Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

"Uncle, what are you talking about? If you have this unique skill of fishing, would you tell others about it? Okay, let's stop talking about the second one and try this bait."

Seeing Old Yan start fishing, Zhao Shanhe hooked a grass carp weighing about three pounds for him after about ten minutes. Yan Bugui felt a sinking sensation in his hand and knew he had caught a fish, so he shouted hurriedly.

"Jie Cheng, come and help me. I have caught a fish. It must be at least two kilograms. Small crucian carp are not that big."

When Jie Cheng and Jie Fang heard their father say that he had caught a fish weighing more than two kilograms, they ignored their fishing rods and ran over. One helped hold the fishing rod while the other held the scoop net. The three of them, father and son, took only a few minutes to get the fish ashore.

Jie Cheng and Jiefang had never caught such a big fish before, and they were extremely excited for a moment. Even Yan Bugui excitedly said to Zhao Shanhe.

"Shanhe, your bait is amazing. I only caught a fish this big 55 years ago. It looks like the fish are in good condition today. We should fish for a while longer."

Zhao Shanhe just smiled and said, "Let's fish for a while longer. I don't want to stay here with you guys in this cold weather. I'll make your bucket explode in a while, and then we'll see what you say."

Sure enough, after that, every few minutes one of the Yan family father and son would catch a fish, and each of them weighed more than 2 kilograms, which even confused Yan Bugui, who claimed to be a fishing expert.

After catching another 3-jin grass carp, Yan Jiecheng came up to Zhao Shanhe and said, taking advantage of the fact that he was Zhao Shanhe's classmate.

"Shanhe, you are so mean. Why didn't you use this skill earlier? If I can fish like this every day, why would I need to do odd jobs? Don't you know that carrying heavy bags is not a job for humans?"

Although Zhao Shanhe had a good relationship with him at school, even a master would have to hold back when teaching an apprentice, let alone a mere classmate.

"Jie Cheng, if this technology is used every day, do you know what will happen? By then, I estimate that all the fishermen in the entire Sijiu City will run to our courtyard, and this technology will definitely not be preserved.

It would be better if we secretly fished a little every now and then, at least we could have some meat at home every now and then, and we should be content with what we have."

Yan Jiecheng thought about it and it was indeed true. If this technology was known to others, the consequences would be unimaginable...

The third uncle caught several fish in a row and was so happy. He walked over and said to Zhao Shanhe.

"Shanhe, Uncle San wants to thank you. You don't know that Jiecheng is the time when they can eat. I was so worried all day. Fortunately, you came to take us fishing today. Otherwise, I really don't know how I would live on this 27 yuan salary."

When Zhao Shanhe heard Yan Bugui tell him that the salary was 27 yuan, he couldn't help but have some ideas and asked along the lines of what Old Yan said.

"Uncle, your salary of 27 seems to be the salary set by the Military Control Commission at that time, right? Has it not increased in all these years? I heard from others that you started teaching before liberation."

When Yan Bugui heard Zhao Shanhe talking about this matter, it was as if the sluice gates of the reservoir were finally opened to release water, and all his grievances finally had a place to go.

"That's not true. I, your uncle, have only achieved this much in my life. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, I taught in a private school and saved some money to buy the house I live in now. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the private school was gone, and I was recruited by Red Star Primary School to continue teaching. After the evaluation, my salary has always been 27 yuan, and it has not increased once in all these years. Many teachers who came after me now have higher salaries than me. I, your uncle, have lived a very miserable life."

"Uncle, have you ever mentioned this to the school leaders?"

"Why haven't you mentioned it? I've applied so many times, but every time I was told that it was not approved at the leadership meeting. I don't know what went wrong."

Zhao Shanhe looked at Yan Bugui with pity. It seemed that this old miser really didn't understand that where there are people, there is the world of martial arts.

"Uncle, for the sake of our relationship as neighbors, I will tell you about the mistake you made. It's up to you whether you want to listen or not.

The first point is that you can’t always be late or leave early, and you can’t just slip away when there are no classes. Otherwise, if you’re not there when school leaders look for you, even the most generous leader won’t promote you.

Also, you should give gifts to your direct supervisor during festivals. After all, if everyone else gives gifts but you don’t, how could they not remember you?

As long as you can do these two things, when your school is evaluated and the salary increases are made next year, you will definitely be one of them. However, you must keep your mouth shut after giving the gift, and don't let anyone know about it. If you do that, the school leaders will definitely dismiss you even for the sake of face."

Yan Bugui immediately retorted after hearing what he said.

"I've given gifts before, but there was still no response. The method you mentioned shouldn't work, right?"

Seeing that Old Yan's words were true and did not seem to be false, Zhao Shanhe asked again.

"Uncle San, which leader did you send? And what did you send? Tell me so I can give you some advice and see what went wrong."

"In 56, a new leader came to our grade group. I heard from others that he loved to eat fish, so I gave him two freshly caught crucian carps. I couldn't bear to eat them myself, but I gave them to him right after I caught them. They were fresh.

In the end, the other party accepted the gift but did not do the job. Since then, I have stopped giving gifts to school leaders."

Zhao Shanhe's mouth twitched when he heard this... At this moment, he really wanted to grab the old man by the collar and scold him. You are using this to test the leader? Which leader can't stand such a test?

"Uncle, if you believe me, today I will send two three-jin grass carps to your grade leader and your school's dean of studies, and then buy two Daqianmen and four bottles of Fenjiu during the Spring Festival, and send them to these two again. If you don't have enough tickets, I can lend them to you first.

If you just follow my advice, and if you don’t get a raise next year, I’ll pay for all the things you buy, and you don’t have to pay for the tickets, how about that?”

Although Yan Bugui was stingy, he still had some dignity. He knew that what Zhao Shanhe meant was that the gifts he had given him before were really not presentable, but the other party did not say it explicitly, so he saved some face for him.

But now when I think back to the two crucian carps I gave away, I just feel it's such a pity. If you think the gift is too little, just tell me. At least I can still make a pot of fish soup when I go back.

Time always passes quickly when chatting. The wooden barrels brought by Jie Cheng and Jiefang were already full, and they had gone back early. Yan Bugui saw that the bait was used up and his barrel was almost full, so he said to Zhao Shanhe with satisfaction.

"Shanhe, it's almost time, should we go back?"

In fact, Zhao Shanhe had already been impatient, and when he saw Old Yan propose to go back, he immediately agreed.

"Okay, Uncle San, since the bait is gone, let's go back."