Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

Xu Damao chatted with the father and son of the Yan family in the middle courtyard for a while, and then returned to the backyard to check on the progress of the renovation masters. Two masters, each with two apprentices, were painting the walls, and the stove in the house was burning brightly. When they saw the boss coming, the two masters came over.

Xu Damao took out a pack of Chun Geng cigarettes and a pack of Fei Ma cigarettes from his bag and handed them to the two masters. The two masters could not refuse but finally accepted them. The lunch was not bad. It was rare to have such a generous boss. It seemed that they had to ask these apprentices to pay more attention.

The three of them were smoking around the stove and exchanging ideas about the renovation. Suddenly, they heard a commotion in the yard. It was the workers who were coming back from get off work.

Seeing this, Xu Damao said, "Masters, let's go today. We will hold a meeting in the courtyard tonight to communicate with the neighbors to avoid any trouble."

"Okay, boss, you go ahead and do your work first. We'll leave after we finish painting that wall." said Master Li.

As soon as Xu Damao left, the second uncle walked into the backyard. Seeing Xu Damao, his eyes lit up and he quickly greeted him, "Damo, I just happened to ask you something. Let's go to my house to talk. I'll ask your second aunt to prepare some snacks and we'll have a drink."

"Oh, Uncle Two, what a coincidence. We had agreed to go to Uncle Three's house for dinner today. My house is not under renovation yet, so I have something to discuss with you all."

"Hey, that's all, I'll call your uncle later, let's go," Liu Haizhong said, and then he pulled Xu Damao into his house. "My dear, prepare some snacks, and I'll treat Damao and Lao Yan to a drink tonight."

The second aunt responded and went to prepare. She was a traditional woman. Liu Haizhong had the final say in the family, and she would never question her husband's decision.

The second uncle Liu Haizhong pulled Xu Damao to sit down, and turned around to take out a stack of Liu Guangqi's remaining letter paper from the drawer. "It's about the housing provident fund and the workers' mutual aid group that you mentioned last time. I have sorted it out and put it into a document. Please take a look. If there are any problems, I will revise them. If there are no problems, I will hand it over to the street office directly."

Xu Damao saw that the writing was more than ten pages long. Even with the Second Uncle's low level of education, it was difficult for him. He really wanted to be an official. Xu Damao had no choice but to read it page by page and pointed out some inappropriate parts.

The second uncle with Liu Haizhong wearing glasses sat next to them and wrote down everything in a small notebook. He looked as serious as a primary school student in class.

Xu Damao felt that the second uncle was obsessed with becoming an official, so he decided to help him. According to his own arrangement, he still had a great hope of becoming an official. Xu Damao also talked about some things about the workers' technical mutual aid group, and the second uncle nodded continuously.

In fact, Liu Haizhong had almost prepared for this matter. He had already contacted several of his senior workers' apprentices to be teachers, and also contacted many junior workers and apprentices in the second workshop to learn together. When the junior workers heard that Liu Haizhong, a senior forger, was willing to use his free time after get off work to teach them the technology for free, they were very enthusiastic. You have to know that in this era, a higher level of work can earn more than ten yuan in salary. Who would complain that they earn too much money?

Liu Haizhong also took out all his son's junior high school textbooks and started studying. When he encountered words he didn't know, he would look up the dictionary. Now he has taken a lot of study notes and is very motivated to learn.

Xu Damao planned to mention it to Deputy Director Li after they had some achievements, so that Liu Haizhong would be appreciated and promoted. Deputy Director Li was also in urgent need of expanding his influence in the production workshop and enhancing his voice, and he tried every possible way to remove the word "Deputy" from his title. One wanted to be an official, and the other wanted to place his own people. They hit it off immediately. I am such a clever guy.

At this time, the second aunt also prepared some side dishes, of course, scrambled eggs were indispensable. Liu Haizhong arranged for Liu Guangfu to invite the third uncle to come home for dinner.

The third uncle's family hadn't started eating yet and were waiting for Xu Damao to come over. When he heard the third son of the Liu family invite him over for a drink, and Xu Damao was also there, he was overjoyed. It wasn't Yan Bugui's style not to take advantage of a bargain, so he went straight over with his bottle of water mixed with wine. Before leaving, he even asked him to keep his portion for him and eat it tomorrow.

The second uncle’s house.

The three of them sat around the table, on which were placed a bottle of Lianhua Bai and a bottle of Xifeng. The Xifeng was specially prepared by the Second Uncle for Xu Damao, knowing that he loved to drink it. Of course, there was also the bottle of wine-mixed water that Yan Laokou brought. The Second Aunt served some dishes and took the two children to eat in the inner room.

