Chapter 188

Later, he will move out of the courtyard house and live in a large compound with his wife and children. He will retire completely and let his wife support the family while he carries the bird cage and becomes a boss. How nice it will be.

"Li Zhiguo, you're overthinking it. Baihua is fine. We'll get married soon."

Shazhu didn't take it seriously. He had to be better than his dad.

"Okay, clean this up, and the money for the eggs will be deducted from the gift."

Li Zhiguo finished eating the fried egg, put down his chopsticks and slipped away.

"Hey, you haven't given me the gift yet, I'll give you a big red envelope later."

Sha Zhu shouted, packed up happily, and started cooking immediately.

Li Zhiguo went to the factory director's office, slapped the drawings on the table, and explained the advantages and disadvantages of the new invention.

"What? You want to make an electric blanket on such a hot day? No, you want to set the house on fire and put it out with a water pump?"

Director Yang was confused. How could the situation regress? There is a severe drought this year and it is so hot that people are sweating profusely. You actually want to make electric blankets? Who are you going to sell them to?

"Director Yang, please listen to me first. This is for Big Brother and also for overseas. The winter there is even colder, so it will be useful."

Although Li Zhiguo is well aware that electric blankets have many disadvantages and are destined to be eliminated by the public, they are rare now.

Anyway, he only needs to propose ideas and let people do it, and he doesn't make a penny from it. He is strong because he has no desires.

"Hey, now that you put it that way, it seems to make sense."

Director Yang thought that the purpose was to earn foreign exchange, so he couldn't use common sense to calculate.

After asking some details about the electric blanket, I reported it immediately.

If someone else was inventing something, the process would not be so simple. At least a report would be written only after a finished product was produced, and then a meeting would be held to discuss it. It would take at least several months for the actual results to come out. But this is Li Zhiguo.

Before we even had lunch, Director Bi called back after receiving the news and gave instructions, telling us to make whatever the invention was.

"Li Zhiguo, you make the finished product first. I will arrange what materials and people are needed."

"Okay, here is the list and the types of work needed. Director Yang, you prepare it first, and I'll come back next week."

Li Zhiguo was not in a hurry. It was still summer now and the actual delivery time was winter. It would not be a waste of time to spend a month to make the samples.

Electric blankets can not only be used to fill the gaps in supplies and to deliver goods to Big Brother, but can also be used to offset debts owed to Big Brother and be exchanged for food.

Even though the scale is not large, it is still a huge profit compared to the investment.

And if feasible, it can also be exported to other cold places.

The disadvantages of electric blankets are quite large. For example, there is a risk of electric shock after wetting the bed, they are prone to breakage if left folded until the second year, they cannot be washed when dirty, it is actually very hot if you lie on them for a long time, and there is a risk of fire if used for a long time at one time.

But this is not a problem. Currently, Chinese people cannot afford it. It is exported to foreign countries and is available as a trial product.

When the time comes, we will put warnings on the packaging, and the first one will be no bed-wetting!
"It's time. I'm going to eat."

Li Zhiguo hurried out, but was still a step too late. The bell rang while he was still in the stairwell.

I simply didn't eat at the factory at noon and saved coarse grain coupons.

When I get home, I open the stove lid and put breakfast in the pot. I can eat it after it is heated up. It's just right to wait for my wife to come home from get off work and wash the dishes.

"Li Zhiguo, something big has happened. It seems that Sha Zhu's girlfriend ran away?"

The second aunt came to visit. A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. She has always had a good relationship with the bad boy.

"Run away? That's impossible. I went to the factory this morning, and Shazhu said he wanted to get a certificate from him."

Of course Li Zhiguo pretended not to know, otherwise he would have been worried that Sha Zhu would come and fight him.

"He really ran away. He went out in the morning and hasn't come back yet..." The second aunt just heard the gossip and came over to chat.

"Just run away, she's a widow, and they haven't got married yet, so it's no loss for Shazhu. By the way, when will Guangqi's girlfriend marry me?"

Li Zhiguo thought of Liu Guangqi. The courtyard would have a new member, and it would be more lively with more people.

"This Sunday, the girl's parents will come over for dinner, and that will be considered the engagement.

I'm waiting for the 24th to receive the ration for next month. I'll set a date then and prepare two tables. I'll invite you two, Xu Damao, the first uncle, the third uncle, and the deaf old lady. We'll just have a drink."

Second Aunt wanted to hold a big party, but she had no food and couldn't buy meat. She had money but couldn't spend it.

