Chapter 55: The Ins and Outs

"Sit down and talk, no need to be nervous." He Yuzhu comforted the nervous Yu Xiaokang, and quite thoughtfully filled his wine glass to the brim.

"Hey, hey, thank you." Yu Xiaokang held the wine glass, downed it in one gulp, and a flush of red appeared on his face.

As the white liquor went down, Yu Xiaokang clearly relaxed a lot. He gave a sheepish laugh and said, "Come to think of it, I've only stolen twice in total—ah no, there was once today, so that makes three times. Please don't laugh at me; it's really because we can't make ends meet at home, otherwise who would do such a thing? The children cry from hunger in the middle of the night, and I can only pour water into their stomachs ladle by ladle. I, I am an incompetent father! Boohoo."

As he spoke, Yu Xiaokang actually started hitting his own head and crying.

Seeing this, the few children also ran over crying, surrounding Yu Xiaokang and constantly comforting him sensibly.

Yu Xiaokang wiped away his tears, "I meant to poach the old master's work, but there was no other way, so I ran far away to change bike chains for people, straighten handlebars, straighten wheel rims, and things like that."

"Come, have another drink." He Yuzhu looked at the middle-aged man who kept crying, not knowing how to comfort him, so he could only pour the wine in silence and then raise his glass.

"Slurp, hiss."

"I have the heart to set up a bike repair stall, but I'm poor, I have no money. Doing odd jobs while squatting, I can't even get two jobs a month. What should I do? Tell me, what should I do? I really have no other way. My parents never enjoyed a good life while following me, and they had to go back to the countryside to farm and still help us out. I'm not fit to be a human; I've failed my parents above, and I've failed my wife and daughter below. I'm a piece of trash."

Watching Yu Xiaokang, who became more distressed the more he spoke, He Yuzhu patted his shoulder and gripped his arm firmly. Men, after all, need no more words.

"I had no other way, so I had crooked thoughts. I saw your bike and thought, if I stole it and sold it, the children wouldn't go hungry. I'm sorry, I've failed you, you can beat me." Yu Xiaokang held He Yuzhu's arm, his face full of shame.

"It's fine, keep talking. Then why didn't you sell it? How long has it been?" He Yuzhu smiled and asked with some confusion.

"I don't have money to buy wheels, and nobody wants a bike without wheels. Besides, such a new bike—I regretted it as soon as I stole it. I was terrified of being discovered, so I kept it hidden and didn't dare sell it. Recently, the school needed money again, and I had no other choice." Yu Xiaokang felt a bit embarrassed and scratched his head.

Perhaps due to the long-standing psychological pressure, after drinking some alcohol, he felt more at ease the more he spoke. He Yuzhu's generosity made him feel incredibly grateful. Even if he went to jail, being able to see his children eat a full meal, have a bite of meat, and wear new sandals before he left made him feel it was worth it. After all, he was the one who did wrong first.

"You know how to steal, don't you? Why didn't you steal a bike wheel to put on?"

"I didn't think of it at the time... I only thought of that just now."

"……! You keep talking, where did the other things come from?"

Through Yu Xiaokang's description, He Yuzhu roughly understood the specific situation.

Yu Xiaokang looked at the bicycle hidden in his home; he dared not ride it and dared not sell it, so he thought of stealing something easy to sell to trade for some food.

Thus, whenever it got dark, he would go out for a stroll.

But who is wealthy nowadays? Everyone is dirt poor, so for a time, he had no harvest. It wasn't until he figured things out and set his sights on the various factories that things took a turn.

Actually, counting it up, he doesn't really consider it stealing, because those tools and iron pipes were things he "picked up."

That's right, at night he would study the Rolling Mill, thinking about getting some scrap materials.

But the Rolling Mill has its own security personnel, so he naturally had no way to start and could only wander around the factory every day.

Until one day, when he was leaning against the factory wall, the sound of a few people talking suddenly caught his attention. Before he could hear clearly, with a "Clatter," a bundle of steel pipes wrapped in a rag was thrown out from inside. It gave him a fright; he tiptoed and hid in the grass, exposing only his eyes to stare at the cloth bundle.

After a quiet moment, a nimble figure poked their head out from inside the wall, looked around, and then jumped out, landing on the ground.