The three of them first drank two glasses together, and then ate and chatted.

"Second uncle, you don't have a formal job right now, why don't you help me out? I'll provide lunch and salary for you."

"Da Mao, you are being polite. I will ask that brat to come over and help tomorrow. He only needs to be given a meal. Why would he ask for a salary?"

"That won't do. We can't let them work for nothing. To be honest, this job in the middle of winter is not easy. If time wasn't tight, I wouldn't want to do renovations in the middle of winter."

"Da Mao, I have already notified everyone in the front yard to hold a meeting today. I will go back and tell Lao Yi later. As for Lao Liu in the backyard, you can ask your son to notify him." Yan Bugui said.

"Okay, let Guangfu go and notify them after dinner." The second uncle replied.

"Second Uncle, there will be a meeting later. Please read the provident fund draft you wrote to everyone, so that everyone can see the results of your work these days! Everyone can also give us suggestions, and when we submit it to the higher-ups, we can say that it was approved through our collective discussion. Another thing is that we can strike a blow over there..." Xu Damao nodded towards the Intermediate Court.

Liu Haizhong slapped his thigh excitedly, "It's really high, Damao, what's wrong with your brain? Why didn't I think of such a good idea! Let's do it this way!"

At this time, Liu Guangfu had finished his meal and was about to run out to notify people to attend a meeting. Xu Damao stopped him and handed him four yuan and cigarette coupons, "By the way, go to the supply and marketing cooperative at the street corner and buy me a Daqianmen cigarette. The rest is for you." After saying this, he touched Guangfu's head.

Yan Bugui felt a little uncomfortable watching this. It was a huge loss. They were supposed to have a meal at his house, but then it would be his third son who would earn the money.

Liu Guangfu ran away without waiting for anyone to say anything. A pack of cigarettes cost 3.5 yuan and he could earn 50 cents. He had never seen so much pocket money before. If he didn't run away, would he wait for his father to take it back? He decided that he must spend all the money before going back. The worst that could happen was that he would be beaten. It was not like he had never been beaten before.

"Second uncle, third uncle, you see it's hard to find a job in the current situation. There are many people in your two families, and you can't always let your children do odd jobs to make a living. It will be difficult for them to find a partner then." Xu Damao brought up a new topic.

Upon hearing this, the two uncles felt the same way. The second uncle had a higher income, but his eldest son's marriage almost emptied the family's savings, and his son ran away. The third uncle's family had more people, and his income was not that high, only more than 40 yuan, so it was really hard to support a large family. The two of them complained bitterly, telling about the difficulties of their families.

"I have an idea. Aren't there calls for soldiers now? Let's use our connections to send the older children to the army to train. It's better than going to the countryside to work. Although it's not mandatory now, it may be in the future. After demobilization, you can work in the factory's security department or the industrial safety system. If you can get a position, you can basically become an official after demobilization. Now that the work problem has been solved, is it difficult to find a partner?" Xu Damao was so excited that he touched his trouser pocket and remembered that he had given his cigarette to Old Yan and Guangfu had not returned from buying cigarettes yet.

The second uncle happened to see this scene and stood up to search for it. "Come and take mine. I have lotus flowers given to me by my apprentice. I usually don't want to give them away."

Xu Damao took the cigarette, took out one and lit it. Yan Laokou would not miss such an opportunity, and the three of them puffed away smoke.

"I think what Damao said is a good idea. It can not only reduce the burden on the family, but also provide some subsidies to the family. What do you think, Lao Liu?" Yan Bugui said.

"I get annoyed when I see my second kid. He hangs around the streets all day. It would be better if he joined the army. Out of sight, out of mind." said the second uncle.

At this time, Liu Guangtian also finished eating and came out from the inner room, "Dad, do you really want me to join the army?" He didn't want to stay at home for a long time. Who could stand being beaten with a belt every day? But if he really joined the army, it would be hard for the third brother. The two brothers were often beaten together, so their relationship was still good at that time.

"Yes, of course. If you have time, go to the streets and the conscription office to ask around."

At this time, Liu Guangfu came back jogging. He bought some firecrackers and hard candies and hid them secretly. "Dad, everyone has been notified. Brother Damao, your cigarettes."

"Yes, we are going to a meeting."

The three men finished their glasses of wine. The second uncle took the manuscript paper he had written and Xu Damao walked towards the central courtyard with a cigarette in his mouth. The second aunt, Guangtian and Guangfu hurried to catch up. The group of people walked with great momentum, looking like an ancient army about to go to war.