Chapter 3: From East of the River to West of the River

  On December 21, 1994, lunar calendar, it snowed in the morning.

  It's a day worth commemorating, Qin Aimin, who has been working for nearly half a year, boarded the early bus from Dashitown to Kaihe City with 5,361.58 yuan in his pocket.

  53,168.5 yuan, 20,000 yuan of which is this year's bonus. After working hard for nearly half a year in Dashitun, Yang Dazheng, who usually doesn't spend a penny, finally gave a big bonus to all levels of leading cadres and ordinary cadres yesterday under the good situation in Dashitun. Each leading cadre received 10,000 yuan, and ordinary cadres also received 5,000 yuan. However, Qin Aimin's bonus was 20,000 yuan because Comrade Qin Aimin is the only outstanding township cadre in Dashitun this year, so he naturally got an extra 10,000 yuan. Of course, everyone in Dashitun knows the inside story of this 10,000 yuan bonus, so Qin Aimin can take it with a clear conscience.

  At the same time, along with the two thousand yuan bonus that was issued, were also the wages that had been owed for several months. Although this money wasn't a lot, it finally allowed all levels of cadres and masses throughout the entire county to have a down-to-earth New Year's celebration.

  Sitting in the last row on the right side of the bus, looking at the bus slowly passing over the Jinshui No. 2 Bridge built with gravel and bamboo sticks. ?? The first official road seeks 3

  Jinshui No. 2 Bridge was officially named by Secretary Yang Dajing at the township party committee meeting and passed unanimously by the attending leaders, since half a month ago Jinshui No. 2 Bridge was officially put into operation, all passing vehicles large cars each charge ten yuan, small cars each charge five yuan, long and short distance buses monthly fee three hundred yuan, local vehicles are free of charge.

  The Jinshui No. 2 Bridge is a two-way toll bridge, with vehicles coming and going every day. The lowest daily income is over 160,000 yuan in Dashixiang, and the highest single-day income was yesterday, breaking through 350,000 yuan. With the rolling wealth of Jinshui No. 2 Bridge, the government of Dashixiang can be said to have achieved poverty alleviation and become rich overnight, rushing towards a well-off life.

  As for that temporary substitute highway used to cope with the inspection of superior leaders, it has been unable to be used due to large-scale collapse on both sides of the road as early as half a month ago in a deep night.

  In this regard, Qin Aimin can only admire the great wisdom and courage of the leadership of the Dashiqiao Township Party Committee and Government, their wise decision-making and boundless energy.

  Set out early in the morning, it was snowing, and the three counties and one city of Kaihe City were already located among the mountains, so the road conditions within the city were not very good. In addition to the snow, the bus drove extremely slowly. The original four or five hours needed to reach the urban area of Kaihe City took a full eight hours. When Qin Aimin transferred buses and sat on the bus heading to the Kaihe Coal Mine and returned home, it was already 8 o'clock in the evening.

  Kaihe Coal Mine is a large state-owned coal mine, with more than 30,000 employees and over 10,000 retirees. The total number of family members is nearly 200,000. There are three mines in the area, divided into three work zones. Qin Aimin's home is located in the residential area of the second district of the No. 2 mine.

  The residential area of the Second Industrial District, built on the mountain, looked unusually desolate under the night sky, even on this snowy New Year's Eve when every household was brightly lit.

  Kaihe Coal Mine, although it is the largest state-owned coal mine in Kaihe City, has a history of over 30 years and its underground coal resources are exceptionally rich, but the days of the large and prosperous Kaihe Coal Mine are not easy.

  The mine has more than 30,000 formal employees, over 10,000 retired workers, nearly 200,000 employees' family members, and an unknown number of contract workers and temporary workers. The mine started defaulting on salary payments two years ago, with the longest period being half a year's worth of unpaid wages.

  "A golden rice bowl, a silver rice bowl, is not as good as an iron rice bowl in one's hand."

