Chapter 144: Since Big Boss Cheng knows how to have fun, I'll just play along!

"Go get the bicycle ticket! Didn't you say you'd go this afternoon, Big Brother Cheng?"

Feng Jiamo, the younger sister-in-law, had not yet realized she knew far too much. Looking clueless and eager to squeeze in for a peek, she was blocked outside by Cheng Xuemin, who said, "Ah, yes, yes, going to get you a bicycle ticket!"

"It's all muddy inside, don't dirty your shoes, don't go in!"

"Big Brother Cheng, what are you guys doing? Do you really need to renovate on such a grand scale?" The sister-in-law remained suspicious, clearly unable to comprehend what was actually being done inside.

Stretching her neck and peering in for a couple of glances, she still asked doubtfully, "Such a huge vat, what on earth are you and my sister up to behind my back?"

When she saw something that looked like a giant water vat—yet not quite—sitting inside, her suspicion only deepened.

She was simply too unlettered and inexperienced.

"Guess!"

Ignoring her, Cheng Xuemin came out to tidy up and cleaned himself up thoroughly.

"I know!"

"Big Brother Cheng, is this like the one in that movie *Manhunt*? Is this a bathtub for taking baths?"

"Right, right, right, it's a big bathtub!"

The sister-in-law turned her head, trying to recall where she had seen such a giant vat before.

Youth meant a good memory.

Besides, the Japanese dubbed film *Manhunt* was practically the first foreign movie their generation had ever seen when the country opened its doors.

The extremely modern people and objects within it had a terrifyingly powerful impact on these young, innocent girls.

As long as something from the movie was available for sale domestically, people would follow the trend.

Take the flare pants from *Manhunt*, for instance. They weren't completely unheard of in China before, but they had always languished on shelves, failing to catch on or gain social acceptance.

Yet once *Manhunt* was screened, the female protagonist's stylish flare pants instantly captured the eyes and devotion of countless female students and comrades.

Sister-in-law Feng Jiamo had followed the trend and bought a pair, and flare pants were precisely what she was wearing right now.

Therefore, it was no surprise that she could connect the dots through the movie and recognize the big bathtub before her.

"Big Brother Cheng, where on earth did you get such a huge bathtub?! If you pour hot water into this and lie down inside, it really wouldn't get any more comfortable!"

"Oh, the floor isn't dry yet?"

Overwhelmed by novelty, the sister-in-law completely disregarded Cheng Xuemin's earlier warning that the cement floor wasn't dry yet and she shouldn't ruin her shoes by walking on it.

Having identified the giant bathtub and imagining how she could lie inside and soak in the future, she instantly surged forward with a burst of enthusiasm, wanting to be the first to have a look and try it out.

Little did she know, the moment she stepped down, her little foot and shoe sank deep into the cement, leaving her dumbfounded on the spot.

"I told you not to go in, not to go in, but you just wouldn't listen. Now you're dumbfounded, aren't you?"

"Let's go!"

After cleaning up, Cheng Xuemin exchanged a few parting words with the three masonry masters, then urged his sister-in-law to leave quickly.

Fortunately, the bathtub and showerhead had just been successfully installed; the next step was simply to hook up the outdoor tap water, and the project would be virtually complete.

As for the cover slab of the outdoor septic tank, the masonry master had already poured it yesterday according to Cheng Xuemin's specifications, and it was now left outside the courtyard to dry thoroughly.

The cement cover hardened quickly, and technically it could be placed directly over the tank today to seal it completely, but Cheng Xuemin had to leave now and couldn't supervise the process on-site.

"Big Brother Cheng, Big Brother Cheng, besides that room with the big bathtub for soaking, that white thing you can sit on... that's for, you know, doing *that*, right?"

Feng Jiamo emerged with cement all over her shoe, pointing toward the flush toilet inside, gesturing with a mix of extreme excitement and shy embarrassment.

Clearly, she had recognized that as well.

Big Brother Cheng was a total genius!

Not only had he managed to get the big bathtub that the foreign women in *Manhunt* used for bathing, but he had even concocted an outhouse where you could just sit down to pee!

Doesn't that mean in the dead of winter nights, she wouldn't have to brave the cold to run to the outdoor latrine to do her business anymore?

She could do it right inside her own home?

And early in the morning from now on, her mother wouldn't have to yell at her to go empty the chamber pot anymore!

