60s: I have a store

Chapter 573 The First and Last Day

The roar of the motorcycle tore through the afternoon heat in the old city. Zhou Yimin took off his goggles, and the sweat on his forehead slid down along the marks left by the sunglasses.

He patted the oil-paper bag tied to the back seat of the car. The fat and lean mutton inside was still wrapped in ice. Another bag of frozen hard tripe was shining coldly in the sun.

Looking up at the mottled brick walls of the courtyard, the ivy leaves covering the wall were rustling in the wind, and it seemed as if the leaves of the locust trees in Zhoujiazhuang in my hometown were shaking.

"Yimin, are you really leaving?" Before leaving, grandma's wrinkled hands grasped the corner of his clothes. The old man squatted on the doorstep and puffed on his cigarette, with ashes falling on the patched uppers of his shoes. "Why don't you talk to the leader and ask him to stay a few more days?"

Before he finished speaking, when he heard the words "promoted to section chief", the two elders instantly straightened their hunched backs.

Grandma hurriedly stuffed the freshly cooked tea eggs into his canvas bag: "Go quickly! Don't miss the important event! Our Zhou family has never had such a high-ranking official!"

The old man couldn't wait to send Zhou Yimin to the city. If he knew how to drive a motorcycle, he would probably send Zhou Yimin to the city personally. Only after seeing Zhou Yimin's promotion with his own eyes would he be able to put his mind at ease.

After returning to the courtyard, Zhou Yimin realized that he hadn't had dinner with Chow Tai Fook and the others for a while, so he took out some of the ingredients he had bought in flash sales today. If he took out all of them, it would probably take at least a month and a half to finish them.

After all, it’s hundreds of kilograms of meat. No matter how much you want to eat meat, you will probably feel nauseous if you eat so much meat at once!

He took action as soon as he thought about it, so he took a little of each and then went to his own courtyard.

Standing at the gate of the courtyard at this moment, Zhou Yimin reached out and knocked on the door. The sound of the copper ring startled the sparrows under the eaves.

"Squeak--" the door opened, and Chen Shumin, wearing a blue apron, stuck her head out. There were still water droplets on the ends of her hair, and it was obvious that she had just washed something at the well.

"Uncle Sixteen! Why are you here? Come in and sit down!" Her eyes were as bright as stars. When she stepped aside to make way, Zhou Yimin caught a glimpse of the sheets drying in the yard being blown up by the wind, like a white cloud.

As he stepped into the yard, Zhou Yimin's eyes lit up.

The corner that was once piled with miscellaneous items is now filled with neatly stacked honeycomb briquettes, and there are several pots of green ivy on the windowsill, the leaves of which are so shiny that they can reflect a person's shadow.

The eight-immortals table in the main room was polished to a shine, and under the glass was a wedding photo of Chow Tai Fook and Chan Shu-min. Their smiling faces were brighter than the red double happiness pattern on the wall.

"It's different with a wife." Zhou Yimin smiled and shook his head, remembering that when they lived in Zhou Dafu, there were always unwashed socks in the yard. "Shumin, go get ready. We're having hot pot tonight!"

"Really?" Chen Shumin's voice rose an octave, her fingertips unconsciously twisting her apron.

She had heard Chow Tai Fook talk about how Uncle Sixteen always used all kinds of rare ingredients when making hot pot, and last time he even brought out frozen shrimps from the Bohai Bay.

"Xiu Lan! Xiu Lan!" She trotted to the next door to call someone, her cloth shoes making a crisp sound on the bluestone slabs.

Zhou Yimin sat down on a bamboo chair under the grape trellis. Five-year-old Xiaomei rushed out of the house holding a broom, the red hairband on her pigtails crooked.

"Brother Yimin!" The little girl threw herself into his arms, her milky breath spraying on his shirt, "Did you hide some delicious food again?"

Zhou Yimin smiled and took out an oil-paper bag from his Zhongshan suit pocket. The milky white White Rabbit candy shone in the sunlight.

