Chapter 23: The Brother Sleeping on the Upper Bunk

Old Zhou was very angry.

He couldn't understand how the bus he had driven for half his life had suddenly become someone else's. How could such an important transport job be handed over to a bunch of scoundrels?

He was bewildered by the state of the world.

Seeing that Li Xian was interested, Old Zhou vented his frustrations. It turned out that the bus route from the logging field to the forestry bureau had been bought out by the ticket station's manager, Xu Laosan. The station was currently processing the paperwork, and it was feared that in just over a month, Old Zhou would be unemployed.

But that wasn't what made him the angriest. Xu Laosan had bought the bus route and pushed Old Zhou out, but he intended to keep Zhou Yun on as the ticket seller.

Xu Laosan was nearing thirty and still single. Old Zhou, who was highly protective of his daughter, suspected Xu Laosan's intentions were far from honorable.

After hearing Old Zhou's description, Li Xian pondered silently.

The current year was 1992, a crucial turning point in China's reform history.

In this year, the focus of China's development officially shifted to the economy. Although the reform and opening-up process began in 1978, every time macroeconomic issues arose, there would be criticism and opposition. However, after the great leader's secret southern tour and subsequent speech, the rigid ideologies were dealt a fatal blow, marking the beginning of China's economic transformation.

Now it was September, and according to Li Xian's recollection, after the Fourteenth National Congress held in October, the conference report would clearly state the goal of establishing a market economy system.

It was then that the grassroots would truly begin to experience change.

From then on, more and more people like Old Zhou, who were confused and helpless, would emerge.

Although Li Xian didn't want to use cliché phrases to describe the era, he had to admit that it was both the best and the worst of times.

The good part was that in this period of transformation, all corruption would be broken, and those with lofty ambitions or great ambitions would have their own stage. In the future, these people would become so-called role models and idols.

The downside was that many like Old Zhou would face a long period of dormancy. During this period, some would gradually understand that relying on the government was not a way out and that achieving their dream lives depended on their own efforts. Others would never understand and would spend their lives struggling in poverty.

In short, this was an era that stratified the Chinese people.

As Li Xian was deep in thought, Old Zhou interrupted him. "Kid, I heard you're quick-witted. Can you think of a way for Uncle Zhou? What should be done about this?"

Although Li Xian sympathized with Old Zhou and his daughter, he was just a student and had no authority to interfere in this matter. But since Old Zhou asked, he didn't refuse.

"Uncle Zhou, have you considered that there are other ways to support a family besides relying on this bus?" Li Xian said after some thought.

Li Xian wasn't trying to comfort Old Zhou; it was just his opinion. The logging field would stop large-scale logging in two years, and the passenger flow would drastically decrease. Xu Laosan's purchase of this bus route likely wouldn't be profitable for long.

Old Zhou was dissatisfied with the vague answer. "Is that all you have to say? I asked you to think of a solution, and you… You think I've driven this bus all my life, what else can I do? We don't have any land at home."

Li Xian chuckled. "I'm not saying you can't drive. During the winter, the forestry bureau's timber trucks run hundreds of times a day. Uncle Zhou, you've been on this route for over a decade and know everyone well. You don't have to worry about not having work. Also, how much can you make driving a passenger bus in a year? Maybe one or two thousand yuan? I heard that when timber is in high demand in winter, a round trip can bring in four or five hundred yuan. Think about it. Is it worth sticking to this bus route?"

Old Zhou seemed to have a string struck, but he didn't catch the point right away. He fell silent, pondering, and started driving.

When Zhou Yun came over to sell tickets, Old Zhou waved his hand, giving Li Xian and Li Pi a free ride.

After some idle chat, Li Xian made a realization. It seemed his hometown might truly be a promising place.

Although Old Zhou hadn't come up with any ideas, he remembered the timber harvesting period in winter…

...

Li Xian's school was the forestry technical school, a provincial vocational college. It was established to solve the educational needs of the forestry bureau's children and to provide the bureau with specialized talent.

Li Pi's school was the first high school of the forestry bureau.

After settling Li Pi in his school and stuffing all the sausages Zou Ni had prepared into Li Pi's bag, Li Xian took his luggage and hopped on a three-wheeled vehicle to the forestry technical school.

Although Li Xian had never been to the forestry technical school before, the fragments of memory from his second uncle prevented him from feeling completely unfamiliar.

Walking along the tree-lined path of the school, he arrived at the dormitory building and successfully found his room.

It was a roughly thirty-square-meter room with two sets of bunk beds made of iron pipes. Wooden desks, worn and discolored, were lined up beside the beds—on top of them were two white enamel mugs.

Hearing someone coming, a head popped out from the upper bunk against the wall.

"Xianzi, why did you arrive so late?"

Li Xian quickly recalled and recognized this head. As the old song goes, this was the brother sleeping on the upper bunk.

Liang Yonghe.

In his second uncle's memories, Liang Yonghe was a remarkable person; he was the top student of the 1988 class at the forestry technical school and also had excellent character.

Liang Yonghe came from a poor family. At school, he was most willing to collect the empty tin cans his classmates had used, which he would take home to use as jars for his mother. Also poor himself, he would walk seven or eight hours along the small railway to return home during holidays instead of taking the train.

Once, while carrying a few tin cans in a canvas bag, he tripped on the railway and ended up with a seven-inch-long gash in his abdomen from the broken glass.

Classmates often saw his scar and nicknamed him "Seven Inches."

And it was Liang Yonghe who gave out nicknames, a trait inherited from Li Xian's second uncle.

Li Xian laughed, patted Liang Yonghe's belly, and said, "Just sent my brother off. Seven Inches, why are you the only one in the dorm? Where are the others?"

He was referring to his roommates, Zheng Biao and Wang Wensheng.

"Oh, they went to the vice-principal's house to deliver gifts. With the allocation coming up, they're all nervous," Liang Yonghe said as he sat up on his bed.

"By the way, Xianzi, I went to the vice-principal's office yesterday, and he asked me about you."

Li Xian raised his eyebrows. "You went too?"

Liang Yonghe's face turned red. "My mom packed a bag of pine nuts and insisted I deliver it…"