Chapter 502: Home

Li Li Xuewu ultimately did not attend the Party Committee meeting; he spent a while in the office discussing work with several cadres of the bureau, and seeing Sha Sha Qizhi finish packing the documents, he took him out the door.

Just as Li Li Xuewu had told Sha Sha Qizhi, he wouldn't feel at ease without making a round.

Picking up Shen Fang at the Public Security Brigade, the group followed radio communication protocols, coordinating between the brigade's command center and various patrol points to visit key areas across the DC District.

This included the university campus, the drama academy, various functional departments, and foreign affairs zones.

Sometimes they didn't even get out of the car, just sitting inside for a while, or asking nearby shopkeepers if patrol cars had passed by.

Perhaps because patrols had just begun, the small teams weren't slacking off, and they received plenty of praise from shop clerks.

Right now, there are many idle people on the streets; with the weather warming up, young women couldn't resist putting on skirts.

Although most wore long skirts at this time, the exposed arms and calves were enough to leave those restless teenagers of puberty gaping in astonishment.

The young women and wives of this era were all slim with good figures; no wonder Li Li Xuewu used to do bad things.

Now it was his turn to manage public security; this might be karma.

After asking a few patrol cars, they saw many young men on bicycles blocking young women to chat them up.

Dealing with such matters is very troublesome; if you say you'll take them back for interrogation, their tongues are sharper than a cross-talk performer's.

You might end up not knowing where they went, and in the end, you'd have to release them anyway.

Unless they have a criminal record, mostly for theft.

Furthermore, judging by the courage of these people, they wouldn't dare to commit crimes.

Li Li Xuewu had no good solution for theft either; at yesterday's meeting, Lai Lai Shanchuan had specifically instructed on anti-pickpocketing work, with the focus near train stations.

There weren't many in the Dongcheng area; these days, most people sent to the local station were for violating rules regarding dating.

To add one more thing, holding hands while dating on the street at this time would get you questioned by those old ladies.

If things go wrong, you might get reported to the police station.

The police stations are also good at meddling in such idle matters, especially at night; those with poor work ethics use this to generate gray income.

After all, in the middle of the night, you can't explain exactly what a man and a woman are doing; talking too much is embarrassing, so it's better to spend a little money to buy face and make it passable.

Shen Fang understood these things and reported them to Li Li Xuewu.

Li Li Xuewu couldn't meddle much either; this wasn't within his scope of work, he only required the Public Security Brigade to handle such mutual romantic situations by persuading them to separate, provided there was no indecency.

They couldn't act like annoying flies; after all, dating at this time is extremely difficult, like fighting a guerrilla war.

Walking and looking, they visited a few places with the street office and chatted for a while with the station chief on duty.

The comrades in the station did express approval for the Public Security Brigade's spirit of "selfless dedication."

But they had many complaints about the brigade's on-site supply; eating was no big deal, one more or one less mouth didn't matter.

Gasoline was a troublesome matter; sometimes when patrol cars ran out of gas, they had to get it from the station.

The key point is that this matter came down via official document, and all supplies for the Public Security Brigade are to be counted as regular allocations.

Li Li Xuewu heard the words but made no statement, nor did he say anything soft.

The Public Security Brigade helped the station with many tasks; the manpower freed up could accomplish so much.

Is using a little of your gasoline worth mentioning separately?

He had arranged a time with Deputy Director Zhang of the Bureau's Station Management Division to discuss this; right now, he was just feeling out the ground, nothing formal had been discussed yet.

This still needs to be settled with Deputy Director Zhang to avoid conflicts later.

Since it was far for lunch, Li Li Xuewu didn't return to the brigade; taking Shen Fang, Sha Sha Qizhi, and driver Han Han Jiankun, they found a fried sauce noodle shop for a meal.

Li Li Xuewu voluntarily paid; Shen Fang didn't stand on ceremony, saying that when going out to eat, the leader should treat.

Li Li Xuewu didn't argue about who owed whom, but asked about the handover work at the Jiaodaokou Station.

While eating noodles, Shen Fang explained that the handover work went smoothly with no other issues.

"I know Old Liu too; he and Old Chief Duan joined in the same year."

Shen Fang glanced at Li Li Xuewu, then said, "Seeing Ji Ji Yuxiu taking office, I'm afraid arrangements will be made."

"Arrange what? Who is arranging?"

Li Li Xuewu glanced impatiently at Shen Fang and said, "If you hadn't been chatting nonsense, would it be this troublesome?"

