Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 938 What kind of family is 937? Three trucks needed for moving.

Zhang Bo was right; the experienced craftsmen disassembled the bed with utmost care, afraid of causing any damage.

Tang Zhitong was very satisfied with the attitude of these craftsmen. After all, these pieces of furniture could be exchanged for a yard in a few decades, and if they were damaged, the price would likely be reduced.

While the master craftsmen were dismantling the bed, Tang Zhitong and Zhang Bo settled the cost of the screen.

Tang Zhitong was right; Xiao Wang did indeed have some money. According to her, she planned to use the money to buy books and snacks for her younger siblings during the holidays.

Since Xiao Wang was so thoughtful, Tang Zhitong naturally couldn't be careless and promised to go fishing on Sunday to exchange for money, which was also a way of giving her a heads-up.

Tang Zhitong heard the sound of the truck engine outside while he was still in the side room.

The Jiefang CA10 was equipped with a 5.6-liter 6-cylinder engine, which was sturdy and durable, but the body had little sound insulation, and the noise, louder than a tractor, immediately attracted the attention of the old and young men with iron wheels.

The road was right in front of him, and Fang Yuan had inquired about it twice during this trip.

One time, I asked where the iron wheelbarrow was at the west entrance of Donghuashi Street; the other time, I inquired about the Tang family's location at the iron wheelbarrow.

After knowing the exact location, Fang Yuan began to direct the driver to reverse. The alley was not wide, barely wide enough for one truck to fit, so they could only load the trucks one by one.

"Director Fang! Everyone, thank you for your hard work!" Tang Zhitong ran out after hearing the commotion. The truck was already parked in front of his house, and a dozen or so employees from the escort department were about to enter.

"Don't be so polite, we're just helping each other out. Come on, everyone, don't be shy, have a smoke." Fang Yuan took a cigarette from Tang Zhitong's hand, took two steps forward first, and left space for his colleagues behind him.

"I've prepared some fruit for everyone over there. Ladies, please eat more." Tang Zhitong hadn't expected that not only male colleagues but also several female colleagues would come from the escort department this time.

Although some women smoke these days, the female comrades in the escort department are clearly not included. Tang Zhitong only prepared cigarettes, which seemed a bit inadequate in his hospitality, so he made amends.

"Wow, your yard is amazing!" Fang Yuan lit a cigarette, took a couple of steps inside, and was stunned by the vegetables filling the yard. His other colleagues had similar expressions when they saw the yard.

"Hey, we rely on this yard for our side dishes. It's a pity we're moving soon." Growing vegetables in the yard is nothing to be ashamed of, Tang Zhitong admitted openly, but there was also a hint of regret in her words.

"Let them move, it's still a contribution to the country."

"No wonder Section Chief Tang was thinking about land reclamation when he first arrived at our escort office. It turns out he was influenced by his family."

There were all sorts of opinions circulating, leaving Tang Zhitong overwhelmed.

If the neighbors thought Zhang Bo and his group were there to deliver furniture, then the arrival of Fang Yuan and his group directly confirmed that the Tang family was moving out.

As Zhang Guifang left the Ma family's house, she was met by nosy neighbors who kept asking her all sorts of questions. After she finished dealing with the neighbors and went home, Tang Zhitong had already introduced Zhang Bo and Fang Yuan, and they were now preparing to start loading things into the car.

"Auntie, I'm Anzi's colleague. You can take the lead. Which ones should we move first?" Fang Yuan greeted Tang Zhitong warmly when she heard him call Zhang Guifang "Mom".

"Mom, this is our unit's leader, Director Fang." In front of the escort department and the lumber mill's employees, Tang Zhitong didn't want to leave them with the impression that her own family was careless and lacked manners, so she introduced Fang Yuan to her mother before she could speak.

"Leader Fang, how could I possibly give orders? Could you please do me the trouble of planning something for me?" As soon as Fang Yuan spoke, everyone in the courtyard began to look at Zhang Guifang, making her nervous. Even without her son's reminder, she probably wouldn't have done anything out of line.

"Alright, shall we move into the main house first?" Fang Yuan replied cheerfully to Zhang Guifang, while turning his gaze to Tang Zhitong.

"Then I'll have to trouble everyone!" Tang Zhitong approved of Fang Yuan's plan, cupped his hands to everyone present, and almost bowed.

Fang Yuan went inside to estimate the order of the move, and divided everyone into groups according to the size and weight of the furniture and items, constantly reminding them: "It's better to be slow and careful."

The people at the lumber mill were also busy; apart from the master craftsmen who dismantled the furniture, others joined the moving team.

The men carried the larger items, and the women carried the smaller ones. About twenty people emptied the main room in just two trips.

