Making a living in Dongguan, her fiery red lips offer me tenderness.

The next morning, Ding Yang got up, washed up, went outside, and bought a basket of steamed buns for three yuan.

Just then, the landlady, Aunt Tian, ​​was carrying a bag, preparing to go buy groceries.

Good morning, Auntie!

"Good morning!"

"Xiaoyang, is your shoulder feeling better?"

"It's much better now, the scabs have all come over, there's nothing wrong with it."

"That's good!"

"Oh, Xiaoyang, as I told you yesterday, my family has a motorcycle. You can take it and ride it. Also, I have a sign that's already there. It's in the stairwell. You can just write a few words on it yourself."

"Thank you, Auntie!"

"Xiaoyang, wait for me. I'll take you to get it after I finish grocery shopping. Come over for lunch today and try Auntie's cooking."

"Auntie, you're too kind. I'm so embarrassed."

"It's alright, it's settled then."

As the saying goes, a mother-in-law's love for her son-in-law grows stronger with each passing year, and Aunt Tian found Ding Yang increasingly pleasing to the eye.

Ding Yang was speechless. Did the Li family really want to make him their son-in-law?

Sigh! Accepting it is one thing, refusing it is another—it's so difficult!

About an hour later,

Aunt Tian returned from grocery shopping and knocked twice on the tin-roofed house door.

"Xiao Yang!"

"Aunt……"

"Xiaoyang, come with me, I'll get that sign for you."

"oh!"

Upon reaching the stairwell, I opened a small door leading to a storage room filled with all sorts of odds and ends, including a motorcycle covered in dust with flat tires.

Near the wall, there was a sign made of tinplate, nearly three meters long and eighty or ninety centimeters wide.

"Xiaoyang, this is the GG sign that someone used to use when they ran a shop. They've closed down, so I put it away."

"Just hang it up and write a few words."

"Thank you, that's great, it saves me a lot of trouble."

"Xiaoyang, take this motorcycle out and get it fixed. It used to be drivable."

"oh!"

Seeing this dilapidated motorcycle, Ding Yang thought of the days he spent driving passengers in Fenggang, and of Tang Li.

Alas, things have changed.

Ding Yang moved the sign to his tin-roofed shack.

They dragged the motorcycle out again and washed it with a towel.

"Xiaoyang, go fix the car first, and come to Auntie's for lunch."

"OK!"

Ding Yang pushed his motorcycle toward Liwu and arrived at a motorcycle repair shop.

The repairman inspected it.

Then I inflated the tires, cleaned the carburetor, changed the engine oil, replaced the spark plug, and also replaced the fuel tank hose.

Then he stepped on the gas, but blue smoke came out of the exhaust pipe.

"Hey buddy, it seems the piston rings and oil rings are no longer scraping oil, they're a bit stuck, causing blue smoke and oil burning. To fix it completely, you'll have to remove the engine and replace the piston rings. We also don't know if the cylinders are damaged."

"How long can it run without being repaired?"

"It should be fine to drive it for a while, but it might burn a little oil. You can add some oil every few days."

"However, driving it like this will cause the oil consumption to worsen, eventually seizing the piston completely and damaging the cylinder, which may require a major overhaul."

"It's fine, it's just a beat-up bike anyway, we'll deal with it when it's too old to ride."

"Hey handsome, if you're looking to buy a used motorcycle, I have some for sale here too."

"OK!"

"How much!"

"Give me 60 yuan."

"Do you have any spray paint here? The red kind, could you sell me a bottle?"

"I only have about half a bottle left, you can take it, it's a gift."

"Thank you so much!"

Ding Yang rode his motorcycle to a shop next to the vegetable market.

I bought a pack of Furongwang cigarettes, a box of oatmeal, a carton of milk, a durian, and several pounds of apples.

You can't go to someone's house for a meal for the first time empty-handed.

Damn it, this little thing cost over 400 yuan, which is equivalent to buying a motorcycle.

They then returned to the tin shack.

Around 11:00, Ding Yang tidied himself up, changed into a new set of clothes, and looked more energetic. Then he carried the gifts upstairs to the second floor.

"Aunt!"

"Xiaoyang, I invited you over for a meal, and you bought so much stuff. You just bought fruit the day before yesterday. You haven't even earned any money yet, and you're already spending so much. This is too kind of you."

"Auntie, you've helped me so much, I don't know how to thank you enough."

