Chapter 12

After the group of leaders left the cafeteria's private room, Li Qiang immediately went to the back kitchen and found He Yuzhu.

"Zhuzi, it's done, do you still have any demands?" Li Qiang asked He Yuzhu with a smile.

"Brother Qiangzi, having a job is enough for me, I wouldn't dare ask for anything else." He Yuzhu said with a bitter smile.

"Silly kid, if you don't bring it up now, you won't have such a good opportunity later." Li Qiang said with a smile.

"But I really don't have any." He Yuzhu was still very honest.

"I remember your family's two main rooms are private property, right?" Li Qiang asked.

Liu Haizhong

"Don't you still have two side rooms next to your house? I'll decide for you and ask the factory for those two side rooms; later, when the rains come heavy, you'll need your own house, and later when you marry and have children you'll need a house." Li Qiang said with a smile.

Factory Director Yang

"Only by raising your stake can your value be demonstrated." Li Qiang said with a smile.

As Li Qiang had expected, when he proposed to Factory Director Yang that he wanted two side rooms, Yang agreed without hesitation, and set He Yuzhu's wage at 35 yuan per month, mainly for reception meals; knowing that He Yuzhu needed to support his younger sister, he also specially allowed He Yuzhu to bring back leftovers for his sister, but with only one requirement: that he had best start work tomorrow.

When Li Qiang told He Yuzhu the good news, He Yuzhu was so excited he almost cried. Since He Daqing left, the siblings had been living from meal to meal, not knowing where the next would come; now they finally had a formal job, and He Yuzhu could support his sister without problem.

"Alright, call Yushui over, let's eat first; after the meal I'll take you to complete the hiring procedures, and by the way get the paperwork for those two rooms done, to avoid complications later." Li Qiang patted He Yuzhu's shoulder and said.

"Ah, thank you, Brother Qiang." He Yuzhu didn't know how to express his gratitude to Li Qiang, so he could only utter these feeble thanks.

"Alright, don't be polite with me; just work well from now on." Li Qiang said with a smile.

After helping He Yuzhu complete all the procedures, Li Bin specially found two lunch boxes. He packed the leftover lunch dishes into two lunch boxes for He Yuzhu, and also took a few steamed buns for him to bring back; this was the siblings' dinner.

"Qiangzi, thank you; I've always wanted to help these siblings, but my ability is limited. Today you helped Zhuzi solve his job problem, and from now on their lives will be much better." After He Yuzhu left, Li Bin said to Li Qiang.

"Brother, I know you want to repay He Daqing's help; I'm willing to help Zhuzi because I see your shadow in him. I remember when our parents had just passed away those two years, you would rather go hungry yourself to save food for me to eat. Although I was young then, I understood everything." Li Qiang recalled the past, his eyes filled with bitterness.

"Hasn't all that passed? You're doing well now; our family's good days are still ahead." Li Bin didn't want Li Qiang to continue speaking; frankly, those years were indeed extremely difficult, and Li Bin now doesn't even want to recall them.

"Shazu, bring something tasty so Third Grandpa can have a look," Yan Butgui said upon seeing He Yuzhu enter with two lunch boxes, his old habit acting up again.

"Shabugui, what I'm carrying is none of your business!" He Yuzhu retorted. Since that night Li Qiang told Liu Haizhong to stop calling He Yuzhu Shazu, He Yuzhu knew the nickname Shazu really was unpleasant; now he has a job and is no worse than anyone else. He now wants to change how others address him.

"Shazu, how are you scolding people?" Yan Butgui said angrily.

"Shabugui, how have I scolded you?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Calling me Shabugui isn't that scolding me?" Yan Butgui said displeased.

"Oh, you also know that others calling you Shabugui is scolding you, so what does it mean when you call me Shazu?" He Yuzhu countered Yan Butgui.

"It's just become a habit, and besides, it was your dad who started calling you that," Yan Butgui said, feeling a bit guilty.

"You also know that's my dad, but what are you anyway?"

"Alright, I admit I was wrong, I won't call you Shazu anymore," Yan Butgui said helplessly.

"Whatever, anyway if you call me Shazu once I'll call you Shabugui once, all the neighbors are here. I'll also take this chance to tell everyone: I'm seventeen now, so from now on don't call me Shazu; those who find it pleasing can call me Zhuzi, those who don't can call me He Yuzhu or Xiao He. If anyone still calls me Shazu, don't blame me for turning hostile—I can't beat your adults, but I can beat your kids, and if you have no kids I'll smash your windows. Anyway, everyone knows I'm reckless; if I act recklessly, even the heavenly king and old master can't stop me." He Yuzhu said to the onlooking neighbors. He Yuzhu spoke with childish bravado—what does it mean to beat someone's kids, smash someone's windows—what adult could do such a thing? Yet the neighbors believed his words, using his own phrasing to say this kid is reckless, and when provoked he really could do anything.

"Zhuzi, you still haven't told me what you brought in your lunch box," Yan Butgui said, still not forgetting to eat.

"Of course it's meat—otherwise who would use a lunch box?" He Yuzhu said, then deliberately shook the net bag holding the lunch box.

"Where did you kid get the meat from?" Yan Butgui said, still not really believing it.

"Yagangchang, I'm telling everyone, starting tomorrow I'll go to work at Yagangchang, buddies I'm no longer an unemployed drifter, so I advise some people to stop scheming against me behind my back—watch out, I'll beat your kids and smash your windows." After saying that, he lifted the lunch box, took He Yushui's hand, and strode confidently toward the central courtyard.

"Brother, you're so impressive," He Yushui said admiringly upon returning home.

"Yushui, from now on I'll have a job, so I won't have to watch others' faces anymore; we're no longer inferior to anyone else, and if anyone dares to bully you from now on, just tell me," He Yuzhu said.

"Mm," He Yushui nodded firmly.

"Yushui, go change clothes, give me a hand, and we'll clean out those two side rooms next door; starting today those two side rooms will be ours too," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Of course—when summer comes you'll have your own room; you're a young lady now, you can't keep sharing a room with your brother."

"Okay."

The siblings changed into a set of old clothes and began cleaning the two side rooms; both side rooms are independent, He Yuzhu plans to keep one for Yushui to live in and use the other as a kitchen and dining room.

"Zhuzi, how are you cleaning these two rooms?" Jia Zhangshi asked curiously upon seeing the He siblings cleaning the side rooms; she now doesn't dare call him Shazu to his face, and although her household has no kids, she's afraid He Yuzhu will beat her.

"Auntie Jia, Yagangchang allocated these two side rooms to me; I'll clean them up, then after a while let Yushui move in—after all she's grown up, so it'll be inconvenient for us to share a room," He Yuzhu said with a smile, "I return a foot for an inch you give me"—that's He Yuzhu's character.

"Is Yagangchang really that good now, giving out housing as soon as you start work?" Jia Zhangshi asked.

"I don't know, but anyway the factory assigned these two side rooms to me," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

The He siblings were cleaning the side rooms, He Yuzhu went to work at Yagangchang, and the news that the factory had also allocated two rooms to him spread throughout the Siheyuan in less than half an hour.

"You know I'm right, this morning I saw Li Qiang bring the Shazu siblings to Yagangchang—by the time they got back Shazu's job was arranged and he was even given two rooms; from now on it'll really pay to stay on good terms with Li Qiang," Yan Butgui said sourly. Although he doesn't dare call him Shazu to He Yuzhu's face, behind his back he's still in the habit of calling him Shazu.

"What you say is correct, from now on we'll do as you say," Third Madam nodded in agreement.