Chapter 4: This Is Real Life

【4】 This Is Life

“I’ll take this one.”

After strolling through the car market, Cao Xiaoqiang set his sights on this FAW Jiabao four-cylinder, 48-horsepower, one-liter displacement microvan. After all, the next load he’d be carrying would be three hundred kilograms of cargo; he couldn’t possibly haul that over such a long distance by hand. It would be better to bring a vehicle along—he could deliver the goods and sell the vehicle at the same time. The car couldn’t be too high-end, or it would be too eye-catching; this kind of microvan was just right. It had the most basic cab—no CD player, no air conditioning, not even a radio.

Even so, in that era, this vehicle was far too advanced. If people from the 1950s were to take this car apart, it would be enough to make their eyes pop out of their sockets. 21st-century car engines are electronically controlled gasoline-injected engines managed by integrated circuits. For the world of the 1950s, these integrated circuits were heaven-defying gadgets, because according to history, they wouldn't be manufactured in a laboratory for the first time until 1966, and even then, they were just 12-component theoretical proof-of-concept pieces.

In fact, whether it was the body material, headlights, horn, circuitry, exhaust purification, chassis, or clutch—if you really broke it down, this inconspicuous microvan would be a god-like existence in the 1950s. Thinking of this, Cao Xiaoqiang couldn't wait to drive it over immediately to tour the old Beidu of the 1950s. And while he was at it, show off his "epoch-making high-tech microvan."

After paying the full price of 26,000 yuan, Cao Xiaoqiang tucked the invoice into his wallet. With the invoice, he could drive it for the first month without license plates. He had no intention of getting them anyway.

He drove the car back to his residence and parked it in a spot next to a *hutong*. Xiaoqiang began to ponder. An idea surfaced in his mind. As an engineering student, Cao Xiaoqiang had once dreamed of contributing to the rise of Chinese industry during his university days, but his talent was limited, and the god of technology had never favored him. Furthermore, China’s industry, due to congenital deficiencies, was in a state of low-level expansion. While the industrial transformation toward high-end manufacturing was being pushed forward with great difficulty, it was easier said than done; the layers of patent technology barriers from developed Western countries made Chinese talents suffer immensely.

*Perhaps I can help the China of the alternate dimension walk more smoothly on the road to rejuvenation?* Xiaoqiang thought.

The most important technology introduction for China in those years was the "156 Projects of Soviet Aid to China," with the project period running from 1950 to 1969. While they were called 156 projects, there was actually a large amount of repetition in single fields. For example, coal mining and coal washing projects for various different mines accounted for as many as 25 of them. Broadly speaking, the 156 projects could be divided into four categories

First, coal mining;

Second, the construction and expansion of power plants;

Third, the mining and smelting of steel and non-ferrous metals;

Fourth, machinery manufacturing. This fourth category was more fragmented, including machine tools for manufacturing various equipment—the "mother machines" of industry—as well as various machinery factories capable of producing military and civilian products, such as building penicillin factories, and so on.

Among them, the first phase of 50 projects in 1950 mainly included 10 coal mines, 11 power stations, 3 steel enterprises, 3 non-metal enterprises, 5 chemical enterprises, 7 machinery enterprises, 7 national defense enterprises, and 1 paper mill. That’s right, a paper mill—one of the Four Great Inventions, you know! China was poor and blank, a purely colonial economy, you know! A purely agricultural country, you know! No different from Black Africa, you know! Its industry wasn't even as good as some countries in North Africa and South Africa, you know!

Although these projects were considered aid, they were also incredibly expensive. The "Big Brother" Soviet Union gave China a 300-million-dollar low-interest loan, stipulating that it could only be used to buy their equipment (which was truly not cheap). China also agreed with Big Brother to exchange it for large amounts of metals, minerals, and various domestic agricultural products, including tea. However, they signed an underwriting agreement, meaning all products were underwritten by Big Brother, with prices set by the Soviets—basically half the international market price.

