Siheyuan: Cutting off at the beginning

Chapter 123

"Li, hello, Brother Li."

Liang Ladi had already arrived at the entrance of the steel mill, waiting to post notices. She didn't expect to see Li Zhiguo here, and she didn't know whether to address him correctly for a moment.

"Hello there!"

This was the second time Li Zhiguo spoke to Liang Ladi. Before that, he had only greeted her in the hospital, just to say hello.

"Who is this girl?"

Xu Damao braked his bicycle and Sha Zhu got down from the back seat quickly. He took one look at the girl and lost interest in her because she was so skinny.

Li Zhiguo replied, "Dr. Liang's niece, Liang Ladi, I met her once in the hospital."

"Oh, that's good."

Xu Damao remained silent. Doctor Liang still had to examine Chunyan, so he didn't dare to offend him.

Jia Dongxu was stunned for a moment and said, "I saw this girl when I signed up the day before yesterday. She also wanted to be a welder. You are overthinking it!"

When Liang Ladi heard this, she had a very bad impression of this man. Even though he looks smug now, he was almost beaten when he registered that day.

Li Zhiguo shook his head, "Dongxu, you wait here to post the notice. I'll be out later, take me back."

"Okay, Li Zhiguo, you are busy. The factory director has a big matter and can't be delayed."

Jia Dongxu was holding his bicycle with a happy face. He was just standing there, how could anyone envy him.

At this time, Xu Damao pushed his bicycle and walked towards the factory with Sha Zhu.

Li Zhiguo walked up to Liang Ladi and whispered, "Don't be late for work tomorrow."

"what?"

Liang Ladi responded subconsciously before she realized, does this mean that she was selected?
When I came to my senses, Brother Li had already gone far away, so I had no choice but to wait here anxiously.

"Little girl, this is a steel mill, not a place for you to come.

Especially since we are looking for welders this time, you are so skinny, can you hold the welding gun?"

Jia Dongxu couldn't help but attack his opponent. He couldn't afford to offend anyone in the courtyard, but this was outside, and he couldn't say anything to a little girl?

Judging from her clothes, she looks like a country girl, so rustic.

Liang Ladi didn't say anything. After a while, she said, "What is your relationship with Brother Li?"

"You are talking about him. He is my brother."

Jia Dongxu said proudly, "He is my good brother who grew up in the same courtyard with me."

"Oh!"

Liang Ladi became worried again. They were good brothers, and there was only one vacancy for recruitment. How could she be selected?

After a while, other young people who had signed up also arrived, dozens of people.

After a while, the security guard finally came out, glanced at Jia Dongxu, and then nodded to the girl.

When Jia Dongxu saw the security guard come out and look at him, he was immediately overjoyed. Isn't this the right person to choose?
For a moment, I thought that my family would soon have two working people, and we would be able to buy a bicycle next year. That would be great, let Sha Zhu be envious.

At this moment, Liang Ladi's heart was beating wildly. What did the security guard's nod to her just now mean?
"Uncle, please put it on quickly. Who is the one who was chosen?"

"It can't be Jia Dongxu, he is cheating, immoral, shameless."

"If it's really Jia Dongxu, I'll go to the factory and make trouble. My brother is still a worker."

"Count me in. My dad is also a worker in the factory. If he wasn't old enough, I would have taken over the job long ago."

Just as the young people were arguing, the security guard posted a notice.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Who is Liang Ladi? Why does it sound like a girl's name? Ah, it's her."

"She is Liang Ladi? She was chosen, this can't be possible."

Everyone looked at the little girl in dumbfounded. Who was so wicked to choose her? This was outrageous. How could a little girl be a welder? She must be able to move steel.

Jia Dongxu asked with a dull look on his face: "Uncle, is this a mistake? Shouldn't you choose me? I'm already in my third year as a fitter apprentice. I retired due to illness before, and I know a little bit about welding."

"You're asking me? This is the factory manager's decision.

Little girl, go to work at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Go to the office building where you registered before and report. Don't be late."

The security guard said something and left quickly.

He just couldn't understand why Li Zhiguo wanted to help a little girl. It definitely wasn't for that kind of reason. This girl was far inferior to Qin Huairu.

"Hey!" Liang Ladi finally responded. She was too excited just now.

She was also afraid of being beaten, so she didn't even bother to thank Li Ge'er. She ran away quickly and went to the hospital to find her second aunt to report the good news.

"No, you can't do that!"

