Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 205

Wu Er gave Zhao Da'e a cushion and placed it on the back seat of the bicycle. It was a 28-inch bicycle.

The name "28-inch bicycle" seems to originate from the fact that when bicycles were manufactured, they adopted the 28-inch axle size from abroad and added a crossbar, hence the name "28-inch bicycle." This type of bicycle was particularly common in the 1990s.

Actually, many old movies show that these kinds of bicycles were already common in other countries during the Industrial Revolution. Zhao Da'e remembers watching a foreign movie, I think it was during World War II, where the 28-inch bicycle became an essential mode of transportation for soldiers.

Wu Er's bicycle is a Phoenix brand. He bought it a few years ago, but it is well maintained. There are no visible bumps or scratches. It is almost entirely original paint, which shows that Wu Er usually takes good care of it.

Zhao Da'e got on the back seat, and Wu Er rode the bicycle out the door.

The roads in Dongtaizi Village are not in good condition and are somewhat bumpy, so Wu Er doesn't ride his bike very fast.

Moreover, Zhao Da'e was sitting behind him, and Wu Er was afraid that if he rode too fast, he would bump Zhao Da'e off and fall.

In Zhao Da'e's previous life, people often said that in the past, human relationships were distant and filled with deceit and treachery. In reality, Zhao Da'e's family was like that too; human relationships were indeed exceptionally good in that era. Of course, things might be worse now than in later generations, where people are probably more affluent.

Wealth may not necessarily make people kind, but it can at least make them less petty.

But now, even something as trivial as food, household items, a piece of clothing, or a few pounds of corn can lead to arguments. It's because life is just too difficult.

This is why Zhao Da'e found Wu Er and asked him to take her to the street. If anyone else had asked Wu Er, he might have refused.

Bicycles in that era were far more precious than cars in later times. People would walk whenever possible instead of riding. Some even pushed their bicycles to avoid wear and tear.

Moreover, the person I'm taking along is a child. What if something happens to them on the way?

So Zhao Da'e was quite pleased that Wu Er could go.

"Second Brother, do you understand electric motors?" Zhao Da'e asked.

"I don't understand," Wu Er said honestly; he really didn't know anything about motors. "But if it works, it's good; if it doesn't, it's bad. What's up, you want to buy a motor?"

"Ah."

Zhao Da'e then told him about his plan to buy some motors and shredders.

Wu Er laughed and said, "You're really something. There's really no fine grain around here. If you want to eat some refined grains, you have to go to Xinglong Town next door, which is about 30 miles round trip. If you make this, I guarantee your business will be booming."

“I can’t say for sure,” Zhao Da’e said. “My dad only knows how to farm. Grain isn’t expensive these days, and my mom has gone back to her parents’ home. Whether we’ll farm this land next year is still uncertain.”

Zhao Da'e naturally wouldn't tell everyone that she planned to stop farming next year. She wanted to let the northwest wind blow through Old Zhao's family and make them all behave themselves.

If you say this, you'll be laughed at regardless of whether you're right or wrong.

There have been plenty of fights among the family members over the unfair division of property, but Zhao Da'e doesn't want to completely lose face just yet. That would put her in an even more passive position.

She's earned some money selling water, but it's not a lot. She hasn't reached the point where she could survive for three years without working. At most, the famine is over...

Moreover, with the rapid development of the economy and soaring prices, money doesn't last long. The two key priorities are saving and continuing to earn money.

"Whether it makes money or not, I can't say for sure. But we can't just sit around doing nothing and starve to death," Zhao Da'e said.

Wu Er laughed: "With a brain like yours, you think you can go hungry? Don't be ridiculous."

As the two were talking, Zhao Da'e felt the ride getting increasingly bumpy, so he looked down.

Damn it...

The tire is flat...

Zhao Da'e quickly jumped down: "Oh no, Second Brother, the tire's flat!"

Wu Er also stopped, then got out of the car, took a look, and then confirmed: "It's over. He's been poisoned."

Zhao Da'e scratched his head: "Ugh... even drinking cold water is a problem. There's no village or shop in sight, and we still have to walk four or five miles."

The problem is that it would have been better to just walk from the beginning; at least you wouldn't have had to push a bicycle. Unwittingly, the bicycle has become a burden.

Wu Er wasn't particularly angry. He calmly said, "I'll just go to the street and get my tire fixed. It's been a long time since I bought it. It's been several years; it's time to get it repaired."

Zhao Da'e smiled wryly: "You didn't take me with you. If you had, I would have been injured long ago."

There was nothing else to do, so Zhao Da'e walked while Wu Er pushed his bicycle into the street.

