Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

He Lai leaned against the door for a long time before Shen Dandan and others came out of the office.

But everyone had a small package in their hands and a smile on their faces.

"Oh, it seems like you all like it. That's good, let's get back to work."

He Lai waved his hand and prepared to send them away.

"Wait, we got Xiao'e's gift, but what about Chief He? Is there nothing? We are watching those big wooden boxes! We can't guarantee that we won't say anything wrong after we go back."

Shen Dandan blocked He Lai's way and said with a smile.

"Hey, Sister Dandan, you all have got the watermelons, but you still want my sesame seeds?" He Lai said with a wry smile.

"What watermelon, sesame, I also have garlic! I don't care, I have to take something back anyway, otherwise if Brother Liu asks about it, what am I going to say!"

Shen Dandan said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I'll give you some. Actually, the things in these boxes don't belong to me alone. They have to be shared among many people, so I'll only give you a small box."

He Lai had no choice but to go back into the office, take out a lot of fruits from the big box, and fill up Shen Dandan and the others' small box.

"That's all. You can carry it back by yourselves." He Lai placed the small box in front of them, said this, and left.

"Hmph, just carry it by yourself. Sisters, let's carry it together!" Shen Dandan immediately called on her sisters to carry the boxes.

……

In the following days, many people came to him and wanted He Lai to continue taking them hunting, but He Lai refused on the grounds that the golden eagle was no longer in his hands.

When the factory leaders saw that there was indeed no golden eagle here when He Lai came, they had no choice but to go back.

However, a major event happened in China at this time. Lu Zixuan from Gangcheng donated 10,000 tons of grain to China, which gave China a sigh of relief from the food crisis.

This made China extremely grateful to Lu Zixuan, a Hong Kong businessman, and it gave the green light to Lu Zixuan's economic and trade, especially the lighter industry. Not only did it sell all the plastic lighters to him, it also claimed that it would give him as many as he wanted.

Lu Zixuan did not disappoint He Lai's expectations and promoted plastic lighters all over the world. Orders and sales were growing rapidly and he really made a fortune every day.

A few months passed quickly. The winter of 61 was colder than any of the previous ones. The temperature reached minus degrees Celsius at night. There was no way out. It was really cold and hungry!

Even the black market had to choose to open at around four in the morning because it was too cold and no one wanted to come out.

During this period, He Lai often went out late at night to distribute supplies. Several times, he almost ran into patrolmen, but He Lai hid in space in time and resolved the situation.

It seems that the government still attaches great importance to He Lai, the mastermind behind the incident, and wants to find him out to see who he is and what his intentions are.

It was February now, and a group of people were sitting by the fire and chatting in Wu Juan.

"This damn weather is so damn cold, I'm almost freezing to death. I'd rather stay in the cafeteria than go out. It's warm there."

Sha Zhu breathed out, rubbing his hands and said.

"Okay, Brother Zhuzi, I'll tell Director Li tomorrow and ask you to work overtime in the cafeteria at night and make supper for those on duty, okay?"

He Lai said with a smile.

"No, no, no, I'm just kidding. The cafeteria is not as good as home!" Sha Zhu quickly waved his hand to refuse.

Everyone covered their mouths and laughed. The night shift these days is not so easy, so try not to work it if possible.

"Come on, come on, have a bowl of sweet potato porridge to warm your body." At this time, Wu Juan came over with a pot of sweet potato porridge.

"I'll do it, I'll do it. Aunt He, please sit down." Sha Zhu immediately stood up, took the pot and bowl from Wu Juan, and started serving food to everyone.

"Grandma He, the porridge you cook is better than the one my father cooks." Xiao Yangzi shouted and said immediately.

"Well, Xiao Yangzi, drink more. Grandma He cooked a lot!" Wu Juan said with a smile, touching Xiao Yangzi's head.

He Lai curled his lips. How could it not taste good? If you just put shark fin and bird's nest in it, it would be strange if it didn't taste good.

