Chapter 589 588 "Training the Stall"
Fang Minghua soon took the train back to Xijing.
After returning home, he and Song Tangtang talked about going to Ningming again. Song Tangtang suddenly said: "Minghua, we haven't seen Brother Zhou for several years. I won't be too busy at work tomorrow. Please accompany me to visit him. How about it?”
“Okay, Zhouzhi is not far anyway, and I want to see him too.”
So the next morning, Song Tangtang didn’t go to work, and the two of them drove straight to Zhouzhi. In the county seat, we quickly found the county agricultural machinery factory.
Fang Minghua parked the car on the street and went down to ask the guard at the gate.
"Excuse me, Master, is Zhou Shunlai going to work today?"
"Shunlai? He's laid off!"
"Laid off?" Fang Minghua was surprised when he heard this: "Why? "Laid off?"
The guard glanced at Fang Minghua and sighed: "Shunlai was disabled and couldn't do many jobs, so he became the first batch of laid-off workers in the factory."
"Then do you know where he lives?"
"Yes, it is on Nanguanzheng Street. There is a red brick tube building to the east. It is the family building of the agricultural machinery factory. You will know it when you go there and ask."
"Okay, thank you."
Fang Minghua hurried back to the car and told Song Tangtang what he had asked about.
Song Tangtang was shocked when he heard this: "How could this happen?!"
Fang Minghua sighed: "Let's go to Brother Zhou's house."
Fang Minghua drove to Nanguanzheng Street and found the tube building of the agricultural machinery factory. He saw an aunt who asked Zhou Shunli where he lived.
The aunt told him enthusiastically: "It's the two rooms on the east end of the second floor, but I haven't seen his family for several days. He has been laid off, and his wife has no fixed job. I heard Let’s talk about going back to our hometown in the countryside.”
The two of them had no choice but to return home.
On the way back, Fang Minghua and Song Tangtang were in heavy moods and did not speak.
Seeing his daughter-in-law like this, Fang Minghua comforted her and said, "It doesn't matter. We'll come back later to inquire. Maybe we can get some news."
Song Tangtang nodded after hearing this.
Let's put this matter aside for the time being, and everyone is busy with their own things.
The first World Literature Award Jury meeting is about to be held, and Fang Minghua is busy with this matter again. The meeting is still held at the Tangcheng Hotel.
That afternoon, he discussed the upcoming meeting with Manager Wang of Tangcheng Hotel and asked the hotel to provide the best service to entertain guests.
Manager Wang naturally agreed.
"Chairman Fang, the provincial leaders also attach great importance to this matter. Among the delegates there are famous figures from the cultural circles of Hong Kong and Taiwan. I will deploy the best waiters in the hotel to serve the conference. Don't worry about this. "
The two discussed some specific details of the reception, and then Fang Minghua drove away and turned east along Hanguang Road.
At this time, the South Second Ring Road in Xijing has not yet been repaired. It is actually a sewage canal. The canal is full of silt and turbid black water flows all day long. If you get closer, you can smell a strange smell. On both sides of the canal are tall trees and shrubs. The thick branches cover the sewer canal tightly. Under the trees are stalls, which look very lively.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, especially with the wave of laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises, stalls were set up in bustling streets and public places in cities to resell clothes and socks, which was called "training stalls" ".
This formed the "road economy." It was not until the emergence of urban management that it slowly disappeared.
Fang Minghua slowed down and paid attention to the situation on both sides while driving. Suddenly he found someone he knew on the side of the road.
In front of him is the same as other stalls. There is a small stall selling socks, fitness pants and other things. However, he only has one hand when taking the goods to customers, because the other sleeve has Empty!
Disabled!
Zhou Shunlai!
He actually came to practice.
Wearing a faded jacket, it has changed a lot compared to previous years. Fang Minghua did not stop the car in a hurry, but drove over and turned into a side street, pulled over,
then got out of the car and walked back, pretending that he had not seen Zhou Shunlai just now. When he arrived, he was surprised and shouted: "It's you, Brother Zhou!"
Zhou Shunlai was bargaining with a woman. When he saw someone calling him, he looked up and saw that it was Fang Minghua, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, with a smile: "It's you. Yeah, Minghua, wait.”
"Sister, the quality of these bodybuilding pants is very good. Look at the elasticity." Wang Zhoushun came and was about to pull the trouser legs, only to find that he couldn't do anything with one hand.
"Let's do it, four yuan! Four yuan is the cheapest!" Zhou Shunlai said.
“Forget it, no more!”
The woman turned and left.
"Hey sister" Zhou Shunlai couldn't help but yell when he saw the woman squatting on someone else's stall and flipping up her bodybuilding pants.
"Brother Zhou, is business okay?" Fang Minghua asked in a low voice.
"Not bad, you saw it just now." Zhou Shunlai sighed: "You see that the streets are full of people selling pants and socks, how good can the business be?"
Fang Minghua It's hard to say that I went to Zhouzhi to find him a few days ago, so he asked: "Brother Zhou, don't you work at the county agricultural machinery factory? Are you laid off?"
"Yes, the company's performance is sluggish and laid off "Zhou Shunlai said calmly: "Nine out of ten people running stalls on this street are like me."
"My wife is now working as a waiter in every restaurant in Xiaozhai, and it costs money for my children to go to junior high school. I can’t just eat at home, so I can earn some money by practicing as a stall owner.”
"That's true." Fang Minghua nodded, and suddenly said: "Brother Zhou, didn't my wife Song Tangtang open a company? Some time ago, I heard her say that there was a shortage of security guards. Do you want to go? The treatment will definitely be favorable."
< br>After hearing this, Zhou Shunlai hesitated and said, "Minghua, thank you for your kindness. You see, I'm missing an arm. I can't do the security job well. The factory also laid me off because of this. I won't cause any trouble to you." ”
“What trouble!” Fang Minghua said quickly.
Fang Minghua is right.
Zhou Shunlai finally agreed.
Of course, it is better to work as a security guard than to work as a stall owner. At the very least, it can ensure a good harvest despite droughts and floods.
He also knew that Fang Minghua would not treat him badly.
Fang Minghua left an address for Zhou Shunlai and asked him to go to the company tomorrow, and Zhou Shunlai agreed.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Shunlai, Fang Minghua drove home. On the way, he thought of meeting Zhou Shunlai by chance today, and suddenly he remembered the ending of Liu Feng in the book "Youth" before he came to this era.
His life is a complete tragedy. After his youth is gone and his youth is gone, he sells pirated books, marries promiscuous women, and lives at the bottom of society.
But when Liu Feng's small business went bankrupt, Fengchen Nu also left him.
But no matter what, Zhou Shunlai would not go to that step.
When Song Tangtang came home in the evening, he told her what he had seen and heard today.
Song Tangtang was naturally very happy.
“Don’t worry, I will make good arrangements for Brother Zhou.”
Fang Minghua would not doubt this.
It’s early April, and the final review date for the first World Chinese Literature Award has arrived.
(End of this chapter)