Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1430 The Non-Existent Old Man (4k)

However, this item is not very popular in Beijing, mainly because it is expensive. In fact, it is considered expensive even nationwide.

Another reason is that it's cold here, so we don't need to freeze things in winter. If there's anything that needs to be frozen, we can just put it in an open space.

However, Wang Dezhu then discovered one of the great advantages of a refrigerator—it could freeze popsicles. Actually, you could freeze them outdoors too, but nothing beats the ability of a refrigerator to freeze them from morning till night all year round. Especially during the summer when popsicles were most needed.

Watching Gao Zhendong acting as the king of the kids outside, Xie Jianye smiled and said, "Platoon Leader Gao still loves children so much."

"Who doesn't like it? Everyone here likes it. The old platoon leader just expresses his affection more directly; he likes to mingle with the children." In fact, those of them who came down from the battlefield probably have a deeper affection for children than others.

That's why everyone unanimously kicked Gao Zhendong out to look after the child, because they knew that he could truly relax when he was with the child, a relaxation that even his comrades-in-arms couldn't provide, nor could his classmates.

The wives of Gao Zhendong's three classmates are even more intriguing. Aside from Lin Lianwei's, Lin Lianwei's wife and Gao Zhendong were acquainted; Gao Zhendong had even attended their wedding.

Su Weihua was stationed near Bohai Bay, and Xue Chongli and the others reunited relatively late. Neither of their spouses had ever met Gao Zhendong, let alone heard of him. Their spouses had never even mentioned this classmate before, and it was as if he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Moreover, this classmate seems to be quite extraordinary, at least judging from the furnishings of his home.

Although Gao Zhendong didn't display his various medals and certificates, Lou Xiao'e did. This was because if Gao Zhendong displayed his, people would assume that his family were craftsmen who specialized in making trophies, medals, and certificates. It's like how having one or two pens in your pocket might make you an intellectual, but having eight pens in your pocket might make people think you're a pen repairman.

Lou Xiao'e's case was much more normal.

However, her normality is relative to Gao Zhendong; compared to ordinary people, she is not quite normal.

Xue and Su's spouses, after seeing Lou Xiao'e's achievements displayed in that special cabinet, also felt it was unreal. Where had they ever seen someone receive the March 8th Red Banner Award every year, especially at the ministerial level?

As for those certificates and awards, they were so incomprehensible that even they couldn't understand them. Lou Xiao'e's research direction was practically a foreign language to ordinary people at that time.

The lady of the house was clearly no ordinary person, yet she personally took charge of cooking for everyone.

This made the women, who had wanted to go along but couldn't find enough space in the kitchen, certain that the man of the house was probably even more extraordinary.

But I don't know exactly what's wrong with it. I can't see it. My partner doesn't say much either, only that it's a classmate of mine, and that's all...

However, judging from the home appliances and the cars parked in front of the courtyard house, they could guess a thing or two—the old man in the family must be quite powerful. After all, while their husbands' classmates certainly had high starting points, their careers were probably all on par, but their own family hadn't accumulated this kind of furniture.

—In this living room and in other visible areas, you can see almost all of the best home appliances in the country.

Color TV, refrigerator, washing machine, radio, VCR... As for the two bicycles in front of the house, they seemed to be the most ordinary things.

Su Weihua's wife wasn't particularly interested in Gao Zhendong being a "child king," since that was considered normal. She was more interested in what Wang Dezhu had just said.

"Director Wang, do you have a way to get refrigerators?" If you can get refrigerator tickets, it means you might also be able to get other things, like washing machines.

She was much more interested in the washing machine than the refrigerator. After all, the refrigerator was only good for freezing popsicles. These days, there aren't that many things that need to be kept fresh, nor that many leftovers that need to be preserved.

However, washing machines are much more useful. Washing clothes in the dead of winter is really uncomfortable. Hot water cools down quickly and is bone-chilling.

Even if it's not the fully automatic kind where you just throw the clothes in and wait for them to spin-dry in a few tens of minutes, a twin-tub washing and spin-drying machine that only requires you to move the clothes back and forth a few times is still excellent.

For her family, income is not a big problem; they can always save up. Weihua also hopes to buy herself a washing machine so that she can have an easier time doing housework.

