Driving Big Rigs in the Eighties

Is this description really that unbelievable? Someone who drove a tractor in the 1980s was actually destitute?

Have you ever repaired a tractor? You're just writing nonsense and making assumptions. (The old man was a tractor driver. Back then, to learn how to drive a tractor, you first learned how to repair it before you learned how to drive it. If you couldn't repair it, you didn't even have a chance to drive it.)

Why don't you go repair atomic bombs? That's ridiculous. A country kid who can repair tractors and trucks? It doesn't make sense.

Driving a tractor in the 1980s was roughly equivalent to owning several semi-trailer trucks today. It could be very tiring, and you might get covered in dust and dirt. But you were definitely not poor. At the very least, you were truly middle-class.

As I wrote, it went astray, turning into a commercial film. It involved a transport fleet, a clothing factory, and a furniture factory all rolled into one. I thought it was going to be a technically-driven story, but it turned out to be a bunch of petty squabbles. The writing felt uninspiring; I was constantly being tossed around, and it lost its edge.

You think you're qualified to drive on the highway? Go talk to my insurance company!

This introduction is problematic. Being able to drive a tractor back then meant you were one of the "Eight Great Officials," you know? That was a very high status at the time.

Two yuan for four milk candies?! What kind of price is this?!

You know what's getting more and more out of these stories? The time-traveling characters have systems, and they act like complete subservient grandchildren, groveling to everyone they meet. I can understand a story about someone in a small town, but even if they're temporarily assigned to a transport team, they still write about them becoming apprentices.

In those days, being too soft-hearted could get you killed. Why was there such a strong preference for sons over daughters? Because men were the ones who could establish a family's standing. What made a man stand out? It was the presence of a man in the family that prevented others from bullying them. You say the protagonist is as soft-hearted as a woman, and his older brother is paralyzed.