"Hey, hey! Now you're blaming me."

Shen Fang said indignantly, "I asked you, and you agreed."

"Who agreed?"

Li Li Xuewu stared and said, "I told you clearly, I won't handle it; if there's trouble, you deal with it, don't come to me."

"I don't believe it."

At this moment, Shen Fang didn't distinguish between superior and subordinate with Li Li Xuewu; he smiled and said, "But I'm not in a hurry either; this matter, let's just wait and see. Your Xiao Xiao Laosan will get married sooner or later."

"You are truly vicious."

Li Li Xuewu threw a clove of garlic from the table at Shen Fang and said, "Just wait; later I'll have you wear small shoes."

"Scared, scared."

Shen Fang begged for mercy repeatedly, but his face was full of schadenfreude.

Li Li Xuewu shrugged indifferently and said, "If you're not in a hurry, I'm not in a hurry either; her brother is currently handling a case in Steel City, his feet are tied up. When Seeing Ji Ji Yuxiu's brother returns, if there's a score to settle, it will be settled with you."

"You can't find me for that."

Shen Fang looked at Li Li Xuewu and said, "We are two grasshoppers on the same rope now; maybe when he returns, he'll have to beg you for help."

"He begs me, what does that have to do with you?"

Li Li Xuewu obviously didn't intend to "look after" Shen Fang; he smiled wickedly and said, "Let me tell you upfront, this kid is bad, with no sense of light or heavy."

Speaking, he sized up Shen Fang and continued, "With your skills, you might end up lying on the kang for a few days."

"Is it really that terrible?"

Shen Fang pouted and said, "That day at Kao Rou Ji, seeing you fly out the window was pretty awesome; is he even more awesome than you?"

"That's really hard to say."

Li Li Xuewu deliberately tried to scare Shen Fang, saying, "We've only clashed once, and even then, we held back, so nothing much can be seen from it."

"Then I'm not afraid either."

Shen Fang said confidently, "Before, our skills were like rotten melons and plums, but now we're not ordinary. I may not be like Lin Chong, the instructor of eight hundred imperial guards, but I can handle three hundred men."

While speaking, he added with a smile, "Besides, his sister might end up being one of my apprentices in the future."

"If that's the case, I guess he'll have to bring you a gift."

Li Li Xuewu ate quickly and had already finished by now.

The large bowl of fried sauce noodles was truly filling; the noodle bowl was wide and deep, but the taste was just so-so.

These days, state-run restaurants all acted this way; not many cooked well.

Wait until this year passes, and the meal you eat in a restaurant might be made by a fake chef who doesn't know the trade.

Not tasty?

You're not even allowed to say it.

Han Han Jiankun was from the military and ate just like Li Li Xuewu; he had already finished his meal and gone out to wipe the car.

The saying goes, if you do a job, you must be good at it; the profession of a driver is not a simple job.

You must know how to drive, and you must also know how to repair the car.

Routine car maintenance is done by oneself, and mostly it involves wiping the car.

He had never driven for a leader before; he had only driven large Yan Jiefang trucks.

But even then, frequent washing and wiping were required; there could be no half-measures.

They say the car body is the driver's face; if the car isn't wiped clean, then don't bother working.

Li Li Xuewu hadn't made any special demands of him, but now it looked fine.

Only Comrade Sha Sha Qizhi ate slowly, but having spent a long time with Li Li Xuewu, he had started eating faster too.

Li Li Xuewu was just worried he wouldn't eat well; after finishing the meal, he chatted with Shen Fang across from him.

He couldn't take a midday nap, so he could only rest in the noodle shop.

Somehow the conversation turned, and after talking about his own Xiao Xiao Laosan, Shen Fang asked Li Li Xuewu about his Wedding Date.

"You must notify me in advance, otherwise I won't give you leave."

Shen Fang threatened, "Not only won't I give you leave, we won't even have time to gather the gift money."

"It's still early~"

Li Li Xuewu didn't have a definite time in mind now; there were many matters, his mother-in-law hadn't returned yet, and the appointment with his father-in-law wasn't confirmed.

"What about you? Is your family doing well?"

Shen Fang didn't expect Li Li Xuewu to ask about him; he took a bite of garlic and said, "It's okay, except for last time when you were unfair and made me spend a year in jail, there's nothing else."

"You really hold a grudge!"

Li Li Xuewu smiled, tapped the table to knock off the ash, and yawned while looking at the spring scenery outside.

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

Shen Fang finished the noodles at the bottom of the bowl in two bites, wiped his mouth with his large palm, and smiled, "You didn't work overnight, did you?"

