Chapter 131

Sha Zhu felt guilty and upset. He couldn't bear to see such a beautiful woman suffer, especially her suffering at the hands of a man.

Chen Xueru sighed:

"Don't mention that bastard, he's already dead.

Huizhen, can you help me go in and ask the people in the courtyard to give me some meat?"

As Chen Xueru spoke, she stuffed 10 yuan and cloth coupons into Xu Huizhen's hands.

"Xue Ru, what are you doing?"

"Please help me. I don't want the meat for nothing. The price of the cloth coupons and meat coupons is almost the same. Can you think of it as something I can buy?"

Chen Xueru pushed Xu Huizhen into the yard and urged her to help get some meat.

Xu Huizhen also had a child, and the meat was not hers, so she couldn't refuse on behalf of others, and so she turned around and went back to the yard.

Sha Zhu glanced at Chen Xueru, splashed the water and ran in. Chen Xueru just said that her husband had died a long time ago.

This made Sha Zhu very excited. As long as she didn't have a man, he still had a chance.

"Little mother, I'll go talk to Master."

Sha Zhu caught up with Xu Huizhen and said this, which made Xu Huizhen a little confused.

However, Sha Zhu seldom communicated with her, so when he finally made a request to her, it was difficult for her as his stepmother to refuse.

So he gave all the 10 yuan and the cloth coupons to Sha Zhu.

Sha Zhu grinned, took it in his hand and said, "Please take this basin to the kitchen for me. Let my dad work hard first, I will help him later."

After saying that, he trotted into the backyard.

At this moment, Li Jiandong, Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong and a few old friends were sitting in the living room in the backyard, drinking tea and chatting.

See Shazhu running in.

Li Jiandong asked, "Zhu Zi, why are you so flustered?"

Liu Haizhong commented nearby: "You are still so irritable at such an old age. No wonder you can't find a wife."

Yan Bugui disagreed:
"Old Liu, what you said is wrong. Zhuzi doesn't lack blind dates, it's just that the other person doesn't like them, right, Zhuzi?"

Sha Zhu just smiled and said nothing.

Then he turned to Li Jiandong and said, "Master, there is someone outside who said she is your new neighbor. Her child hasn't eaten meat for a long time. When she smelled the aroma of meat here, she wanted to come over to buy some."

"This is the money and tickets she gave me. I feel sorry for her, so how about giving her some?"

Li Jiandong was stunned.

This scene is so familiar.

But now Qin Huairu has already given birth to four children for me.

Which widow did Shazhu meet again that made him bewitched like this?

This made Li Jiandong fall into deep thought. Of course, he was not considering whether to give the other party meat.

Li Jiandong was not so hesitant as to hesitate over a piece of meat. He was considering whether he should interrupt the connection between Sha Zhu and the widow.

Later I thought about it and decided to forget it. Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings.

Since Sha Zhu has taken a fancy to the widow, it means that there must be something about her that attracts her.

He is so old and has never had a girlfriend. He finally meets someone he likes. He will continue to date her even if she is a widow. It's because this idiot likes this kind of person.

"Okay, you can give it to her."

Seeing that Li Jiandong agreed, Sha Zhu was immediately overjoyed and quickly said, "Thank you, Master."

Then he ran towards the front yard.

Just as he ran to the door, he remembered something and turned around and asked, "Master, what about the money and tickets?"

"No need. Since she's our neighbor, just treat it as a treat for her. Return the money and ticket to her."

Li Jiandong waved his hand, and Sha Zhu turned around and continued to run out.

Yan Bugui was a little confused when he saw Sha Zhu was so happy: "Hey, this Sha Zhu is so happy to give someone meat. It's not his child, why is he so enthusiastic?"

Liu Haizhong also said:

"So there are only wrong names, but no wrong nicknames. Zhuzi is a good boy, but his brain is not very good. In this respect, he is not as good as his father."

