Chapter 43 Buying a Bicycle
On Sunday, Li Shengli took out a small cloth bag from the bottom of the clothes box. Inside was a passbook and the money and tickets that Li Shengli had saved for a year. The meat and grain tickets had been used long ago. Li Shengli counted out twenty big black ten notes from it.

Holding the money and ticket, Li Shengli excitedly got on the bus to Xidan Market. Large items like bicycles are not available in ordinary supply and marketing cooperatives, only this kind of large market has them, and they are often out of stock in the market.

When Li Shengli arrived at Xidan Shopping Mall, he went straight to the place where bicycles were sold. Buses are too crowded these days, and there are all kinds of people on the buses, so it is better to have a bicycle of your own.

When he arrived at the place where bicycles were sold, Li Shengli looked at the bicycles displayed outside and began to look around at them.

The brand new seat, brand new frame and brand new wheels are still shining.

"Comrade, I want to buy a bicycle. Do you have a ticket?" The older woman at the counter was bored. When she saw a young man gathering around bicycles, she raised her head and shouted.

There are not many tickets these days, so many young people come here and always touch the bicycles. The lady at the counter has seen this so many times that she is afraid that these young people will damage the bicycles.

Li Shengli was not annoyed after hearing what the lady at the counter said. They were all state-owned enterprises nowadays and the tone of their speech was the same.

"Big sister, I have the ticket. What brands of bicycles do you have?"

"We have tickets." The lady at the counter looked at Li Shengli suspiciously. Where did this young guy get the tickets?
"We have Forever's 28-inch bicycle and Fei Ge's 26-inch women's bicycle." The lady at the counter put aside her doubts and walked out of the counter and said to Li Shengli.

"Can I see this Forever 28-inch bicycle?"

"Of course you can, young man. Are you sure you want to buy it?" The lady at the counter looked at Li Shengli suspiciously again.

This time Li Shengli didn't say much, but took out the twenty industrial coupons he had saved from his pocket.

The lady at the counter looked at Lee Seung-ri and the ticket in his hand in surprise, nodded, and took Lee Seung-ri to the bicycle and unlocked it.

“You try it, all the bicycles in the store are here.” The female clerk pointed to the place where the bicycles were placed.

Although he has seen many electric bicycles and cars, the 28-inch bicycle is rarely seen in later generations. Li Shengli tried it out and found that the materials used in today's bicycles are very exquisite.

Li Shengli only checked whether the vehicle connections were loose, whether the bell was damaged, whether the rims were deformed, the locks and seats were in good condition, the handlebars did not make any "squeaking" sounds due to lack of oil, and the chain was neither too tight nor too loose.

"These are all new cars, there's nothing wrong with them." The lady at the counter said as she watched Li Shengli's actions. All the cars that come to buy cars have this problem, and the lady at the counter is used to it.

"Young man, what kind of job do you do? How did you collect the tickets so quickly?" the lady at the counter asked curiously.

The lady at the counter had never seen such a young person coming to buy a car with industrial coupons. It was not easy to accumulate these coupons. Those who could afford it usually came with their parents, and several families had to accumulate enough coupons to get enough.

"Hey, sister, I'm a cook." Li Shengli said while test driving the car.

"A cook." The older sister nodded, knowing that the cook had no shortage of food and drink, and sometimes he could even go out to take on private jobs, which earned him a lot of money. As for whether the tickets were bought from ticket scalpers, that was none of her business.

"Let's take this one." After trying the car, Li Shengli nodded and patted the seat of the car in his hand.

"Okay, the total is one hundred and sixty-eight yuan." Li Shengli paid the money and the ticket, took the ticket issued by the lady at the counter, rode his bicycle to the police station near the courtyard, spent three yuan to get a code and get a certificate.

I passed by a car repair stall and bought a car lock.

After completing all the formalities, Li Shengli rode his bike humming a little tune as he drove towards the courtyard. Passing by the vegetable market, Li Shengli bought some seasonal vegetables and used up all his meat coupons to buy two taels of meat. It was not so difficult now as he could still buy some meat occasionally.

"We workers are powerful. We are busy with work every day..." With vegetables and wrapped meat hanging on the handlebars, Li Shengli hummed as he rode to the gate of the courtyard. People along the way looked at the brand new bicycle under Li Shengli's crotch with envious eyes.

When he arrived at the gate, Li Shengli got off the bike and pushed it into the courtyard.

The third uncle came back from fishing. He was a little confused when he saw Li Shengli pushing a bike in. Li Shengli was pushing a bicycle back.

"Shengli, is this your new bike?" Yan Bugui's voice was trembling, and his tone was full of disbelief. "You collected enough tickets so quickly?"

"Yes, Uncle Third, it's all thanks to the leader's care." Li Shengli hinted that these tickets were given by the leader as a special favor.

Yan Bugui understood and looked at the bicycle in Li Shengli's hand with envy. This was the first one in the courtyard. Xu Damao's didn't count. Xu Damao's was provided by the factory for use in the countryside.

"Oh, this is a big happy event! We have to treat our neighbors to a meal!" Yan Bugui said with a smile.

He is well-known for being calculating. If he can get a meal at someone else's house, he will definitely not light a fire or cook himself. He will save every meal possible.

"Oh, Third Uncle, this is unfortunate. You see, I have bought a car and I don't have money to treat us to a meal. Let's talk about it later." This old man Yan really knows how to talk about treating people to a meal. These days, everything is rationed and he has a lot of money to burn, so he might as well treat the whole hospital to a meal. Li Shengli turned around and left.

"No, if you don't invite others, please invite me, your uncle." Yan Bugui shouted behind Li Shengli.

Li Shengli ignored Yan Bugui and pushed the car back to his home. He parked the car under the eaves and locked it. He had to lock it. There were so many unconscious people in the yard and who knows when the car would become a public one.

"What's wrong, Old Yan? Why is he shouting outside?" The third aunt heard the noise at the door and came out.

"Li Shengli next door bought a car." Yan Bugui pointed towards Li Shengli's door and motioned the three aunts to look over there.

"Li Shengli bought a car? Where did he get the ticket?" Auntie Three said in surprise.

"Well, it's not easy for him to get the industrial coupons for just a cook." Yan Bugui was not that surprised. A while ago, Li Shengli often came home late because he had gone out to take private jobs.

"No, I have to go and take a look." Yan Bugui looked again and again, but still couldn't help it. After saying that, he walked towards Li Shengli's house.

"Victory, victory?" Yan Bugui knocked on Li Shengli's door.

"Uncle, what's up?" Li Shengli asked in surprise when he opened the door and saw Yan Bugui standing at the door with an excited look on his face.

(End of this chapter)