The whole month of April was actually the busiest month for Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan. It is no exaggeration to say that they almost hit the back of the head with their feet.
This is because in addition to collecting stamps, they had already promised to be responsible for the preparations for the wedding of the two teachers. Now, it is naturally time to fulfill their promise.
Of course, this was partly because they were asking for trouble. Originally, according to Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye's wishes, they only needed to obtain a marriage certificate, and the rest was a simple wedding.
What is a simple wedding?
In fact, this was the most common and extremely simple wedding form at that time.
The process and ceremony of such a wedding is just to treat relatives and friends at home to eat some sweets, smoke a cigarette, and drink a cup of tea. There are almost no things to buy. It is just like putting two sets of bedding together to live. Special consumption, top
Most of them are just two people taking a group photo together.
Someone may have said this when reading this, but this is wrong, isn’t it? At that time, weren’t they particular about “thirty-six legs” and “three turns and one sound”? You could even set up a running-water mat at home?
That's right, but you also need to understand one thing first, that is, there are an absolute minority of families with such conditions.
The social situation in the late 1970s is completely different from today. The "Engel coefficient" at that time was very high. In addition to eating, it would take several years to save for something decent.
People's wages have indeed increased a bit, but the average is only about ten yuan, and there is no qualitative change. Most newcomers have not been working for a long time, so they definitely don't have much money.
In addition, parents of families with many children cannot support four young people like today. Common people at that time did not have much money to support their children, and most families had more than one child. They were even more worried about favoring one child over another and causing family problems.
contradiction.
In fact, the most true portrayal is that almost all young people simply entertain relatives and friends when they get married, and then slowly buy property. This is definitely not the case today, where cars line up and flowers rain like rain on the wedding day. You must first put in all the things you need to live your life.
Only when everything is ready can we register for marriage.
In terms of the rather desolate situation at that time, there were even cases where some people could not even find an unpatched piece of clothing and had to borrow clothes when they got married.
Of course, Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye had a thousand yuan given by Hong Yanwu in their hands, so they didn't seem to have to worry about this kind of problem. But the sharp problem is that they are strict self-discipline people at heart.
Consistent conduct. Now I feel that I owe Hong Yanwu a lot of favors, and I really don't want to spend this money anymore.
What's more, material supplies were tight at that time, and it was difficult to move without tickets. If you wanted to hold a wedding, you didn't know how many colorful shopping tickets you would need.
So their idea is to return the thousand yuan to Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan, so as not to cause them any more trouble. As long as they can form a family, there is nothing wrong with living a poor life. This will actually show that they have
Relationships are above all else.
But this is exactly what Hong Yanwu cannot agree to.
In his opinion, the matter between Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye had been delayed too late. It was purely because of his fault back then that the two people who should have been together long ago had been separated for eight years.
Then not only did the times owe them, but he also owed them. Of course, he had to make a grand event, otherwise he would not only be sorry to the two teachers, but he himself would also feel uncomfortable.
So in order to get Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye to change their minds, Hong Yanwu tried every means to persuade them.
Not only did he claim that he, Chen Liquan and Lao Chang were already in this position, and if he didn't spend their money, he would look down on them. He also said that Chang and Gu's parents would definitely like to see the two of them having a glorious party.
wedding.
If you do it just to save a few bucks, don't do it. Not to mention it will dampen everyone's interest, and I'm afraid they themselves will regret it many years later.
In this way, with sincerity and reasonableness, Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye were able to be reconciled, forcing them to obey the arrangement and follow the command.
Since he had already planned a marriage for the "general" in all aspects, Hong Yanwu seemed to be a bit familiar with handling this kind of thing again.
He analyzed the current situation and considered that Deputy Director Chang and his wife were going home in the middle of the month. Therefore, the most urgent thing was to tidy up the Chang family's house.
So the first thing he did was to help Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye pack up the scattered things with Chen Liquan, then push the furniture to the center of the room and cover it with old newspapers to make it easier to paint the walls.
.
After that, he went to the housing management office and found the deputy director, and invited seven or eight workers to start work on the Chang family home.
In short, when Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye came back a week later, not only were all the walls of the three-bedroom apartment painted white, but all the doors, windows, and heaters were painted with new paint. The toilets and kitchens were also brand new, and the kitchen and bathroom walls were painted
White tiles have been installed. The faucets, sinks and toilets have also been replaced with new ones.
The most awesome thing is the ceiling. Hong Yanwu went to Wangfujing to find a few ceiling lamps and installed them. People today would never think that lamps like this, which seem to be the simplest and cheapest now, could be used back then.
Presenting a luxurious look.
As a result, not only the construction workers all had proud expressions. Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye were overjoyed. Even Chang Xianzhang's parents were shocked when they returned to Beijing and entered their home.
