After bidding farewell to the third uncle, Su Wen returned home smoothly without meeting anyone else. It was winter now and it was extremely cold after the sun went down. No one was chatting in the courtyard. They were either eating at home or hiding in the house to keep warm by the stove.
Su Wen opened the door, and a wave of heat hit him. There were two stoves in the room, and the temperature inside was obviously much higher than outside. Take off your felt hat, take off your coat, and sit by the stove to warm yourself.
The sound of Su Wen opening the door when he came home was noticed by the second aunt who had been staring at his house. "Master, the new guy is back."
"Okay, I'll go find Lao Yi right now."
Not long after, Su Wen heard the sound of gongs and the cry of a boy who was in the stage of changing his voice, "It's a hospital meeting, it's a hospital meeting."
Su Wen sat in the room and did not move. He didn't know what Yi Zhonghai was going to do at the meeting, and he didn't want to get involved. Liu Haizhong waited for Su Wen to come out, so he asked Liu Guangtian to call someone.
There was a banging sound on the door. Su Wen stood up and opened the door. There was a young man shorter than himself standing outside. "Are you alright?"
"Hello, I'm Liu Guangtian. I'll call you when there's a general meeting in the courtyard."
"Oh, I'm Su Wen, the new resident. Do I also want to attend this conference?"
"Of course you have to attend the hospital meeting. I'll take you there if you go to the middle courtyard." Su Wen put on his coat and hat, closed the door and followed Liu Guangtian to the middle courtyard.
Liu Haizhong: "A new resident has moved into our courtyard today, and I ask everyone to come out and get to know each other. As the second uncle of the courtyard, I welcome Comrade Su Wen to our courtyard on behalf of our courtyard. Let me introduce to you, this is Comrade Yi Zhonghai, the oldest man in our compound, is an eighth-level fitter in the steel rolling mill and a famous master in the factory."
"Hello, Master Yi."
"Hello, Comrade Xiao Su."
"This is the third uncle of our compound, Yan Bugui, the teacher of the factory-affiliated Hongxing Primary School."
"Hello, Teacher Yan."
"Hello Xiaosu."
"I am the second uncle in the courtyard and a seventh-level blacksmith. My name is Liu Haizhong."
"Hello, second uncle."
"Hello, Su Wen, come and introduce yourself to everyone."
"Hello everyone, my name is Su Wen. I am a buyer at a steel rolling mill. I just moved into our compound today. Thank you very much for the welcome. I am a newbie here and there are still many things that I need to get used to. I hope all the old neighbors can bear with me. At the same time, Please give me your advice. I believe that with your help, I will soon integrate into this warm family. I look forward to spending a good time with you all, and I am also willing to contribute to the harmony and progress of our compound. Strength. Thank you all again.”
There was a burst of applause.
Yi Zhonghai: "Xiao Su said it very well. Our courtyard is an excellent courtyard. Neighbors must help each other, love each other, and help each other."
"Comrade Su Wen, I am Xu Damao, who lives in the west wing in front of your house. I am a film projectionist at the steel rolling mill." Xu Damao was very proud of his work.
"Xu Damao, you are still an apprentice and haven't become a full-time employee yet. You are just bragging and being a projectionist." Silly Zhu directly exposed Xu Damao's background.
"I will become a regular employee soon. I am no better than a stinky cook like you, who will serve people's lives all your life."
"You two, stop arguing. There's a new guy here, so pay attention to your image." Yi Zhonghai stopped the quarrel between the two. "Xiao Su, who else is there in your family? I think you just moved here alone."
"Sir, I have just been recruited into the steel rolling mill. My parents, brother, and younger brother are still in my hometown in the countryside in the north of the city, so I went to the city on my own."
"Xiao Su, aren't you right? How come they all share a house when they first recruit workers into the factory? Shouldn't single new employees live in dormitories?"
"I don't know much about this, sir, but this house was indeed assigned to me by the steel rolling mill. The procedures at the street office have been completed, and all the food and necessities books have been sent to me."
"As long as the formalities are completed, Xiao Su, you can live alone, you won't be able to finish the rations, right?"
"Master, you are joking. How can I not finish the rations? I only have 28 kilograms of rations a month, unlike you who have forty kilograms of rations. Director Wang of the subdistrict office also told me that I can only buy 22 kilograms of these 28 kilograms of rations. A little more. As a 1.8 meter tall boy, I don’t have enough to eat for a month.”
"I made a mistake. I forgot that being a buyer does not involve heavy physical labor. We only weigh 32 kilograms a month now. I am not considering that there are some people in our courtyard who are living in difficulty. I want to help them and make you more comfortable." Integrate into our big courtyard family quickly, forget it if you don't even have enough to eat."
