By the time they rushed back to Lin Family Gully, it was already pitch black.
Lin Fan had to walk several miles of mountain roads in the dark to get home.
Seeing Lin Fan return, Wang Shufang was both angry and anxious; she was afraid that if Lin Fan walked the mountain roads in the dark like this, what if he fell into a gully again?
After complaining for a while, Wang Shufang finally asked what had happened at the school today.
It had been dark for a while, and the family of three sat in the newly built thatched hut eating dinner.
Listening to Lin Fan recount the good news Principal Chen had told him, Wang Shufang became immediately excited when she heard that Lin Fan actually had the chance to take the college entrance examination.
She immediately stated: Go to the school tomorrow; even if she had to work herself to the bone at home, she would scrape together enough travel expenses for him to go to University.
Lin Fan looked at her body, which was so thin that only a skeleton remained, and said with a bitter smile, "Mom! With our family in this state, even if you really work yourself to death, can we earn enough money?"
Wang Shufang fell silent; she naturally knew that there were stones everywhere in this mountain gully, but no money.
Lin Fan took the opportunity to say, "Mom! Let's move to the City! I've already talked it over with Principal Chen."
"He'll lend us a classroom at the school to live in until the start of the next semester. During this time, I'll first review and prepare for the exam at the school, and you can set up a small stall outside the school to sell Spicy Hot Pot."
Wang Shufang thought for a long time before saying, "You're not used to the mountains; you can't even walk the mountain roads well."
"I'm also afraid something will happen living in the mountains. If you want to go out, just go by yourself."
"Jingjing and I will farm at home. The family pig has also run back. When school starts, we'll sell the pig to scrape together your tuition."
Lin Fan persuaded her, "I'll be studying at school alone; if you two live in a house like this, will I even be able to continue studying?"
"The thatch on this roof is all fresh and hasn't been dried. In less than ten days, the bottom layer will rot and won't be able to block the rain at all."
"Although it won't collapse and crush people like the earthen wall house, how will you get through rainy days?"
"Go stay at Third Uncle's house again?"
Wang Shufang was silent for a while, and even the food didn't taste good anymore. After another long while, she said, "I'm afraid! Going to the City, we won't know anyone or the place. I'm afraid the people in the City will bully you."
"Besides, as the old saying goes: People are cheap away from home, and things are expensive away from home."
"I've lived for over thirty years and haven't been to the City more than ten times. If you make me go to the City, what will I live on?"
Lin Fan smiled, "Mom! You have a pair of hands; what can't you do to survive once you're in the City?"
"Principal Chen also said he'd let you clean the school—just using a broom to sweep the floor and wiping the tables and benches."
"I've temporarily turned it down. We're going to set up a Spicy Hot Pot stall. There isn't a single one in the County Town right now."
"If we open one, we'll definitely make money!"
"Spicy Hot Pot? What is that?" Wang Shufang didn't understand what it was.
Lin Fan said with a smile, "It's when the soup in the pot boils, and you cook vegetables in it to eat. It's just that the soup is spicy and numbing."
"That doesn't seem very difficult!" Wang Shufang felt that this didn't seem too hard.
Lin Jingjing had been listening nervously to her brother and mother talking; naturally, she wanted to go live in the City.
But in such a conversation, she couldn't interject. She could only listen carefully while shoveling rice into her mouth.
"Mom! Things have really changed outside now. Many people are going to the City to find a way to make a living, and even more are going to The South—to the coast to find work."
"There are many factories in those places, and they're short of people everywhere. As long as you're willing to work hard, there are jobs everywhere."
"You don't have to worry about not finding work. Once we make money, we'll come back and rebuild the house."
"Or we can just buy a house in the City to live in."
Wang Shufang thought for a moment, "You should still buy a house in the City! You're not a mountain person; you can't even walk."
"Jingjing and I will come back to the mountains to live!"
Lin Jingjing wouldn't have it, "I want to live in the City too! The City people's baskets aren't woven from bamboo."
Lin Fan asked with a smile, "What are their baskets woven from?" "They say they're woven from cloth, anyway not bamboo."
Lin Fan rubbed her head affectionately, "When we make money, I'll buy you a cloth basket too." Although he didn't know what his sister was talking about, Lin Fan figured she meant a backpack.
That night, Wang Shufang spent it in unease again. She thought about many things that night.
Early the next morning, Wang Shufang got up before dawn to make breakfast, and took advantage of the faint light of dawn to cut two baskets of pig grass.
Only then did she go to Third Aunt's house and ask her to help feed the pigs for two days. Wang Shufang didn't tell Third Aunt that she was going to the City to see if they could actually settle there.
