Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

After lunch, Li Weidong and Niu Meng were sent back to rest because they could not help but stayed up late to work. Li Weidong did not miss this opportunity to leave early. After he left the steel mill, he first went to the post office to send a letter to Zheng Juan in Beijing, telling her that he had arrived safely. Since the phone line was not working, he had to contact her by writing letters, although the delivery speed of letters was slow. After sending the letter at the post office, it was still early, so he went to the market to prepare some ingredients, intending to go home in the evening to prepare a hearty dinner for Yu Li to comfort her heart that had been waiting for a long time at home.

He brought back some local specialties from outside and planned to give them to his friend Fatty Yu later to discuss with him, because this was a long-term order and brothers should be clear about their accounts. They needed to carefully calculate various costs and benefits. In addition, he also planned to give a crystal radio to his friend Cai Xiaoguang. Although he had conflicts with Zhou Rong, he believed that Cai Xiaoguang was a sensible person and would not give up cooperating with him because of such a small matter. Moreover, he thought that keeping Zhou Rong in Jichun would also be a good thing for Cai Xiaoguang.

After buying some ingredients at the market, including a duck and some taro, Li Weidong returned home. He found that even though he had a meat ticket, he couldn't buy pork at the market at that time. Moreover, there was a dinner party at the factory the next day, and he didn't think it was necessary to spend money on meat. Back at his home in the quadrangle, the yard was quiet. Everyone went to work, and Yu Li was not at home. Li Weidong went straight back to the house and began to sort out the things he brought back. Most of the packages were local specialties, such as ginseng and deer antlers. These were gifts from friends and colleagues. They were of good quality and valuable. He wanted to keep these for his own emergency use, and planned to distribute the rest to Fatty Yu and his son and his father-in-law's family.

After the water boiled, he began to kill the ducks and pluck their feathers, which was a big challenge for him because plucking the feathers required skills, especially the hair under the skin was difficult to remove. Fortunately, the ducks he bought were processed quickly. Next, he also started to process the taro.

He put the ingredients into the pot and brought it into the house, intending to leave it for a while before starting to prepare. Before leaving, he locked the doors and windows to prevent thieves from breaking in and stealing his property.

After confirming that everything was arranged, he rode his bicycle to the community office and bought some dates for Yu Li's colleagues on the way as a gesture of friendship.

It would also be good for her to win over her friends with small gifts occasionally, because interpersonal relationships are about helping and giving to each other.

However, Li Weidong saw Yu Haitang at the door of the community office. She looked absent-minded and didn't notice Li Weidong's arrival at all. Her eyes were fixed on a piece of paper in her hand. Seeing this scene, Li Weidong's mischievous mentality suddenly surged in his mind, and he shouted her name loudly, "Haitang!"

Yu Haitang was so frightened that she almost fell down. Fortunately, Li Weidong stepped forward and grabbed her in time. After Yu Haitang stood up in panic, she saw that the person who saved her was Li Weidong, and she couldn't help but punched him in the chest angrily. "Brother-in-law, you almost scared me to death!" she said. "You were not paying attention to the road when you walked. If it weren't for me, you would have fallen down now." Li Weidong said, not wanting to continue the topic, and then asked: "What's the matter with you coming to the community office? Seeing you like this, are you in trouble?"

"Something happened to Weimin's brother, so he asked me to help him get a certificate." Yu Haitang said. Is Weimin her ex-boyfriend? Upon hearing this name, Li Weidong's brows immediately furrowed. "What's the matter? What happened to his brother?" he asked. "His brother said some inappropriate words in public, and was suspended from the factory as a result." Yu Haitang said helplessly.

"Is it so serious?" Li Weidong asked in surprise. "Yes, if it wasn't serious, I wouldn't have come to you for help." Yu Haitang replied. "Show me the certificate!" Li Weidong asked. Yu Haitang didn't hesitate and immediately handed him the certificate, because the certificate did not involve any privacy, and Yu Li would know it later. Li Weidong carefully checked the certificate, fortunately, there was no big problem, and even if there was a problem, it would not involve Yu Li.

Realizing that the situation might be complicated, Li Weidong reminded Yu Haitang, "You have to be more careful recently. Go back and remind Weimin and his family to pay more attention to their words and deeds to avoid getting yourself into trouble. I see. By the way, brother-in-law, when did you come back? My sister said you went to Jichun. It was today. What are your plans later? Where are you going? Just send the certificate to Weimin." Yu Haitang said. "Okay, then you should be careful on the road. By the way, has your sister mentioned to you about having dinner at my house tomorrow night? She told me, and I thought you were not coming back." Li Weidong smiled and replied, "Since it has been decided, I will try my best to come back. Well, I won't say more to you. I have to send the things over quickly." Yu Haitang said. "Go." Li Weidong said, and then watched Yu Haitang leave. Seeing her, Li Weidong couldn't help but become alert. He realized that the storm had just begun and he would definitely be affected. He decided to remind Fatty and the others to be more careful and not to be too ostentatious so as not to arouse the jealousy of others.