It took about an hour to walk there before we finally reached the street.

Afterwards, Zhao Da'e went to Wu Er's place to get his bicycle repaired...

Zhao Da'e felt as if he had gotten up very early but arrived late, a truly tragic situation.

She's kicking herself now; she should have just tricked her cousin Zhou Chunwen into coming out for a stroll from the start.

Zhao Da'e wanted to pay for the bicycle repairs, but Wu Er refused. It was only a few cents, not much. Later, Zhao Da'e went out of his way and spent a few dollars to buy a pack of cigarettes for Wu Er.

As the saying goes, relationships are reciprocal. It takes give and take. No matter what, Wu Er helped us out, so giving him a pack of cigarettes is only fair.

Wu Er didn't refuse out of politeness, but simply said, "Big Goose, you're too kind. I'll treat you to dinner another day."

The two men then fixed the bicycle and went to a repair shop.

It's already past nine in the morning, but there are still very few people at the repair shop. Liu Guangjin hasn't come yet either.

The repair shop was a government-owned facility, supposedly capable of fixing everything. But in reality, it's close to closing down now. It has no equipment left; it can't even repair a tricycle anymore.

There were only a few people, they were barely alive, and they weren't getting paid. Rumor had it the factory manager ran off with the money and his mistress.

Yes, yes, this is true.

Zhao Da'e had heard about this in his previous life. Later, he heard that the factory director was sentenced to about seven years in prison.

It's absolutely true; he really ran off with the money and his sister-in-law. No doubt about it.

Zhao Da'e and Wu Er went in to inquire, but Liu Guangjin wasn't there, so they waited for a while.

It was almost noon when a middle-aged man wearing leather cotton shoes, a dog-skin hat, and two large gold teeth, dressed in a gray-white cotton-padded coat, walked over: "You two were looking for me?"

"Are you Liu Guangjin?"

"it's me."

"I'm Zhao Da'e, and my great-grandfather is Zhao Tingming..." Zhao Da'e then recited what Zhao Tingming had taught her. The main point was that they were all relatives...

Liu Guangjin laughed heartily: "Alright, alright. So you mean you want to see those shredders?"

Zhao Da'e nodded quickly.

"Okay, I'll take you there to have a look."

Liu Guangjin took the lead, with Zhao Da'e and Wu Er following behind.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Zhao Da'e nudged Wu Er.

Just now, Zhao Da'e specially took the time to instruct Wu Er to buy several packs of cigarettes, and they were good cigarettes—Liqun.

Liqun cigarettes are particularly famous; they're the best of all the cigarettes available.

Wu Er handed a cigarette to Liu Guangjin.

Liu Guangjin pretended to refuse, but then accepted it.

As the saying goes, "He who takes a bribe is bound to be obliged." Having received the favor, Liu Guangjin opened up: "There are three sets of grinders in total, quite complete. One set I'm referring to includes a coarse sieve, a fine sieve, and a blower. That's a complete set. These three sets are specifically designed for grinding corn, sorghum, and millet—all three grains can be ground. They're separate machines. The machines are different sizes. The one for millet is the most expensive, but it can also grind sorghum, which is millet. And you don't need to husk it. For millet, you can remove it and grind it directly; the blower can remove the husk directly, which is very convenient."

The sorghum one too. It can also be hulled directly. You don't need to husk it at home. It's a great product, but ridiculously expensive. It usually costs fifteen yuan to grind a bag of millet…”

Zhao Da'e was stunned: "How much? Fifteen yuan? That's worse than robbery! Why is it so expensive?"

“Labor is expensive. Think about it, three sets of machines require three people, plus an electrician, and if they break down, you need a repairman. That makes five people, plus a supervisor. Six people…” Liu Guangjin explained, “Six people’s salaries alone would be over three thousand a month. And then there’s the electricity bill…”

Zhao Da'e nodded sympathetically: "That's not expensive. On average, you have to crush twenty or thirty bags of grain a day. How can you not lose money?"

"Nobody comes. They've all been laid off," Liu Guangjin said with a smile. "I'm just in charge of keeping an eye on things. I don't care about anything else."

Zhao Da'e scoffed: "With so many people doing this, and the wages so high, it would be strange if it didn't go bankrupt."

However, in theory, this equipment is good, and fifteen yuan is expensive, but five yuan for a bag of millet is still acceptable.

"What size motors are they?"

"The main motor drives the main unit, which costs 11,000 kilowatts. There are also several units with capacities of 3,000 kilowatts and 4,000 kilowatts," Liu Guangjin said.

As they spoke, they arrived at the door of the smashed house. The door was covered with dust and cobwebs, clearly indicating that no one had been here for a long time.

