The waste cardboard at home has been piled up into a hill. If I had changed it, I would have sent it to the waste recycling center and exchanged it for money, and I would happily play games. It’s different now. My classmate the orangutan lent me a Super Nintendo. I want to be worthy of him and my limited time.
My mother urged me several times to take the cardboard to a recycling center before summer nights fell. I was busy playing games, I looked up, it was still early, then I delayed, looked up again, it was dark, it was past seven o’clock. Forget it, I don’t care about the few dollars. Now I have games to play every day, and I don’t have the free mood.
My mother was cleaning up the kitchen. Seeing that the pile of waste cardboard was very unsightly, she gave the task to my father. But my father was busy drinking, reading the newspaper and reading the news, so he didn’t bother to pay attention.
At this time, the most classic voice in the community came from downstairs, “Recycle cardboard newspapers, old appliances, washing machines, TV sets…”
The father immediately put the chopsticks away, got up, opened the door, rushed out, and shouted to the outside, “Come here, the newspaper collector!”
My mother complained at the time. She took it to the cardboard and newspaper recycling center, and she could sell it for a lot of money. Sell it to these recycling people at half the price, silly hat.
Father swaggered back, opened the door, sat down and continued drinking and reading the newspaper. As the hurried footsteps approached, the person recycling the waste hurried up, and something dramatic happened.
”Old Su?”, the person recycling the waste shouted to my dad.
My dad looked up and was stunned for a while, then immediately put down the wine glass, stood up, and replied respectfully, “Zhang, Team Leader Zhang…”
The atmosphere got a little weird, I put down the game console and stuck my head out, and my mom came out of the kitchen. It turned out that the person who recycled the waste was a colleague in my father’s factory and the leader of his team. This puzzled my father. The community that he had just returned from get off work with him from the factory, but why did he become a waste recycling person now?
”Leader Zhang, why are you collecting waste?” my dad asked in surprise.
I looked at this leader Zhang, I thought he would be very embarrassed and ashamed. After all, this kind of work is only done by people who are like homeless people, or the kind of non-local people who come from the backcountry can’t find a job and just mess around. eat. Moreover, the group leader Zhang, who had heard his father nag about his group before, treated people very seriously in the factory and scolded people mercilessly.
I never imagined that the team leader Zhang was not embarrassed or ashamed, but proudly said to my dad, “Yes, I’m doing recycling to make extra money. Where are your cardboard newspapers?”
This made my dad a little embarrassed. He quickly took the hand of the leader Zhang and sat down, and asked in a low voice, “Leader Zhang, do you have any difficulties at home?”
Team leader Zhang was a little dazed, but he reacted immediately and replied, “No no no, you think too much, I just make money and earn extra money, why are you so leisurely? Drink at home, read newspapers, and watch TV. You don’t have to. Make money?”
My dad was stunned, “Isn’t there a salary in the factory…”
”Just pay like that, how do you live?” Team leader Zhang interrupted my dad and asked, “I remember, someone in the factory said that your wife worked as a tailor every day at home to earn extra money, no wonder you are so When you are free, you can drink and watch TV at home, you are really lucky.”
Father turned his head and glanced at my mother and I, looking a little embarrassed, and quickly explained, “Our family is usually rough, and we are not so short of money.”
Team Leader Zhang followed my father’s gaze and glanced at my mother and me. With a smile, he said to my mother, “Sister, you have worked too hard, you are really virtuous and capable, and your son must be very successful, right?”
”Yes, my son is very sensible and is now studying computer science.” My mother said proudly.
”Really? It’s a coincidence that my son also majored in computer science. I just bought him a computer last month to help him.” Team Leader Zhang turned his head to look at me and said proudly.
My dad was shocked at the time and asked in surprise, “Team Zhang, computers are very expensive things.”
I could hear a hint of suspicion in my dad’s tone, and my mom’s expression was surprised, but I was secretly laughing. Come on, it might be a 286 second-hand broken computer, and now it’s up to 2,000 yuan.
”That’s right, computers are really expensive, but my son is learning about computers. If I don’t give him a computer, how can he learn well? I bought him a 586 brand Lenovo computer, 12,800 yuan, He must have learned better than others, and will be more promising in the future.” Team Leader Zhang said triumphantly while sorting out my waste cardboard.