She just said she was going to the school to have a look, as Lin Fan's school wanted her to go.
As for the home, besides that pig worth a few dozen yuan, there was nothing else of value.
There wasn't much need to watch over it.
The family of three hurried along and entered the City after noon, walking into the dormitory where Lin Fan was staying.
Wang Shufang looked at the level ground, which was finished with cement and smooth enough to reflect a person; the walls were built with grey bricks, and the small grey tiles on the roof were stacked neatly and tightly.
There wasn't a single trace of rain leaking on the floor. At first sight, she fell in love with this room.
Two bunk beds had already been set up in the room. Lin Jingjing immediately climbed onto one and lay down happily: "I'll sleep on this one, it's so comfortable."
A bed with only a few wooden slats and a woven bamboo strip mat underneath, with a layer of straw on top, made her feel comfortable.
Lin Fan couldn't help but think of the Simmons mattresses and latex mattresses of later generations; even a palm mattress would be better than this.
He didn't say anything, but just asked Wang Shufang, "Mom! What do you think of this place?"
Wang Shufang nodded repeatedly, "This is good! This is good! But can that Spicy Hot Pot you mentioned really make money?"
"Just trust me!" Lin Fan said confidently.
Today when they left the mountains, they had brought pots, pans, and basins, and even some rice, flour, oil, salt, and cured meat.
This was a school dormitory; they wouldn't be allowed to build a stove here, and Lin Fan hadn't planned on building one here anyway.
He wanted to make the kind of small pushcart that street vendors in later generations used to hawk their goods, with the stove integrated into the cart.
The family of three took a few bowls of water from the school tap and ate the flatbreads they had brought from home; lunch was considered finished.
Chen Hong had been reviewing at home alone for the past few days. Yesterday, hearing her father say Lin Fan was coming to school, she changed her review location to a school classroom.
She waited all morning but didn't see Lin Fan until after lunch when she finally saw his figure in the school.
She stopped Lin Fan and asked, "Lin Fan! Are you going to the classroom this afternoon?"
Lin Fan said, "I can't go this afternoon. I'm going to make a pushcart; I'm going to set up a stall tonight."
Chen Hong was surprised, "Teachers are coming to class tomorrow, and you're still going to set up a stall tonight?"
Lin Fan smiled bitterly, "It's precisely because the teachers are coming to class tomorrow that I have to get these things done.
The whole family is here; if we don't find something to do, how will we eat?"
"Didn't my dad arrange a job? Why didn't you accept it?" Chen Hong reproached.
"I'm naturally grateful for Uncle Chen looking after my family. I just want to try setting up a stall. If it doesn't make money, I'll ask you to say a few good words to the Principal.
To let my mom clean the school," Lin Fan said with a smile.
Chen Hong thought for a bit before saying, "Anyway, the teachers will be here tomorrow. I won't go review this afternoon either. I'll go with you to see how you make the pushcart."
Lin Fan was only too happy to have her along. He planned to make the pushcart himself and had already thought of the materials—he'd buy them at a scrap yard.
But cutting and Welding required tools, as well as Welding rods and a Welding machine; he had originally planned to use the school's.
The school didn't just have an Accounting Class, it also had a Mechanical and Electrical Class. They had Welding machines and hacksaws, and even a Lathe. Although it was an old Lathe from the fifties, it was still a Lathe, wasn't it?
To use the school's equipment, Lin Fan had originally planned to find a teacher from the Mechanical and Electrical Class to ask, but with Chen Hong along, things would be much easier to discuss.
The school teachers would still give face to the Principal's daughter.
Lin Jingjing had originally wanted to follow Lin Fan to play, but was called by Wang Shufang to help clean.
Wang Shufang was a hard worker. After cleaning the dormitory, she had nothing to do and remembered Lin Fan saying the Principal had originally arranged for her to clean.
Since she was idle anyway, she cleaned all around the dormitory, front and back.
Lin Fan wasn't idle either. He took Chen Hong directly to a scrap collection shop to see if they had the materials he needed.
He asked, "Boss! How much per jin for some steel pipes and angle steel?".
The boss saw a young man who was clearly from the countryside bringing a City girl to buy steel and immediately said, "My steel is all the best, thirty cents per jin."
Lin Fan stared at the boss and said, "Boss! That price is for new steel.
You collected this steel at less than ten cents per jin. I'll give you ten cents per jin."
The boss jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "That's impossible! I can't help for nothing! What do you know about the purchase price, kid?"
Lin Fan said, "I'm not just buying a few jin or a dozen jin; I want to buy over a hundred jin.
