Return To 1990

Dinner

 At four o’clock in the afternoon, the first stall-car of canned food was loaded. The factory could produce up to 7,000 cans a day at the current rate. Lu Feng stood at the door, observing the departing vehicles. He said to himself, “Wish me good luck!”

The workers got off work at 7 o’clock in the evening. Lu Feng checked that day’s ledger records, and Zhou Hao had put some money to work there: a full one hundred dollars!

 “Datou, what is your educational background?” Lu Feng asked casually, looking at the ledger.

 “I have finished the third year of junior high school, Brother Feng.”

Lu Feng raised his head and looked at him in surprise.

This guy actually graduated from a junior high school and has a high degree of education!

 Datou felt Lu Feng’s strange gaze, and was aggrieved, “I was great at academics. I was admitted to high school at that time, but wasn’t allowed to study at home. You all think I am stupid. I am honest, not stupid!”

 Lu Feng was amused, he patted Datou’s shoulder and said, “I don’t think you are stupid, Datou. You have to manage this account book well; do you know how to maintain an account book? How much is shipped, how much is the deposit, how much food is collected, and the receipt must be complete. Well?”

 “It’s easy. I can do it!”

 Lu Feng handed him the account book, slid some money in his pocket and said, “Go home, we will continue tomorrow.”

 After closing the door, Lu Feng walked home.

 Zhou Hao arrived at the village at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. There were people sitting in groups of twos and threes on the street, enjoying the cool time of the day. They saw the car-stalls selling things, but showed little interest. They didn’t have much money.

 “All kinds of canned food! Grain can be exchanged for canned food, and I need all kinds of grain!” The vendor announced.

 “How about some grain worth more than three years?” 

 “How about five years’ worth of rice?” multiple voices echoed from the crowd.

 “Yes! As long as they are not rotten!” The vendor replied enthusiastically.

 Ten minutes later, the whole village was in an uproar. In this era, no one had a big granary, and there were a lot of old rotten grains inside every household.

 It’s better to change it for some cans to relieve the children’s greed.

 A flood of people surrounded the stall car, and everyone was carrying half sacks of various grains.

 Zhou Hao was very excited when he watched such a scene. He had a feeling that he was about to get rich. If he took two cents for a can, he was going to get rich!

 “Line up! Everyone come one by one!”

 In the late Evening: Groups of children were playing. Children nowadays are not lacking in entertainment; the noises of frolicking could be heard now and then. Lu Feng stood there watching them for a long time.

 “Isn’t that Lu Feng? How did you solve the problem with Li Da Fang?” a forty-something-year-old man asked, sitting downstairs and smoking a cigarette.

 “Dad, don’t you know? The battle was huge that day, Li Yi came, and I don’t know what happened, but Li Yi left without doing anything.” said a young man who was about Lu Feng’s age.

 “This kid has been dressing up like a dog every day this month. Has he changed?”

 “He’s changed indeed.” The young man cursed, his face full of jealousy, and muttered, “Jiang Xiaoyan is blind for still being with him.”

 Lu Feng listened to the conversation for a while and was about to go upstairs when he noticed that the father and son squatting downstairs were silent. They were Wu Renyi and his son Wu Hongyu.

 Wu Renyi is a famous and old gangster. His son, Wu Hongyu, was sentenced for his activities which involved a gang a few years ago. He had molested Jiang Xiaoyan previously, and Jiang Xiaoyan smashed his head with a brick. Recently, he has had his focus on He Yanli.

 “Lu Feng, stay there. I want to talk.” Wu Hongyu stood up as he spoke.

 “What’s the matter?” Lu Feng asked, looking at him.

 “You also have a family buddy. I don’t care what you are playing at but stay away from He Yanli. Okay?” Wu Hongyu’s face was grim as he spoke those words, with his finger on Lu Feng’s nose, “Don’t get any funny ideas, or I’ll take care of you.”

 Lu Feng laughed as he heard this and said, “That’s alright. Where did you hear that many disgusting things? What did I do?”

 “What were you doing when you entered “someone’s” apartment this morning? The door was not closed. “Someone” passed by and saw you two rolling on the bed.” Wu Hongyu gritted his teeth as he said this.

 “I was helping fix her kitchen’s water pipe, believe it or not.” Lu Feng went upstairs after speaking, but he was still muttering in his heart. He knew the people in this building too well, and he was sure the gossip had gone round.

 When he got home, he got busy cooking; wondering how to explain the situation to Jiang Xiaoyan.

 At eight o’clock in the evening, Jiang Xiaoyan came back, and her mood was not good. Duo Duo rushed to bed with excitement and found her doll to play with immediately.

 “Dinner is ready!” Lu Feng walked out of the kitchen. His heart thumped seeing her face. He wanted to explain, but he didn’t know how to say it.

 The family sat eating together, but no one made a sound. Even the usually energetic Duo Duo was exceptionally quiet today. She seemed to have noticed the awkward silence between the adults.

 “This morning, He Yanli knocked on the door and said that water pipe at her apartment burst. Both of us tended to it.”

 “I know! You don’t need to say it!” Jiang Xiaoyan said blankly, “let’s eat!”

 “Don’t listen to nonsense outside, like about us hugging.” Lu Feng replied hesitantly.

 “What can I do if you two hug each other?” Jiang Xiaoyan put down her chopsticks and said in a deep voice, “Do you need to go whoring outside? How many times have you been caught at the scene? I don’t care! let’s eat!”

 If it were Lu Feng from before, Jiang Xiaoyan wouldn’t have cared, she had not cared her entire life, but when she heard about it today, the newly healed wound on her heart nonetheless seeped a bright red trace.

 “I was there only for repairing the water pipe, but she tried to seduce me. I have a beautiful wife like you at home. How could even I look at her?” Lu Feng felt that even jumping into the Yellow River could not wash him clean1. He took a deep breath and said, “When Duo Duo falls asleep tonight, you can check my ammunition depot!”

 “Mom, what is the ammunition depot?” Duo Duo asked curiously.

 Jiang Xiaoyan missed the code at first, but she blushed bright red after a bit of thought. She then frowned and replied, “Eat. Children shouldn’t ask too many questions!”

 “Okay?”

 “I won’t check.” Jiang Xiaoyan gave him a bland look, feeling that Lu Feng might have been wronged. Her complexion looked a little better, and she said as she ate, “I have a day off tomorrow.”

 “Really?”

All this while, Lu Feng had felt bad for her. A 23-year-old girl wakes up at 5 a.m. and is busy until 7 or 8 p.m. She also has to clean the apartment and take care of Duo Duo.

 “It’s good to have a rest. You should quit your job as a waitress in the restaurant. Tomorrow, let’s go out to play and eat delicious food.”

 “Yes! Okay!” Duo Duo was the first to raise her hands in agreement.

 “What good does it do to know to spend money.” Jiang Xiaoyan pondered for a while and said, “The director of the electronics factory asked us to have dinner, and I said I would consider it.”

 “What are you thinking? Go!”

 “It costs money to go, and it’s going to be a big restaurant. It’s not cheap.”

 Jiang Xiaoyan has to think about money everywhere. She earns her money every cent by the minute. Every cent she spends feels painful. Lu Feng said, “I will come with you tomorrow. Our family will be no worse than them. We will also go out tomorrow.  That’s it.”

 “What will you order? It costs money!”

 “I am the head of the family, so be relieved. It’s settled.” No one could not deny the voice of Lu Feng.

 Duo Duo danced with joy, and Jiang Xiaoyan’s face showed a touch of happiness. She also wanted to go and see how the hotel looked.