Chapter 199 Lantern Festival

Cha Kuiyuan stared at the teacup blankly, his expression numb, and muttered, "That's a lot of money."

Wang Deming slowly picked up the teacup, used the tea lid to remove the foam, took a sip, and said coldly: "Which is more important, money or people?"

"This world is a cycle." Wang Deming continued to lower his eyes.

"Of course." Wang Deming sneered as he glanced at him, "What good are foreigners? You've seen them before. Isn't the nearby Hong Kong an example?"

"To put it nicely, they are third-class citizens. To put it bluntly, they are piglets! Why don't you slaughter pigs after they are fattened up?"

"As for the piglets who were trafficked to the West in the late Qing Dynasty and the laborers who were dispatched during the Republic of China period... Humph, the corpses of Chinese laborers are buried under every sleeper of the American Pacific Railway!"

Cha Kuiyuan was so frightened by what he said that he broke out in a cold sweat and was extremely panicked. "Then there is no place for people like us to stay?"

Wang Deming finally raised his head and looked at Cha Kuiyuan, but his eyes were not focused on him. It was as if he was looking into time and space far away.
Wang Deming retracted his gaze and looked directly at Cha Kuiyuan, questioning: "Now you and your second sister's monthly salary at the Chinese medicine factory is more than 1000 yuan, right? Isn't it enough for your expenses? You should know that the poverty line in Beijing is 5 yuan per month!"

"This..." Cha Kuiyuan was speechless.

"Desire is insatiable! Money is what you spend! Otherwise, what's the point of having so much money? Are you playing with numbers? Think about it carefully."

"Ahem!" Zhang Shouying coughed heavily at the door and came in. "Deming, have you two finished your chat?"

Wang Deming stood up to see him off, "We've finished the talk, but my second brother-in-law needs to think about it again."

"Well, OK." Zhang Shouying glanced at her distraught husband and said with a smile, "Deming, Shouchun, Diana and I have an appointment to go shopping and enjoy the lanterns together on the night of the Lantern Festival in two days."

"OK."

It is a coincidence this year that February 2, the last day of February, happens to be the Lantern Festival.

Seeing that the blame for the Chinese medicine factory was about to be thrown out, Wang Deming was in a good mood. He waved his hand and first visited Longfu Temple, then Wangfujing, then Dong'an Market, and finally went to Jixiang Theater to listen to an opera.

After the news of the transfer of shares of the Chinese medicine factory spread, people came to Zhang Shouchun one after another, asking about the transfer price in a roundabout way.

In the eyes of everyone, including Zhang Shouchun, the Chinese medicine factory is an old hen that can lay eggs continuously, and buying it is a profit!

Especially when Zhang Shouchun talked about the profits of the Chinese medicine factory last year, everyone became jealous. The investment channels in this era are much narrower than in the past!

It’s not that there is no shortage of materials, but you can’t find so many professional industrial workers! No matter what kind of business you start, you need to have the corresponding equipment, right? You need someone to do maintenance, right? You also need to know how to process, right?

Except for jobs like flour processing or textile factories, where practice makes perfect and one can do without being illiterate, why don’t you try other jobs?
As for flour processing or textile factories, you can do small business, but if you really want to make big money, haha, please ask the dozens of companies owned by the Rong family across the country first.

More than 90% of the country's illiterate people can be trained into a large number of excellent industrial workers, who will be readily available in a few decades, and transform an agricultural country into an industrial country with two bombs and one satellite. Do you really think it is a simple matter?

After I grew up and watched TikTok, I realized that in the eyes of many people, especially intellectuals, the first four steamed buns are useless after the fifth one is full! Ugh!
As night fell, all the lanterns in the house were powered on and lit. The group set out from Xiaojingchang in a mighty procession, boarded the black-brand Soviet minibus that Diana had called over, and headed south from Gulou East Street to Dongsi North Street.

Along the way, every household was decorated with lights and even the poorest families would hang two red lanterns with burning candles at the gate.

Not to mention the entrances of the shops, there are lotus lanterns, ingot lanterns, carp lanterns, bat lanterns, revolving lanterns, and tower lanterns, all of which are dazzling and colorful, attracting many people who go out shopping at night to shop in the shops.

The minibus was still some distance away from Dongsi Archway and could not move forward. The road was full of bustling people. Looking out from the car, the Dongsi Archway was brightly lit.

The intersection of Dongsi has always been a place with many businesses. Even Chinese medicine factories have shops here. Today, various revolving lanterns promoting Chinese medicine figures are hung out, including the King of Medicine Sun Simiao, the Medical Saint Zhang Zhongjing, Bian Que, Hua Tuo and others, as well as a guessing game about medicinal materials.

Wang Deming decided to just get off the car and start walking around from here. In order to protect the younger one, he picked up Chang Yichun and held Chang Renchun with one hand, while he and Alexei protected the women in the middle on the left and right.

Well. Actually, Diana didn't seem to need any protection. She was squeezed in the crowd, and when the sister saw some strange lanterns, she would chatter and clear the three feet of space around her immediately.

It's not because of anything else, blue eyes, brown and red hair, looks scary at night
The more this happened, the more excited the sister became. "De, look, this pony can actually run, and there are clouds around it, it's so beautiful! Can you help me ask how much it costs?"

Wang Deming simply ignored her. The merchants are now relying on this light to attract people to buy things. How much money will they lose by selling it to you tonight?

After a lot of effort, we finally reached the "Dongsi People's Market" on Zhushi Street, which was the former gate of Longfu Temple. There were even more people, and women would occasionally shout, "Don't push, my shoes are being squeezed off!"

Okay, let’s change the place. Continue south along Dongsi South Street, and then turn west to Dengshikou Street to reach Bamiancao.

There are two famous schools on Dengshikou Street: Yuying Center and Beiman Middle School, known as Yuying for boys and Beiman for girls. In 52, one was changed to Beijing No. Middle School and the other was changed to No. Middle School. Both became famous Red Flag Schools.

The school building of Yuying Center is the residence of Yan Song in the Ming Dynasty.

A famous person also lived in Fuqiang Hutong at the west end of Dengshikou Street: Shu Qingchun, pen name Lao She.

The All-China Women's Federation is also on Dengshikou Street.

Bamiancao is also very busy, but there are fewer people in the mall than in Dongsi People's Market, and the prices here are higher.

When arriving in Yichun and Renchun, the first thing you see on Dong'anmen Street is the "Yili Food Store" with candy-shaped lanterns hanging on it.

"Uncle, let's go buy some candy!"

"Row!"

We bought a lot of candies, including chocolates, White Rabbit, and Yili bread. Everyone was a little tired, so we just walked to the entrance of Cuihua Building.

"Come on, go in, have a cup of tea and take a rest."

(End of this chapter)