Chapter 48: Buying a Bicycle
In Yue Feng's memory, a reinforced Forever brand bicycle sold for around 180 yuan at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and required a ticket to purchase. At that time, it was definitely considered a major item.
Let's put it this way: the sensation caused by riding a bicycle into the village in 1980 was roughly equivalent to driving a Rolls-Royce back to the village after 2020.
Xing'an Village had six production teams and hundreds of households, but only Village Secretary Wang Jianguo owned a bicycle. This bicycle was allocated to him by the Town. Other families simply couldn't afford one, and even if ordinary villagers saved enough money to buy a bicycle, they had no way to get a bicycle ticket.
Yue Feng wasn't the type of person who liked to show off, but this bicycle had to be bought. It was an important mode of transportation that directly affected daily commuting efficiency, even more important than buying a gun or raising a dog.
Early the next morning, Yue Feng got up early again at 4:30. This time he didn't need to sell wild game, so he just carried an empty satchel and strolled into the city.
Because of the fixed buyer at the Second Canteen, Yue Feng hadn't been to the Ghost Market for several days. When he arrived at the Ghost Market today, he clearly noticed that it was much livelier than a few days prior.
Heavy goods like grain, which people didn't dare to display openly a few days ago, were now boldly placed on the roadside. Some bolder individuals even dared to shout and peddle their wares.
Yue Feng quietly walked around the Ghost Market, getting a rough idea of the current market prices for different goods, and then he approached Wang Hu.
"Hey, Comrade! Need grain tickets? I have both local and national tickets here! My prices are the lowest in the whole market!"
As soon as Yue Feng got close but before he could say hello, Wang Hu launched into his familiar ticket-selling spiel.
"Hu Ge, it's me!" Yue Feng smiled slightly.
"Oh, it's you! I haven't seen you for several days, I wondered what you were up to! I got the bicycle ticket for you, but you didn't come to pick it up!"
"You got the ticket? Where is it?" Although Yue Feng was mentally prepared before coming, hearing this news in person still made him a little excited.
"Did you bring the money?"
"I did!"
"Come with me!"
Wang Hu turned and walked out, passing through several streets in a row, finally stopping near the Military Control Commission's family quarters.
"Wait for me here for a bit, I'll go home and get it for you. This thing is too valuable to carry around!"
"Okay!"
After about five minutes, Wang Hu walked out of the alley, holding something close to his chest.
"Here's the bicycle ticket you wanted. Money and goods exchanged hand-to-hand!"
Yue Feng didn't waste any time either, taking out the five large ten-yuan bills he had prepared from his inner pocket.
"Fifty yuan, count it!"
After confirming everything was correct, the bicycle ticket, still smelling of ink, was handed to Yue Feng.
"Hu Ge is amazing!"
Yue Feng carefully tucked the ticket into his close-fitting pocket, then gave Wang Hu a thumbs-up.
"Heh heh, of course! Don't you see what kind of connections your brother has? In the underworld, I'm known as the 'Ticket Little Prince'!!
Let me tell you, in this small corner of Feng City, as long as you have money, there's no ticket Wang Hu can't get!
We've completed a big deal, from now on we're friends. If you need grain tickets or anything else, I'll give you the lowest price!"
Wang Hu put the large bills into his pocket, clearly very happy.
Yue Feng nodded: "Okay! I'll find you if I need anything!"
Yue Feng didn't say any unnecessary words, but his understanding of Wang Hu deepened another layer.
No wonder this guy could get such scarce tickets; it turns out he was with the Military Control Commission.
You can understand it as a unit similar to a local garrison.
Yue Feng got the bicycle ticket and then strolled to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. There was still over an hour before it opened, so Yue Feng first went to the State-Owned Restaurant and ate two large meat buns. After eating his fill and resting for a while, he estimated the time was right and then went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
At this moment, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had just opened, and the salesclerks on duty were cleaning the counters.
"Hello, Comrade! I'd like to ask, do you have any reinforced Forever brand bicycles in stock here?" Yue Feng asked very politely.
"Bicycle? Yes, we have stock! 180 yuan, purchase with a ticket!"
The salesclerk had some impression of Yue Feng. He had come here to buy things a few days ago and asked about the prices for buying mountain goods.
Later, after Yue Feng and Xiao Tao left, this salesclerk named Li Li even discussed it with her colleagues, guessing that Yue Feng was probably a hunter from the mountain. So Li Li had a bit more memory of Yue Feng.
After all, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative also had acquisition quotas every year. Other people had no conflict of interest with the salesclerks; even if the Village Secretary came, they might still ignore him!
But hunters were different; they potentially had good things to sell. There was a certain amount of operational space in these acquisition tasks, and if you were bold and played it well, you could profit from it.
"Where is it? Can I take a look first?" Yue Feng continued to ask.
"Yes, it's in the warehouse in the back! I'll take you!" As she spoke, Li Li led Yue Feng to the back warehouse of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
In the Supply and Marketing Cooperative of this era, there was a wide variety of goods; many things that seemed completely unrelated in later generations could be found here.
With so many things, it looked messy, but from a distance, the brand new bicycle caught Yue Feng's attention.
Its outline was so unique, its structure was so reasonable, full of the mechanical beauty of industrialized production. Even with Yue Feng's modern aesthetic, he still felt the weight and stability of this Forever bicycle.
Yue Feng held the handlebars and rang the bell twice, then glanced at the thickened spokes and wheels, his eyes full of fondness.
"I'll take it! Help me write the ticket!" Yue Feng said decisively.
"You're really buying it? Okay!" Li Li had originally thought this handsome young hunter was just looking, but she didn't expect him to be so quick to buy.
"Of course I'm really buying it! Can I just push this car out directly?"
"That's definitely not allowed. Bicycles are large items and require an outbound slip to be signed when leaving the warehouse. Come back to the counter with me first, get the ticket written, and then come here to exchange it for the outbound slip!"
"Okay!"
Yue Feng came to the counter and handed the bicycle ticket and a thick stack of large bills to the salesclerk.
Li Li quickly and skillfully wrote out the documents.
When verifying the ticket, Li Li habitually glanced at the stamp on the back of the bicycle ticket.
Seeing the stamped text on it, Li Li was slightly taken aback, and her impression of Yue Feng improved a bit.
Finished updating at noon, the total word count is stuck at 99,000 characters. I couldn't wait until the evening, so I updated early. Aren't you surprised? Unexpected? Nothing left for tonight.