Chapter 398 Friendship Store

Chapter 398 Friendship Store

Chapter 398 Friendship Store
"Okay, forget about them, let's take a rest!"

"Ok!"

Of course, you must toss and turn before going to bed, otherwise you won’t be able to fall asleep!
To be honest, the current weather is really not suitable for working out because it's too hot!

Although there is a fan blowing, it doesn't matter at all. It would be better if there was air conditioning.

But this is impossible. Not to mention that it doesn't exist, even if it does exist, it cannot be installed because of the wiring problem and it simply cannot be pulled.

After all the trouble, Li Jia lit a cigarette and said, "No, I'll find someone to change the line tomorrow."

"Why change the line?"

"I plan to install air conditioning in my home."

"Install an air conditioner? Are there any air conditioners for sale now?" Lin Ling'er asked.

"It's not produced in China yet, but I know a place that has it."

"Oh! Where?"

"The Friendship Store has a lot of foreign goods. They must have air conditioners because I saw a lot of them installed."

Yes, since the Friendship Store was built, the foreign-related store in the department store has been closed, and all foreign-related materials must be purchased at the Friendship Store.

"Friendship Store! They do sell air conditioners there, but they cost US dollars," said Lin Ling'er.

Although the reform and opening up had already taken place at that time, there were no foreign exchange coupons as they were only issued on April 1, 1980.

So currently, if you go to the Friendship Store to buy things, you still need to pay with US dollars, and what Li Jiayi lacks the least is US dollars.

Although most of the US dollars in his space were invested in the Japanese devils, it does not mean that he did not keep any.

Besides, even if he didn't keep any, would it be hard for him to get a few dollars? He could easily get the money to buy an air conditioner by going out for a walk.

"I'll take care of it for $US10, but you still have to replace the wires before you buy the air conditioner."

"Well! The wiring in our hospital is all old, and there is no way to use high-power electrical appliances."

"Yes."

Of course, Li Jiayi had no plan to replace the wiring in the entire courtyard. He only replaced the wiring for his own home and also replaced the wiring in the East Courtyard.

Although the East Courtyard is now rented to He Yuzhu, the house is his! So it must be changed together.

And he had already made up his mind that he would pull a separate line and not let the people in the hospital get involved.

Silent all night.

After breakfast the next morning, Li Jiayi drove out. He didn't go to the restaurant or the company, but went directly to the power supply station.

Yes, it is the Xinjiekou Power Supply Station.

"Hello!" Li Jiayi came to the door of an office and greeted a staff member inside.

"What's the matter with you?"

"It's like this, the electrical wires in our yard are aging, and I want to replace them."

"You want to change the wires?"

"Yes, can't it be changed?"

"That's not the case. It's just that if you want to change the wires, you need to pay for it yourself."

"No problem, but I want to pull one myself, and it'd be better if it's thicker first."

"Sure, since you're paying for it yourself, you can use whatever thread you want."

"Ok!"

The two cross-courtyard properties of Li Jia's family have long used separate electricity meters and have nothing to do with the courtyard.

You should know that except for his house, the entire No. 7 Courtyard uses one electricity meter.

Yes, you use an electricity meter and pay the electricity bill every month, which is calculated based on how many light bulbs you have in your home and how many watts the light bulbs are.

Of course, this includes whether there is a TV or a radio.

Only Li Jia's family does not need to pay, because their family has a separate electricity meter and they pay exactly what they are supposed to pay.

As for why so many households in the hospital do not use individual electricity meters, it is because electricity meters are too expensive.

You know, an electric meter is a precision instrument! One meter costs more than 100 yuan, which many families cannot afford.

After a while, two electricians came to Yard No. 7 with two reels of six-square wire and several reels of four-square wire following Li Jiayi.

The electrical wires that Li Jia's family is currently using are the same as those in the courtyard, except that a meter has been added.

But now he didn't plan to do that. Instead, he pulled the line again, and not from the front, but from the back of the house.

Because there is a telephone pole behind, and since the wire is pulled separately, it doesn’t matter where you pull it from.

Anyway, it all belongs to the Xinjiekou Power Supply Station.

After the electrician came, he quickly cut off the original wires and removed the electric meter.