Didn’t he see that old kid Shazhu was enjoying this “ordinary” sweet potato porridge? This guy must have known it a long time ago.

That's because Wu Juan didn't know what shark fin was and thought it was broken into pieces of vermicelli.

If Wu Juan knew that these were bird's nests and shark fins, she would probably be heartbroken. It was also He Lai's fault for giving her so much at once, a whole bunch of them, and Wu Juan thought they were cheap stuff and ate as much as she wanted.

Speaking of bird's nests, He Lai made a special effort to look around and took down all the swallow's nests under the eaves of several nearby courtyards, harvesting several pairs of swallows, so that he would have a steady supply of bird's nests in the future.

"Brother Zhuzi, are you going to sleep tonight? Be careful and hold on!"

He Lai looked at Sha Zhu who was drinking sweet potato porridge non-stop and gave him a reminder.

"Hey, He Yuzhu, why haven't you ever had porridge? You keep drinking it!" Xu Damao also said with disdain.

“Cough cough cough…” Sha Zhu was choked by what they said.

"What are you two doing? Zhuzi can drink if he wants. It's no big deal! Zhuzi is fine. Drink. If you like to drink, take all the porridge in the kitchen."

Wu Juan said generously.

Sha Zhu really wanted to say, "Okay, I'll take it!", but when he saw He Lai's contemptuous look, he held back.

"No, no, I'm full."

"You kid, you're still so polite to your aunt! I'll go get you some more." After Wu Juan said that, she took the pot to the kitchen.

After Wu Juan left, He Lai whispered, "Don't tell my mother what's inside! Do you know?"

Shazhu and Yushui nodded. They were the only ones here who knew what was inside, while everyone else only knew that there were good things inside.

"Hey, Xiao Laizi, what is this? I was wondering why this sweet potato porridge is so delicious! Even He Yuzhu, who works in the kitchen, can't stop drinking it." Xu Damao asked curiously.

"Don't ask, just drink it! Hush!" He Lai said.

"Good stuff! Good stuff!" Wu'er began to shout in He Lai's arms.

He Lai immediately took a pear from his pocket and gave it to her, using it to cover her mouth.

When the other children saw the pears, they immediately gathered around.

"Don't just look at me, ask your Aunt Yushui if she wants to go." He Lai directly threw the ball to Yushui.

The rain was speechless and could only take a group of children to the next door to get pears.

"By the way, Xiao Laizi, are you going to participate in this year's race around the city?" Xu Damao asked.

"I won't go. Let me give you the opportunity." He Lai refused directly.

At this time, our comrade He Zhan also came back.

"Dad, come over and warm yourself by the fire." He Lai quickly called He Zhan over.

"Yeah, everyone is here. What are you talking about?" He Zhan shook his clothes, took off his hat, walked over and asked.

"We didn't talk about anything, just Brother Damao, asking Dad if you're still going to the race around the city this year?"

He Lai said with a smile.

"As for me, it's all right. Why, Xiao Laizi, you're not going to participate?"

He Zhan asked.

"Well, I won't go. The weather is too cold and it's easy to catch a cold."

He Lai made up a random excuse.

"If you don't want to go, then I won't go either. This is something for you young people to do, so I won't join in the fun."

He Zhan remembered that last year's race almost cost him his life, and seeing that He Lai was not going, he simply chose not to go either.

"Then Brother Damao, run well, the honor of our steel mill depends on you to protect it!"

He Lai said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I'll do my best." Xu Damao didn't force He Lai and his son.

"The porridge is here!" Wu Juan came out with the porridge in her hand. "Oh, the boss is back. Come and try the porridge I cooked!"

"Okay, a bowl is just right to warm up the body." He Zhan took a bowl and started drinking.

Wu Juan just looked at He Zhan, wanting to hear some praise from him.

It's a pity that He Zhan didn't know how to eat. He finished the meal in just a few mouthfuls, took a long breath, and served another bowl without saying anything.

Wu Juan was a little unhappy when she saw that He Zhan only cared about drinking porridge and didn't say a single nice word.