At this thought, sister-in-law Feng Jiamo couldn't possibly be any more ecstatic.

Realizing that a door seemed to have been opened in that room connecting directly to the master bedroom in the east wing, sister-in-law Feng Jiamo's expression shifted as she reacted with even greater excitement:

"Big Brother Cheng, Big Brother Cheng, I'm not living in the west wing anymore!"

"Let you and my sister have the west wing, can I live in this room instead?"

Feng Jiamo ran over, babbling excitedly while using a discarded piece of packaging paper from the courtyard to simply wipe the cement off her shoe.

"You've got quite an imagination! You'd better ask your sister if she agrees first!"

Cheng Xuemin was genuinely amused by this innocent, carefree sister-in-law who didn't treat her brother-in-law as an outsider at all!

Daring to usurp her own sister's master bedroom?

"Hehe, I suppose my sister won't agree!" Feng Jiamo stuck out her tongue, gave a sheepish laugh, and said, "Then I'll just live in this side room! It's closer to that room!"

The sister-in-law had high ambitions, but knowing her sister certainly wouldn't consent, she settled for her second choice: living in the eastern side room.

The location of the side room was similarly close to the restroom, separated only by a narrow corridor, and its doorway sat diagonally opposite the restroom door leading into the courtyard, making nighttime toilet trips quite convenient.

Of course, if Cheng Xuemin locked the restroom door from the inside, the sister-in-law wouldn't be able to sneak in during the dead of night either.

"That's totally fine!"

Seeing that the sister-in-law had directly abandoned the west wing second bedroom and chosen the side room close to the toilet, Cheng Xuemin gave it a thumbs-up of absolute approval!

Because even if the sister-in-law hadn't brought it up herself, her sister would have chased her out directly when the time came to move in.

Either move to the front courtyard and stop being an eyesore, or ruin the private two-person world in the backyard simply by having a sister-in-law hanging around, which sometimes negatively affected the mental and physical development of a young sister-in-law if things got too lively.

Besides, the west wing had to be left vacant anyway; what if Cheng Xuemin's parents occasionally came over to visit their grandchildren in the future? They needed a place to stay, didn't they?

He couldn't possibly banish his parents to the side rooms or utility rooms, could he?

So when the family originally came to look at the house, sister-in-law Feng Jiamo had directly claimed the west wing of the backyard. Everyone in the family was happy at the time, and no one had thought deeply about it.

"Alright, it's a deal then! Once you get this place ready, Big Brother Cheng, I want to be the first one in to take a bath!"

The sister-in-law hopped up and down with excitement. How had they gotten here?

They had walked!

That meant Cheng Xuemin would just have to ride his bicycle and give her a ride one last time, heading to the pigeon market first.

They didn't come away empty-handed this time; the street-smart hustler was indeed idling around the pigeon market in the afternoon, officially open for business.

Seeing Cheng Xuemin as a repeat customer, the hustler couldn't possibly have been more thrilled!

Looking for a bicycle ticket?

Though tricky to secure, he happened to have several on hand.

He had Phoenix brand, Forever brand, Pigeon brand, and Red Flag brand!

It was fair to say that the kid possessed corresponding tickets for all four major bicycle brands currently popular on the market.

Yes!

Bicycle tickets, television tickets, washing machine tickets, and the like in this era were not standardized!

Instead, each manufacturer had its own production quotas and respective ration tickets.

The television ticket Cheng Xuemin had scored last time was for the domestic Flying Deer brand, so that specific ticket could only be used to purchase a Flying Deer television and not a Plum Blossom Deer one, let alone an imported model, which required an imported television ticket instead.

The bicycle tickets of the present era operated on the exact same principle: the ticket from a specific brand could only buy a bicycle of that exact brand.

"Phoenix brand, Phoenix brand, Big Brother Cheng, I want the Phoenix brand!"

Before Cheng Xuemin could even speak, Feng Jiamo eagerly piped up.

"How much for the Phoenix brand?"

Cheng Xuemin's face darkened. This sister-in-law was far too impatient; this move would surely force him to shell out several extra yuan.

Although the tickets for the four major domestic bicycle factories didn't officially differ in status or value, Phoenix had recently released a lightweight women's bicycle model that was infinitely more stylish to ride around on than the traditional heavy-duty utility bikes.

Consequently, the Phoenix brand had swept the streets and alleys.

Especially among women!