The wire is no longer in use, but the meter is still usable, this does not need to be replaced, it just needs to be moved to a different location.

There were two electricians, one for his courtyard and the other for the east courtyard.

"Add one! What is this for?" the deaf old lady came over and asked.

"Ma'am, these lines are a bit old. I'll ask the power supply station to replace them."

"That's it!"

Although He Yuzhu lives in the East Courtyard and it has little to do with him, don't forget that the house is his. Besides, it doesn't cost much to change the wires.

"Old lady, I'll bring you a chair so you can sit down and rest. I'll finish changing it soon."

"No, no, I'm not tired either."

"That won't do. You better sit down! Don't fall down."

According to normal circumstances, the old lady should have passed away several years ago, but she is still alive. Not only that, she is in very good health and doesn't even need a cane.

Li Jiayi knew that this was because of the efficacy of the spiritual spring water. Let's put it this way! If the old lady had lived here all the time, she would probably live a hundred years.

You should know that this spiritual spring water is not just for show, it is very effective in prolonging life and slowing down aging.

For example, his parents are in their fifties now, but if you say they were thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, people would believe it.

Not to mention Li Jiayi and Lin Ling'er, especially Li Jiayi, it's as if his age has stopped.

"You little brat, I'm in good health! How could I fall down?"

"Old lady, it's better to be safe than sorry. You should sit down and have a rest!" Li Jiayi moved a chair over and put it down and said.

"Fine!"

This time, Li Jiayi not only replaced the wires outside, but also replaced all the wires in the house.

The wires outside are six square copper wires, and the wires inside the house are four square copper wires.

You should know that copper wire is much more expensive than aluminum wire, only Li Jiayi would use it.

You have to know that the entire compound uses 2.5 square aluminum wires! This is also the reason why high-power electrical appliances cannot be pulled up.

The wires outside were easier to pull and were done in less than twenty minutes. The main problem inside the house was the difficulty because the wires had to be rearranged.

However, money talks, and with the money paving the way, the electrician didn't say a word.

After working hard, we finally rearranged all the lines before noon.

Li Jiayi paid for the electrical wires and gave each of the two electricians five dollars as a reward for their hard work.

This must be given. You should know that electricians usually only connect external lines, that is, lines other than the electric meter.

The wiring in a house like this has nothing to do with other people.

Of course, five dollars per person is a bit too much, but it doesn’t mean that he has to give five dollars. The main reason is that he has money.

Five dollars may be two or three days' wages for others, but it is nothing to him.

Originally, Li Jiayi wanted to invite the two electricians to have a meal, but they did not agree.

That's right. I only worked for a whole morning and they only gave me five dollars. I couldn't bear to ask them to stay for dinner.

"I'm going back too." The old lady stood up and said.

"Old lady, why don't you stay for dinner?" "No, I'll just go back and get something to eat."

"Okay then, slow down."

The old lady is in good health and cooking is a piece of cake for her.

Now He Yuzhu comes home late every day, and dinner is basically cooked by the old lady.

After the old lady went back, Li Jiayi also came into the room, plugged in the electric fan, and turned it on.

After thinking about it, Li Jiayi went upstairs, closed the door from the inside, and entered the space directly.

He would never cook on such a hot day! That was why he didn't insist on keeping the old lady.

It’s still more comfortable in space!

Take out some food from the static space, have a quick meal, and then take a nap in the space.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Li Jiayi took a shower and came out of the space.

Then we drove to the Friendship Store.

There are a lot of people in front of the Friendship Store, but they are not here to buy things. Some of them are reselling US dollars, and most of them are here to watch the fun.

Of course, these people who come to watch the fun and see what's happening are people with nothing to do, either they have no job or they are taking a break from work.

As soon as Li Jiayi stopped the car, several people surrounded him.

"Comrade, do you have any US dollars? I will exchange it for a high price."

"I'm sorry, it's not enough for myself." Li Jiayi said.

Needless to say, these people are the ones who trade US dollars.

It’s still okay now. In two years, these people will start to trade in foreign exchange certificates, and then things will really go crazy.

But even now, these people are crazy enough! One dollar is offered up to three dollars and fifty cents.

No matter whether it was three dollars and fifty cents or any other amount, Li Jiayi had no intention of changing it.

