No, I have to find a way to make money, David Clark thought to himself. According to the living habits of later generations, his little bit of demobilization pay wouldn’t last more than a few days. If in the future he and his sister had to live solely on the 52 yuan they earned each month, wouldn’t that be a miserable life? Wait, it seemed like his sister meant that out of the 52 yuan, they still had to save 12 yuan, leaving only 40 yuan a month. Forty yuan—at the standard of that dinner at Dongfeng Factory, they’d have to save for several months just to afford one meal like that.

“David, David!” A shout came from outside the house. Before David Clark could respond, the door was pushed open and a few young men rushed in, surrounding David Clark in the center, enthusiastically asking him all sorts of questions.

“William Reed, Eric, Edward Price!” David Clark called out his friends’ names excitedly, exchanging pats with them. These guys were all children of factory workers. Before David Clark joined the army, they were his closest buddies, hanging out and messing around together.

William Reed, his father was a foundry worker, and he himself was strong and burly, always eager to solve problems with his fists. Of course, afterward, he’d usually get dragged off by his dad for another round of “settling things.”

Eric Bell, his father was the head of the supply department, so his family had a bit of money. He liked making friends everywhere and often snuck cigarettes and alcohol from home to treat others, so he was well-liked.

Edward Price, his father worked in the technical department. He’d read a few books since he was young and was a bit more knowledgeable than the others, always calling himself the “wise one.” Every time they went out looking for trouble, it was always his bad ideas. But whenever they got into trouble and came home, he was the only one who never got beaten by his family.

“David, I heard you were back. Why didn’t you come find us?” Eric Bell complained.

“I had dinner at Aunt Wei’s place after I got back, and I just got home. There’s still stuff to tidy up here,” David Clark explained.

“Why eat at her place? The welcome-back meal should be with us brothers,” William Reed said.

Edward Price shot him a look and said, “How do we have money to treat David to a meal? I saw that Yang Xin’s mom bought a lot of groceries a few days ago—she’s been ready for this.”

“Still, it’s more fun for us brothers to eat together, right?” Eric Bell said.

“How about we all eat together tonight?” William Reed suggested. “I’ve got two yuan, you guys chip in a bit, and we’ll buy some groceries to cook at David’s place.”

“I’ll bring a bottle of liquor,” Eric Bell said, producing a bottle of liquor from behind his back like a magic trick. David Clark glanced at it—it was the most common kind of baijiu, and the cap wasn’t even original, but replaced with a wooden stopper. David Clark knew that Eric Bell’s father was in charge of supply and sales at the factory and often had to entertain guests for business. After the guests left, he was allowed to take home any leftover liquor from the table, but even then, he had to pay the canteen twenty cents per bottle, or else it would be considered embezzlement. The bottle Eric Bell brought was just such a “leftover.”

“No need for you guys to spend money, this meal’s on me,” David Clark said. He saw his sister coming back from outside and called out, “Little Emily, go buy some groceries. There’s still liquor in my trunk. Tonight, I’m getting together with William Reed, Eric, and the others.”

Emily Clark glanced at William Reed and the others, but didn’t show any dislike. These streetwise friends were actually pretty good to the family. In the two years David Clark was in the army, whenever Emily Clark had any trouble at school, it was always William Reed and the others who helped her out.

“Little Emily, buy some good food, get a chicken,” David Clark pulled his sister outside and whispered.

“Are you crazy? It’s not a holiday—who eats chicken now?” Emily Clark glared at him.

“Uh, then get some pork ribs.”

“No more meat coupons,” Emily Clark said. It was already the end of the month, and the meat coupons had long been used up.

“Then what do you suggest?” David Clark was at a loss and could only let his sister decide.

Emily Clark didn’t want to disappoint her brother, so she said, “I’ll go take a look,” then picked up the vegetable basket and left. There was a small market just outside the factory where some local farmers sold vegetables.

“So, where are you guys working these days?” David Clark asked his buddies after returning to the house. He needed to get used to talking like a worker now.

“Where else? We’re all temp workers,” William Reed said. “Not long after you left, we all started working as temps at the factory. Eric manages the warehouse, Edward Price is in the blueprint room—both good spots. I’m the one suffering, following my dad in the foundry, hauling sandboxes.”

“That’s called making the best use of everyone’s talents,” Edward Price laughed. “Of the three of us, you’re the strongest. If you don’t haul sandboxes, who will?”

David Clark said, “I don’t even know what job I’ll be assigned yet.”

Eric Bell said, “No matter what job you get, you’ll be better off than us. You’re a permanent worker—starting pay is 37 yuan a month. We’re temps, only 24.5 yuan a month. And even then, the finance department doesn’t pay us directly—our dads have to collect it for us.”

“Why don’t you guys become permanent workers?” David Clark asked naively. When it came to the system back then, he was basically clueless.