Chapter 418: This New Year's Eve was really good

"A pole was set up on the side of the house at the corner of the Li family's wall across the street. I don't know what kind of thing was put on it." The sister-in-law from the Lu family, who was preparing New Year's Eve dinner, suddenly remembered and said to Lu Yingming, who was frying fish.

"A pole? Is it for drying something?" Lu Yingming asked casually.

"It doesn't look like it. It looks more like... that antenna in the movies?" In the summer, the county's cultural center would occasionally have movie projection teams come down to show movies to farmers. The open-air kind, usually war movies, so Lu Dasao knew what that thing looked like.

"Antenna? Impossible, right? What kind of antenna does the Li family need? They don't have a radio station." Lu Yingming thought Lu Dasao was talking nonsense.

"That thing is just standing there. You'll know when you see it." Lu Dasao felt she wasn't trusted, complained, and continued to be busy with her own work.

"I'll have to take a look later." People at this time still had a strong sense of enemy and self, but Lu Yingming would never believe that the Li family had contact with enemy agents. If it really came down to it, Li Jianguo was even more firm than him.

If it really was an antenna, then he really had to go and see what was going on.

However, because he was busy, he forgot about it in a while. By the time he finished his work, his son had already run in in a rush, shouting that he was hungry.

Although Lu Dasao complained, she still got some things for him to take to the living room-cum-bedroom to eat, and by the way, opened a bottle of wine for Lu Yingming.

When Lu Yingming was pouring wine for himself, he was still thinking, did he forget something?

Li Long was moving the pole slowly outside, trying to get as close to the window as possible so he could hear the sound inside.

"Okay, okay..." Suddenly, he heard Li Jianguo's voice inside, so he stopped his movements. But the pole had inertia and hadn't rotated into place. The momentum didn't stop and it still wanted to turn. Fortunately, Li Long had experience when tying the pole. He had put a few pieces of wood and soil clods underneath early on, and even used a wire. He used his feet to pad the soil clods against the antenna pole and push them tight, the same on all four sides, so the pole was stuck and couldn't move.

Li Long went into the room and took a look, then smiled bitterly:

"Eldest brother, there are still quite a lot of snowflakes. How is it good? It still needs adjusting."

"It's clear enough. How can it be that clear?" Li Jianguo thought it was quite good. What he saw was the standby screen, which was a circle with many color blocks, a no-signal sign, and a time display.

But there were snowflakes, and there was still noise in the sound.

"It's okay, eldest brother, you keep watching. I'll adjust it again. You tell me when it's at its clearest."

Saying this, Li Long went out.

Li Jianguo was a bit unconvinced and said to Liang Wenyu:

"I think it's quite clear..."

"I also think it's quite clear." Liang Wenyu also nodded. "But since Xiao Long said it can be clearer, let him adjust it. He understands this... Hey, it's clear, it's clear..."

The picture was gradually becoming clear, and the noise was also decreasing.

Li Jianguo laughed:

"Hey, it really can be clearer... Okay, okay!" He suddenly shouted again.

"It's okay." Liang Wenyu also said, "If you twist these snowflakes anymore, there will be more."

The current picture was already very clear. Not to say there were no snowflakes at all, but at least there was no noise.

It should be about right.

After hearing this, Li Long felt that there shouldn't be any problems this time, so after fixing the antenna pole, he quickly went into the room.

Sure enough, it was much clearer.

"Okay, okay. Today we'll watch CCTV. When we watch Shicheng Station later, we'll adjust the antenna again." Li Long said, "There's the Spring Festival Gala tonight. That's really good to watch."

"How do you know?" Li Jianguo was quite curious about Li Long knowing this.

"I... heard it from Section Chief Li." Li Long made up a reason. "They all watch it."

"Hmm, they get the news early." Li Jianguo believed it. It was a good thing that his younger brother had wide connections, and he often heard Li Long say that he would send some fish or meat to the leaders and those friends, and they were also willing to give him some news. This kind of give-and-take was a good thing.

Li Long looked at the time and said with a smile:

"In a while, the gala will start. Juan and Qiangqiang will be shocked when they come back."

"That's for sure," Liang Wenyu was still wearing an apron. She turned and walked towards the kitchen, saying: "You guys sit first, I'll go get the food. You brothers drink a little tonight too. You've been tired enough this year, but life is getting better and better, and you're even watching a color TV. It's worth it!"