"You can only eat one a day, otherwise all your teeth will fall out and you won't be able to eat anything delicious in the future!"

He deliberately put on a stern face and watched Xiaomei cover her mouth at first, but then couldn't resist the temptation and carefully picked up a candy. The candy made a crisp "rustling" sound when she opened the wrapper.

The sound of a kitchen knife chopping meat came from the direction of the kitchen, and the laughter of Chen Shumin and Li Xiulan mixed with the aroma of chopped green onions wafted over.

At this moment, the crisp sound of a bicycle bell rang outside the courtyard gate, followed by a young man's voice: "Xiaomei, are you home? I brought you a new eraser!"

Xiaomei's eyes suddenly widened, "It's my brother!"

She cheered, broke free from Zhou Yimin's arms, and ran towards the door like a happy little deer.

The door was pushed open, and Xiaomei threw herself into Zhao Gang's arms, her two little arms tightly around his neck.

Zhao Gang caught his sister steadily with one hand, and held the brown paper bag high with the other hand, and teased her with a smile: "Guess how many erasers did I bring you?"

Xiaomei lay on his shoulder, staring at the bag with sparkling eyes, sniffing: "I smell the scent of fruit candy! Brother is lying, he must have hidden some candy!"

"Little clever girl!" Zhao Gang scratched her nose and took out a tin box with cartoon patterns printed on it from the bag. "The eraser is here, and the candy..."

He deliberately kept her in suspense, and when Xiaomei was stamping her feet anxiously, he took out two fruit candies and said, "You can only eat if you behave well."

Xiaomei clutched the eraser and candy, and skipped and pulled Zhao Gang towards the yard. The red hairband on her pigtails swayed into two small flames.

Walking into the yard, Zhao Gang saw Zhou Yimin, and hurriedly put his sister down, stepped forward and greeted him respectfully: "Hello, Chief Zhou!"

If it weren't for Zhou Yimin's help, he couldn't imagine how miserable his life would be. He could have the stable life he has now because Zhou Yimin helped him find a job in the steel factory.

Zhao Gang cherishes his hard-earned job very much and studies hard.

He was wearing a blue work suit that had been washed a little pale, with a shiny factory badge pinned on his chest. He had a simple smile on his face, revealing a row of white teeth.

"Gangzi, you're back!" Zhou Yimin stood up and patted Zhao Gang on the shoulder. "I heard that you performed well in the factory and became a team leader. That's amazing!"

Zhao Gang scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "It's all thanks to you and everyone else's daily care. I just did more work."

As he spoke, his eyes kept falling on his sister. Seeing Xiaomei standing on tiptoe to reach the leaves on the grape trellis, he trotted over and picked her up, letting her fingertips gently touch the tender green leaves.

As they were talking, Chow Tai Fook and Chow Tai Chung also came back on their bicycles.

Zhou Dafu's baseball cap was tilted on the back of his head, his overalls were stained with oil at the knees, and the collar of Zhou Dazhong's white shirt was stained with dark marks from sweat.

But at this moment, their eyes fell on Zhou Yimin under the grape trellis at the same time, and then looked at the stone table full of food, their eyes were first surprised, and then filled with joy. "Uncle Sixteen! Why are you here?"

Zhou Dafu rushed over in two steps and stretched out his hand to take the mutton from Zhou Yimin's hand. "I heard that you are going to be a section chief?"

Zhou Yimin smiled and nodded, "Yes, I came back as soon as I received the notice. It's a good opportunity for us to get together tonight."

He looked towards the kitchen. Chen Shumin was standing on tiptoe to add water to the copper pot on the stove, and Li Xiulan was putting the washed spinach in a bamboo basket.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the ground through the gaps in the grape leaves. The golden spots reflected everyone's smiling faces. In a trance, it seemed even more lively than the wedding day.

"We're in for a treat tonight!" Zhao Gang said as he took out a few bottles of soda from a brown paper bag. When he unscrewed the bottle caps, there was a soft "pop" sound.

