Chapter 1: 1 Exposing Bang Geng

1 Exposing Bang Geng

(This book is purely fictional; any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.)

"It wasn't Shazhu who stole the chicken."

Beijing, winter, inside a Compound.

As a traditional Beijing structure, or rather a northern structure, the Compound possesses a great deal of historical and cultural charm and heritage.

However, we shall not dwell on that here.

Returning to the Compound, it is assumed that a Compound is for people to live in.

Since people live there, it is certainly organized by household.

But this is Beijing, and hundreds of factory employees live in this Compound.

For example, the Compound where Zhou Xinyang currently resides is a dormitory for Shishan Steel.

It must be said that Zhou Xinyang is not a person of this era; he is a post-95 generation youth.

But through a twist of fate and a stroke of coincidence, he was reborn during an accident, and he was reborn into a Beijing Compound in the year '65.

If it were just simple, he wouldn't be surprised, but the Compound he is in features many names he is intimately familiar with.

The number one is Shazhu, and number two is Qin Huairu.

There are also the First Elder, Second Elder, Third Elder, and the Deaf Old Lady...

Dozens, or even hundreds of names, made him realize that he must have been reborn into a television series he had watched a few episodes of, called "The Beastly Compound."

Since he is here, he must make the best of it; Zhou Xinyang was immensely overjoyed, because he had asked the Heavens countless times to let him be reborn, but never received a response.

Who would have thought that after drinking too much and cursing the Heavens for being unfair, he would actually be reborn.

After being reborn, Zhou Xinyang quickly absorbed the memories of his body.

Although he was reborn, his soul possessed a local person in the world of the television series.

This is a youth of sixteen or seventeen who has studied wrestling.

And just as he finished absorbing the memories, the plot of "The Beastly Compound" occurred: Bang Geng stealing a chicken.

Originally, he had no friendship with Xu Damao, no feud with Shazhu, and no hatred for Qin Huairu.

But seeing Shazhu helping Qin Huairu's family so much, while Bang Geng, that ungrateful wretch, was completely indifferent and his eyes were filled with smugness, Zhou Xinyang could not hold back.

So he decisively stood up.

His shout gave Shazhu, Qin Huairu, Jia Laotaitai, Bang Geng, and the others a fright, for they all had guilty consciences.

And the First Elder did not want the matter to be so publicized, as it would reflect poorly on his own management.

But since someone had spoken, he had to listen, otherwise someone would surely pin the label of ignoring public opinion on him.

The Second Elder next door, Liu Haizhong, and the Third Elder, Yan Shuzhai, had been eyeing his position for a long time.

Although they were together, their hearts were not in harmony.

So the First Elder, Yi Zhonghai, said sternly, "If it wasn't Shazhu who stole the chicken, then who did? Shazhu has already admitted it himself."

The meaning was simple: someone is already taking the blame, so don't make a scene and stir up trouble.

"No matter how much of a screw-up Shazhu is, he is still a master-level worker, and his monthly salary is no less than Xu Damao's; there is no need for him to do something as petty as stealing a chicken."

The truth is simple: since it is stealing a chicken, it must be because one cannot afford one.

Tell me, in this Compound of ours, how many people cannot afford to eat chicken?

This is not the countryside; this is a residential compound for Shishan Steel.

Although it is only one of them, it still belongs to Shishan Steel.

The wages at Shishan Steel are not considered low in all of Beijing.

Since that is the case, they must be able to afford chicken.

However, nothing is absolute; for example, there is one household in this Compound with many children and a low income.

As soon as Zhou Xinyang said this, people immediately turned their gazes toward Qin Huairu's family.

It is not that people bully the weak and fear the strong, but when people talk about who is poor in the Compound, it is definitely Qin Huairu's family, which only has one Level One Apprentice salary and still has to support an old widow and three small children.

At this time, wages were all set by the government, and although there were some modifications, the general aspects could not be moved; at most, there were benefits.

For example, distributing daily necessities during holidays, or distributing meat or grain, which are essential items.

But no matter how much was distributed, Qin Huairu's family was still poor.

She only entered the Shishan Steel Factory to replace her husband, Jia Dongxu, and before that, she still had rural household registration.

And a Level One Apprentice, according to the wage standards set at that time, only earned 28 yuan.

Take Shazhu, for example; his salary is 40 yuan.

As for the only Level Eight Fitter in the factory, Yi Zhonghai, his salary is 110 yuan.

Of course, if it were in the countryside, it wouldn't be difficult to support a family on a 28-yuan salary, but this is at the foot of the Imperial City.

For instance, the five yuan a month for Jia Laotaitai's pension is a must.

That is to say, at most there are twenty-three yuan a month.

Since she was originally from a rural area in the suburbs, her hometown was even poorer, and she would often send some money back home.

Plus there are three children; the children are all young, and their nutrition must be kept up.

Consequently, the monthly salary is never enough to spend.

And this is a common occurrence; everyone in the entire Compound knows it.

So when Zhou Xinyang said that only those who cannot afford chicken would steal one, everyone's gaze subconsciously turned to Qin Huairu's family.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his mother; she knew exactly what her son was like, but it was precisely because she knew so well what her son was like that she felt a bit worried.

Seeing that this was not the time to worry, she stood up nervously, wanting to make a defense for her son.