Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 154 Astronomical Telescopes

The shopkeeper thought about it and agreed. At that time, very few families had telephones, because there was not only a large expense when installing a telephone, but also a fixed monthly fee, plus the cost of making calls. In general, only enterprises and institutions would install a few.

Jingyan asked about the price of the Seagull brand camera in the store. It was 453 yuan, which was expensive. Adding the cost of film and developing the photos, she thought, "It's not worth it. I might as well just go to a photo studio." Jingyan left decisively and took a boat home.

Since the astronomical telescope was still just an idea and it was uncertain whether it could be purchased, Jingyan didn't mention it to He Ci'en. She just went to the study on the second floor more often and would also pick up his books on astronomy to read. Besides the vast starry sky, Jingyan felt that these kinds of books were very good for helping her fall asleep. She could fall asleep after reading only two pages each time.

After a few visits, Jingyan gave up on trying. She simply couldn't grasp the allure of astronomy. Although He Ci'en couldn't understand his aunt's recent thoughts, he didn't ask. After failing to find the charm of reading twice, Jingyan stopped coming to the study much.

On the contrary, Zhizhi was always very attached to He Ci'en. She spent almost all her time in the study on the second floor except for eating and sleeping. Even if He Ci'en was busy reading and ignored her, she could find her own fun without disturbing anyone. She was quite talented.

Jingyan originally wanted him to stay in the room reserved for Zhizhi while he was at school, since Zhizhi was still young and didn't need her own room yet, and it would just sit empty anyway. However, He Ci'en refused, as he preferred the study on the second floor.

It was filled with books that interested him. You could say that he had sifted through all the books in the original three-story house with its three studies, concentrating the ones that interested him in the second-floor study. Because the bookshelves and desk took up so much space, the study could only fit a single bed and a simple clothes rack.

It's suitable as a study, but it would be a bit cramped if someone lived there. In the past, Jing Yan and her family put a single bed there purely out of laziness, hoping to catch up on sleep nearby when they got tired of reading, without any intention of actually living there.

He Ci'en's reasoning was also quite reasonable: "Auntie, I need to study for school and read extracurricular books. If I live in another room, I'll have to run around every day. As long as I have a bed to sleep in, that's fine. The most important thing is that it's convenient for studying. I think the study on the second floor is perfect for me."

Don't worry about the environment; it's so much better than when we were in the Northwest. I didn't feel any hardship there, but coming here with me is like falling into a paradise. So don't worry about me."

Jingyan couldn't persuade him otherwise. After He Zhijun returned in the evening and she asked for his opinion, she finally installed curtains in the study and replaced the light bulb with a 60-watt one. She planned to use the tungsten filament bulb from her own room to replace the previous low-wattage bulb when it burned out.

After the Lantern Festival, Jingyan's shop officially opened for business. He Ci'en and He Chaoli were about to start school. The eldest uncle's family also received the news of their appointment in the army. As expected, their rank remained the same, but their position in the army was a sinecure, which was expected. The eldest uncle did not think anything of it.

After saying goodbye to her grandmother, she took her three grandsons and left the island by boat to report to the military headquarters in Haishi. Not long after, she received a letter from her eldest uncle informing her that housing had been arranged; a bungalow with a yard had been coordinated for her in the military compound.

Although it's only a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment of about 100 square meters, it's a detached house with its own yard, which is much better than we had initially estimated. My aunt is even thinking about what vegetables and flowers to plant in the yard, and she's still making plans.

After the eldest uncle reported for duty, he had the army issue a certificate and sent his three grandsons to school. The second grandson is thirteen years old this year and just entered the sixth grade of primary school. He can go directly to junior high school in the second half of the year. The third grandson entered the fifth grade and the youngest grandson entered the second grade. They all lived in the primary school area, so sending them to school all at once was relatively easy.

The uncle also mentioned a few small incidents that happened to his grandsons at school, especially his youngest grandson, who is in the second grade. The uncle was very proud of his glorious feat of taking on three opponents at school by himself. Just reading the letter, you could feel the uncle's excitement. In short, "My grandson is so amazing that several people couldn't beat him."

The reason for the fight was that a boy was pulling a girl's braid, and the girl was so upset that she cried. He Zhaohui, a little boy, couldn't stand it and, driven by a sense of heroism, beat up the boy who was pulling her braid.

