Teresa Teng

"Why do you know the prices so clearly? That just proves you want to buy one too!" "I—I don't want to buy one! Can't I just look?" "Stop bickering, both of you. Let me say a few words..." Chen Jianjun rarely voiced an opinion, but whenever he decided to speak up, his mind was already made up. "Forget about a television. With our family's lack of connections, there's no way we could get our hands on one. Only people with real pull can watch those. "No need to buy a bicycle, either. Your mother doesn't usually ride one, and I ride the one assigned by my work unit. "I think we should buy you a wristwatch. You're not a kid anymore; having a wristwatch is practical." "Yes, that's right! Wear a wristwatch, and people will respect you wherever you go," Yu Xiuli agreed. "A wristwatch? Sure, let's get one, then." Chen Qi nodded. A person's fortunes could indeed be altered by the items they wore—he had plenty of experience with that. In his previous life, for instance, his romantic luck had originally been abysmal. Then he bought a Patek Philippe watch and a Maserati, and presto—his fortune transformed overnight. Women were constantly claiming the car's air conditioning was broken and stripping off their clothes the moment they climbed inside, which became quite an annoyance... "As for the cassette recorder..." Chen Jianjun scratched his head, then chuckled slyly. "Truth be told, I've wanted to buy one too. I'd been planning to save up some money, so this works out perfectly." "Chen Jianjun, have you no shame? Taking your son's money to satisfy your own personal desires—where has your Party spirit gone?" Yu Xiuli scolded him. "All right, all right, it makes no difference who buys it. It's settled, then: one watch and one cassette recorder," Chen Qi said with a grin. "Think of how much that's going to cost! Gone in the blink of an eye," Yu Xiuli said, heart aching at the thought. "Once it's gone, I'll just earn more. It's eight hundred today; tomorrow it'll be eight thousand," Chen Qi comforted her. People's general impression of this era was poverty. And it was indeed impoverished, but it varied by location and social group. At this time, certain people were quite well-off—workers in large state factories, state-owned enterprise employees in choice positions, cadres of a certain rank... Their wages were higher to begin with, and they had nowhere to spend money anyway, since their work units covered everything! Naturally, they were able to save quite a sum. Of course, if you looked at the country as a whole, especially the rural areas, the picture was bleak; peasants were fortunate if they saw any actual cash after an entire year of hard labor. *** There were quite a few brands of wristwatches, the most famous being Shanghai and Seagull, along with a local Beijing brand. A Shanghai-brand watch cost about 120 yuan. Chen Jianjun had not yet managed to get a ration coupon for a wristwatch, but he did have one for a cassette recorder, so they decided to buy the recorder first. The previous year, the Ministry of Commerce had organized an "Inspection Delegation to Hong Kong" and purchased ten thousand cassette recorders at ninety-three Hong Kong dollars apiece. Once shipped back, they were priced at two hundred yuan each (at the time, one hundred Hong Kong dollars was worth roughly thirty yuan). People had started lining up in the afternoon and waited until the following morning, crowding so fiercely that they shattered the display counters. Today was Sunday, a day off. At this time, people had only a single day off per week. The two-day weekend would not be introduced until 1995—and even by 2024, it still wasn't truly implemented everywhere. The family of three set out together, heading straight for the Beijing Department Store on Wangfujing Street. This was the first large-scale department store built in New China. Zhang Binggui worked here. Was there anyone who didn't know Zhang Binggui? A candy counter clerk, a National Model Worker, a deputy to the National People's Congress—he was more famous than any celebrity. When he rode the public bus, passengers offered him their seats. When he went to the bathhouse, people scrubbed his back for him. When he fell gravely ill and was hospitalized, national leaders came in succession to visit him. After his death, the department store erected a bronze statue of him in the plaza, inscribed with words from state leaders: *The spirit of a blazing fire illuminates the divine land!* This store carried the widest selection of goods, and Sundays were always packed. The three of them followed the flow of the crowd inside. Rather than rushing to buy, they wandered around first. The ground floor sold vanishing creams, shampoos, and the like, but a special counter had been set up exclusively for Zhang Binggui to sell candy. A sea of people pushed forward, taking pride in buying sweets weighed by his own hands. He had a signature skill known as the "Single Grab." If a customer asked for two liang, he scooped exactly two liang; if they asked for half a jin, he scooped half a jin. It was said he had practiced relentlessly with small pebbles to master it. Labor was the most glorious pursuit—in this era, that was far more than an empty slogan. Zhang Binggui and Shi Chuanxiang were both shining models. Some might say they held coveted state-allocated positions, but if given such a position and told to shovel night soil every single day, who would actually do it? Chen Qi wanted to catch a glimpse too, but the crowd was impenetrable, so he had to give up. After strolling for a while, they arrived at the counter selling cassette recorders. To their surprise, quite a crowd had gathered here as well. Chen Qi felt like laughing. It felt just like the sentiment: *Didn't they say the economy was bad and money was hard to come by? How come every single person here is richer than me?