Chapter 124

Generally, when grinding soy milk, the beans are soaked in water in advance, and water is added when grinding.

"Second uncle, you are really good. You are worthy of being a blacksmith."

Li Zhiguo took five pounds of beans and had them ground for him. In the future, if he wanted to drink soy milk or eat tofu, he could just boil the soy powder with water and then filter out the dregs.

"Li Zhiguo, you are right. Being a blacksmith, fiddling with steel ingots every day is much more tiring than grinding a mill."

Liu Haizhong said so, but he just couldn't stand the hardship of being a blacksmith back then, so he later switched to being a fitter.

By this time, I had ground five pounds of beans and was watched by everyone. Although I got to see my face, I was also sweating profusely from grinding.

Yi Zhonghai said cheerfully, "This is how our courtyard should be. Some things can be used collectively so that we can all live a good life."

Everyone nodded, and the millstone was placed in the backyard. Whoever used it just had to clean it.

After Liu Haizhong finished grinding the beans, someone soon brought corn kernels to grind into cob flour. The corn was brought back from the countryside.

As for Li Zhiguo, he had left early and was taking care of the children in the house. When noon came, the food was served and they started eating.

"Brother-in-law, this dish is really good."

Qin Guangyou's eyes lit up. He hadn't eaten meat for a long time, and was looking forward to his brother-in-law taking him out to a restaurant, but his sister was still in confinement after giving birth.

But my brother-in-law is so generous that he has prepared so many delicious dishes at home. I have to have a good meal today.

"If the food is good, eat more. By the way, Guangyou, I'll give you ten kilograms of flour coupons. Go to the school cafeteria tomorrow to exchange them. You can eat white flour at school for lunch."

Li Zhiguo took out a ticket and handed it over. It didn't matter because Yan Bugui had already gone out to exchange the ticket.

"Ah! Brother-in-law, I can't accept this. The flour coupons are limited."

Qin Guangyou didn't dare to accept it. He couldn't let his brother-in-law not have fine food because of him. That would only make his stomach problems worse.

"Here! I exchanged some tickets in the courtyard, enough for food."

Li Zhiguo handed over the ticket without saying anything. His brother-in-law was still studying, and according to custom, students in the family would be given preferential treatment.

"Hey! Thank you, brother-in-law."

Qin Guangyou kept the ticket and was very happy. He would be able to eat white flour in the school cafeteria tomorrow, which would be no worse than his classmates in the city.

The people from the Qin family present were all looking happy.

Qin Huairu didn't say anything. Guangyou was still young, and when he started working, he would have to pay rent. Then he would have to pay for the flour coupons.

Xiao Jingru didn't say anything, but her face was full of envy. She also had to go to school tomorrow, and she couldn't buy white flour with money alone.

Li Zhiguo then said, "Mom, this is four pounds of flour tickets. Send Jingru to school tomorrow and exchange it for canteen flour tickets.

Jingru will eat white flour for 20 days every month from now on, and corn flour for the remaining days, otherwise she will easily be envied and have a bad influence. "

"Alas, four pounds of flour coupons are enough for her to eat. How can she eat white flour every meal?"

Qin's mother felt that her son-in-law was too good to the little girl, but she couldn't say that her son-in-law had to be so generous so that she could live a good life.

"Thank you, brother-in-law!"

Xiao Jingru was happy. Yesterday, a classmate told her that she was from the country and could not afford white flour, but she had a brother-in-law.

"Okay, let's do this. Everyone, use your chopsticks. It's cold, and the food will get cold quickly."

Li Zhiguo started eating as soon as he called for them. As for his wife, she didn't need to worry about it because the dishes were different and should be cooked with less salt and mainly boiled in water.

After the meal, he remembered that he had not yet paid for the millstone. In the end, his uncle did not take any money and left happily because others had work to do in the afternoon.

My father-in-law and two brothers-in-law stayed until mid-afternoon and the house became quiet.

"Zhiguo, I'm about to leave the confinement period. I'll ask Guangming to ride the bike back next week."

Qin Huairu talked about this matter and said that the family car could not always be used by her younger brother.

"Okay, you can arrange these things on your own from now on. You don't need to tell me, and I won't ask any more questions."

After the last incident with his daughter-in-law collecting rent, Li Zhiguo decided to ignore it, because his daughter-in-law also had the surname Qin, and it didn't matter what he said when dealing with the Qin family.

If he doesn't know about it, he won't have any worries and won't be involved in household affairs.

"Yeah!" Qin Huairu was happy. Suddenly, Xiao Guanxiang started crying. It means she was hungry again and had a good appetite.

