Rebirth in 1980, the rise of the golden age

Li Youcai hadn't eaten for a day and his stomach was growling with hunger.

Carrying a shoulder pole, he came to the supply and marketing cooperative.

In this era, shopping malls were only found in big cities, and supply and marketing cooperatives were where ordinary people went to shop.

A supply and marketing cooperative is equivalent to a small department store.

Rice, flour, grain, oil, eggs, poultry, pork, cooked food, alcohol, ready-made clothes, fabrics, etc. are all sold here.

Large bicycles, televisions, tape recorders, sewing machines and other rare items must also be purchased here with industrial coupons.

In recent years, with the development and changes of the country's industry, many daily necessities have gradually been deregulated.

You can buy it without a ticket, but the price will be higher.

For example, rice costs 1 cents per pound with a ticket and 8 cents without a ticket.

From a certain perspective, the signs of transition from a planned economy to a market economy actually appeared very early.

The price difference also made more people see business opportunities. Some people went to the countryside specifically to buy various "tickets" from villagers, and then took them to the city to sell them at a higher price.

That is, the early ticket scalpers.

However, these ticket scalpers have indeed solved practical problems for many people nowadays.

After all, some families in the countryside have too many people and not enough food coupons, so they often exchange other coupons such as cloth coupons for food coupons, or directly exchange them for money.

Li Youcai didn't have any food coupons and didn't want to spend the high price to buy things.

So he stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative and looked around.

After waiting for less than two minutes, a young man wrapped in a military coat walked towards Li Youcai, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking mysterious.

"Dude, you want a ticket?"

Ticket scalping is essentially not allowed, and people who do this business are very cautious for fear of being caught.

Although Li Youcai was the buyer, he didn't want to cause trouble.

"Yes, do you have meat coupons, grain coupons, and cloth coupons?" Li Youcai asked in a low voice.

"Really? You're looking down on me. I can have as much as you want."

"As long as you have enough money, I can get you a refrigerator and TV tickets! Do you believe it?" These words came out of the young man's mouth with a sense of gangsterism.

"Okay, give me ten kilograms of meat coupons, fifty kilograms of grain coupons, and thirty feet of cloth coupons." Li Youcai lowered his chin and glanced around at the surrounding environment.

The ticket scalper also looked around, and after confirming that no one was paying attention to them, he pulled his hand away and opened his military coat.

There were more than ten pockets of various sizes sewn inside the coat, and there was something in each pocket.

The young man was quick and in a few seconds he pulled out all the tickets that Li Youcai needed.

"5 yuan!"

Li Youcai didn't waste any time. After taking the ticket and confirming that it was correct, he immediately counted out the money and handed it to the young man.

"Next time you need a ticket, come to me. I'll give you a discount. I'm here often."

"Row."

Li Youcai walked into the supply and marketing cooperative.

The room is not very big, but it is filled with all kinds of goods. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a dazzling array.

"Comrade, I want ten kilograms of rice, ten kilograms of flour, five kilograms of pork, a roast chicken, two kilograms of braised beef in soy sauce, and a bag of White Rabbit candy..."

A few minutes later, Li Youcai finally set out on his journey home carrying a heavy shoulder pole. As he walked, Li Youcai stuffed fried cakes into his mouth.

When people are hungry, everything tastes delicious.

It was obviously just an ordinary snack, but Li Youcai tasted an unprecedented fragrance.

He didn't have any money when he came here, and now he has to go back. Li Youcai doesn't want to put himself in a difficult position anymore.

He generously took out 1 cent and squeezed onto the bus.

Home.

Duoduo sat on the kang, holding her belly: "Mom, I'm hungry."

Chu Xinyan hesitated whether to borrow food.

It was already dark outside, but Li Youcai had not returned yet.

He said he would be back before dark.

"Oh, it's hard to change one's nature. How could I really believe what he said?" Chu Xinyan shook her head in self-mockery and turned to hug Duoduo.

"Come here, Duoduo. Mommy will carry you to Grandpa's house."

While I was putting clothes on Duoduo, a familiar voice was heard outside.

