Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

Hu Guangliang's eyes lit up, and he took out a pen and paper: "Can you leave your contact information? I may need your help in the future."

Although he didn't understand why a college student asked for help from a junior high school student, Li Xiaodong did not refuse. He wrote down the address of the courtyard on a piece of paper.

At this time, Lao Bai also came back with a bulging canvas bag on his back.

"Here, one for each of you. Brother Xiaodong has done a great job, so give him two."

This was the first time in Li Xiaodong's life that he tasted the Arctic Ocean.

Although the price of 0.78 cents each seems cheap, a pound of meat was only yuan in that era.

Wouldn't it be nice to use this money to buy two pounds of meat for the whole family to enjoy?

Li Xiaodong took the Bei Bing Yang and walked to Sister Niu: "Sister, I have cavities. One is enough. I'll give you the other one."

Sister Niu was still amazed at how Li Xiaodong could make those college students obey her.

When she saw the glass bottle, she came back to her senses and said with a smile, "Then I will respectfully obey your command."

As a shop assistant, Sister Niu only earns 32.5 yuan a month and usually cannot afford to buy even such luxury items.

She unscrewed the cap and took small sips of the drink.

She drank the last drop before carefully hiding the bottle under the counter.

This glass bottle of soy sauce is perfect.

At this moment, Hu Guangliang was thinking about delivering the ore machine to Ye Zi, so he took Lao Bai and the others away.

The chemical materials store returned to peace. Seeing that there was no one around, Li Xiaodong walked to the counter.

Sister Niu put down the woolen socks in her hand and turned her eyes to Li Xiaodong: "I knew you had an agenda when you invited me to drink. Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?"

"You are my elder sister. You took good care of me when I was working in the store. Even if you didn't ask me for help, I should buy you a drink to express my gratitude." Li Xiaodong handed over the letter of introduction with a smile.

Sister Niu took the letter of introduction and rolled her eyes: "You, how come you are so slick now?"

According to the store's regulations, only students of the Qingdao University Radio Club can use letters of introduction, and outsiders cannot. However, letters of introduction are not kept on file, which gives room for manipulation.

For the clerk, it was enough to collect the money and see the letter of introduction, and turn a blind eye to other things. Besides, she just accepted a bottle of Arctic Ocean from someone else.

Sister Niu didn't ask any further questions and started placing the order directly.

When she was writing down the numbers in the amount column, Li Xiaodong stopped her.

"Sister, I want six sets."

As he said this, he handed over thirty-one dollars and thirty-eight cents.

Although the letters of introduction can be used repeatedly, the more you use a favor, the less it is worth. He wanted to buy more, but was afraid of arousing the suspicion of his elder sister, so he only bought six sets.

"I still have to advise you that we can't afford things like ore machines."

Sister Niu shook her head, shook her wrist slightly, wrote the amount on the receipt, and stamped it with a blue seal.

In the early morning of the next day, the wind was bitingly cold.

Li Xiaodong was wrapped like a bear, with a gauze mask on his face and a lantern with a glass cover in his hand, strolling on the streets of Kyoto.

It had rained two days ago and the road was icy, making a crisp "crunching" sound with every step.

The street lights on both sides of the street emitted a dim light.

After walking five miles along the dim light, Li Xiaodong came to a narrow alley.

The alley was equally silent, but there were countless fireflies flickering, as if one was in the netherworld.

However, this dark place is exactly what people are looking forward to.

This is a pigeon market in Kyoto.

The history of the pigeon market is difficult to verify, but the reason for its birth is clear and it originates from the material rationing system.

In the early days of the founding of New China, materials were scarce, and food and industrial products could not meet the needs of the masses.

Therefore, the government introduced a voucher system to cope with the difficulties.

Simply put, each household receives different types of tickets based on the criteria.

With these tickets, people can buy the goods they need for life.

This then caused a problem: some families had large populations and insufficient tickets, while other families had surplus tickets.

Thus, a market was formed.

In this gray area, residents can trade tickets.

As time went by, the market gradually expanded.

Farmers in the suburbs of Beijing also bring their agricultural products to the market to sell.

Ticket scalpers and antique buyers flocked to the market.

The local police station is of course aware of the existence of the market.

However, considering the needs of the people, as long as it does not cause major chaos, they usually turn a blind eye and only occasionally send personnel to patrol and catch a few violators.

As the market is in a gray area and not under the direct jurisdiction of superiors, buyers and sellers at the market act with extreme caution.