  The people of Kaihe Coal Mine were once proud, because they were the objects of admiration for everyone in Kaihe City. As recently as five years ago, every young woman in Kaihe dreamed of marrying into Kaihe Coal Mine, to the point where young men in Kaihe would grit their teeth with rage at the mention of Kaihe Coal Mine, because most of the prettiest girls in Kaihe had been taken by the people of Kaihe Coal Mine.

  But in just a few short years, everything changed. The once-envied Kaihe Coal Mine was no longer envied, the beautiful girls of Kaihe were no longer marrying into the mine, and even the beautiful flower-like girls who originally belonged to the mine had all fallen into outsiders' hands.

  Braving the snow, Qin Aimin hurried to his home on the mountain, feeling somewhat disheartened and melancholy. After all, the once-thriving Heihe Coal Mine, which now seemed to have a worn-out appearance, was also his pride.

  Treading on the somewhat desolate night, Qin Aimin finally arrived at the foot of his home building, which he had been away from for nearly half a year. The entire residential building was still as bright and lively as it was in previous years, with every household's lights shining brightly, but the joyful voices and laughter that were supposed to accompany the festive season were nowhere to be heard.

  In my childhood memories, even on snowy and rainy days during the New Year, there were continuous laughter and chatter. Standing downstairs, I could hear the loud clinking of glasses and muffled laughter from upstairs, while downstairs was absolutely the kingdom of those little rascals.

  Although there may not be any firecrackers booming, those little kids' self-made or bought firecrackers would still occasionally go off in some corner or drain, and now the entire air seems to be filled with a desolate atmosphere that makes one's heart palpitate.

  The door was opened, and the first thing that caught his eye was his increasingly aging mother, Zhou Lanxiang. Seeing her long-separated son suddenly appear at the door, Zhou Lanxiang's originally worried face immediately showed a look of surprise.

  "Little citizen, how come you're back today? Doesn't the local government usually let people off at 2 pm?"

  Although extremely happy about her son's appearance, Zhou Lan Xiang first thought of was still her son's job. ?? First published on Official Road Seeking 3

  Looking at his mother, whose hair was already half gray, Qin Ai's heart couldn't help but feel a little sour. Perhaps it was because he had grown older, or perhaps the six months of work had really made him mature. Today, seeing his increasingly aging mother suddenly gave him an emotion he had never felt before.

  Zhou Lanxiang's words obviously also shocked the other people in the house, and for a time the whole family rushed to the door.

  "The little guy is back, what are you standing at the door for, come in quickly."

  The first to speak was Qin Aimin's father, Qin Lijun.

  Gathering his emotions, Qin Aimin hastily shouted, "Dad, Mom."

  Then I saw the figures of Eldest Brother Qin Aiguo, Second Brother Qin Aihua, Elder Sister-in-law Feng Yuehua, Eldest Sister Qin Ailan, Eldest Sister's Husband Sun Jianjun and Second Sister Qin Aiju appearing behind me.

  The naming of the Qin family is very regular, with the second character of the previous generation being "Li" and this generation being "Ai", both characters were set by Grandpa Qin who passed away a few years ago. Such names also brought great convenience to the Qin family in that hot era, and one can't help but admire the old man who only attended private school for two years and was born into a bandit family.

  "Big brother, big sister-in-law, second brother, big sister, big sister's husband, second sister." Qin Aimin hastily asked after each of them.

  As soon as he entered the door, Zhou Lanxiang asked: "Xiaomin, you sit down first, mom will go cook dinner for you. You child, it's such a big snow, why did you come back so late?"

  Listening to his mother's nagging, Qin Ai Min's heart warmed up. Although it wasn't his fault that he came back late, he still smiled and said: "Mom, I want to eat cured meat."

  Daughter dear, from a young age, Qin Aimin has always shown more promise than his older siblings and is the apple of Zhou Lanxiang's eye. He did not disappoint his mother's expectations and got into university, which made Zhou Lanxiang proud among her friends for several years, after all, in this day and age, having a university student is no small feat.