"You actually guessed it right."

Li Li Xuewu rubbed his face and said, "We held a seminar last night, which went on until midnight."

"I don't believe it."

Seeing that Comrade Sha Sha Qizhi hadn't finished, Shen Fang lit a cigarette too and said with a smile, "No matter how busy your factory is, it shouldn't reach the point of forgetting to eat and sleep. What kind of meeting was it?"

"Hey! You're just ignorant, aren't you?"

Li Li Xuewu said mysteriously, "A big project, a very big one, with high difficulty."

"Nonsense!"

Shen Fang's heart was now pounding; he asked in a hushed voice, "Is it as big as a mushroom cloud?"

"Not quite."

Li Li Xuewu took a drag of his cigarette and said with narrowed eyes, "It's just that the engineering workload is huge."

"Is it classified?"

Shen Fang asked curiously, his eyes wide.

Li Li Xuewu shook his head and said, "Not really."

While speaking, he pointed north and said, "We are researching and planning to repair the Great Wall."

"..."

Shen Fang took a few seconds to react, then sneered, "So you were playing mahjong all night long!"

"Hehe, playing while holding the meeting."

Li Li Xuewu explained lightly, then seeing Comrade Sha Sha Qizhi had finished, he led the way and stood up to go outside.

In the afternoon, they wandered around again and returned to the Public Security Brigade just after three, where Wang Wang Xiaoqin pulled him to listen to half a political training class.

It was taught by the newly arrived female college students, and the trainees were the members of the Public Security Brigade.

That's why they say to grasp the key contradictions in work; now, looking at a room full of short-haired boys, they were listening very attentively.

Some with ulterior motives even voluntarily went to the front after class to ask questions.

These college students had no idea about the tricks of these young men; they thought they were teaching well and that someone had actually found problems in their lecture.

Li Li Xuewu listened to the latter half of the class and left when the time was up.

The female teacher giving the lecture was left completely confused, not knowing whether she taught well or poorly, since the leader had only listened for such a short while.

Li Li Xuewu returned to his office to handle some work there, then went back to the Rolling Steel Factory before five o'clock.

Li Li Xuewu had already finished the document work on the road; mainly Sha Sha Qizhi was busy, and he had made several calls to Gangcheng.

One call was to Dong Wenxue; besides discussing some recent work, he also asked Dong Wenxue when he would return to report on his duties.

Dong Wenxue and Li Li Xuewu did not talk very frequently, about two calls a week, sometimes made from home, sometimes from the office.

He was busy over there too, so Li Li Xuewu did not say much more; after confirming Dong Wenxue would return early next month, he hung up.

The second call was to Xu Ning, asking in detail about the progress of the case.

Because Xu Ning had work at the factory, he could not devote much energy to local matters and only knew that the case had not gone wrong.

The disciplinary and supervisory personnel sent from Jingcheng had already begun organizing talks with the city's cadres; for the past few days, it had been this same lukewarm situation.

When asked about Ji Wang Weidong, Xu Ning said he should be findable now, because Wen San'er had not been seen for three days and, upon returning today, had started sleeping heavily, so Ji Wang Weidong must be at the guesthouse.

Li Li Xuewu put down the phone and called Ji Wang Weidong; fortunately, he had just woken up.

"I thought you really weren't going to manage affairs over here anymore."

Ji Wang Weidong answered Li Li Xuewu while yawning, obviously still sleepy.

"There were activities at night too?"

Li Li Xuewu was slightly surprised; what had Wen San'er been up to disappearing for three days?

"Don't even mention it, damn it."

Ji Wang Weidong rubbed his eyes and said into the phone, "Your people really worked hard; three days and three nights, playing tired in the gambling dens then going to play in the brothels, waking up in the brothels then going back to play in the gambling dens; I saw one eye looking like dice, the other eye looking like women."

"That was indeed hard work; you worked hard too; guarding outside must have been exhausting, right?"

Li Li Xuewu guessed what had happened; Yu Min had some tricks up his sleeve, and now he was probably trying to create a diversion.

"Damn it, don't bring it up."

Ji Wang Weidong looked out the window where the sun had already set over Luoshan and asked, "It's almost dark and you haven't gotten off work yet?"

"It gets dark later here than where you are; it's still bright as day."

Li Li Xuewu smiled and explained briefly, then said, "Take it slow; this group is deeply entrenched; if you want to pull up radishes, don't yank out the potatoes in the ground, or it will be hard to wrap things up."

