1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 12 Wine That Money Can't Buy in Later Generations
During that era, my country's stores were mainly supply and marketing cooperatives, but many large cities also planned large state-owned department stores, such as the Beijing Department Store, Shanghai No. 1 Department Store, and Harbin No. 1 Department Store.

At this moment, Chen Fusheng and his three companions arrived at the Harbin Department Store.

Chen Fusheng stood in front of a wine counter, his eyes drawn to several jars of 'mysterious' infused liquor.

"Comrade, would you like to buy some alcohol?"

In response to the salesperson's question, Chen Fusheng pointed to a jar of infused liquor behind her and asked, "What kind of liquor is that?"

"You mean this? This is medicinal wine made with cordyceps."

"What about the one next to it?"

"This is snake wine."

"No, I'm asking about the jar on your left."

"Comrade, this is tiger bone and ginseng wine."

Seeing the intense curiosity Chen Fusheng showed towards this "store's prized possession," the salesperson further explained:

"This wine is made primarily from three precious medicinal herbs whose names are combined with other nourishing herbs such as wolfberry, angelica, and rehmannia root, and is brewed with white wine. It is a high-quality medicinal wine with wonderful effects such as strengthening muscles and bones, warming and tonifying the liver and kidneys, and replenishing qi and blood. Would you like to buy some to try?"

Want to buy some?
Who do you look down on?

When Chen Fusheng heard the salesperson announce the name of the wine, all he could think about was buying the whole jar.

After all, he knew very well that in a few years, or even a decade or more, the three main ingredients in this wine would become protected plants and animals, and at that time, even if you had money, you wouldn't be able to buy them.

"How much per pound?" he asked.

"One dollar and eighty cents per ounce."

"So cheap..." Chen Fusheng almost thought he had misheard, but he quickly realized and immediately corrected himself: "One dollar and eighty cents a tael, is that so expensive?"

"Comrade, the ingredients for this medicinal wine are very precious. If you want to buy something cheaper, we also have bulk wine here for five cents a tael."

Chen Fusheng was naturally not interested in that five-cent bulk wine at all.

And to be honest, although he was initially taken aback by the price quoted by the salesperson, after calming down, he actually felt that the price of 1.8 yuan per tael was still acceptable.

Even if he buys it and doesn't drink it himself, but keeps it as a collection, he can sell it for tens or even hundreds of millions of yuan in ten or twenty years.

The problem is, this jar of wine looks like it weighs forty or fifty jin (20-35 kg). Even if we calculate it as forty jin and it costs eighteen yuan per jin, it would still cost more than seven hundred yuan.

Chen Fusheng's current net worth is about this amount, but they will also need to spend a lot of money visiting relatives in Harbin. After thinking about it, he decided to postpone his impulse to buy everything.

"Weigh out two jin for me."

"Comrade, would you like two jin of our tiger bone and ginseng wine?" the salesman asked Chen Fusheng to confirm.

Chen Fusheng nodded; he planned to buy two jin (1 kg) to try the taste.

Of course, if he is the only one tasting it, one or two ounces would be enough.

But we're at my father-in-law's house, there are so many people, everyone wants to try it, and if we buy too little, it won't be enough to go around with.

However, even two kilograms would cost thirty-six yuan, which was more than his monthly salary, so it was inevitable that his three older sisters would 'stop' him.

In the end, both sides compromised, with Chen Fusheng reducing the amount from two jin to one jin in exchange for their concession.

There was a little incident in the middle: when it came time to pay, his brother-in-law tried to take the money from him, but Chen Fusheng naturally didn't let him succeed. The salesperson was very 'sensible' and took Chen Fusheng's money instead of his brother-in-law's.

"Comrade, if you like it, please come again next time."

Although this wine is the store's "signature item," it's actually not easy to sell because it's too expensive. People are scared off just by hearing the price, so very few people actually buy it.

Out of twenty or thirty customers who inquire, perhaps only one will actually make a purchase.

Moreover, people usually only buy a tael or two to taste; it's extremely rare for someone like Chen Fusheng to buy by the kilogram.

After the transaction was completed, Chen Fusheng learned that the wine wasn't selling well, and only then did he feel relieved and leave.

When he got home, his family inevitably scolded him for spending eighteen yuan to buy a pound of liquor, but those who scolded him later drank his liquor.

In the following days, Chen Fusheng and his family still did not visit their relatives, because the relatives came to the Liu family's house on their own.

While Chen Fusheng was busy getting to know and entertaining all these distant relatives, his novel "Bullfighting" was also promoted nationwide because of Xia Yan's review article published in "Popular Cinema".

Yu Hua, 20 years old this year, is still working as a dentist at the local health center because he failed to get into university. However, he doesn't like his current job and longs for the freedom of the cultural center next door.

He heard that as long as you have a skill, you can apply for a job at the cultural center. Since he likes reading novels, he started to have the urge to write his own last year.

Even though Yu Hua has a talent for writing, becoming a writer is not something that happens overnight; it requires accumulation and growth. Therefore, to date, this later great writer has not had a single work published.

Yesterday afternoon, Yu Hua happened to see Mr. Xia Yan's review of "Cow" in Popular Cinema. So this morning, he went to the only bookstore in his small town. When he heard that they hadn't ordered "Fangcao", he rode his bike to the county town to buy it. Fortunately, after visiting three bookstores in the county town, he finally managed to buy this issue of "Fangcao".

At midday, Yu Hua bought two steamed buns in the county town and ate them while reading "Bullfighting," a novel that Mr. Xia Yan had praised.

He finished reading the novel, but hadn't even finished the steamed bun in his hand. It was winter, and it was already cold.

However, Yu Hua was completely oblivious. He continued staring at the magazine in his hand, and after a long pause, he finally managed to utter a sentence:
"Holy crap, this author's writing is absolutely amazing!"

……

Emei Film Studio.

Several leaders are having a small meeting.

Suddenly, a deputy factory director picked up a document and said:
"This is a film project that Comrade Han Sanping submitted to the factory after returning from his studies in Beijing."

He then gave a brief introduction to the project and looked at the others in the room, asking, "Does anyone have any opinions after listening?"

"Personally, I think Comrade Han is still relatively young and has little experience in filmmaking. If he wants to direct a film on his own, he needs at least two more years of experience."

"I support Lao Qian's suggestion. Comrade Xiao Han is talented and a top student who graduated from Sichuan University. His future is limitless, but we must also remember not to force him to grow too fast... By the way, Director Sun, what did you say Xiao Han was planning to make? What's the name of the movie?"

"It's called 'Bullfight,' and it seems to be a novel."

“Bullfighting, that name sounds familiar.” The factory manager seemed to remember something and beckoned to his secretary: “Xiao Jun, go to my office and get that copy of Popular Cinema.”

In the afternoon, Han Sanping had just arrived at work when he was summoned to the factory director's office by the factory director's secretary.

"Comrade Xiao Han, your film project has been approved by the studio!"

Han Sanping heard a huge surprise as soon as he entered the house, so much so that he was still a little dizzy when he left.

(End of this chapter)