Chapter 111

Qin Huairu sighed and said, "It was Li Huaide who asked for a divorce. Xiao Ning said that she had wanted to divorce him for a long time, but I heard her crying secretly when she was sleeping at night. This Li Huaide is really not a good guy. Brother Jiandong, if you have a chance, you must teach him a lesson. This kind of person is really too bad."

Li Jiandong nodded, but the doubts in his heart deepened.

Li Huaide got back on his feet thanks to Ye Xiaoning, so how dare he take the initiative to file for divorce?
Although he was kicked out of the leadership team of the steel rolling mill this time, his cadre rank was not lost. As long as Leader Ye was willing to help him, he could be reused with just one word.

Unless he had already torn his face with the Ye family, didn't he accompany Ye Xiaoning home during the New Year and other holidays? This shows that there is still room for improvement in their relationship, but Li Huaide still decisively separated from Ye Xiaoning, so there is only one result.

"He may be hooking up with someone else."

Li Jiandong felt that this was the only possibility, otherwise Li Huaide's behavior was not justifiable.

This is not good news. It would be better if this person has less power than Ye's father. But if he has more power than Ye's father, Li Huaide is likely to rise because of this, and he will definitely cause some trouble.

Li Jiandong soon confirmed this guess, Li Huaide did have a new "official woman".

And this woman was Liu Lu, who had just been transferred from the higher-level department and replaced Li Huaide as the director of the Propaganda Department.

It is said that this woman's family is even more powerful than Ye Xiaoning's. Fortunately, Li Huaide has not succeeded yet and is only in the stage of conquering Liu Lu. Liu Lu is also a smart woman and doesn't feel anything about Li Huaide's flattery.

In fact, going to support the border areas is not necessarily a bad thing now, because the country encourages it and the local governments attach importance to it. The treatment of educated youths who go to support the border areas is very good and they are very popular.

As soon as Li Jiandong got up that morning, he received a notice from the street that a meeting would be held.

If he had to catch the four pests, he would be willing to join in the fun. After all, his sharpshooter skill was almost at the maximum level. Not only could he complete the task easily by shooting sparrows every day, but he could also take the shot sparrows back home to eat.

Return to the courtyard.

He Daqing asked in a muffled voice. Although he could eat sparrows by killing the four pests, he also had to swatter flies with a fly swatter every day when he went to work. This made He Daqing, who usually liked to be lazy, very unhappy.

The residents in the courtyard knew that he was going to the meeting, and they all gathered around to ask what the meeting was about.

Apart from eradicating the four pests, the biggest event in the past two months has been the support of educated youth to the border areas. This has been widely publicized in newspapers, and similar reports can be heard everywhere on the radio.

"Jiandong, this way."

On the contrary, Yan Bugui doesn't care about these. To him, teaching is like swatting flies. He dares to do anything. The key is that he can get free sparrows by killing the four pests, which makes him very comfortable.

The purpose of this street meeting was mainly to publicize the deeds of the young people who went to the border areas and the praise from leaders at all levels. Of course, it also called on everyone to encourage the support of the border areas. Having more people go can also reduce the pressure on work stations and housing in the streets.

"There is no mission this time. The main reason is that the higher-ups asked all places to learn from those 2,000 comrades. Let's take advantage of the situation to spread the word. I personally think that supporting the border areas is a good thing. You can contribute to the country wherever you go."

Director Zheng said speechlessly: "What four pests are we talking about? Even if we are in a hurry, we can still save a few days. Today's meeting is to talk to you about supporting the border areas."

When they saw Li Jiandong, the street leaders and staff all took the initiative to greet him.

When Li Jiandong heard about supporting the border areas, he immediately lost interest.

Li Jiandong also responded with a smile.

If someone in the hospital is willing to go, Li Jiandong will definitely not stop them, but if he is asked to help promote and encourage others to go, Li Jiandong cannot do such a thing.

But forget about supporting the border areas.

Otherwise, by winter the sparrows will be gone, and you won’t have anywhere to catch them if you want to.

In mid-July, the weather suddenly became violent. After the beginning of the dog days, the sun was like a high-end oven, and it was very hot even at night.

No tasks, no pressure.

Moreover, this woman is a little proud. The more Li Huaide licks her, the more she looks down on people like Li Huaide.

Li Jiandong made his point directly so that Director Zheng wouldn't waste his breath on him.

