Since 1983

The 1980s was a very dynamic era, but the reasons for this vitality were quite different.

The vitality of Ancheng comes from the smelting furnaces and tons of steel; it comes from working hard to complete the national mission at full speed; it comes from the incomparable glory of its own class; The survival relationship of the factory, so that the young people have sharpened their heads and want to squeeze into Anshan Iron and Steel...

But very few people jump out of the current hotbed and actively think about another path. Everything they do is confined to this city.

Such vitality, lack of thinking and rebellion, has long been doomed.

Every time Xu Fei rode his bicycle through the streets, he would unconsciously feel a taste of carnival in a cage—this is probably the case in resource-based cities.

"jingle!"

He rang the bell, stopped at the door of the post office, put the letter into the mailbox first, and when he walked into the hall, he found that there was a queue inside.

That's right, this society is still called the Post Office, and then in 1998, the post and telecommunications division, and the telecommunications became telecommunications and mobile, and the people were madly sprayed all day long.

The post offices of the later generations were sparsely populated and almost closed down, but now they are really powerful departments, sending letters, parcels, telegrams, money orders, etc., all have to be handled here.

He waited in line for six people before it was his turn, and said to the aunt behind the counter, "Hi, I'm buying stamps."

"How many do you want?"

The aunt pulled a square and was about to tear it.

"Do you have any more pig tickets? I want a copy."

"One version? Are you sure you want one version?"

"Yes, there is also a set of The West Chamber, and a set of miniatures, and a set of Marx's."

"Little comrade, are you collecting this?" the aunt recalled.

"Well, I do like stamps."

"..."

The aunt had a strange expression, but she didn't say anything. Now the concept of stamp collecting has just emerged, there are not many enthusiasts, and people are ashamed to associate stamps with money-or in other words, people are ashamed to talk about money.

She rummaged through the cabinet for a long time before finding a few booklets.

The first is the Zodiac Pig ticket, a set of 80 tickets, each with 8 points. Then there was a set of four copies of The Story of the West Chamber, plus a two-yuan souvenir sheet—which won the best design award of the year. There are also two stamps issued to commemorate the centenary of Marx's death, the first of which won the Best Engraved Stamp Award.

Pig tickets are six yuan and four, The West Chamber is three yuan and six cents, and Marx twenty-eight cents. Tsk tsk, Max is so cheap!

Anyway, it was nine dollars and seventy-four cents, plus a stamp album. In fact, it is not worth much money in later generations. For example, a set of pig tickets is only eight or nine thousand yuan, and a set of West Chamber is only a few hundred yuan.

Xu Fei mainly collects high-quality goods, and secondly, of course, for speculation!

"Do you still have the dog ticket from last year?"

"Sold out early."

"What about the chicken ticket from the year before last, and the monkey ticket from the year before last?"

"Tsk!"

The aunt became impatient, and said: "It's been two or three years, and I just remembered to collect it now, why did I go so long ago?"

"I didn't come earlier..."

He smiled and left the post office with the brochure.

There was nothing to do in the regiment today, so Xu Fei went home first, got a piece of cardboard and wrote two lines, wiped himself and turned back. A poke at the side of the door, the passers-by were immediately attracted, and they all paid attention, seeing the words on it:

"Looking for comrades who love stamp collecting, let's exchange and learn together."

There is also a weird stick figure drawn at the bottom, flying on the clouds. Everyone showed contempt. In their eyes, this is a typical social idler, which is only better than the blind flow.

Xu Fei didn't care, and pulled out half a pack of big produce from the waistband of his trousers, and picked it up on his own.

He has tried his best to write as serious and conservative as possible, but ordinary people are more conservative. There are many people who go in and out of the post office, and there are very few lovers of gay friends, and no one comes forward to talk to him.

After waiting for a long time, I found nothing.

Just as he was about to go home, he suddenly saw a man approaching him, in his twenties, wearing earth-green underwear, and stepping on a pair of broken rubber shoes.

This guy took a look and said, "Little brother, are you going to collect stamps?"

"It's just a hobby, is it okay for my brother?"

"It's okay, and I noticed it recently."

