Chapter 85

Qin Huairu married into the Siheyuan.

It made Shazhu think wildly all night.

In the latter half of the night, he even got up especially to change a pair of pants.

He looked at the time.

It was past six.

Originally he wanted to catch up on sleep, but when his gaze unintentionally swept over the discarded underwear, Shazhu extinguished that idea of sleeping in.

There was still some boiling water in the thermos.

There was still half a bag of laundry detergent at home.

He casually washed it.

Not giving Qin Huairu any opportunity to take advantage.

In his previous life.

Qin Huairu used Shazhu's underwear to ruin several of his marriage prospects; whenever Shazhu went on a blind date, she would come either to deliver his underwear or to look for it.

Be more diligent yourself.

Then everything would be fine.

As the old saying goes: Next door newlyweds are all lovey-dovey, opposite the bachelor sheds tears.

It was past seven.

He heated the coal stove, put last night's leftover dishes on it to warm, then found some steamed corn buns, preparing to have a few bites to get by.

Just as he got ready to eat.

He saw Damao push the door open and walk in.

Shivering and hunched, with a face frosty as ice, it was clear he had been keeping watch outside all night.

People.

Really can't eat too full.

Otherwise he wouldn't have done the despicable thing of eavesdropping at the wall base all night.

Without treating himself as an outsider, he picked up the tea Shazhu had just brought and gulped it down loudly, put down the teacup, then grabbed his five-pronged fiery fork toward the steamed corn buns, a bite of leftover dish, a bite of steamed corn bun, eating with great satisfaction.

"Hey hey hey." Shazhu pushed Damao with his hand, "You really don't treat yourself as an outsider."

"I don't despise you."

Faced with this reply.

Shazhu truly didn't know what to say.

It's utterly shameless.

And yet you say you don't despise me—now it's me who despises you, Damao.

"What do you mean, putting your household registration under our home?"

"Shazhu, eating your food, nitpicking, I look down on you, that's why I eat your food, understand?"

"Damao, I'd rather you look down on me."

Shazhu is also stubborn-tongued but soft-hearted.

Just taking a look at Damao's appearance like a starving ghost reborn.

He also poured another bit of leftover dish into this iron basin, and brought out the remaining three steamed corn buns.

"Don't bring them out, enough already."

"As for you being full, I'm still raising a pig, that pig also needs to eat something."

"Yushui has really gotten fat like a piglet!"

Shazhu ignored Damao, scooped some of the already heated leftover dish from the iron tray into a bowl, took one heated steamed corn bun, and sent it over to He Yushui next door.

He woke the little girl, heated the coal stove for her, then Shazhu returned to his own home.

Damao this turtle grandson was still eating and drinking.

"Shazhu, brother isn't eating your food for nothing, I'll tell you a secret, counting it as repaying you for this breakfast."

Damao had the air of revealing a secret.

The secret.

Isn't it just the matter between Qin Huairu, Jia Dongxu, and Yi Zhonghai?

What's there to make a fuss about?

Qin Huairu wanted to marry into the city, Yi Zhonghai lived in Qin Huairu's home for a month, acting as the matchmaker between Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu, everyone in the Siheyuan knows this.

To offset the meal cost.

Show some face.

"Last night, Yi Zhonghai slept at the Jia family's place, and only left after eleven, almost twelve."

Shazhu had a face of disbelief.

The logic doesn't hold.

It also can't be explained.

On Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's wedding night, Yi Zhonghai stayed at the Jia family's place for a night—this isn't pure nonsense, is it?

"Shazhu, brother knows you don't believe, brother watched this from start to finish…."

Damao's explanation.

It reminded Shazhu of a joke: Tang Wu and Liu Liu said, saying Ding Yi, Liu Er, Zhang San, Li Si are all brainless, the power went out, they lit candles and played mahjong all night, Liu Liu asked Tang Wu, how do you know they played mahjong all night by candlelight? Tang Wu replied, I saw them play mahjong all night.

Damao now is exactly that Tang Wu who saw others play mahjong all night, in order to grab hold of the Jia family's weakness, and also to prevent Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu from enjoying their wedding night, wearing a leather overcoat, he crouched at the junction of the Zhong Yuan and Hou Yuan, watching from eight o'clock in the evening until Shazhu changed his underwear.

Damn, he's a talent.

