Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

On the table was a bottle of liquor and two packs of cigarettes. One pack was Double Happiness, and the other was Phoenix.

At wedding banquets in China, Double Happiness cigarettes seem to be a regular guest, simply because the name sounds auspicious and brings good luck.

As for Phoenix cigarettes, they probably haven't been seen since. They smelled incredibly fragrant, but smelled incredibly awful when smoked, as if they used flavorings like they were free.

However, in the minds of ordinary people at that time, fragrance was all that mattered; the stronger the fragrance of cigarettes, the more high-end they were. Who cared about the taste? So in Beijing at that time, a wedding banquet featuring Double Happiness and Phoenix cigarettes was considered top-tier.

Today's banquet was naturally prepared by He Yuzhu. There were two main meat dishes: braised fish and fried meatballs.

To be honest, it's really not easy to come up with four whole fish these days. And at least a third of the fried fish balls are meatballs.

Liu Haizhong and his second aunt went to great lengths to obtain these meat dishes. This included using Zhuang Zhongchen's meat and oil coupons.

There was also a dish of tofu and vermicelli, topped with a generous amount of minced meat, which could barely be considered a small meat dish.

Here's a little-known fact: back then, vermicelli was considered a vegetable and didn't require ration coupons to buy. They didn't even need vegetable coupons, so they tried their best to ensure market supply.

That's why you often see vermicelli in period dramas, but leafy greens are relatively rare.

However, there's a side effect: many older people feel nauseous at the sight of vermicelli dishes, sweet potato rice, or multigrain steamed buns. But later on, these became popular, nutritious foods across the country?

However, regardless of the circumstances, Liu Haizhong and his second aunt had both suffered significant financial losses. Therefore, almost all the guests were quite satisfied with today's food and drink…

……

That evening, at Mi Cuicui's house.

Mi Cuicui, dressed in her undergarments, knelt on the kang (a heated brick bed) as she cleaned the bed. Meanwhile, Zhuang Zhongchen was happily smoking a cigarette afterward.

"Hehe, Chenzi. Now that good days have come, I feel at ease. You're so good to me."

"Where are we? What kind of good day is this? You underestimate your man, don't you?" Zhuang Zhongchen chuckled.

"Hehe, I know you're capable. You seem to have changed a lot too. Humph."

"Um?"

"Your fussiness is getting stronger and stronger. I begged you for mercy just now, but you wouldn't let me go. Hmph."

Alright! Six strikes in one second still has significant side effects. But this is my normal performance, just average, okay? Actually, I'm quite helpless about it!

"Good brother, sir. Can you please let me off the hook tonight? I almost missed work on Monday. You have no idea how embarrassing I was."

"and you……"

"Pah! You're so mean! How can you come up with so many tricks?" While saying this, Mi Cuicui rolled her eyes and angrily lay down...

In the end, Zhuang Zhongchen didn't stay overnight at Mi Cuicui's house. Mainly because he had to go to work the next day.

Mi Cuicui works at a street factory. Her commute is short, making it convenient to take care of her family. However, her income is low; she's on a collective employment contract and earns only 0.9 yuan a day. With 25 working days a month, she can only earn a little over 20 yuan.

Currently, employee positions are categorized as either state-owned or collectively owned. From a job stability perspective, dismissal is generally not possible. It's essentially a secure, guaranteed job.

However, there was a significant difference in income and benefits. Those in large collectives basically received a fixed salary with very little or no bonuses. Benefits such as seniority pay and transportation allowances were nonexistent. Furthermore, there were no dormitories, housing allocations, or reimbursement for family members' medical expenses.

So what are the advantages of collective employment? In case there are vacancies in the general public employment system, collective employees in your unit will have priority to fill them. In other words, they are the reserve force for the general public employment system.

If the company has a batch of job openings.

For example: 5 are assigned to veterans. 30 are assigned to the factory's collective workforce. This is where the collective workforce is filled.

The remaining 55 slots will be distributed through the Labor Bureau.

Of course, street factories are almost impossible; they simply don't have that many full-time employees.

Furthermore, in those days, recruitment was basically a matter of life and death!

You can choose which unit you're assigned to and not go if you're not satisfied. But once you report to the new unit, it's almost impossible for you to leave.

In other words, it ensures that everyone has a job.

For example: Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li.

After graduating from junior high school, Yan Jiecheng stayed at home unemployed for several years. Finally, he got a chance to work in a factory after waiting in line. However, he was temporarily on a collective employment contract. He would have to wait until the older employees retired and gave up their positions before he could wait in line to be transferred to a state-employed position.

Yu Li's current situation is that she's still unemployed, even though she's queuing on the street. The remaining jobs are all extremely poor. Even if Yu Li were offered a job like cleaning toilets, like Ran Qiuye's later experience, she definitely wouldn't want to do it.

Of course, there are cases where family members take the blame for work-related injuries, like Qin Huairu. There are also cases of family members taking the blame for injuries in dangerous jobs such as coal mining and forestry. And there was the widespread replacement of educated youth after they returned to the cities. Those are special cases, which I won't elaborate on here.

Just to clarify: Housewives like Auntie Yi, Auntie Er, Auntie San, and Jia Zhangshi were definitely offered jobs back then, but they chose not to. If they still want to now, well… they'll be very far down the queue. It's practically impossible.

……

However, just as Zhuang Zhongchen returned home, a light drizzle began to fall. Luckily, he got home in time, otherwise Xiao Cuicui would have had a long and tiring night.

Thinking about this, Zhuang Zhongchen felt that his current life was actually not bad.

With Qin Huairu and Mi Cuicui by his side, at least he wouldn't be lonely. In a few more years, once the debts are paid off, he'll be able to find a suitable wife and settle down.

That way, I can just coast along at work and watch the excitement in the courtyard house. What a life... holy crap!

Suddenly the thought of "watching the show" came to mind, and I remembered Liu Guangqi and his wife running away from home last night. Why the hell aren't you leaving yet? I'm still waiting to see what happens.

Just then, a scream came from across the hall from Auntie Er: "Who? Who is it? A thief has broken in—!"

Like a thunderclap ripped through the night sky, the entire courtyard instantly erupted in excitement.

"Mother!"

"Thief! There's a thief here!"

As the sound of gongs and drums rang out, everyone in the courtyard was startled.

He Yuzhu was the first to charge. Carrying a wooden stick, he stormed excitedly into the backyard: "Where are the thieves? Come here and face your doom!"

Zhuang Zhongchen opened the window and peered out. Suddenly, he noticed a small head peeking out of the window next to him.

"Hey, Louzi, where's your husband?"

"He's looking for a flashlight..."

Before he could finish speaking, a bolt of lightning struck, and instantly a torrential downpour began...

"Holy crap! Why is it raining so heavily?"

"Hahaha!"