  Zhou Lanxiang entered the kitchen, and Qin Aimin asked in a somewhat strange tone: "Why did everyone come back today?"

  As he spoke, Qin Aimin looked at his elder brother Qin Aiguo and elder sister Qin Ailan with some curiosity. Qin Aiguo was the eldest, ten years older than Qin Aimin, already thirty-four this year. Qin Ailan was also thirty-one years old. Both of them had their own families now. At this time when Chinese New Year was approaching, it shouldn't be possible for everyone to gather at home by coincidence.

  However, with Qin Aimin's question, the originally somewhat cheerful living room immediately fell into an unusual silence. Seeing this situation, Qin Aimin didn't know what to do.

  "What's wrong, is something going on at home?"

  As he spoke, Qin Aimin's gaze turned to his father, Qin Lijun.

  *sigh*

  Qin Lijun suddenly let out a long sigh, but didn't say anything. After sighing, he started smoking, and the whole living room became even more depressing.

  Qin Aimin's eyes directly looked at his elder brother Qin Aiguo.

  "After the Spring Festival, our mine will implement shift work and layoff. The laid-off workers will only receive basic living expenses every month."

  For a moment, the whole living room was filled with an atmosphere of gloom and desolation.

  "All dual-income households must have one person take turns waiting for work, and the first batch already has my name and your sister's husband."

  (The state-recognized, State Council-approved layoffs started in '97, but actually some provinces and cities had already begun so-called "rotation of posts" and "waiting for employment" as early as '93, including labor-intensive coal mines, it's just that the news was not free at that time and was not known to the public.)

  Qin Aiguo's family and Qin Ailan's family, both couples were employees of the Heihe Coal Mine. In Qin Aimin's memory, at that time, in order to arrange Qin Aiguo and Qin Ailan to work in the coal mine, Qin Lijun had spent a lot of effort, and just the number of times he entertained guests with wine and dinner was no less than ten times. As a result, the whole family did not taste meat for more than a year.

  "Your second brother and other temporary workers like him will be completely cleared out starting from next year."

  Qin Ai Hua also works at Kaihe Coal Mine, but he is not a formal employee of Kaihe Coal Mine now, and can only be considered as a temporary worker. However, according to the original plan, he was preparing to take over his father Qin Li Jun's position two years later when his father retires.

  What is called "top job" is that after the old workers retire, the mine arranges a formal job for one of their dependents as a token of care, which is also a specific manifestation of the superiority of the great working class at that time.

  Qin Aijiu was only a year and a half older than Qin Aimin. At that time, she missed the university entrance exam by a narrow margin of 5 points, and her family's economic conditions at the time did not allow her to retake the exam, so she found a job as a salesgirl at Kaihe Department Store early on. As a result, even when she was almost twenty-five years old, she still hadn't found a suitable husband, for which she still holds some resentment towards her parents to this day.

  A girl without a formal job is hard to find a husband, and a man without a job will naturally have an even harder time finding a wife. In a family environment like the Qin's, this is especially true. So now Qin Aihua is almost twenty-eight years old and still a "happy" bachelor.

  Looking at his father sitting on the sofa, smoking with his head down, looking at the deep wrinkles all over his forehead that were only fifty-eight years old, Qin Aimin had a deep feeling for the first time in his life about his father's hardships over the years. This may be attributed to the hard life he had been living in Dashitun for half a year, day and night, struggling for money, and he finally understood the hardship of supporting a family.

  "Big brother, what plans do you have for the future?"

  Qin Aiguo's face showed a self-mocking and helpless smile, "Plan? What else can I plan for? Besides going down the pit to dig coal, what else can I do? Let's wait, hoping that things will get better at the mine after a while."

  "Come on, little one, let's eat. It's the New Year, don't mention those unhappy things. So many years have passed, what can't be gotten over?"