This was why, in those years, China, as a major agricultural country, had a scarcity of agricultural and sideline products in its markets. When the relationship finally broke down, Big Brother demanded that we pay off the debt within three years. You have to know that the tough-boned Chinese people were never the kind of shameless, deadbeat cowards like Albania or the Philippines. They stood up straight with their thin waists and bony shoulders, gritted their teeth, and the whole country tightened their belts for three years—damn, the belts were almost cutting through their waists, you know! The Chinese rabbits just wouldn't kneel and beg for mercy, you know!

But then again, under the complex situation of the Cold War with the Iron Curtain drawn, only Big Brother Soviet Union was willing to sell these things to the Chinese rabbits and transfer some technology. Although the price was high and they stipulated that issues like Vladivostok and Tannu Uriankhai were not to be mentioned, the Western embargo on China wasn't just talk—they said they wouldn't give it to you, so they didn't, not even selling a single wire, you know! Therefore, these technologies and equipment became incredibly precious resources that money couldn't buy. For the sake of national rejuvenation, even if it meant pawning their pants, they had to buy them, learn them, and complete China's industrialization.

This also opened the door for China to move from an agricultural country to an industrial one.

Xiaoqiang felt he had a responsibility to help the China of the alternate dimension take a better and faster step while enriching his own small family. Only then would he be worthy of being a descendant of Yan and Huang, and only then would he not be ungrateful for the life-saving grace of the Chinese blood soul. However, industrial equipment prices were often in the hundreds of thousands or millions; he still needed to earn enough money before he could engage in such big business.

"I won't think about that for now. Time to eat, time to eat. I need to nourish my body." Xiaoqiang now deeply understood the hardships of being a woman...

Driving to the hotel called "Red Mansion Banquet," Cao Xiaoqiang began to try and enjoy the diet of a rich man.

"Give me a portion of clear-stewed crab meat lion's head, shredded tofu in soup, honey-glazed ham, and some mushrooms with greens... Yes, that's all." Since he was eating Huaiyang cuisine, these were must-orders.

"Sir, what would you like to drink?"

"Open a bottle of beer, the cheapest one." Xiaoqiang had an average tolerance for alcohol and liked beer.

"Sir, would Snow Pure Draft be okay?"

"How much is it?"

"15 yuan a bottle."

".........*sigh*... Bring me one." Cao Xiaoqiang grumbled to himself about the prices here, feeling that he was, after all, born into a poor family; no matter how he moved, he couldn't shake that aura.

"Very well, sir. Please wait a moment, your dishes will be served shortly."

Drinking the tea served by the pretty, neatly dressed waitress while waiting for his food, Xiaoqiang relaxed, leaning back in his chair, head tilted, eyes narrowed. He muttered to himself: "This is life."

The clear-stewed crab meat lion's head was tender, soft, and fragrant, smooth upon entering the mouth, bouncing between his teeth with elasticity; the honey-glazed ham was salty wrapped in sweetness, sweet within the fresh saltiness, fatty but not greasy; the shredded tofu was authentic, fresh-made that day, tender and smooth, breaking almost as soon as the chopsticks picked it up; the mushrooms and greens were fragrant and palatable, each mushroom looking like they came from the same mother, uniform in size, just enough for one bite; the greens were a pleasing emerald green, making one's appetite soar just by looking at them.

After finishing the bottle of beer and two bowls of rice, with the plates licked clean, Cao Xiaoqiang finally left the hotel with a satisfied burp.

Driving wasn't Xiaoqiang's strong suit. Although he had gotten his license over three years ago, this loser hadn't driven for more than three days in those three years. The company never allowed him to use a car when sending him out for technical maintenance; Xiaoqiang always took the bus, then went to the finance department to report a taxi fare to save some transportation money.

Along the way, Xiaoqiang drove slowly and cautiously. Halfway there, he started to tremble, regretting that bottle of beer immensely. He drummed his fingers, thinking: *If I get pulled over by the police, it’s a license suspension and a week of re-education.*

Fortunately, heaven doesn't strike down a pig that survives a disaster. Relying on his explosive luck, he finally arrived at his residence safely. Although nothing happened, he was still covered in a cold sweat. Cao Xiaoqiang collapsed into bed and slept through the night without a word.

