Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 53 Knife Skills

Xia Maosheng said, "I've been there. It's a wholesale market. People from the three northeastern provinces, Menggu, and northern Yibei all come here to get goods to sell back home. Some people even come from Tianjing. They sell hundreds of thousands of goods every day. They don't care whether ordinary people like us buy or not."

Chen Hui nodded and said, "Old Russian, even North Koreans come to this market to buy things. Well, let me put it this way, Xiao Hong, you'll get lost if you go by yourself. There are too many people, I can't even squeeze through."

Xiao Hong turned to look at Xiao Wei, who said, "What are you looking at me for? You still want to go? Just buy a sweater, let's look around the night market first. If we really don't like it, we can go to Wu'ai, okay? It's too early, don't you have school?"

Xiao Hong pouted and said, "There are no classes on Sundays. You don't go either."

Xiao Wei glanced at Chen Hui and asked, "How far is it from here?"

Chen Hui thought for a moment, then gestured and said, "It's about ten miles. Just walk east from where we sang tonight, no turning, it's about ten stops away. But there are no buses in the morning, you'll have to take a taxi, it'll cost about twenty yuan."

Xiao Hong asked, "Aren't there any cheap cars? So many people are going; they can't all take taxis, can they?"

Chen Hui said, "Most people from out of town come by car, park right outside the market, and go in to pick up their goods when it's time. Locals either have cars or they go there the night before and stay in small hotels nearby. It's not expensive, and they can get some more sleep. There are minibuses from the South Station to Wu'ai, but you can't take them. They're crowded and dilapidated, and it's a real ordeal. It costs five yuan per person, which isn't much cheaper."

Xiao Hong didn't believe her and said, "Doesn't the bus have seats? Where can you squeeze in?"

Chen Hui said, "Seats? Who's going to sit down? How many people can it carry? It's all small stools, and then there are people standing. It'll be packed until there's no more room. If you can grab a small stool, that's fine, but if you have to stand, you're in for a world of hurt. The bus is so low, you can't stand up straight at all. There's nowhere to grab on, you just have to bend over to get there."

Xia Maosheng said, "I've seen it, it really is like that. Back then, there was no distinction between men, women, and children, everyone was crammed together. I didn't dare to sit down."

Chen Hui thought for a moment and said, "Actually, we don't need to go that early. Getting there around nine o'clock is fine. By then, most of the people who were loading their goods will have left, and there will be fewer people. It's just that there isn't enough time. We can't see everything. The market is so big that it would take most of the day to walk around it from beginning to end."

Xiaohong said, "Then let's leave at 7:30, take the bus, and get there around 8:00, right?"

Xiao Wei glanced at Xiao Hong and said, "Let's go to the night market tomorrow first, and we'll see if it goes well."

Xiao Hong glanced at Xiao Wei, said "oh" and then fell silent.

After dinner, Xiao Hong tidied up, and Chen Hui went upstairs to go home. Xia Maosheng stayed in the empty room. Xiao Wei accompanied him into the room, turned on the light, and saw the military blankets on the bed. Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "You're really something, getting two in the dorm and another one at home, how many are there?"

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "Open your eyes wider. This is a military blanket. I bought it from the army. Try buying this set for forty yuan."

Xia Maosheng bent down, reached out and touched it, saying, "It really is different. I see that everything about you is military-grade. Do you have connections in the military?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No, my uncle bought it for me. He's a policeman, and he got a discount by showing his police ID. It still cost me over five or six hundred yuan. Besides, the stuff from the military is really good; it's lightweight and warm."

Xia Maosheng nodded, then shook his head and said, "The luggage is okay, but the clothes are too ugly. You're not short of money, so buy two nicer outfits. And your wife's side, she's a college student now, she needs to be more stylish, otherwise her classmates will laugh at her."

Xiao Wei thought about it for a moment and nodded. He really hadn't noticed this before. Xiao Hong never mentioned it. Today was the first time she said that her classmate's sweater was nice. Both of them were wearing sweaters that Xiao Hong's mother and Xiao Hong had knitted themselves.

In the early 90s, people's pursuit of clothing and appearance wasn't as intense as it is now. There was definitely a competitive mentality, but it wasn't that serious. Everyone was focused on making a living, and nobody wanted to waste money. However, the differences between urban and rural areas were still there, even greater than they are now. Back then, the two places were like two completely different and unconnected worlds.

After arranging for Xia Maosheng to come out, Xiao Hong had already gone back to her room. Xiao Wei went into his room, lay on the bed, and thought about what Xiao Hong was wearing and using, then about the girls in his class, and then about Li Na and the others. He had never paid attention before, but after a careful comparison, he found that it was indeed as Xia Maosheng said, the difference was quite big. In the county town, Xiao Hong's outfit was considered above average, but here it was incredibly rustic. It was a wonder that she hadn't come back to complain about it for so long since she went to school. Most of her classmates were from the city, so some of them must have laughed at her.

Why were there so many arrogant and domineering people in the 90s? Why was the gap between urban and rural areas so large in the 90s? Why were there such large regional differences in the 90s? It's all due to the lack of information flow. The saying "blinded by a leaf" and "arrogant and conceited" are simply reasons for having too little access to external information. As information becomes more readily available, these gaps are constantly narrowing. In 2017, it was not uncommon to see people in rural areas carrying expensive backpacks. People can know the whole world while sitting at home. With free flow of information, people's horizons broaden, and regional differences gradually disappear.

The next day, it was already quite late when Xiaowei and Xia Maosheng arrived at the Cultural Palace; Teacher Lan had already started lecturing. He had been thinking a lot the night before and had gone to bed late. Xia Maosheng, on the other hand, slept even more soundly in his comfortable bed; he could have slept all day if Xiaowei hadn't woken him.

Before sitting down, Xiao Wei glanced around the crowd and saw that neither Li Mingguang nor An Saijun were there. Xiao Wei didn't think much of it and sat down with Xia Maosheng to listen to the lecture.

Today we'll talk about knife skills.

Teacher Lan, true to her humor, drew a knife shape on the blackboard with chalk and said that her drawing was of a high standard and had the potential to become a world-famous painting, which was met with cheers from the students.

Straight knife, diagonal knife, cross knife, grid knife, peony knife, continuous knife, lantern knife, slice, pick, cut, chop, dice, slice, block, segment, shred, elephant eye slice, diagonal slice, crescent slice, anyway, everyone except Xiaowei listened with great interest. Xiaowei took a lot of notes, but his eyes were a blur, and he didn't understand anything. This kind of thing still needs to be practiced. He really couldn't understand it.

During their lunch break, Xiaowei and Xia Maosheng went to the restaurant on the first floor to find Li Na. They found her in the basement kitchen, so they went down the stairs. They'd been studying there for quite a while now, almost ten days, and this was the first time either of them had ever been downstairs.

Halfway down the stairs, a strong musty smell filled the air, and the stairwell became dark, illuminated only by a few fluorescent lights.

After going down the stairs and walking through a short, dark, and damp corridor, there was an open door from which came the sounds of people talking and cooking, with a faint smell of cooking oil wafting out.