"That's very good."

Li Zhiguo nodded and said that the ration and food coupons could be exchanged for the next month's on the 24th of the month and must be used before the end of the next month.

If you really cannot use it all, you should store it at the grain station, otherwise it will expire and become useless.

This aspect is still relatively humane, but it also resulted in many residents having eaten up all their food by the 23rd.

He continued to read electrician books in the afternoon and didn't know when he fell asleep. His two sons were not around and his wife was at work. He was alone at home and had a sense of freedom as a single man.

During the summer vacation, you should give yourself a break and experience the feeling of loneliness.

In the evening, Qin Huairu had just returned home when Sha Zhu came running over after a short while.

"Li Zhiguo, my partner is missing."

Sha Zhu was sweating profusely. He returned to the yard in the afternoon. Not only did he bring a lunch box, he also went out of his way to buy new toiletries. He even used this month's meat coupons and bought half a pound of meat.

What happened is that the person was gone. We searched everywhere nearby but couldn't find him.

"Well, I heard from Second Auntie this afternoon that you don't have to worry. If it's yours, you can get it back no matter what. If it's not yours, it's useless even if you find it. Just tell me, your sister Qin came to me on her own at the beginning."

Li Zhiguo was talking nonsense and guessed that Sha Zhu would come, but that widow was really not suitable. Even if she got married to Sha Zhu, she would have to run away if she met someone better or if Sha Zhu got into trouble.

This is called buying a cat from afar. You don't even know the other person's family situation. Blindly marrying will cause big problems. This is really different from Xu Huizhi at the beginning.

"Li Zhiguo, I gave her two dollars before I left this morning. This is considered as a reward. I hope she won't cause any trouble in the future!"

After looking around, Sha Zhu has accepted the reality and is now wondering if there will be any consequences.

"Well, you're more generous than your father, just give me two pieces directly.

What kind of trouble can you have? You stayed in the rainwater house last night. The whole hospital can testify for you. "

Li Zhiguo shook his head. After all, Sha Zhu was still timid, unlike He Daqing. So let’s not talk about it.

"Yes, I live in a rainy house."

Sha Zhu was no longer panicking. He took out a cigarette and handed it to the man. He also helped to light it and took a deep puff. His forehead was covered with sweat.

"No, Shazhu, aren't you sad or upset?" Li Zhiguo was a little confused. This was not what he thought.

Sha Zhu replied: "Why be sad? If she runs away, I'll find her again. Didn't you say you wanted to find a virgin girl? It's not easy to run away.

Look at the courtyard, you, Xu Damao, and Jia Dongxu, all the wives you found didn’t run away, and they even gave birth to children.”

"That's the truth."

Li Zhiguo suddenly realized that Sha Zhu had also matured. It took him half a year to recover from the blow from Xu Huizhi, but now it’s been less than two hours?

However, Sha Zhu is as persistent in finding a wife as He Daqing. If he fails with the first one, he will immediately look for the next one.

"Okay, Silly Zhu, let's do this! Guangqi's girlfriend's family is coming to visit this week, and we plan to get married in the second half of the month.

Look at how efficient others are, you should also work harder!"

He still gave Shazhu a good-natured critical hit.

"Hey, I've heard about Guangqi's girlfriend. She's not as pretty as Chen Bihua. I don't care about her. Let's go. I'm going back to cook. I bought half a pound of meat today. I'll eat it by myself."

Shazhu staggered back home, he was so tired that his legs were weak from running.

After everyone left, Qin Huairu came over from the kitchen and said, "Shazhu really spent the night with that widow last night."

"How can this be false? Sha Zhu gave someone two dollars, so he didn't lose or owe me anything, right? Men are like this, they fall in love with every girl they meet."

Li Zhiguo seized the opportunity to test Qin Huairu to see if she could be a first wife.

"Zhiguo, you're not thinking about someone else, are you, Liang Ladi?"

Qin Huairu has always been upset about renting the courtyard to Liang Ladi. The rent was agreed to be five yuan per month, but she had never seen the money.

What's more, the time doesn't match. Her husband hasn't been to the factory for several months. Where does he collect the rent?

"No, why are you mentioning her again? I went to the factory to do some work this morning, but I heard from people that she has a partner and is still dating.

What are we having for dinner tonight? I am hungry. I ate the breakfast you left for me at noon."

Li Zhiguo quickly changed the subject, saying that this matter was not urgent and that we had to wait and see before taking action.