Kids are naturally reckless when they hit someone. When the other person got hurt, they gathered some of their friends to get revenge. Obviously, they didn't get revenge and ended up losing everything. The other person cried and complained to the teacher, and then the parents were called in—a series of basic procedures.

That school was just an ordinary public school, not like the military compound where kids are toughened up from a young age. They really couldn't withstand a beating. All three kids were bruised and swollen. Just by looking at them, it was definitely a serious beating.

However, the uncle's tone in the letter was quite dismissive: "It's just a scratch, nothing serious. My little Hui may be small, but he knows how to control his strength."

Jingyan didn't know how the rest of her family felt after reading the letter, but she found it quite unbelievable. Did all children from military families get used to solving problems with violence?

He Ci'en, on the other hand, was a well-mannered young boy who seemed mature and composed: "It seems the kids here aren't very physically strong. Back in the Northwest Military Region, Xiao Hui was the weakest fighter among his peers."

He always got beaten the hardest in fights before, but this time he managed to escape unscathed. Sigh, it seems like when my uncle comes to check his hand-to-hand combat skills in a couple of years, he'll be severely punished.

Jing Yan…“Aren’t you afraid he’ll hurt someone?”

He Ci'en looked at Jing Yan with a somewhat complicated expression: "Auntie, anyone who knows how to fight will avoid the body's vulnerable spots. They'll only hurt the skin, not the inside. It's not like there's some deep-seated hatred between us, so they won't use their full strength."

Those who bully girls deserve to be beaten. So, Auntie, will you support your little sister Zhizhi learning some martial arts in the future? At least then, when she's bullied, she won't just stand there and take the beating.

Jingyan wasn't sure how the topic had veered so far, but she also felt it was important for the children to be able to protect themselves, so she nodded: "I have no objection, but you know how lazy Zhizhi is. As long as you can handle her, it's up to you. I won't interfere."

He Ci'en smiled with satisfaction: "Then thank you, Auntie. Zhizhi is our only girl, and I will definitely love her the most. I won't hit her too hard when I teach her boxing, so you can rest assured."

Jingyan... She leaned closer to her grandmother and whispered, "Cien is so strict, how hard will it be for his own children in the future? Just thinking about it makes me feel that his future wife and children won't have an easy life. Fortunately, Zhijun isn't as controlling as him, otherwise I don't think I could live with him."

Grandma pointed her finger at her forehead: "Your two sisters-in-law in the Northwest are from the military and are considered big shots among female soldiers. Do you think it's strange that their family values ​​violence?"

"Our family is different. Your dad wasn't very strong to begin with, and your older brother's physical fitness in the military region was only slightly above average, not the strongest. Your son, Zhijun, was the most mischievous since childhood, but also the weakest physically. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given up his future as a regular soldier to gain experience as a technical soldier. With your physique, you can still keep Zhijun in check. Don't worry, the men in our family don't hit women."

Jing Yan... can only be summed up in one sentence: she really is a grandmother, not giving her grandson any face at all.

Entering 1983, business seemed to be better than before. The daily purchase of spare ribs and pork belly increased from 30 jin to 50 jin, and the mutton also increased from 30 jin to 50 jin. The private rooms on the second floor started to be used after the New Year.

Because the factory has started to increase employee dining benefits, and Jingyan's place has private rooms and a nice environment, there are quite a few small groups coming here for meals. Weekends are the peak time for these meals, accounting for 70% of the turnover.

Jingyan thinks the store should buy a large-capacity refrigerator to store meat. The skewered lamb can be stored in the refrigerator so that more can be prepared later. The consumption of braised meat is relatively stable, but the biggest variable is lamb skewers. When dining out, many people like to order meat skewers, which can be as many as 30 to 50 skewers, much more than the amount sold individually.

Just then, Jingyan received a telegram from the appliance store she had inquired about earlier, asking her to go to the store to check out the astronomical telescope she had mentioned. After receiving the telegram, Jingyan immediately took He Zhijun and He Ci'en with her on Saturday, along with 1,000 yuan, the store's revenue for the next three days, and went there.