Jia Dongxu shouted, but no one paid any attention.

Although it was incredible that the girl was chosen, at least it was not Jia Dongxu.

……

After nine o'clock in the morning, Li Zhiguo came out carrying a bag with a happy face. He didn't expect that a car model would get an inscription from the leader.

When passing by the guard room, he threw a cigarette in through the air.

"Li Zhiguo, did something good happen to you?"

The security guard took the cigarette and walked out.

"Fortunately!"

He didn't mention the inscription. He couldn't explain it, and he didn't even mention it to his family. He just kept it.

"By the way, Jia Dongxu came with you, right? He's been crying outside for a while."

The old man took out a match and helped light the cigarette, which meant he wanted to chat for a few minutes.

"This can't be done!"

Li Zhiguo looked outside the gate and saw a person squatting next to a bicycle with his back to the bicycle, and he didn't seem to be crying.

"Li Zhiguo, did you help that girl get into the factory?"

I just wanted to hear some gossip. As for Jia Dongxu's scandal, it was obvious that Li Zhiguo had snatched away someone else's girlfriend, so how could he help arrange a job for him?

"Uncle, are you saying that the girl just now was selected?"

Li Zhiguo would not leave any handle behind and would not admit it in private conversations, as he did not want to affect the relationship between the brothers.

"It has to be you!"

Although the old man had some guesses, he couldn't go out and chat because no one else admitted it.

"Master, I have to go."

Li Zhiguo followed him out the door, shouting, "Dongxu, what's wrong with you?"

When Jia Dongxu heard the shouting, he turned around with tears in his eyes and stood up.

If he hadn't had to wait for his brother, he would have run back and cried under the quilt.

"Li Zhiguo, I didn't get selected, but the girl got the job as a welder. What do you think the factory director was thinking?"

"Oh! Don't worry, you can still take over the job later. It would be great if you could continue to be a fitter. Welding is tiring."

Li Zhiguo patted Dongxu on the shoulder and comforted him, saying that there was still a lot of time and he would always be able to find a job.

"You're right. I'll continue to work as a fitter and drill screw holes. I'm familiar with that job. I'm the best driller in the workshop."

Jia Dongxu wiped his tears with his sleeves and was full of fighting spirit again. He thought that he only needed to wash clothes for a month at most and he would be able to live a good life again.

"Okay, let's go back. I just came out from Director Yang's office and asked him about it. The girl's grandfather used to work at the agricultural machinery station, and she has been learning welding since she was a child.

So, there is a reason why she was chosen. The reason you failed is not because you are not good enough, but because you lacked a bit of luck. "

Li Zhiguo got on the back seat and said, "Let's go. Who said a bicycle can't have a driver?"

"Hey! I figured it out."

Jia Dongxu felt much better. He was a fitter, much better than a welder.

...

Siheyuan, Jia family!

When Jia Zhang came back from buying vegetables, she opened the lid of the pot and found it was empty. She thought Dongxu must have stolen the eggs.

Forget it. My son will be able to become a worker again soon. I have to spoil him.

"Bihua, do you think Dongxu can be selected?"

"It should work!"

Chen Bihua was breastfeeding her baby and hoped that Dongxu could become a worker so that she could continue to work and eat white flour at the factory at noon.

"Definitely!"

Jia Zhang looked at her eldest grandson Banggeng and took the clothes out to wash, but they couldn't be washed for long. When she got to the factory, she would let her daughter-in-law do these jobs.

"Sun Erniang, my son Dongxu is going to be a worker again. Then there will be only two people earning money in the family."

Jia Zhang couldn't help showing off to the people next door.

“But you have to be selected!”

Sun Erniang was not optimistic and couldn't say why, but she just felt that she would not be selected.

"What's wrong, are you jealous?"

Jia Zhang almost got into a quarrel with someone. She couldn't bear to see her family live an easy life. They were her neighbors, too. Bah.

Sun Erniang didn't respond. She took the basin and left, returning to her doorstep to wash slowly.

After a while, Aunt Jiang and others came running over and whispered.

"Hey, Jia Zhang has been so proud these past few days, she's so arrogant and looks down on others."

"That's right. She tells everyone that her family will soon have two working children. If Jia Dongxu is really chosen, she will be very proud of it."

"Don't think too much. Who in this courtyard doesn't want to see Jia Zhang succeed?" Mrs. Chen's words seemed to end the topic. Several aunts felt that they understood but didn't understand.

