Chapter 28: Building a House

In her past life at this time, although Jiang Liyun was eager to make money, her knowledge was limited, and she didn’t understand much about the world.

Later, when she had no worries about food and clothing, she learned through online studies about the events that took place in the 1980s.

Some people thought that entering the 1980s meant ordinary people could freely do business, but that wasn’t the case.

In the early 1980s, due to various reasons, policies underwent fluctuations.

In January 1981, □□ issued urgent documents twice, urging local authorities to “combat speculation and profiteering.”

In 1982, similar incidents occurred again.

As far as Jiang Liyun knows, in 1982, the earliest eight households in a certain place, referred to by the people as the “Eight Big Kings,” were arrested.

It wasn’t until two years later that these individuals were exonerated.

So, it was only in the mid- to late 1980s that people dared to hire others to work for them. Before that… If you hired multiple workers to help, you might be accused of promoting capitalism!

Also, in the mid-1980s, to revitalise the economy, their country implemented the “dual-track pricing system.”

For a long time before that, their country operated under a planned economy where all goods were priced by the state at low prices. To purchase goods, people needed various certificates.

With low commodity prices, low business profits meant no incentive for production.

At that time, productivity simply couldn’t meet the demands of the people, and goods were always in short supply.

To invigorate the market, the country established a free market on top of the existing planned economy.

Planned goods continued to follow planned prices, while non-planned goods followed market prices.

To illustrate their daily lives, urban residents buying grain with grain coupons found it very cheap, but if they bought non-planned grain with money, it was relatively expensive.

The same applies to pork, cooking oil, and eggs.

Jiang Liyun now finds pork expensive because the breeding industry is underdeveloped, and she doesn’t have meat coupons.

Why did Jiang Liping want to marry in town? Because the lives of town people in the 70s and 80s were much better than those in the countryside.

Certainly, during this era, circumstances varied from place to place. At this time, some pilot cities had already completely abolished various certificates.

In the 1980s, the “dao ye” (speculators) were not merely engaged in simple buying and selling. The prices of planned goods were very low, but they were not easy to obtain. To purchase them in bulk, one needed an official approval document from government authorities.

Those speculators who made a lot of money typically had connections with the government. They utilised various relationships to obtain official approval documents, purchased planned goods in large quantities, and then sold them at market prices, naturally making significant profits.

For ordinary people, becoming a speculator was simply impossible!

However, in such a market environment, ordinary people also had some ways to make money.

In her past life, Jiang Liyun heard about some money-making methods. At that time, some people in rural areas collected eggs, then went to big cities to find those with surplus grain coupons. After exchanging their grain coupons, they purchased grain at a low price and brought it to places where grain prices were higher, selling it at market prices.

Of course, at that time, buying grain still required grain coupons, so the entire process required cooperation from people with grain coupons.

Some elderly people in the city at that time couldn’t consume their allocated grain supply but wanted eggs and meat. The exchange of eggs for grain coupons was a mutually agreeable arrangement.

If Jiang Lihai were willing to engage in such back-and-forth dealings, getting rich would be unlikely, but earning an extra twenty or thirty a month would be feasible.

He could also help people buy things in the big city or explore other ways to make money.

For example, he could wholesale some items from the big city that were cheaper there but more expensive in their area and sell them locally.

Of course, Jiang Liyun didn’t expect to get rich overnight; anything worthwhile takes time.

She hadn’t been to a big city, had limited knowledge about them, and lacked the capital… Getting rich all at once was simply impossible.

It seems like Sun Jinshan earned some money through the transportation team but didn’t become wealthy.

For now, Jiang Liyun plans to have Jiang Lihai exchange grain coupons and help her buy affordable flour from a big city like Shanghai. She needs a lot of flour for making dumplings, and the flour in their area is quite expensive.

Of course, she’ll give Jiang Lihai some profit margin since he’s currently in need of money.

The next day, Jiang Lihai starts working at the brick and tile factory. As soon as he arrives, his uncle Jiang Si calls him, takes him through the procedures, and officially enrols him in the transportation team.

Xie Zugen is displeased with this decision, but Xie’s father doesn’t object. Xie’s father thinks his son went a bit too far in the recent matchmaking incident, and joining the transportation team might be good for him. With Feng Yi gone and Jiang Lihai with the fleet, Xie Zugen won’t encounter people, allowing him to live more peacefully.