"Well, the vegetables are stewed in the pot. I'll cook noodles in the evening. Don't you like them?"

Qin Huairu poured some water while she was talking, and then she started to work. "I'll put some chili in it for my portion."

"okay!"

……

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, more than half a month later, the electric blanket project at the steel rolling mill was launched. No equipment was needed, and the circuits inside could be installed manually.

On the contrary, there are requirements for materials, and problems such as leakage and heating need to be tested.

It takes about ten days to produce and twenty days to test. He doesn't need to follow up and can only discuss the transfer of human resources relations after the finished product is out.

On the 25th, Friday, he unexpectedly received three invitations.

On the street ahead, Qiangzi asked Lao Cai to send it on his behalf as he was going to hold a wedding banquet with Liao Baihua.

There is also Fan Jinyou, who gritted his teeth and was determined to marry that 200-pound pig girl.

As well as my second aunt’s family’s Liu Guangqi’s wedding, the banquet will be held tomorrow, Sunday.

Suddenly, I felt like I was being fleeced.

"Zhiguo, how much should we give as a gift tomorrow? The second aunt gave us two dollars and fifty cents at the beginning, and it's recorded in the account book. Should we still give this much?"

Qin Huairu dug out the gift book that her third uncle had kept for her when she had her wedding banquet.

"What else? You forgot, we are busy tomorrow because we have to go see our son. I asked Brother Dongxu to go in my place, he is happy to drink."

Li Zhiguo was not reluctant to spend this little money. He had just accepted a red envelope of eight yuan from his second aunt a while ago. He really wanted to take his wife to see his son and didn't want to waste the good weekend.

"Well! If you don't want to go, you still have to give a gift."

Qin Huairu was quite persistent on this point and she paid for it herself.

"Okay, go ahead and give it to them. Also, make it clear that we are not going tomorrow. As for whether or not to invite the Jia family, Second Aunt will decide for herself. Just mention it."

Li Zhiguo missed his son, so he simply took Guan Xiang back home the next day and asked him to exercise and eat coarse grains in advance. Only then did he realize that life is not easy and how hard it is for him, as a father, to earn money to support his family!

Moreover, eating whole grains can help you grow up. There was a big man in later generations who ate too much whole grains when he was a child. Later he created a whole grain brand mobile phone, which sold quite well.
Afterwards, Qin Huairu went to Old Liu's house to give a gift. Li Zhiguo went out for a walk and came back to rest.

The reason why I didn't go up to the courtyard three times tonight is that I still want to have some time alone.

Qin Feng, without clothes!
"Brother, I have to go out today."

Jia Dongxu got up quite early, and found two bamboos from somewhere. He was learning to weave a fishing basket. The water in the river was shallow, so fishing was no longer possible, and it was more reliable to catch fish directly.

"Well, go pick up Guan Xiang."

Li Zhiguo thought for a moment and asked, "Dongxu, do you want to go back to the factory as a worker? I remember that you seem to have worked there for more than two years."

"I don't want to be a worker anymore. My mom is doing a good job. When she retires, I'll let Bihua take over. I'll just wait to ride a tricycle and see cash every day. How great it is."

Jia Dongxu has become accustomed to the free time he has, and the good days of being able to go out and eat out even if he has no money.

"Okay, I'm just being nosy. Let's go. In a few days, call Uncle San and we'll go on an outing together."

Li Zhiguo originally thought of waiting until the electric blanket factory started up and then simply putting Dongxu in. As for the brothers in the hospital, the one he trusted the most was actually Jia Dongxu.

Sha Zhu is a kid who always offends people and does stupid things from time to time; Xu Damao, as his brother-in-law, also does bad things from time to time; no one knows who led Old Cai astray; Liu Guangqi is under pressure from his parents, so he works honestly and gets married according to the rules, which is boring.

These guys were all drinking buddies, but they didn't resist because they were enveloped by his aura of justice.

Only Jia Dongxu, after observing him for the past few years, actually treated him as his brother. Even he was surprised and decided not to continue to cheat him.

"Okay, let's go to Zuojiazhuang some other day. The day before yesterday, someone from the neighboring yard went over there to dig wild vegetables. He had a great harvest. He caught a rabbit and picked half a basket of sweet potato tips to eat as vegetables."

Jia Dongxu was tempted when he thought about it. If he wasn't timid and afraid of being beaten, he would have gone to beg for money long ago.

