Chapter 1361 Family Tradition

It gets dark early in the spring in Beijing. It's already dark at 6 o'clock and you have to turn on the lights. By 6:30, it's already dark.

Although there is no such thing as working from 9 to 5 at this time, all walks of life basically work eight hours a day, starting at 8:30 in the morning and leaving at 6 o'clock in the evening, with an hour and a half break at noon.

There is no such thing as a two-day weekend at this time. People work normally from Monday to Saturday, and Sunday is called "voluntary labor day", and they have to go to work, and it's free.

There are no holidays for May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. There are only three days off during the Spring Festival and National Day.

What's more inhumane is that starting from next year, there will be no holidays for the next ten years!

Work non-stop on New Year's Eve, and fight on the first day of the first lunar month. We must grasp the revolution, promote production, break all feudal customs, and celebrate the revolutionary Spring Festival.

So we can't blame people of this era for not having leisure time. They really don't have time for leisure.

After a busy day during the day, it's dark after dinner.

At this time, there is nowhere to go in Beijing at night, and it's not safe outside after dark, so we can only stay at home.

Almost every household in the courtyard only had one electric light on. Most people only had electricity in the big house. The small house and bedroom had no electricity. They either lit candles or used kerosene lamps.

The reason for this, of course, was to save money.

You should know that there were no electricity meters in those days, and the electricity bills were not paid by the degree. Instead, they were charged in a simple and crude way, that is, by counting the light bulbs!

How many light bulbs did you have in your home? They were charged one by one.

And the wattage of the light bulbs was different, and the fees were also different.

For example, each 10-watt light bulb cost 1 cent per month, a 20-watt light bulb cost 2 cents, and so on.

At that time, the most commonly used light bulbs were 15-watt light bulbs, and only rich families were willing to use 20-watt or above.

So in order to save money, ordinary families only installed one light bulb in the big house.

This method seems a bit ridiculous today, but it was taken for granted at the time, because at that time, the only things that every household could use circuits were light bulbs.

Families with better conditions may use electric fans, but if you have this thing, you have to pay an extra five yuan in electricity bills every year. Ordinary families can neither buy nor maintain it.

As for things like refrigerators, only a very small number of high-ranking families can use them, and such families do not need to pay electricity bills.

Radios use batteries and do not need electricity.

Third uncle Yan Fugui also has a radio at home. In this quadrangle, the only family with a radio is his family and Xu Damao's family.

Whether it is the bicycle outside the door that is polished to a shine all the time, or the radio in the living room at home, they are all saved by Yan Fugui bit by bit.

The Yan family has seven people. In addition to Yan Fugui and the third aunt and their couple, they have three sons and one daughter.

The eldest brother Yan Jiecheng is married, and his wife is Yu Li. The young couple lives separately, but they still eat from the same pot and live in a separate house next door that Yan Fugui has separated.

Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li are both temporary workers. Their combined salary is only about 20 yuan. They have to pay Yan Fugui 15 yuan per month for accommodation and food expenses. They live a very tight life.

The second son, Yan Jiefang, is 17 years old. He has nothing to do since he dropped out of junior high school. Now he occasionally does odd jobs outside, but most of the time he does nothing, which makes the third uncle and his wife very worried.

The third son, Yan Jiekuang, and the fourth daughter, Yan Jiedi, are still in school.

Yan Fugui's salary is 42 yuan a month, plus the 15 yuan paid by the eldest son and his wife every month, which is 57 yuan a month. The per capita disposable income of this big family is only 8 yuan, which is the most common income level for the lower-class people.

Considering that Yan Jiecheng has only been working for a few years, before that, the family relied on Yan Fugui alone to support them, to support the four children to go to school, and to provide them with food, clothing and shelter. The life of this third uncle is actually not easy, and it has only been slightly better in the past two years.

But under such difficult conditions, Uncle San not only did not neglect his children's education, but also arranged for his eldest son to get married, bought "big items" such as radios and bicycles for his family, became "the first in the courtyard", and lived a life that was ahead of others. It can be said that he was very successful.

This is also what Uncle San is most proud of. He does not steal or rob, does not break the law or go against morality, and does not beg for money. He lives a dignified life to this extent. Not to mention the entire courtyard, how many people in the entire capital can do this?

And the reason why he can do all this is because he knows how to calculate.