The problem is tickets... These things are scarce these days. Not to mention twin-tub tubs, even single-tub tubs that can only wash but not spin-dry are in high demand.

She came to Beijing with Su Weihua, who was on a business trip, to buy New Year's goods, and even hoped that she might be lucky enough to buy some in-demand items, such as washing machines.

However, she was somewhat disappointed when she went out to look around yesterday while her partner was at work. There were indeed many more items, but there were still some things she couldn't buy. The Friendship Store did have them, but she didn't have any foreign exchange certificates.

Therefore, he was very interested in what Wang Dezhu had just said.

Unexpectedly, Wang Dezhu shrugged and said, "Just call me Old Wang, hahaha, don't be so polite. But I can't do anything about the refrigerator..."

In those days when even half a pound of soybeans required special approval, someone in his position really didn't have any legitimate channels to obtain such a thing.

"Hmm, a refrigerator is really a good thing." Su Weihua's wife felt that it wouldn't be appropriate to say anything at this moment, so she changed the subject.

Wang Dezhu didn't seem to care and laughed, "But he has a way." He then pointed to Gao Zhendong outside.

Given the relationship between Wang Dezhu and Gao Zhendong, this wouldn't cause Gao Zhendong any trouble, because he knew that this kind of thing was really not a problem for Gao Zhendong, and could even be considered excessive. Moreover, if Gao Zhendong knew about this situation, he would definitely not refuse to help.

"Huh?" Su Weihua's wife was both surprised and delighted as she looked at the children outside.

I was happy that my belongings were settled, but I was also surprised that my partner's classmate's family was indeed powerful. I've heard that there are quite a few people like this in Beijing.

Su Weihua, who was playing cards, frowned and turned to speak, but Wang Dezhu, who had long been mediating and handling neighborhood disputes, was very experienced and cut him off before he could even open his mouth: "Old Su, it's okay. Just tell the old platoon leader if you need anything. He'll help if he can, and he won't break the rules to help you if he can't, right?"

If we wait for Lao Su to say it out loud, we might argue when we get home, but it's highly likely that he'll plant a seed of trouble. When he does, it will be brought up again during a fight, and we'll suffer for it. Most importantly, there's no need to plant this seed in the first place.

Upon hearing this, Su Weihua thought it made sense and turned to his wife, saying, "I understand. I'll handle this."

Gao Zhendong stayed outside for a long time, until the children's faces were red from the cold, before he took them back home.

He shooed a bunch of little kids into the bedroom and sat down: "Come on, let me play a few rounds."

"Hey, you, as the host, left us here to go off and have a good time, and now you want us to give up our seats? How can you be so shameless?" Wang Dezhu joked as he handed him the cards. "Oh, that's a really heartless thing to say. Didn't you guys kick me out? No wonder it was snowing so hard outside just now..."

As the group played cards, Lin Lianwei glanced at Su Weihua a few times and noticed that the guy's mouth moved several times, but he didn't say anything. "I gave you a chance, but you're useless! Watch me!"

He was much more outgoing and lively than Su Weihua. While playing cards, he said, "Hey Lao Gao, it's almost Chinese New Year, do you have any extra tickets? My family needs a washing machine, do you have any?"

He spoke directly, having dealt with Gao Zhendong many times and knowing his personality and situation well. Old Gao would definitely help with these kinds of things if he could; when he got married, Old Gao gave him quite a few gifts.

Moreover, he asked a "redundant" question, so as not to put anyone in a difficult position. As for money, let's not mention it; it's pointless to bring it up, Lao Gao definitely won't take it, and bringing it up for no reason would damage the friendship between classmates.

As for his request for a washing machine, it wasn't because he knew Su Weihua's family wanted one, but rather because he wanted one himself, since he figured his own wife should be pampered by her own family.

Gao Zhendong replied without hesitation: "Yes, J. How much do you need?"

Lin Lianwei chuckled: "I don't need to take too many of these. I'm not here to buy more. One is enough." When he got married, there weren't any fancy twin-cylinder or fully automatic cars yet. His wife had been eyeing them since winter began, for quite some time now.

Su Weihua: "No, just one."

It has to be Lao Lin again; I'll just benefit from his fame.

As for Wang Dezhu and Xie Jianye's family, they didn't say anything. They already had the item, and as for where it came from, was that even a question?

