When getting married these days, in addition to preparing a house and furniture, the man must also prepare household appliances.
Four years ago, the "three revolutions and one sound" that families in the Republic sought were bicycles, watches, sewing machines, and radios.
Now it has developed into four new major items: televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and radio cassette players.
Moreover, the gap between the grades of these things is even wider, and they are far more sophisticated than the three turns and one ring back then.
At the very least, color TVs are definitely better than black and white TVs.
Washing machines with spin-drying functions are definitely better than single-cylinder ones.
The larger the "liter" number of the refrigerator, the better, and the more speakers the radio cassette player has, the better it is.
As for the original goods imported from Japan, they are the undisputed supreme trump card and represent high quality.
If compared with domestic products, to use a poker term, it would be a total loser!
On the other hand, there is a shortage of home appliances.
You know, after the first foreign advertisement for Swiss Radar was published in Wenhui Po, foreign advertisements came one after another.
Japanese companies even came in groups.
But so far, only Japan's Panasonic has taken the lead in entering the Republic of China market this year, and has truly become the only large foreign electrical appliance company to carry out economic cooperation with us.
And don’t look at this year, our country has introduced three more color TV production lines from abroad.
Even though our country has only three years of development history of washing machines, its annual output has reached more than two million units.
However, in the face of China's huge population base, our independently produced home appliances are still a drop in the bucket, and supply exceeds demand.
The most obvious evidence is that the newly independent home appliance counter in Wangfujing Department Store is always crowded with people, but color TVs are basically out of stock.
A customer who wants to buy will not see the goods in stock nine times out of ten times he comes here.
In front of two TV factories in Beijing, scalpers who took color TV tickets from workers had already raised the prices to 800 yuan a piece.
As for what the newspaper said, 70% of Beijing residents already own domestic or imported TV sets.
I'm afraid black and white TVs are still the main ones, mostly nine-inch or twelve-inch TVs.
Moreover, this data also makes people doubt its authenticity.
Because around ordinary people, the typical scene after sunset is still after dinner, when the small courtyard of a family with a TV becomes a gathering place for neighbors.
Even during this period, citizens used their endless imagination in pursuit of good viewing effects.
For example, they can turn a black-and-white TV into color by using red, blue, and yellow color chips at the bottom.
Or a "plug-in" device that can turn a small TV into a big screen through a magnifying glass.
These clever little inventions constitute the unique popular memory of that era.
Looking into the reason, what else could it be? It’s just lack of money.
At this time, the first batch of college graduates after the resumption of the college entrance examination only earned 58 yuan and 80 cents.
Of course, the general public will be disappointed in the lack of wages for household appliances that cost hundreds of dollars.
The vast majority of people who are about to get married can actually afford a TV set with their savings, which is already amazing.
Most people probably pool their family's financial resources to buy a TV because they have to live with their parents after marriage.
If someone's family really has good conditions, at most, if the man just buys another cassette player, it will be the end.
In most cases, the girl's family will provide her with an electric fan, a bicycle, a watch, a pressure kettle, etc.
If the electric fan in the dowry is a floor-standing type, or the radio cassette player was bought with the woman's money, then that is already quite good, and it is for the man's sake.
Therefore, among home appliances, compared to the indispensable television, the radio cassette player is enthusiastically sought after by young people.
Washing machines and refrigerators, these two items are still very advanced consumption for ordinary people, and they are rare items that only the high-income class can own.
If anyone on the street can hire a tricycle to pull the newly purchased Baiju washing machine or Snowflake refrigerator home.
It is equivalent to announcing to everyone that this family has bid farewell to the era of doing laundry by hand.
Or perhaps it has ushered in an era when the scorching heat can be solved, and life has begun to move to a new level.
They will make people who have no concept of saving time and energy make such sounds with disdain on the surface, but actually envy.
"What kind of washing machine is better than hand washing? What kind of refrigerator is just to put some leftovers, and it consumes so much electricity! I'm so full! I don't know how to make it work!"
In short, this kind of ostentatious existence is just like people driving a convertible luxury car speeding down the street thirty years later.
Then think about it, how proud Zhang Shihui is in this regard, how much advantage he takes, and how much convenience he has?
In fact, as early as last year, this guy and Liu Weijing bought all the home appliances for their families from other people who needed to buy home appliances.
People regard the four major items as their dreams, but they are the real "seven machine ministers".
And he is also a foreign minister.
They even gained good popularity because of it.
Not to mention that Zhang Shihui himself made many useful "friends", even Liu Weijing's relatives also looked at Zhang Shihui with admiration.
What kind of aunt, uncle, aunt, uncle, what kind of shopping has not benefited from the prospective son-in-law of the Liu family?
So in fact, Zhang Shihui has long become the favorite of the Liu family.
Liu Weijing's relatives all hope that this marriage will happen quickly, and they really want to be related to this family.
So the big family gathers together during holidays.
It is inevitable that everyone will have to promote the progress of this marriage.
For example, Liu Weijing's second aunt often said to Liu Weijing's family:
"Hurry up, what are you waiting for? This son-in-law can do it!"
"Although he is a hotel worker, he is not as high as Wei Jing, but he has connections. In fact, he is more affordable than a division director."
"Oh, I have benefited from you too. If Xiao Zhang hadn't bought me a color TV, I wouldn't have known that "Wasted Years" was actually in color..."
In short, what others find most difficult is that in many marriages, the man is prone to conflicts and disputes with the woman.
This is a total bonus for Zhang Shihui, this is his specialty.
Not only does he no longer have to worry about this, he can even buy good cigarettes, good wine, and wedding candies more conveniently than others, which is a step above others.
At least for him personally, he has really reached the standard of on-demand allocation ahead of schedule.
But that's not all. What surprised Liu Weijing the most was that not long after the marriage was confirmed, she actually got a silver ring set with jade and a pearl necklace from Zhang Shihui.
Zhang Shihuifei took her all the way to the jewelry counter on the third floor of Youyi Store and bought it forcibly for a small sum of three thousand.
At that time, Liu Weijing thought it was too expensive and wanted to live or die.
But Zhang Shihui insisted that this was the treatment his wife deserved, and even said that wearing jewelry would make her look better when taking photos.
No matter how Liu Weijing resisted and objected, it was ineffective, so she had to accept this kind offer.
But to be honest, Liu Weijing has long been envious of the jewelry of rich ladies in novels and movies.
And last year, British Crown Prince Charles married Princess Diana, and the wedding was broadcast to the world.
Although television was far from popular in our country at that time, the national television station did not join in the fun.
But then, newspapers and magazines also reported it extensively, and even used their wedding photos.
Therefore, this "fairy tale wedding" also allowed our Chinese people to experience the style of Western-style weddings, the pomp of the British royal family and the elegance of Princess Diana with her head covered with pearls and emeralds and wearing a wedding dress.
Of course Liu Weijing would be affected and would daydream, hoping that one day he could own one or two exquisite and beautiful small jewelry.
But these days, the only place where you can buy this in the entire capital is really the Friendship Store.
Therefore, the two things Zhang Shihui gave to Liu Weijing were very suitable for the girl.
It was like accidentally fulfilling Liu Weijing's dream. Of course she felt that she couldn't be happier.