amaotonovel Chapter 943 The 1st Spring Festival Gala
Chapter 943 The 1st Spring Festival Gala
Chapter 943 The First Spring Festival Gala
"Don't mention it, this little guy is quite entertaining."
Wang Xin teased the baby's tender little face.
Qin Hao teased, "Since it's so fun, why don't you take it home and play with it for a few days?"
"What are you talking about? This is a child, not a cat or a dog. You can take him home to play with him for a few days. His family must be very anxious right now. Look at that blind old man. He cried his eyes out trying to find his daughter." Wang Xin retorted.
"That's right, Xiao Qin, I have to criticize you. You have to be extremely careful when dealing with children. We have to return him to his parents without losing a single hair." Captain Hu cleared his throat and said in a serious tone.
It was rare to hear someone criticize Qin Hao, and Wang Xin made faces at Qin Hao proudly.
Qin Hao rolled his eyes at him, walked forward, undid the child's swaddling clothes, and turned his butt over.
"Why does this child have so many red spots on his body?"
"Yeah, is this child sick?"
The young policemen who were watching the excitement subconsciously stepped back a few steps. Qin Hao said calmly, "It's just a rash, it's not that serious. But the child's parents must be afraid that the child has a serious illness and can't support him, so they left him on the train."
"This child's parents are so cruel. The child is still sick. How could they do this?"
Ma Kui walked forward and picked up the child, with some distress in his eyes.
"Does this count as abandonment?" asked a young policeman.
Ma Kui glared at the young policeman and said, "If we can find the child's parents and take the child back, why would we care about whether the child is abandoned or not? If we arrest the child's parents, what will happen to the child?"
"Yes, in this situation, the best thing would be to convince the child's parents and ask them to take the child back. However, in situations like this, the situation at the child's parents' home must not be very good. If they take the child back this time, they might find some corner and lose the child next time. Some cruel people even drown the child directly." Captain Hu sighed. He had been a police officer for many years and had seen all kinds of bizarre things.
"What should we do with the child now? We can't just keep him in the police station forever? So many of us grown men have to be on duty and don't have time to take care of him." Wang Xin said hesitantly.
"The child is so sick, he must be sent to the hospital first. These days, we have also been actively contacting other stations to see if they have any missing children. If no one claims the child, we can only send him to an orphanage." Captain Hu said.
Ma Kui frowned and said, "If we send such a young child to an orphanage, can we raise him?"
In 1978, even for children from normal families, the infant mortality rate was very high, not to mention the environment in an orphanage.
"Whether we can support him depends on his luck. We can't let him stay in the police station forever, right? We don't have anyone here to take care of him." Captain Hu sighed.
"What about sending the child to the hospital?"
Captain Hu glanced at them, and the others all avoided his gaze. Only Ma Kui volunteered: "I'll take the child. This little guy looks so pitiful. I don't know which parents are so cruel to leave such a young child on the train."
Qin Hao thought for a moment and said, "Why don't I go with Uncle Ma? We can discuss things with more people."
"Okay, Lao Ma and Xiao Qin have a high level of awareness. I'll leave this matter to you two. The money for the child's medical treatment will come from our funds. You can bring the bill to the team for reimbursement later."
Along the way, Ma Kui and Qin Hao rode their bicycles to the hospital in the cold wind. The weather in Northeast China has officially entered winter since November. The trees on the roadside are all bare. Although it has not snowed yet, the temperature has been hovering below 11 degrees, and can reach several degrees below zero at the coldest time at night.
After arriving at the hospital and being examined by the doctor, it was found that there was actually nothing wrong with the child, he just had eczema. It looks scary, but in fact, it would get better in a few days with just some application of medicine.
However, the child was fine, but Ma Kui was in a dilemma. If the child's parents were found and they felt guilty and took the child back, it would be fine. But if, as Qin Hao said, they were determined to abandon the child, then the child would die at the hands of his biological parents sooner or later.
"Uncle Ma, you don't want to adopt this child, do you?"
Ma Kui looked at Qin Hao in surprise when he heard this: "Why do you think so?"
"Uncle Ma, you look at this child in a different way."
"Alas, when I was arrested, your aunt was already six months pregnant. Because I was arrested, she had a miscarriage and lost the baby. Her health has not been good since then. I owe her this life."
Ma Kui's face was full of sighs and his eyes were red.