He handed a bottle to Xiaomei first, and then distributed it to the others one by one, "I bought it specially to quench Xiaomei and everyone else's thirst." Xiaomei held the soda and smiled with her eyes curved into crescents: "Brother is the best!"

She raised the bottle to clink glasses with Zhao Gang, but she was too short to reach it and she kept turning around in circles in anxiety.

Zhao Gang bent down and gently touched her bottle with his own. "Cheers!" The crisp clinking sound made everyone laugh.

The beef tallow soup in the copper pot was bubbling with fine bubbles, the bright red chili oil was seeping on the surface, and the rising hot steam was filled with the aroma of pepper and star anise, instantly filling the entire yard with a strong smell of fireworks.

Chen Shumin and Li Xiulan sat around the stone table, beads of sweat oozing from their noses, but their eyes were reluctant to leave the table top filled with food.

Zhou Yimin stood in front of the stove, stirring the soup pot with a long-handled spoon in his hand. In the midst of the white steam, he smiled and greeted, "Shumin, Xiulan, don't be polite, just eat as much as you want! I'll have enough for today!"

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of lamb meat that was as thin as a cicada's wing and dropped it in the boiling soup. The slice of meat quickly turned an attractive reddish-brown color. He distributed the slices of meat to everyone and said, "Try this lamb meat from Inner Mongolia. It's very tender!"

Chen Shumin took the chopsticks, her fingertips trembling slightly. She had never seen such a sumptuous hot pot, with crystal water droplets hanging on the large plate of fresh tripe, neatly arranged beef slices with marble-like patterns, not to mention the hill-like meatballs and juicy green vegetables.

She picked up a piece of tripe and, imitating Chow Tai Fook, quickly "swimmed" it in the soup. The small particles on the surface of the tripe absorbed the soup and became shiny and attractive.

When she put it into her mouth, the crispy and tender texture accompanied by the spicy taste exploded on the tip of her tongue. She couldn't help but let out a soft cry, and hurriedly picked up the soda and took a sip, but was choked by the sweetness and blinked her eyes.

Li Xiulan was even more shy and carefully put the quail eggs into the pot.

Zhou Dazhong saw this and smiled as he helped her fish out the already cooked egg, peeled it and put it in her bowl: "Eat more, this egg is so delicious in the spicy pot!"

Li Xiulan took a bite. The egg white absorbed the richness of the soup, the egg yolk was dense, and the spicy taste spread from the tip of her tongue. However, she was reluctant to stop and picked up another piece of vegetables with chopsticks.

"Sisters-in-law, don't just eat vegetarian food!" Zhao Gang said, picking up a plump shrimp paste and putting it into Chen Shumin's bowl, "Try this, the shrimp paste is made with fresh shrimps, very chewy!"

Chen Shumin took a bite, and the sweetness of the shrimp meat and the spicy soup base blended perfectly. The freshness burst in her mouth. She couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't know hot pot could be so delicious! In my hometown, I could only eat meat during the Chinese New Year. I never thought I could eat it like this!"

Zhou Yimin added a spoonful of bone soup to the pot, his face glowing red in the light of the fire: "If you want to eat it in the future, just tell me! Our yard should be lively and bustling!"

As he spoke, he fished out a piece of beef tendon that had been stewed till soft and put it into Xiaomei's bowl. "Chew slowly, don't burn yourself."

Xiaomei's mouth was full of oil, and she didn't forget to pick up the chopsticks covered with soup, "Brother Yimin, this is soft and delicious!"

As the night deepened, the soup in the copper pot continued to boil, and everyone started talking.

Zhou Dafu and Zhou Dazhong vied to pick up food for their wives, and they gasped from the spiciness from time to time. Zhao Gang took care of Xiaomei while discussing the new equipment in the factory with Zhou Yimin.

Chen Shumin and Li Xiulan ate while marveling at the richness of the ingredients.

