National Tide 1980.

At 8 p.m., the suburbs of Tokyo are much darker than the city center.

There are no neon lights like in the city center, and not many shops or restaurants.

Apart from the lights shining from the windows of some residential buildings, there were only streetlights on utility poles every fifty meters.

These scattered, warm yellow lights shone through the bare branches onto the road, but couldn't even illuminate the snow and water stains on the road.

However, the building is still quite conspicuous because a tour bus is parked in front of it.

This is the dormitory that Li Xiaojiang rented for these people from Beijing who were going abroad, under the name of the mutual aid association.

Of course, as a dormitory.

This place is not close to either the language schools in Shinjuku Ward or Takadanobaba.

It's important to know that this area is even outside the Adachi Ward; strictly speaking, it shouldn't even be considered part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, but rather Saitama Prefecture.

Despite its somewhat remote location, transportation to this place is actually quite convenient.

Because there's a subway station just a few hundred meters south of here.

Actually, you can get to Shinjuku by subway for just 212 yen.

Although you need to transfer once, it's in the suburbs after all. Including the journey by car and walking, the one-way trip only takes about 30 minutes.

In any case, it's much better than those who live in Nakagawa City, which is much farther away, and have to take the Shinkansen and then transfer to the subway to get to work every day.

Moreover, from Monday to Friday, Li Xiaojiang arranges free shuttle buses for everyone living here to and from the language school during school hours.

All things considered, for the Beijing residents living here, commuting is actually quite convenient, saving both time and money.

As for the benefits of being far away, they are, of course, lower living costs and a quieter environment.

On average, the cost of food and lodging per person per day here is only 1,200 yen.

So even though the rooms here aren't very big, often only five or six square meters, four people have to share one room. Everyone has to stuff their suitcases under the bed, and there's almost no private space.

But anyone who has lived here will soon miss it after moving away, after all, it was a great deal.

Living here is essentially like living on a university campus in China for just 1.2 yuan a day.

Food and lodging are much cheaper than outside, and there are public bathhouses and public toilets, so what else can you complain about?

It's such a great value for money, isn't it?

So being able to live here is actually a perk only available in the beginner village.

In reality, because Li Xiaojiang would continuously send people from China, even if they thought this place was great, each of these people from Beijing could only stay here for a maximum of three months.

When the time comes, the people living here will have to move out and find another place to live; there's no room for negotiation.

To put it bluntly, not everyone who comes to Tokyo has the privilege of staying here. Only those brought by Li Xiaojiang himself can have the limited right to stay for three months.

Leaving aside others, there are those Shanghai residents whom Li Xiaojiang helped on the way today.

They would be ecstatic if they could stay here for three months at a price of 1,200 yen per day, with room and board included.

Unfortunately, they are not qualified.

The small hotel that Li Xiaojiang recommended to them was already the cheapest in the city, but it cost 1,800 yen a night, even without meals.

However, since we're on the topic, we really have to admit that good people are rewarded.

Like Li Xiaojiang today, his efforts to help others and his fellow countrymen have not been in vain.

Normally, no matter how clearly he explains the situation in Tokyo, if he brings these fellow countrymen here and they see the cramped dormitory space, some of them will always complain and nitpick.

This is not surprising.

After all, some people take themselves too seriously and are used to acting superior everywhere.

Even if they go abroad, they cannot immediately adjust to this mindset.

But this is not the case today; this time it's completely different.

For the first time ever, none of the people Li Xiaojiang brought from the airport today had any complaints.

At most, they would make normal requests like wanting a cup of hot water or a packet of instant noodles.

Some people even rushed to express their satisfaction, thanking him and saying that he had worked hard.

So he easily settled these people.

It was an exceptionally relaxed and comfortable first time for Li Xiaojiang, which surprised him a bit.

Afterwards, he thought about it and realized that the reason for this was probably because he had seen several Shanghai residents on the street who had been so badly cheated by shady real estate agents.

This comparison made him appear kind and generous in front of his fellow townsmen in Beijing.