Li Long told his eldest brother about the coal mine again. Actually, he was still thinking about the agricultural machinery. This matter needed long-term consideration.

"Coal mine, that's very dangerous." Li Jianguo heard this and frowned, saying, "When I first came to the Northern Frontier, there were coal mine jobs. At that time, I wanted to go, after all, I was a worker—a relative at that time, who was a cadre in the reclamation area, told me I couldn't do it, as accidents often happened. So I didn't do it and went to the Corps to be a quartermaster..."

"I also think so. Let's find out specifically after the New Year." Li Long said, "If we can find a job that is a bit more leisurely and not so dangerous, we can still go. If we have to go down into the mine, forget it."

Actually, placing the second brother's family in the old horse corral, just for survival, like last year, catching fish and doing other jobs, they could survive no matter what.

But Li Long didn't think so. He hoped to get a stable job for his second brother—Li Anguo wasn't the kind of person with a flexible mind who could do business; he was suitable for a stable job.

The two of them chatted for a while, and the picture on the TV changed, and there was music. Li Long looked at his watch; it was almost 7:00 PM, so he said:

"Eldest brother, the CCTV News Broadcast is about to start."

"News Broadcast?" Li Jianguo hadn't watched TV and didn't know about this program.

"Hmm, it's a program specifically for broadcasting news."

"Is it similar to the 'News and Newspaper Summary' on the radio station?" Li Jianguo immediately associated it.

"Right, right, similar, but this one has pictures, people talking, and recordings." Li Long pointed to the TV and said, "Look, there will be hosts in a while, and explanations..."

The News Broadcast started on time, and the two hosts began to introduce today's main programs.

Looking at the satellite icon representing CCTV and the picture that was slightly monotonous, Li Long fell into memories.

A year has passed. It's been a year since he was reborn, and finally, he can see the picture on the screen again. Although this picture looks so simple, it's really dear.

Can this be considered a big step forward in his reborn life?

Although his savings are a big chunk less, he feels everything is worth it.

He is one step closer to the era where he ended up in his previous life.

While Li Long was sighing here, Li Jianguo had already started shouting excitedly:

"Wenyu, Wenyu? Come over quickly, come over quickly! Look, look at the TV... who came out!"

Liang Wenyu asked in the kitchen:

"Who came out?"

"You come over and you'll know..."

Liang Wenyu came out of the kitchen, still holding a spatula, and said with some complaint:

"I'm still preparing the food... Hey? Isn't this..."

She turned her head to look at Li Jianguo, then looked at the TV. After the picture passed, she sighed and said:

"This... there aren't many left."

"Yeah." Li Jianguo nodded and sighed, "That generation of people is really amazing..."

Li Long was a bit confused, but he didn't ask.

The News Broadcast wasn't long. While watching, Liang Wenyu brought out plate after plate of food.

Although the supplies now were far from as rich as in later generations, they were much better than the previous two years. Liang Wenyu tried her best to make the New Year's Eve dinner as sumptuous as possible.

In addition to the meat, fish, and internal organs that Li Long brought back, Liang Wenyu also stir-fried eggs, made cold cabbage hearts, mung bean sprouts, stir-fried salted vegetables with meat, stewed vermicelli with meat, etc.

There were seven or eight plates of food on the table, as well as dumplings and soup.

Outside came the voices of Li Juan and Li Jun. It could be heard that Li Jun was complaining about Li Juan letting them come back so early. It wasn't completely dark yet, and they could still play for a while. Li Juan was scolding Li Jun for not listening and crawling on the ground, getting his clothes dirty.

Then the door opened.

"Mom, are there guests?" Li Jun asked in a low voice, "Why do I hear strangers talking in the inner room?"

"No, you go take a look and you'll know." Liang Wenyu smiled and kept them in suspense.

Li Jun carefully went over and lifted the door curtain, and then saw a large color TV playing a program. Although he hadn't seen a color TV, he had heard of it. At this moment, he was stunned, and with a flash of inspiration, he guessed it and shouted excitedly:

"A big color TV! Sister, sister! Our family bought a big color TV! Look quickly, there are people on it, they are moving, and they are talking..."