Our family of three is silent, this is arrogant, it’s not funny at all. Team leader Zhang looked up at us, obviously feeling our doubts.
”Team Zhang, you are really capable. You can afford such expensive things, but our family doesn’t even dare to think about it.” My dad reluctantly flattered.
Team leader Zhang flattened and bundled the cardboard, and explained, “I don’t have any skills. We both have the same salary. As the team leader, I am 50 yuan more than you every month. I borrowed a lot of money, so I have to pay. Hurry up and pay it back, after get off work I will recycle old home appliances and cardboard, get up at 5 in the morning, go to the next neighborhood to help people sell breakfast, and if I persist for two more months, the money for my son’s computer will be paid off.”
It turned out to be like this. Father nodded and got up to help, “Come on, Team Leader Zhang, I’ll help you. You can rest after two more months of hard work.”
”What are you resting for? Keep making money. My son is going to college soon. I have to help him prepare the tuition first.” Leader Zhang waved his hand and told his father to go away. Don’t you want to go to college? What can you do without going to college in this society? Even if you study computer science and don’t have a college degree, you can’t do anything.”
These words were like two slaps in the face, which made him very embarrassed. The father explained, “Going to college costs a lot of money. We can’t afford it. We don’t have that much money.”
Team leader Zhang threw down the cardboard in his hand, and his expression became serious, as if he was in the factory, “You drink, read newspapers and watch TV every day, where will you get money? Did it fall from the sky? You have to earn money yourself. Your wife works as a tailor at home every day, day and night, what do you do? Xiao Liu in our group works in the restaurant after get off work every day, and Xiao Wang in the group goes to the night market to set up a street stall every day after get off work, everyone is busy How can you be so idle just to make money?”
My dad was speechless, raised his glass, and took a sip of suffocating wine. Team leader Zhang also felt a little embarrassed. After all, he was not working in the factory, and his tone was a little serious. He turned his head and said to me, “You and my son will definitely become good friends. You both learn computers and can communicate with each other. Learn from each other. You can study on my son’s computer without a computer, so you can come and play with me.”
I was excited for a while, playing with the computer for free, yes, I like it! And 586 brand Lenovo computer, just to visit.
But my dad said, “Today is too late, why don’t you change the day, Team Leader Zhang.”
Team leader Zhang looked up, it was past 7:30, he stomped his foot and said, “Look! I was chatting with you, but I didn’t notice the time. The recycling station is closed today. Do me a favor and put these cardboards away. Get it to my house, I will send it to the recycling station tomorrow, and stop by my house to visit.”
”Huh?” My dad was taken aback, stunned for a while, put down the glass, got up and said, “Okay, okay.”
Team leader Zhang weighed the cardboard and took out eight dollars from his pocket, “Take it, the money, I’ll give it to you today, the price of the recycling station.”
”Hey, you’re serious, keep the money.” My dad delayed again and again.
”Take it, one yard is one yard, don’t talk nonsense.” Team leader Zhang slapped the eight yuan on the table, turned around and picked up half a pile of cardboard, and he didn’t forget to turn around and say to my mother, “Sister, you usually want Pay attention to your body and don’t work too hard.”
Father turned his head to look at me and asked me to go up and help together. The two of them went downstairs together with the remaining cardboard.
”Team Zhang, you’re on your way, take care.” My mother’s farewell came from behind.
When I got downstairs, I saw a dilapidated tricycle with a lot of scrap cardboard and old appliances. It’s just such a thing that can start making money. I didn’t know it before, and I still went to the recycling center to find old books and sold them in the night market. This kind of work doesn’t seem to be as low as I imagined. My father’s team leader is all doing the work. It seems that making money is not high or low. Drinking and reading newspapers at home is the low.
We piled cardboard on his dilapidated tricycle, and followed him to the other side of the community, which should not be too far. The community is full of factory employees. My father pushed three and four along the way. In fact, there was some embarrassment. Everyone else was busy making money, but he was very leisurely.
When I was rummaging through old books at a cardboard and newspaper recycling center, the owner there lived in a dilapidated place. Therefore, I have an impression that the person who collects the cardboard newspapers should be the same.
The three of them came to Team Leader Zhang’s house together and lived on the first floor. We entered from the balcony, piled cardboard newspapers on the balcony, and looked around the entire balcony. They were all old appliances. diligent.