"Director Zheng, if it's about supporting the border areas, forget it. My opinion may be different from yours. Besides, there is no compulsion from above, so there shouldn't be any mission, right?"

Taking into account that many of the uncles on the street are workers, the meeting was scheduled after get off work. Li Jiandong finished his day's work at the steel rolling mill and went directly to the street auditorium after get off work.

Director Zheng arrived early today and waved to Li Jiandong from a distance.

In the past, the streets often organized the extermination of the four pests, and many residents suffered from heatstroke under the scorching sun. The activities did not stop until the beginning of the dog days.

Li Jiandong was drowsy throughout the meeting and only woke up after the meeting was over.

The so-called "supporting the border areas" means going to the countryside and mountains. Initially, there was no concept of "going to the countryside and mountains"; it was not proposed until after 68. During this period, supporting the border areas was still very glorious and it was entirely voluntary. Of course, units like the streets would still publicize it.

So Director Zheng didn't insist anymore and said with a smile:

Li Jiandong walked over quickly and asked with a smile, "Director Zheng, what is the meeting today? It's not going to be about exterminating the four pests in this hot weather, is it?"

However, there is something hotter than the weather, that is, the passion of those students who have received "higher" education.

When Director Zheng saw how resistant he was, he knew it would be difficult to convince him. Besides, Li Jiandong was different from others. He was now a cadre at the same level as himself. If he spoke to him in a preaching manner, it would easily cause him to be disgusted.

Yan Bugui wished he could kill the four pests every day, even in the hottest days of summer.

"Old Li, what are you promoting at today's meeting? Are you going to start another round of extermination of the four pests?"

Grilled, fried, smoked, all taste great.

Especially in the past two days, the leaders above spoke highly of these young people who went to the border areas. All the young people were excited for a while, and all localities began to attach great importance to going to the border areas.

"Daqing, you seem to be quite resistant to the elimination of the four pests. I tell you that this idea is wrong. The four pests affect the lives of all of us, so they should be eliminated every once in a while."

He Daqing’s cooking skills are amazing, and he can make any ingredient delicious.

But there is one bad thing, which is that it is not easy to come back once you go there.

Another two weeks passed.

"Okay, what are you guys arguing about? Who said we should exterminate the four pests? This time the conference room is promoting support for the border areas. You should all know what support for the border areas means, right?"

When he heard that it was about supporting the border areas, Yan Bugui immediately lost interest.

He Daqing didn't care. Both men in his family had jobs, and one of his daughters was in junior high school and the other was in kindergarten. Supporting the border areas had nothing to do with his family.

Only Liu Haizhong asked:
"Deputy Director Li, do you think we should respond to this matter? If you need someone from my family, we can go there during broad daylight hours."

Liu Haizhong listens to the radio every day and has some understanding of supporting the border areas.

It is said that local governments attach great importance to young people who go to border areas, and it is easy for them to enjoy the treatment of cadres after they go there.

In Liu Haizhong's eyes, a Beicheng household registration is not as good as the treatment of a cadre, not to mention that it is to support Li Jiandong's work.

But this time he flattered the wrong person.

"Do you think you have too many sons?"

Li Jiandong didn't say much, but this one sentence already showed his attitude.

Facts have proved that no one is stupid. This mobilization ultimately came to nothing, and no one in the entire Nanluoguxiang street responded.

night.

Li Jiandong was lying on the bed, with Qin Huairu next to him, and his three sons further inside.

"Brother Jiandong, Xiaoning told me today that if there is no room for our son, we can send him to live with her. She would be lonely if she lives alone at home."

Seeing that the children had fallen asleep, Qin Huairu whispered to Li Jiandong.

"Don't agree to her. A grown-up son should avoid his mother. Even your biological mother has to avoid her now, not to mention that she is just an outsider."

Li Jiandong also felt the embarrassment of not having enough houses.

A family of five lived in two rooms. Although his two rooms were the largest in the yard, the beds were so small that it was still a bit crowded for five people to sleep.

Now the three sons are still young, and the oldest, Li Xunfu, is only 1.2 meters tall. In two years or when the fourth child is born, this bed will no longer be able to accommodate everyone.

"Oh."

Qin Huairu responded, she was reluctant to send her child to live with someone else.

Li Jiandong thought for a moment and said:
"I'll have someone make another cot in a couple of days. If that doesn't work, after Xunhua is born, let Xunfu and Xunxing live in the tavern dormitory."