Uncle San often says a sentence called "You can eat well and wear well, but you will be poor if you can't calculate."

Everyone scolds him Yan Laoxier and Yan Laoxie, but Uncle San doesn't care.

What's wrong with being stingy?

Who can dig out a bicycle and a radio?

This is called ability!

But once everything is extreme, it is too much or too little.

Uncle Yan Fugui usually doesn't dare to turn up the volume when listening to the radio for fear of wasting electricity, and he also settles every account with his own son, which leads to the family being petty and calculating everything, and putting interests before family affection.

The family sits at the same table to eat, and everyone has a fixed amount of food to eat. Generally, they won't eat less, but they can't eat more.

Today, Auntie made soup noodles. Because she was angry with Su Yi for a while, she finished cooking, and when the family returned home, Auntie hadn't cooked yet.

Yan Fugui noticed that his wife was in a bad mood and asked about the situation. The third aunt now had a place to complain and told her everything that happened between her and Su Yi today.

"50 cents for cleaning?" Yan Fugui was very surprised, "Did you get the money? I didn't bluff you?"

"It was agreed that I would get it!" said the third aunt, "It's a pity that Banggeng thought it was too little, otherwise I wouldn't get the 50 cents."

"This child was spoiled by his grandmother, greedy, and will suffer when he grows up." Yan Fugui commented, and then changed the subject, "This Su Yuanchao is also not good, how can he waste money like this?"

"Dad, look at what you said, if he didn't waste money, would my mother get the money?" Yan Jiecheng interrupted, and then said sourly, "It's because Yu Li and I both work, otherwise it wouldn't be my mother's turn. Oh, miss it, miss it, it's like picking up 50 cents for nothing."

"That's right, there's nothing to clean in an empty house." Yu Li also smacked her lips.

"What is destined to happen will happen, and what is not destined to happen should not be forced." Yan Fugui dropped a book bag and frowned, "Qin Huairu will not do anything without profit. You said she only gave four or five meters of cloth for making two sets of bedding? Then how much did she get for pulling a cart to transport goods for others?"

"She must have been given 70 or 80 cents?" Yan Jiecheng guessed.

"I'm afraid it's more than that." Yan Fugui sighed, "My dear, you did a terrible job today. You didn't use your brain! You've already taken on the cleaning work, so what's the harm in asking one more question? If you ask him what he bought in the empty house, wouldn't you also take on the job of transporting the goods?"

"Once the goods are transported, the needlework will fall into our hands. Although we don't have a sewing machine, we can borrow someone else's. My dear, look at you, if you don't use your brain, how much money will our family lose?"

"You can save one dollar and five cents!" Yan Jiecheng slapped his thigh, "Mom, you shouldn't have! Dad always said that you can't be poor if you don't have enough food and clothes, but you can't just plan at home, you have to plan for people outside! If I were at home, I would definitely not let The money flew away right under my nose!"

"Blame me, blame me, oh I regret it so much!" The third aunt slapped her thigh, her face full of regret, "If I had taken this job earlier, would the young widow have been able to seduce the soul of the prodigal son? Now it's good, I'm afraid that if there is another chance in the future, the first person he thinks of is also the widow Qin!"

"Mom, what's there to be afraid of? His Jia family has Banggeng'er's mother, and we also have my sister-in-law, right?" Yan Jiefang said carelessly, "Banggeng'er's mother and my sister-in-law are both beautiful."

"Nonsense!" Yan Jiefang's voice just fell, Yan Fugui's face suddenly changed, "What do you think of your sister-in-law? No matter how poor our Yan family is, we can't lose our dignity and integrity. Are the principles I taught you in vain?"

"I, I don't mean that..." Yan Jiefang was so scared that he stuttered.

"You are already an adult, think before you speak!" Yan Jiecheng said unhappily, "Why compare your sister-in-law with a widow when there are so many things to compare?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong, brother, that's not what I meant." Yan Jiefang said hurriedly.

"The second son is also talking without thinking, let's not talk about him." The third aunt still looked very depressed, "His father, there is an old saying, if you don't pick it up, it's lost. I didn't do it right today, do you think there is any way to make up for it? It's okay for the widow Qin to take advantage of Sha Zhu, they are all in the middle courtyard, but Su Yuanchao is from our front courtyard, isn't Qin Huairu's hand too long?"

