Return to Singapore 1995

After passing through a tall coconut grove and crossing a small bridge, Li Xiaofan bumped into several "weirdos" he had met on the bus before.

These "weirdos" had put on black suspender skirts, black stockings and high heels at some point. From a distance, they really looked like a few sexy beauties swaying in the coconut grove. But if you look carefully, the Adam's apple will give "them" away. Most of the "weirdos" here are psychologically mutated and have never been to Thailand for surgery.

"Handsome guy from Mainland China, where are you going to play?" the slender "weird" who had struck up a conversation before took the initiative to greet me.

"Haha, something happened..." Li Xiaofan said perfunctorily.

A few "weirdos" on the side cheered: "Oh, Ah Ling, you have met a handsome Chinese guy so quickly, what a joke!"

Aling became shy.

Li Xiaofan smiled and scurried away.

This time on the weekend is the peak hour at the Orchid Flower Village Market Hawker Center, which is crowded and lively.

The two large parking lots nearby are filled with various cars, including many luxury cars such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Pagani.

Singaporeans love good food and love finding food maps across the island. Because Singapore is so small, with only more than 700 square kilometers, it is less than half the area of ​​Ningdong County, Li Xiaofan's hometown.

On weekends, Singaporeans like to go to small seaside villages like Orchid Flower Village to play and relax. There is Changi Beach Park nearby where you can walk and play, set up tents to enjoy the sea breeze, BBQ, windsurfing, and the market has delicious food and special hobbies. You can also find "Aguai" near here...

Here, no matter how big the bosses on the rich list, no matter how big the MPs and ministers are, they all wear beach pants and T-shirts that stretch over the crotch, and wear drooping slippers, and mingle with the people in the market. They look like ordinary people. Uncle Ang.

At most, the watch on his wrist may be a relatively valuable Rolex or Patek Philippe, but many of the bosses in the hawker center also wear gold Rolexes and drive Mercedes-Benz and BMWs. It is said that they are from Singapore. Hawker center owners are very profitable and their daily cash flow is huge.

"Xiao Li, have you finished the feast of the Drunken Eight Immortals so quickly?" Uncle Qiu, who was so busy and sweating as he walked past Qiu Bo's fish head rice noodle shop, did not forget to greet him warmly.

Uncle Qiu has better information than anyone else. The market here is like an underground party transportation station in the past. You can hear all the recent major events on the island here, and even the Prime Minister's fart can spread the stench here.

"Haha, not yet. I'm going to buy a pack of cigarettes and check out the 4D lottery results..."

"Oh, yes, the lottery has been drawn! Xiao Li, if you come back and pass by, can you copy a copy of the lottery numbers to me?"

"Well, no problem! Uncle Qiu, did you vote for your stall number today?"

"Of course! Come rain or shine, it's just a small gamble..."

Uncle Qiu's fish head rice noodle shop number is 47. Uncle Qiu is 51 years old this year, so he thinks his "real number" this year is 5147 or 4751. This year he has been voting for these two sets of "real numbers".

Last year, Qiu Bo's "real numbers" were 5047 and 4750. Last year, he actually won a special prize when he voted 4750, winning back several hundred dollars in Singapore dollars. He was so happy that he decided that his "real numbers" were "The word" is related to your age and stall.

After passing through the market, Li Xiaofan suppressed his excitement and first went to the Indian uncle's grocery store next to the lottery shop to buy a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

Although he learned to smoke for fun when he was studying, Li Xiaofan was not a big smoker before. After arriving at the Ximu Electronics Factory, he needed to refresh himself while working the night shift, so his craving for cigarettes became stronger again.

Before going abroad, the popular ones in China were Ashima and Hongtashan, and Hong Kong Good Friends with the label "Good Companion".

Singapore has strict controls on the import of tobacco and alcohol. People like Li Xiaofan are only allowed to bring one unopened pack of 20 cigarettes when entering the country.

So after arriving in Singapore, these workers had no choice but to buy cigarettes locally.

The most popular products that can be bought on the streets of Singapore are the Marlboro series. After arriving in Singapore, Li Xiaofan realized that Marlboro had so many colorful varieties.

Red 3-cornered logo = original flavor, red and white 3-cornered logo with gold edge = medium tar, gold 3-cornered logo = mild flavor, gray 3-cornered logo = extra light flavor, blue 3-cornered logo = soft flavor.

Pure green 3-cornered logo = original mint flavor, white-green 3-cornered logo = mild mint, which is our common lights, white gray 3-cornered logo with green edge = extra light mint flavor.

These truths and knowledge were all told to Li Xiaofan by the old smoker TAN.

Due to the hot weather in Singapore, Li Xiaofan likes to smoke mint-flavored Luwan here. The white part of the big green triangle logo on the outer packaging of Luwan cigarettes says the English word for menthol: MENTHOL.

A pack of Green Wan here costs 4 SGD, which is a little over 20 RMB, which is not very expensive.

Although Li Xiaofan and his colleagues' basic salary was less than 500 Singapore dollars, they worked overtime every day for a month. Each of them received about 1,300 to 1,400 Singapore dollars, which is nearly 10,000 yuan in RMB. In 1995, this income was absolutely unparalleled in China. It's a top-notch salary.

Working in the Ximu Electronics Factory, Li Xiaofan and his family have low living expenses. They don't have to pay rent, and the water and electricity bills are symbolically shared. The biggest expenses are food and some daily necessities. If you save a little, the general expenses are 300 to 400 Singapore dollars per person per month.

After working hard for half a year last year, Li Xiaofan has already paid off the 25,000 yuan agency fee he borrowed from his uncle.

So starting this year, all the money he saved is his own private money. He went to the Singapore Post Bank POSB Bank in the morning to check and found that he already had more than 2,000 Singapore dollars in his account.

So with a salary of 1,400 yuan, smoking cigarettes at 4 yuan a pack is acceptable.

Green Wan tobacco has mint added to it, and it feels cool, mellow and refreshing when smoked.

After taking a few deep puffs, Li Xiaofan walked slowly to the lottery shop next to him with a restless heart.

The time on the watch was just after seven o'clock in the evening.

A group of local Singaporean friends gathered around the notice board of the lottery shop, discussing today's "real number".

Must succeed, must succeed!

Come on, come on!

Li Xiaofan lowered his head and muttered to himself, and walked carefully to the notice board.

His heart was beating "bang bang bang" for no reason, and Li Xiaofan felt that his heart was about to jump out of it.

Outside the crowd, he stood on tiptoe and looked up, and first saw two rows of consolation prize and special prize numbers, and his own 5212 was not among them.