Lately, Xie’s father has been trying to find other potential matches for Xie Zugen, thinking it would be better for him to focus on blind dates rather than keeping an eye on Jiang Lihai.

Thinking about Xie Zugen’s matchmaking, Xie’s father becomes a bit worried. Xie Zugen is determined to find a better partner than Jiang Liyun to erase his previous embarrassment, and his definition of “better” is not about family background but appearance.

However, the Jiang sisters are already considered quite beautiful in the countryside, and finding someone prettier than Jiang Liyun is challenging. Even if there are more beautiful girls, they might be delicate and have many suitors, making it uncertain if they would be interested in Xie Zugen.

This matter might not be resolved quickly.

On the other hand, Jiang Lihai has joined the transportation team. After entering, he coincidentally meets Sun Jinshan and others returning from outside. Sun Jinshan even brings back the two flat-bottomed large iron pots that Jiang Liyun had asked for.

Jiang Lihai: “…”, so he has to carry these two pots back home tonight?

Jiang Liyun is unaware of what’s happening at the brick and tile factory. Seeing that the dumplings are almost sold out, she tells Feng Yi, “Feng Yi, sell the remaining dumplings. I’m going over there to check out some books.”

Her stall is set up near the basketball court, and next to the court is the “Workers’ Club.”

Jiang Liyun enjoys chatting with people and exploring her surroundings. After talking to an old man who frequents the Workers’ Club, she learns that there are some books available there. More importantly, they have subscribed to many newspapers!

These books and newspapers are free for anyone to read, so anyone who wants to can go and read them.

Jiang Liyun isn’t very interested in reading books, but she wants to read the newspapers. In her past life, she passed away over thirty years later, long forgetting about the events of the 1980s. However, if she reads the newspaper every day, she can stay updated on current national affairs.

Reading these materials won’t immediately make her earn a lot of money, but it can help her plan for the future.

“Okay,” Feng Yi readily agrees.

So Jiang Liyun heads to the Workers’ Club reading room to peruse the various newspapers. She doesn’t read them closely; she just skims through to get a general idea, spending about half an hour in total.

After finishing, she returns to her dumpling stall, which has sold out, making it a good time to pack up and go home.

This arrangement works well for her. Jiang Liyun plans to spend time every day reading the newspapers to understand national affairs and local events, as policies vary from place to place in this era.

Selling dumplings has become routine now as the whole family works together. Though it requires early mornings, it’s not too tiring.

After dinner, Jiang Liyun has the leisure to help her sister Jiang Liyu with her homework. Among the four siblings in their family, Jiang Liyu is the slowest at grasping concepts, but she’s diligent and serious, willing to spend hours tackling math problems.

However, even after studying for so long, she still struggles, which can be frustrating.

After tutoring for a while, Jiang Liyun starts to admire Feng Yi. Helping with homework is really annoying! Where did Feng Yi get the patience to do it day after day, willing to tirelessly tutor her difficult son?

Jiang Liyun is about to give up when she sees Jiang Lihai returning with the two pots on his back.

“You’re back, brother!” Jiang Liyun greets him with a smile. “Give me the pots; I’ll start cooking. Oh, and Liyu needs help with her math problems; can you teach her?”

Seeing Jiang Liyun’s smiling face, Jiang Lihai is pleasantly surprised. It’s been a long time since his sister has been this warm to him!

So, helping carry two pots seems to have made his sister treat him better?

In the future, he’ll definitely help his sister with chores whenever he can!

Jiang Lihai sits in front of Jiang Liyu and starts explaining the math problems to her.

Elementary school math problems are really too simple! Jiang Lihai glances at them and already knows the answers, confidently explaining them to Jiang Liyu.

Jiang Liyu looks at Jiang Lihai in confusion.

Seeing his younger sister’s bewildered expression, Jiang Lihai becomes puzzled too.

Today, Jiang Liyu’s teacher wrote five similar application problems on the blackboard. Jiang Liyu copied them into her notebook to do at home. Jiang Liyun had already explained two problems to her, but she still couldn’t grasp the third one.

Now, even after Jiang Lihai explains the third problem, she still can’t do the fourth one.

Jiang Lihai can’t help but ask his parents, “Mum, Dad, how many points does Liyu usually get on her exams?”

“Liyu always scores in the eighties for Chinese, and her handwriting is good too,” Wu Xiaochun says proudly.

“And math?” Jiang Lihai asks.

Wu Xiaochun replies, “She usually gets in the seventies for math! She does better than Feng Xiaoxiao next door.”