"Master, even if I only have 32 kilograms of rations a month, I can't even give it to the neighbors in the courtyard. My parents, eldest brother and younger brother also need my help. You must have heard how difficult it is in the countryside now, right?"
Yan Bugui: "We won't ask for your things in vain. You are the buyer of the steel rolling mill. You will definitely be able to purchase good things in the future. When the time comes, you will buy them for the neighbors in our compound first, and then hand them over to the steel rolling mill. of."
"Third uncle, your idea is very dangerous. When I go to the countryside to collect things, I use the money from the steel rolling mill. The things I buy are the public property of the steel rolling mill. If you want to pick these things up first, what are you doing? Poaching corners of socialism.”
"You can't tell the difference between east, west and north after drinking two glasses of liquor. Xiao Su, your third uncle didn't mean that. He drank some wine at night and became confused." The third aunt hurriedly came to the rescue.
"Third aunt, you have to take good care of the third uncle from now on. Don't drink too much, and don't talk nonsense. You must not harm the public and enrich your private life. Is there anything else, first uncle? If nothing happens, I will go back first." Su Wen got up and wanted to go home. rest.
"Wait a minute, I have something to say." Xu Damao stopped Su Wen who was about to go home, and everyone looked at Xu Damao. Xu Damao coughed twice and cleared his throat, and said solemnly: "I'm holding a wedding this weekend and setting up two tables in the courtyard. It's difficult now and I can't invite everyone to eat. Just send one person from each family to come. I'll take care of more." Sorry."
"Xu Damao, why are you so stingy? You are not willing to treat everyone to a good meal when you get married." When Sha Zhu heard that Xu Damao was getting married, his eyes were complicated, with envy, jealousy, and confusion. He didn't understand how a bad guy like Xu Damao could have a girl willing to marry him.
"Si Zhu, just be envious. There's no point in being envious. Brother, I've already received my marriage certificate, so you can continue to be a bachelor."
Silly Zhu clenched his fists and wanted to suppress Xu Damao with force. Xu Damao ran away in a hurry, playing in circles with the crowd and Silly Zhu.
Yi Zhonghai: "You two, stop making trouble, Dongxu, please pull the pillar. Damao, for such a big happy event as your wedding, can you think of a way to invite the whole hospital to have a meal together? Everyone's stomachs are short of oil and water now." "Jia Dongxu pulled Shazhu away and sat near Qin Huairu across Jia Dongxu. You can still smell the fragrance when you sniff.
"Master, I really can't help it. Setting two tables is already the limit of my family. We can't let our family starve just to entertain the whole hospital. It's not that I'm reluctant to spend money. Now I have money but no place to buy anything." I'm a movie projectionist. I used to go to the countryside to show movies, and my fellow villagers gave me some souvenirs. Ask the third uncle how many times he has brought things back to me this year."
"Da Mao really rarely brings back souvenirs this year. It is normal for the countryside to have been hit by disasters in the past two years and not have anything to send."
"Even the ingredients for the two tables were bought and exchanged with others by my parents. My family's food rations were barely enough for our own consumption. If I accidentally ate too much, I would have to buy high-priced food. You have the money for today's high-priced food. It’s also difficult to buy, Brother Dongxu should know very well.”
Liu Haizhong: "Is it so difficult to buy things in Damao now?"
"Second uncle, I heard from second aunt that Guangqi will get married after graduation, right? Fortunately for you, it's summer. Summer supplies are not so tight yet. Maybe it will be fine after next summer's harvest. You don't have to be blind now. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Let's all leave. It's quite cold outside."
"Let's all go back, we have to go to work tomorrow." The first man concluded.
"Old Liu, why didn't you mention the house?" When she got home, the second aunt anxiously asked the second uncle about the house.
"Don't even think about these two side houses. This guy must have a good background. He can be assigned a room when he first entered the factory. Besides, he doesn't like these two houses at all. When he graduates, he will definitely be able to be assigned a room after he works. If you have a house, you may also be assigned to a building.”
"Don't I want him to live closer to us?"
"New Year's Day is coming soon. Let's wait until he comes back from vacation to discuss it."
Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu chased each other and ran home. They pushed the door open so hard that Liu Haizhong, who was drinking water, spilled all the water. Liu Haizhong stood up angrily and kicked the two brothers to the ground one by one.
"What are you two so crazy about? You're full and you're holding on, right? Stand up."
The two stood in front of Liu Haizhong with their heads lowered and shivering. Liu Haizhong slapped each of them loudly before letting the two brothers go back to their room to rest.