  Zhou Lanxiang carried the dishes out of the kitchen, walking and laughing as she said: "Xiaomin has finally come back to spend the New Year with you all, so just calm down for a bit. Even if he's not working now, it's not like we can afford to pay his salary anyway. Life is tough, but we'll get by somehow. Your father and I were even poorer than you are now when we were young, but we still managed to raise you all."

  Qin Aimin was also unwilling to make the family worried and gloomy at this time, besides, he didn't have the ability to help now, after hearing Zhou Lanxiang's words, he quickly changed the subject.

  "Mom, I won't be able to spend the New Year at home this year. I have to work on duty during the holiday and need to go back on the 28th."

  Qin Aimin was able to return home at this time because the village arranged for him to be on duty during the New Year, who made him a newcomer and a bachelor. Moreover, it can be said that this year's duty lineup in Dashixiang is absolutely unprecedentedly strong, usually only one deputy township head or deputy secretary needs to be arranged to take turns being on duty every day during the seven-day Spring Festival, but this year there are two, let alone dozens of working personnel below.

  The simple highway in Shikou Village is difficult to pass, but small cars can still pass through. Although it may take an hour or so to walk ten kilometers, there are still many vehicles that choose this road to save money. Moreover, even if not for the sake of responding to superior inspections, this road must be arranged for 24-hour shifts, otherwise, in case of a car accident or two cars turning over, it would be troublesome.

  And the Jinshui No. 2 Bridge, which is a rich source of wealth, is even more so, this bridge is now the lifeline of Dashiqiao Town, and Secretary Yang Daqing made tough remarks at the meeting the other day.

  "Who dares to not get along with Jinshui No. 2 Bridge, who dares to give me lip on Jinshui No. 2 Bridge, that's the same as not getting along with the Dashi Township Party Committee and Government! Whoever makes it hard for the Dashi Township Party Committee and Government will be made to stay in Dashi Township!"

  Although Zhou Lanxiang was reluctant, she firmly supported her son's decision not to spend Chinese New Year at home.

  "It's good this way, once you start working, you have to do your own things solidly. When you're young, it's not wrong to work more and do more."

  At this time, Qin Aijiu suddenly spoke up and said: "Younger brother, last time you wrote a letter back saying that you are now the deputy director, is it true?" Now there is no phone at home, so even if something happens on a daily basis, they also communicate by writing letters. Even so, Qin Aimin usually writes a letter to his family once a month, and of course, he has to report his current situation in Dashiqiao comprehensively, including this position.

  Qin Aimin found it a bit strange that his second sister would ask this question, and he nodded slightly before asking: "What's up?"

  Qin Aiju should be considered a pretty girl, although not stunningly beautiful, but absolutely a rare beauty, otherwise she wouldn't still be single at her age.

  In this day and age, a beautiful woman without a formal job is always in an awkward position. Those with good conditions who are handsome and have a job like Tang Monk dislike her for not having a job, while those with poor conditions who have a job but lack looks like Zhu Bajie she thinks are ugly. But when it comes to someone with looks but no job, the pretty face exhausts her, so much so that over these years, despite attending over ten blind dates every year, she still can't resolve her own major life issues.

  "I have a good friend who is from Dashiqiao Town. I mentioned you to him last time, and I'm planning to visit his place for a few days next year."

  "Is it a boy?" The three Qin brothers suddenly asked in unison.

  Qin Aiju's face turned red in an instant, and then she shouted directly: "Woman!"

  Then Qin Aijiu suddenly smiled slyly at Qin Aimin and said, "That's a great beauty, do you want me to introduce her as your girlfriend?"

  Qin Aimin and his second sister Qin Aijuan are close in age, having gone to school together for many years. The relationship between the two has always been the closest among siblings, and they often tease each other privately.

  As for Qin Aijiu's words, Qin Aimin didn't take them to heart at all. Dashixiang and its surrounding areas were notorious for being a den of bandits before liberation, but they were also famous for being a place where beautiful women lived.