Li Xiulan looked at the mountain of delicious food in the bowl, her eyes slightly reddened - such a rich and warm moment was something she could not even imagine in the past.

Until the moon climbed up the eaves of the courtyard, the soup in the copper pot gradually ran out, and everyone's stomach was filled.

Chen Shumin touched her slightly round belly and leaned on Zhou Dafu's shoulder with satisfaction: "So this is what it feels like to eat all you can eat meat. It's like a dream."

Li Xiulan smiled and nodded, looking at Zhou Yimin who was cleaning up the dishes, her heart full of gratitude.

The hotpot that night not only allowed them to taste delicious food, but also made them feel the warmth and happiness of this big family.

The next day, Zhou Yimin had already gotten up before the morning light had completely dispelled the mist in the old city.

Let’s first buy today’s flash sale products, which include 100 kilograms of beef, 100 kilograms of apples, 100 braised chickens, and 100 kilograms of cotton.

After a simple wash, he got on his motorcycle. The roar of the engine startled the sparrows under the eaves. He deliberately changed into a neat Zhongshan suit. The pen in his chest pocket shone with a cold metallic light in the dim morning light.

The heat from last night's hot pot still seemed to linger at his nose, but at this moment, his hands gripping the handlebars were full of energy - today was his first day as the Chief of the Fourth Section of the Purchasing Department, and he must not lose his composure in front of his subordinates.

As the steel plant's large iron gate slowly rose, Zhou Yimin's motorcycle parked steadily in the parking space.

He reached out and patted the mud splashed on the front of the car, then looked up at the office building. Lights were already flickering through the windows of the purchasing department on the fourth floor.

The moment I pushed open the wooden door of the department, the smell of ink and files hit me in the face. The three desks were already filled with employees working furiously at their desks.

Old Li was squinting his eyes as he checked the account book, the beads on the abacus clacking loudly. Xiao Zhang was biting the tip of his pen and staring at the purchasing schedule on the wall. The missing numbers marked with red pen were particularly eye-catching. The new intern Xiao Wang was walking back and forth with a stack of documents, beads of sweat oozing from his forehead.

"Good morning, Chief Zhou!" Old Li was the first to look up and pushed up his glasses that had slipped to the tip of his nose.

Zhou Yimin noticed that there was an unfinished coarse grain steamed bread on the corner of his table. It was obvious that he was in a hurry and didn't have time to eat breakfast. "Thank you for your hard work."

Zhou Yimin put down his briefcase and glanced at the eye-catching "Monthly Procurement Task Schedule" on the wall - the red crosses for two consecutive months were like two scars, making the atmosphere in the entire department depressing.

Then he went back to his office.

At exactly eight o'clock, the familiar sound of leather shoes came from the corridor.

Wang Weimin walked in with a leather folder. His navy blue Zhongshan suit was ironed meticulously and the party emblem on his chest was polished to a shine.

"Chief Zhou!" He smiled and stretched out his hand, speaking jokingly.

"Section Chief Wang!" Zhou Yimin quickly stepped forward and shook his hand. The force of their palms touching conveyed silent encouragement.

Following the sound of a clear whistle, all staff members of the department quickly gathered at the conference table.

The sunlight shone in obliquely through the dusty glass window, casting mottled shadows on the bronze department sign that Wang Weimin was about to hand over.

"Comrades, today is my last day in the Fourth Department." Wang Weimin knocked on the corner of the table and glanced at everyone's tense faces. "The difficulties in the past two years have made it more difficult to purchase materials, but I still hope that everyone can continue to work hard!"

After saying this, he gave up his seat and let Zhou Yimin say a few words.

Zhou Yimin stood up, his white shirt sleeves revealing half of his Shanghai watch: "I know everyone is under a lot of pressure."

Then he added: "If there is really no other way, I can help you for a month, but after a month, it depends on everyone's efforts!"

After hearing Zhou Yimin's words, everyone was very happy. They could finally breathe a sigh of relief and no longer have to worry about not completing the task this month.

(End of this chapter)