Lao Zhou Summary: On October 28, the period drama "Alley People" was launched. This drama is based on two families in the family area of ​​​​Suzhou Cotton Weaving Factory. Starting from the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1978, the story takes the development of

Laozhou

Summary: On October 28, the period drama " Alley People " was launched. This drama is based on two families in the family area of ​​​​Suzhou Cotton Weaving Factory. Starting from the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1978, the story takes the development of the children's destiny as the main line in the tide of the times for decades. This period drama is full of fireworks, and the atmosphere of the 1980s hits your face, making people think of that unforgettable era.

Figure 1: "Alley Family" poster

On October 28, the period drama "Alley Family" was launched. This drama is based on two families in the family area of ​​​​Suzhou Cotton Weaving Factory. Starting from the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1978, the story takes the development of the children's destiny as the main line in the tide of the times for decades. This period drama is full of fireworks, and the atmosphere of the 1980s hits your face, making people think of that unforgettable era.

Period dramas have always been a very popular subject, and there are quite a lot of classic works over the years, such as "Golden Wedding", "In the World", "Parents' Love", etc. These popular classics have something in common. It is about the joys and sorrows of ordinary people in the tide of the times. If too much positive energy is mixed in, it will change the flavor of the fireworks that ordinary audiences are familiar with.

This time "Alley Family" is a very successful masterpiece, so the ratings exceeded 2 in just two days after it was aired, and the Douban score was as high as 8.2. It received rave reviews and was even called this year's dark horse drama,

Through the short stories of the banker and the Lin family, this drama organically integrates some major events of the era, such as the resumption of the college entrance examination, welfare housing allocation, the return of educated youth to the city, the settlement of educated youth children, individual economy, Sunday engineers, suspension of work and salary, etc., etc. The various stories are full of the flavor of the times, bringing the audience back to the 1980s almost instantly.

Figure 2: Poster of "Alley People"

Those words of the era that had long been forgotten reappeared in the play, which suddenly brought back many memories. These once-familiar words are basically unheard of for those born in the 1990s and 2000s.

For example, rationing means food rationing. Food rationing was implemented during the planned economy era. Each person was given a certain food ration and corresponding food stamps every month based on gender, age, and job nature. In Shanghai in the 1970s, the monthly grain ration for those engaged in heavy physical labor was 44 kilograms. With food stamps, you can go to grain stores to buy food at low prices. This ration does not guarantee that you will be full, but it is still guaranteed to be seven to eighty percent full. Of course, you can also buy food at high prices on the black market, but the black market is not only expensive, but also risky. Once discovered, you may be subject to fines, detention and other penalties. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, people rarely go to the black market to buy food.

In the play, the monthly food ration for junior high school student Zhuang Tunan is 28 kilograms. In Lao Zhou’s memory, the food ration for junior high school students in Shanghai was 32 kilograms. This was obviously to ensure the caloric intake of adolescent children during their development. 32 kilograms a month, almost a kilogram of grain a day. This is the weight of uncooked rice. Today, it seems very astonishing. Nowadays, ordinary families cannot eat 30 kilograms of rice in a month. But in that era, one pound a day was not enough to eat. The reason is very simple. There is too little oil and water, so it is very difficult to eat. It is common to eat half a catty in one meal.

Figure 3: National food stamps

Speaking of food stamps, not only do you need food stamps to buy rice in grain stores, but also all food, from steamed buns and noodles in restaurants to biscuits and snacks in snack shops. You need food stamps. To buy a pound of steamed buns, you need a pound of food stamps. You can’t buy them just by having money.

Food stamps are also divided into local food stamps and national food stamps. Local food stamps are issued by each province (municipalities, autonomous regions) and are limited to circulation within the province. As the name suggests, national food stamps can be circulated nationwide. It is mainly used by people who go on business trips to other provinces and cities. They can use their own ration of local food stamps to exchange for national food stamps from their work unit based on the length of the business trip. Therefore, the value of national food must be higher than that of local food stamps. If you exchange food stamps for eggs, you can get more eggs with the same denomination of national food stamps than with local food stamps.

Speaking of local food stamps, the most widely circulated joke about Shanghai food stamps is that there are food stamps with a face value of only half a city liang (25 grams). What can you buy with such small face value food stamps? So this has become a classic joke to ridicule Shanghainese for their pettiness. These half a tael of food stamps are used to buy a fried dough stick.

Figure 4: Shanghai's semi-market two-food stamps

In addition to the most important food stamps, there are also non-staple food stamps, mainly meat stamps, oil stamps, and sugar stamps. As the name suggests, they are the stamps needed to buy meat, oil, and sugar. The meat stamp rationing in Shanghai in the 1970s was 2 yuan per person per month. At that time, the price of meat was about 0.9 yuan, and 2 yuan could buy a little more than two kilograms of meat. After 1976, the amount was no longer 2 yuan, but changed to two kilograms of meat per person per month.

Only two pounds of meat per month is indeed a very low standard. So there is obviously not enough oil and water. There are many types of meat, such as hind leg meat, rib meat, large ribs, small ribs... When the quantity is limited, the first choice must be fat meat with higher fat content, which is commonly known as big fat meat. Of course, such big fat meat is mainly used to make lard. Therefore, in the impression of those born in the 60s and 70s, the lard residue after boiling the lard is the most delicious childhood snack. Especially when there are still a drop or two of lard remaining in the crispy lard residue, which explodes on the tip of the tongue, and the rich oil suddenly fills the entire mouth, it is definitely a happy experience.

