Chapter 127

Jia Dongxu has lost some weight compared to before. The purchase of coarse grains is limited, and there is only so much food per month. If he eats less fine grains, how can he not lose weight?

"Well, we are brothers, I must help you."

Li Zhiguo said so, but this cannot be done.

The Jia family only had an income of twenty-two yuan and fifty cents a month. With four people in the family, Jia Zhang would spend a lot in the cafeteria at noon every day, so how much money would be left?

The minimum living standard in Beijing is five yuan. If your living standard is lower than this, you can apply for benefits, such as free tuition for your children.

But the Jia family always hits the mark or exceeds the target by a little bit. What can we do?

At this time, Jia Dongxu lifted the door curtain and invited Li Zhiguo into the house.

"Mom, my brother is here."

"Li Zhiguo, come quickly. I took some time to make you a pair of shoes. See if they fit your feet."

Jia Zhang had a happy look on her face. Compared to a year ago, her complexion was much rosier and she had gained weight. Others suffered when they worked in the factory, but she had actually managed to improve her health?
"No need to try. You made all my shoes. They all fit my feet."

Li Zhiguo never expected that Jia Zhang would become his exclusive shoemaker. Not only did he have the pair of shoes on his feet, he also had a pair as a spare for the summer at home, so he got another pair of winter shoes.

Looking at the shoes on brother Dongxu's feet, they are already very worn out. This is not acceptable!

But who made him purchase flour tickets privately from Jia Zhang every month? No, now it’s called noodle tickets. The Jia family has 50 kilograms of noodle tickets every month.

In addition, the capital city also issued grain purchase certificates, which were later called grain stamps, the predecessor of coarse grains.

The capital city mainly issued three types of staple food tickets, namely flour tickets, grain tickets, and rice tickets.

In addition, since March last year, there have been purchase restrictions on edible oil, and oil coupons were issued in July of the same year.

"Brother Li!"

Chen Bihua came over, followed by Xiao Banggeng, who was also dressed like a cotton ball. He was born on the same day as Xiao Guanxiang, only a few hours younger.

"Uncle, uncle."

The little sticky dog ​​babbled and actually recognized the uncle in the yard.

Li Zhiguo reached out and touched Banggeng's head. He was quite cute when he was a child. Although this kid had the title of "King of Thieves" in the original drama, he actually only dared to steal some of Shazhu's things.

Even when they were stealing soy sauce from the steel mill, they were relying on the presence of Sha Zhu. He was the typical bully at home who couldn't stand up outside. With Sha Zhu in the yard, he could suppress them with just one hand.

"Mom, my brother wants to tell you something."

Jia Dongxu reminded everyone not to forget the important things.

"Yes, there is something."

Li Zhiguo stretched his neck, tired from playing chess.

"Brother, let me rub it for you."

Jia Dongxu didn't sit down, but quickly reached out to rub Li Zhiguo's shoulders and neck. This was not embarrassing and no outsiders saw it.

Li Zhiguo was already used to it, and continued, "Ms. Jia Zhang, now that you are working alone, you have to wait nearly a year for your salary to increase to 27.5 yuan.

There are four people in our family. Banggeng is growing up and needs to eat rice and noodles. Life has become a little difficult now.

We have to increase income and reduce expenditure, so that your family can have a second person to earn money, either my brother Dongxu or my sister Bihua."

"That's the truth."

Jia Zhang usually ate well at the factory and never paid attention to this matter, but her eldest grandson also had to eat well.

Li Zhiguo added: "Dongxu actually knows a lot, he can do locksmith work, he can project movies a little bit, he can cook, and he is also good at doing housework.

He can ride a bicycle and a tricycle, but he suffered a loss before and retired due to illness, and the street office has not arranged a job for him.”

"That's right. I'm in good health, but I don't have a job."

Jia Dongxu complained bitterly, but it took his brothers to understand him.

"Dongxu, now let me ask you, what do you want to do most?"

"I, I still want to work in a factory."

Jia Dongxu regretted it very much. If he had not retired due to illness, he would have been hired as a regular employee now, earning 33 yuan a month. His life would have been very successful.

"Don't worry about it. There is no job. But wait a few years until your mother turns fifty and retires. Then you can take over the job, or let Bihua take over."

Female workers now retire at the age of 50, and this age has not changed. Only female cadres retire at the age of 55.

Because the average life expectancy is very low now. When the People's Republic of China was first founded, the average life expectancy was only 35 years old. Can you believe it?