They never believed that this was the home they had been away from for so many years. They claimed with great exaggeration that their home was almost as good as the "Beijing Hotel".
In fact, this effect is almost the same as the effect when the "Swap Space" broadcast on today's TV stations enters the final stage. In this era when there was no sense of home decoration, Hong Yanwu's little trick, although in his own opinion, it was not
It's worth mentioning, even though it has many flaws, it has indeed achieved the effect of being ahead of the trend.
After solving the problem of the house, the next more important thing is the groom's and bride's outfits, and their wedding photos. This is because doing these two things requires plenty of time.
When it comes to taking a group photo, it’s better to just take the money and go to “Huaxia” or “Dabei” to pay directly. There were still twenty days before May Day, so there was plenty of time.
The key is that the wardrobe issue is more embarrassing. Because the types of ready-made clothes available at that time were too common, and the fabrics were good, but good tailors were hard to find.
For example, the most famous clothing store in Beijing, the number one one is of course "Hongdu". (Originally called "Bowei Clothing Store", it was renamed "Hongdu" in "Sports". From 1967 to 1997, in
In the process of gradually restoring a time-honored brand, the store name of "Bowei Clothing Store" has been restored, and the name of the Hongdu store has not been changed. Because just like the "Bowei Clothing Store" before the 1970s, the development in the past thirty years has made "Bowei Clothing Store"
"Hongdu" itself has become a golden sign)
Not only is it the only remaining clothing store among the 21 that moved from Shanghai to Beijing after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has also been responsible for making clothes for national leaders since 1957.
However, the threshold for being a "red capital" is too high, and the limited human resources only serve leading cadres and foreign guests, and ordinary people will not receive them.
Secondly, even if I can find a way, the waiting time is too long due to my busy business. It will take at least two months for the clothes to be made, so I really don’t want to rush.
But it doesn't matter, don't forget that in the east courtyard of Guanyin Yuan there is Su Shenzhen, a member of the Imperial Household Department's Guangchu Si Yishu family.
If we really talk about craftsmanship, compared to "Tailor Su" who could make one suit of clothes for a month, the tailor in "Hongdu" also had to kowtow to be called a master. Of course it would be no problem for him to make such two new sets of clothes.
So Hong Yanwu took Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye to pick out the fabrics, and then they went directly to the house of "Tailor Su".
Lao Su didn't shirk it. After the measurements were taken on site, he asked us to pick up the clothes in a week. As for the cost, Lao Su laughed and made a joke.
He said that he owed him a share for Chang Xianzhang who had disciplined Hong Yanwu and allowed all the children in the hospital to live a peaceful life for two years. Now that he was thanking him, naturally he couldn't ask for money. What's more, he himself hadn't made serious clothes for a long time.
Okay, it’s really a bit technical and unbearable.
Well, as soon as these words were said, Chang Xianzhang and Gu Lingye both laughed on the spot, but Hong Yanwu's face was full of embarrassment.
Now that the urgent matters have been taken care of, the remaining purchasing tasks will become much easier.
Hong Yanwu, Chang Xianzhang, and Gu Lingye made a plan on this matter.
First of all, there is furniture and household items, since the Chang family does not lack anything. When two people apply for a marriage certificate, the special wedding ticket they receive is enough.
This is a unique benefit in the 1970s. With the ticket, you can buy a large wardrobe, a round table, a double bed, two folding chairs and a stainless steel pot.
The popular furniture color at that time was floor yellow, and the furniture styles were all similar, so you didn’t have to worry about choosing anything. But it would cost more than 200 yuan to buy them all, and not everyone dared to ask.
The most troublesome thing is that no one will deliver the goods, so you have to find a car to move it yourself, and you have to assemble the bed yourself when you get home.
But Hong Yanwu was most in need of manpower. He didn't even take action himself. Chen Liquan and a few "hands-on" men under him took care of the matter.
Of course, transportation relies on three-wheelers. "Heizi" in Furuli inherited the glorious tradition of his father and became a "banner". Through this boy, he hailed four tricycles in the "Crane Club", and one person
I paid five yuan for a pack of cigarettes privately, and everything was brought back in one visit.
And because they were given a lot of money, these "banners" also took the initiative to help carry things. Even though the Chang family was on the third floor, everyone worked together without taking a breath, and moved all the furniture up in one trip.
Many old neighbors in the building were quite surprised when they saw these dozen young men swinging their arms and having sex in full swing. Privately, they even mistakenly thought that Deputy Director Chang had been reinstated. See Chang Xianzhang again.
I felt a lot more polite and took the initiative to say hello.
Because if this were not the case, how could there be so many people listening to the Chang family's orders?