Meanwhile, in the Beidu of the alternate dimension, the Delong Trading Firm had been unusually lively these past two days. And look, another distinguished guest had arrived at Manager Chen Weifang’s shop.

Why call him a distinguished guest? The man was wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit, a black woolen trench coat over it, a black woolen narrow-brimmed hat of the same color on his head, and black leather shoes with three-piece toes on his feet. He wore a calm expression on his face; his lips under a short black mustache were pressed firmly together, but there was no other expression on his face. When he looked at you, you felt his gaze was examining the back of your head. When you turned your gaze away, you felt his gaze was like the autumn wind, cold and drilling straight into your collar. Even wearing a pair of black-rimmed round glasses, it didn't diminish the sharpness of his gaze in the slightest.

Following closely behind this man were two tough-looking young men in long gowns and fur hats. The one in the cyan long gown stopped at the shop entrance and turned around, hands tucked into his sleeves, scanning the crowd coming and going on the street. The one in the light gray long gown entered the shop and stood in the innermost corner, as if he were examining the Swiss table clock in the display case, but from that position, he had the clearest view of everyone entering and exiting the shop.

"Hello, sir. Are you looking to buy a clock or a radio?"

The man examined the glass counter and immediately took a fancy to the newly arrived Olade watch. After all, it was a cross-era product that had traveled through time. Compared to the watches of that era, this watch looked simple and elegant, with a unique black dial, a powerful stainless steel case, and it was thinner than all the watches around it. The gleaming chrome-plated steel strap all reflected the "knock-off" design prowess of a second-tier domestic watch factory in the 21st century. You say that doesn't sound like human talk? Fine, let me put it more simply: if you put this thing among a pile of foreign watches from the 1940s, at a glance, it was a heaven-defying artifact! You have to know that in those years, if you wanted a watch to look good, it had to be wrapped in gold or platinum, costing thousands of yuan. The cheap ones had brass cases that would turn dull after oxidation. There were stainless steel cases, but because the stainless steel of that era was brittle, the difficulty of precision machining was extremely high, making watches with stainless steel accessories very expensive. As for electronic chrome-plating technology, that was invented by the Germans in the 1930s, and the Americans didn't manage to figure it out until the 1950s. This chrome-plated strap was truly one of a kind in this day and age! And that black-plated dial—it was guaranteed to be the first of its kind in the world in this timeline, absolutely unique.

Seeing that he liked it, Chen Weifang took it out for him to look at closely. After playing with it for a while, the man couldn't put it down and asked, "Manager, how much for this watch?"

"Three hundred and fifty, no bargaining." If Cao Xiaoqiang heard this, he would have fainted from anger. Poor guy, he sold it for eighty, and the other party turned around and flipped it for more than four times the price.

"Can you make it a bit cheaper? I'm sincere about buying."

"Since you are sincere, sir, you should know this watch is worth the price. I can guarantee that this Olade watch is made to the highest standard in the world today; there is no similar craftsmanship on the market. This price of three hundred and fifty—after deducting my shop's expenses and the hard work of moving it here—to be honest, it's the cost price. If it weren't for the fact that the war has just ended and the country has just been established, and everyone is tight on money, I would be asking for more." As he spoke, Manager Chen stretched out his loosely clenched right hand.

The man was quite straightforward; he looked like someone who had seen the world. "Alright, help me wrap it up."

As he spoke, he took out his wallet. The moment his trench coat was pulled back to reach his pocket, Manager Chen shivered, his hair standing on end. Guess what? A black pistol handle was peeking out from the inner pocket of the trench coat!

Manager Chen immediately bowed deeply with extreme diligence and took a new watch box from under the counter, carefully wrapping it up.

This was already the ninth Olade watch sold in just two short days.