Liu Haizhong himself has a poor brain and he even mocks He Daqing without any self-awareness.

Li Jiandong smiled and said:
"I think Zhuzi has a very good personality. This is what a police officer should be like. He should be compassionate and less cunning. This way he can better serve the people."

"Yes, yes, yes, Deputy Director Li has a long-term vision. Old Yan and I only have a superficial view."

When Liu Haizhong heard Li Jiandong talking, he immediately started to flatter him.

Sha Zhu ran to the front yard, walked into the kitchen, and shouted as soon as he entered the door,

"Dad, stepmother, the master has agreed. I will cut a piece of meat and send it to Sister Chen next door."

Xu Huizhen was really helping He Daqing.

Hearing this, she smiled and said, "You can't call her Sister Chen. It's more appropriate to call her Auntie."

He Daqing was sweating profusely from his busy work. Hearing this, he asked in confusion, "What aunt? Who are you talking about?"

Xu Huizhen smiled and said:
"It's a neighbor next door. What a coincidence. She was my neighbor when I was a child. Later, she got married and moved in here. She ran into Zhuzi outside just now. She wanted us to help her get some meat. Her husband ran away. It's really pitiful for her to raise a child alone."

When He Daqing heard that she was Xu Huizhen's childhood neighbor, he felt more favorable towards her. The meat in the pot was cooked just in time, so he picked up the spoon and scooped out a big spoonful.

He poured the food into a bowl and handed it to Sha Zhu: "Here, remember to be polite to others and don't be disrespectful, okay?"

Sha Zhu was a little embarrassed, he could call Xu Huizhen stepmother.

But I really don’t want to call Chen Xueru Aunt Chen. How can we be together if there is a difference in generation?

Wouldn't that be a joke?

"This isn't your meat, you're really willing to give it up."

Xu Huizhen was speechless when she saw her man scoop out such a big spoonful of meat for Chen Xueru.

She knew that He Daqing must have regarded Chen Xueru as her best friend.

But, you can't use Li Jiandong's meat as a favor.

"Oh, it's not much. Anyway, Lao Li doesn't need this little meat. It's these people who want to buy meat, but it's really not easy. Give them a little more so that they can have a full meal."

He Daqing didn't care. He was a cook, and his family was the least short of meat in the courtyard except for Li Jiandong.

Xu Huizhen shook her head and said nothing.

At this time, Sha Zhu had already arrived at the gate with the meat, and stretched out both hands at the same time.

"Sister Chen, here are your money and tickets. My master said that since we are neighbors, this meat should be considered a gift to you."

"Oh, thank you so much, Master Zhuzi. I don't even know your name."

When Chen Xueru saw the meat, she felt relieved and didn't even care that Sha Zhu called her sister.

Moreover, she felt that she was still young. Even if Sha Zhu was Xu Huizhen's stepson, he was about the same age as her, and she was not happy with being called aunt or auntie.

Sha Zhu scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly:

"My name is He Yuzhu, and I work at the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Police Station. Sister Chen, you are raising the child alone. If you encounter any trouble in the future, you can come to me. I will definitely help you if I can."

"Okay, thank you, Master He. I'll go home first. The child is waiting at home."

"Okay, bye Sister Chen."

"Goodbye."

Chen Xueru waved her hand and turned back to her home. Sha Zhu stood at the door, watching her figure completely disappear behind the door, and then returned to the yard with a sense of unfulfilled desire.

The meal was ready soon and He Daqing invited everyone to eat together.

Because we had just moved in, there weren’t enough tables and chairs at home, so everyone just ate standing in the yard.

After eating and drinking, Yan Jiecheng drove everyone back.

Chen Xueru heard the sound of a truck starting next to her, and she leaned over the rear window to look out. A group of people got in the car and left, leaving only a man and a woman, and a few children standing at the door waving.

"This is my new neighbor. She looks really young, especially the woman. She is young, beautiful and has a great figure."

