It is about 1,969 kilometers from Linyang Province to Guangzhou. The speed of trains in those days was very low, only 40 kilometers per hour, and sometimes they would be late, so it took them three days and two nights to take the train.
This time their luggage was carried by the older people, and the younger people helped to carry the cane and bamboo sticks.
These things have been processed at home. For example, the bamboo strips have to go through the process of splitting and scraping, and the surface of the bamboo strips must be smooth, basically free of bamboo thorns, and the thickness is relatively uniform. The same is true for rattan.
Wang Shouquan, Wang Shouren, Qian Shulan and Qian Weihan each carried a bundle of things.
He Cuilan watched from behind as Qian Shulan and Qian Weihan, each carrying a bundle of rattan, walked briskly, with no sweat on their foreheads. They were more relaxed than her youngest son, who had been rubbing his waist and complaining of being tired. The corners of her mouth twitched, and she was secretly thinking, is that thing really that useful? Should she buy some food for Xiaoquan? A strong laborer in his thirties is not as good as an old man and woman in their fifties. How could he be so shabby
When they got on the train, everyone was surprised to see that they were carrying such a large bundle of things.
The eight people bought seat tickets and were not together at first. After getting on the train, Qian Shulan first found her seat and stood her bundle of rattan upright and placed it near the window.
She turned around and saw that everyone else had also taken their seats. Now, eight people had eight seats. Although it was still the same carriage, it was divided into pieces. How could they move things around
Before Qian Shulan could say anything, the woman next to him complained that her cane blocked her view and started to yell, "Comrade, your cane takes up too much space. It blocks most of our window. I have no light at all."
Others also expressed their dissatisfaction.
"That's right, who would go out with a cane?"
Qian Shulan looked around and said to the woman who had just spoken, "I'm sorry, sister, we are going to take this thing to Guangzhou to participate in the Canton Fair. I think you are really blocking the light sitting here, why don't you change places with my son? He is sitting by the window, you can change places with him and get some fresh air. There is a little light."
While Qian Shulan was speaking, she pointed to Wang Shouren's location.
The woman also tilted her head to look, and seeing that he was indeed sitting next to the window, she agreed.
Qian Shulan asked Wang Shouren to bring his bundle of bamboo sticks over and lean it against her bundle of rattan sticks.
Whenever anyone had an objection, Qian Shulan would ask everyone to change seats.
If there were any sarcastic comments, Qian Shulan would explain in a good-tempered manner that they were going to Guangzhou to attend the Canton Fair and asked them to be more tolerant.
Since she has such a good temper, no one feels comfortable being aggressive.
In the end, some people actually became curious about what the Canton Fair is.
Although the Canton Fair has been held for a year, due to the strict entry requirements and the fact that all of this is handled by factory leaders, not many people know about it.
Even Wang Shouquan and Qian Minghua only found out about it after Qian Shulan told them about it. Later, they read in the newspapers and realized that the Canton Fair was really great.
Last year alone, 1,223 merchants from 19 countries and regions attended the Canton Fair, displaying more than 10,000 items. The transaction volume was 17.54 million US dollars. The current exchange rate between RMB and USD is 2.4618:1.
In other words, it is 43.17 million RMB, which is definitely a lot of money.
These were all reports from newspapers. When Wang Shouquan read them to everyone, everyone was excited and looked at them with admiration.
When they got off the train, those people kept waving their hands, "We must make more money from foreigners and bring glory to China!"
All eight of them nodded in agreement confidently.
After leaving the train station, they started to go to the China Export Commodities Exhibition Hall on Qiaoguang Road according to the address.
The first Canton Fair was held in April 1957, and the second Canton Fair was held in October 1957, both in the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building on Liuhua Road.
Since the scale was expanded, the exhibition hall of the Canton Fair was moved to Qiaoguang Road, which is located west of Haizhu Square, starting from the third session. The exhibition hall is twice as large as the original one.
Everyone was excited at the thought of displaying their products in these places.
Wang Shouquan laughed so hard that he bent over. He turned around and looked at everyone, saying with great enthusiasm, "Team members, our products will be displayed here, so we must work hard."
Everyone responded in unison, "Work hard! Bring glory to our country!"
After shouting the slogan, Qian Shulan suggested to Wang Shouquan, "Let's find a place to stay first."
Wang Shouquan thought so too. But when the group arrived at a nearby guesthouse and asked, they found out that it cost 2.2 yuan a night.
Everyone gasped. How could this thing be so expensive
Under the hot gaze of the guesthouse clerk, everyone retreated.
The eight people turned into a small alley and started to discuss, "Xiaoquan, this is too expensive. Why hasn't this thing been sold yet? How can we explain to our fellow villagers when we go back after spending so much money?"
"Yes, or we can live under the bridge. It will be fine after a few nights."
"Yes, yes, this is a good idea, and it doesn't cost any money. We old farmers can live anywhere."
Wang Shouquan looked at Qian Shulan. When Qian Shulan heard what everyone said, her eyes turned red and she just wanted to cry.
In her previous life, she had never seen such simple people, especially those cadres who lavishly ate and drank with public funds. How could they be as honest as these people, who would rather lose money than waste the team's money.
Qian Shulan blinked, her voice a little hoarse, "I know you are all good people. But this matter cannot be counted like this. Think about it, living under a bridge for one or two days is okay, but the Canton Fair lasts for 25 days. Not washing your face, brushing your teeth, or combing your hair for so many days, how can this be seen? It will also affect the image of our production team, right!"