Whenever buying a bicycle was mentioned, everyone clamored exclusively for the Phoenix brand, so there was a high likelihood that the Phoenix bicycle ticket was pricier than the other three brands.

Especially since this hustler would undoubtedly seize upon the sister-in-law's desperate eagerness and take the opportunity to jack up the price.

Having dealt with him before, Cheng Xuemin knew this ticket scalper's asking prices were ruthless.

Last time, the television ticket had started at an outright 150 yuan.

Yet Ge You had told them the day before that he could secure a domestic television ticket for just 50 yuan.

One could only imagine how predatory the scalper's initial quotes were.

Fortunately, Cheng Xuemin had slashed the price right down the middle back then, holding firm at 70 yuan, meaning he had only lost around twenty yuan.

So if the sister-in-law had possessed any patience, she could have waited for Old Ge to drop by and asked him to help score a bicycle ticket, saving several yuan in the process.

Regrettably, the sister-in-law was far too impatient, wishing Cheng Xuemin could get the ticket right this second and immediately rush to the department store to buy the bicycle.

"Ah, the Phoenix brand! So many people want to trade for this one, and it looks like I only have this last one left!"

Sure enough!

The scalper began his psychological warfare, spouting nonsense about it being the "last one"—who on earth would believe that?!

Bicycle tickets weren't television tickets; they weren't that rare!

"How about this!"

"Brother, we're old acquaintances now. The Phoenix brand is pretty much the same as the others—how does fifty sound to you?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, the hustler tossed out a figure to Cheng Xuemin.

"Fifty yuan! Big Brother Cheng, Big Brother Cheng!"

Hearing that the bicycle ticket only cost fifty yuan—matching the exact fifty yuan her sister had mentioned—it fell right within budget.

Her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly urged Cheng Xuemin to make the trade immediately.

"Too expensive!"

"I'll give you twenty at most!"

Cheng Xuemin genuinely wanted to kick this sister-in-law aside. It wasn't her money being spent, so why was she treating cash like it grew on trees?

Fifty yuan, indeed—the kid certainly had the nerve to ask!

With the experience of halving a price last time and still taking a slight hit, Cheng Xuemin directly slashed the price in half and knocked off another twenty percent.

He had half a mind to cut the price in half and then halve it again, but he feared the guy might chase him down with a stick.

From what he roughly understood and investigated, the price of various ration tickets hovered around one-tenth of the actual commodity's price.

For example, the Flying Deer television he bought was priced at 450 yuan, so the resale price of its television ticket sat around 45 yuan.

With Old Ge's verification, that was fairly accurate, meaning Cheng Xuemin had played the fool by paying 70 yuan last time.

So he had to be careful this time!

Knowing that a Phoenix women's bicycle retailed for 230 yuan, the corresponding bicycle ticket should reasonably cost around twenty-odd yuan.

This scumbag had boldly demanded fifty yuan right off the bat—clearly an instance of price-gouging!

Twenty yuan?

Hearing Big Brother Cheng ruthlessly slash the price straight down to twenty yuan, sister-in-law Feng Jiamo was left utterly dumbfounded, her mouth agape wide enough to stuff a goose egg.

She thought to herself that Big Brother Cheng must have lost his mind!

The guy asked for fifty, and not only did you cut it in half, you slashed it straight to twenty—did you really take the man for an absolute idiot?

Yet, to sister-in-law Feng Jiamo's utter disbelief, the fellow *was* indeed an idiot.

The moment Big Brother Cheng dropped the price to twenty yuan, the idiot on the opposite side blurted out: "Deal! My brother really knows his stuff! Twenty it is. I've made up my mind to be friends with you, brother—what a straight shooter!"

He spoke as if afraid Big Brother Cheng might go back on his word.

This left sister-in-law Feng Jiamo's eyeballs rolling out of her head and clattering onto the ground once more.

That actually worked?!

However, Cheng Xuemin's inner reaction was: *Damn it, I still cut it too little!*

He still hadn't fully grasped the scalper's market; if he had initially aimed for fifteen yuan, the hustler probably would have agreed just as readily.

Still, words spoken were like spilled water—one word from his mouth carried the weight of iron nails, so he couldn't slash it any further.

Twenty was twenty, then!

Even if the hustler managed to make a profit, it couldn't be much. Given that the base price of a Phoenix women's bicycle was right there, the ticket price couldn't possibly drop below fifteen yuan anyway!

Damn it!