……

Time flies quickly. After the first snow, several more snowflakes fall, covering the entire ground in silver, creating a unique scenery.

As New Year's Day was approaching, Li Zhiguo finally decided not to go to his grandmother's house, but asked his mother-in-law to bring ten kilograms of flour coupons and six yuan, that was all.

"Son-in-law, flour coupons are so valuable, why don't you give me ten kilograms?"

Qin's mother felt that the amount was too much, as a worker in the city only received a dozen kilograms of flour coupons per month.

Qin Huairu also said: "Governing the country, my grandmother can't get white flour in the countryside, just give her money."

“Just give it to me according to this. After all, it’s my grandmother’s 60th birthday, and I still haven’t seen her.

If grandma doesn’t want it, that’s another matter. You guys can make the arrangements accordingly.”

He gave the money and the bill to his mother-in-law and went out for a walk.

After the flour coupons for next month were distributed on the 24th of this month, Yan Bugui quickly exchanged 200 kilograms of them. Then yesterday, on the 26th, a notice was issued limiting the purchase of coarse grains, which directly doubled the value of the flour coupons.

He bought nearly 500 kilograms of flour coupons from Yan Bugui, spending nearly 90 yuan, because 400 kilograms of them were high-priced coupons.

However, Yan Bugui did not earn much, and others had to pay for collecting the tickets, and they also took risks.

If you have food in your hands, you will not be worried. These days, food is more important than money.

……

In a blink of an eye, New Year's Day passed and the year 1954 arrived.

As of January 3rd, my concubine Chen Xueru had not given birth yet, but she was already in the hospital. It was only a few days ago.

Li Zhiguo has also been going there every day recently and enjoying it.

On the 4th, Qin Huairu got up early in the morning and put on her factory uniform, a brand new winter outfit, which was the labor protection she received after the winter.

"Mom, I just finished breastfeeding the baby. I have to be back at noon."

Qin Huairu put the sleeping Xiao Guanxiang on the bed. After two months of maternity leave, she had to go to work today.

"Okay, I'll watch over everything at home."

Qin's mother is happy and every day is a good day.

At this time, Li Zhiguo came in from outside, followed by Xiao Jingru holding a basin. The two of them had just gone to wash up in the yard.

"Huai Ru, I'll take you to the factory later so you can collect your salary."

Yesterday, the 3rd, happened to be Sunday, and the factory had not paid wages yet. He had to go to his concubine's house today, so he had to go out early in the morning.

"Zhiguo, have you forgotten? I can ride a bicycle now."

Qin Huairu reminded him quietly that after she had finished her confinement, she rested at home for another month, her body had recovered long ago, and she also learned how to ride a bicycle.

"Hey, look at me. Why don't you ride your bike too? You can come back to feed the baby at noon."

After a while, after breakfast, Xiao Jingru went to school by herself, and her mother-in-law stayed at home to take care of the child.

He and Qin Huairu were both pushing their bicycles outside. They were definitely working couples, except that he was not working.

"Li Zhiguo, Sister Qin, please wait for me."

Xu Damao followed pushing his bicycle and he also set off at this time.

"Da Mao, I will definitely make arrangements here next week."

Li Zhiguo mentioned the matter of taking Chunyan for a check-up, but it has been delayed until now.

"That's a good feeling."

Xu Damao responded, but then he talked about something else, "You came back late yesterday, so you don't know what happened to the Jia family."

"What's wrong?" Li Zhiguo really didn't know, because he went to the Sanjin compound on New Year's Day, which also made it convenient for him to visit his concubine.

"Something bad has happened. Jia Zhang actually asked Chen Bihua to go home and take Banggeng with her, while she went to work as a fitter in the factory."

Xu Damao found it unbelievable when he talked about this. The positions in the Jia family started from Old Jia, then to Jia Dongxu, then to Chen Bihua, and finally to Jia Zhang's hands. Did the whole family get involved?
"Ah! Jia Zhang went to the factory?"

Qin Huairu was surprised. Was she going to work in the same workshop with Jia Zhang in the future? That would be so annoying.

Li Zhiguo said, "If Jia Dongxu can agree, won't he make a fuss?"

"He, isn't he there?"

Xu Damao pointed and saw Jia Dongxu washing dishes at the sink. He was wearing a worn cotton coat. This was normal. He was not at work, so there was no need to dress so well in the hospital.

"Dongxu, what's going on with you?"

Li Zhiguo stopped his bicycle and walked over. He was not afraid of being late, and his wife had just reported back from maternity leave and was not in a hurry.