"Look, Jia Dongxu and Li Zhiguo are back."

An old lady happened to see the corridor.

Jia Zhang also saw it and quickly shouted: "Dongxu, you are going to work in the factory tomorrow, right?"

"Mom, I can't go to work for the time being."

Jia Dongxu had already learned to be strong, but when he saw his mother washing clothes, he felt aggrieved again.

Subconsciously, I rolled up my sleeves and said, "Mom, go take a rest. I'll wash the clothes."

"No, Dongxu, what do you mean, you didn't get selected? That's not possible. Your uncle said he would help you talk to the factory manager."

Jia Zhang felt like the sky was falling. She had boasted about it to others and even asked Lao Yi why she was not selected.

Li Zhiguo was stunned for a moment. He asked specifically today, but Yi Zhonghai had never visited Director Yang.

It seems that the moral model in this hospital doesn't want Dongxu to return to work in the factory.

"Mom, you ask me, who should I ask? This is the factory director's decision. You should take a rest. I'll wash it."

Jia Dongxu walked forward, pushed my mother aside, and started washing clothes skillfully.

"You useless thing!"

Jia Zhang couldn't help but start scolding. This was so shameful that she turned around and went back to the house in anger.

A few middle-aged women pointed and talked, and finally pulled Li Zhiguo back.

"What's going on? Who got selected? Jia Dongxu has a great chance."

Mrs. Chen instinctively felt that the bad boy was interfering.

"A young girl was selected. She has been learning welding since she was young."

Li Zhiguo thought about it and did not mention Yi Zhonghai's scandal. Could he still help the Dongxu brothers to stand up for justice? Besides, it didn't matter whether others helped or not!

"It's good that Jia Dongxu didn't get elected. Now Jia Zhang can't show off anymore."

"That's right. She has too much to eat and too much to wear these past two days. She has become detached from the masses."

In this courtyard, no one is better off than anyone else, except the bad boy Li Zhiguo, who is no one to be messed with.

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the weather took a sharp turn for the worse. November 1st happened to be a Sunday.

Because it was the first time that flour coupons were implemented, everyone was worried that they would not be able to buy flour. After midnight last night, some people went to the grain station to queue up.

Li Zhiguo also got up early, but not to buy food, but to buy vegetables, because his father-in-law and his family were coming over for dinner today.

"Son-in-law, just let mom go buy it, and you can sleep a little longer."

Qin's mother also felt sorry for her son-in-law. During the holiday, he got up earlier than usual.

"I'll go buy some more meat and make dumplings for lunch. In a few days, when Huairu is out of confinement, it will be convenient for us to go out to eat."

Li Zhiguo had long discovered that his mother-in-law and Huairu had similar personalities. They were both very frugal and would never buy spare ribs or the like. Once they went to the market, they would definitely buy fatty meat, which was too greasy and bad for the stomach.

"Oh!" Mother Qin was happy to hear that. It wasn't good to eat dumplings.

"Zhiguo, put on your scarf. It looks like it's going to snow soon."

Qin Huairu came out holding a scarf, the weather was really cold.

"it is good!"

Li Zhiguo was about to set off pushing his bicycle when he saw Xiao Jingru running out.

"Brother-in-law, I'll go help you carry the vegetables."

"You don't have to go today. It's cold."

He looked up at the sky and saw that it would snow in the capital in early November and would last until March of the following year.

Today's average temperature is several degrees lower than that of later generations. There are many places where it snows. Even in the south, snow easily accumulates in winter and does not melt for several days.

While others are still struggling for food, he is already concerned about the big issue of global warming. This is the pattern.

"Da Mao, good morning!"

"morning!"

Xu Damao came out of the house with his neck shrunk.

Li Zhiguo didn't talk much and went to the central courtyard. It was a bit deserted because everyone had gone to buy food.

Starting from this month, we should stock up on cabbage for the winter.

Fresh sweet potatoes are on the market, two cents a pound, but the price gets more expensive as time goes by, and the highest price can be five cents.

Grain stations also sell sweet potatoes as coarse grains.

He rode his bicycle to the vegetable market when suddenly snowflakes began to fall from the sky. This was the first snow of 1953, and it came earlier than in previous years.

"I heard that on the first snow day, all lies can be forgiven!"

The lies he told this year are forgotten, and he will still be a good person next year.

When I got to the market, there were not many people inside, so I took my time to choose. I was lucky enough to buy some beef.