Chen Xueru is also considered a great beauty, but she is not as pretty as Qin Huairu.

Both her appearance and figure are far inferior to Qin Huairu's. Moreover, Qin Huairu's figure has not changed after giving birth to four children. On the contrary, she looks even fuller.

Compared with her, Chen Xueru seemed a little malnourished.

"I'll make her some clothes and send them to her someday. After we have established a good relationship with her, maybe we can even ask her for food." Chen Xueru thought so. It was obvious that Li Jiandong was a big leader, while she was just an ordinary person.

Although he earned much more money than the workers, his quota was still less than that of an ordinary worker.

These days, eating is the most important thing, and the second most important thing is to be able to eat a piece of meat.

There is nothing shameful in currying favor with others in order to eat meat.

After seeing He Daqing and his friends off, Li Jiandong and Qin Huairu took the children back home.

The yard is big but a bit empty. Li Jiandong is planning to wait until next spring to plant flowers and plants in the yard, or build a chicken coop to raise a few chickens.

The children were also very excited and ran from room to room.

There were many people in the family before and they were all very well-behaved. Now that all the outsiders have left, the children started arguing over who should live in which room.

Everyone wants to live in the backyard, where the rooms are large and luxuriously decorated. The house in the front yard was previously used for servants, so it naturally cannot compare with the rooms in the backyard.

"I'm the eldest, and the eldest son is like his father, so I should live in the backyard."

"I am the younger brother, and you are all older than me, so you should give in to me and let me live in the backyard."

"If you say so, the fourth sister is younger than you, so the fourth sister should live in the backyard."

"My fourth sister is too young to live with our mother. Apart from her, I am the youngest in the family."

"Okay, stop arguing. For the sake of our family harmony, just give me this room."

It seems that having too many houses has its disadvantages. In the past, my three sons all lived in a children’s dormitory, and they didn’t think it was a big deal if several people lived in one room.

Now that there are more rooms, each person can have his own room, but a dispute broke out over who lives in the backyard.

In the end, it was Qin Huairu who made the final decision.

"Forget about it, you three. Leave the backyard to your sister, and you three will live in the front yard together."

The eldest son Li Xunfu immediately said:

"But mom, there are only two rooms in the front yard."

Qin Huairu said with a straight face: "You three kids, do you still want to live in three rooms? All of you should squeeze into one room, and the remaining room should be kept as a guest room to receive guests."

"what?"

The three sons were discouraged on the spot.

They thought that with such a big yard, everyone could have a room.

Li Jiandong also laughed.

"Well, the three of you are still young, so if you can live together, try to do so. When you grow up and have wives, you won't have the chance to live together anymore."

Although this is true, the three sons are still young and cannot understand what Li Jiandong means.

In the afternoon, Li Jiandong went to the street engineering team and contacted several carpenters and bricklayers. As the yard was so big, a lot of furniture had to be purchased. In addition, the bathroom and toilet in the backyard also had to be built as soon as possible.

The weather is getting colder now. If there is no toilet, it is still easy to urinate at night, but it is too painful to have to run far away for a large bowel movement.

As for the bathroom, there is no rush, but since we are going to start construction, it would be better to build it together.

After the family had dinner in the evening, Qin Huairu drove her three sons to the front yard.

Then she coaxed her little girl to sleep and climbed onto the kang with Li Jiandong.

This brings us to another advantage of living in a private house, which is that the neighbors are far away and you can be more unrestrained at night.
When we were in Yard 40, there was only a wall between the neighbors, and we were afraid of being discovered even if we wanted to speak loudly.

In short, Li Jiandong and Qin Huairu slept very late that night.

So much so that the next morning, when Li Jiandong woke up, Qin Huairu was still sleeping soundly.

I looked at the time and it was already seven o'clock.

Li Jiandong got up, washed, and then made a fire to cook. His cooking skills have now reached level 4, which is considered to be a good skill even among all the chefs in the steel mill canteen.

