Chapter 28: Establishing the Four News

After thinking through the matters at the Manager, Ning Weidong's thoughts returned to the Minkang Hutong side.

Based on the situation just now, Ning Wei handled things quite well; he had a sense of being bold yet meticulous.

However, Wang Jingsheng rashly introducing Zhang Jinfa made Ning Weidong feel it was not quite appropriate.

It was not that Ning Weidong felt introducing an outsider was a problem; in fact, when he went to find Wang Jingsheng initially, it was to introduce additional strength.

As long as the matter could be accomplished, having one more person to share the cake was not a problem.

The problem was this person Wang Jingsheng introduced.

Zhang Jinfa was able to establish himself in this area of Xicheng not by relying on his glib tongue; for this kind of person, being ruthless is not just an adjective.

Currently, Ning Weidong, and even Wang Jingsheng, did not possess the strength to suppress Zhang Jinfa.

In this situation, seeking cooperation with such a person was undoubtedly dancing on the edge of a blade and seeking skin from a tiger.

……

Ning Weidong pondered back and forth, and several hours passed without him noticing.

He glanced at the time; it was past three in the afternoon.

Ning Weidong's stomach let out a "rumble"; if it weren't for Zhou Kun saying he would treat him, he would have gone to find a meal long ago.

Zhou Kun was not one to talk nonsense; since he said he would stew fish and drink alcohol, he likely wouldn't go back on his word.

Ning Weidong patiently waited for another half hour.

Seeing it was nearly four o'clock, a "Dongzi" came from outside, the door of the earthquake shelter was pulled open from the outside, and Zhou Kun poked in a big head.

His hat was covered in snowflakes; he didn't come into the room, but squeezed half his body in and said to Ning Weidong, "Let's go, come to my place."

Ning Weidong had been waiting, so he immediately got up and followed him out.

The temperature had dropped suddenly last night, which was a sign of snow, and it had been holding back until now.

The Zhou family lived in the front yard's main room, just like the Ning Family, it was also two rooms; a coal stove was lit inside, and he was willing to use coal, so the fire was burning very brightly.

By rights, Zhou Kun's circumstances were not bad; he had two large North Rooms and could earn for himself.

Don't look down on those who pull flatbed carts; they earned more than the average State-owned Worker, especially starting from the second half of last year, with seventy or eighty yuan in hand every month.

It was just that people had a stereotype, thinking that pulling a flatbed cart was selling hard labor and was not respectable.

Plus, his parents passed away early, and he only had an older brother serving in the military in another place, so with no one to arrange a marriage for him, it dragged on until now.

The two arrived in the room, and Zhou Kun threw off his thick cotton-padded jacket. While heading to the kitchen, he pointed his finger at the high-low cabinet under the radio: "Dongzi, the liquor is inside the high-low cabinet, and there is also luncheon meat; take one out, I'll go tidy up the fish first."

Ning Weidong was not one to stand on ceremony; he responded and opened the high-low cabinet.

Whoa~ there was quite a lot of stock inside; there were seven or eight bottles of various types of white liquor, three iron cans of malted milk extract, and about ten cans of luncheon meat from the Qinhuang City 4003 Factory……

Looking at these, Ning Weidong had only one thought in his heart: damn it, don't be a sycophant no matter what.

Look at the life this guy was living.

"Second Brother, what are we drinking today?" Ning Weidong called out and reached out to take a luncheon meat. The liquor in the cabinet had good and bad, but since Zhou Kun let him take it, he couldn't just take any random one.

Zhou Kun shouted in a loud voice from the kitchen: "The white porcelain bottle Lishixin, let's drink something good today."

The so-called 'Lishixin' was Fen liquor; a few years ago, it followed the trend and changed its brand name, implying 'Establish the Four News, Break the Four Olds'.

Ning Weidong responded, took the liquor and luncheon meat to the Eight Immortals table by the stove, and called out: "Second Brother, should I open the luncheon meat and put it on a plate?"

Zhou Kun replied: "There's a small knife on the side, you cut it twice……"

Ning Weidong turned it over, pried off the metal key stuck to the bottom of the luncheon meat, and followed the groove left on the tin can, turning it open with a "creak, creak" sound.

The tin cans at this time were not yet pull-tab cans.

A greasy lump of luncheon meat was poured out, and Ning Weidong picked up the fruit knife on the side.

It was a small knife with a wooden handle, and the tip of the blade was chipped and jagged; clearly, this knife had many functions before, and he didn't know what this guy Zhou Kun had used it to stab.

Ning Weidong frowned, got up, and went to the kitchen to rinse it under the faucet.

Zhou Kun turned his head and deliberately stepped aside, revealing a brand-new gas cylinder underneath.

Once Ning Weidong saw it, how could he not understand? Everyone likes to be flattered, so he feigned surprise: "Whoa, Second Brother, when did you switch to liquefied gas?"

Zhou Kun chuckled, pursed his big mouth, and gave a thumbs up: "Changed it last week, how about it? The first one in our courtyard."

Liquefied gas in Beijing had existed as early as the sixties, but it was mostly used by those living in buildings; it wouldn't spread to the Dazayuan until the eighties.

Ning Weidong smiled; since the other party was providing good liquor and stewed fish, he had to flatter him: "I was wondering why the kitchen was so clean; it must cost a lot of money to change the gas every month, right?"

Zhou Kun beamed with joy; this was what he was waiting for, and he waved his hand grandly: "That's nothing~"

Ning Weidong wiped the small knife under the running water, came out, and finished cutting the luncheon meat. Zhou Kun also came out of the kitchen. He wiped his hands on his apron, went to the door, and took an oil-paper package: "Let the fish stew for a bit; I bought these peanuts at the grocery store when I came back, let's drink first, brother."

He tore open the oil-paper package and put it on the table; it was that kind of roasted peanuts with skin.

Zhou Kun casually threw one into his mouth, unscrewed the pipa-shaped bottle of Fen liquor, and poured the liquor into two small tea mugs.

This kind of green-and-blue-rimmed enamel mug was generally used for children to drink water in kindergarten; he didn't know where he got them, but they were just the right size for drinking.

"Dongzi, cheers." Zhou Kun got excited when he smelled the liquor, handed Ning Weidong a tea mug, clinked it, and took a big gulp himself first.

Ning Weidong also took a sip. Before he transmigrated, there was a period when he was particularly fond of the taste of Fen liquor and had specifically stored a lot of vintage liquor. But those beautifully packaged, so-called fifteen-year or twenty-year Fen liquors didn't taste as good as this bottle of 'Lishixin' produced in '75.

Ning Weidong wasn't sure if it was psychological or if his taste had changed. He took another small sip to savor it carefully; it seemed about the same, so he simply stopped dwelling on it, used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of luncheon meat and stuffed it into his mouth, saying with a smile: "Second Brother, you're still the carefree one, driving a cart to earn money during the day, and drinking a little liquor at night……"

Ning Weidong knew that Zhou Kun had something to ask him, but since they had just started eating, he wasn't in a hurry to ask.

The two chatted about this and that, waiting for the fish on the fire to be thoroughly stewed.

After stewing for more than twenty minutes, Zhou Kun added some vermicelli in the middle, and this pot of fish was finally ready.

Zhou Kun was a straightforward person and brought the large black cast-iron pot directly to the table.

Inside was a soy-sauce-colored broth, a large carp with its head and tail over a foot long; besides the vermicelli, there was also a piece of tofu in the pot. Having just come off the gas stove, the fish soup was still bubbling.

(End of chapter)