So people in their thirties are considered middle-aged, people in their forties are considered old, and people over sixty are considered to be very old.

Among all the elderly people in this yard, there is only one deaf old lady. This is because although women retire earlier, their life expectancy is actually higher than that of men.

Jia Zhang said quickly, "Yes, I will take over the job after I retire. I have asked, and it is known that if you have worked continuously for ten years, you can receive a pension. By then, I can apply to work until I am over fifty, and that is also possible."

My goodness, Jia Zhang has figured it all out, and she still has to work for nearly nine years.

"We have to wait another nine years!"

Jia Dongxu was miserable. How old was he at that time? Banggeng was already ten years old.

Li Zhiguo was stunned for a moment. Oh my god, is it true that Dongxu can't get around that hurdle? Must he rush to the factory to be reborn in the 1960s?
“It’s okay, Dongxu, you can do other things besides working in the factory.

If you want to make money, you have to learn how to live a good life in our institute. You can't learn it here because you are not in the factory.

But we can learn from the He family. They can earn hundreds of yuan a month, and they can eat white flour, meat and drink wine every day, and they can't spend it all.

So, Dongxu, you should also go and ride a tricycle, you have already learned it."

Li Zhiguo is sincere in giving advice to others and will not betray his brothers.

"Li Zhiguo, I have thought about riding a tricycle, but I don't have one."

Jia Dongxu was already thinking about saving himself. He had entered the factory nine years later and had such a long time to make money.

He doesn't want to stay at home to do laundry and take care of children, only give a few cents every time he buys groceries, and eat coarse grains for every meal. Is this how a human life should live?

"It's simple. An old man has money, so you can just go and borrow from him, and then pay him back when you make money.

A tricycle is only two months’ salary for an old man.”

Li Zhiguo is trying to divert the trouble to others. Let's see if Yi Zhonghai will accept this move. Everyone in the courtyard wants to see the Jia family live a hard life, but Yi Zhonghai will definitely be the first to bear the brunt. Will this allow the Dongxu brothers to successfully ride on the tricycle?
"Oh, that's fine. The old man is indeed rich, and the old lady gives him five dollars a month for living expenses."

Jia Dongxu's eyes lit up. The old man was usually very nice to him. He gave him several kilograms of food every month, and sometimes even one or two kilograms of flour. He always gave him this at night, so no one else knew about it.

"That's it, it's too late today, go talk to the uncle about this tomorrow.

Don't mention my name, well, I have a bad reputation in the hospital, so as not to have a counter-effect."

Li Zhiguo just wanted to do good deeds without leaving a name. This is how the backbone of contemporary youth is trained.

After saying this, he stood up to leave. The Jia family members hurriedly saw him off and only returned after he had walked far away.

"Dongxu, just listen to your brother. He gave Lao He some advice before, so that the He family can live a good life. In the future, you will drive a tricycle and mom will work in the factory, so that's two shares of income.

Later, let Bihua take over the job. Mom will retire, and you can still ride a tricycle. That’s three times the salary. You will have a good life.”

Jia Zhang did not mention the matter of selling noodle tickets. She saved her own money every month for her retirement, and she could not spend a single cent of it. Anyway, it was enough for her to have a meal of white flour a day.

"Hey! Then I'll buy a tricycle and take my brother out for a spin. My brother is a lucky man. When Uncle He first started riding the tricycle, he took him out and met customers before he even got out of the alley."

Jia Dongxu imagined that he would be able to see cash every day in the future, eat out at noon, go fishing when he was tired, and go out for a few jogs when he had no money. His life would be so prosperous and he would be the next Li Zhiguo in the hospital.

……

But when Li Zhiguo returned home, he looked around and asked in confusion: "Where is Xiao Guanxiang? Why is he gone?"

"I sent it to my mother in the next room. She will sleep with it at night. Zhiguo, the bath water is already heated."

Qin Huairu was sitting in front of the sewing machine, exuding a fragrance. She had already washed up.

"That's good, then go to bed early!"

A few days later, Li Zhiguo leaned against the head of the bed and said, "Huai Ru, have you heard of the story of Chang'e flying to the moon?"

"Well, I heard that Chang'e flew to the moon, and Hou Yi..."

Qin Huairu was puzzled. Why was he talking about this so late at night? She was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping and she fell asleep in a daze.