"Honey, I'm back! Open the door!"

"It's Dad."

Chu Xinyan put Duoduo down and quickly ran to the door and pushed it open.

Li Youcai was carrying a shoulder pole, feeling cold all over.

"Wife, I'm back!" Li Youcai was a little excited. He fulfilled his promise and came back with delicious food.

"Look, I bought a lot of delicious food."

Li Youcai squatted down and started taking things out of the iron bucket as if he was presenting treasure.

The oil from the roast chicken had soaked through the paper towels. As soon as it was taken out, the aroma filled the room. The red sausage tied with ropes, and the braised beef...

Rice, white flour, and a large piece of pork.

"Oh my God, where did you get all these things?" Chu Xinyan was really surprised when she saw these things.

There are so many delicious foods, no one can afford to eat like this even during the Chinese New Year, let alone on ordinary days.

"Of course I bought it with money." Li Youcai said with a little pride.

"Making money?" Chu Xinyan was skeptical: "Did you really make money?"

"Of course it's real, look." Li Youcai pulled out the four big unity banknotes from his trouser pocket, and then took out the loose bills on his body and put them all into Chu Xinyan's hands.

"So much?" Chu Xinyan was stunned when she saw so much money.

"I made a total of 75 dollars today. I bought these things, and the rest is here."

"Did you make all this money from selling toads?" Chu Xinyan asked in disbelief.

"Well, it sells very well at three yuan per pound. It's just a pity that I caught too few today. If I had caught more, I could have made more." Li Youcai felt a little regretful.

Chu Xinyan looked at the money in her hand and counted it. There were only 50 yuan left.

He looked at the contents of the tin bucket and realized he had spent so much money. "You worked so hard to earn this money, why don't you save it? Why did you spend so much?"

"Can I return it? This is such a waste." Chu Xinyan felt very sorry for the 24 yuan that was spent.

Duoduo, perhaps smelling the fragrance, ran out of the house barefoot.

"smell good!"

Seeing so many delicious foods, the little girl's saliva started to flow.

"Mom, I want to eat that." Duoduo pointed at the sausage, looking pleading.

Li Youcai picked up Duoduo and looked at Chu Xinyan: "Okay, don't worry, today is just a test. I will make more money in the future, I promise!"

No matter what, Chu Xinyan felt very relieved that her man really brought back the money.

It also allowed her to finally see a glimmer of hope.

"Eating cold food will give you a stomachache. Mom, heat it up before eating."

"Long live Mom!" Duoduo waved and shouted excitedly.

Li Youcai took out a candy from his pocket and asked, "Look what this is?"

"what is this?"

When Duoduo saw White Rabbit Milk Candy for the first time, she didn’t recognize it at all, but instinctively thought it might be delicious.

In fact, it’s not just Duoduo who doesn’t know it. Most of the children in the village have never seen White Rabbit Milk Candy.

Being able to eat a piece of watermelon candy during the Chinese New Year is already a wonderful thing. The White Rabbit candies sold by the piece are definitely the luxury among luxuries.

"This is White Rabbit milk candy." Li Youcai peeled off the candy wrapper, revealing the white milk candy inside, which had a rich milky aroma.

"Let's eat a candy first, and then eat the meat later."

Li Youcai stuffed the candy into Duoduo's mouth, but poor Duoduo was reluctant to eat it and immediately spit it out. She grabbed it with her little hands and licked it again and again.

"So sweet, so fragrant, this is the best candy I have ever tasted."

For a child, happiness is that simple.

Happy Duoduo hugged Li Youcai's neck, kissed him on the face.

"Thank you dad."

Li Youcai's eyes turned red. He didn't know how many times he had imagined such a scene.

"Dad is sorry. Dad is sorry for you. Dad will definitely work hard to be a good father in the future and buy Duoduo lots of candies and new clothes."

Li Youcai grabbed the remaining White Rabbit snacks from his pocket and stuffed them all into Duoduo's little hands, which were so small that her hands couldn't even hold them all.

When Chu Xinyan saw this scene, she also felt the warmth of family.

Isn't this the life she has always been looking forward to?