Gao Zhendong looked at Su Weihua with a puzzled expression. "Old Su needs it too, that's normal, but do you want it or not?"

"Do you want one or not?"

Seeing Gao Zhendong's somewhat bewildered expression, Su Weihua finally realized what was happening.

"It's all mixed up. I don't want your pair of J, but I want a washing machine."

Everyone laughed. One said the city gate tower, the other the hip joint. Su Weihua's wife laughed especially heartily, never expecting the matter to be resolved so easily. This old man from Gao's family is definitely not simple.

She hurriedly grabbed her bag: "Oh, thank you so much, Gao! How much is it? I'll pay you back." This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; she had to settle things quickly. She understood that the money for the washing machine was for the washing machine itself, and the money for the tickets was for the tickets.

Gao Zhendong said, "Ah, this..." and then glanced at Su Weihua. "Your wife, you handle this."

Su Weihua pressed down on his wife's hand: "Alright, alright, Ren Zhendong isn't a ticket scalper, no need, no need." Although he was a little shy and embarrassed to speak up, unlike Lin Lianwei who was more at ease, he still knew Gao Zhendong's personality and situation very well.

Gao Zhendong then laughed and said, "We're all family, there's really no need. How about this, get me some grilled dried shrimp or something to go with my drinks later."

He just mentioned it casually, saying that he had bought dried shrimp from Su Weihua's city online in his past life, and it was actually quite good. However, there were many imaginative things online in his past life, and it's uncertain whether such things still exist now.

Su Weihua knew that Gao Zhendong was just looking for an excuse to appease his wife's feelings, so he laughed and said, "Well, I'll look for it when we get back. If I can't find it, I'll grill two pounds for you myself." When conducting experiments, a single test bomb can't even kill a few shrimp, right?

"Gao, thank you so much! You like dried shrimp? No problem, our company actually makes them, I'll definitely pick the best for you!" It seems his old man is indeed quite something; this dried shrimp thing was just something he casually mentioned so I wouldn't feel bad. But this casual remark just happened to come up in my work context.

She works for a fishing company.

Gao Zhendong was stunned. These days, apart from those with a plan, it's hard for fish and shrimp to survive and leave any coastal city, right?

"Is the shrimp catch this big now?"

"Yes, much more than in previous years."

"More than that? How did it get so much more?" Gao Zhendong asked with great interest.

Is this to help the old man get a feel for the state of fishery production? Then I have a lot to say.

"Firstly, there are more ships, and they are all large steel ships." She didn't know where all these steel ships came from, but since there were more ships, production capacity increased.

Gao Zhendong nodded.

"Secondly, there are more fishing grounds now. The fishing grounds are not just the same ones as before, but also extend further south and east. Places that were inaccessible before can now be accessed. With more fishing grounds, the harvest is naturally greater."

"We couldn't go before?" Lin Lianwei didn't quite understand this.

"Yes, before, the boats were small and there were few boats, so we couldn't go that far, nor did we need to. Also, there were some reasons why we weren't allowed to go that far. But now it's all fine. If it weren't for the fact that the sea is frozen over now and it's not easy to go out to sea, I wouldn't be able to take leave to come here to buy New Year's goods." We're very busy when we're in production.

It seems her work is disciplined, as she sometimes speaks vaguely. However, Gao Zhendong can roughly understand her, and even the parts she doesn't understand.

"Also, it's still fishing season now, but we can go out for more time than before. We can predict the weather more accurately now. They say there are certain types of weather patterns, so we can see them clearly at a glance. This will increase our yield considerably."

Although she didn't know much about radar and such things, Su Weihua's wife handled her work very well and explained the situation clearly.

Gao Zhendong was even more delighted to learn that radar and satellites had played a crucial role in this. The transfer of military technology to civilian use proved to be incredibly effective.

He laughed and clapped his hands, "Hahaha, great, good thing you got out. Hmm, I really want to eat some of these dried shrimp." Now, talking about eating this stuff has a different meaning than when it was mentioned before.

Hearing his words, Su Weihua's wife felt uneasy.

Wei Hua is a great classmate in every way, except that he speaks in a very old-fashioned way, probably influenced by his father.

(End of this chapter)