Li Zhiguo smiled, turned sideways to pull the light cord, and took a rest.

……

"Brother Li, are you awake, Brother Li?"

In the morning, after the people who went to work in the yard left, He Yushui ran to Li's window to call for help.

"It's rain. It's coming."

Li Zhiguo opened his eyes, not feeling well, as he had slept late yesterday. But now he had run into trouble. Today was the 3rd, and he had to go out to collect his salary.

The street no longer has to rush to settle the accounts on the 2nd of every month because the error rate in the accounts has been greatly reduced, but he is still needed to be in charge.

Seeing someone coming out of the house, He Yushui hurriedly said, "Brother Li, my father, my uncle, and my brother haven't come back yet."

"What? You haven't come back yet?"

Li Zhiguo was stunned for a moment. It's not necessary. Even if he met the young widow Xu Huizhen, he couldn't stay with her all night. Besides, Shazhu had to go to work today. He didn't have the courage to skip work.

"I just checked, it's really not back."

He Yushui was almost crying with anxiety.

"Don't worry, I'll go find him right away, I think he's at the front door.

By the way, Yushui, have you had breakfast?"

Li Zhiguo suddenly thought of Yu Shui, whose brain is made of water and is easily fooled. Forget it, he is a good man, there is no need to fool him.

"Eat it, I can cook."

He Yushui comes from a family of traditional Chinese cooking and has been influenced by it since childhood. Even though he is still a primary school student, his cooking skills are already quite good.

"Okay, I'll go find someone right away."

Li Zhiguo washed up hastily, looked in the mirror when he returned to the room, and found nothing wrong with him, still the same young man as before. Let's go.

I lent my bicycle to Sha Zhu last night, but this morning Qin Huairu left the bicycle at home for him to use.

"Uncle, you are busy, why don't you get a bicycle?"

When passing by the front yard, he greeted me and said, "It has been a year since the third uncle's glasses fell and the frame got cracked. It twisted itself up and he hasn't replaced them for many years."

"It's almost there. I'll buy it if I save up a little more."

Yan Bugui has been there many times and wants to buy a Forever one that is cheaper.

When you buy a bicycle, you have to pay a 1.5 cent license fee, and a steel stamp to make it easier to find if you lose it. In addition, you have to pay a tax of 2.4 dollars per year. These are all expenses, so you have to think about them carefully.

Yan Bugui also wanted to buy a second-hand car, but everyone in the hospital was buying new cars, which didn't make sense.

"Then you have to hurry up."

Li Zhiguo thought that if he didn't hurry up, he would need tickets. The unit would issue purchase vouchers, also called supply vouchers, industrial vouchers, etc.

I get a coupon for every 20 yuan of salary. It takes a long time to save up enough to buy a bicycle. In addition, I may need a bicycle ticket. It's a rip-off anyway.

Now that he had left the yard, he took a detour and went to the department store to buy a watch for 120 yuan. This was a gift for his wife Qin Huairu. If he didn't buy it now, he would have to get a ticket later, which was troublesome.

With the official issuance of food coupons in various places this year, the era of coupons has begun, and you will need coupons to buy anything in the future.

……

Union Hospital, ward!
When Xu Huizhen woke up, she shouted, "My child, where is my child?"

"Here it is."

"The child is fine."

"The kid is okay!"

After hearing three male voices in succession, Xu Huizhen finally realized that there was someone else in the ward.

She fell asleep last night because she was so tired after giving birth. She woke up in a daze in the middle of the night to feed the baby, and only now did she come to her senses.

"Thank you, thank you."

Xu Huizhen leaned against the head of the bed, took the child and breathed a sigh of relief.

But looking at the three grown men, I couldn't help but ask, "What are your names and what is your relationship?"

"My name is He Daqing, and this is my brother, my son."

"My name is Cai Quanwu, and this is my brother, my nephew."

"My name is Sha... Hi, my name is He Yuzhu, everyone calls me Shazhu, this is my dad, my uncle."

The introduction of the three people made Xu Huizhen feel confused again, "Why is one surnamed He and the other surnamed Cai?"

He Daqing replied: "My brother was born to my stepmother, and he took her surname."

Xu Huizhen nodded. Although the situation was a bit complicated, she finally figured it out.

"Thank you so much for saving me and my daughter."

"Nothing, just something that happened along the way. We are tricycle riders, a tricycle family!"

He Daqing showed off that his family had two tricycles and was well off. He said directly, "Xu Huizhen, my wife passed away early, and I am single now."

