Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 16: For Family Harmony

The money that Tao Yushu took away was the salary that Lin Chaoyang earned as a teacher in the past few years. He was a teacher in the team school. He earned ten work points a day when he was teaching, and ten work points when he was not teaching. In Xiaoyangtun in recent years, one work point was worth five cents, which was basically fifteen yuan a month.

In addition, the county education bureau also provides subsidies of ten yuan per quarter, which is equivalent to three yuan and thirty yuan per month, and is called the "inexorable three yuan and thirty yuan."

This 18 yuan was Lin Chaoyang's monthly income in the past few years. Before he got married, he had saved more than 300 yuan.

We have only been married for half a year, and his pockets are cleaner than his face.

Now I work as a librarian at Yanda University. My salary seems to have increased, to 47 yuan a month, which is a leap compared to my previous income.

But when he thought about the fact that all this money would just pass through his hands in the future, Lin Chaoyang felt that his life was bleak and his future was hopeless.

So what does marriage bring to men?
Tao Yushu saw that he was in a low mood. Although she was obsessed with money, she still had some conscience and left some change for Lin Chaoyang.

Sixteen dollars and thirty cents.

When Lin Chaoyang met the Tao family for the first time, all the clothes he wore were bought by her. The only thing that made her feel a little lacking was the pair of shoes on his feet.

Now that he had money, Tao Yushu decided to buy him a pair of leather shoes.

Lin Chaoyang was quite happy at first, but then he thought something was wrong.

It's my money that I'm spending. When will I be able to have a hard time eating this gigolo?
"I'll buy you a watch during the Chinese New Year!"

Tao Yushu eliminated Lin Chaoyang's dissatisfaction with one sentence. He was not vain, but these days were not like later times, and it was indeed convenient to have a watch to check the time.

A watch that costs one or two hundred yuan costs several months' salary, which is considered a luxury for the working class.

"By the way, Dad just praised you and said that you are ambitious." Tao Yushu said.

"Nothing much, just borrowed a book."

Lin Chaoyang knew that this girl was trying to curry favor with him again, so he told himself not to be fooled and at the same time thought about how to generate income.

The piggy bank is gone, the salary is gone, and if we don’t generate some income, how are we going to live in the future?
A rich person lying down is called a salted fish, while a poor person lying down is called a livelier.

He hummed and hawed in response to Tao Yushu's words. After a while, the girl took out her book and started studying.

When he was at home, Lin Chaoyang thought that Tao Yushu was just pretending to read at night. But after he came back, he found that most of her free time was filled with studying.

You know what, my wife’s profile looks really pretty when she’s studying hard!

Looking at the beauty under the light, she has a typical oval face, the face shape of a classical beauty. Her nose is a little hump, but it does not affect her beauty. Instead, it adds a bit of girlishness. After returning to the city for more than half a year, her skin has become white and rosy, like a peeled egg. The more you look at her, the more you like her.

Lin Chaoyang stared at Tao Yushu for a while, but she didn't notice at all. After watching for a while, Lin Chaoyang felt bored and started reading "Long Live Youth" which he borrowed today.

At about 8:30, Tao's mother knocked on the door.

When Lin Chaoyang saw Tao's mother, he thought about paying for the food. Unfortunately, he was short of money at the moment, so he turned his attention to Tao Yushuo.

She reluctantly counted out a stack of bills and handed them to Mother Tao. "Fifty cents a day for food. There are still twenty-nine days in this month. A total of twenty-nine dollars for the two of us. Here you go!"

Mother Tao looked at her with displeasure, muttering, "Debt collector!"

After closing the door, Tao Yushu looked melancholy, "One dollar a day, that's three hundred and sixty-five dollars a year."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. "You have to look at the problem from a different angle. Your monthly subsidy is 22.5 yuan, and my monthly salary is 47 yuan, a total of 69.5 yuan. I give 30 yuan to my family every month, and I still have nearly 40 yuan left."

Tao Yushu was an educated youth who went to the countryside. According to the state's decision, the length of time spent in the production team was used as a reference for length of service. After five years, he could enjoy the highest standard of scholarship, which was a subsidy of 5 yuan per month. "No money for lunch at school? It's cents a day for the two of us, and yuan a month, which leaves yuan. Do I need to pay for school supplies and books? And daily necessities, clothes, shoes..."

The smile on Lin Chaoyang's face froze there. After calculating it this way, it seemed to be true.

With a monthly income of 70 yuan, I can barely make ends meet.

Living in Yanjing is indeed not easy.

The flame of income generation in his heart burned again. If he had this idea just now just for his own petty bourgeois life, now he was fighting for the survival of the proletariat.

After thinking for a long time, Lin Chaoyang still had no idea.

The reason is very simple. It is September of 1977 or 1978, and the spirit of reform and opening up has not yet taken off. It is not easy to make money.

It is definitely not possible to do business. Firstly, I don’t have the time and energy, and secondly, I don’t have the capital.

Forget about him, even if Ma Huateng came, it wouldn’t work either!

When the rentier class doesn't work, the choice is now simple: either sell technology, sell knowledge, or sell physical strength.

He was thinking about his own income-generating business, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the desk, disturbing Tao Yushu who was studying hard.

"Stop knocking."

Lin Chaoyang restrained himself a little, and Tao Yushu put away the "History of Chinese Literature" in his hand and picked up a newspaper.

It is the Wenhui Daily in Shanghai.

"Do you also study this newspaper?"

"This is an assignment. Let's write a literary review of a novel."

Tao Yushu replied to Lin Chaoyang and focused her attention on the newspaper. This was not the first time she had read the novel, but this time she had to read it word for word in order to write a review article.

"Scars", author: Lu Xinhua.

At this moment, Lin Chaoyang felt blessed.

The 1980s were approaching, and although reform and opening up were in full swing, literature was just as popular.

There was a long queue outside the bookstore, with buyers queuing all night to buy books; couples dated in the English corner, saying sweet words in broken language...

Soon, the literary whirlwind that began in the late 1970s swept across China. Whether cadres, workers, students, or men, women, young or old, people were addicted to the feast of literary renaissance. It was because of this greedy absorption that the literature of the 1980s became glorious and brilliant.

Lin Chaoyang thought of the book "Yenching Literature and Art" that Zhang Yaozhong showed off on the train. If a book of that level could be published, he was a literary youth when he was young, so there was no reason why it couldn't be published.

Besides, if he is not good enough, can't he just pay tribute to him?
The key is……

Lin Chaoyang looked at Tao Yushu who was reading a book intently. His wife seemed to be a hard-working student. Even for the sake of family harmony, he had to package himself as a cultured person!

Thinking of this, his eyes showed an unprecedented firmness.

Yes, I did all this for the sake of family harmony.

(End of this chapter)