The main reason was that he didn't have many US dollars on him, and also, he didn't care about the price difference at all.

With this time, why not do anything else he wants?

After hearing what Li Jiayi said, the people who surrounded him left.

Li Jiayi parked the car, locked it and walked inside.

Have you ever seen a shopping mall with a gate outside? This is what the Friendship Store looks like.

And the door was still closed.

"Open the door." Li Jiayi came to the gate and shouted to the person on duty in the booth.

"You are not allowed in here."

Li Jiayi quickly took out a US dollar from his car pocket and waved it at the person on duty in the booth.

Seeing the dollar, the person on duty ran out quickly, opened the door a little and said, "Come in!"

"Thank you."

As soon as Li Jiayi entered, the staff on duty immediately closed the door again.

This is the Friendship Store at that time, they only accept foreigners here.

Of course, there are also Chinese people holding US dollars.

Foreigners don’t need to take out US dollars, they will be allowed in directly, but Chinese people are not allowed in, no matter who you are, you will not be allowed in without US dollars.

When he arrived at the Friendship Store, Li Jia kept running towards the area where air conditioners were sold.

In fact, department stores also have air conditioners, but they are cabinet-type air conditioners, which are all-in-one.

And it only has cooling, which is installed on the window, blowing cool air inside.

The air conditioners sold here at Friendship Store are different. All of them are imported.

It is divided into indoor unit and outdoor unit.

"Hello, how much is this air conditioner?" Li Jiayi asked, pointing to an air conditioner that looked very good.

"Two thousand six."

"So expensive?"

"Yes, the air conditioner you are referring to is the most expensive. There are cheaper ones here. This one is 1,800 yuan, and this one is 2,300 yuan."

You have to know that the money used here is all US dollars! Even if it is 1,800 yuan, it is still a sky-high price when converted into RMB.

No wonder the business here basically only involves foreigners. It's also because how much Chinese people can afford.

Even if they can afford it, I guess not many people would buy it.

It’s not that you don’t have that much money, but it’s not cost-effective to spend so much money just to buy an air conditioner.

Li Jiayi thought for a moment, pointed at the 2,600-yuan model and said, "I want three of these."

"Are you sure?"

"OK, I'll issue the invoice now. Oh! By the way, you will be responsible for the installation, right?"

"Of course, we not only install it, but we also deliver it to your door."

Yes, this thing is a high-end product in this era!
Unlike later times, where you can just find anyone who repairs air conditioners to install it, in this era, only those who sell this thing can install it.

The salesperson quickly issued the ticket, and then Li Jiayi took the ticket to pay.

One is US$2,600, and three is US$7,800.

For others, they may not be able to earn so much money in their entire lifetime, but Li Jiayi can't spend even a bunch of it.

After paying, Li Jiayi put away the extra money and went back with the stamped receipt from the cashier.

"Here you go." Li Jiayi handed over the ticket.

"Please leave your address and we will arrange for someone to deliver it to you and install it right away."

"Okay." Li Jiayi took the ticket and left his address.

"Just go back and wait."

"Can it be installed today?" Li Jiayi asked.

The salesperson turned around, glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "No problem. It can be installed today."

"Okay, I'll go back first."

"Ok!"

After coming out of the Friendship Store, Li Jiayi drove back first.

He wanted to see which room to install the air conditioner in, since he bought three air conditioners!
There are only two rooms in the house now.

Yes, what he wanted to see was where the extra machine was installed.

After looking upstairs and then downstairs, Li Jiayi decided to install it in the room where his eldest and second sisters used to live.

In this way, if the eldest sister and second sister come over, it can still be used.

Even when the children come back, they can live in this room.

As for the main room, Li Jiayi had no plans to install an air conditioner.

Few people are at home during the day, especially in the summer.

So it doesn’t matter whether you install it or not, there are electric fans anyway.

In winter, there is no need for it because there is a fireplace in the house, which is much warmer than air conditioning.

It is most suitable to install it in the room, because it can be used at night!
"Is Jiayi home?"

Li Jiayi had just made up his mind when he heard someone shouting outside and hurried out of the house.

"Aunt Cheng."

"You are at home! Someone is looking for you outside."

(End of this chapter)