Suddenly, Cheng Xuemin realized where his miscalculation in bargaining lay.

He had consistently used the retail price of the *women's* Phoenix bicycle to deduce the ticket's price, completely overlooking the fact that the Phoenix bicycle ticket might not be priced according to the women's model!

Rather, it was based on the standard heavy-duty Phoenix utility bike, which retailed for 180 yuan!

That Phoenix bicycle ticket didn't stipulate it could only buy the women's model; it was a universal ticket issued by the Phoenix factory.

Therefore, any backward calculation should have been based on the 180-yuan heavy-duty bike.

Thus, that Phoenix ticket should naturally hover around seventeen or eighteen yuan, meaning the hustler still profited an extra two or three yuan. No wonder he agreed with such alacrity!

Friendship, my foot!

Cheng Xuemin resolved that this would be the last time; he would never patronize this kid's business again!

And for good reason!

The kid openly engaged in speculation and profiteering year-round at the pigeon market. If he didn't quit while he was ahead, he would undoubtedly face a firing squad three or four years down the line.

Consequently, it was best to minimize interactions with him from now on.

Once Cheng Xuemin expanded his social circle in the future, he could easily ask Old Ge and the others to help hunt down tickets. There was truly no need to deal with scalpers and risk getting burned.

With the bicycle ticket secured, the sister-in-law eagerly pestered Cheng Xuemin to go buy the bicycle right then and there.

Seeing the pitiful, pleading look on his sister-in-law's face, Cheng Xuemin couldn't harden his heart to refuse. After all, he had promised her days ago, and she had been obsessing over it constantly.

However, he still needed to use this as leverage to seal her lips.

Going to buy the bicycle right now was fine, but she must absolutely not breathe a word to her sister about the big bathtub and restroom at the new house.

To his surprise, the sister-in-law nodded repeatedly, declaring she understood—she understood completely that it was meant to be a huge surprise for her sister!

"Isn't this the kind of trick you always pull, Big Brother Cheng?"

She would cooperate and simply keep her mouth shut around her sister!

Armed with the sister-in-law's guarantee, Cheng Xuemin finally agreed to take her to buy the bicycle.

They didn't head all the way to the department store, as that was too far.

Instead, they made a short trip to Xidan North Street, where he bought her the long-desired Phoenix women's bicycle at a local department store, costing him 230 yuan.

The moment the bicycle was in her hands, the sister-in-law turned into a caged bird let loose, mounting the bike and vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

That sister-in-law!

Reaching back to touch his own waist, Cheng Xuemin wondered if something felt missing behind him.

He had originally intended to take his sister-in-law to register the bicycle license while the afternoon light still held.

Alas, she was already long gone, so she would just have to figure out that errand herself next time; Cheng Xuemin had no desire to run that marathon for her again.

A bicycle license plate was equally indispensable, or else being caught riding without one on the main streets would result in direct confiscation.

Bicycle regulations were that strict in this era.

Of course, bikes still got stolen all the same, and failing to recover them was equally guaranteed!

The so-called bicycle license was merely a serial number stamped into the metal frame of the bike; bicycle thieves simply scrubbed off the stamp and re-registered a new license, making loopholes far too easy to exploit.

Riding the brand-new bicycle home naturally sparked a wave of excitement.

Being a brand-new Phoenix women's model fresh on the market, everyone cast envious glances at it.

To say nothing of the two sisters-in-law, Ke Yumei and Sun Juan, even Feng Jiayou herself looked on with envy, suggesting she swap her heavy-duty utility bike with Feng Jiamo so she could keep the brand-new one for herself.

Could sister-in-law Feng Jiamo ever agree to that? What was already beneath her backside was not about to be stolen by anyone.

With a television to watch and a brand-new bicycle to roam around on, Cheng Xuemin finally enjoyed a rare couple of quiet days, managing to complete a portion of his manuscripts and picture books.

He planned to head over to Peking University Library tomorrow morning to find Chen Shumin, hand over the first draft of *My Corps Years*, and let him start finalizing the edition and arranging for printing.

In the afternoon, he intended to deliver the first and second volumes of the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* manhua to the People's Literature Publishing House, and conveniently pick up his royalty payment slip for *Years of Agony and Ecstasy*.

His wife had been relentlessly prodding him; her personal little private vault was facing a severe cash crunch, and she was counting on this wave of income from Cheng Xuemin to replenish it.

……

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