"Ah? Isn't it wrong to let them live alone when they are so young?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. Boys of this age should sleep by themselves. Even though the dormitory building is a bit far from us, don't Dongxu and the others still watch over us?"

Li Jiandong was already sleeping by himself when he was 5 years old. In comparison, his eldest son Li Xunfu is already 7 years old this year and is in the first grade of elementary school. He can move out and live on his own.

Li Jiandong even wanted to find someone to make a few bunk beds and build a few dormitories similar to college dormitories in the dormitory building of the tavern, the kind where several people can live in one room, specifically for those underage boys.

This can largely solve the problem of children in the yard having no place to live as they grow up, and can also help them develop the habit of being independent earlier.

Of course, there is no need to worry about safety.

Most of the people living in the dormitory building of the tavern are from No. 95 Yard. Jia Dongxu, Yan Jiecheng, Sha Zhu and Ding Qiunan all live there. Let alone others, the name of Sha Zhu, the deputy chief of the police station, is enough to scare away many scoundrels.

Qin Huairu still felt a little uneasy, and Li Jiandong was not in a hurry to persuade her.

Anyway, there are still a few months before the fourth child is born. If it really doesn't work, she can let other people's children go first. She will feel relieved once she has an example.

So early this weekend, Li Jiandong prepared to find Jia Dongxu and Liang Ladi to lobby them to separate Banggeng and live on his own.

As a result, as soon as I went out, I heard Jia Zhang wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Bang Geng, you little bastard, where did you put my pot?"

Jia Zhang ran out of the house angrily, holding a feather duster in her hand, and shouted:

"Bang Geng, get out here! You can run away, but you can't escape the temple. If I don't beat your ass to pieces today, I'll call you grandma."

Jia Zhang was extremely angry. This situation was very rare. Usually she made others angry, but she didn't expect that this time she would be so angry at her own grandson.

As an uncle, Li Jiandong couldn't just sit there and watch, especially since Bang Geng was involved, so he stepped forward and asked, "Sister-in-law, what happened? What happened to Bang Geng?"

"Old Li, who did my son Banggeng learn this from? You said that others steal things from outside to supplement their families, but he stole his own things and gave them to others. I told you a long time ago that this child should not be raised by the young couple, but look at what he has become. Isn't this stupid?"

Jia Zhang shouted with a red face and thick neck.

Li Jiandong roughly understood what it meant.

It turned out that Banggeng's school was recently carrying out a large-scale steel production campaign and encouraged everyone to look for raw materials. Someone in Banggeng's class broke the pot at home and sent it to school. The teacher called on him to be an example, so Banggeng also followed suit and started to keep his own pot in mind.

But this boy was smart. He knew that his own pot would still need to be used for cooking, so he set his sights on Jia Zhang's pot.

Moreover, the pot in Jia Zhang's house was big, and Bang Geng had been observing how to pry the pot away since last night. At that time, Jia Zhang did not take it seriously, but when she woke up in the morning, the pot was gone.

No matter how stupid Jia Zhang was, she knew that it must be her grandson who had been pried away, so she rushed out with a feather duster.

"Sister-in-law, I understand what you mean. Don't get angry now. Go to the school and check. Maybe the pot has not melted yet."

Li Jiandong said calmly.

Jia Zhang was also very angry just now, but when she heard what Li Jiandong said, she immediately reacted.

"Sister-in-law, I understand what you mean. Don't get angry now. Go to the school and check. Maybe the fire has not yet melted." Li Jiandong said calmly.

Jia Zhang was also very angry just now, but when she heard what Li Jiandong said, she immediately reacted.

"Yes, let's go to school first."

Jia Zhang ran out and when she reached the front yard, she saw Li Jiandong's son-in-law and turned back to shout,
"Lao Li, please help me, otherwise by the time I run over, the pot might be gone."

Li Jiandong sighed and had to ride his bike to take Jia Zhang to school.

A hundred meters away from the school gate, Banggeng was found staggering with a pot on his back.

When Jia Zhang saw that the pot was not lost, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She jumped out of the car and hit Bang Geng with a feather duster.

Banggeng was covered in soot from the pot, and his face and clothes were black. When he saw Jia Zhang running towards him, he was startled and screamed. He dropped the pot and ran away.

"You little bastard, I'll beat you to death when you get home."