"What's your name?" He handed over a cigarette.

"Just call me Lao Zhang."

The man held the cigarette between his rough and scorched fingers, took a quick and forceful puff, as if he hadn't tasted tobacco for a long time, and then asked, "What type do you want?"

"Anything is fine, of course I have to be able to see it."

"That's right, I happen to have a few editions at home, why don't you go and have a look?"

The man pointed to a small alley not far from the post office, "It's over there, and you'll be there in a few minutes."

"Uh, that's fine."

Xu Fei thought for a while, stood up, pushed the bicycle and left with the other party.

There was no small talk along the way, he only cared about stamps, and said: "Now I mainly collect zodiac stamps, especially the rooster stamps and monkey stamps issued in the past two years, do you have them?"

"..."

After he finished speaking, he didn't hear anything, so he turned his head and saw that buddy was staring at his bicycle, his eyes flickering, and then he seemed to react suddenly, "Ah! It seems to be there, you will know when you go."

Um?

Xu Fei's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly glanced around. He had already left the post office road and was turning into a small alley. Looking at the alley again, it is dilapidated, and there are not even decent houses.

"Brother, how long have you been in contact with stamps?" He slowed down and continued to hala with water on his face.

"Not long, not as good as you."

"Then you definitely don't understand the value of stamp collection. Let me tell you, don't look at stamps as inconspicuous, they will be worth a lot in the future, just like Marx's, at least this amount in the future..."

"How many?"

The man looked this way subconsciously, and finally felt, Huh! A gust of wind from his sleeves slammed into his face, and he turned around as if he had sent him to the door.

The sandbag-sized fist first stuck to a layer of soft flesh, and then hit a hard tooth. Hearing a bang, the other party crooked, the corner of his mouth was cracked, and two bloody yellow teeth flew out.

Before he could react, Xu Fei rushed forward and kicked on his stomach again, then turned the car around and ran away.

"Fuck, run away!"

At this moment, another guy came out of the alley, angrily chased after him, picked up the stone and threw it.

crackle! crackle!

Xu Fei shrank his neck, as if he was facing a hail of bullets, and slid away with all his might. Thanks to the strength of the big phoenix, he didn't lose the chain at the critical moment, he jumped out for a while, and quickly got rid of the opponent.

"Damn it!"

He was irritated and frightened, panting heavily, brother, you who have studied basketball for two years, are you fighting with me? ? ?

The law and order in these years is really not good, and they dare to carry out robbery in broad daylight. There is no way, there are too many gangsters in the society, this car is not very good to yourself, but it is a piece of fat to others, it is still very fresh fat.

It was around afternoon when he wobbled back home.

Seeing so many stamps, parents would inevitably chatter again. Xu Fei couldn't explain it, so he just stuffed the stamp album into the drawer and added a small lock.

In fact, his real goal is not The Romance of the West Chamber and Marx, nor the chicken or dog tickets, but the monkey tickets issued in 1980.

Speaking of monkey tickets, it can be described as famous. Later generations once achieved an astonishing price of over 10,000 for a single piece and 1.2 million for the full plate, and the collectors called it "Golden Monkey". There are three reasons for this:

It is the first edition of Zodiac stamps issued in China;

The author is Huang Yongyu;

The number is rare.

When it was first issued, it was originally planned to distribute 8 million stamps. Later, considering the small base of philately, it was reduced to 5 million stamps. However, due to technical damage during the printing process, only more than 4 million stamps were released in the end. few.

Based on these three points, coupled with the promotion of some people behind the scenes, the price of monkey tickets has been soaring all the way. There is even a magical story circulating in the market:

It is said that there was an old man in the south who was working at the post office at the time. In order to complete the task, he bought six versions of monkey tickets. As a result, thirty years later, the eldest son got married and bought a house, but he had no money, so he sold one edition; the second son got married, had no money, and sold another edition... It can be said that the arrangement was clear.

If he had worn it a few years earlier, let alone monkey tickets, he would be guaranteed to get all the peerless treasures such as "Big Red", "Victory of the Revolution", and "Great Qing Post".

This investment is a huge profit, but it is not good at all, the return period is too long!