Sellers usually spread out an old newspaper and place "samples" on it to show the goods, putting a small handful of millet and a small handful of peanuts.

Once a buyer expresses interest and both parties reach an agreement, the seller will take out the actual goods.

Li Xiaodong had no "sample", so he had to put the ore machine on a newspaper and hold a lantern so that passers-by could see it clearly.

Ore machines were rare among the people and had never appeared in the market, so they quickly attracted a lot of attention.

Everyone was very curious, but kept silent because it was a market rule that buyers and sellers were not allowed to talk.

Li Xiaodong was well prepared. He connected the antenna and started the crystal ore machine.

Melodious music suddenly rang out in the cold air, breaking the tranquility of the market that had lasted for many years.

A middle-aged man wearing a felt hat and a gray Zhongshan suit couldn't help but ask: "This... this radio can work without batteries?"

Li Xiaodong did not respond.

Although the audience of mineral-metal machines is limited, there are always people who know about them.

Sure enough, just as the middle-aged man finished speaking, a young man with tortoise-shell glasses and an elegant temperament asked, "Comrade, is this a mineral exploration machine?"

Onlookers were curious about the radio that did not require batteries and asked the young man questions.

"What is a mineral machine?"

“Will it work without batteries?”

“How many channels can you receive?”

...

When many people heard young people say they could only receive one channel, they began to hesitate.

"What's the point of being able to receive only one channel?"

"What's wrong with one channel? It's not like the radio can play two programs at the same time!"

"That's right. The ore machine doesn't need batteries, so it can save money."

...

The middle-aged man was the most interested. He asked in a low voice, "Comrade, how much does this ore machine cost?"

Li Xiaodong did not answer, but gently turned the knob and quickly found another channel.

The knowledgeable young man exclaimed: "Today is really an eye-opener! Comrade, how much is your ore mining machine? I want to buy it!"

——There were not many radio stations in that era, and being able to receive two channels was enough to meet daily life needs.

Besides, it does not require batteries, so why buy a bicycle?

Seeing someone competing, the middle-aged man became anxious and stretched out three fingers.

Thirty yuan! Each machine nets twenty-five yuan.

Moreover, this mining machine can only accommodate two units, so this price is already a good deal.

However, is Li Xiaodong a contented person?

Do not!

He held out a hand.

"Oh, young man, you are too cruel. Are you going to sell the mining machine as a radio?" The middle-aged man shook his head and hinted to the young man: "This thing is useless. Don't buy it."

This guy is clearly trying to lower the price maliciously!

Li Xiaodong glared at him and raised a finger.

The meaning is clear and there is only one, it’s up to you whether you want it or not.

The young man had been planning to bargain, but now he didn't care and took out five large-denomination bills and handed them over.

Without even checking, he just ran away with the mining machine.

After the transaction was completed, Li Xiaodong packed up his stall and left.

When leaving, he did not forget to give the middle-aged man a thumbs up.

This kind of people is the most annoying. If you think the product is too expensive, you can just not buy it, but they maliciously try to lower the price.

The middle-aged man knew that he had broken the market rules and could only helplessly watch Li Xiaodong disappear at the end of the street.

...

With a huge sum of more than 80 yuan in his pocket, Li Xiaodong would naturally not treat himself badly.

He bought two kilograms of lean meat, two kilograms of eggs, a chicken and some vegetables at the Chaoyang vegetable market.

When we returned to the courtyard, the morning light had already illuminated the well-arranged tube-shaped buildings.

The pale golden sunlight dispelled the cold, and the courtyard, which had been frozen all night, became lively.

The aroma of food from every household was intertwined, the sound of pots and pans colliding rose and fell, and the air was filled with the smell of fireworks.

As soon as he entered the yard, Li Xiaodong saw Liu Haishang teaching Liu Guangming a lesson.

"You kid, how dare you steal my wine? I must teach you a lesson today."

Liu Haishang has three hobbies: beating his son, drinking, and being an official.

This time, Liu Guangming actually violated his two major hobbies.

If he is not severely punished this time, he will suffer a lot.

Li Xiaodong didn't want to meddle in other people's family affairs and planned to just walk around them.

When Liu Hai saw Li Xiaodong coming, his cunning little eyes turned around, and he gave up teaching the child a lesson and walked straight towards Li Xiaodong.

"Xiaodong, do you know that Yi Zhonghai wants to take back your house?"