It was a rare sight to see the tender side of the tough guy Ma Kui, but Qin Hao poured cold water on him.
"Uncle Ma, just like you said, my aunt is in poor health and you have to go to work. If you adopt this child, who will take care of him in the future?"
Ma Kui was stunned at first, then nodded and said, "You are right. I can't take this child back with me, otherwise your aunt will definitely be reluctant to let go if she sees it."
Qin Hao sighed inwardly. Although this might be a bit cruel to Ma Jian, Wang Sufang had lived a very hard life. She was already in the advanced stage of lung cancer, and taking care of such a little kid had worn her out. Otherwise, she should have lived a few more years.
As for Ma Jian, we can find a well-off family to adopt him.
"Then this child."
"How about I take him back first, and when I'm at work, there are so many aunties in the compound who can help take care of him. After ten days or half a month, if his parents haven't been found, I'll ask Captain Li from Hacheng to help find a family from other places who wanted to buy the child, and find a well-off family to send the child to. Then the child will not only not suffer, but may even enjoy a good life."
After hearing what Qin Hao said, Ma Kui's guilt instantly disappeared.
"You are so smart, Xiao Qin. Why didn't I think of this?"
"That's because you don't want to trouble others, so I'm not afraid. Anyway, it's a good deed, and I admit that I owe you a favor."
"Haha, you kid."
Afterwards, the two of them went home talking and laughing all the way. The next day, Ma Kui received a piece of good news. After half a year of unremitting applications by Captain Hu, he finally helped Ma Kui's family apply for a house with its own entrance and yard in the railway compound, and it was a two-story building.
This made Ma Yan very happy. On the one hand, she finally had a new house to live in. On the other hand, moving to the railway compound made it much more convenient for her to visit Qin Hao and Wang Xin.
Since her father was arrested, Ma Yan's world has collapsed. Not only has she had to face the drastic decline in living conditions caused by the loss of the main labor force in the family, but she has also been discriminated against and excluded by her peers. In the 70s, if someone in the family committed a crime and went to jail, it would be a huge stain in one's life.
Since then, Ma Yan has become taciturn, and only Wang Xin can chat with her.
On the day when Ma Kui's family moved, Qin Hao mobilized the neighbors in the railway compound to go to his house to help, and Wang Xin was also reluctantly pulled over by him.
Perhaps he was so happy about moving that Ma Kui rarely argued with Wang Xin.
Looking at the bright and spacious two-story building, Wang Sufang and Ma Yan couldn't stop smiling. Even Ma Kui, who was always serious, had a smile on his face.
Ma Kui naturally had to invite everyone to dinner to celebrate his housewarming, and Qin Hao naturally became the head chef. Although there was not much meat, Qin Hao found ways to cook several "hard dishes" and everyone enjoyed themselves very much.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and there was no report of a missing baby at any of the stations along the way. It was basically confirmed that the child had been abandoned.
Finally, after a collective vote by the Ningyang Station Police Station, Qin Hao's plan was adopted to send the child to a well-off family.
Through the help of Captain Li from Harbin, a family of intellectuals in Beijing was found for the child. The couple, a middle-aged couple in their forties, were unable to have children due to their health conditions. When they saw the child, they liked him very much and decided to adopt him immediately.
Looking at the little guy who was sleeping soundly in the arms of the couple, Qin Hao said secretly: I have found a good family for you and it is not a waste of your time.
Chinese New Year came in a blink of an eye, and Qin Hao became a popular guy. His neighbors were afraid that he would be too lonely during the New Year celebration, so every day they took turns inviting him to their home, making Qin Hao feel like he was eating at hundreds of houses. However, Qin Hao did not reject the kindness of these neighbors. After experiencing so many days of intrigue in the world, this kind of plain warmth made him inexplicably feel a sense of belonging.
On New Year's Eve in 1979, the Beijing Television Station was officially renamed China Central Television, so it launched a "New Year's Gala". This was also the first real Spring Festival Gala in history. The well-known 1984 Spring Festival Gala was actually the second one.
The directors of the first Spring Festival Gala in 1979 were Deng Zaijun and Yang Jie, who later directed Journey to the West.
However, since the total number of television sets in the country at the beginning of 1979 was only more than 450 million, it did not have much social impact.