Jia Zhang cursed and went forward to lift up the pot.

This big iron pot is made of very solid material and it won't break even if it is dropped.

"Okay, sister-in-law, since the things are not lost, it's fine. The child is young and we can educate him slowly. Don't get angry. It will hurt your health."

Jia Zhang was still very angry.

However, she was relatively restrained in front of Li Jiandong.

On the way back, Li Jiandong took the opportunity to suggest that Banggeng should be separated from Jia Dongxu and Liang Ladi.

Let him live alone with other children.

Originally, Jia Zhang would not agree. Wouldn't she have to pay more rent if she divided the property?
It would be lonely to live alone on such a big kang in her own house. Wouldn't it be perfect to let Banggeng come and live with her?

But after today's incident, Jia Zhang's mentality changed.

She was afraid that after letting Banggeng live with her, that little bastard would steal all the things in the house and give them to other people.

Then she will have no place to cry.

So when Li Jiandong mentioned it, she agreed.

"Old Li, it's fine to let Banggeng move out to be independent, but can we just forget about the rent for this house?"

What Jia Zhang cares about most is spending money. Even if it is not her money, she is not happy about it.

Li Jiandong smiled and said, "Don't worry, the tavern dormitory building originally belongs to our school. It is for our children to live in. Why should we charge rent?"

"That's fine, Lao Li, I support you."

Jia Zhang did a favor.

Li Jiandong was originally most worried about Jia Zhang, after all, Jia Dongxu was very obedient.

As long as Li Jiandong said it, he would resolutely carry it out even if he thought it was wrong.

Now that the Jia Zhang family's side has been dealt with, there will no longer be a problem with Jia Dongxu.

After returning to the courtyard, Li Jiandong put Jia Zhang down and prepared to go talk to Jia Dongxu.

Just at this moment Yan Bugui walked out of the house.

Seeing Jia Zhang holding the big black pot, Yan Bugui couldn't help but say with joy,
"Jia Zhang, where have you been? This morning I heard you yelling outside, 'The pot was stolen by Bang Geng?'"

Jia Zhang said unhappily:
"Old Yan, how can you be a teacher? You don't teach the children to study hard, but teach them to go home and steal things? Are you still human?"

Yan Bugui was scolded for no reason and looked embarrassed.

"No, Jia Zhang, who told you that the child stole things? I don't want to take the blame."

"I'm telling you, aren't you Banggeng's math teacher? It's your fault that Banggeng stole the pot, and you have to pay for it."

As Jia Zhang spoke, she stretched out her pitch-black hand.

Yan Bugui was so angry at her unreasonable behavior that he pointed at Jia Zhang with trembling fingers and said,
"Jia Zhang, please stop making trouble. I'm not your Bang Geng's class teacher. How would I know he would steal things? Besides, even if he stole something, it was your Bang Geng who stole it. If you want compensation, go find your grandson."

"Forget it, I won't waste my time talking to you. I still need to go fishing."

Yan Bugui knew that he was no match for Jia Zhangshi when it came to cursing, so he picked up the bucket and prepared to go fishing.

How could Jia Zhang let him go so easily? Even though the pot was found, it would still take a lot of effort to put it back on.

She was about to continue pestering him when Li Jiandong suddenly spoke.

"Old Yan, wait a minute, I just have something to tell you."

When Jia Zhang saw that Li Jiandong also had something to ask Yan Bugui, after weighing the pros and cons, she decided to give Li Jiandong this face first.

So he snorted and said, "Old Yan, just wait for me. I am not done with you in this matter."

Yan Bu said in a noble tone, "Look, Old Li, who is this person?"

"Okay, don't mention her. My sister-in-law is angry today. She will be fine after today. Let's talk about your Jie Kuang first."

Yan Bugui’s third son, Yan Jiekuang, was born in the same year as Li Jiandong’s eldest son. In addition, there is Liu Haizhong’s third son, Liu Guangfu. The three children are the same age.

Li Jiandong wanted to build a dormitory for children, and he not only wanted to find Bang Geng, but also Yan Jiekuang and Liu Guangfu were included in his plan.

"Old Yan, your children have all grown up. As the saying goes, when a son grows up, he should avoid his mother, and when a daughter grows up, she should avoid her father. It is always inconvenient for a family to live in the same house.