"Damn it, that's exactly why cooperating with the disciplinary and supervisory team is so annoying."

Ji Wang Weidong said dissatisfiedly, "They are slow-paced, truly aiming for a detailed investigation, like boiling a frog in warm water."

"This is the proper way and method to handle a case."

Li Li Xuewu pointed at Ji Wang Weidong and said, "Learn from this; your approach is brave, but it has too many flaws; this is an opportunity to learn how they draw boundaries and lock things down."

"Do I need you to tell me that?!"

Ji Wang Weidong asked ungratefully in return, "How are things arranged over at Ji Ji Yuxiu's side?"

"Just let Old Shen keep an eye on things."

Li Li Xuewu smiled and said, "He dug the pit himself; he can fill it himself."

"Keep a closer watch; he's too much trouble."

Ji Wang Weidong sighed, then asked, "Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up; I'm hungry, going to find some food."

"Go ahead, nothing else."

Li Li Xuewu smiled and hung up, but in his heart he thought that having nothing else was actually good.

The case in Gangcheng truly had to be handled according to the disciplinary and supervisory methods, because they were reasonable and powerful.

If one really went about arresting people in a rush, digging from the bottom up, one might accidentally dig out someone important.

By then, a single phone call to Jingcheng would make even shit look like shit.

Putting down the phone, seeing there was nothing else to do, Li Li Xuewu signaled Sha Sha Qizhi to leave early.

There was still something to do today; he had to go to the sub-district office, as agreed with his godmother, to get the warehouse keys.

He hadn't gone home last night, so how could he have gotten them?

Just as he stepped out, he saw a young, bright, and fair-skinned Miss looking at him timidly.

Seeing Sha Sha Qizhi following behind him, she hid to the side, waiting for Li Li Xuewu to pass first.

Li Li Xuewu frowned slightly and glanced over; Sha Sha Qizhi understood immediately and took the initiative to introduce, "This is Xiao Zhou, the new college graduate."

"When did she arrive?"

Li Li Xuewu's question was obviously not directed at the young woman standing there not knowing how to answer, nor did Sha Sha Qizhi intend to ask anyone else.

So he continued explaining, "She reported for duty today; Director Yu received and arranged everything."

Li Li Xuewu did not scare the girl further; leading Sha Sha Qizhi, he turned directly into Yu Yu Decai's office.

Without hesitation, he simply waved his hand, not asking Yu Yu Decai to stand, but asked directly, "How many students arrived? Why were some assigned to us?"

Although the department head had not asked him to rise, Yu Yu Decai, seeing Li Li Xuewu enter, dared not remain seated while speaking to him.

He stood up, walked out from behind his desk, and reported, "Three arrived, all female comrades."

"This is sheer nonsense."

Li Li Xuewu frowned and asked, "Did Xu Sinian send them?"

"No, the factory office secretary led them over, saying the personnel relations were all processed and the leaders had all signed off."

Yu Yu Decai was also somewhat troubled, saying, "If we say it's a good thing, it truly is a good thing; we also want people with education."

After explaining that, he added, "But these three female comrades..."

Speaking, he walked to the door, closed it, and said softly, "They are good-looking, so many people are eyeing them; this morning, Director Wang from the Service Department called to ask if the students assigned to his department were male, wanting to swap for some to work in the Security Department; I didn't dare agree to him."

Li Li Xuewu narrowed his eyes and silently cursed Xu Sinian, then picked up the phone on Yu Yu Decai's desk and called Xu Sinian.

Sure enough, he answered; hearing Li Li Xuewu's voice, he smiled and asked if he had seen them yet.

If not for Yu Yu Decai being present, Li Li Xuewu would have almost cursed aloud; instead, he asked in a gloomy tone if he was playing the trick of diverting trouble to others again.

Xu Sinian spoke frankly, saying that planting such flowers in the Service Department would be a waste.

Li Li Xuewu retorted sarcastically, asking where the hell planting them wouldn't be a waste.

Xu Si knew Li Li Xuewu was unwilling to get involved in this, but he explained anyway that the leaders had already signed off on the matter, so it could not be changed.

Fearing Li Li Xuewu might actually curse, he quickly mentioned another piece of news.

That was the commendation for their bandit-suppression efforts along the route to the frontier.

As the person in charge, Li Li Xuewu was awarded a San Deng Gong, while the Security Division's guard unit collectively received an Er Deng Gong.

This was due to the goods on the train, the villagers' cattle and sheep, plus the large quantity of captured items and corpses.