Li Xiaodong pretended to be surprised: "Impossible, Yi Zhonghai is our uncle, how could he add insult to injury?"

"You don't know Yi Zhonghai. He seems to be righteous and moral, but he's actually very dark inside!" The flesh on his chubby face trembled. "Tell me, how can such a person be qualified to be the uncle of our hospital!"

Li Xiaodong understood that Liu Haishang did not care about him, but was simply dissatisfied with Yi Zhonghai.

But whatever the reason, the bangs at least reminded him.

Li Xiaodong naturally wanted to express his gratitude: "Thank you for your reminder, Uncle. I will pay attention to it."

After saying that, he carried the vegetables home.

Behind him, Liu Hai scratched his head and muttered, "Pay attention? Is it useful? Young people nowadays really don't understand the wickedness of human nature."

He looked back and found that Liu Guangming had slipped away at some point.

He was so angry that he yelled, "Liu Guangming, you kid, get back here."

Carrying a large bamboo basket, he searched for Liu Guangfu in the courtyard.

...

-----------------

Back in the house, Li Xiaodong hung the meat on the wall and started preparing breakfast.

In this era, after eating steamed corn bread for many days in a row, your mouth will feel so bland as if it has lost its taste!

Enjoy fried eggs today!

Put the black cast iron pot on the coal stove, unplug the bottom, and the weak light blue flame jumps out from the coal balls, gently licking the black bottom of the pot.

Wait until white smoke rises from the pot and pour in an appropriate amount of peanut oil.

With the sound of "sizzling", the evenly stirred eggs are poured into the iron pan.

Stir-fry a few times, sprinkle a little salt, and the omelette is done.

The eggs of this era are all home-grown, mellow and simple.

The eggs just out of the pot were as golden and attractive as the rising sun, bringing new hope to Li Xiaodong.

Scooping the eggs into a ceramic bowl, Li Xiaodong took out a steamed bun from the cupboard, sliced ​​it, and spread it on the bottom of the pot.

Use the residual heat of the pot to heat the steamed buns.

As the steamed buns began to emit wisps of steam, the grease at the bottom of the pot was absorbed dry.

The cast iron pan is clean and tidy, saving the trouble of cleaning, killing two birds with one stone.

He picked up the hot steamed bread and sandwiched the egg between them.

A perfect egg sandwich is ready.

When you take a bite, the fresh fragrance of the egg spreads in your mouth, leaving a lingering fragrance.

It was such a delicious dish that Li Xiaodong couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly.

This courtyard house is a hundred years old and has fallen into disrepair, with cracks visible everywhere.

Although Li Xiaodong had closed the doors and windows before cooking, the aroma still seeped out through the gaps and filled the entire courtyard.

The backyard is Yi Zhonghai's.

Yi Zhonghai was enjoying boiled eggs. When he smelled the aroma of the eggs, he stood up and looked out the window.

A sneer appeared on his lips: "He can't even keep his house, but Li Xiaodong still has the leisure to eat eggs."

An old lady was drinking whole grain porridge and whispered, "Lao Yi, I don't think this is appropriate. We are not short of money or a place to live."

Yi Zhonghai glared at her and said, "I have my own considerations when doing things. You don't need to say anything."

Indeed, the Yi couple only had two rooms and no children, so they were not short of housing.

However, Banggeng, Xiaodang and Huaihua are growing older and the Jia family will soon be unable to accommodate them.

As Qin Huairu's master, it is reasonable for him to prepare a residence for Qin Huairu's children!

Yan Bugui’s house in the front yard.

Yan Jiefang hadn't eaten for two days. He lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, like a walking corpse.

——My Yu Li, where are you?

An old lady felt sorry for the child and specially made corn tortillas and sweet potato porridge and brought them to Yan Jiefang's bedside.

At this moment, Yan Jiefang was in great pain and had no appetite. He pulled the quilt to cover his face and continued to lie down.

Yan Bugui was so angry that his mouth trembled: "This child knows nothing. It's just Yu Li. I'll ask Wang the matchmaker next door to introduce you to another relative in a few days."

"No, I only want Yu Li. I won't marry anyone else except her." Yan Jiefang burst into tears.

——He was full of resentment towards Yan Bugui. If it weren’t for Yan Bugui’s bad idea, how could Yu Li be lost?

Yan Bugui did not indulge him. He took the tortilla from the aunt and took big bites.