Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

It's Laba Festival again

As in previous years, on this day, Liu Guozheng and Lou Xiao'e will go to the welfare home to deliver Laba porridge. Although they are called Laba porridge, they are actually just ingredients prepared in advance, which they can just cook in the pot when they arrive at the welfare home. In addition, there are some candies and clothes, which are prepared for the children in the welfare home for the New Year. Now there are only twenty-two days left to the New Year. In the next period of time, if there is nothing important, Liu Guozheng will stay in the village.

Naturally, the arrival of the two was warmly welcomed by everyone in the welfare home. Whenever Liu Guozheng and Lou Xiao'e came to the welfare home, it was the happiest time for the children, even more lively than the Chinese New Year.

There are three such days in a year that Liu Guozheng and Lou Xiaoe must go to, namely the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Laba Festival. Every time they go, they bring various snacks and fruits, which are the children's favorite things.

After having lunch with the children at the welfare home, Liu Guozheng and Lou Xiaoe returned to the office.

"Brother Zheng, sister-in-law, you haven't been here for several days."

Seeing Liu Guozheng and Lou Xiaoe coming, Xu Damao hurriedly stood up, and Yu Li and Xu's mother also came to the living room, each holding their children.

"Guozheng, Xiao'e, what have you been busy with these days? You haven't come to the office yet. Do you really trust Damao and Dabao?"

"Aunt Xu, Damao and Dabao are both my brothers, so of course I'm relieved. Besides, aren't you still watching over them?"

"Guo Zheng, you are still good at talking."

After chatting for a few words, Lou Xiao'e, Yu Li, and Xu's mother took the children to the side room. The topics that women talk about are different from those of men.

"Da Mao, where is that kid Da Bao?"

Liu Guozheng looked around but didn't see Li Dabao.

"Something happened at their factory, so they went back."

"I see. What have you been busy with these days?"

"I'm not busy. I occasionally go to the factory to report for work. Most of the time I stay at home to take care of the kids. By the way, Brother Zheng, I didn't know you didn't come these days. Did something serious happen?"

Liu Guozheng said casually: "What's the big deal? Did the sky fall?"

"You know Cui Dake, right? That guy was sentenced to ten years in prison."

When talking about ten years, Xu Damao smacked his lips. Even though it happened three or four days ago, Xu Damao still couldn't believe that Cui Dake was so brave.

"Oh, it's true that the sky has fallen. It should be said that it's Qin Huairu's sky that has fallen."

Liu Guozheng also heard about Qin Huairu and Cui Dake's affair.

When He Yushui heard that the two were going to get married, she was happy for several days. She thought that if Qin Huairu got married, Sha Zhu would be able to find a wife. But in the end, she was disappointed. After spending the 200 yuan she had prepared and going on so many blind dates, Sha Zhu still didn't like any of them.

"Hehe, Cui Dake's world must have collapsed. He has only been in the city for two or three months, and he has put himself in jail. As for whether Qin Huairu's world has collapsed, that's another matter. You may not know since you haven't been to the office these days. Qin Huairu comes to buy things every night. She only wants pure meat sausages, and she will buy two pounds of pork belly from time to time. Her living standard has risen sharply."

"It seems that Qin Huairu has found a new partner? Or is she hooking up with He Yuzhu again?"

"Brother Zheng, you guessed wrong. Sha Zhu has changed a lot now. He no longer associates with Yi Zhonghai and no longer licks Qin Huairu."

"That's not right. I heard from Yu Shui that He Yuzhu has been on so many blind dates, but he didn't like any of them. Could it be that he is still pestering Liang Ladi?"

At this point, Liu Guozheng was puzzled. Since Sha Zhu was no longer hanging around Qin Huairu, why hadn't this guy chosen anyone yet? He had wasted the two hundred dollars that He Yushui had spent.

Xu Damao said with a smile: "No, Liang Ladi doesn't like him."

"So what does He Yuzhu do every day?"

"Hehe, after get off work I go home with my lunch box. From time to time I have a drink with Yan Jiecheng. I don't know anything else."

"My goodness, how did the two of them get together? Didn't He Yuzhu always look down on the Yan family?"

"According to gossip, the two often go to the Eight Great Hutongs."

"Da Mao, who did you hear that from?"

"They are workers from the steel mill. Someone has seen them."

After listening to Xu Damao's words, Liu Guozheng seemed to understand why He Yuzhu stopped licking Qin Huairu. He found a substitute. But Liu Guozheng didn't understand what was going on in Shazhu's mind. He looked down on those virgin girls and fell in love with prostitutes. What a weirdo.