With light machine guns and hand grenades involved, they were granted an Er Deng Gong.

At that time, any armed force could receive merit awards, unlike in later generations when things became specialized.

After all, their identities were multifaceted; carrying weapons meant they had to be registered under the status of militia.

Li Li Xuewu asked about the medals, then hung up the phone.

"Go to Director Xu's office tomorrow to collect the medals; we'll hold a small award ceremony at the factory, or wait until we're at the training ground to hold it there."

After giving this instruction to Yu Yu Decai, Li Li Xuewu walked out with Sha Sha Qizhi.

Taking advantage of Li Li Xuewu's departure, Sha Sha Qizhi quietly told Yu Yu Decai that the young woman named Zhou did not recognize the Division Chief and had been avoiding him.

Yu Yu Decai waited until Li Li Xuewu had left, then summoned the three new female comrades, teaching them how to greet leaders, instructing them neither to hide nor to run.

Li Li Xuewu felt rather depressed; he was no monster, so was it really necessary to avoid him?

Upon arriving home, he greeted the Third Auntie standing at the door, then entered the courtyard.

The houses in the East Courtyard were being built remarkably fast; standing in the outer courtyard, one could already see the roof tiles being laid.

Li Li Xuewu asked Lao Lao Biaozi, who had emerged from the screen gate of the inverted-seat house, about the schedule; the construction would take another two weeks.

Entering the inverted-seat house, Yu Li was cleaning baby bok choy while Dilaya was steaming corn buns.

"Cooking so early?"

Li Li Xuewu asked casually, then went into the inner room to take the Jeep keys hanging on the wall.

He had not asked Han Han Jiankun to drive him to the sub-district office for his personal errands, as using a public vehicle for private matters was generally inappropriate.

Yu Li, sitting on a small stool, replied, "We cook at this time every day; why are you back so early?"

"Went out for a bit, had some matters to attend to."

Speaking without waiting for Yu Li to ask further, he added, "I'll be back shortly; I'll eat at home."

Yu Li nodded in response, "Your house is ready; I saw Auntie Liu heating the kang today."

"Really fast."

Li Li Xuewu nodded, took a step outward, went to the Bai Bai Xiyuan to fetch the Jeep, and drove out.

Lao Lao Biaozi took the opportunity to tell Li Li Xuewu that the housing matters were all settled; when the procedures were being processed on that end, the landlord had said they would vacate the premises in three days.

"No rush."

Li Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I'll go check in three days; have someone clean it up, then you can choose your own houses."

"Shen Guodong and I have discussed it; we want the two units right next to each other."

Lao Lao Biaozi made his reservation first, smilingly stating that he and Shen Guodong had agreed to be neighbors.

Li Li Xuewu smiled and gave his verbal agreement.

The brothers had good feelings between them, all feeling that mutual consideration made life more comfortable.

Of the five properties, four were two-entry courtyards and one was a three-entry courtyard; neither man chose the three-entry one, taking only the adjacent two-entry courtyards.

After speaking with Lao Lao Biaozi, just as he was about to leave, he saw Xilin peeking at him from the back door of the storefront; she then called Lao Lao Biaozi to mind the shop, clearly wanting to speak with Li Li Xuewu.

Lao Lao Biaozi exchanged a greeting with Li Li Xuewu, then went to the storefront, leaving Xilin to come over and talk to Li Li Xuewu.

Li Li Xuewu smiled and explained to the approaching Xilin, "Just going out to handle a matter; I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Haven't seen hide nor hair of you for several days; who knows what you're busy with."

Xilin walked to the car and said to Li Li Xuewu, "I've been here for a while; have you decided how to arrange things for me?"

"What's wrong?"

Li Li Xuewu jumped out of the car, walked over to Xilin, and asked, "Not getting along well here?"

"Not at all; it's actually too comfortable."

Looking squarely at Li Li Xuewu, Xilin said frankly, "I'm afraid that if I get too comfortable staying here, I won't want to leave."

Li Li Xuewu observed Xilin's expression; seeing she was not saying this intentionally, he asked again, "What's the situation? Tell me."

"Dilaya is getting married."

Looking at Li Li Xuewu, Xilin said, "I have to make room for her; soon there will be no place for me to stay, and I'm afraid of causing you trouble."

"You're overthinking it."

Li Li Xuewu laughed, "I've already spoken with Yu Li; you can make do with her for a while."

"Surely we can't just 'make do' for a lifetime?"