Now Jie Cheng lives in the dormitory building of the tavern, and Jie Fang lives in your wing room, but Jie Kuang and Jie Di are also growing up slowly. "

"There are many families in our courtyard who are in the same situation as yours, including mine, so I thought about it and decided to build a children's dormitory for the children in the tavern.

Giving these teenagers a place to live will not only improve our crowded living space, but also help them become independent from an early age. What do you think?"

After listening to Li Jiandong's proposal, Yan Bugui only asked one question.

“Does the children’s dormitory cost money to stay in?”

This question is very expensive. As long as it is free, he will grab a hot portion even if it means eating shit.

Li Jiandong said: "It doesn't cost any money, you can live anywhere you want."

"That's fine. That's fine with me."

Yan Bugui agreed immediately.

Li Jiandong had guessed what the result would be long ago, so he asked Yan Bugui to continue fishing. He then went to Liu Haizhong's house again and said the same words to Liu Haizhong again.

Liu Haizhong obeyed Li Jiandong's orders and supported anything Li Jiandong proposed, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

After finding Jia Dongxu, the three children were gathered together, and with Li Xunfu, it was just enough for a dormitory for four people.

Li Jiandong did not look for Qin Huairu again. He first asked a carpenter to make a few sets of bunk beds, and then let Banggeng, Liu Guangfu and Yan Jiekuang live in them.

At the same time, he told several apprentices to pay more attention to the children's daily lives.

I have to say that the appearance of this children's dormitory is quite effective.

First of all, Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong’s homes suddenly became spacious, and they each became a very comfortable family of three.

Secondly, when children get together, they will help and compare with each other.

After seeing this result, Qin Huairu finally felt relieved and let Li Xunfu join in.

Although he joined the children's dormitory later, Li Xunfu is the son of Li Jiandong. Even though he is not the oldest in the dormitory, he still became the big brother of the dormitory as soon as he entered.

Li Jiandong was very pleased to see his son had leadership skills at such a young age.

Another three months passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past few months, Li Jiandong has been very busy with iron smelting. He has to go to the workshop to inspect every day, and every now and then he has to lead the workers in shouting slogans.

Although he knew that this was somewhat foolish, Li Jiandong could only follow the trend of the times.

"Master, Master's wife is about to give birth. Please go to the hospital to check on her."

That day, Li Jiandong was inspecting the work in the workshop when Sha Zhu suddenly ran in and said to him.

"Are you going to give birth? Okay, I'll go right away."

Although Li Jiandong said this, he did not take immediate action. Instead, he assigned the work first and then rode his scooter to the hospital.

This was Qin Huairu's fourth child, and the delivery went smoothly. The baby was born before Li Jiandong arrived.

"Huai Ru, you've worked hard."

Li Jiandong sat in front of the hospital bed, holding his wife's hand and said.

Qin Huairu was much more relaxed this time than before, and she didn't look as haggard as before. She smiled when she heard this.

"Besides giving birth to children, I have no other skills. Brother Jiandong, you are the one who works hard for this family."

Li Jiandong said:

"That's not necessarily true. You were doing pretty well in the tavern before. You gave up your job for your family."

Li Jiandong's fourth child was finally a girl, named Li Xunhua, which means "Fu, Xing, Zhong, Hua".

With four children, Li Jiandong felt that it was enough.

If there are more, I'm afraid I won't have the energy to accompany them.

Even though he only has four children now, Li Jiandong feels that his energy is seriously insufficient. It would be great if his apprentices could each take on independent tasks.

By then, our disciples will be leading the country's development in industry, agriculture, water and electricity, public security, medical care, trams and other areas.

As a master, he now has time to rest.

But there is still a long way to go

Li Jiandong looked at his apprentice recruitment system. After four years, only two of them had reached the maximum level. However, driving, fighting, and sharpshooter were all close to the maximum level, and water conservancy had reached LV3, only two levels away from the maximum level.

The reason why the upgrade is so slow is mainly because Yan Jiecheng and Sha Zhu were promoted too early.

If Yan Jiecheng had been promoted a few months later, that is, had driven trucks for a few more months, with a hundred times the experience returned, Li Jiandong's driving skills would have reached the maximum level by now.

The same goes for Shazhu.

Although Sha Zhu still practiced military boxing regularly after becoming the deputy director, he could not practice for several hours a day like he did before he became an official.

After becoming the deputy director, there were too many trivial things to do, and Sha Zhu would only practice occasionally when he was on duty at night.

(End of this chapter)