Relying on their youth, the two of them quickly rested.

"Recently, the investigation was strict, saying that the quality of our leather shoes in Wenzhou was too poor, and our shoe sellers were caught by industry and commerce, not only confiscated the goods, but also fined money, and were sent back." Li Tongfu broke the silence, "Niang Xixiao (Wenzhou local scolding words), I can't do it." Li Tongfu's helpless curse is to the industrial and commercial inspectors, but also to the Wenzhou shoe factory that counterfeited shoes.

During that period of time, in addition to the large shoe factory in Wenzhou, some shoemakers who were far away also returned to their hometowns and opened a small workshop at home, in order to grab more profits, these leather shoemakers who had just germinated the consciousness of doing factories, counterfeiting was prevalent, and the leather shoes from Wenzhou were once called "morning and dusk shoes", and consumers across the country complained everywhere. As a last resort, salespeople like Li Tongfu can only set up stalls and sell in the name of "export to domestic sales". The industrial and commercial personnel of the whole country have also confiscated Wenzhou leather shoes and leather everywhere, arrested the sales personnel of Wenzhou leather shoes, in addition to fining money, but also let the local government of Wenzhou to collect people.

This was only known when Yang Liufang met the shoe-shiner Li Tongfu again at the Xizhou Railway Station two months later. And not long after he left, in Hangzhou Wulin Square, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Industry and Commerce and the Hangzhou Municipal Department of Industry and Commerce joined forces to concentrate on the inferior shoes of Wenzhou confiscated from the vendors and the small market in Huanbei, and burned them in a centralized manner, and the Wenzhou shoe industry fell into a trough.

"Brother, our goods have been confiscated, maybe it's a blessing or a curse, you see the three Northwest shoes buyers just now, they recognize our shoes. We can batch a batch of shoes to sell locally. Li Tongfu discovered this business opportunity with his keen eye, and the ignorant Yang Liufang was chased twice a day, undecided, and didn't understand at all. But seeing Li Tongfu's eyes shining because of the excitement of discovering business opportunities, I felt that this strange and sincere "elder brother" was trustworthy. In addition, Yang Liufang, who had no relatives, had no choice but to nod in approval.

"I'll take you to a place to live first, you wait there, I'll go back and get a batch of shoes, let's go to the northwest to sell."

Yang Liufang followed Li Tongfu around the small market in Huanbei in front of a row of dilapidated bungalows, a white banner with yellow cloth strips was crookedly written on the word "hostel", and walked in from a small door, it was a row of passages, there were no windows at the entrance of the passage to dim lights, and behind a high front with a wooden board under the light, there was an old man wearing glasses. Seeing a guest come in, the old man raised his head slightly, and looked at them through the gap in his low-hanging glasses.

"Uncle, my brother, stay in my bunk, I'll go back and get the goods." Li Tongfu habitually offered a smiling face.

"Well, follow the rules, don't mess around."

"That's, that's." Li Tongfu said as he took Yang Liufang along the passage and stopped in front of the door of a room, the door was open, there were four beds, there were already three people lying inside, and a middle-aged man by the window was smoking, although the doors and windows were open, the ventilation may not be smooth, and the room was still filled with smoke.

Li Tongfu took Yang Liufang into a small room filled with smoke and choking sweat and stinky feet, as well as a slight musty smell, Yang Liufang was a little restrained. Li Tongfu was familiar with the three roommates in the room, and said while laughing: "Three uncles, I will go home to pick up the goods, and let my brother live here for the time being, please take care of the uncles." ”

"It's alright, Ah Fu."

"Don't worry, they're all fellows."

"Hmm" the three roommates should be in harmony.

Li Tongfu found his bed, Yang Liufang temporarily settled here, this is 17 years old, five days after leaving home, the first time to live in a fixed place, Liu Fang went to the small shop at the door of the hotel to eat a big bowl of Pian Erchuan, and then fell asleep.

The roommates all went out early in the morning to sell goods, some returned early, some did not return all night, the people who came back love to smoke and still smoke desperately, tired and did not care about washing their feet and washing their faces, and fell asleep on the bare bed, these people are the epitome of Wenzhou people who left their hometowns in the early days and walked the streets and alleys to make a living.

Three days later, Li Tongfu returned from Wenzhou, and the luxury was that he had to hire a manpower tricycle from Wulinmen Station to pull the goods back, in addition to bringing two large bags of goods, and a pack of oranges, the roommates went out to sell the goods, and the two people struggled to move the two bags of goods into the room and put them under the bed, sweating profusely to open a beating orange, and eat it beautifully.

"Brother, I'll invite you to eat a piece of Sichuan." After eating the mandarin oranges, Liu Fang said to Li Tongfu from the bottom of his heart. One is to express the sincere gratitude of a 17-year-old boy, and the other is to express his extreme trust in the strange brother.

"Okay, let me guess, you should be reluctant to eat meat, 7 cents per bowl of noodles, you should have 4 pieces and 8 cents left, I want to eat a big bowl with meat." Li Tongfu said slyly.

"Okay, let's go." The two followed each other downstairs.

A person asked for a big bowl of sliced Sichuan noodles with meat in the small shop at the entrance of the hostel, and there was no soup left, and then Li Tongfu told him that he was usually reluctant to eat meat in the past, and the hard-working and thrifty Wenzhou people were so accumulating wealth little by little.

"Brother, I thought about it, let's go to Xizhou first, you and me, I'll buy you a ticket, sell a pair of shoes, and give you 2 cents. When you have the capital, I'm taking you into shoes, and you can go out and do it alone. Li Tongfu said solemnly.

"Thank you, brother" Yang Liufang was sincerely grateful, and met the real Li Tongfu when he went out for the first time, and he could be regarded as having a job.

After going back, Li Tongfu gave the oranges he brought to his roommates who came back, and put one at the head of the bed if he didn't come back, the orange fragrance was strong, washing away the smell in the room. The two put the travel bag between the two beds, and lay on the bed horizontally to sleep, maybe for the sake of Ou sense, maybe it is the nature of Wenzhou villagers to go out and take care of each other, everyone has no objection.

Early the next morning, taking advantage of the cool weather, the two called two human-powered tricycles at the door of the hostel, one was responsible for a travel bag, and went straight to the Hangzhou Railway Station, which was 5 kilometers away.

In the 80s, the old railway station in Hangzhou was an antique dougong building, and under the heavy eaves was a waiting hall formed by four towering pillars. Early in the morning, the railway station hall was already full of people who bought tickets to go to all parts of the country to make a living, Liu Fang was guarding the goods outside the hall, and Tongfu entered the hall to queue up to buy tickets.

From here, there are fewer people who go to the barren northwest to make a living, but they take a train from Hangzhou, and they have to pass through Shanghai, Zhengzhou, and Baoji along the way to reach Xizhou, so the final ticket to Xizhou is still easy to buy. It's just that there are more passengers in the previous cities, and it is not easy to buy tickets, especially to Shanghai, which is almost difficult to find.