Resting her hand on the car, Xilin said somewhat bewilderedly, "I must do something; drifting along like this, when will it ever end?"

"Are you just wasting your time here with me?"

Turning to get back into the car, Li Li Xuewu said to Xilin, who was watching him from beside the vehicle, "I guarantee that once you are familiar with Beijing, I will find you a stable job."

"You guarantee?"

Standing by the car, Xilin pressed, "How long will that take?"

"How long will it take you to become familiar with Beijing's geography, local customs, and ways of life?"

Li Li Xuewu smiled, signaling that he needed to leave and asking her to move aside.

Once Xilin widened her eyes and stepped out of the way, he drove the car out the main gate, heading toward the sub-district office.

Watching the Jeep pass the mouth of the alley, Xilin closed the main gate, humming softly as she returned to the storefront to get busy.

The days were rapidly approaching April; the daylight was lengthening, and since it was around the time people got off work, the alley was crowded.

There were so many people buying things in the shop that one person truly couldn't handle it alone.

Now the surrounding Yan Yan Jiefang all knew there were good things here, and those with spare money came to pick up some household items.

Unlike the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and the Consignment Store, goods here could be bartered, and a little haggling over the price was also permitted.

That price was inflated by Wen San'er; there was always a bit of water mixed in.

For those too embarrassed to haggle, it was a profit; for those who were difficult, he was willing to sacrifice that small margin of profit just to convert the goods in hand sooner.

Xilin and the other two worked in shifts, so there was always one day when she watched the shop during the evening meal time, with Second Master or Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi there to help.

With Wen San'er not at home, Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi arranged things well, ensuring everyone always had something to do.

Grandfather and Seeing Seeing Gelin went to Hongxing Village once and finalized the order for the timber needed.

He had also agreed with Yin Yin Mancang that once the trees were felled, they would be supported with wooden poles to keep them off the ground, to be collected by the Recycling Station later.

Keeping the wood off the ground was to prevent rainwater from soaking it, which would ruin its suitability for making furniture.

Furthermore, there was the fear that over time ants would hollow it out, which would always be inappropriate.

As for when to collect it, Grandfather followed Li Li Xuewu's arrangements, and Li Li Xuewu scheduled it based on how busy he was with his work.

For hauling the wood, he hadn't thought of using someone else's vehicle because he owned a large truck, the one brought back from the frontier.

It was precisely the truck related to today's medal, obtained during the bandit suppression campaign.

This truck was a fairly common Zil-130; its front face was a bit cute, it was quite capable for transport, though he didn't know where these people had dug it up from.

Li Li Xuewu had already removed the license plate and asked Shen Fang to re-register it.

Nowadays, they weren't actually that strict about license plates; they didn't even check the engine number, and an introduction letter from one's work unit was enough to get it done.

Li Li Xuewu directly registered the truck under the Recycling Station for hauling heavy loads.

After getting the key from his Godmother, he drove to the warehouse; the sub-district's warehouse was right in front of the sub-district office.

At this time, sub-districts also had factories: matchbox factories, lantern factories, timber yards, bicycle pump factories; basically, every kind of unit ran a factory.

Schools ran them too; primary schools, middle schools, universities—all had school-run factories producing everything, manufacturing whatever was lacking.

The slogans of this era were shouted loudly: self-reliance, starting an undertaking through hard work.

The meaning was to ask no one for help; not only not asking foreigners, but not asking our own people either.

The children in the factories and work units were due to start school.

What?

Local schools were hard to get into?

No problem; we'll run our own schools.

What?

Can't pay the teachers' wages?

No problem; we'll build our own factories, and once we have profits, we'll pay the wages.

Anyway, these small factories had damn near everything, and later on, a few incredibly impressive sub-district factories actually developed.

Of course, the more avant-garde ones produced musical instruments: violins, pipe organs, harmonicas; as long as one had the guts, they dared to produce anything.

Some sub-districts with no other prospects raised tropical fish; even this thing could create profits, and Li Li Xuewu remembered that tropical fish were quite popular right now.

It was heard that these things spawned offspring in units of millions, making quite a lot of money.

However, he lacked that skill and didn't have the patience for it, so he truly couldn't earn that money.

He could only ponder something more practical, like this pile of scrap metal in the warehouse.

The warehouse was in the backyard of the sub-district's Stationery Factory, a relatively empty space said to be temporarily allocated to the Stationery Factory.

But now stationery sold so well that production couldn't keep up with demand; where would there be inventory? The warehouse was running with mice.

Li Li Xuewu saw this but didn't mind; his things would only stay there for one night, as Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi would come to haul them away tomorrow.