Tang Zhitong ran back and forth, watching as a truck was already fully loaded, but the stone roller, stone mill, hot water bucket, and shelf in his own yard hadn't been loaded onto the truck yet.

Just as Tang Zhitong was worrying, Fang Yuan came over and said, "You have a lot of stuff at home. Luckily, I found three trucks, otherwise I really might not have been able to fit it all in."

"Thank you, Brother Yuan, you've been a great help!" Tang Zhitong was surprised and touched. He did have a lot of things at home, but the main reason was that the bed hadn't been dismantled and was taking up too much space.

"Don't be so formal. You keep an eye on things while I go out and direct the backing up." Fang Yuan was equally pleased with his foresight.

Although it's possible to coordinate one vehicle, there's a lot of stuff here, so one vehicle would have to make three trips, which would not only waste the truck's time but also the time of the security personnel.

Helping a colleague move means I can skip work for about a morning; there's no reason to spend the whole day on it.

The sight of three trucks lined up in a row was quite spectacular. Residents with their old-fashioned iron-wheeled houses had never seen a move like this before. Only then did they truly gain a clearer understanding of Tang Zhitong's influence.

Isn't this too high-profile? This thought flashed through Tang Zhitong's mind. He'd already moved, why should he care about this?
The fully loaded truck drove out, and then an empty truck backed in. Next, the items in the west wing were moved.

The sight of all the mahogany furniture was truly an eye-opener for the colleagues at the escort office. If they hadn't known Tang Zhitong's identity, they would have thought they had arrived at the home of some capitalist.

Several experienced craftsmen from the lumber mill took great care of this set of furniture. Without Tang Zhitong even asking, they took felt cloth and went ahead to lay it on the truck, fearing that their work might be damaged during transportation.

The lumber mill brought a lot of felt, and after laying it down, there was still some left. In the end, they simply covered the truck bed with it, so that outsiders couldn't tell what was loaded on the truck. It was a lucky accident.

The last cart was first loaded with firewood and coal, and then with stone mills, stone rollers, hot water buckets, and shelves.

Although there were still ladders and shelves in the cellar, the shelves were difficult to disassemble, so Tang Zhitong planned to leave them to the chemical raw material company.

The ladder was easy to take, but the chemical raw material company didn't take the ladder from Dashizuo Alley, and it wasn't appropriate for us to take the ladder from our side, so we simply left it behind as well.

This leaves a large space in the bed of the third truck, just enough to carry people.

Tang Zhitong closed the doors and windows, pushed his bicycle out the gate, turned around and locked the gate with a metal rod, then put the key in his pocket, planning to send it to the chemical raw material company that afternoon.

"You guys sit in the front, I'll just sit in the back." As the hostess, Zhang Guifang was very grateful to the staff from the escort department for coming to help. Even though there was a seat in the front passenger seat, she still consciously chose to sit in the truck bed and gave up the good spot.

Zhang Guifang even considered having her son drive her there, but since riding a bicycle requires effort, she felt sorry for her son and ultimately chose to take a car instead.

"No way! Auntie, listen to me, you sit in the front so you can point the way to the driver's house. Otherwise, how will we get to your doorstep?" Fang Yuan treated Tang Zhitong like a younger brother, so he couldn't let Zhang Guifang sit in the truck bed. The truck bed was so high; she might hurt her back. Fang Yuan was busy persuading Zhang Guifang, while the other staff members at the transport department were also calling to Tang Zhitong: "Section Chief Tang, please hand over the bicycle."

"Is there any space up there? Safety first, everyone. If there's not enough room, I can ride my bike over." Tang Zhitong hadn't originally planned to take a car, but everyone was so enthusiastic that he hesitated.

"Don't worry, we can fit three more cars." The worker at the back of the vehicle bent down, grabbed the railing with one hand, and stretched the other hand down, waiting for Tang Zhitong to pass him a hand.

As the driver cranked the engine, the Jiefang truck's engine started, and a plume of black smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe. Tang Zhitong stretched his neck and took two deep breaths, but unfortunately it wasn't diesel. The smell of incomplete combustion of diesel made him a little dizzy.

"Is everyone on board? Let's go!" The driver put down the crank handle, placed his foot on the foot pedal, grabbed the frame with one hand and pressed down on the door with the other, and asked the driver.

"Everyone's on the bus, let's go!" the crowd behind them replied in unison.

As the driver stepped on the gas, another puff of black smoke came out of the exhaust pipe, and the truck slowly started moving.

Since the truck was carrying furniture, Fang Yuan was worried that the driver would drive too fast, so she had told the driver beforehand that she would try to drive smoothly rather than fast.

These days, any driver who can drive independently is highly skilled. Tang Zhitong can even pass out cigarettes to his colleagues in the truck bed without holding onto the railings.