"Li Zhiguo, woooo!"

When Jia Dongxu saw someone coming, he couldn't hold back his tears.

"No, don't cry. What's the matter? Tell me slowly."

He just couldn't bear to see Brother Dongxu like this. It always made people feel a little miserable.

"Oh! My mother really wants to go to work and won't let me go to work. Tell me, how can a grown man like me stay at home every day?"

Jia Dongxu felt so wronged. Since he asked his wife to take over his job, he indeed stopped working, but his life was not easy at all.

I had been looking forward to this day so hard that I could go back to take over my job, but who knew that my mother had snatched the position away from me.

"Where is your mother?" Li Zhiguo really didn't expect that Jia Zhang would directly suppress Dongxu.

"I went to the factory with my wife to discuss the matter of taking over the job."

Jia Dongxu was dejected. Suddenly, he heard crying in the room. He said hurriedly, "Banggeng is crying. Li Zhiguo, you go ahead and do your work. We can talk when you are free."

"Okay, go watch Bang Geng!"

Li Zhiguo shook his head. Jia Zhang was a ruthless person. He actually tried to snatch the job.

"Let's go, I'm going to go see Jia Zhang. We'll be co-workers from now on?"

Li Zhiguo was confused. One day, he would actually be working in the same workshop as Jia Zhang?
The three of them set out together immediately. They all had bicycles and arrived at the steel mill in a short while, heading to the office building.

"Da Mao, go to the Propaganda Department quickly, don't be late."

"okay!"

Xu Damao responded and ran away, but he was thinking about going to watch the fun later.

Here, Li Zhiguo took Qin Huairu to report first and confirmed that her maternity leave was over.

Then he asked, "Big sister, Chen Bihua from Workshop 2 came here this morning, right?"

"She has been here. She brought her mother-in-law with her. It seems that she went to the work office upstairs for some business."

The lady in charge of registration told me the news right away.

"Thanks!"

After leaving the office, Li Zhiguo said, "Huai Ru, go to the workshop first, I'll come find you later."

"okay!"

Qin Huairu responded and left first. When she arrived at the workshop, Chen Yun and other female workers quickly surrounded her.

"Qin Huairu, I haven't seen you for a long time."

"I thought your husband would hold a full moon banquet, but who knew that flour coupons were issued and it couldn't be held."

Many workers in the factory thought they had escaped a disaster, but they didn't know that Li Zhiguo didn't hold a banquet because he thought it was too troublesome.

"Where's Chen Bihua? She should be here by now, why isn't she here?"

A female worker asked about Dongxu's wife, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.

Qin Huairu replied: "I don't know either, but she went to the factory today."

……

In the factory office, Director Tang looked stunned and was a little slow to react.

"Chen Bihua, I understand that you want to go back and take care of the children.

But shouldn't you let Jia Dongxu take over your position? He's still very young."

Director Tang has worked in the factory for so many years, and this is the first time he has encountered such a complicated replacement job. He was completely overwhelmed.

Jia Zhang said hurriedly, "Hello, Director Tang. My son Dongxu is ill and needs to stay at home to recuperate. I have to come to work. Otherwise, the four of us at home will not be able to make ends meet."

"That's true, but aren't you a little too old to be an apprentice?"

Director Tang had never recruited an apprentice of such an old age. He set a precedent, but he felt that it would have a bad impact if the news got out.

"It's appropriate. Why not? I work very efficiently. Everyone in the hospital says I'm hardworking."

Jia Zhang said today that she would become a worker no matter what. She could eat white flour at the factory at noon every day and save money for her retirement. What a good life that would be.

Director Tang was still a little hesitant. Although this did not count as a violation of regulations, as others had a position and family members, they could take turns, this was too ridiculous.

"Tuk-tuk!"

"Hey, Li Zhiguo, why are you here?"

Director Tang looked at the fitter who had retired due to illness in surprise. He was not a good person, but he was already a second-level worker, so there was no place to complain.

"Brother Li!"

"Li Zhiguo!"

Chen Bihua and Jia Zhang were delighted. He would be able to help if he came.

"Uh, I'm here to collect my salary, and I came to take a look around. Director Tang, what's the situation now?"

He was not here to stop Jia Zhang from entering the factory. The Jia family had no objection to it, so he would not mind their business.

"It is this Zhang Cuihua who needs to take over the position," Director Tang explained the matter and wanted someone to analyze it.

Who knew that Li Zhiguo would directly say: "Then just take over the post, and do whatever needs to be done. Well, I'll just take a look and go get my salary."

