Chapter 34

"Brother Li, I need a favor," Li Qiang arrived at Li Huade's office.

Li Qiang (protagonist)

Li Huade (a person)

- Office? Not a named entity.

"Just say what you need, no need to be polite with me," Li Huade said with a smile.

- Li Huade again.

"Do you have a bicycle ticket?"

"Yeah, don't you have a bicycle?"

"Zhuzi is getting married next week; as his brother, I should show something," Li Qiang said with a smile. Everyone knows that Li Qiang and He Yuzhu's siblings became sworn brothers, and Li Huade is no exception.

pillar

- Li Qiang again.

- Li Huade again.

"Zhuzi's wedding is a big joy; I'll definitely go have a cup of wedding wine," Li Huade said while pulling out several tickets from the drawer.

- Zhuzi (He Yuzhu)

- Li Huade

"Welcome, let's have a couple of drinks together then."

"I only have bicycle and sewing machine tickets, plus some cloth and cotton coupons; I'll give them all to you," Li Huade handed a stack of tickets to Li Qiang.

- Li Huade

- Li Qiang

"Thank you, Brother Li, you've helped me a lot," Li Qiang said gratefully after receiving the tickets. Speaking of Li Huade winning people over, even Factory Director Yang can't compare; he's always generous to his own people, giving fully when he gives, believing either give nothing or give it all at once. Although Li Qiang only asked for a bicycle ticket, Li Huade gave him an extra sewing machine ticket, which certainly makes a difference.

- Li Qiang

- Li Huade

Factory Director Yang

"Take these two tickets for now; if you need more later, I'll give you a few more."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Li."

"Don't be polite with me."

Li Qiang left Li Huade's office and went to the cafeteria to find Li Bin.

- Li Qiang

- Li Huade

Li Bin

"Qiangzi, what do you need?"

Thus we need to add "Qiangzi" to glossary.

"Brother, I got a bicycle ticket and a sewing machine coupon from Director Li, plus some cloth and cotton coupons. Zhuzi is getting married, right? I want to give him a bicycle, buy him some cloth and cotton, and have your sister-in-law make him a quilt when she has time. He has no elders, now that we've become sworn brothers, we should take care of him," Li Qiang said.

Director Li

- Zhuzi (He Yuzhu) again.

- Li Qiang again.

sister-in-law

"Hey, don't you still have a sewing machine coupon? Why not buy him a sewing machine?" Li Bin said.

- Li Bin again.

okay

okay

okay

"You can manage, that sewing machine coupon I plan to save for my sister-in-law. I know she's always wanted a sewing machine; besides, our three families only need one. Your two kids are growing fast, and mine is also a handful—clothes need constant mending, so I'll leave the sewing machine for my sister-in-law." Li Qiang wasn't reluctant to give up the sewing machine coupon; he treats He Yuzhu and Li Bin equally, giving He Yuzhu a bicycle and his older brother's family a sewing machine, showing fairness.

- Li Qiang again.

He Yuzhu

- Li Bin again.

sister-in-law

his older brother's family

"Alright," Li Bin understood Li Qiang's meaning.

- Li Bin

- Li Qiang

In the afternoon, Li Qiang went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a bicycle and a sewing machine, also buying plenty of cloth and cotton.

- Li Qiang

Supply and Marketing Cooperative

"Hey, Qiangzi bought a new bike again," Yan Butgui saw Li Qiang riding his new bicycle back and hurried over to greet him.

- Qiangzi (nickname) again.

- Li Qiang.

Yan Butgui

"Third Elder, Zhuzi is getting married, right? I bought this for him," Li Qiang said with a smile.

San da ye

"Comrade, this is it," at that moment, the rickshaw puller hired by Li Qiang arrived with the sewing machine and cotton, etc.

comrade

- Li Qiang again.

rickshaw puller

"Oh, you also bought a sewing machine?" Yan Butgui asked, staring with his small eyes.

- Yan Butgui again.

"The sewing machine is for my older brother's family," Li Qiang explained.

- Li Qiang again.

"It's good that Silly Zhu became your sworn brother; after marriage you still gave him a bicycle, Qiangzi. Why not let Jiecheng also become your sworn brother?" Yan Butgui thought of another good idea.

Sha zhu

Qiangzi

Yan Jiecheng

"You wish," Li Qiang rolled his eyes at Yan Butgui, saying, letting him become sworn brothers with Yan Jiecheng doesn't mean becoming sworn brothers with Yan Butgui; he must be pretty dim to want Yan Butgui as his godfather.

- Li Qiang.

- Yan Butgui.

- Yan Jiecheng.

godfather

"Qiangzi, I'm serious—recognizing one family is the same as recognizing two; the more godbrothers you have, the more helpers you'll have," Yan Butgui didn't want to miss this opportunity to take advantage.

- Qiangzi.

- Yan Butgui.

"Third Elder, I don't have the habit of taking godfathers," Li Qiang rolled his eyes at Yan Butgui.

San da ye

- Li Qiang.

- Yan Butgui.

"Qiangzi, you misunderstood; becoming sworn brothers with Jiecheng is your business and has nothing to do with me," Yan Butgui now also saw reason.

- Qiangzi.

- Yan Jiecheng.

- Yan Butgui.

"Then I won't," Li Qiang helped the rickshaw puller move the sewing machine into the backyard.

- Li Qiang.

rickshaw puller

backyard

"Good grief, big news!" Yan Butgui ran home and told Third Elder's wife.

Good grief!

- Yan Butgui.

San da ma

"Aren't you guys surprised?" Third Elder's wife rolled her eyes at Yan Butgui.

