Chapter 25: Teresa Teng

"How do you know the price so well? That sounds like you want to buy one too!"

"I... I don't want to buy one. Can't I just look?"

"Stop bickering, let me say a few words..."

Chen Jianjun rarely expressed his opinions, but whenever he did, it meant his mind was made up. He said, "Forget about a television. Given our family's standing, we can't get our hands on one; only those with connections can watch those. As for a bicycle, there's no need; your mother doesn't use one, and I ride the one from my unit. I think we should buy you a wristwatch. You aren't a child anymore, and a watch would be convenient."

"Yes, that's right! Wearing a watch makes people respect you wherever you go," Yu Xiuli agreed.

"A watch, huh? Alright, let's get one then." Chen Qi nodded. He had plenty of experience in how one's fortune could be changed by the items one wore. Just like in his past life—his romantic luck had been terrible until he bought a Patek Philippe watch and a Maserati. Suddenly, his fortune shifted; there was always some girl complaining that the car's air conditioning wasn't working and then taking off her clothes as soon as she got in. It was exhausting...

"As for the tape recorder..." Chen Jianjun scratched his head and suddenly chuckled. "Actually, I want one too. I was planning to save up some money, so now is the perfect time."

"Chen Jianjun, do you have any shame? Using the child's money to satisfy your own desires? Where did your party spirit go?" Yu Xiuli scolded.

"Alright, alright, it's the same whoever uses it. It's settled: one watch, one tape recorder," Chen Qi said with a smile.

"How much money will this cost? It'll be gone in the blink of an eye," Yu Xiuli lamented.

"If it's gone, I'll just earn more. Eight hundred today, eight thousand tomorrow," Chen Qi comforted her.

The general impression people have of this era is that it was poor. And it was indeed poor, but it depended on the location and the group. At this time, some people were quite wealthy, such as workers in large factories, state-owned enterprise employees in good positions, and officials of a certain rank. They earned decent wages and had few places to spend them since their units provided everything. Naturally, they could save money. Of course, if you looked at the country as a whole, especially the rural areas, it was unbearable to witness; it was a good year for a farmer if they even saw any cash at all.

...

There were many brands of watches; the most famous were the Shanghai and Seagull brands, and there was also a BJ brand local to the capital. A Shanghai brand watch cost about 120 yuan.

Chen Jianjun hadn't managed to get a watch ration coupon yet, but he did have one for a tape recorder, so they bought that first. Last year, the Ministry of Commerce organized a "Hong Kong Inspection Group" that bought 10,000 cassette recorders at 93 Hong Kong dollars each and brought them back to be sold for 200 yuan RMB apiece (at the time, 100 Hong Kong dollars was about 30 RMB). People began queuing in the afternoon, and by the next morning, they had even crushed the display counters.

...

Today is Sunday, a day of rest. Currently, the workweek is six days, and it wouldn't be until 1995 that the five-day workweek was introduced, though it wasn't truly implemented until 2024.

The family of three set out together, heading specifically to the Beijing Department Store on Wangfujing Street. This was the first large-scale department store in the New China. Zhang Binggui worked here—was there anyone who didn't know him? A candy salesman, a national model worker, and a member of the National People's Congress, he was more famous than any movie star. He could ride a bus and people would give up their seats; when he went to the bathhouse, people would scrub his back; when he was hospitalized, national leaders came to visit him. After he passed away, the department store erected a bronze statue of him in the plaza, inscribed with words from a national leader: "The Spirit of the Single Flame Shines Across the Divine Land!"

The store had the widest selection of goods, and it was crowded on a Sunday. The three followed the flow of the crowd, not in a hurry to buy anything, just wandering around. The first floor sold cold cream and shampoo, but a special counter had been opened for Zhang Binggui to sell candy. It was packed with people pushing forward, all considering it an honor to buy candy he had scooped by hand. He had a unique skill called "The Single Scoop." If a customer wanted two taels, he would scoop exactly two taels; if they wanted half a catty, he'd scoop exactly half a catty. It was said he practiced with small pebbles to master the technique.

Labor is the most glorious thing—in this era, that wasn't just talk. Zhang Binggui and Shi Chuanxiang were the models. Some people said they had government positions; if someone gave you a government position to shovel feces every day, would you do it? Chen Qi wanted to see for himself, but he couldn't squeeze into the crowd and had to give up.