Li Juan was washing her hands, preparing to help her mother bring things. At this moment, hearing Li Jun's words, she immediately ran to the inner room with her hands swinging. When she saw the color TV, she also let out a cry of surprise!

"Your little uncle bought it," Liang Wenyu said with a smile, "Put it in our house first. Watch it, your little uncle said there will be good programs in a while. It's just right for our family to watch it well and have a good New Year!"

New Year's Eve nights were usually spent by one's own family, not wandering around, so basically there was no worry about being disturbed.

The food was on the table, and Liang Wenyu was also finished. To facilitate watching TV, the family moved the table from the wall. Li Jianguo and Liang Wenyu sat in the position facing the TV, with Li Long on the left, and Li Juan and Li Jun on the right.

The hosts of the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala were Wang Jingyu, Liu Xiaoqing, Ma Ji, and Jiang Kun. Li Long vaguely remembered that this Spring Festival Gala had several features, such as Li Guyi singing "Love of the Hometown," which opened up pop music in the mainland; this Spring Festival Gala opened four telephone lines, which could be used to request programs, which could be considered a pioneering move.

At the beginning, Zhao Zhongxiang gave the opening speech, then introduced the guests present, Master Hou Baolin gave a speech, and Ma Ji and Zhao Lin performed three crosstalks—this was simply unimaginable in later generations.

It was quite normal at the time. After all, there were also people or groups performing many programs later.

The overall feeling was that the atmosphere of this Spring Festival Gala was very relaxed, and they weren't afraid of making any mistakes. Li Long vaguely remembered that when the gala was first created, it didn't even have a name. It was only determined to be called "Spring Festival Gala" just before it started broadcasting.

Counting the time to the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, and Li Long harnessed two carriages and rushed to the county.

!.

Li Long didn't remind them either. Thinking about it, his first time watching TV should have been like this too.

Time has passed, and things have changed. No one should laugh at anyone.

The crosstalk was quite funny, but Li Long had lived two lives, and his sense of humor had been raised. He was enjoying the process of eating the reunion dinner with his family, and was happy to see his family members burst into laughter from time to time because of the jokes in the crosstalk.

After all, listening to crosstalk and watching crosstalk were completely different. The expressions and actions of the crosstalk performers could increase the fun, which couldn't be felt just by listening.

Crosstalk, sketches, songs, many people performed many programs by themselves, like Li Guyi, who sang six or seven songs solo. How was this possible in later generations?

Of course, because this Spring Festival Gala was actually performed by CCTV employees, because the influence was too great, it was later expanded to the whole country.

The programs weren't as exquisite as in later generations, the venue wasn't as gorgeous, and even the connection of the programs was quite casual, but watching it was just happy and festive. It felt like a program that should be watched during the New Year.

When Hu Songhua came out, Li Jianguo sighed:

"His voice is really good!"

There were also magic and martial arts in the program, which were Li Juan and Li Jun's favorite programs. They would exclaim from time to time while watching, and couldn't help but applaud.

After Lu Yingming finished eating, he went out to relieve himself and vaguely heard that the Li family was quite lively, with people laughing from time to time. Looking over from the window, it seemed that the light and shadow inside were moving chaotically, and he didn't know what they were doing.

In the dark night, he couldn't see clearly what was on that pole.

He drank a little too much. It was inconvenient to go to someone's house now. Lu Yingming planned to go to the Li family to see what was going on when he visited tomorrow morning.

The atmosphere of the Li family was very happy. Li Long and Li Jianguo both had wine glasses in front of them, but they drank very restrainedly, not much. They were mainly watching the Spring Festival Gala and were quite happy, drinking occasionally. No one thought of getting drunk.

The Spring Festival Gala was on very late. At midnight, it was Jiang Kun and Ma Ji's crosstalk, which was interrupted by the midnight bell and wasn't finished. The whole family was waiting to watch it, but it wasn't finished.

This became a regret.

It was already very late when the program finished. Li Juan and Li Jun were quite energetic while watching, but were exhausted after watching. The two went to sleep, and the three adults tidied up the things on the table. They couldn't wait until Liang Wenyu got up tomorrow to tidy up.

After tidying up, Li Jianguo meant that Li Long should just sleep in the east room. Li Long waved his hand:

"Eldest brother, there will definitely be many people coming to pay New Year's calls tomorrow. I still want to sleep in. Don't wait for me for dumplings in the morning. I'll come over at noon."