If you want to buy fat pork, you have to line up early in the morning, because everyone wants to buy fat pork, and if you go late, it will be gone. This is simply unimaginable today - you have to queue up before dawn, and what you buy is fat meat! Not only was it fattened meat, supplies were scarce at the time, and you had to queue up for fish, chicken, and even cooked vegetables.

Figure 5: Meat tickets of the year

So queuing in the market is a compulsory course for grocery buyers every day. Sometimes a person has to line up in two or three lines, so there are ways to use bricks, vegetable baskets, and small benches instead. There is a term "hanging basket" in the stock market today, which evolved from queuing with vegetable baskets in those days.

In the drama, there are children lining up for the adults. Even Lin Dongzhe hopes to be a butcher in a grocery store when he grows up. With the fat meat, he can take advantage of his position to secretly hide it and sell it to his relatives and friends. Song Ying, played by Jiang Xin, had an expectation for the 1980s: "Eat less watermelon and more meat." Her wish came true. Starting from 1980, meat stamps were canceled in Shanghai. As long as you have money, you can open it. Bought meat.

In that era, except for necessities such as food, oil, and meat, you had to vote for everything. Everything from watches and bicycles to towels, soap, and even matches require a ticket.

Figure 6: Even the smallest match needs a ticket

In "Alley People", the TV tickets are the most inked. In the late 1970s, TV sets had just entered ordinary households, so TV tickets were in short supply. Since it is not necessary for daily life, the number of TV tickets is very small, and each unit uses it as a reward to model workers and advanced workers. Song Xin was very upset because she was not rated as an advanced worker and did not receive a TV ticket award.

Figure 7: TV ticket

At that time, the TV sets were still 9 inches and 12 inches, that is, the diagonal distance of the TV screen was 9 inches (approximately 22.86 cm) and 12 inches (approximately 27 cm). . From today’s perspective, it’s too small! Back then, there was a family in a building who bought a TV. Neighbors would often watch the TV, and the owner would even prepare tea, candies and snacks to entertain them. It was very lively and harmonious. Thinking about it now, so many people are crowded into a small room, watching such a small TV, what can they see? But at the time, it was the happiest time.

The plot follows the life experiences of several children of the Zhuang family and the Lin family, including the high school entrance examination, college entrance examination, love, and work. It is very down-to-earth, just like a story happening around you. It not only has dramatic conflicts, but also has many interesting stories. Full of sense of the times.

The performances of the actors are also very good. The two heroines Jiang Xin and Yan Ni who starred in Huang Ling are very brilliant. They have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, Song Ying who is aggressive in appearance but kind in heart, and Song Ying who is restrained but strong and principled. Huang Ling, who refuses to give in when it comes to problems and is willing to break up with her husband for the sake of her children, has been portrayed extremely successfully.

Figure 8: Song Ying played by Jiang Xin and Huang Ling

played by Yan Ni are the male heads of the two families, Lin Wufeng (played by Li Guangjie ) and Zhuang Chaoying ( played by Guo Xiaodong ). The characters of these two people are also very typical. Lin Wufeng’s human feelings Lianda, especially good at making his wife happy; Zhuang Chaoying is foolish and loyal, but also has a bit of the sourness of a little intellectual. Impressive too.

But there is a flaw here. "Super Britain and catch up with the United States" was the slogan of the Great Leap Forward in 1958. This name must have been given after 1958. His son Zhuang Tunan passed the high school entrance examination in 1979, so he should have been 13 years old. Based on this calculation, could it be that Zhuang Chaoying gave birth to a son at the age of eight or nine? He should have been born around 1940. There is also a problem with Zhuang Tunan's name. "Tunan" comes from Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou". He should have been born in 1966. What era was that? How could it be possible to have a name so full of feudal dross? At that time, most people had names such as "Weidong" and "Weihong" that were full of high revolutionary fighting spirit.

Of course, its faults do not hide its faults. "Alley Family" is a very exciting period drama in recent years. It has been many years since I followed it closely. It also gave Lao Zhou the feeling of traveling through time and space and returning to the 1980s. Although it takes place in Suzhou, it is not far from Shanghai and is still very similar.

Figure 9: A still from "Alley People", the banker and the Lin family eat together in a very harmonious manner

Taking stock, over the years, Beijing-style period dramas include "The Happy Life of Zhang Damin", "Under the Zhengyang Gate", and "Love in the Courtyard"; period dramas in Qingdao, Shandong include "Parents' Love"; period dramas in Northeast China include "" "Ordinary World ", even "Chicken Feathers Flying to the Sky" in Yiwu, Zhejiang, but there is no period drama set in Shanghai alleys. It is indeed a pity. I look forward to a classic Shanghai-style period drama.

(The pictures in this article are from the Internet)

Lao Zhou, whose real name is Zhou Ming, and who once used the online name Guangting, has been engaged in military history research for a long time, and has served as a guest on military columns on Phoenix TV and Shanghai TV for many times. He has published more than 20 military books, which can be purchased on the WeChat store "Zhibingtang Bookstore" and the online store "Zhibingtang Bookstore". Now there is a personal column "Lao Zhou Military" on Himalaya, which produces military audio programs. Please support it.