In such a situation, even if people arrive at their accommodation and find that some things are not satisfactory, they will likely be able to be tolerant and content.

It has to be said, life is sometimes just that wonderful.

It was unexpected that a few down-on-their-luck Shanghainese would become his good fortune, helping him so much without him even realizing it.

Having figured out the key to the problem, he was naturally in a good mood. So, after checking the water and electricity in each room and seeing that everyone had received their keys and settled in, he rubbed his ears, which were numb from the cold, and decided to go back to his room to have a few drinks and relax.

At this moment, his only regret is that he lacks a close friend.

He had barely walked from the third floor to his dormitory room on the second floor when he heard a familiar voice coming from inside, "Hey, Lao Sun, can you handle this heavy thing? You're stronger than me, I'm just a useless scholar. You'll have to do the heavy lifting today."

It turned out to be Chu Haoran, and the "Old Sun" he mentioned should be... Sun Wufu.

Li Xiaojiang was delighted to recognize who was inside by their voice.

Needless to say, this is like God sending a pillow to someone who just wants to sleep.

These two are both vice presidents of the mutual aid association. They often visit each other because of the association's affairs and have long been familiar friends.

In particular, Chu Haoran was a representative of the people of Shanghai, and his words carried more weight in the Chinese community in Takadanobaba than those of the Japanese bosses.

Li Xiaojiang had originally planned to tell him about how he had saved some people from Shanghai that day, hoping that he would take care of those people, and he also happened to be short of drinking buddies.

He never expected that the person he wanted to see would come to him on his own. So he didn't stand on ceremony and simply pushed the door open and went in.

What he didn't expect was that as soon as he opened the door, a warm aroma mixed with canned tuna and hops rushed in, almost irritating his frozen nose.

In the innermost part of the room, Chu Haoran and Sun Wufu were standing on stools, one holding a video camera and the other holding a television, working together to install it on the newly set-up shelf in the corner.

So what they were saying earlier, about being too light or too heavy, too big or too small, it all comes down to these two things.

That's not all; there were also several opened cans of food and beer on the table in the room.

Canned braised beef, greasy sardines, tuna, and several Kirin beer cans—it's clear someone just had a meal here.

"You two are something else! You didn't even tell me you were coming today. You just took advantage of my absence to make a surprise visit, didn't you? Well, you even got to eat alone and have a special treat for yourself."

Li Xiaojiang closed the door as soon as he entered, but deliberately acted like a stingy chivalrous person and started teasing him.

"Judging from your words, you're planning to turn this place into a video arcade. Fine, you want to drink and watch movies, huh? I'm not trying to be mean, but when did you become so corrupt and decadent! Your pursuit of pleasure really breaks my heart."

"Oh! Xiao Jiang is back! Excuse me!"

Sun Wufu turned around and was stunned for a moment, then his dark face instantly broke into a wide smile.

He's a kind and honest man, but he's clumsy with words and doesn't know how to be polite.

Even though he knew Li Xiaojiang was joking, he wouldn't take it lying down; he would simply state his purpose honestly.

"Here's the thing, I just got some good stuff and thought it would be perfect for you, so Haoran and I moved it over first! We wanted to install it for you before you came back, so as not to disturb your rest. Now that you're back, we've almost finished, so just wait a little longer, it'll be done soon. Give us your feedback later."

However, Chu Haoran didn't tolerate Li Xiaojiang's bad habits at all.

Before going abroad, he worked as an editor in Shanghai. After arriving in Japan, his abilities were recognized by some publishing houses.

He is a completely different person from Sun Wufu, so how could he possibly lose in a verbal battle?
They had to immediately retort and defeat magic with magic.

"You human trafficker! Can't you even speak properly? We came all this way to offer our help and improve your living conditions because of the mutual aid association, without asking for a single penny from you. Instead of thanking us, you turn around and accuse us. Do you have any conscience? Fine, all you can do is twist the truth, huh? Well, then we'll just give you this TV and VCR for free. This set isn't expensive at 50,000 yen, is it? Do you want it or not? If you don't, we're taking it."

