Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 118 Agreement and Driver's License

A few minutes later, Xia Maosheng came in with a pen and a document.

Back then, the typing and copying industry hadn't even been born yet, and Windows 95 hadn't been released. You couldn't buy printing paper, which was basically knife-cut paper, in the general public. You could only buy manuscript paper or student notebooks, which were too soft and brittle to preserve.

At this time, only government agencies are using thick and sturdy paper.

In this era, there was no emphasis on saving paper, and dot-matrix printing could not print double-sided, so documents were printed on one side only, which was perfect for writing.

Xia Maosheng, panting heavily, handed the paper and pen to Xiaowei and said, "You write. My handwriting is too ugly. I'm going to keep this for many years to show my wife and children. My handwriting is not good enough."

Xiao Wei had already accepted Xia Maosheng's explanation. He sat up, rolled his eyes, and asked, "Should I sign it for you?"

Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "Okay, just write it nicely, as long as your fingerprint is on it, it's fine." He showed the inkpad in his hand.

The two sat on the bed, head to head, and discussed and wrote an agreement, explaining the course of events, the method of cooperation, and finally clarifying the profit-sharing ratio. They signed and sealed the agreement, each keeping a copy.

At Xia Maosheng's request, Xiaowei's salary was increased. In his words, he wanted to leave no room for future arguments or unpleasantness.

He looked at the agreement over and over, then carefully folded it and put it in his inner pocket. Xia Maosheng lay back on the bed, one hand covering the agreement outside his clothes, and exclaimed, "This is money! Haha, I was just thinking of doing a job for three months to make a little pocket money, but I never expected to hit the jackpot like this. Xiao Wei, you're my lucky star! Since I met you, I've realized my luck has improved by more than a little bit. And you're smarter than me, so I'll follow you from now on, haha. I'm going to buy a Santana, drive it back and show it to my dad, to see if his son is successful or not."

Xiao Wei was actually quite excited at this moment. He didn't know if coming to Chaoyang was the right or wrong decision, and with his experience, he couldn't judge it. He was just following his gut feeling. He put the agreement in his pocket, lay down on the bed, and turned to look at Xia Maosheng, asking, "Do you have a driver's license?"

Xia Maosheng paused for a moment, then sat up and said, "How about we ask Li Xing to get us each a driver's license? That's not easy to get, you have to take time off work, and it takes two years. Forget it, let's just ask him to help us. Come on, we're free today, let's take some pictures. We'll go find him tomorrow after we get the house, and let him come and get acquainted with the place. We'll need these guys in the future."

Xiao Wei, completely bewildered, was pulled out of bed by Xia Maosheng, put on his shoes, and followed him outside. A driver's license? He can get a driver's license like that?

These days, photo studios are no longer the privately owned, head-covering cameras of the past. Those old-fashioned cameras with glass backs are a thing of the past. People no longer need to specify the color of their clothes or whether they should wear lipstick when taking photos. Back then, photographers had to manually color the photos on the back.

At this time, most photo studios in China were either privately owned or contracted out, and the machines they used were all Japanese brands such as Ricoh, Minolta, or Canon. Domestically produced cameras had never entered photo studios.

However, there's a problem with taking photos now: you have to wait. He has to finish taking photos of the whole roll before he'll develop them, so the time is unpredictable. If you're in a hurry, you'll have to pay extra. He'll break the roll apart for you, but it's not much, just the cost of the film. Actually, he can cut out a few photos that you can still use later.

At that time, the most popular film rolls in China were Kodak and Fuji, specifically color film. Lucky Film was the only domestic brand that could compete with foreign brands, but it still lagged behind in color film, while its black and white film was far ahead. Actually, the quality of Lucky Film was already quite good, completely on par with American and Japanese brands, but in the minds of many Chinese people, foreign products were still considered better.

In the 80s and 90s, the government actually promoted this message, saying that we were so far behind others, that we had done many stupid things like exchanging pearls for methamphetamine, and that we had connected with and cooperated with advanced foreign countries.

At that time, China still had some advanced technologies and products, or even surpassed foreign countries in certain aspects. But our leaders didn't believe it. Wasn't that nonsense? How could we, so backward, possibly surpass others? They quickly sought out foreign friends to come and see, and as a result, the technology became theirs. Or they would trade pork ribs for cabbage, much to the surprise of the foreigners, who then realized how easily China could be fooled.

……

In the early 90s, there weren't many photo studios, and there weren't many wedding photo studios either. It was just a small dark room with a red or blue cloth hanging on the wall. The better ones had a seamless background, while the worse ones just had a stool.

The two of them asked around and searched, and finally found a photo studio hidden in an alley. At that time, there were no dedicated storefronts; they all started working from their own homes or in cheap houses.

After taking the photos and paying for the expedited service, the two of them strolled down the street with barely suppressed excitement. Everything looked beautiful to them, and even the northwest wind felt gentle and warm.

As I wandered around, I came across the vocational training center. The white wooden sign with black lettering had already been hung up, and the labor bureau's announcement had also been issued. The efficiency was incredible. In fact, if our government is determined to do something, its efficiency is definitely number one in the world, with no rivals.

The main gate was open, and two Jiefang 141 trucks were parked in front of it. The trucks had been unloaded, and the inside of the building had been freshly painted. A group of men and women were busy going in and out.

Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng went inside and looked around. In just a day and a half, the building had been completely transformed. The doors and windows had been repaired, the walls had been repainted, the floors were clean, and even the lights had been replaced. Each room had a sign on its door—a wooden sign hanging on a protruding iron rod.

The two went up to the second floor, where the three rooms used as classrooms were already filled with desks and chairs. Several people were installing a blackboard on the wall, which was just a piece of wood painted with ink. This thing was quite heavy.

Sister Li stood a little inside the door, directing the work. Turning her head, she saw the two people, smiled, and said, "It's almost done. Once the blackboard is installed on the second floor, it'll be fine. The third floor will take a bit more work, mainly because the lining you mentioned needs to be nailed on-site. The materials have arrived, so it'll take some time. The blackboard should ideally be plastered with cement, but that's impossible in the dead of winter. Let's use a wooden one for now and replace it next summer, okay?"