Feng Xiaoxiao is the youngest daughter born to Zhou Qiaoxia after marrying Mr. Feng. She’s a year older than Jiang Liyun, but in the same grade.

Jiang Lihai: “…”, he and Jiang Liping/Jiang Liyun used to score in the nineties! They often get perfect scores in math!

Jiang Liyu is only in third grade now!

Suddenly, Jiang Lihai remembers that when Jiang Liyu was born, her head was pointed.

The doctor said it was nothing serious, just a slight compression during birth, but now thinking about it… Could Jiang Liyu’s head have been damaged during birth?

That day, Jiang Lihai spent a long time teaching Jiang Liyu at home. After Feng Yi finishes chopping the meat, they go to sleep at the Jiang family’s place together.

During this time, Jiang Liyun tells him about buying flour and suggests he explore the city more to see if there are other ways to make money.

Jiang Lihai listens attentively, then becomes worried again, tossing and turning on the straw mattress.

He doesn’t know anyone in the big city. How can he exchange grain coupons with people? If he buys grain with the coupons and brings it back, will others accuse him of profiteering?

Wouldn’t that be speculation and profiteering?

Those people in the big cities—do they think he’s poor and humble?

…

Jiang Lihai pondered various things, while his neighbour Feng Yi slept particularly well.

Jiang Lihai: “WiWith his sister around, Feng Yi doesn’t even have to worry about money for marriage. How fortunate!

In the next few days, following Jiang Liyun’s request, Jiang Lihai bought some bricks from the brick factory and had them brought back by the factory’s tractor. In addition, he used a shoulder pole to carry back the broken bricks that couldn’t be sold from the brick factory.

He was so exhausted that he didn’t even have time to worry about going to the big city by boat.

When it was finally his turn to go by boat, he breathed a sigh of relief—finally, no more carrying bricks home!

Around the same time, the foundation for Jiang Lihai’s house was approved.

In fact, it should have been Jiang Lame and his wife’s concern to build Jiang Lihai’s house, but they weren’t very reliable.

Jiang Liyun originally planned to wait for Jiang Lihai to come back and handle it himself, but Feng Yi volunteered, saying he wanted to help Jiang Lihai build the house.

“Liyun sister, let me take care of building the house. I don’t have much to do this afternoon and can oversee it,” Feng Yi eagerly offered.

“You should rest in the afternoon.”

“At the time right after lunch, the bricklayers usually take a break. I can rest then and go over to supervise around one or two in the afternoon!”

Feng Yi’s energy was truly impressive…

But upon careful consideration, Feng Yi, at his age in modern times, would typically just be starting university.

People his age could pull an all-nighter and still go to school the next day.

Jiang Liyun said, “Since you’re willing, go ahead and help.”

Letting Feng Yi do such things would be beneficial for him. Whether a boy or a girl, if parents don’t let them do anything, they won’t learn anything in the end. But if they are allowed to take responsibility and do things, they will gradually grow.

Building a house is quite troublesome, and Feng Yi can learn a lot from it.

When the house is finished, Jiang Lame’s couple and Jiang Lihai will also owe Feng Yi a favour.

“I’m willing!” Feng Yi said. He wanted to build Jiang Lihai’s house well so that when it came to his turn, he could build an even better one for himself!

At this time, when building houses in the countryside, the bricklayers were actually “technicians.” Their job was to layout the walls, instruct others on how to dig the foundation and mix cement, and tackle some of the more challenging tasks during the construction process.

Generally, hiring a bricklayer was sufficient for building a house.

Of course, during the construction process, assistance from others was needed. Typically, friends and family were asked to help, but if they couldn’t be enlisted, then “labourers” would be hired for money.

In short, building houses at this time wasn’t considered difficult. However, after 1995, building houses here became more sophisticated, and it wasn’t something that could be handled by just any bricklayer.

Taking advantage of the free time in the afternoon, Feng Yi hired a bricklayer and got busy.

By this point, Jiang Lame and his wife felt that he was doing well in every aspect. Even Uncle Jiang from next door, who came over after dinner, said to Jiang Liyun, “Li Yun, your judgement is much better than your sister’s!”

Jiang Liyun immediately embellished Uncle Jiang’s words and told Feng Yi everything in detail.

After that, whenever Feng Yi saw Uncle Jiang, he would smile and address him as “Uncle,” which made Uncle Jiang like him more and more.