That night, Qin Hao, Wang Xin, Ma Yan, and a group of young people from the railway compound rode their bicycles for several kilometers in the heavy snow to watch that year's Spring Festival Gala at a steel plant in Ningyang.
On the way back, Yao Yuling said enviously: "It would be great if our compound could have a TV, so we wouldn't have to travel so far to watch TV."
Niu Dali immediately became interested when he heard this: "Don't worry, Yao'er. Next year, I will definitely let you watch TV in the compound."
Wang Xin rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, you know how much a TV costs, and you dare to say that."
"How much?"
"Even the most common color TV, not to mention imported ones, a domestic one would cost at least 1200 yuan. An imported one would cost at least double that at 2400 yuan. Even a black-and-white domestic one would cost to yuan. How much money do you have in your pocket to make such a boast?"
Niu Dali instantly wilted: "This is so expensive."
Cai Xiaonian teased, "Da Li, you were so generous just now, why are you so unresponsive when you hear the price?"
"Who, who is talking incoherently? I'm just cold in this winter. Why don't you try pedaling a bike?" Niu Dali obviously didn't have much confidence when he said this. Everyone just laughed and didn't take Niu Dali's words to heart.
Yao Yuling didn't take Niu Dali's words to heart, but Niu Dali became more aggressive.
The next morning, he found Qin Hao and said, "Old Qin, don't you know how to repair radios? Then you should know how to use wireless technology, right?"
"Of course I will. What do you want to do?"
"Then please help me build a TV."
Qin Hao was amused: "You're not going to get a TV just because of what Yao Yuling said yesterday, are you?"
"OK."
"No, do you know what parts are needed to build a TV and how much each part costs?"
Niu Dali shook his head righteously.
"I won't talk about anything else. The most important part in a TV is the cathode ray tube. It can't be made in China now, so we have to import it. The cathode ray tube alone costs more than three hundred yuan, and that's the manufacturer's purchase price. If you make it yourself, it will cost at least more than four hundred yuan. How much money do you have in your pocket?"
Qin Hao said unhappily.
"Just wait."
Niu Dali took out all the money in his pocket, but when he counted it, he found that he had less than 30 yuan. Qin Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "With this little money, you can't even afford a radio, let alone a TV."
"Old Qin, please help me think of a way. I beg you. I want Yao Yuling the most in my life. If I can't marry her, I will die with regret."
"No, you'd better go to hell. Don't disturb my sleep. Go away." Qin Hao said unhappily. He covered himself with the quilt and made a silent wish, hoping that he would not encounter such a love-brained person in the next world. It was simply terrible.
What Qin Hao did not expect was that Niu Dali did not give up, but went door to door in the railway compound to raise money, saying that Qin Hao could collect money to buy a TV, and as long as each family contributed 20 or 30 yuan, they would be able to watch TV in the compound in the future.
It was indeed very tempting that a family could watch TV for only twenty or thirty yuan, so many neighbors came to ask Qin Hao if this was true.
Qin Hao thought it would be a good idea to get a TV, as entertainment life was too scarce these days, so he agreed.
It was obvious that Qin Hao's appeal was much stronger than Niu Dali's. After seeing him nod, he quickly collected 538 yuan. This amount of money was definitely not enough to buy a finished TV, but it should be no problem if he saved it up by himself.
The only troublesome thing was the cathode ray tube. This thing was not available on the market at all. Finally, Qin Hao bought a second-hand one from the black market through the introduction of a traitor. After testing it and finding no problems, Qin Hao spent a full 280 yuan to get it. Fortunately, the quality of cathode ray tubes these days is good, so even a second-hand one can be used for ten years or so without any problem.
The remaining parts are easier to deal with. Some can be bought new, and some can be exchanged for scrapped ones at the scrap yard and refurbished. They can be used as is.
The outer shell was even simpler, Qin Hao simply made a wooden box.
"Don't mention it, Xiao Qin's craftsmanship is really not exaggerated. This wooden box looks more beautiful than the new one I bought."
"That's right. I said that in our compound, we can be without anyone except Xiao Qin."
However, after turning on the computer, something went wrong and the screen was covered with small raindrops.
"Hey, I almost forgot, we're still missing an antenna."
After Qin Hao finished making the antenna and erected it, the screen flashed a few times before finally showing an image.
"Here we are, we can really watch TV now."
"Oh, we have TV in our compound now."
The children were ecstatic and the adults also gave Qin Hao a thumbs up.