After passing through the messy balcony, Team Leader Zhang opened the door of his house. My father and I were shocked.
There are completely two worlds inside and outside the house, shiny wood grain floors, carved imported wallpaper, luxurious ceiling chandeliers, retro solid wood tables and chairs. The living room is clean and tidy, high-end atmosphere, the bedroom is low-key luxury, warm and fashionable. I wiped, this subverted my three views. I didn’t expect a home that recycles old appliances to be so magnificent. Compared to my home, it is like a palace. My father stayed at the door and was stunned.
Team leader Zhang entered the house and threw two pairs of slippers for us, and invited us in. Father refused to refuse, and respectfully obeyed. I thought he would brag, but he was very simple. He opened the refrigerator and took out the cold dishes and put them on the table. He handed me a popsicle.
”Thank you, Uncle Zhang!” I took the popsicles with both hands and behaved very politely. I felt inferior and didn’t want to lose face any more. I believe my father felt the same way.
Afterwards, he filled a bowl of white rice from the rice cooker on the table, and at the same time turned his head and shouted to the room, “Mingming, come out.”
A buddy about my age with glasses came out of the room, and they looked very similar, and it was obvious that this was his son.
Group leader Zhang introduced me and my major while eating a big mouthful. This buddy named Mingming looked at me with glasses and showed a smile that should be between friends.
”Hey, your family has grown so big.” My father forcefully said, “I didn’t expect both of them to learn computers.”
”Hello, uncle.” This four-eyed brother is very polite and gentle.
”You two, let’s play inside, communicate a lot and learn from each other.” Team leader Zhang said with a wave of his hand.
This dude is very hospitable, and I don’t know if he is in a hurry to show off that he has a high-end computer, pats me on the shoulder, and takes me inside.
Behind him, his father lit a cigarette handed to him by Team Leader Zhang and asked respectfully, “Team Leader Zhang, shouldn’t you just have dinner? Where’s your wife?”
Team Zhang swallowed the food with a big mouth, and said with food in his mouth, “Yeah, I’m so busy that I don’t have time to eat. Now have a meal and rest for an hour, go to the night market at 8 o’clock to help my wife tidy up the stall, and then come back together.”
My father was speechless, which was also what I expected. I didn’t expect that the team leader Zhang and his wife worked so hard to make money. Compared with their father, they were like people living in two different worlds.
The adults are bragging and chatting outside, so I won’t go into too much detail, but mainly talk about this buddy, his computer, and his computer major.
I call this Brother Four Eyes, Brother Ming, who is two years older than me. The room is very tidy. At first glance, he looks like a very organized person. The bookshelves are full of computer-related books, C language, assembly language, computer hardware and so on. These books feel very advanced to me, even though I am a computer major, I am still learning shit DOS so far.
There is a computer on the entire writing desk, which shows that this computer is very important and precious to him. Unlike the computers I often see, his case is vertical, which is more scientific than the horizontal case, with better heat dissipation and less noise.
The computer’s standby screen saver is displaying photos of Suzuki Honami floating randomly, showing that he is also a fan of Japanese dramas.
”Red fame and fortune!”, I pointed to the screen and shouted.
”Ha! That’s right!” The two of them were no strangers to each other, so they started chatting, perhaps because they were of similar age, had the same major, and had similar interests.
This is also the first time I saw the Windows 95 operating system. I have been in contact with dos before. I didn’t expect the window operation to be so convenient and concise. Under dos, I need to type a series of commands to perform the copy task. Here I just need to drag and drop easily. Right-click to select, it’s awesome!
He shakes the mouse, cancels the screen saver, and fuck, he’s playing a game! And I’ve never seen this game before, which surprised me a bit, and games I didn’t know about! ?
While introducing this game, he is skilled in operation and management. This game looks a bit like the Three Kingdoms series of strategy, but it is also a bit like the historical development of the plot, and the game concept is quite close to reality. Later, I learned that this is the famous and popular Civilization II that can only run on Windows. At that time, I was fascinated. The two pondered together, studied together, and played very energetically. It turns out that this is what his father said just now, communicate more and learn from each other…
”I’ll go back first, you can play for a while, come back early.” The father’s annoying advice came from behind.
”I went to the night market to help your mother.” Damn, why are the words of other people’s fathers so inspirational!
