In the early morning of the next day, the wind was freezing.
Li Weidong was dressed like a bear, with a gauze mask on his face and a lantern with a glass cover in his hand, walking on the streets of Beijing.
It had just rained two days ago and the ground was frozen, making a crisp "creak, creak" sound when stepped on.
The street lights on both sides of the road emitted dim light.
Li Weidong walked along the dim road for five miles and came to a narrow alley.
The alley was also dead silent, but there were countless fireflies swimming rapidly in it, and being in it felt like a ghost in the human world.
But this ghost is a place of hope for people.
This is a pigeon market in Beijing.
The origin of the pigeon market cannot be verified, but the root cause is very clear, and that is the material rationing system.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a shortage of materials, and neither food nor industrial supplies could meet the people's daily needs.
So the above adopted a coupon system to solve this problem.
The principle is very simple. Each household issues coupons according to different standards.
Only with tickets can you purchase goods.
This creates a problem: some residents have a large family and don’t have enough coupons, while some residents have enough coupons.
This is how the pigeon market was born.
In this gray area, residents can exchange tickets.
As time goes by, the scale of the pigeon market is getting bigger and bigger.
Rural commune members in the suburbs of Beijing will also sell their agricultural products at the pigeon market.
Ticket sellers who specialize in reselling tickets and antique dealers who collect and sell antiques have also come to Pigeon Market.
The police station naturally knows about the existence of Pigeon Market.
However, taking into account the needs of the people, as long as it does not cause a big trouble, we will turn a blind eye.
I only send people to patrol once in a while to catch a few ticket sellers.
Because it is a gray area and will not be managed by the above, buyers and sellers in the pigeon market are very cautious.
The seller usually spreads an old newspaper on the ground and puts a "sample" on the newspaper.
Those who sell millet put a small handful of millet, and those who sell peanuts put a small handful of peanuts.
When meeting a buyer and both parties reach an agreement, the seller will take out the goods.
Li Weidong didn't have a 'sample', so he could only place the ore machine on an old newspaper and hold up a lantern so that people who were 'shopping' could see clearly.
Ore machines are rarely seen in the private sector, and have never appeared in the pigeon market.
It soon attracted many people to watch.
Everyone was very curious, but didn't ask any questions.
Because according to the rules of the pigeon market, buyers and sellers are not allowed to talk.
Li Weidong was already prepared, pulled up the antenna and turned on the ore machine.
Soon a burst of melodious music sounded in the cold air.
The silence of the pigeon market for more than ten years has been broken.
A middle-aged man wearing a felt hat and a gray tunic suit couldn't help but said: "Here, this radio can work without batteries?"
Li Weidong ignored him.
Although the ore machine is very niche, there are always people who understand it.
Sure enough, as soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, a young man with tortoiseshell-rimmed glasses on his nose and an elegant atmosphere said: "Comrade, is this an ore machine?"
The onlookers were very interested in the battery-free radio and gathered around the young man asking questions.
"What is the ore machine?"
"Can it ring without batteries?"
"How many channels can I receive?"
...
When young people said they could only receive one channel, many people backed down.
"I can only accept one channel, so what's the use?"
"What's wrong with one station? Even a radio can't broadcast programs from two stations at once!"
"That's right, the ore machine doesn't use batteries, which also saves a lot of money."
...
The one who was most interested was the middle-aged man. He asked in a low voice: "Comrade, how can I sell the ore machine?"
Li Weidong didn't answer. He gently twisted the button and quickly found a new radio station.
The knowledgeable young man couldn't help but exclaimed: "Today is a stab in the butt - my eyes have been opened! Comrade, how much does your ore machine cost? I bought it!"
——There are not many radio stations these days. We can receive two, which is enough for daily use.
And you don’t need to buy batteries, so you don’t need a bicycle.
When the middle-aged man saw a competitor, he panicked and held out three fingers.
Thirty yuan! Each unit can make a net profit of twenty-five yuan.
Besides, this ore machine can only be purchased for two units, which is already considered a good price.
But is Li Weidong a contented person?
no!
He extended a slap.
"Hey, little comrade, you are so shameless that you really sell the ore machine as a radio?" The middle-aged man shook his head and winked at the young man: "This thing is useless, everyone should not buy it."
Good guy, you are maliciously lowering the price!
Li Weidong glared at him and stretched out a finger.
The meaning is obvious, there is only one like this, do you want it or not?
The young man originally wanted to lower the price, but he didn't care at this time. He took out five large unity cards from his arms and handed them over.
Without checking, he ran away with the ore machine in his arms.
After the goods were sold, Li Weidong also closed the stall and left.
When leaving, I didn’t forget to give the middle-aged man a little thumbs up.
This kind of person is the most annoying. You don't have to buy it if it's too expensive, but they maliciously lower the price.
The middle-aged man knew that he had broken the rules of the pigeon market, so he could only helplessly watch Li Weidong disappear at the end of the alley.
...
With a huge sum of more than 80 yuan, I naturally cannot wrong myself.
Li Weidong went to the Chaoyang wet market and bought two pounds of lean meat, two pounds of eggs, a chicken and some vegetables.
When we returned to the courtyard, the young sun was already hanging on the rows of towers.
The pale golden sunlight dissipated the cold air, and the courtyard that had been frozen all night became lively.
The aroma of food in every household lingers and intertwines with each other, the clinking of pots, bowls and spoons reverberates, and the air is filled with the smell of fireworks.
As soon as Li Weidong entered the compound, he saw Liu Haizhong beating Liu Guangfu.
"You little bastard, how dare you secretly drink from labor and management. I'll see if labor and management don't beat you to death today."
Liu Haizhong has three major hobbies: beating his son, drinking, and being an official.
Liu Guangfu actually committed two crimes.
Even if you don't get beaten to death this time, you still have to shed a layer of skin.
Li Weidong didn't want to interfere with other people's family affairs and was going to go around.
When Liu Haizhong saw Li Weidong coming over, his little eyes were darting around. He gave up beating the child and walked towards Li Weidong.
"Weidong, did you know that Lao Yi is going to take away your house?"
Li Weidong pretended to be surprised: "It's impossible. Yi Zhonghai is the master of our compound. It's impossible to add insult to injury."
"You don't know that Lao Yi, who talks about benevolence, justice and morality, is dark in his heart!" The fat on Liu Haizhong's fat face trembled. "Tell me, how can such a person be the leader of our compound?"
Grandpa!"
Li Weidong understood that Liu Haizhong did not care about him, but was simply dissatisfied with Yi Zhonghai.
However, no matter what the reason was, Liu Haizhong at least reminded him.
Li Weidong naturally wanted to express his gratitude: "Thank you, second uncle, I will be careful."
After saying that, he took the vegetables and returned home.
Behind him, Liu Haizhong scratched his head and murmured to himself: "Be careful? Is it useful to be careful? Young people today really don't know how sinister people's hearts are."
He turned around and found that Liu Guangfu had slipped away at some point.
He was so angry that he shouted: "Liu Guangfu, you bastard, come back to the labor management."
Carrying a big stick, I looked for Liu Guangfu in the yard.