  In the past six months, he has seen hundreds or even tens of thousands of beautiful women with a natural and earthy charm. Moreover, as a university student in this era, although beautiful women are not as numerous as clouds, they are far superior to those in later generations. After all, the decadent ideology of the bourgeois era has not yet completely eroded the great socialist values, and high schools have not degenerated into the "beautiful girl terminator factories" of later times.

  There are no beautiful girls who are seduced by bad boys, compared to later generations, it is easier to focus on their studies and the proportion of university admissions will naturally be higher. Which is like the high schools of later generations, as long as they have a bit of charm, they can receive several love letters every day, let alone those real beauties? In this situation, which beauty can focus on her studies? This naturally also led to a decline in the quality of female students in universities.

  Regarding Qin Ai's words, Qin Aimin directly chose to ignore her, which made Qin Aijuan feel very embarrassed and continued: "I didn't deceive you this time, she is really a great beauty, capable and hardworking. Many people in our department store are chasing after her, almost forming a strong queue. Often, some stinky men outside would linger around her counter for no reason."

  Just then, a faint cry came from upstairs, and Qin Aimin, who was originally focused on devouring the cured meat in his bowl, involuntarily raised his head at the sound.

  The residential building where Qin's family lived was five stories high, built in '89, and although it was exceptionally sturdy, its soundproofing effects were not impressive. In the past few years when he came back home for holidays, he would often run into some young punks hiding in the corridor to eavesdrop on the neighbors.

  Qin Aimin heard the crying sound, and Zhou Lanxiang, who was sitting aside smiling while watching her little son eat, also heard it.

  "Alas, poor Little Zhou upstairs, it's a big New Year's festival, and he's an orphan with a widowed mother."

  As soon as Qin Aimin heard her mother's words, his heart suddenly tightened. "Mom, what's going on upstairs?"

  The little Zhou upstairs, as soon as Qin Aimin heard this, she knew who her mother was talking about. Because in this unit, the only ones with the surname Zhou were herself and Zhou Lianyu, who had just married into the family five years ago. Due to their shared surname, Zhou Lanxiang took extra care of Zhou Lianyu, and since they lived on different floors, they would often exchange food whenever one of them had something delicious.

  "Alas!" Qin Ai Hua suddenly let out a long sigh, "Meng Ge died in an accident underground half a month ago. Tens of tons of huge rocks came crashing down and by the time they found him, his entire body was crushed, including his skull."

  After hearing this, Qin Aimin's heart inexplicably ached for no reason. Of course, what pained Qin Aimin was not that poor Meng Ge. For the Kaihe Coal Mine, deaths underground were nothing out of the ordinary. Since Qin Aimin could remember, every year at least three to five people would die in the mine, and there had even been years where dozens died. This naturally also created a large number of widows for the Kaihe Coal Mine.

  What pained Qin Ai's heart was only Zhou Lianyu, this Zhou Lianyu had been married for five years, but in fact, she was one year younger than Qin Ai. Even now, he still remembered the scene when she, 19 years old at that time, wore a big red wedding dress, with a big red flower on her head made of red cloth, holding a pink umbrella and getting off the luxurious car sent by the mine to pick up the bride.

  The bride in red, the pink umbrella, and the snowflakes falling gently like goose feathers, combined with the thick layer of white snow on the ground, moved not only Qin Aimin's heart but also the hearts of all the young men in the wedding procession. From that day on, she was known as the number one beauty of Kaihe Coal Mine.

  It was from that day on that Qin Aimin, who had just turned twenty, had his first dream.

  Deep and subtle, gentleman delight in it.

  At that time, it was not only Qin Aimin who was moved. Indeed, when Qin Aiguo said this with a sigh, Qin Ai's eyes also showed a hint of sympathy. At the same time, Qin Aimin saw his sister-in-law Feng Yuehua's strong and powerful right hand gently placed on her big brother's waist.