A better price for a larger quantity. Besides, if I buy scrap steel, you can send less to the steel mill; it's a win-win."
The boss thought for a moment, "Seeing as you know the trade, fifteen cents per jin, I can't go any lower."
Lin Fan said, "Eleven cents!"
The boss sized Lin Fan up and down and stopped talking. Lin Fan didn't say more either and said to Chen Hong, "Let's go to the next shop."
Seeing Lin Fan and the others had already walked three or four meters, the boss shouted from behind, "If you're serious, twelve cents."
Lin Fan turned back with a grin and picked out a few scrap steel pipes, several sections of angle steel, and steel bars. He looked carefully inside the pipes, only taking those he could see through.
Finally, he banged the steel pieces together violently, shaking out a lot of rust. The boss watched from the side, saying with heartache, "The price is so low, and you're still picking like this; I've lost big this time."
Lin Fan said with a smile, "The boss's steel is good; look, after shaking it for so long, there's not much debris on the ground."
The boss said heart-wrenchingly, "This pile is at least two jin. What were you looking for inside when you picked up the steel pipes just now?"
Lin Fan knew that many future scrap yards would pour sand into the middle of steel pipes after receiving them; this was a magic trick for making money.
It seemed this boss hadn't found the trick yet, and Lin Fan didn't plan on passing on such a path to wealth.
He just said, "I was checking if there was much rust inside, looking for some better ones."
At twelve cents a jin, after much bargaining, Lin Fan spent eighteen yuan to buy the pile of 150 jin of goods.
He also found three small paint buckets from the boss's scrap pile. This was like the old ladies in later generations asking for a few stalks of green onion when buying vegetables.
Lin Fan first gave a three-yuan deposit and asked the boss to deliver the goods to the school before paying the remaining fifteen yuan. The County Town wasn't large, and the school was only a few hundred meters away, so the boss agreed very readily.
Lin Fan went to a hardware store again, wanting to buy four wheels. When he asked the price, he was immediately stunned: the cheapest wheel cost five yuan, and to buy a suitable one, it was fifteen yuan each.
This clearly exceeded Lin Fan's plan. They didn't allow bargaining here, so Lin Fan clutched his pocket and could only give up on installing such wheels.
Returning to the scrap shop, Lin Fan helped the boss put the steel plates onto the flatbed cart. The boss held the handles, and he pulled on the shoulder strap beside him, putting in effort together.
He immediately won the boss's favor, who asked, "Young man! What are you buying this steel for?"
Lin Fan said with a smile, "To make a pushcart!"
"What's it for?"
"To push it out when setting up the stall and push it back when closing up.
A few spokes on your flatbed cart have some weak welds; I'll re-weld them for you later."
Hearing Lin Fan say this, the boss was suddenly happy, "That's great! I noticed it too, but just didn't have the chance to fix it.
Your pushcart is less than twenty yuan! People buying a ready-made pushcart have to pay at least over two hundred yuan. Yours is too cheap."
Chen Hong didn't know about these things. When she heard the price difference was so large, her eyes immediately widened, "Lin Fan! You're going to make over a hundred yuan!"
At this time, over a hundred yuan was already half a month's salary for her father, higher than her mother's salary at the Agricultural Machinery Factory.
Lin Fan said with a smile, "Uncle! You didn't count that those pushcarts also have iron plates on top and four wheels underneath.
And two of them are Universal wheels. Those four wheels alone are worth eighty or ninety yuan.
Plus the cost of paint, electricity... actually, they're only earning for their labor."
"That's true! Young man! You're a good person. If anyone wants a pushcart made, I'll recommend them to you."
Lin Fan quickly said, "Thank you, Uncle! When the time comes, I'll buy all my materials from your shop and give you a five-yuan referral fee."
"Then how much would you sell this pushcart for once it's made, including the wheels?"
Lin Fan quickly calculated the cost in his head and said, "One hundred and eighty yuan."
The two of them were pulling the flatbed cart, and when they saw the school gate, Lin Fan said to Chen Hong, "Chen Hong! Which teacher has the key to the Mechanical and Electrical Class's experimental Workshop? I'll go ask the teacher to borrow it in a bit."
Chen Hong looked at Lin Fan and said with a smile, "You want me to go get the key, don't you?"
Having his little scheme seen through, Lin Fan didn't feel embarrassed and nodded, "It'll definitely be easier if you go to Teacher Fang to get the key. Tell Teacher Fang that I'll pay a five-yuan usage fee."
Chen Hong said, "It's just for a bit of use, no need to pay."
"It must be paid! This is school property! Help me hand it over to the school's Finance Department and say it's just for this afternoon. Remember to get a receipt."