"By the way, Damao, you haven't told me what Cui Dake did?"

"Misappropriating purchase funds and setting shady prices."

"My goodness, is Cui Dake so wild? He was sentenced to ten years in prison. How much money did he embezzle?"

"It seems to be one thousand."

"Is there something else going on here? Ten years is a bit serious."

"Of course there was. Li Huaide personally gave the order, saying it was to set an example to warn future generations. Cui Dake was also fired from the steel mill and his courtyard house was taken back."

"Killing the chicken to scare the monkey?"

"Yes, Cui Dake is that chicken."

To be honest, Liu Guozheng didn't believe Li Huaide's so-called killing the chicken to scare the monkey. Most of those who work in purchasing or logistics have gray income, and it is the same in all walks of life.

Li Huaide often embezzled purchase funds, took the price difference, and took kickbacks.

"Da Mao, what happened to Cui Dake that requires a thousand dollars?"

"This involves Shazhu."

Then Xu Damao told what he had heard about what happened between Sha Zhu and Cui Dake.

Combined with what Xu Damao said at the beginning, and Qin Huairu's behavior in the days after Cui Dake went to jail, Liu Guozheng understood that Qin Huairu was getting together with Li Huaide again.

No wonder Li Huaide personally instructed that Cui Dake's case be handled strictly and quickly.

"Brother Zheng, why are you here today? Have all the roads near the village been repaired?"

At this time, Li Dabao came back.

"Dabao, who told you about the road repair?"

"What a fool."

"Well, it can't be called road repair, it's just a simple way of filling potholes and smoothing the road surface."

Liu Guozheng has been busy these days in the village. Every day he leads people to carry ash, gravel, and brick slag to fill potholes and repair roads. He mainly focuses on those roads that are frequently traveled, and does some simple repairs to make do with them.

“Will that road be repaired in the future?”

"Brother, you are really bold. Do you know how much it will cost to repair the road? There are so many things involved. When spring comes, at most we will repair the road near the food factory. As for the rest, it depends on what Secretary Jiao says. Many things need Secretary Jiao to coordinate."

"Well, I took it for granted."

"However, the road we have filled with gravel and brick slag is not bad to walk on. We can just fill in any potholes when the time comes."

Liu Guozheng's idea was very simple. If Jiao Kangzhan failed to coordinate the road construction issue, he would organize people to regularly repair the road surface and fill potholes.

Anyway, there won't be very heavy vehicles on the road these days, so as long as we fill the potholes with ash and gravel, it will be no problem to last a year.

"As long as the pit is not too big, it's fine. Last time when we helped someone push a cart, Damao and I were splashed with mud."

"Hahaha, it just shows that you two are stupid. You have a car but you don't want to use it. You have to push it yourself. You can't blame others."

"That's because there's no rope on the car."

Talking about the last time they pushed the cart, Li Dabao and Xu Damao both felt a little embarrassed because they had done something rather foolish.

"By the way, Brother Zheng, have Xiaohao and Yushui set a date for their wedding?"

Li Dabao directly changed the subject, saying that it is better to talk less about "embarrassing" things.

"It's settled, on the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month before the New Year."

"Hopefully it'll be a nice day."

"Anyway, the time has been set. Even if the knife is cut that day, the time will not be changed."

"Okay, Damao and I will go and help in advance."

"Why do we need to do it in advance? The office will be closed by then. Damao will be at home with his parents for the New Year. Are you going to spend the New Year with your father-in-law this year?"

"That's right, forget about it. I won't go. My father-in-law's house is not spacious and it's a bit cramped. I'd better go to the village to have some fun."

Thinking of the small room in Yu Li's house, Li Dabao really didn't want to go to her house for the New Year. He had already decided that when he went to visit his father-in-law's house on the second day of the New Year this year, he should be careful and not drink too much. He was used to living in a big room, and it felt really cramped to live in a small room.

"Brother Zheng, I also want to take my wife and children to the village to celebrate the New Year."

Celebrating the New Year in the village is very lively, and Xu Damao also wants to go.

"Da Mao, when will your wife have her holiday?"

"New Year's Eve. Huh?"

Xu Damao reacted. He was different from Li Dabao. Li Dabao's wife Yu Li was the accountant of the office. Although it was not known when the office would be closed, it would definitely be earlier than the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Brother Zheng, when will our office be closed for holiday this year?"