Cai Quanwu also quickly said: "I am also single and have never been in a relationship."

“Hey, I’m single too!”

Sha Zhu felt that since his father and uncle had said so, he had to follow suit.

"okay!"

Xu Huizhen grinned, smiling politely but awkwardly. She was stupid. It was not right to have three fathers and sons in one family. But the three grown men in your He family are all single? Are you lacking women in your destiny?
"Oh, by the way, I haven't paid you for the car yet. And you should have paid for the birth of the child. I'll give it to you right away."

Is Xu Hui really rich? How dare she go to the hospital to give birth without money? She is the daughter-in-law of a merchant family, and she has to pay for all the medical expenses herself.

He Yongqiang refused to give any money because all the money was earned by his father-in-law from the tavern. He could see cash every day. The house also had a telephone installed. The initial installation fee and telephone bill were not cheap, and he also charged a monthly rent of three yuan. The conditions were not bad.

"Don't worry, my family is not short of money!"

He Daqing thought that this money could be used as a betrothal gift, so he paid fifty yuan in advance.

If you give birth to a child nowadays and your employer reimburses you, you only have to pay a few dollars at most. But if you find a midwife in the countryside, you only have to spend one dollar, and the midwife gets 80 cents as a commission, and the remaining 20 cents is handed over to the government.

But if an individual pays to have a baby, an ordinary small hospital will charge dozens of dollars, and a hospital like Union Medical College will charge more than a hundred dollars, and this is the cost assuming no problems.

"I have to give you money even if you don't need it. It's as much as you want."

Xu Hui really likes to be clear about what is one and what is two. She doesn't owe a penny of what is due, and she doesn't take a penny more than what is not due.

Likewise, she must not owe a penny of the money she deserves, and she also promises not to sell fake goods.

"That's good. You are a man of rules."

He Daqing was happy. Look at what a good young widow she is. She is not greedy for money.

Cai Quanwu and Sha Zhu also nodded frequently, which was a manifestation of their strong moral character.

After He Daqing received fifty yuan and one and a half cents, he suddenly realized, "Shazhu, what are you still doing here? Why don't you go to work?"

"Yeah, I still have to go to work!"

Sha Zhu reacted. Fortunately it was not too late. He had a bicycle. If he rushed over now and showed up before lunch, the squad leader would probably not say anything. He was a formal employee now.

Suddenly, the door of the ward was pushed open.

"Oh, you three are really here. It took me a while to find you."

Li Zhiguo rushed over and saw the three members of the He family in the ward. The one who was still leaning on the bed was none other than Xu Huizhen, the proprietress of the tavern. She was a man of few words.

"Li Zhiguo!"

"Brother Li."

The three members of the He family were stunned. This was Union Hospital, a place completely unrelated to them. How did Li Zhiguo find them here?

"No, why are you here?"

Sha Zhu was the first to ask questions, something was wrong.

"Yu Shui looked for you guys last night, and asked me to find you guys this morning. Now you've found me."

Li Zhiguo looked at Xu Huizhen. She was pretty, but her personality and temper were not something most people could handle.

He Daqing said quickly: "Yushui is my daughter, she is still in primary school. I only have one son and one daughter."

Xu Huizhen's mouth was cracked, her eyes were wide open, and only an awkward smile was left.

"What's going on with you guys? Why are you all in the hospital? Who is she?"

Li Zhiguo pointed his finger, and of course he had to pretend not to know him.

"Well," He Daqing explained, "last night, in Qianmen Hutong..."

Li Zhiguo nodded, "So that's how it is. You guys are doing good things. But is it really necessary for three of you to stay here all night?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the three members of the He family became embarrassed, with silly smiles on their faces. How should they respond?

"Silly Zhu, go to work quickly. I'll lend you my bike. You can ride it back to me after get off work."

"okay!"

Sha Zhu walked away dejectedly, but before leaving, he glanced at Xu Huizhen again.

The latter grinned again, and Xu Huizhen gradually felt the pressure from the three bachelors.

"Lao He, Lao Cai, what about you? Go back and tell Yu Shui that you are safe!"

Li Zhiguo didn't want to separate these people. It was just that Yu Shui was still waiting at home. Since he had agreed to find someone, he had to get the job done.

"Let my brother go back..."

He Daqing and Cai Quanwu both spoke at the same time, and they refused to leave.

(End of this chapter)