles, but all industrial products can be bought with money and industrial coupons, such as three-turn-one-ring, televisions, refrigerators, etc. Of course, the premise is that you have enough industrial coupons.

You can get one industrial coupon for every 20 yuan of salary. Li Weiguo's monthly salary is 45 yuan. After the industrial coupon is released, you can get two per month.

As for now, bicycles are rarer than Lamborghinis. Unless you are a cadre, you have little chance to get a bicycle ticket.

After leaving the factory office building, Corey had nothing to do. Li Weiguo simply went out in the name of business and went directly to the department store to buy the car back.

It’s impossible not to buy it. It takes half an hour to walk from home to the steel rolling mill, and half a day to buy vegetables, grains, etc.

Every day I am either walking or on the road.

It's too much trouble to have my legs stretched out every day, which is unbearable.

After leaving the steel rolling mill, we headed straight to the nearest bus stop.

The Imperial Department Store, located in Wangfujing, is the first large-scale department store built after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is known as the "No. 1 Store in New China" and specializes in daily necessities. It opened in September 1955.

It is currently called Imperial Department Store and Wangfujing Department Store. It will not be renamed Imperial Department Store until July 68.

As soon as Li Weiguo entered, he was disturbed by the noise inside.

As expected of a department store, department stores and supermarkets in the 21st century are not as lively as this one.

There are so many people, it can be said that people are sitting next to each other. Fortunately, bicycles are not sold on the first floor, otherwise it would be difficult to squeeze in.

After passing the waves of people, we ran from the stairs to the second floor. It was a little cleaner now, but there were still a lot of people.

The second floor sells clothes, cloth, shoes, hats, and children's toys. Materials here are also in short supply. Many people are crowded in front of the counter, craning their necks to look at the various products.

Without stopping for long, Li Weiguo continued walking up.

The third floor is where big-ticket items are sold, such as bicycles, sewing machines, radios, etc. There are also a lot fewer people, because after all, there are not that many people who can afford to buy.

When he came to the bicycle counter and looked at the brand-new bicycles, Li Weiguo was very excited. He was finally saying goodbye to the original No. 11 bus.

It's a pity that there is no WeChat Moments, otherwise I would have to take a 360-degree photo to show off my wealth.

I looked around the bicycle booth and couldn't figure out which one was the flying pigeon and which one was the phoenix.

There is no way, I have never seen a country bumpkin who has lived through the 21st century.

He simply said to the salesperson who was chatting: "Comrade, I want a Phoenix 28."

Several salesmen who were chatting were a little impatient when they were interrupted. They were about to reprimand them, but when they saw Li Weiguo wearing a white police uniform with a gun, he immediately calmed down.

He quickly changed his expression and smiled at Li Weiguo: "Okay, Phoenix 28, 185 plus a bicycle ticket. Do you want to choose a bicycle now?"

"Okay, please choose one for me."

"Ok."

After a while, the salesman came over pushing a car and said, "How about this one? It's brand new, Phoenix 28. It's strong and durable. It can pull people as well as goods."

Li Weiguo looked at it for a few times and felt good: "Okay, just this one, let's issue a ticket."

"Ok."

After the ticket was issued, Li Weiguo took the ticket and handed over the bicycle ticket and money.

Then I got the invoice, carried the car under the guidance of the salesperson, and went down another staircase.

After leaving the department store, I rode straight to the nearest police station. When I bought a car, I had to smash the stamp.

That's right, bicycles in this era still had to have their steel stamps stamped on them, and if they had their license plates stamped on them, they would be easy to find even if they were lost.

Moreover, if someone suddenly has such a big item, people from the neighborhood committee will come to check it out.

On the one hand, confirm the origin of your things, and on the other hand, come to the door and make yourself familiar, so that you can ask if you need to borrow a car for something next time.

I spent 2 yuan at the police station to get a license plate and a stamp, and I had to pay taxes and renewal fees every year.

Not much, just 2 yuan.

After completing the formalities, Li Weiguo rode his bicycle and wandered around the streets of the imperial capital, feeling the unique atmosphere of this era.

In this era, the country's industry had just started, and the air pollution in the imperial capital was not that serious.

The sky is still so blue, the air is still fresh, and there is no trace of haze.

The breeze blows on my face, this feeling is very good.

After wandering around until eleven o'clock and having lunch outside, Li Weiguo rode back slowly.

At a corner of an alley where no one was around, he took out his lunch box. In the lunch box were a few white-flour steamed buns, cabbage, and pork head meat. These were all made by Li Weiguo in his own space.

You have to hide everything you eat in the courtyard to avoid being jealous, so you have no choice but to buy pots, pans, and various seasonings and do it yourself in the space.

On weekdays, when cooking at home, I just make steamed buns to show off. Of course, others use stick noodles, but he uses pure cornmeal, which has a much more delicate texture. It just looks the same as other steamed buns in appearance.

Hang the lunch box on the handlebar and ride the bicycle back to the west gate.

When I arrived at the duty room, I rang the bell.

Master Wang Zhenhai raised his head when he heard the sound.

"Hey, boy, where did you borrow the bicycle?"

"Why are you borrowing it? I just bought it. How about it, master? Is it handsome?" Li Weiguo said in a show-off manner.

Wang Zhenhai asked: "Bought it? Where did you get the ticket? Don't make a mistake."

"It's just a ticket. If you made any mistake, ask Li Huaide for it." Li Weiguo waved his hand.

"Are you really his biological father? He will give it to you if you ask?"

"Hey, what you said is just an exchange of interests. If I were his father, I would just ask him to buy me a car."

"Okay, I won't ask about your business. You have a good idea of ​​what's right. If you want to buy a bicycle, you should have said it earlier. If you don't want to find me, you don't need to find someone else." Wang Zhenhai looked at him with contempt and said afterward.

Li Weiguo was shocked: "Can you get a bicycle ticket?"

"Tch, it's just a ticket, take it!" With that said, Wang Zhenhai took out a ticket from his pocket and handed it over.

Li Weiguo took the ticket and looked down.

Huh. Watch the ticket.

Li Weiguo asked in confusion: "Master, if you look at the gate, where can I get bicycle tickets and watch tickets?"

Wang Zhenhai was not happy to hear this.

"What do you mean, just look at the gate. I am a first-level security guard, do you know? The basic salary is eighty-seven and a half yuan, and the working-age salary and daily allowance are more than one hundred yuan a month. If I ask for it, Xiao Wang and the others dare Don’t give it to me? You can’t kill them!”

Oops. Director Guan Wang’s name is Xiao Wang.

Well, I knew that my master was awesome, but I didn’t expect that he could be so awesome and walk sideways.

I just don’t know the master’s specific background, that’s all. He won’t tell me and it’s hard to ask.

Li Weiguo was not polite, picked up the watch ticket and put it directly in his pocket.

"Okay, Master, you are awesome. I just took the watch ticket. I just need a watch. This is my tribute to you. Today we have stir-fried pork head." With that, he handed over the prepared lunch box.

I know that my apprentice can get some delicious food from time to time, and I don't ask him. I have my own way.

Wang Zhenhai took the lunch box and sent him back to the picket section to work.