"Xiaoyang, have a seat. Lao Li and Xiulian will be back soon. I've already called them."

"oh!"

Aunt Tian immediately poured tea for Ding Yang.

Ding Yang sat down for about ten minutes.

Old Li is back.

Ding Yang quickly got up.

"Uncle Li!"

"Xiaoyang, you're here! Have a seat!"

"Why don't you call me Brother Li anymore?"

Ding Yang laughed and said, "When we're out and about, everyone calls each other 'Big Brother,' but I call Aunt Tian 'Auntie,' and I call you 'Big Brother,' so the way we address each other is a bit off."

"Hehe, it's okay, you can call me whatever you want."

To everyone's surprise, Aunt Tian said, "How can that be? How can things get messed up? From now on, you'll call him Uncle Li, and you'll have to call him Big Brother. Otherwise, I'll become your sister-in-law!"

"Hahahaha,"

Ding Yang smiled a little embarrassedly.

Aunt Tian gave Old Li a wink, and Old Li immediately understood: this was the mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, and she really liked him.

"Xiao Yang, come have a smoke!"

Old Li handed Ding Yang a Double Happiness cigarette.

"Xiao Yang, rest well at home these few days. There's a big job coming up in a few days, I'll introduce you to it."

"What kind of work?"

"A friend of mine is planning to build a house. All the permits have been approved, but he'll need a lot of building materials. I'm usually a bit busy, so I'll let you do the work. It's not just about cement and sand, but also bricks."

"Oh! Thank you!"

"Oh, Uncle Li, I want to go to the second-hand market to buy a used tractor. I saw someone using a tractor to haul sand on the street today."

"I know this single-cylinder diesel engine. It's very durable and has enough horsepower. It can easily haul two cubic meters of sand."

"Xiaoyang, you don't need to buy it anymore, I'll give you my little six-wheeler."

"How can that be? I can't accept that."

"Xiaoyang, you may not know this, but I'm already the factory manager of three factories. I took over another factory today, and we'll sign the contract tomorrow. I'll be the factory manager of the fourth factory. Sometimes I'm just too busy to keep up."

"This old six-wheeled motorcycle is seven or eight years old and not worth much. You can use it to practice first."

Ding Yang sensed something was wrong. They really wanted to treat him like a son-in-law. If he got attached to them, he wouldn't be able to shake them off. He couldn't let them use moral blackmail against him.

"Uncle Li, how about this? If you're really too busy, just sell it to me, and I'll pay you."

"There's no need to be so clear about it. You've just started your business and haven't made any money yet."

"Uncle Li, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. If this is just a gift, then I cannot accept it."

"Okay, then I'll sell it to you."

"My car has all the necessary paperwork, but it's a bit worn out. I only have mandatory traffic accident liability insurance. If I take it to the used car market, I estimate it'll only fetch around 20,000 yuan."

"How about this, I'll sell it to you for 1?"

"No, that won't do. It's too cheap. I can't take such a big advantage of you."

"Uncle Li, how about 20,800? Let's make it a nice number."

"Okay, it's settled then."

"Uncle Li, to be honest, I don't have that much money right now. I'll give you an IOU and I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

"Why bother with an IOU? Don't you have any trust at all? Just take it and get it, you can pay me back when you earn the money, no rush."

"Thanks!"

"Uncle Li, sand is quite expensive these days. Where can we buy it for the cheapest price?"

"Go to Humen Wharf. The wholesale price there is only 20 yuan per cubic meter for sea sand and 38 yuan per cubic meter for river sand, and it might go up a bit more. This truck can only carry a maximum of 6 cubic meters at a time. If it carries more, it can't handle it, and I'm afraid it will break the main beam."

"Go early, don't wait for the traffic police to start work, sometimes they check for overloading."

"oh!"

"Uncle Li, can we build houses using this sea sand?"

"Xiao Yang, you don't understand this industry. In principle, sea sand cannot be used to build houses, but river sand is too expensive and scarce now, and Dongjiang is cracking down hard."

"Sea sand can be washed and still used. Some haven't even been washed. In recent years, 80% of the self-built houses in the surrounding area use sea sand, especially for decoration. Since it doesn't need to bear weight, it doesn't matter."

"Of course, those high-rise residential buildings basically use river sand."

"Don't be so rigid in your business thinking. How can you make money from river sand without mixing in some sea sand?"

Ding Yang smiled and said, "A trade is like a mountain; your words are more valuable than ten years of study. I have learned a lot."