* Thanks to the friendly relations between China and Japan, the earliest foreign appliance brands to enter the mainland were all Japanese: Panasonic, Sharp, Hitachi, Sanyo, and others. The cassette players people were later familiar with could hold two tapes, had multiple speakers, and were quite large. The ones available now were single-deck, holding only one cassette. They were relatively compact but thick and solid, looking like heavy bricks. The family was fortunate enough not to run into stock shortages. In the end, they spent two hundred yuan and bought a Sanyo single-deck cassette recorder. "Good heavens, two hundred yuan for a contraption like this!" "Why don't they just rob people? It's more expensive than a bicycle! We're not a wealthy family—you two are going to squander everything sooner or later!" Yu Xiuli nagged ceaselessly. Chen Jianjun couldn't help chiming in, "Our family only buys a major appliance once every few years. It's not like we're doing this every day. Our wages are decent enough, and our son is doing well for himself now. It's hardly the end of the world." "Exactly! Money is meant to be spent when it should be!" Chen Qi said with a smile. "You father and son have already surrendered to capitalism. I can't bear to look at either of you." His parents wanted to keep browsing, but Chen Qi couldn't be bothered. Holding the box in his arms, he left first. Along the way, envious and fervent gazes followed him; right now, he was the coolest lad around. After heading downstairs and stepping out the main entrance, someone suddenly tugged at his sleeve. Chen Qi jumped in fright, thinking he was being mugged. Turning around, he saw a shifty-eyed man in a cap, who spoke in a sharp, reedy voice. "Hey, brother, just bought a recorder?" Seeing his vigilance, the man smiled. "Don't worry, I'm doing business... Interested in some tapes?" Tapes! Chen Qi's eyes lit up. "You sell cassette tapes?" "Want to take a look?" "Not if it's too far." "I'm in this for the long haul. I wouldn't cheat you. Let's talk over there." The man led him to a relatively secluded corner, parted his coat, and, like Doraemon pulling items from his pocket, began fishing out cassette after cassette. "Ten yuan each!" "Why don't you just rob a bank?" "They all came from down south. You know how it is—I'm just earning hard-earned money." The man was very enthusiastic as he introduced them. "Take a look at this one. It's Teresa Teng, the hottest singer right now. Everyone down south is listening to her." Chen Qi flipped through them. *When Will You Return?*, *Smoke from the Chimney Again*, *Don't Pick the Wildflowers by the Roadside*... They were all familiar hits. The covers were simple and the packaging crude, but they were genuine tapes nonetheless. "Do you have Liu Wen-cheng?" "What about Samuel Hui?" "Not even Roman Tam? You don't have anything, yet you dare come out hawking tapes?" "You're an expert!" The man looked shocked. Chen Qi chuckled inwardly. *Why would I bother playing the innocent lamb in front of a random passerby like you?* The man slapped his thigh. "Alright! Out of respect for your know-how, eight yuan a tape—take them!" *Damn, smuggling really is profitable!* Eight yuan was enough for a person to live on for a whole month. If Chen Qi hadn't possessed his cheats, he would probably be scraping a meager living from the soil right now. He bought three Teresa Teng cassettes, tucked them into his coat, and walked away. He had eight hundred yuan from the script fee, fifty yuan from his production stipend, and thirty yuan Yu Xiuli had given him before he left for Beijing Film Studio, making his total assets 880 yuan—an auspicious number. Now, after spending two hundred on the cassette recorder and twenty-four on the tapes, he had 656 yuan left. Regardless of what he told his parents, he had no intention of handing his own earnings over to them. If asked, he would just say he was saving up to marry a wife. *** That night. The world outside grew still and quiet. Chen Qi latched the doors and windows securely and lit a candle—there was another blackout. Setting the brick-like recorder on the table, he turned the volume low. His parents sat on the bed, suddenly looking solemn. In the flickering candlelight, an exquisitely gentle, unprecedented voice drifted out: *"After parting tonight, when will you return? Drink down this cup, please have a bite of food. How often in life can one be drunk? Why wait to make merry?... Ah, have another cup, bottoms up..."*