However, Li Jiandong seldom cooks by himself, and he still feels awkward every time he does it.

"Dad, where's my mom? When is dinner?"

At this time, the three sons came running from the front yard. It was almost time for them to go to school, and they usually had their meals at this time.

Li Jiandong looked at the pot that had just been lit and the fire was still weak, so he had to take out the money and said,
"I won't cook today. You can buy something to eat on the way to school later. Don't walk to school today. Let your Uncle Zhengyang take you there."

Hongxing Primary School is a bit far from here, and it is still a bit far for three children to walk there.

When they heard that they could take the bus to school, the three children jumped for joy.

Qin Huairu finally woke up after the children left.

"Brother Jiandong, what time is it?"

Qin Huairu came out wearing her coat.

Li Jiandong said:

"It's half past seven. The sons have been sent to school. You just need to lie down for a while and eat."

Half an hour later, the meal was still not ready.

The main problem is that it takes too long to light a fire. It would be better if there was a gas stove.

Li Jiandong decided to study the gas stove after going to the steel mill today.

This thing is simple, and if you really do it, you can make it in a day.

The country is now in a state of disrepair. We cannot just focus on heavy industry. We need to make some small things that ordinary people can use.

Sometimes, it can actually enhance the happiness of the entire nation.

Take the gas stove for example. With it, you can light the fire and cook directly. Without it, you will have to waste several minutes just to light the fire.

In the past, Qin Huairu would get up to make breakfast, and the meal would be ready when Li Jiandong woke up.

Today he got up early once, only to find that if he wanted to make breakfast, he had to get up at least half an hour in advance.

If it were winter, when the day is the shortest, who would be willing to get up more than half an hour earlier?

Since Qin Huairu had gotten up, of course she couldn't just watch Li Jiandong cook. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she came over to take over Li Jiandong.

After the meal was ready, while they were eating, Li Jiandong told her about their plans for today.

The carpenters and bricklayers will be here soon. Li Jiandong has already told Qin Huairu exactly what to do. Just let Qin Huairu watch over it when the time comes.

It's exactly eight o'clock.

Li Jiandong came to the steel rolling mill.

He finished the work at hand first, then Li Jiandong picked up the phone and called Jia Dongxu.

After a while, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

As soon as Li Jiandong finished speaking, the door was pushed open. Jia Dongxu poked his head inside and saw that only Li Jiandong was there, so he walked in with a grin on his face.

"Master, what do you want from me?"

Li Jiandong pointed to the stool and said, "Sit down first. I'll draw something for you, and then you can find someone to make it."

As he spoke, Li Jiandong took out paper and pen, and then thought for a while before starting to draw.

Although he had no drawing skills, his mechanical engineer and car engineer skills both gave him the ability to draw, and he quickly drew a four-legged object that looked like a basin and a tripod.

"Master, what is this thing and what is its use?"

Jia Dongxu was confused as he had never seen anything like this before.

Li Jiandong handed him the blueprint and said, "This is a gas stove, or it can also be called a cast steel stove. As the name suggests, it is a gas stove made of steel."

"A stove made of steel? How much steel does it take? Isn't it too wasteful?"

Jia Dongxu looked at the drawing. There was no length marked on it. He thought it was as big as the earthen stove at home, but that would require several tons of steel to make.

He is now the director of the production department, and his way of thinking is different from when he was a worker.

Such a large amount of it was just used to make a gas stove, and Jia Dongxu felt it was such a waste.

"It won't take much. Since it's a steel stove, it must be strong. It doesn't need to be too thick or too big. A base of 20 to 30 centimeters will be enough. Go make a sample for me first."

Jia Dongxu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that it was only 20 or 30 centimeters.

But can such a small stove be useful?

Since it was arranged by Li Jiandong, Jia Dongxu just did it.

(End of this chapter)