Li Xiaojiang's gaze swept over the color TV and VCR twice, and he immediately felt reluctant to part with them.

Why wouldn't you take advantage of such a freebie?

So he immediately changed his expression, smiling broadly as he thanked the two people, and even deliberately exaggerated a "whoosh" to formally begin praising them.

"Oh, it's free? Thank you so much! Of course, of course. You really are a master of junk collection, Brother Sun. I didn't say anything about the refrigerator, washing machine, and electric fan for this dorm. But why did you bring back a color TV and VCR this time? I mean, your luck is just too good. Will you find a few cars next?"

"Hey, what are you saying? It's nothing, really nothing! Um, you want a car? Well, if you don't mind, I drove a Suzuki here today. How about I leave you the keys?"

"What? You actually own a car!"

Sun Wufu's words caught Li Xiaojiang off guard, his eyes widening in surprise. "No, I'm telling you, Lao Sun, don't scare me. How could you even find a car? What kind of luck do you have?"

Sun Wufu scratched the back of his head, a smug smile playing on his lips. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Yesterday I went to the unfinished construction site in Taitung Ward. The construction company that was in charge of the project had gone bankrupt, and the boss had run off with the money. The site was a complete mess, like garbage. There were two cars parked there. The guy who asked us to collect the garbage thought the cars weren't very useful, and it wasn't worth the trouble of finding a place to store them. He figured they wouldn't fetch much at a used car dealership, maybe 200,000 or 300,000 yen each. So he just sold them to me for 150,000 yen each. It's like getting them for free! I test drove both cars; they were about 70-80% new." The car is fine. If you really need it, you can take it at the original price. As for the TV and VCR, those are definitely free. We found them in the construction site's duty room. I thought they were pretty new, and they worked when I plugged them in, so I brought them back—it's practically free. And then I thought about it, and realized that most dorms there have TVs and VCRs. But you don't have one here. So I called Haoran and asked him to come help install it for you. I'm not very good at fixing these foreign things myself; I was afraid I'd connect the wires wrong.”

Li Xiaojiang was truly moved and thanked him profusely.

He hadn't expected Sun Wufu to be such a good friend, thinking of him without him having to say a word.

Especially when you see Sun Wufu's faded work jacket with some machine oil stains and frayed edges on the cuffs.

He couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Back then, he never imagined that Sun Wufu, who was simple and unpretentious and always maintained the true nature of a working person, would be able to develop his business so quickly.

Now, by collecting scrap metal, Sun Wufu has not only expanded the scale of the large knife industry he was in charge of, but also supported nearly a hundred full-time employees under his command, becoming the president of a well-known medium-sized enterprise.

He also provided almost all the necessary appliances for the sword industry and the mutual aid society's dormitory, and at the same time supplied all mutual aid society members in Tokyo with second-hand, inexpensive daily necessities, as well as many job opportunities.

Without his help, not only would our dormitory not be as comfortable as it is now, but the entire mutual aid society wouldn't have such a strong sense of cohesion.

From a certain perspective, although Sun Wufu's work was not particularly high-level, he actually provided the greatest help to all his compatriots in Tokyo.

It is no exaggeration to say that his waste recycling business can be regarded as the pillar industry of the mutual aid society, and the most indispensable support for the mutual aid society.

As expected, Sun Wufu went on to prove Li Xiaojiang's point of view.

The good stuff he got this time wasn't just two cars and two appliances.

Sun Wufu pointed to the canned goods on the table, picked up a can, and shoved it into Li Xiaojiang's hand. "These are good stuff too! A food factory in Katsushika Ward recently went bankrupt and was clearing out its stock. The owner came to me to clear out his inventory, practically giving it away for free. He dumped thousands of boxes of his product into my hands. The price I got was more than 70% cheaper than in the supermarket. I brought a few boxes for you to try today. Eat as much as you want, there's plenty!" (End of Chapter)