"Xu Daming, I used to call you Xu Mao before, which was partly a joke, but now I realize the nickname Xu Mao fits you perfectly, Xu Daming."

"You're saying I'm stupid?"

"In the central courtyard, I'm Shazhu the fool; in the rear courtyard, you're Xu Mao the fool; and up front there's another one—three fools in the Siheyuan."

"Shazhu, you don't believe me?"

"It's not that I don't believe you; it's that this matter simply can't be believed—Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu entering the bridal chamber, while Yi Zhonghai slept at the Jia household until midnight—how could that possibly happen?"

Shazhu covered his mouth.

He stared in shock at Xu Daming.

"Xu Mao, you said Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi? On the son's wedding night, the widowed mother—even an old tree blooms."

"Shazhu, you're really sharp, brother, I'm impressed." Xu Daming turned his face and lay down on Shazhu's bed, "I've been on watch all night, exhausted, I'll take a nap first."

"Go home and sleep."

"There's no fire lit at home, it's cold, not as warm as your place."

"I'm going to work; when you leave, lock the door for me."

The phenomenon of locking the door.

In the current Siheyuan.

Is widespread.

Later on.

I don't know how it happened, but anyway, every household started not locking their doors—whoever locks their door is seen as not being united with the neighbors.

Shazhu limped to the scrap yard.

Just stepped inside.

And saw Wen San boasting.

"Stone, you've been in the Capital City for only a few years—if you were a true old resident of the Capital, you'd go around asking, asking around, and you'd hear what kind of person I, Lord Wen, am. I've been mingling in the Capital City for these years, and no one dares to cross me, Lord Wen—I've frightened them so much their courage breaks. As for the little devils, whether they're arrogant or not, over these years I've slapped them over ten thousand times."

"I've slapped the little devils over ten thousand times—if you calculate it over eight years, that's over twelve hundred slaps a year, about four a day, meaning four little devils."

"Lord Wen really isn't afraid of the little devils—I don't know if I've told you this before, but once at the front gate tower I slapped a little devil sixty or seventy times, knocking him unconscious on the ground, so frightened that those little devils holding three-eight big covers all wet their pants."

"How come I heard it was you who got slapped by the little devils?"

"Only Lord Wen has the fate to slap little devils—there's no such thing as little devils slapping Lord Wen." Seeing Shazhu, Wen San blurted out a grandfatherly title, "Lord He is here too."

"Just call me by my name—I feel unworthy of being called 'grandfather'."

Grandfather this, grandfather that.

If this were to reach certain people's ears and be investigated.

Shazhu would surely have no good outcome.

Don't be reckless.

Recklessness also comes thirty years later.

In the Siheyuan, winds and cranes alarm, every grass and tree seems an enemy—even the deaf old lady tiptoes around.

"Lord He has been modest, but I've heard—when it comes to cooking skills, Lord He is this!"

Wen San raised his thumb.

"Wen San, don't make things hard for Comrade He—just with that mouth of yours, I really don't believe you dare slap little devils."

"Don't disbelieve me—it really is the case."

Shazhu watched Wen San boasting to Stone like it was a joke, occasionally interjecting, the three of them chatting aimlessly until eight o'clock.

The old He at the scrap yard arrived late as usual.

Following routine, he paid his respects to the comrades in their later years, then announced two matters that could completely change the current situation at the Red Star Scrap Yard.

First.

Wen San officially became a recycler at the Red Star Scrap Yard, rank low-level second, two levels below Shazhu.

Second.

The police station had previously solved a theft case involving a certain item, found some still-usable bicycle parts, and through his personal connections, Old He managed to get those usable and assemblable bicycle parts delivered to the Red Star Scrap Yard.

That's the meaning.

To solve the transportation problem for the comrades at the station.

To do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools.

Most comrades live relatively far away, wasting time and energy on the road—so to better promote this scrap recycling activity, using some discarded bicycles within the recycling station combined with these usable parts, each person gets the right to assemble a bicycle once, considered an invisible benefit for the workers, like bread factory workers eating stale bread, or slaughterhouse workers getting animal offal—same principle, so workers don't have to walk to and from work every day on just two legs.

Following the principle of not taking collective advantage, each person assembling a bicycle must pay twenty thousand—fifteen thousand of which goes to the police station for buying parts, and the remaining five thousand covers the cost of the scrap yard's used bicycle parts.