While thinking about these questions, Li Weidong walked into the community office. Everyone here knew him, and when they saw him, they immediately greeted him warmly, and some even ran over to inform Yu Li. Li Weidong sat down without restraint, took out the bag he brought, and began to distribute dates to Yu Li's colleagues. Most of the community workers are women, and a few men are responsible for some physical work. When most of the dates in the bag were distributed, Yu Li also walked out of the office. At first, when her colleagues told her that Li Weidong was coming, she thought they were joking. But when she saw Li Weidong in person, her eyes were full of surprise. During the days when her husband left, she would confide her longing for him to the air every night, but it always ended with a passionate kiss. However, when she really met her husband, she couldn't say a word, and her cheeks flushed. Her cute and cute appearance made the staff of the street office next to her couldn't help but laugh.

Li Weidong naturally couldn't bear to see his wife being laughed at, so he held her hand generously and said, "Honey, let's go home."

The word "wife" woke Yu Li up, and she immediately regained her usual lively spirit. She held Li Weidong's big hands tightly with her small hands, waved to her colleagues, and then the two of them rode their bicycles in the envious eyes and returned to the courtyard facing the sunset.

It was the rush hour after get off work, and the courtyard, which had been quiet all day, suddenly became lively. Little boys were running around in the yard pushing iron rings, and little girls were looking for a flat place to play with stones. The adults were tiredly carrying canvas bags after get off work, talking about work, while the women had already started preparing dinner.

There is a strong atmosphere of life in the courtyard.

"Auntie Zhou, today's cabbage is really fresh. How much is it per pound?"

"Oh, Weidong is back. It's not expensive, only two cents a pound. I heard that this vegetable was shipped from the Northeast."

"Brother Wang, are you still going to the train station to unload coal?"

"Weidong is back. Long time no see. There isn't much work at the train station lately. Now that winter is here, there are more vegetables. Lao Zhao and I go to the vegetable market to help move the vegetables. We can earn fifty cents a morning, which is much easier than working at the train station."

Li Weidong and Yu Li returned home amid the greetings of their neighbors. They opened the door with the rusty key, and Yu Li was attracted by the fragrant aroma.

She trotted to the coal stove and looked at the duck meat in the pot. Her eyes suddenly widened: "Brother Weidong, did you buy this?"

"Yes, you must have been living frugally at home while I was away on a business trip." Li Weidong casually hung the canvas bag on the coat rack, then washed his hands and began to prepare the duck.

Yu Li also came over to help, and said distressedly: "Such a big duck must be very expensive. We might as well save the money. My mother said that raising a child is very expensive. Nutrition alone is not enough. We have to pay tuition for school in the future. We have to get married when we grow up, and we have to prepare furniture, which is another big expense. We have to be thrifty and have a backup plan for life. The ancients said it well, "If you don't eat and wear, you won't be poor. If you don't manage the household, you won't know how expensive firewood and rice are."

Li Weidong: “…”

He felt like he had married an accountant, but then he thought that a woman who was so thrifty was the one who would truly live with him.

As he was cutting duck meat, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm currently making 49 yuan a month, and with the sports car subsidy, I can make at least 70 or 80 yuan a month. Even if you spend more, you can't spend it all."

Li Weidong was not exaggerating. The price of a pound of pork in the market was only 78 cents. Even if he could eat meat every day, his income would be enough. Of course, Yu Li knew this, and what she said just now was just a casual remark. Originally, a clay pot should be used to cook duck, but there was no one at home, so a steel pot was acceptable.

Li Weidong put the steel pot on the coal stove, but found that there was no flame in the stove. "Oh, I didn't use the coal stove at noon. I just soaked steamed buns in hot water and forgot to add coal balls." Yu Li explained awkwardly.

Li Weidong: "..." He also knew that the coal briquettes needed to be constantly replaced to keep burning, otherwise they might go out. He picked up the fire tongs, picked up a piece of coal briquettes, and confirmed it: "It's okay, just change the coal briquettes."

After replacing the coal briquettes, Li Weidong picked up a book from the desk and used it as a fan to fan the fire. He used this book because the paper was thin and large, which made it convenient for fanning. "I use this book to fan myself. It's thin and large."

Soon, blue smoke rose from the stove, and the room was filled with the pungent smell of gas. However, soon the flames gradually grew stronger, gently licking the black bottom of the pot. When the coal balls burned red, the bottom of the pot began to sizzle. Only then did Li Weidong put down the fan, add a few slices of ginger and scallions to the pot, let them stir-fry, and then pour in the marinated duck meat.