"Okay, let's make an appointment." Li Zhiguo was also a little tempted, but he had to go now.

"Dongxu, I'm leaving with your brother."

Qin Huairu also said hello. As for the blind date that happened back then, she had long since let it go.

"Hey! Walk slowly!"

Jia Dongxu watched the person disappear at the entrance of the corridor before he came to his senses and thought to himself that this was a good thing, as no one else would be worthy of Qin Huairu.

"Dongxu, ask your wife to buy some meat. She has been eating vegetarian food all day and her eyesight has become bad."

Jia Zhang shouted in the house. She had just woken up. She was old and had worked six days. She needed more rest.

"Mom, buy some meat again. We don't have any tickets."

Jia Dongxu felt a little guilty, so he secretly went out to eat out the day before yesterday and spent all his money.

……

"Huai Ru, let me ride the bike."

Li Zhiguo sat in the back seat, looking at the strange looks from the crowd along the way. Even though he had never been shameless since he was a child, he still felt a little bit weird.

"No, you haven't even woken up yet, how can you be energetic? You're almost there."

Qin Huairu's forehead was already covered with sweat, but she ate well. Other families could not get enough to eat, but she could not only get enough, but most of it was fine grains. She could eat meat ten times a month, and she had no shortage of eggs. She was in good health and full of energy.

"Fine!"

Li Zhiguo thought, this is the only downside to summer. If it were winter, he could cover his face with a scarf and no one would recognize him.

He yawned and arrived at the courtyard. As soon as the bicycle was parked, he got off and took the handlebars.

Qin Huairu didn't think much about it and pushed the door open and walked in first. It was the weekend and there was someone at home, so there was no need to lock the door.

"Guan Xiang, Chaoyang..."

"mom!"

The two children heard the noise and ran towards the door shouting.

Li Zhiguo followed behind pushing his bicycle. He must be tired after riding all the way here.
"Brother-in-law, you're here." Qin Guangming and Qin Guangyou hurried over to take the car.

"Okay!" Li Zhiguo handed the car over and went into the courtyard to chat.

"Hello, brother-in-law!"

A strange woman appeared in front of him, but actually she was not strange. She was Qin Guangming's wife, whom he married last year.

She is also from a rural area in Changping. Her name is Tang Meimei. Because Qin Guangming works in the street office and with the help of Li Zhiguo, she has transferred her household registration to the city and is now pregnant.

However, Qin Guangming moved out after getting married and lived in a large courtyard in the alley of Qianmen Street.

"Well, hello." Li Zhiguo nodded and said, "Meimei, when you give birth, your brother-in-law will give you a reward."

"Thank you, brother-in-law!"

Tang Meimei is an honest country girl who is hardworking and diligent. She was chosen by Qin's mother when she went to the countryside to look after her son.

"son in law!"

"Uncle!"

My father-in-law, my third uncle, and my third aunt were all in the yard, including the kid who picked up the baby from my second uncle's family, whose full name he still can't remember.

"Brother-in-law!" Xiao Jingru and her brother Qin Guangjun also ran over.

There are many people living in the courtyard, but when Qin Guangming got married, Qin Huairu set a rule that the younger generation must move out if they get married, but they can come back occasionally to stay for a short time, and no rent will be charged for them as guests.

Li Zhiguo felt that this was a good idea. Moving out was also for the good of these people. Otherwise, it would not be a solution to be without a house forever.

When he arrived at the north room, he drank a sip of tea and saw everyone following him in. Well, he was the backbone of the Qin family.

"Jia Wa, what's your full name?"

"Brother-in-law, my name is Guang Jian. My father said that I was difficult to raise when I was a child, so he gave me a mean name, Pick Up Baby."

Jianwa scratched his head. Sometimes he even forgot his own name.

"Well, I'll ask you to pick up the baby. How are your parents now? I've always said I'd go to the countryside, but I haven't been to the village in years."

When Li Zhiguo goes to the village now, he doesn't even have food to eat, and no one is allowed to cook. Going there is not a transformation plan, but suffering.

"My parents are doing well. They eat in the public canteen of the brigade and have breakfast there. They are paid three yuan a month, but their land is gone and belongs to the collective."

Jianwa scratched his head again. He didn't look very smart, but he was able to endure hardships. He learned cooking from He Daqing and now he can cook. It is estimated that He Daqing wanted to be lazy, so he stepped up the training of his apprentice.

"Well, is the cafeteria all-you-can-eat, or what?"

(End of this chapter)