Chapter 344: The Impact of the Television Drama

Then the old village secretary continued with another “explosive” announcement: “There’s still a good amount of pork left from the last hunting trip. Each household can get 3 jin of pork.”

The crowd was even more overjoyed when they heard this. They hadn’t expected to get 63 yuan and 3 jin of pork as well. In the past, they wouldn’t have even dared to imagine such a thing.

“Three jin of pork—finally, we can have dumplings for New Year’s!” a villager exclaimed emotionally.

Another villager chimed in, “Yeah! It’s been so long since we had dumplings.”

The old secretary said, “Hold on, I’ll call your names to come up and collect it.”

“Zhou Xuqiang!”

Zhou Xuqiang hurried up to receive his share, first accepting the 63 yuan, then taking the 3 jin of pork.

Just like that, everyone was able to receive their shares in an orderly fashion. Since the money and pork had already been pre-portioned, distribution went very quickly.

In less than half an hour, all the villagers had received their money and pork.

“It’s cold today, so I won’t say much. Let’s end the meeting,” said the old secretary.

With that, everyone picked up their chairs and got ready to leave.

Zhou Dafu had deliberately come today just to see what the village would be giving out for the New Year, because he was confident it wouldn’t compare to what the steel factory was handing out. But the more he listened, the more shocked he became.

It actually seemed better than what the factory had given out. He felt a bit awkward—after how boastful Zhang Yang had been yesterday, this was enough to make him blush with embarrassment.

Yesterday, Zhou Dafu had really been in the spotlight. After all, the steel factory had handed out a jin of pork, whereas the instant noodle factory didn’t distribute any meat, just some side products and a bucket of instant noodles per person.

The villagers had looked on enviously.

The desire to work at the factory was surging once again.

When Zhou Dafu spotted Zhou Yimin, he quickly walked over. “Uncle Sixteen, you’re back? And you brought the TV too. Can I come over to watch later?”

He had already known that Zhou Yimin had bought a TV, but never had the chance to see it. Now there was finally an opportunity.

“As long as you can grab a seat, I don’t mind,” Zhou Yimin replied bluntly.

He didn’t need to think about it—if a house had a television, people were definitely going to want to come watch. There were too many people in the village and too few seats in any one home. It simply couldn’t accommodate everyone.

Zhou Yimin hurried back home with his things.

The old man was already waiting at the door. When he saw Zhou Yimin, he rushed up to him. “Yimin, you’re finally back!”

These past few days, the old man had been going to the door whenever he had free time, hoping to see Zhou Yimin return. Today, he had finally waited long enough.

“Grandpa, it’s cold out. Let’s go inside,” Zhou Yimin said, worried that the old man wasn’t dressed warmly enough.

The old man chuckled, half-jokingly, “Don’t worry, I’m still strong.”

Then he helped carry Zhou Yimin’s things into the house.

First, Zhou Yimin brought the TV inside, then set about assembling and tuning it.

Back then, TVs required antennas to receive signals. Early TV signal transmission primarily relied on radio waves. Stations used directional or omnidirectional antennas to broadcast signals, and users needed receiving antennas to pick them up.

Reception quality depended on signal location, antenna type, and orientation. The TV needed to be placed somewhere with good reception, and the antenna adjusted for the best signal.

At that time, TVs typically used retractable or simple receiving antennas.

Only in the era of color televisions did people start using “fishbone” antennas, which had to be installed on rooftops and adjusted for better signal reception.

The old man couldn’t wait. “Yimin, is it ready to watch yet?”

This kind of high-end device was something they had only heard of before, never seen. They never imagined the day would come when their own family could actually watch TV.

Soon, as Zhou Yimin tuned it, people began to appear on the screen.

The old man was thrilled. “There’s a picture!”

Hearing his shout, Zhou Yimin’s grandmother hurried over. The moment she saw the image on the screen, she stood frozen in place.

Seeing this, Zhou Yimin felt that bringing the TV home had definitely been the right call. TVs at the time weren’t like those in later generations, where you could watch all kinds of shows. At that point, there were very few programs available.

Word quickly spread in Zhoujiazhuang: Zhou Yimin had brought home a TV drama. The villagers, young and old, all made their way to his house.

Zhou Dafu was the first to respond and arrived early—not empty-handed, either. He brought along the jin of pork he had received from the steel factory.

Since the village was already distributing 3 jin of pork, and Zhou Yimin had helped so much, his family had decided it would be wrong not to show appreciation. So Zhou Dafu’s parents told him to bring something over.

That 1 jin of pork was quite a valuable gift. Most of the other villagers came empty-handed, with only a few bringing snacks like peanuts or sunflower seeds.

Zhou Dafu entered with the pork. “Uncle Sixteen, I’m here to catch some TV time.”

He handed the pork to Zhou Yimin as he spoke.

“Just come, no need to bring anything next time,” Zhou Yimin said, accepting the pork and taking it into the kitchen. He figured many people would be coming to watch TV, and leaving meat out here wouldn’t be appropriate.

As more people arrived, Zhou Yimin’s house soon filled up completely.

Zhou Yimin noticed that the folks in the back probably couldn’t see anything at all—but they were mostly there for the novelty, so he didn’t say much.

Later arrivals couldn’t fit inside and had to crowd around the windows just to catch a glimpse.

Within half an hour, people were packed into every corner of the house, inside and out.

Zhou Yimin had no choice but to turn the TV volume all the way up, so even those who couldn’t see could still hear.

Before long, the beloved Premier Zhou appeared on screen, likely in an interview.

The villagers were overjoyed to see Premier Zhou. If space weren’t so limited, they would’ve jumped for joy. Although they’d never seen him in person, seeing him on the screen felt like an incredible stroke of luck.

After all, TVs were extremely rare. More than 99.9% of people across the country had never even seen a television drama. That’s how precious it was.

Time flew by, and soon it was noon. Yet no one wanted to leave.

The old man had no choice but to urge everyone to go home for lunch. “If you still want to watch after you eat, come back!”

Zhou Yimin was also a bit helpless. He had underestimated the effect a TV would have. In such cold weather, not a single person standing outside had left.

Clearly, their eagerness to watch television had completely overwhelmed any discomfort from the freezing winter.

(End of Chapter)