This included a large truck parked in the courtyard, leaving it to Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi to find people to load it.

This kind of work required strength; fortunately, the papermaking machinery was disassembled, so loading the truck was tiring but better than being unable to figure it out.

Li Li Xuewu locked the main gate, got into the jeep, and hurried back, arriving right during the evening rush hour.

Good heavens, bicycles were noticeably more numerous now; in winter, those who disliked the cold had taken the bus.

Driving along the middle of the road, he dodged the columns of bicycles, very afraid of hitting anyone.

But fortunately, traffic order at this time was very orderly; without anyone telling them, cyclists would absolutely not wander onto the vehicle lanes.

Unlike in later generations, where the more you honked, the more they wobbled in the middle of the road.

Upon arriving home, no one was needed to open the main gate because Yang Erhai and the others were just pulling their vehicles into the courtyard.

Good heavens, ten tricycles, each loaded more than halfway; this meant the day's work hadn't been in vain.

These additional tricycles were decided upon by Wen San'er and Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi; they hadn't told Li Li Xuewu and simply bought them directly.

Now the Recycling Station's reach was expanding wider and wider, and the incomes of these young men were growing greater and greater.

Repaying the accommodation fees and meal costs here was no longer an unattainable goal; the look of hardship had vanished from every one of their faces.

Li Li Xuewu called this expression hope; with hope, people had strength to live, had spirit and vitality.

Those who hadn't received a tricycle still carried tattered bags, wandering along the surrounding streets.

Seeing Li Li Xuewu's vehicle enter, the young men at the gate moved to get out of the way, but then saw Li Li Xuewu park the vehicle right at the main entrance.

"Get back to your work; I'll have your Brother Biao drive it in shortly."

Li Li Xuewu said a word to these young men, then carefully examined the cargo bed of Old Liu Sun Sun Yongli's vehicle and asked, "Where did you collect these magazines?"

"Wu Ge, I struck gold today; hey, I went to the entrance of the Cultural Department and shouted a couple of times, and guess what? The gatekeeper let me in. Good lord, carrying these magazines nearly killed me with exhaustion."

Sun Sun Yongli couldn't even remember where his hometown was; hearing his thick Beijing accent, Li Li Xuewu thought it was even more authentic than his own damn self.

"You've got some guts too; how did you end up shouting there?"

Li Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows; seeing that these magazines were of all sorts, every kind was present, though colored ones were rare.

Seeing they weren't stacked in neat piles, he knew they must have been scraped together somehow by those young gatekeepers.

This truly proved that old saying: rely on the mountain to eat from the mountain.

There simply shouldn't be any poor people in this world; anyone with a bit of sense should be able to scrape together a meal.

That's why you never see beggars out early in the morning—if they could wake up early, they wouldn't need to beg.

"Hehe, I'm just plucking up the courage to sell based on looking young."

Sun Sun Yongli now thought about it and felt a bit cowardly; if someone had really taken a dislike to him and dragged him off for a scolding, it wouldn't have been worth it.

At this moment, he promised Li Li Xuewu, "I won't do this again, but consider today's deal settled; from now on, I'll go once a week."

"Hehe."

Li Li Xuewu glanced at him but said nothing.

Entering the courtyard compound, he told Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi to deliver the goods tomorrow, instructing him to bring whoever from the family was available since there was an overhead crane at the warehouse.

However, that so-called overhead crane was just Li Li Xuewu exaggerating; in reality, it was called a 'Jiangba Lao'er,' also known as 'Ghost's Worry.'

Anyway, it was just that kind of thing, meaning the same as an overhead crane, but not as large or as systematic.

It relied entirely on manual labor to lift, generally used for moving light equipment, though during those few years when society was unstable, some bastards even used this thing to steal pigs.

They would drill a hole in the wall, stick the mechanism inside, and within a short while, silently bore a large hole through the pigsty wall.

Therefore, anyone seen driving pigs at night was beaten with sticks without mistake, as they were all up to no good.

Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi caught the car keys Li Li Xuewu tossed over, acknowledged with a sound from his mouth, and continued helping everyone unload the vehicle.

This area was managed very meticulously by Wen San'er; no one knew how this guy, who was so sloppy when living alone, could work with such care.

The recycling station fully confirmed the importance of waste sorting.

For anything assigned a warehouse, the vehicles collected at night had to be weighed, packed, and stored in the warehouse.

Items stored outdoors had to be piled together in one spot to facilitate loading during delivery.