After strolling for a while, they reached the tape recorder counter. Surprisingly, it was also quite crowded. Chen Qi found it amusing. It felt like, "Didn't they say the economy is bad and it's hard to make money? How is everyone here richer than me?"

Due to Sino-Japanese friendship, the first wave of foreign appliances to enter the mainland were Japanese: Panasonic, Sharp, Hitachi, Sanyo, and so on. The tape recorders we are familiar with are the large ones that hold two cassettes and have multiple speakers. These current models were single-deck, holding only one cassette. They were smaller, but thick and sturdy, looking like large bricks.

The three of them were lucky and didn't encounter any shortages. They ended up spending 200 yuan on a Sanyo single-deck tape recorder.

"Oh my, such a thing costs 200 yuan!"

"Why don't they just rob us? It's more expensive than a bicycle. We aren't a wealthy family; sooner or later you two will squander everything away."

Yu Xiuli kept grumbling. Chen Jianjun couldn't help but say, "We only add a major item every few years, not every day. Both of our salaries are decent, and our son is doing well, so it's not that bad."

"Exactly, you have to spend when you have to!" Chen Qi laughed.

"You two have already surrendered to capitalism. I can't bear to watch, I really can't."

His parents wanted to keep shopping, but Chen Qi was too lazy to move. He took the box and left first. Along the way, everyone looked at him with envy and hot gazes; he was the coolest guy in town.

After heading downstairs and just stepping out the front door, someone suddenly tugged at him. Chen Qi was startled, thinking it was a robbery. He turned and saw a shifty-eyed man wearing a hat, speaking in a sharp voice.

"Hey buddy, just bought a tape recorder?"

Seeing Chen Qi's wariness, the man smiled. "Don't worry, I'm a businessman... Do you need tapes?"

Tapes!

Chen Qi's eyes lit up. "You sell cassettes?"

"Want to go take a look?"

"I'm not going if it's too far."

"I'm in this for the long haul, I wouldn't cheat you. Let's talk over there."

The man led him to a relatively quiet corner, opened his coat like a Doraemon pocket, and started pulling out cassette after cassette.

"Ten yuan a tape!"

"Why don't you just rob me?"

"These all came from the South, you know. I'm just making a hard-earned living."

The man was very enthusiastic, introducing them, "Look at this one. This is Teresa Teng. She's the hottest thing right now; everyone in the South listens to her."

Chen Qi flipped through them: *When Will You Return*, *The Smoke of Cooking Again*, *Don't Pick Wild Flowers by the Roadside*... They were all familiar tunes. The covers were simple and the packaging rough, but at least they were real cassettes.

"Do you have Liu Wenzheng?"

"What about Sam Hui?"

"No Roman Tam either? You don't have anything, yet you dare to come out and sell?"

"You're a real expert!" The man was shocked.

Chen Qi chuckled. *I'm just a passerby, do I need to pretend to be an innocent little lamb?*

The man slapped his thigh. "Alright, for your expertise, 8 yuan a tape, and you can take them!"

Damn, smuggling really is profitable. Eight yuan was enough for one person to live on for a month. If Chen Qi hadn't been "cheating" with his knowledge, he would probably be struggling in the fields himself. He bought three Teresa Teng tapes and tucked them into his shirt before leaving.

His writing fee was 800, he got a 50-yuan subsidy, and before he left for the Beijing Film Studio, Yu Xiuli had given him 30. His total assets were 880 yuan—a lucky number. Now, the tape recorder cost 200 and the tapes 24, leaving him with 656.

He said what he said, but he had no intention of handing over the money he earned to his parents. If asked, he'd say he was saving up to get married.

At night.

Deep into the quiet night, Chen Qi locked the doors and windows and lit a candle—the power had gone out again. He placed the "brick" on the table and turned the volume down. His parents sat on the bed, suddenly looking very solemn. In the candlelight, a voice—soft, beautiful, and unlike anything they had ever heard—floated out:

"After we part tonight, when will you return? After finishing this cup, please have some snacks. How many times in life can one be drunk? If we don't enjoy ourselves now, what are we waiting for... Hey, let's finish this cup..."