Siheyuan: Grassroots Counterattack

Li Tianyi took the book from Mr. Wang and flipped through it. It was a book about mechanics. Li Tianyi had been reading books on this subject before, so he was very familiar with the mechanical knowledge recorded in it and couldn't help but be fascinated by it.

Seeing that Li Tianyi was flipping through a book, Mr. Wang did not disturb him and went to deal with today's work.

Time passed quickly and hunger pulled Li Tianyi back from his book. He looked at the time and found that it was almost twelve o'clock, but Mr. Wang was still sitting at his desk processing documents.

Li Tianyi quickly stood up and apologized to Mr. Wang, "Mr. Wang, I'm sorry, I was so engrossed in reading that I didn't disturb your work, did I?"

Old Wang raised his head and pressed his eyebrows. "It's okay, Xiao Li. It's a good thing for young people to like reading. I see that you seem to know a lot about this book. Have you read this book before?"

"No, it's just that I have been interested in machinery since I was a child, so I have always been paying attention to this knowledge and have read a lot of books on this subject. So I was excited to see the prey and couldn't help but fall into this book."

"Okay, Xiao Li, you are really good. It seems that I have really discovered a genius." Old Wang was very happy. He had introduced Li Tianyi to the college as an interpreter just because he saw that he was young and wanted to help him. But now it seems that this little guy is still a treasure.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Tian said goodbye to Mr. Wang, "Mr. Wang, I'm going back first. I'll come back after I finish translating the book."

"Okay, go ahead and be careful on the road."

After leaving Mr. Wang’s office, Li Tianyi went to the finance office. Now the comrades in the finance office were also planning to go to the cafeteria for lunch, so Li Tianyi quickly asked him to handle the settlement for him.

After leaving the door, Li Tianyi went to the restaurant where he had been last time to have lunch, and then took the tram home.

In the evening, when Li's father and mother came home from get off work, Li Tianyi had already prepared dinner. Today, Li Tianyi went to the market to buy some meat and vegetables, and then took out some flour from the space, intending to make dumplings.

When Li Tianyi was very young, he began to learn how to cook from his mother. He didn't like going to the steel mill canteen, so when he was alone at home, he cooked for himself.

The dumplings were already wrapped and ready to be cooked when my parents got off work. Then my little sister's soft and cute voice came, followed by the sound of running, "Brother, where are you?"

"Jingjing, don't shout and disturb your brother." Li's mother's voice was heard afterwards.

Li Tianyi walked out of the house and caught his little sister who was running towards him. The little sister happily hugged Li Tianyi's neck, while his little brother followed his parents and walked over.

"Mom and Dad, go wash up first. The dumplings I made today will be ready for cooking soon."

When the younger brother heard that we were going to have dumplings tonight, he immediately shouted, "Oh, dumplings, dumplings!"

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong, who were following behind Li's father and mother, were slightly stunned. It wasn't a festival, so why were the Li family making dumplings?

But they didn't ask any more questions, they just listened and left. The relationship between them and the Li family was just that of ordinary neighbors, and it was just a matter of greeting each other when they met. Liu Haizhong and Jia Dongxu didn't think much about it, but Yi Zhonghai was calculating something in his mind.

When Yi Zhonghai entered the room, his wife was cooking cornmeal porridge. When she saw her husband come back, she sat at the table without saying a word, and no one knew what she was thinking.

"Lao Yi, what's wrong with you? Did something happen in the factory?"

Yi Zhonghai looked at his wife and said, "The Li family is making dumplings today."

Yi Zhonghai's wife looked at him strangely and said, "Old Yi, do you want to eat dumplings? I'll go buy some meat tomorrow and we'll make dumplings tomorrow night."

"Oh, what are you thinking about? I'm not craving for dumplings, but the Li family is making dumplings, why didn't they send some to the old lady?"

Aunt Yi looked at her husband strangely, not understanding why she wanted the Li family to send the child to the deaf old lady, since they were not related.

Yi Zhonghai saw Aunt Yi's doubts, so he explained, "The old lady is the ancestor of this courtyard. We should all respect her. Shouldn't we send some delicious food to her? Besides, how much can the old lady eat?"

Aunt Yi looked at Yi Zhonghai with an even more uneasy look in her eyes. Every time you bought pork heads or roast chicken before, you always ate them secretly behind closed doors, and I never saw you give them to the old lady.

Of course she couldn't say this, she just lamented her miserable life for marrying such a hypocrite.

At the Li family's side, everyone went back to the house. Li's mother went to cook dumplings. Li's father asked Li Tianyi, "Tianyi, why did you think of making dumplings, and with meat filling?"

"Dad, isn't this the first time I've received translation fees? I just wanted to celebrate."

"Oh, how much did you receive?" Father Li looked at Li Tianyi curiously.

Li Tianyi pointed with his fingers, and his father stood up in shock. "So much? It's more than two months' salary."

"So you got the book back this time?"

Li Tian nodded. "This time, Mr. Wang didn't set a time limit, but the book this time is relatively simple for me, so it should be quick."

"Okay, then you work hard. My Li family's ancestors are really in great trouble. No, I have to go back to the village to visit your grandparents' graves one day."

Li Tianyi had no objection. He had never seen his grandparents since he was a child. His father told him that the old man died of illness before his father got married. His father Li Youde had an older brother named Li Huaide, but he later joined the revolution and there has been no news of him since.

Li Tianyi didn’t know whether this Li Huaide was the person he knew, but at present there was no deputy director named Li Huaide in the steel rolling mill.

Later, Li Youde could no longer survive in the village, so he went to the city to find a job. Later, by chance, he entered the steel mill, and it was at the steel mill that he met Li's mother Zhang Guifen.

Zhang Guifen's family was simple, with only Zhang Guifen as the only child. Later, the two old people found a job for Zhang Guifen before they died.

Mother Li quickly cooked the dumplings. The younger brother ran into the house and called Li Tianyi and father Li to serve the dumplings, and he ran into the kitchen again.

Ever since Li's mother went to cook dumplings, he and his younger sister became Li's mother's followers and followed her to the kitchen.

The family had a happy dinner. Li Tianyi handed the money he received today to his mother. His mother did not accept all of it, but only took 50 yuan, saying that she would save it for Li Tianyi to marry a wife in the future, and let Li Tianyi take the remaining million yuan. They knew that Li Tianyi would not spend money recklessly.

Later, Yan Bugui came to ask for advice again. Li Tianyi spent an hour explaining to Yan Bugui. After half a month of study, Yan Bugui could already recite the Russian letters. Now Li Tianyi is teaching Yan Bugui some commonly used Russian words.

Half a month passed, and Li Tianyi had already returned the book to Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang gave the translation materials to a specialist to check and calibrate. When Li Tianyi went to submit the translation manuscript next time, he would settle the royalties for the previous time. Li Tianyi had no objection.

However, during this half-month meeting, a major event occurred that concerned everyone, that is, the New China began to divide people into different classes across the country.