"No, it's easy for you to say that," Director Tang ran away without saying anything. He sighed and had to do it.

"Zhang Cuihua, come and complete the employment formalities. From today on, you will be working as a fitter in the second workshop. Your salary will be the same as Chen Bihua's, 22.5 yuan per month, and it will increase to 27.5 yuan in the third year.

After three years of service and passing the assessment, you can get thirty-three yuan per month."

"Thank you, Director Tang, thank you!"

Jia Zhang was so happy that she almost jumped up. She finally realized her dream. At this age, she was able to become a worker.

I'm sure if Old Jia knew about this in the afterlife, he would be happy for her. He Daqing might also consider it.

Chen Bihua looked at her mother-in-law's happy expression and didn't know whether it was good or bad.

……

At this moment, Li Zhiguo has successfully received a total salary of 63 yuan. It is worth it that he has dedicated his youth to the factory and finally got to see a little reward.

Without delay, he turned and headed for the second workshop, where he unexpectedly met Jia Zhang and her mother-in-law again.

"Li Zhiguo, I've joined the factory and will be a fitter's apprentice from now on."

Jia Zhang was wearing a new blue factory uniform, and it looked a bit like a factory cleaner.

"That's great. It's an honor for us workers."

Li Zhiguo walked over and nodded to Dongxu's wife. He had asked her at the beginning if anyone else was willing to take her place.

"Let's go. I want to go to the second workshop too."

"Okay, okay, let's go together. I'll go and learn from Lao Yi, and let him be my master."

Jia Zhang was also very smart. When she arrived at the workshop, she wanted to tie Yi Zhonghai down and arranged an easy job for him where he could earn money just by sitting there.

"Look, isn't that Li Zhiguo? That's not surprising, he has to come to collect his salary, but who is that person next to him?"

"Who are you talking about? Isn't she Jia Dongxu's wife? You don't recognize her after she gave birth to a child?"

"No, look carefully, that person is an old lady."

"Hey, I know that lady. She is Jia Dongxu's mother. Why is she wearing worker's clothes?"

The workers in the workshop were dumbfounded. What was going on?

At this time, Li Zhiguo chatted with the dark-faced director. After finding out the situation, the workshop director immediately announced it.

"Everyone please stop working if you can, as we have new job changes in our workshop.

Chen Bihua decided to leave the steel mill due to health and family reasons. Her position will be replaced by her mother-in-law, Zhang Cuihua, Jia Dongxu's mother. Everyone welcomes her. "

The director's words dumbfounded the workers who were confused about the situation. It has always been the case that sons inherit their father's business and children take over the job, so how can it be the other way around and let the parents take over the job?

Li Zhiguo looked around and suddenly saw Liang Ladi, who was also assigned to the second workshop as an auxiliary welder apprentice.

When Liang Ladi saw someone looking at her, she immediately smiled. After Li Zhiguo looked away, she couldn't help but look to the other side. Qin Huairu was indeed very pretty.

At this time, Jia Zhang was temporarily assigned to Jia Dongxu's previous position, drilling screw holes, a job that did not require much technical skills.

It's the kind of thing that you can get started right away on your first day at work, it's just a matter of speed.

"Old Yi, you have to help me more in the future."

If Jia Zhang wants to tie Yi Zhonghai down, he will have to work in the factory for many more years.

"Sister-in-law, I can't help you. Everyone in the workshop does their own work."

Yi Zhonghai hid himself because he couldn't teach an apprentice of such an old age.

Li Zhiguo was now standing next to his daughter-in-law's workstation. It seemed unreal to him that Jia Zhang had become a workshop worker.

"Huai Ru, I have to go. I have to go to Qianmen Street on Monday."

"Well, go ahead and remember to eat on time at noon."

Qin Huairu gave a few instructions and then went back to her work. After resting for two months, she still needed a few days to adapt.

"Ms. Jia Zhang, I'm leaving now. You should study hard and try to get a full-time job as soon as possible."

Before leaving, Li Zhiguo did not forget to say hello, as they were all from the same courtyard.

"Take your time, and talk to Dongxu more when you have time so that he can learn well."

Jia Zhang waved her hand with a happy look on her face. When she entered the factory to take over the job, the bad boy gave her a lot of advice. She had to remember this kindness.

"No, is she really Jia Dongxu's mother?"

"What's the matter? Didn't the director just say that I can still take over the job?"

"Then why are Zhang Cuihua and Li Zhiguo so familiar with each other? If I remember correctly, Qin Huairu might have been Zhang Cuihua's daughter-in-law?"

(End of this chapter)