San da ma

- Yan Butgui.

"Guess what I saw at the door?" Yan Butgui asked Third Elder's wife.

- Yan Butgui.

- San da ma.

"I don't know what you saw."

- none.

"Silly Zhu is getting married."

- Sha zhu (He Yuzhu).

"What? Silly Zhu is getting married? Who did you hear that from? I haven't heard he has a partner," Third Elder's wife was also startled.

- Sha zhu.

- San da ma.

Li Qiang had specially warned He Yuzhu not to mention his relationship in the courtyard, fearing Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huiru would cause trouble; now both have already gotten their certificates, just missing the wedding, so he dared to speak about it in the courtyard.

He Yuzhu

- Li Qiang.

Yi Zhonghai

Qin Huiru

Siheyuan

"This isn't the most important; the important part is that Li Qiang also bought Silly Zhu a bicycle," Yan Butgui felt envious.

- Li Qiang.

- Sha zhu.

- Yan Butgui.

"Li Qiang is really generous; recognizing Silly Zhu as a godbrother wasn't in vain." Third Elder's wife also felt a bit envious. Knowing a bicycle costs around two hundred dollars, the key is having money but no coupons still can't buy one; this is also why many families could afford a bicycle but didn't—mainly because bicycle coupons are too hard to get. Take Yan Butgui's school, for example: they only give out one or two coupons a year, still as rewards for outstanding employees; ordinary people can't even dream of it. Even the steel rolling mill, a factory with nearly ten thousand workers, only gets a few dozen bicycle coupons a year. Though a few dozen seems not few, the factory also has many workers.

- Li Qiang.

- Sha zhu.

- Yan Butgui.

Yagangchang

school

"I wonder if I can get Jiecheng to also become sworn brothers with Li Qiang," Yan Butgui told Third Elder's wife his little plan.

- Yan Jiecheng.

- Li Qiang.

- Yan Butgui.

- San da ma.

"It's possible, but I'm afraid Li Qiang won't agree. If Jiecheng really becomes sworn brothers with Li Qiang, then Jiecheng's job will be secured; Li Qiang gave Silly Zhu a bicycle for his wedding, so when Jiecheng gets married, Li Qiang will also have to give him something," truly a family, their calculations are spot on.

- Li Qiang.

- Yan Jiecheng.

- Sha zhu.

- (No new names.)

"I need to think about who to talk to about this; it's more reliable," Yan Butgui started scheming regardless of whether Li Qiang agrees.

- Yan Butgui.

- Li Qiang.

"Besides Silly Zhu and Li Qiang, the only one in our courtyard who can still talk to him is Xu Damao; others really can't."

- Siheyuan.

- Sha zhu.

- Li Qiang.

Xu Damao

- San da ma.

"Xu Damao won't work; he's too young to say that," Yan Butgui shook his head.

- Xu Damao.

- Yan Butgui.

"You're silly; Xu Damao won't work, but his father will," Third Elder's wife reminded.

- Xu Damao.

Xu Fugui

- San da ma.

"Right, how did I forget Xu Fugui? I'll go find him and talk," Yan Butgui felt energized, stood up and headed out.

- Xu Fugui.

- Yan Butgui.

"Old Xu, are you home?" Yan Butgui knocked on Xu Fugui's door.

Lao Xu

- Xu Fugui.

- Yan Butgui.

"Come in, I'm home."

- none.

"Old Xu, haven't you gone out to show movies lately?" Yan Butgui asked with a smile.

- Lao Xu.

- Yan Butgui.

"Just came back to rest for two days before going out again; you're a rare visitor," Xu Fugui teased, indeed Yan Butgui never goes to others' homes when idle; either he'd rather guard the gate to see if neighbors bring something back he can benefit from, or he'd go to others' homes and risk them coming to his, forcing him to serve tea, which his stingy nature would never allow. So in the courtyard, only a handful can get a sip of water from the Yan family.

- Xu Fugui.

- Yan Butgui.

Yan family

- Siheyuan again.

"I have something I'd like to ask you for help with," Yan Butgui said, rubbing his hands.

- Yan Butgui.

"Want to borrow money?" Xu Fugui saw Yan Butgui's gesture and thought he wanted to borrow money.

- Xu Fugui.

- Yan Butgui.

"No, it's just that Li Qiang became sworn brothers with Silly Zhu, and I've been thinking about also letting my son Jiecheng become sworn brothers with him. In our courtyard, only your eldest son Damao can talk to him, so I'd like you to help speak about this."

- Li Qiang.

- Sha zhu.

- Yan Jiecheng.

- Xu Damao.

- Siheyuan.

"Does Li Qiang agree?"

"No, he hasn't agreed; if he did, I wouldn't bother you," Yan Butgui said embarrassedly.

- Li Qiang.

- Yan Butgui.

"Old Yan, if they don't agree, why are you sending me to talk?" Xu Fugui also didn't know what Yan Butgui was thinking.

Lao Yan

- Xu Fugui.

- Yan Butgui.

"I'm not asking you to go feel out the situation again, am I?"

- none.

"Old Yan, it's not me saying this, but when will your stingy nature change? When asking for help, you come empty-handed, not even a cigarette," Xu Fugui said, not easily fooled.

- Lao Yan.

- Xu Fugui.

- Yan Butgui.

"Don't worry; if this works out, you definitely won't lose out," Yan Butgui said, blushing.

- Yan Butgui.

Xu Fugui gave a perfunctory reply, "Let's talk about it later."

"That's fine, I'll wait for your good news," Yan Butgui couldn't tell whether it was good or bad talk.