”Oh, oh.” We both nodded obediently and continued to focus on the game.
But for some reason, I suddenly felt a bit of desolation. It seems that reincarnation is really a technical job, and the fate of people will be so different. The poor of the same class, my father came home after get off work to drink, read the newspaper and watch TV. After other people’s fathers return home, they recycle waste to earn extra money, as well as night markets and breakfast.
No wonder my family has always been so poor. Ever since I was young, my parents have been arguing about money since I was sensible. It turned out that a job to support the family was far from enough, and my father was not a hard-working person, so he just had to live by, and the poor mother was overworked as a tailor day and night.
Poor and lowly married couples are in decline, and the tragedy cannot be imagined again and again.
Brother Ming was very curious, how could a high school student like me learn computer science. Later, when he heard that I was a computer student at the Electronics Vocational Senior High School, a smile appeared on his face. Several of his basic friends were also in the same school as me. It seems that the world is really small, or that there were really very few people studying computers at that time.
Brother Ming studied computer science after graduating from high school. He is currently studying in a computer science department at a university. Later, he told me that there are some schools that teach computers in high school and call themselves computer vocational schools. In fact, those things taught are useless, just like our school.
I agree with this point of view very much. After a semester of study, I have fully experienced that the so-called computer major is completely nonsense. Even the teacher said that the teaching is all outdated. . But useless English and maths torture us every day. If it weren’t for a beautiful computer teacher, I would have dropped out of school long ago.
Computer colleges like Ming Ge are formal, all the courses are computer every day, and they are still learning the most advanced software and technology. When he asked me if I understood Linux, php, and MySQL, I was at a loss. I don’t know, but what I’ve learned is all fucking rubbish.
It seems that I really should finish high school first, and then go to computer science school. And my current computer vocational school is not good at writing or martial arts. After graduation, I am unemployed, and I am not good at the college entrance examination, so I am abolished…
Later, he comforted me and said that in fact, most of the time, computer science is self-taught, even though he is a junior college, and the teacher does not teach much in class. So to learn computer well, it is very necessary to have a computer, otherwise it is pure theory, and it is impossible to understand the operation of the system and load balancing, etc…
After I heard it, I couldn’t understand it at all. I only used the computer to play games and typed a few dos commands at most. I just started practicing Wubi typing recently, which has driven me crazy.
Brother Ming asked me to type well. Maybe I can find a job in typing and typesetting after graduation, and then I will teach myself about computers and learn more useful software and systems. I will have a future.
I wipe, why do I feel that my future is so bleak, the whole person is like falling into a pit, waiting to be buried by the stool, and there is no way to survive.
But I felt like he was quite laid back. He was always playing games and talking a bit like bragging. When I asked this question, he told me. In fact, he has already completed the content of the specialist computer course, and has nothing to do, and has already begun to study more esoteric databases and systems. Of course, there is a lot of free time to play games, after all, unlike us, half of our life is wasted on English and math and those boring courses.
After listening to it, I suddenly realized that the computer vocational middle school is really just a gimmick. Although I can study by myself, but I don’t have a computer at home, which is equivalent to nonsense. The computer in the school can only be used for school courses, and it is impossible to install other software for me to study, which is useless.
Finally, when it comes to his computer, Lenovo brand machine mmx200, 32M memory, 3.2gb hard drive, awesome. At the beginning, it was a high-end configuration. After all, it was more than 10,000 yuan. His parents borrowed a lot of money and fully funded him to study computer. After he graduated a year later, he got a computer college certificate and honored his ancestors…
It’s almost ten o’clock in the blink of an eye. During the courtesy period, it is not advisable to stay for a long time, get up to greet each other, and wave goodbye.
He took me to the door and told me before leaving that there was a shortage of computer talents on the market, especially those who knew server systems and database programmers. After graduation, he will go to a network company to engage in database management, and his monthly salary will not be less than 3,000 yuan.
wow! In 1997, the monthly salary was 3,000 yuan, which was too awesome! If only I could make so much money, my mother wouldn’t have to work as a tailor day and night, and could enjoy the fortune.
Later, I went to Brother Ming’s house several times and asked some questions, but he went to work in Shanghai not long after graduation. I heard from my father that he earned 5,000 yuan a month in Shanghai, and he covered food and girls!