The truck wasn't going very fast, but thanks to the fact that there weren't many cars on the road these days, it took less than fifteen minutes to reach the south entrance of Dashizuo Hutong.

According to a certain voluptuous man who can dance, play the drums, and walk like a model, the Jiefang CA10 should be called a "big truck".

At first, Lao Zong thought these vehicles were heading to the neighboring unit to the east, since not only trucks but also cars frequently came and went there. He never expected that these three vehicles would be lined up and parked at the entrance of his alley.

After the car came to a complete stop, Tang Zhitong got out first, pointed out the location of his car to the driver of the lead car, and prepared to back into the car.

The entrance to Dashizuo Hutong is a bit wider than Tieluguba, but it gets narrower as you go in. Trucks can't turn around or even turn around once they drive in.

"Wow, you've moved here? That's quite a grand affair." Old Zong poked his head out of the phone booth to greet Tang Zhitong.

"Hello, Uncle Zong. I'll be relying on you for help from now on." Tang Zhitong said politely, cupping his hands in greeting to Old Zong.

"No problem, no problem. We've just moved in and there's a lot to do. Go ahead and get busy." Old Zong waved to Tang Zhitong and then pulled his head back inside.

Xiao Wang had been waiting for a long time. After hearing the engine start, he came out of the gate to greet everyone.

His outstanding height and good looks truly amazed the staff at the security office, except for Shu Qing, who had met Xiao Wang before.

The gate here is wider than the iron wheel handle, making it much easier to move things inside.

Tang Zhitong coordinated the operation, moving the bed, desk, and screen from the first carriage to the west wing, while the rest of the items were moved to the main room.

The layout of the main room was the same as in her hometown, so putting things in wasn't too difficult. However, Zhang Guifang was somewhat dissatisfied with the earthen bed, but she didn't say anything in front of the staff of the escort department.

After the first truck was settled, the second truck began to be moved to the east wing.

The lumber mill workers were busy assembling beds, and other furniture was not yet in place. The colleagues from the security escort department had some free time, so they stood in the yard smoking and chatting, their words revealing their longing for this kind of housing.

"Comrades, come on, wash your hands and have some fruit. These haven't been washed yet, wash them before you eat." Taking advantage of the break, Tang Zhitong went to the cellar and brought up peaches and apricots. After all, his ancestral home was a land of etiquette, so Tang Zhitong still had to show some courtesy to his colleagues who came to help.

Tang Zhitong put down the basket and turned on the tap in the yard, waiting for everyone to take, wash, and use the water themselves.

"You should at least help everyone wash them," said Xiao Wang, who was more considerate than Tang Zhitong. He reached for the peaches and was about to wash them.

"Comrade Wang, we're all on the same side, don't bother, we're not being formal."

"Thank you, Section Chief Tang."

"That's quite a good offer. These peaches and apricots must be hard to get rid of, right?"

The staff at the security escort station did not stand on ceremony when faced with the fruit; they all stepped forward to take some, and their conversations were somewhat inquisitive.

"It's alright. This area is close to Beihai Park and Jingshan Park, so there are more vendors selling their produce here. I bought some yesterday when I ran into them. The fruit doesn't look very appealing, so please don't mind." Tang Zhitong wiped his sweat as he carried the two baskets of fruit.

Of everyone present, the most composed person was the driver. Even though they were people Fang Yuan had brought, they showed no sign of offering to help.

Everyone is used to this. In addition to driving and repairing vehicles, drivers are also responsible for ensuring the safety of the vehicles they are driving.

Whether it's a truck driver or a car driver, they generally won't let their vehicle out of their sight.

However, when Tang Zhitong invited everyone to eat fruit, the driver at the gate moved. He entered the gate carrying a bucket of water, as if he were about to fill the truck with water.

That's right, modern trucks need to "drink" water, and they have quite a large capacity for it.

Most motor vehicle engine coolants are now H2O, commonly known as water.

Trucks usually need to stop and add water after driving for several dozen kilometers, otherwise the engine will overheat and break down, which is especially noticeable in summer.

"Wow~ these peaches are so refreshing, so cool!" Whether the truck driver was thirsty or not was not important; what was important was that the driver was a little thirsty and a little hot, and the fruit that had been refrigerated in the cellar overnight was clearly to his liking.

"It's almost as good as eating ice cream."

"I didn't expect that chilled fruit would taste even better than ice cream."

"If only there were a watermelon, chilled watermelon would be absolutely amazing!"

"You're being picky even when there's plenty to eat? These apricots are so delicious, can't you shut up?"

Some people said it was delicious, so the remaining employees became even more enthusiastic, rinsing the food haphazardly under the tap and stuffing it into their mouths.

Tang Zhitong was very happy to see everyone enjoying their meal.

(End of this chapter)