"The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day of the Little New Year in the north, which is the same time the food factory is closed. We will be closed at this time every year, and we will go back to work on the 16th day of the first lunar month."

"Brother Zheng, this makes me want to resign from the steel mill."

"Da Mao, you should be content. You are no different from being on vacation now. The time you spend at the factory is still pitifully short."

"Brother, that's what I said, but it's not a real holiday after all. If there's anything, you have to go to the factory at any time."

"It's up to you. When I leave tonight, I'll leave my car with you. If you want to go, just drive there yourself."

"It can only be the."

Resigning from the steel mill and asking my wife to resign from the supply and marketing cooperative were both things I could only think about in my mind. Whenever I raised the issue of resignation, I would definitely be strongly opposed by both sides' parents.

People of this era are all thinking about how to get into state-owned enterprises and supply and marketing cooperatives. No one ever thinks about withdrawing from them. Xu Damao can imagine how great the resistance will be.

"By the way, I'm here for another reason, which is to change the office's closing time to Tuesday."

Originally, Liu Guozheng didn't care about this problem. Two days ago, Zhang Xia from the street office called him and talked about the problem of rest on Sunday. Because most people rest on Sunday, they wanted to buy some meat and sausages to improve their lives on the day off. As a result, the office was closed, which made the people nearby very distressed.

The same thing happened to Zhang Xia. Several times when she had guests at home, she wanted to go to the office to buy something, and the result was predictable.

This happened several times in a row. Zhang Xia couldn't help but call Liu Guozheng and tell him about it.

After careful consideration, Liu Guozheng decided to change the rest time to Tuesday, and still adopt the policy of one day off a week. This was determined by the nature of the office. The current office is more like a small shop, and two days off a week is somewhat unrealistic.

"Also, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the day the food factory closes, you two should also go. Fortunately, after a busy year, the factory is going to hold a commendation meeting and give out some hard-to-get gifts as rewards to those who are rated as outstanding employees."

"Brother Zheng, does every department have this outstanding employee?"

When it comes to selecting outstanding employees, Xu Damao became interested. Strictly speaking, he and Li Dabao were also employees of the food factory, but they were only part-time.

"Of course, if the department has more people, there will be more places available."

"What about our sales department?"

Not only Xu Damao, but Li Dabao also became interested. Who wouldn't want to get something?

"In theory, yes."

"Brother Zheng, why do I have a bad feeling?"

"Haha, Damao, it's right to have this hunch. Tell me yourself, how is the work going between you and Dabao?"

"Brother Zheng, this can't be blamed on us. It's just that the policy doesn't allow it, and there's nothing we can do."

"When the time comes, I'll give you a consolation prize."

"Brother Zheng, what is the consolation prize?"

"A box of sausages or a box of soda."

"That's good too. When I go to my father-in-law's house during the Chinese New Year, I can bring a box of sausages and two bottles of good wine. That's quite impressive."

It’s true, nowadays when visiting relatives, people bring all kinds of things, whatever they have at home.

Until the 1980s and 1990s, when visiting relatives, especially visiting the father-in-law's house, the bamboo baskets were filled with white flour buns at the beginning. With the development of the economy, white flour buns were gradually replaced by apples, as well as various snacks, some early drinks and the like.

Later, in the new century, there were more things to bring when visiting relatives, all of which were beautifully packaged gift boxes, including apples, pears, milk, and so on.

The only thing that remains unchanged is the big steamed bun that northerners bring when visiting relatives. This big steamed bun is larger in appearance than ordinary steamed buns, and is filled with red dates. There are also red date steamed buns, which are a must-have for visiting relatives during the New Year in rural areas of the north.

"By the way, Brother Zheng, speaking of wine, Li Huaide said a few days ago that he was going to order a batch of wine during the Chinese New Year. I wonder if he called you yet?"

"No, we'll talk about it later. Aren't you the one who delivers all the things Li Huaide wants? And Dabao also delivers Lu Ming's every year, and this year is no exception. Once they have counted them, they will probably come directly to you."

In the past two years, Liu Guozheng helped Li Huaide and Lu Ming get the things they needed for the New Year, and Xu Damao and Li Dabao delivered them respectively. In other words, Li Dabao had no intention of climbing up the ladder, otherwise he would have been promoted long ago.

When it comes to promotion at the beginning, Xu Damao was quite enthusiastic. But after he became a section chief, he no longer had the desire to climb up. In his words, it was too troublesome and not free.