A new bicycle costs one hundred seventy thousand; now with twenty thousand you can own your own bicycle—though not new, it's still something countless people envy.

All the people at the Red Star Scrap Yard.

Have boiled over.

Everyone cheered and jumped for joy.

No one needs to be reminded.

Everyone has started their own livelihood.

Assembling bicycles.

Haven't eaten pork, yet haven't seen a pig run!

Bicycles consist of several main components: wheel axles, frame, transmission parts, and the remaining rear seat, front bell, front basket—these can be omitted.

Assembling a bicycle yourself is more interesting than buying one—Shazhu feels it's like buying a watermelon by the roadside; no matter how you eat it, it feels like the watermelon you stole tastes better.

Those who know find it easy.

Those who find it difficult cannot do it.

At the beginning of the assembly, everyone fumbled a bit, the speed of assembling bicycles was slow, but as time went on, it became smoother and the time required shortened considerably.

Even so.

Shazhu still spent an entire morning just barely assembling a used bicycle in about fifty percent new condition, without a bell, and the seat was still movable, the kind that could rotate three hundred and sixty degrees.

"Hey, Grandpa He."

"Wen San, change your way of addressing me."

"Station chief, I'll change, I'll change." Wen San had just said he would correct himself when he promptly forgot what he had said, "Grandpa He, regardless of whether it's a good bicycle or a bad one, we all need to test ride it. I, Wen San, may not be good at anything else, but I'm quite skilled at riding bicycles. Let me handle this test-riding business, Grandpa He."

"Then be careful."

"Got it."

Wen San began test-riding the bicycle.

Other aspects were still manageable.

It's just that because the seat was movable, Wen San's body felt a bit unbalanced while riding, his buttocks swaying to the south one moment and to the west the next.

Generally speaking.

This bicycle was still relatively successfully assembled.

It could be considered a good start.

It also inspired everyone at the scrap yard.

To help out.

Who let Shazhu be the first person to successfully assemble a bicycle? Not asking Shazhu for help, who else would we ask?

"Grandpa He, you cook exceptionally well, and you're also exceptional at assembling bicycles." Wen San parked the bicycle in front of Shazhu, having formed an idea in his mind, "This bicycle, just consider it as something Grandpa He helped me put together. Thank you, Grandpa He. That day I'll treat Grandpa He to drinks."

Just a practice piece.

Shazhu was also dissatisfied with this bicycle's condition.

Seeing that there were still many bicycle parts in sixty to seventy percent new condition on site, some even completely new, he agreed to Wen San's request.

Like a volcanic eruption.

The comrades at the station all began begging Shazhu to help them assemble bicycles.

Station chief Lao He also spoke up, saying everyone must have one bicycle each, as long as Shazhu achieves this, Lao He will waive Shazhu's twenty thousand.

Flowery sedan chair, people carry people.

They give themselves face.

Shazhu definitely won't let others lose face; a free bicycle, why not take it?

He directed everyone to get busy, some bicycle frames were bent, so he found strong comrades to heat and correct them with a large hammer, and he tried to use these new ball bearings as much as possible for the transmission parts.

With the experience from assembling the first bicycle, the assembly of the subsequent bicycles undoubtedly became much faster.

Even so.

Shazhu and his team still spent an entire day before everyone felt satisfied.

The best one should definitely be kept for oneself.

Looking at this eighty percent new bicycle, Shazhu didn't even bother to wash the oil off his hands, a sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart.

The old man said it right.

Do it yourself, have enough food and clothing.

But Lao He seemed to have found a way to expand the scrap yard's profitable business.

"Rain Zhu, you say if we assemble and sell bicycles, how would that be?"

Seeing Shazhu look at him in confusion.

Lao He explained in detail.

"We have the parts; if not enough, we'll send people to walk the streets and alleys to collect, specifically gathering these scrapped bicycles. Rain Zhu, you lead our station's comrades to assemble bicycles. We won't sell one for more than eighty thousand if it's seventy to eighty percent new, sixty thousand if it's fifty to sixty percent new. While we make money, we also satisfy the comrades' desire for bicycles they can't afford due to tight finances, killing two birds with one stone, and also enabling those comrades who bought bicycles to work even harder."

What Lao He said also makes some sense.

Bicycles.

In this era, they are not cheap.

Take Shazhu's newly bought bicycle as an example; initially he spent one hundred seventy thousand.