After saying this, he put on his overcoat, put on his hat, and went out the door, walking towards the horse corral with big strides.

Over at the horse corral, Old Luo Shu had already gone to sleep. Li Long quietly opened his room door and found that the stove fire was still quite strong. Although it was pressed, charcoal had been added before pressing, and the room was very warm.

He was also sleepy. He didn't need to move the stove fire, so he took off his clothes, turned off the light, and got into the quilt, quickly entering dreamland.

In his dream, Li Long found that his return to the past was a dream. He appeared again in the 2020s, that era where technology was very developed, but his eldest brother was gone.

Li Long was filled with mixed feelings. He ran to his eldest brother's grave alone and cried for a long time. Then, when he got up again, he saw the young Gu Xiaoxia. Gu Xiaoxia asked him strangely:

"What are you doing here?"

Li Long felt very confused. Gu Xiaoxia shouldn't be here at this time, and shouldn't be so young.

But looking at himself, he suddenly became his young self again.

He couldn't explain, so he had to ask Gu Xiaoxia:

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to call you home for dinner. The food is ready, but I don't see you coming back. Let's go, let's go home for dinner."

Li Long looked at his eldest brother's grave again, and it had turned into a cotton field...

This is a mess.

Li Long felt he was very clear-headed. He knew this was a dream, but he couldn't wake up in the dream.

But in the dream, he had already married Gu Xiaoxia, and at this time, his eldest brother and sister-in-law's family were still quite good, but after his second brother's family came over, his second sister-in-law caused many things, making the whole family very unhappy...

Okay, it's just a mess. Li Long couldn't help but scold his second brother, but his second sister-in-law said he wasn't qualified to scold his second brother, which made Li Long angry and woke him up.

Then he heard the knocking on the door outside.

Li Long vaguely remembered that his second sister-in-law wasn't a narrow-minded person? How did she become like this in the dream?

Thinking about it, it was just a dream. Maybe he was worried that when his second brother's family moved over, they might have conflicts because of different living habits?

Thinking about this, Li Long climbed up and asked:

"Who is it? I haven't gotten up yet."

"Me, Yongqiang!"

"Daqiang."

These two.

Li Long felt it should be them. After all, only these two would run to find him at this time.

After putting on his clothes, Li Long went to open the door.

"Long Ge, amazing! 18-inch big color TV! The first one in the whole team!" After Yang Yongqiang came in, he directly gave a thumbs up.

"I guess there are few in the whole commune..." Tao Daqiang also said with admiration.

"You guys will have it too. Know the thing I made that day?" Li Long asked with a smile.

"Know, know, antenna! If I had known, I would have followed and learned it well that day!" Obviously, Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang had understood the matter clearly over at Li Jianguo's room.

"Now in Jian'guo's courtyard, it's full of people!" Yang Yongqiang continued, "Everyone knows, everyone knows your family bought a color TV, and they all came to see the novelty."

"What to see, there's no program now." Li Long said while sifting the stove ash, "There will be programs only at night."

"Even if there's no program, it's still a color TV!" Tao Daqiang said a truth, "Everyone is very envious, and everyone is thinking about working hard this year, and then buying a TV."

"Long Ge, you harmed us this time." Yang Yongqiang suddenly said, "After seeing your family's color TV, we can only buy black-and-white ones later. What should we do?"

"Hahahaha." Li Long laughed, "Then work hard this year and earn a color TV back. Anyway, it's not that expensive."

Li Long knew about land contracting. Like Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang's families, if they contracted more land, as long as they didn't mess around, they could still save a lot of money by the end of the year. Plus, following him, they could also get a lot of cash. It wouldn't be difficult to get a color TV by the end of the year.

After all, the Northern Frontier didn't rely entirely on the heavens for food; they were all irrigated fields. As long as they were diligent when farming, they would definitely be able to earn money. Of course, it just depended on how much they earned.

Li Long let the family plant watermelon, wanting to break through the upper limit of earnings. After all, if they only planted food crops, the family would have surplus money, but not much.

Watermelon was different. If planted well, one mu of land could have a gross income of 300 to 400 yuan, which was already very high in this era. Even after deducting costs, they could still save more than 200 yuan. They could get a color TV back in one year!

Of course, this was an ideal state.

But weren't there other sources of income?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 419 =====