Seeing that everyone looked unhappy and some people were worried about the money, Qian Shulan tried to comfort them, "We don't have to live in this guesthouse. We can find a house to rent nearby. Just rent it for one month."
When everyone heard this, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't say that! Your idea is right! It's more reliable than living under the bridge! It saves more money than staying in a guest house."
The idea was set, and the next thing was to find a house.
Because everyone was from Linyang Province and couldn't understand Cantonese very well, Qian Shulan, Qian Weihan and Wang Shouquan were the ones to go look for them this time.
The reason why Qian Shulan and Qian Weihan can understand Cantonese is because their hometowns are very close to Guangzhou. As for Wang Shouquan, it was pure luck. When he was out making a living, he had a friend who was from Guangzhou. Through his influence, he not only understood Cantonese, but also learned to speak a few words.
Wang Shouren originally wanted to look for a house with Qian Shulan, but was rejected by her.
Three people, going in three different directions, agreed to meet in this alley in an hour.
This was Qian Shulan's first time in Guangzhou. She had a college classmate who was from Guangdong, not Guangzhou, but probably the same. She said the weather here was hot and that lychees, longans and dragon fruits were abundant.
Qian Shulan walked along the alley. Because there were too many people this time, Qian Shulan only asked those who had a yard, not the ones in the family area.
I walked through several alleys but didn't find any. Either the houses were occupied by families, or they were divided into many houses and rented out to others.
Walking all the way to the third street, Qian Shulan found a courtyard. It was a two-story house with blue bricks and black tiles. There was a layer of white tiles on the side. It was very beautiful, but the wall surrounding the courtyard looked like it had been gnawed by a dog.
The original iron fences were all knocked away. The blue bricks that surrounded the courtyard were also removed layer by layer. Perhaps because someone tried to stop them, they were not completely moved, but many bricks were scattered on the ground. The flowers and trees in the courtyard were all cut in half, and new branches and leaves grew from the broken ends. Weeds grew under the trees, and the originally beautiful courtyard became extremely desolate.
This house is big enough for all of them to live in. But this place must be something special, maybe it was once the private residence of some big capitalist.
Qian Shulan went to the street office specifically to look for someone.
As soon as I entered, I saw a woman in her thirties sitting behind a desk. She was dressed very fashionably, with curly hair, and was drawing her eyebrows with a small round mirror in her hand. When she saw Qian Shulan coming in, she subconsciously closed the small mirror, glanced at her nonchalantly, and then opened it again, "Auntie, what's the matter?"
Qian Shulan smiled and nodded, glancing at her face. "Your hair is so beautiful, how did you do it?"
The woman's originally indifferent attitude immediately changed. She put the small round mirror back into the drawer and smiled, "Auntie, you really have good taste."
Qian Shulan also laughed, "It's not that I have good taste, it's just that you are really good-looking. I'm so old, but I've never seen a girl prettier than you. My daughter is two or three years older than you, but she looks ten years older than you. How do you maintain your looks? Why do you look so young?" He looked at her face with a look of disbelief.
Although this woman was often praised for her youth and beauty, she felt really happy when she heard such compliments. She coughed lightly, a little embarrassed, "Auntie, I don't take good care of myself." She turned her head away with a hint of reproach, pretending to be very angry.
Qian Shulan said "oh", looked away, and wiped the non-existent sweat from her forehead with a somewhat reserved manner, smiling awkwardly, "I'm just asking out of curiosity."
The woman was not really angry. On the contrary, she was very pleased with herself. She smiled brightly and said to Qian Shulan, "Auntie, is there something wrong?"
Qian Shulan then began to explain her purpose. "It's like this. Our factory is here to participate in the Canton Fair, but the guesthouse is a little short of space, so we want to find a place to live nearby. Is there anyone in your neighborhood who can rent a house to us? It would probably only take a month."
The woman was a little surprised. "How many of you are here?"
"Eight people!"
The woman thought for a moment and said, "We do have a house here, but it has been uninhabited for a long time. We need to clean it up."
Qian Shulan patted her chest and said proudly, "It's okay, we are all hardworking and simple poor farmers."
The woman nodded with a smile, bent down and took out a bunch of keys from the drawer, "Okay! I'll take you there!" She glanced sideways, "Where are the others?"
Qian Shulan pointed to the right and said, "They are waiting in the alley. I will come over to find a house first."
The woman nodded in understanding, and Qian Shulan followed.
On the way, the two introduced themselves to each other. The woman's name was Qi Huimei. Qian Shulan was secretly happy, this was truly a person who lived up to her name.
Qian Shulan also briefly introduced herself and then asked about the Canton Fair.
Qi Huimei lives so close, so she must have gone to join in the fun.
Qi Huimei talked a lot when she mentioned this, and then looked at Qian Shulan with approval, "You are right to come here to find a house. In the first half of last year, because there were too many people coming, many guest houses were full. There was nothing we could do, so many people began to crowd into our alleys. This house was also lent to someone before, but it has been vacant for half a year since then."
Qian Shulan also smiled and said, "Then I am really lucky to have met you."
Qi Huimei was very proud and puffed out her chest proudly, "That's it!"
The author has something to say: Thank you for your tips, I will continue to work hard and try to reach 10,000 a day. If I can't reach 10,000 a day, I will let you know in advance and I won't stop updating. Mmmmm
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