And when Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi was at home, he mostly spent his time tallying these goods and sending them to the Scrap Company.

Because the Jiaodaokou Recycling Station did such good work, the Scrap Company really turned a blind eye to them.

In fact, even that one eye they kept open was poked blind by Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi and Wen San'er working in tandem.

Perhaps in all of Beijing, no other recycling station completed its tasks as well as this one; after reviewing the first month's accounts, Director Ma never looked at them again.

Every time Seeing Lao Lao Biaozi delivered the account books, they were thrown back, with the excuse that since it wasn't their own unit, how could they understand the recycling station's accounts?

They only instructed that the monthly quota be met and said nothing else on the matter.

Li Li Xuewu entered the courtyard, first going home to check; his mother was cooking, and the kang bed in the room had no mat laid on it, appearing no longer to emit dampness.

"Won't it need to be heated all night before anyone can sleep on it?"

Li Li Xuewu touched it with his hand; it was still damp, as this newly built kang couldn't be slept on directly and needed to be heated for a full day and night first.

Because fewer people were living at home, the two kang beds in the north room had been changed to one, with a single wooden bed placed on the floor of the room instead, designated as Li Xue's own.

It was sufficient to draw the curtains when privacy was needed, and it was fine for sitting on at other times.

This actually freed up space in the north room for a medicine cabinet and a desk, so Li Shun wouldn't need to go to the south room to read.

However, since Li Li Xuewen and his wife now stayed at the school five days a week, the south room was left idle.

In the past, everyone complained the house was too cramped, but now that everyone had their own rooms, Li Shun's heart felt strangely empty.

Watching his third son's house being built, with the sons dividing the household and living separately as he had arranged, he felt a bitterness he couldn't express.

Fortunately, his sons were all filial, causing no troublesome issues, and the family gave him little cause for worry.

Especially his second son who had just entered; he truly brought him face and added glory.

But he wasn't accustomed to speaking politely to his sons, and seeing his son wearing a snow-white shirt, black trousers, and black leather shoes, everything looked slightly off to him.

"Are you working at a garment factory or what? How do you have so many clothes? How many outfits have you changed into just coming back?"

Even if one worked at a garment factory, he had never seen anyone dress like this; his son's clothes were clearly hand-tailored, fitting closely and making him look taller.

But the family hadn't made them, and Gu Ning clearly didn't seem like someone skilled with needle and thread, unless...

Thinking of his eldest granddaughter's clothes, Li Shun found his second son even more disagreeable, and when Li Li Xuewu asked, he didn't even answer.

Liu Ying didn't know what was wrong with her husband again; she looked at Li Li Xuewu but saw that the second son hadn't caused any trouble.

Even yesterday, when he wasn't coming home, he had called the family, saying there was work at the factory.

Their second son was much more obedient now than before; if her husband still found fault, he was truly being a bit too demanding.

Anyway, Liu Ying was extremely satisfied with their current second son; she didn't ask for great wealth or status, only that he work steadily and quietly at his job, and not only would she help take care of the children, she wouldn't even make his wife do chores if she brought her home.

Li Li Xuewu didn't try to figure out what was wrong with his father; anyway, he had been like that all year round—a strict father—so he was used to it.

"Later, I'll have Lao Lao Biaozi move a set of sofas into Big Brother's room; don't keep cabinets there, so there's somewhere for guests to sit when they visit."

"With such a small space, where would we put them?"

Li Shun immediately rejected Li Li Xuewu's reckless idea and instructed him, "I met Master Dou today regarding the settlement for the money Third Brother and the family spent on repairing the house; he said to wait a bit longer. You decide when to pay him, don't drag it out."

"Understood, he has arrangements."

Li Li Xuewu looked at the furniture arranged in the room and the much brighter space, smiling as he said, "It really is different after the renovation; it looks much sturdier and much brighter."

"Where there's spending, there's no such thing as 'not right'."

Liu Ying, leaning on her fire poker, said to Li Li Xuewu, "We were so busy on Sunday that I didn't get a chance to speak a few words with Gu Ning; she didn't say anything else when she went back, did she?"

"How could she?"

Li Li Xuewu smiled and explained to his mother, "You know her character; she doesn't like crowds and was probably eager to leave early."

"That's a good temperament; it's better than being noisy."

Liu Ying actually liked Gu Ning's personality and wouldn't let Li Li Xuewu speak critically of her.

Li Li Xuewu then asked with a smile, "Are you saying Ji Ji Yuxiu was being noisy?"

"Get lost!"