The shop owner seemed reliable enough; the telescope they found was from the brand Baohulu, and it was about 70% new. He said it was a popular science type, suitable for beginners and the general public. Jingyan didn't know anything about it, He Zhijun only knew the mechanical parts and could disassemble and assemble it without problems, and the youngest, He Ci'en, had some astronomical knowledge.

Surprisingly, he didn't disappoint Jing Yan. He actually knew how to use it and even adjusted some parts with great seriousness, which left the shopkeeper dumbfounded: "Ma'am, do you have any professional ones here?"

Jing Yan smiled but didn't reply. After He Ci'en played with it for a while, she asked, "Ci'en, how is it? Can you use it? Do you want it?"

He Ci'en's smiling expression stiffened slightly, and her fingers unconsciously curled up: "Auntie, this thing is nice, but there's no need to buy it. I'll just take a look. I've only ever seen it in books before, and I'm already satisfied to be able to touch it now."

Jingyan patted him: "Tell me if you can use this. Can you really see the stars in your book? As long as you can use it, let's take it back as... your birthday present for the next three years, okay?"

He Ci'en's eyes lit up: "Really? This is useful, but it's just a hobby for me. It's too extravagant to buy one for home like this. Actually, I use it for reading too."

Jingyan looked at He Zhijun, who said, "Since your aunt wants to buy it for you and you can actually use it, then buy it. This is your aunt's intention. She hopes that you will have more possibilities in the future. Study hard, even if it's just a hobby. It's never wrong to know more."

"How much is this?" Jingyan asked the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together. He hadn't really expected to sell it back at the shop, and he'd even told the company's logistics department that he'd return it if it didn't sell. That's why he dared to bring it over. But it would be great if it could be sold, since they were looking to replace it with a more advanced, imported machine, and this one was pretty much obsolete.

"If this were new, let's not even talk about the ticket; the purchase price alone would be around six or seven hundred yuan. This is used, so even with depreciation, it'd be at least four hundred yuan. Of course, we don't need the ticket, is that alright?"

Jingyan looked at him: "Can you lower the price a bit?"

The shopkeeper looked troubled. Jingyan's eyes darted around: "Do you need a receipt to buy home appliances now?"

The shopkeeper seemed a little confused, but nodded nonetheless: "Large appliances require factory-level approval slips. Why are you asking about that?"

“I run a food shop on Changxing Island and I’d like to buy a refrigerator. I wonder if you can get one?” Jingyan asked him.

The shopkeeper looked at her very seriously: "Do you know how much a refrigerator costs? A single-door refrigerator with only a freezer function costs seven hundred yuan. If it's a double-door refrigerator with both a freezer and a refrigerator, it's about thirteen thousand yuan. That's not cheap. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

"Look, if you can get your hands on these goods, send them to me along with this telescope. No receipt needed, just 1,700 yuan in total. I won't haggle. See? I'm easy to talk to, aren't I?"

The shopkeeper said, "The telescope is old, and it's fine that it doesn't have a receipt. But refrigerators are rare items, and it wasn't easy for me to get one. You still won't give me a receipt? Fine, but you have to give me fifty yuan for the receipt. I'll cover the shipping cost if you transport it to the shop on Changxing Island. That'll be a total of 1,750 yuan. If you agree, we'll make a deal. I need a week to arrange the delivery. If you don't agree, then forget it. Just give me four hundred yuan now, and you can take the telescope with you."

Jing Yan looked at He Zhijun, who leaned closer and asked, "How much money did you bring this time?"

"One thousand dollars."

Are you sure you want a refrigerator? And a double-door one at that?

"Well, the meat rationing isn't as strict this year as it was last year, so I'd like to stock up on more meat. We have enough skewers, so we can make more meat skewers. When the weather gets warmer, we can refrigerate them and make some ice-cold beer. The business of selling skewers and ice-cold beer will definitely be even better than last year."

He Zhijun knew Jing Yan's thoughts and turned to the shopkeeper: "How much is the deposit?"

"The refrigerator is too expensive, and I can't possibly hold that much money as a deposit. I'll pay the balance after the refrigerator is delivered to your store and you verify that there are no problems." The store's fee is quite reasonable.

He Zhijun shook his head: "We'll give you a 600 yuan deposit, you give us a receipt, and we'll pay the balance after we receive the goods. All of this should be written in the receipt. Also, you'll be fully responsible for the refrigerator's after-sales repairs, and that should be clearly stated as well."