Yan Fugui pondered for a moment and said, "There is a long time to come, let me meet him and feel his temper first. I still say the same thing, if it is destined to happen, it will happen, if it is not destined to happen, don't force it, don't expect others to give it to you, just grab it when there is this opportunity, that's enough."

After a pause, Yan Fugui pointed at his wife and educated the younger generations: "What your mother did today is a negative example, we must learn a lesson from it!"

"Dad, I'll remember it."

"I know, Dad."

The children answered sporadically.

"Eat, eat! My wife, go get some rice!" Yan Fugui waved his hand and suddenly looked at Yan Jiecheng, "Jiecheng, the rice for you two should be a little thinner today. I told you in advance."

"No, why?" Yan Jiecheng was anxious, "Dad, we pay a lot of 15 yuan a month!"

"Yes, you do pay a lot." Yan Fugui said with a smile, "But you pay for accommodation and food, and the bowls and chopsticks you use are also from home? These things are worn out, and the wear and tear fee..."

"Wear and tear?" Yu Li couldn't help but sarcastically said, "Dad, I heard from Jiecheng that our bowls and chopsticks haven't been changed for more than ten years. What's worn out on yours?"

"That's right, he doesn't even dare to ask me to pay for the wear and tear of the bowls and chopsticks when I go to a restaurant to eat. You are so good..." Yan Jiecheng was very angry.

"How often do you eat at restaurants? You eat at home every day, how can it not be worn out?" Yan Fugui said, "I know it wears out slowly, and I didn't charge you more, right? It's just the meal every Monday afternoon, and you two have thinner rice, and you can keep it the same as usual."

Bang!

Yu Li stood up with a dark face, slammed the table, turned around and walked out of the door, slamming it hard.

"Hey, who are you slapping your face at?" The third aunt was unhappy, "Jie Cheng, your wife is so uneducated, do you care? If you don't want to come to our house for dinner, just cook by yourself! I'm too lazy to serve you! I cook for you and you still have to look at your mood, it's a habit!"

Yan Fugui waved his hand calmly: "Forget it, it's understandable that my daughter-in-law can't figure it out for a while. Just wait until she understands the truth. Eat, eat, please give your daughter-in-law some food later. Take it over, but you have to tell her that it won’t happen again! We have rules in the Yan family and we can’t let our temper be followed!”

"Oh." Yan Jiecheng responded depressedly.

At the same time, many families in the courtyard talked about their newly moved neighbor Su Yi.

At the second uncle Liu Haizhong's house, the second aunt also mentioned the new college students, but she knew very little about them, only a general idea.

Liu Haizhong knew a lot, because everyone in the factory was talking about Su Yi today.

"It's Su Jianshe's younger brother from the original factory, the one who got into trouble with Jia Dongxu." Liu Haizhong said, "I don't know how I got involved with Li Xinmin. As soon as I entered the factory, I got a college student's salary, four dollars a month." Nineteen and a half cents, it’s almost catching up with me.”

"Hehe, where are you? You're nowhere near as good as dad." Liu Guangtian, the second uncle's son, said with an apologetic smile.

Liu Haizhong glanced at him but didn't respond.

At this time, the second uncle's family was also eating, eating corn flour and steamed buns.

But only Liu Haizhong had a plate of fried peanuts and half a bottle of white wine in front of him.

The second uncle's two sons, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, drooled looking at the peanuts, but they didn't dare to reach out and pick one.

The second uncle Liu Haizhong's family tradition is different from that of the third uncle's family. He is not picky. He also allows his sons to eat well every month. On weekdays, he does not ask his sons to charge for accommodation or food.

He has three sons. The eldest son is Liu Guangqi. He is married and goes to work with his wife in other places.

The two in front of them are the second son Liu Guangtian and the third son Liu Guangfu.

The second son is working part-time outside school after dropping out of school, and the third son is still in middle school.

Liu Haizhong was extremely partial, and Tie Xin felt that only his eldest son Liu Guangqi could provide for him in old age, so he only had Liu Guangqi as a good supporter. He doted on Liu Guangqi in every possible way, and he also arranged the marriage by himself.

But he was not so concerned about his second and third sons. He had always beaten and scolded them since they were young, and he only provided them with food and accommodation without giving them anything extra. He also did not treat them well and maintained a "high-pressure rule" at home.

He was a moody tyrant at home. Both sons were afraid of him, so they developed the habit of flattering him since childhood.