Pushing open the door, the shredder inside was also covered in dust. The floor was covered in a layer of dirt, and footprints would be left when you stepped on it.

Zhao Da'e and Wu Er looked at it for a while, then touched and poked it.

The machine doesn't seem to have a major problem.

Afterwards, Zhao Da'e wanted to test what it would be like after the power was turned on, but Liu Guangjin laughed and said, "There's no electricity here. We haven't paid the electricity bill for several years. The power company turned off the power a long time ago."

"How do I know if these machines are good or bad?" Zhao Da'e asked, puzzled.

Liu Guangjin grinned, revealing his two front teeth, and said, "You expect to buy something good at this price? But logically speaking, these things should have been fine for the first few years. They didn't break, and after construction stopped, no one bothered to sabotage them. Apart from a few belts and a scrubbing broom that went missing, nothing else was lost."

Zhao Da'e chuckled: "Of course, we took everything we could. The remaining motors were too heavy to move. These shredders were welded in, so we couldn't move them either. That's why they weren't lost, but all the small items were."

"Alright, bro. How much are you planning to sell these things for?"

Liu Guangjin thought for a moment: "The higher-ups mean to sell it by weight."

"Then I don't want it," Zhao Da'e said, preparing to leave.

"Brother, don't try to fool me. The motor is passable, but I don't even know if it'll work. Besides, your shredder is all cast iron. What scrap collector would want something made of cast iron?"

Cast iron is different from ordinary iron or steel. Ordinary iron or steel can be taken by scrap collectors and sold directly to small workshops or steel mills. But nobody wants cast iron.

These things are clearly products of the 1960s and 70s. Steelmaking technology wasn't very advanced then, so a lot of cast iron products were made. Cast iron was relatively cheap, but it had many drawbacks: it rusted easily and shattered easily. You couldn't smash it; if you did, it would ruin everything.

This means that if Zhao buys a goose, he has to be very careful when transporting it back, otherwise it will break and the item will be ruined.

This is also the main reason why they can't sell their products.

Zhao Da'e thought to himself: No wonder the junk collectors don't want them. Who would want these broken cast iron balls? If we smash this pile, they'll be more of a nuisance than bricks. They're completely useless.

"I don't want it anymore. It'll break before I can even put it back together. Why would I spend money to buy a bunch of these things?"

"How about we just charge for the motor?" Liu Guangjin asked tentatively.

Zhao Da'e shook his head: "Who knows if the copper wires inside this motor are real? We can't take it apart to check, so we don't want it."

Zhao Da'e went straight out the door, and Wu Er followed him out, looking completely bewildered: "Shall we go home?"

Zhao Da'e nodded and left immediately.

Then he silently chanted, "One step, two steps, three..."

"Wait a minute," Liu Guangjin called out to Zhao Dage from behind, "Then name your price?"

Zhao Da'e didn't stop, continuing to count: "Eleven steps, twelve steps..."

Sure enough, Liu Guangjin caught up with them: "How about this, five hundred yuan a day, do you want it?"

Zhao Da'e frowned: "I'll have to hire people and vehicles. It'll take a whole day to dismantle it."

"Honestly, five hundred is the lowest I can offer. Any lower and the higher-ups won't agree," Liu Guangjin said helplessly.

“No,” Zhao Da’e said firmly, “unless you can bring all the power cables from the back. And give me that three-phase meter box too.”

"Okay." Liu Guangjin was eager to sell, after all, the item wasn't his own, and if he couldn't sell it, he would have to bring it over every day to check on it, which would make him feel annoyed.

Selling it saves me the trouble.

If it can be sold for 500 yuan, at least the repair shop will pay him some wages, right? Besides, Zhao Da'e even bought him two packs of cigarettes.

"Can you make the decision? You have to give me a receipt, stamp it with an official seal or something. Otherwise, people might say I stole it." Zhao Da'e still considered it cautiously, "This thing may not be worth much, but if the government doesn't issue a receipt, I can't afford to be held responsible if someone investigates later."

"Getting the money is easy," Liu Guangjin said with a smile. "So, is it today or sometime when you'll get the payment?"

“I’ll come over with some people to dismantle this thing in half a day. We’ll get the receipts all together then, and you can pay me later. Cash on delivery. How about that?” Zhao Da’e said. “Also, don’t you dare sneak anything away in half a day, or sell anything in the middle of the night, or break anything. If you do, I won’t want it.”

"Don't worry. Nobody comes here. Okay, you can go ahead and do what you need to do. Just come over here in the afternoon and find me at the repair shop," Liu Guangjin said.

Zhao Da'e nodded, and the matter was settled.