N-M Chapter 99 Yuanhu
Chapter 99 Yuanhu
Chapter 100 Thousand Yuan Household
While Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong were busy at the black market, Liu Xiulan and Zhao Lijuan were leisurely drinking tea in a quaint old mansion next to the black market.
Inside, the iron stove burned brightly, the firewood crackling in the firebox, and orange flames licking the stove walls, making the whole room warm and cozy.
It seemed out of place amidst the harsh winter outside the courtyard.
Three women sat around the stove: Liu Xiulan, Zhao Lijuan, and the plump mistress of the mansion.
That's right, she was the kind-hearted, plump woman who had helped Li Xiangyang out of a predicament in the black market, and who later helped Li Xiangyang save the fish for her.
In the morning, Li Xiangyang was worried about where to put Liu Xiulan and Zhao Lijuan when he and Li Xiangdong went to sell fish on the black market. As a result, when they passed by the mansion, they happened to run into Aunt Pang, who had just returned from buying things on the black market.
So they settled Zhao Lijuan and Liu Xiulan in her house, and naturally also cut two catties of fatty pork for her.
But Aunt Pang didn't dare to accept the money. Instead, she not only gave Liu Xiulan and Zhao Lijuan money, but also treated them with even more hospitality.
We took out all the nuts we had saved for the Lunar New Year to treat the two of them.
"Xiangyang—is he your man?"
Looking at Zhao Lijuan's shrewd and capable appearance, Aunt Pang assumed that she must be Li Xiangyang's wife.
No—no.
Zhao Lijuan laughed upon hearing this; she quickly waved her hand, pointed to Liu Xiulan standing to the side, and said with an awkward smile, "Xiangyang is my brother-in-law, she is Xiangyang's wife."
"oh oh."
The plump aunt nodded shyly, then turned to look at the pretty and quiet Liu Xiulan beside her and said, "So you're Xiangyang's wife! Xiangyang is a good young man. Young lady, you're so lucky."
"No, no, Auntie, you flatter me." Liu Xiulan took a small sip of tea, her face full of modesty.
"Sigh—I'm not making this up, I'm very good at judging men."
Aunt Pang shook her head and said seriously, "I helped him out of a predicament, and the next thing he knew, he would save some fish for me and sell it to me cheaply."
Do you know what this is called?
"—?" Liu Xiulan couldn't answer for a moment.
"————?" Zhao Lijuan was suppressing a laugh, wondering what this fat aunt was doing, actually saying that she was very good at judging men.
Seeing that Liu Xiulan and the other woman couldn't answer, Aunt Pang said earnestly, "Xiangyang's behavior is called 'gratitude!' It's the most precious quality a man can have—gratitude!"
"grateful----?"
"Yes, it's about gratitude!"
Liu Xiulan and Zhao Lijuan pondered these two words carefully and suddenly felt that they made a lot of sense; their eyes lit up.
"Auntie Pang, you know so much."
"Yes, Auntie Pang, you're really amazing."
"Haha, no, no, I've just seen it a lot."
The three chatted more and more happily. Liu Xiulan and her companion told Aunt Pang about the interesting things that happened on the grassland, while Aunt Pang told them about the novelties of Wuzhen.
The three chatted more and more enthusiastically, when suddenly the courtyard gate rang.
Thump thump—thump thump thump—
Who could be coming? Xiangyang and the others? That's impossible. They've been selling wild boar meat on the black market for less than an hour. How could they be here so quickly?
"Here it comes."
Aunt Pang responded and got up to open the door. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the two brothers, Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong, standing at the door with smiles on their faces.
It really is facing the sun.
Looking sideways at the light sacks behind them, he said with some surprise, "Your wild boar meat sold out so quickly?!"
She knew that wild boar meat would sell well, but she didn't expect it to sell this well!
"Hehe, it's all thanks to Aunt Pang that we sold out so quickly today."
Li Xiangyang replied with a grin.
"Oh my, Xiangyang, your words are so sweet, aren't they?!"
Aunt Pang was amused.
"Then you two should come in and rest for a bit; it's cold outside."
"No, Auntie Pang, the elderly and children are still waiting for us at home. We also need to go buy some New Year's goods later, so we won't bother you any longer."
"Alright, alright, come visit often when you have time."
Afterwards, Li Xiangyang and the others said their goodbyes and left.
I plan to go to the department store first, then see where I can eat, grab something, and then head back.
The carriage passed through several alleys and arrived at Wuzhen's main street, Central Avenue, where supply and marketing cooperatives, state-run restaurants, and purchasing stations were located.
The department stores are all on this street.
Despite the snow disaster that occurred as the Lunar New Year approached, there were still quite a few people on the streets.
"Xiangyang, how did the pork sales go today? I noticed you and Uncle Xiangdong didn't stay long before you came back."
Liu Xiulan asked suicidal question.
At this moment, she was sitting behind Li Xiangyang, tightly gripping the hem of his clothes.
He looked at the shops along the street with excitement.
"One hundred and ten catties of bones, five cents a catty, sold for fifty-five yuan; three hundred and eight catties of wild boar meat, nine cents a catty, sold for two hundred and twenty-seven yuan and two cents."
Adding the 1.2 yuan I just received from Aunt Pang, I've earned a total of 333.4 yuan this morning!
"What? We made 333.4 yuan this morning?"
"So many!"
Zhao Lijuan was shocked once again.
I've made so much money in just one morning.
Liu Xiulan couldn't help but secretly count on her fingers, smiling as she did so.
"Let me calculate how much money our family has now."
After selling wolf meat, we had 495.44 yuan at home. Yesterday we earned 28.20 yuan, and with what we earned today, that's 857.40 yuan. This doesn't even include the 100 yuan Xiangyang gave me yesterday, otherwise it would be almost 1,000 yuan.
"My God!" Liu Xiulan couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.
"How many Xiulan do you have? Look how happy you are."
Seeing Liu Xiulan so happy, Zhao Lijuan's curiosity was also piqued.
Liu Xiulan held up her hand and made an eight, then whispered, "We're just 150 short of becoming a 1,000-yuan household!"
"What—a thousand-yuan household! They actually have that much money in their family now!"
Zhao Lijuan was also excited after hearing this.
In April 1980, Xinhua News Agency's "Spring in Yantan" explicitly referred to Li Dexiang's family in Yantan Commune, Lanzhou, as a "ten-thousand-yuan household," and the concept of "ten-thousand-yuan household" has since spread widely throughout the country.
Back then, the average monthly wage for urban workers was between 30 and 40 yuan, and their annual income was only 300 to 500 yuan. Households with 10,000 yuan were extremely rare.
Although there was no formal official definition for a household with an annual income of over 1000 yuan, at that time, a family with an annual income of over 1,000 yuan was considered to have a high income, which was 2 to 3 times that of an ordinary urban worker. In rural areas, it was considered to be at a wealthy level, and the purchasing power was already quite considerable.
"My God! We're now millionaires!"
Zhao Lijuan could hardly believe it. Only twenty-odd days had passed since Li Xiangyang proposed to go fishing to sell his catch, and the Li family had already become a household with thousands of yuan in income!
"Sister-in-law, we haven't reached the 1,000-yuan household yet, we're almost there, we're still a little over 150 yuan short."
Liu Xiulan felt it was necessary to correct Zhao Lijuan's behavior.
Otherwise, if there's an emergency at home and they need a thousand yuan from her, the person in charge of the money, she'd be devastated.
Even if you sold her, it wouldn't fill this hole.
"Alright, everyone dismount, we've arrived at the department store."