By the moonlight, he saw that the person was wearing a Rolling Mill security uniform. They looked around with shifty eyes before opening the cloth bundle, checking it carefully, and then lowering their voice to say to someone inside the wall: "Captain, I'm going then."

After receiving a response, that person carried the bundle on their back and walked into the darkness.

Yu Xiaokang didn't even dare to breathe, pricking up his ears. Only after carefully hearing the people inside the wall walk away did he crawl out of the grass on tiptoe. He stealthily followed the distant figure and learned of the existence of the Black Market.

Unfortunately, because he didn't know the secret code and didn't have the entrance fee, he didn't know what happened inside.

However, after quite a while, a figure carrying half a bag of grain, holding cooked food in their hand, and carrying a few bottles of wine caught his attention.

He followed that person for a while and discovered that the person was exactly the guy who had carried the bundle earlier, only he didn't know when he had changed his clothes.

Sure enough, not long after walking, the person turned into an alley and walked out again shortly after. The grain on their back was gone, their clothes had been changed back to the security uniform, and they were humming a tune while carrying the cooked food and wine toward the Rolling Mill.

This stirred Yu Xiaokang's mind, and he would come to squat and watch at night whenever he was free.

Sure enough, every three days, they would throw out steel pipes once, trade them for food and other items, and then go back. He didn't know how they managed to avoid being discovered so many times.

He Yuzhu actually knew about this. Although the factory was managed very strictly, there were always some scraps that needed to be re-smelted. If operated properly, if one or two pieces went missing during re-smelting, no one would notice. After all, in such a large factory, if someone had a mind to do something, there would always be loopholes.

Once he was familiar with the pattern, Yu Xiaokang stopped squatting at the corner of the wall and instead arrived at the location where the Black Market was held early during the day to hide.

Through coming and going, he really did figure out the rules of the Black Market thoroughly.

Of course, after all, this was just a midnight market for trading goods, not a market in a cultivation novel protected by arrays. As long as one had the heart, the situation was still very easy to figure out.

After everything was ready, Yu Xiaokang chose a pitch-black night without moonlight. After the other party threw out the bundle, he picked it up from the ground and ran. He succeeded twice like this; the first time relieved his family's urgent needs, and the second time, these things hadn't been sold yet, and he just happened to run into He Yuzhu today.

However, after losing things twice, the people inside the wall got smart. Either someone would jump out first, or the bundle would be wrapped tightly and filled with nothing but stones and bricks. The cruelest time was when they wrapped a bag of poop, which disgusted Yu Xiaokang, who had picked it up and ran, terribly.

Of course, both sides engaged in a tacit battle of wits; neither dared to report the other. As for who would win, it all depended on one's own ability.

"Understood. I can let go of the matter of you stealing my bicycle, but for the wheel of that old gentleman today, I will give you the money, and you find a way to return it to him. After all, I still have to have children in the future. As for the steel pipe matter... you go and surrender with me, how about it? Do you dare?"

Yu Xiaokang looked at the children, then looked at his wife, gritted his teeth and said: "I dare! If you get beaten, you have to stand tall; if you make a mistake, you have to stand at attention. I understand!"

"Haha, good, don't worry. I'm taking you to admit your mistake to the Factory Director. Once it's explained, he won't blame you. I'll vouch for you. If that doesn't work, we'll pay some money, it'll be fine." He Yuzhu laughed heartily. He was sleepy and someone brought a pillow; if this matter was accomplished, a promotion and a raise would be a matter of course.

"Time to eat." Just as Yu Xiaokang was about to speak, Madam Yu brought over a large basin of boiled meat chunks, and the children cheered immediately.

However, looking at the meat and rice, the few children swallowed their saliva desperately but didn't move, only watching with eager eyes.

He Yuzhu felt a pang in his heart: "Damn it, I don't care. Even if those trolls curse me for being a 'saint mother,' I'm determined to help these few poor children. I said it, and even Jesus can't stop me!"

"Start eating." He Yuzhu said softly.

The few children looked at their mother with wide eyes.

Madam Yu wiped her eyes, revealed a faint smile, and nodded. The few children immediately and happily each picked up a piece of fatty meat and started shoveling rice into their mouths.