Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

Yan Bugui said, "It's not a question of money. It's a question of time. If you really don't know what parts to get?! I'll give you a list. You go to the store and buy the bicycle parts according to the list. I'll help you assemble them."

"Old fox!" Yu Li muttered to herself, then said with a smile, "Dad! Buying new bicycle parts may not be cheap. Jiecheng and I just got married, so we don't have that much money on hand."

Yan Bugui heard the hidden meaning in Yu Li's words and replied with a smile: "In this case, I have no other choice." After that, Yan Bugui locked his bicycle and went into the main room.

Yu Li looked at Yan Bugui's back, she hated him so much! But she couldn't say it out loud. Helplessly, Yu Li could only go back to her room. A little after four o'clock in the afternoon, Yan Jiecheng came back. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Yu Li sitting at the table, looking unhappy. Yan Jiecheng was stunned for a moment, then walked to Yu Li, hugged her from behind, and asked: "Wife! What's wrong?! What makes you unhappy?!"

Yu Li asked back: "Yan Jiecheng, does your family have any problem with me?!"

Yan Jiecheng was stunned for a moment, pulled a chair over and sat down next to Yu Li, and asked, "What do you mean by that?!"

Yu Li said, "I went to Yan Jiefang and asked him to help me get a bicycle. At first, we were all fine, but he refused. Then I went to your dad and asked him to help me get a bicycle. He first said he didn't have time, and then told me to go to the department store to buy bicycle parts. It's obvious that they don't treat us as their own people."

Although Yan Jiefang was stupid, he was not too dumb. He asked, "What did you say to Jiefang?!"

"What else can we talk about?!" Yu Li replied, and then told Yan Jiecheng her plan. After listening to Yu Li's words, Yan Jiecheng pondered for a few seconds and said, "This is indeed a way to make money. However, my dad and his family won't help us do it."

Yu Li asked in confusion: "Why?!"

Yan Jiecheng said: "After my dad learned how to assemble bicycles from Jie Kuang, he thought about it and did it for a while. But later, someone reported my dad! But there was no evidence, and my dad had helped the street office and the public security bureau to assemble many bicycles, so he was fine. From then on, my dad stopped assembling bicycles. At most, he would assemble radios."

"What a pity!" Yu Li muttered, and asked, "What about our bicycles?!"

Yan Jiecheng thought about it and said, "I'll go talk to Yan Jiefang." Actually, the person Yan Jiecheng wanted to talk to the most was Yan Jiekuang, but Yan Jiekuang had always been at odds with him. For the sake of his own face, Yan Jiecheng would rather go to Yan Jiefang than to Yan Jiekuang.

At six o'clock in the evening, Yan Jiefang had dinner and returned to his room. As soon as Yan Jiefang sat down, there was a knock on the door. Yan Jiefang looked out through the window. Seeing Yan Jiecheng standing at the door, he shouted helplessly, "Come in!"

Yan Jiecheng pushed the door open and walked in, saying, "Jiefang, your sister-in-law is still looking for you this afternoon. It doesn't need to be too much. Please help me assemble a bicycle for your sister-in-law and I. How much does it cost? Give me a real number."

Yan Jiefang replied: "Brother, it's not that I don't give you face. I just don't have time. Otherwise, you can take some time to go to the recycling station and get some parts. I will help you assemble it. Then I will charge you a repair fee. What do you think?!"

Yan Jiecheng thought about it and thought this was a good idea, so he nodded and agreed without hesitation, saying, "Okay! I'll go to the recycling station later." Since the matter was settled, Yan Jiecheng didn't plan to stay with Yan Jiefang. After saying hello, Yan Jiecheng was about to leave, but when he thought about sending Yu Li to work in the evening, he stopped and asked, "Can you lend me your bicycle?!"

Yan Jiefang said, "Two cents an hour. How much time do you want to borrow?!"

"I'm your brother! You're asking me for money?!" Yan Jiecheng's eyes widened, and he looked at Yan Jiefang in disbelief. Yan Jiefang smiled and said, "Brother, this is what you said, brothers should settle accounts clearly. It will save trouble in the future."

"Hmph!" Yan Jiecheng snorted coldly and walked out angrily.

Yan Jiefang looked at Yan Jiecheng's back and muttered, "Jie Kuang is right. We can't keep this big brother anymore."

Since Yan Jiecheng came out of Yan Jiefang's room that night, Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li have been quiet. But not long after, Yan Jiecheng was seen carrying a sack when he came back from get off work. As for what was in the sack, no one knew. It was not until around two o'clock in the afternoon on the first day of Yan Jiefang's winter vacation that Yan Jiecheng came back from get off work, pulled Yan Jiefang into his room, pointed to the parts piled by the stairs, and said, "Jiefang, take a look at what parts are missing?!"

Yan Jiefang glanced at Yan Jiecheng and said, "Wait!" Then Yan Jiefang returned to his room, took a pair of gloves and the tools Yan Jiekuang had helped him to gather, and returned to Yan Jiecheng's room to start sorting out the old parts. After working for more than two hours, Yan Jiefang finally sorted out the parts. Yan Jiefang said, "None of the frames you brought back are good to use. There are bicycle rims, which are barely usable. Go to the department store and buy a frame and two inner and outer tires. If you want to get a bargain, go to the repair shop at the end of the alley. There may be old ones there."

Yan Jiecheng asked: "Jiefang, how many bicycles can these parts assemble?!"

Yan Jiefang replied: "Don't be fooled by the number of things. We can't even put together a complete car. Either this is missing or that is missing." Then he urged: "Do you want me to help you assemble it?!"

Yan Jiecheng gritted his teeth and replied, "Yes! I'll go to the auto repair shop at the end of the alley and take a look." After that, Yan Jiecheng went straight out the door.

After about ten minutes, Yan Jiecheng came back breathlessly holding something and asked, "Jiefang, are these the things?!"

Yan Jiefang took a look and nodded, saying, "Not bad! That's all!" Then Yan Jiefang took out the parts soaked in rust remover from the basin, polished them with sandpaper, and began to assemble the bicycle in order. Yan Jiecheng learned his lesson this time, holding a paper and a pen, and learning from the side.

Yan Jiefang worked for more than half an hour and finally assembled a bicycle. Yan Jiefang pushed the bicycle out of the house and tried it in the yard. After confirming that there was no problem, he made a gesture of counting money to Yan Jiecheng. Yan Jiecheng reluctantly took out a stack of money from Kong Lin's pocket and asked, "How much do you want?!"

Yan Jiefang replied: "Give me ten dollars!"

"So expensive?!" Yan Jiecheng muttered, and honestly took out a big unity and stuffed it into Yan Jiefang's hand. Yan Jiefang said: "Friendly reminder. Take the receipt for the pile of scrap you bought, and the receipt for the parts you bought at the repair shop at the corner of the alley, and go to the public security bureau to register the car. Otherwise, this car cannot be driven on the road." After that, Yan Jiefang went into Yan Jiecheng's house, packed up the tools, and went directly back to his own house next door.

Yan Jiecheng took out the lock and chain he had prepared long ago, wrapped them around the underside of the bicycle seat, then went into the house to get the receipt and pushed the bicycle out.