When I came out, there were some more things in the bag, which I took out from the reward supermarket. I cashed them out from time to time to supplement the household expenses, which felt pretty good.

"Hey, Li Zhiguo, why did you buy so many vegetables today?"

Yan Bugui was brushing off the dust on his body in the front yard. He had just returned from carrying some food and had bought a lot of corn flour and fresh sweet potatoes.

"My father-in-law and his family are coming over. We'll get paid the day after tomorrow, so we can afford to eat something good."

The snow has stopped now, just a light snow, which will wash away the lies.

"You still have a better life."

Yan Bugui was envious, but it was not jealous, because it was the other person's ability.

Li Zhiguo thought for a moment and whispered, "Uncle, the price of flour coupons will double by the end of next month, from one cent to two cents, so it's okay to exchange some coupons between neighbors and colleagues.

I have exchanged the flour coupons for the yard, and the coupons for the yard next door are still there. You should hurry up and buy a bicycle as soon as possible."

"Really!"

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up, and he said that he could gain benefits by helping more. With Li Zhiguo's brain, he could make money by just enlightening him.

"Control the amount. There are six people in your family, so 200 kilograms is no problem. You can make 20 kilograms for free. If you're lucky, you can exchange it for two months before the 24th, which is 40 kilograms."

Li Zhiguo left after he finished speaking. There was no need to ask him to keep it a secret. It was impossible for Yan Bugui to sacrifice himself for others.

"oops!"

Yan Bugui came to his senses and hurried back to the house. He lifted the bed sheet and pulled apart the old cotton quilt, only to see a book pressed on the straw mat, with the family savings inside.

"Boss, what's wrong with you? Didn't you just buy some food?"

The third aunt is really stupid. Why is she rummaging through the family's assets in broad daylight? She is not afraid of being seen.

"What do you know as a woman? Here's your chance to make a lot of money."

Yan Bugui was a tight-lipped man and planned not to tell even his wife about this matter. He did it quietly, counted the money, and ran out of the door, going to the next yard to exchange it for flour tickets.

On the way, Yan Bugui was thinking that he still had to exchange his own flour coupons with Li Zhiguo. Although he would only get him one cent, it was still nearly five yuan.

After two months, including the money earned from the external school, wouldn't it be possible to earn fifty dollars? If I work harder, I can buy a bicycle.

……

Li Zhiguo actually wanted to exchange for some more flour coupons, but he had too much, so he simply asked Yan Bugui for help. He had a springboard in the middle, and it was only a few hundred kilograms of flour, so no one checked.

Having money in hand, you are not worried, you can go out to eat and spend it freely, this is how you live.

If he can't spend it all, he can save it as a collection and leave it to his son to buy a house when he gets old?

"Son-in-law, why did you buy so many vegetables?"

Mother Qin stepped forward and took the two large bags, looking calm.

"This is a family dinner, so we have to eat good food."

He handed over the dishes and went into the house to pick up the child.

After a while, my father-in-law came to the door. He did not come empty-handed. He and my third uncle carried a stone mill to the yard.

I've been talking about this before, but I didn't expect it to be done today.

The second aunt ran out of the house to watch the fun, "Li Zhiguo, your family bought a millstone."

"Yes, I asked my uncle to buy it for me. This is a small stone mill, specially made for me. One person can turn it, and anyone in our courtyard can use it in the future.

By the way, where is my second uncle? Ask him to come out and say a few words, and then grind a few pounds of beans and demonstrate to everyone."

Li Zhiguo found that he didn't get any advantage in the hospital. No, he didn't let the second uncle make full use of his remaining energy, which was inappropriate.

"He's at home. I'll call him out right away."

The second aunt ran back and soon Liu Haizhong followed her into the yard.

At this time, all the residents in the courtyard came to watch the fun. Having an extra stone mill would be of great use.

"In our courtyard, life is getting better and better.

In the past, we had a shared medicine pot, and later, when Li Zhiguo celebrated his birthday, we had a barbecue grill, and now we even have a stone mill.”

"Isn't it? Li Zhiguo is smart enough to customize a small size so that anyone can use it."

"It's not easy. The bad boy has also made contributions to the hospital."

"Hey, don't you know this? Bad boys like to drink soy milk. Hey, look, Uncle Er is grinding the beans."

While the residents were talking, Liu Haizhong grabbed the wooden stick on the millstone with one hand and started turning it.

The second aunt added beans on the side, and then the speed slowed down. The resistance of dry-grinding beans is greater.

(End of this chapter)