Although the assembled bicycles look somewhat worn on the outside, they truly saved money, crucially not requiring a unit to issue an introduction letter; just need to get an assembly certificate from the recycling station, take the certificate to the police station for registration and stamping, and it's done.

"Station chief, the idea is good, but have you considered the bicycle factories? If we truly assemble and sell bicycles, we'd be snatching the livelihood of repair shops. I think our value lies in this scrap recycling business; professional matters should be handled by professionals."

"I'll go back and think it over."

Before leaving, Lao He also didn't forget to let Shazhu and his team ride the assembled bicycles to the police station for registration.

In the court, someone likes to become an official.

There are acquaintances at the police station, and after hearing that the bicycles were self-assembled by the scrap yard, they gave extra attention, completing the registration and stamping for Shazhu and his team's bicycles in half an hour.

After leaving the police station, riding bicycles on the street, Shazhu again became the most handsome kid on the street.

Riding the bicycle back to the siheyuan, at the gate he met the gatekeeper general Yan Fugui.

Lao Kou saw Shazhu return riding a twenty-eight large bar bicycle.

His heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Three months ago.

Shazhu bought a new bicycle, the first person in the siheyuan to buy a bicycle, making Lao Kou envious.

After the bicycle was discarded by Jia Dongxu, the Jia family used a sewing machine to offset debt, and the next day Shazhu borrowed one million from Yi Zhonghai to buy a camera, making Lao Kou jealous.

Originally thought Shazhu would not make any big moves.

But on the first day of work after the New Year.

Shazhu again set off a thunderclap in the siheyuan.

At first Lao Kou thought Shazhu had found his bicycle, and he was thinking whether Shazhu's sewing machine should be returned to the Jia family, after all the Jia family had given the sewing machine to Shazhu as compensation for losing his bicycle, now that Shazhu had found his bicycle, the sewing machine should be returned to the Jia family, could the Yan Fugui household still make use of the sewing machine.

Later, upon closer inspection, Yan Fugui discovered it was not the brand of bicycle he was familiar with, so he curiously asked.

"Shazhu, you bought another bicycle?"

His tone was full of shock.

"Old bicycle."

"You really, truly let San Daye not see through you, the Great Qing is gone, but your life is getting more and more prosperous." Yan Fugui suddenly suggested: "Shazhu, let San Daye ride your bicycle."

Shazhu directly handed the bicycle to Yan Fugui.

Just a means of transportation.

Not anything valuable.

If it were borrowing a camera.

Sorry.

Not lending at all.

During this period of taking photos, Shazhu really got into it, thinking about going to the store again that day to look around, see if there were any other cameras.

Before riding the bicycle back.

Shazhu had such a thought.

He thought the Siheyuan would explode.

But he didn't expect the Siheyuan's pot to explode so badly.

Hearing that Shazhu had bought another seven-or-eight-tenths new bicycle, the neighbors of the Siheyuan all came out, each one full of envy, jealousy, and hatred like Yan Fugui.

Bicycle.

Sewing machine.

Camera.

In the three turns and one sound, only one turn and one sound were missing.

Watch and radio.

Shazhu turned his head and saw Qin Huairu washing clothes in the Zhong Yuan.

The muscles on his face twitched unnaturally.

In his previous life.

Qin Huairu's impression on him was washing clothes at the water tap in the Zhong Yuan, washing in winter, washing in summer, he originally thought it would take some time before he could see the grand scene of Qin Huairu washing clothes.

The day after the wedding.

The scene of washing clothes was staged.

Listening to Lao Kou's words, listening to what Jia Zhangshi said, listening to Qin Huairu being filial and virtuous, considering that yesterday's wedding had added many dirty clothes to the family, she volunteered to wash, saying that letting Jia Zhangshi stay in the mother-in-law's room would be fine, directly stating that Jia Family's Dong Xu marrying Qin Huairu was a blessing the Jia Family had cultivated, and also saying that Yi Zhonghai had made a good introduction.

Illusory fame.

For the sake of empty fame.

Enduring hardship willingly.

Ignored Qin Huairu.

Turned and went into the room.

At the moment of pushing the door open, He Yushui, who was still playing, immediately pulled out his textbook and held it in front of her, looking like he was seriously reading, quite having the air of an actor.

If this textbook were not held upside down.

It would be even better.