Chapter 45 It’s different
Li Zhiguo was speechless. What did they mean by "he was sick"? It felt like an insult.

Day by day, it seemed like everyone was looking forward to his coming to work.

"Ah! Brother, you are already a street official, you can become a cadre in the future!"

Qin Huairu was surprised. Happiness came too suddenly.

"Huai Ru, don't listen to her nonsense. I'm just an extra-staff member. Besides, there are a lot of street officials, and no one will take it seriously."

As he was speaking, Chen Xueru continued, "Li Zhiguo, you are an eighth-level clerk and a reserve cadre, you are different from others."

"Boss lady, please stop teasing me. I'm here for business today. I just bought a sewing machine. Can you introduce me to the female tailor who made clothes for me last time? Let Qin Huairu learn how to make clothes from her."

Li Zhiguo was a little overwhelmed.

"It's a small matter. I'll ask someone to call Aunt Fang over right away. Her ancestors were tailors and her skills are very good."

Chen Xueru just wanted Li Zhiguo to be more motivated, but she didn't really want to push him to the limit.

After a while, the coffee came up. Chen Xueru hurriedly opened the drawer, took out sugar and milk tablets, added them to the cup, and stirred it before handing it to Li Zhiguo.

"Here, it won't be bitter to drink this way!"

"Thank you!"

Li Zhiguo would not be fooled by this sugar-coated bullet. Chen Xueru has a strong personality and cannot be deceived by appearances.

When Qin Huairu saw this scene, she once again felt that it was right to have a child early.

Chen Xueru also sat down, holding a delicate teacup and taking a sip, "Li Zhiguo, don't you say every day that you are a working class? But you still buy a bicycle and a sewing machine."

"Madam boss, my brother Li just got a bonus and used that money to buy this."

Qin Huairu defended him, even though she knew Chen Xueru was just joking, she still didn't want her man to suffer any injustice.

"Bonus? Doesn't he no longer work in the factory?"

Chen Xueru was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered what Li Zhiguo said on the street that day.

Okay, are you doing this specifically for rewards?

"My big brother Li is really amazing..."

Qin Huairu explained the matter of the pencil sharpener.

This gave Li Zhiguo a headache. If he had known this, he would not have let the two women meet, instead of exposing each other's secrets.

"Ah! Li Zhiguo, you have this ability! Otherwise, you can also make one for me, so that I can learn from you."

Chen Xueru thought of what Li Zhiguo had asked the spy to draw, and she learned it.

"What are you thinking about? Do you have any tools? Wait a little longer, and you'll have them on the market.

Madam boss, you should go and do what you need to do. I see there are a lot of customers outside."

Li Zhiguo had to let the person go first, otherwise all their secrets would be exposed if they continued talking.

"There are many guests, so I have to hire many waiters!"

Chen Xueru didn't take it seriously and went to chat with Qin Huairu about family matters.

Fortunately, Aunt Fang arrived quickly and took Qin Huairu to a nearby store to study, and Li Zhiguo followed her.

Unexpectedly, within half an hour, Chen Xueru also followed.

"No, you have so much free time, why don't you go out with your boyfriend? Today is Sunday."

Li Zhiguo was waiting on a chair outside. It was a yard, and there were female workers making clothes inside.

"You're talking about Hou Cheng! He's boring. You're more interesting."

Chen Xueru also speaks without restraint.

"I……"

Li Zhiguo was about to respond with a joke, but he realized that no matter how he responded, there would still be ambiguity.

"Li Zhiguo, what do you think about me breaking up with Hou Cheng? He wants to go abroad, but I don't want to go.

When you are in a foreign country and you are unfamiliar with the place, how can you feel as friendly as your own people? "

Chen Xueru wanted to hear this boy's opinion because she found that Li Zhiguo was different from ordinary people.

Li Zhiguo was silent for a moment. Actually, there was nothing wrong with running away now.

But our motherland is not bad either, it will only get better and better.

"Look at me, why am I telling you this!"

Seeing that no one was talking, Chen Xueru found a way out and said, "Li Zhiguo, you know how to do the accounting. Come to my shop on the first day of every month to do the accounting for a day. I will give you a salary of fifty yuan."

"How many?"

Li Zhiguo suddenly realized that what his teacher said when he was studying was right: if you learn math, physics and chemistry well, you won’t be afraid to travel around the world!
"Fifty? How can you say it's too little? This is enough for me to hire two apprentices."

Chen Xueru just wanted to buy the person a day so she could chat to her heart’s content.

"It's not too little, it's too much. I'm just a working class person..."

Li Zhiguo didn't really want to take this job as he had enough food and drink.

"You are a street official, not a worker."

Chen Xueru then added: "Just think of it as helping me. I'm taking up too much time to settle the bills every month."

"I won't leave the mountain easily."

Li Zhiguo couldn't even ask for more money, "Okay! I'll just consider it as a favor, but it's you. If it were someone else, I wouldn't even bother to take this job."

"Yes, yes, you are here to help me, okay!"

Chen Xueru was happy and didn't bother them anymore. She went back to the store happily.

"Sister Xueru, what's the happy thing?"

A shop assistant saw the boss lady coming back excitedly and took the opportunity to come forward and say something nice to her.

"It's nothing. I just invited Li Zhiguo to work as the accountant in the store. Someone will do the accounting for us from now on."

Chen Xueru simply told the whole story, and when the boy came to the store again, he would be one of their own.

"Ah! Doesn't Brother Li go to work himself?"

The clerk was surprised and thought that the sister was a little confused.

"He's good in every other respect, except that he lacks ambition. Let's not talk about him anymore. Please help me arrange for Madam Zhao and the others to come over to see the silk."

Chen Xueru quickly got busy. It was the peak season and she needed to earn more money.

……

Li Zhiguo was bored waiting in the tailor shop, so he went to the tailor's shop to learn. It turned out that he had quite a talent for it.

I quickly learned how to measure sizes and even operated the sewing machine quite well.

If he wasn't afraid of shocking the world, he would have built a set of iron armor. However, Geng's craftsmanship was not enough to make the armor take off.

"Brother, you are really amazing. You have learned much better than me."

Qin Huairu felt the gap. She was already very serious, but she was not as skilled as her man.

"Huai Ru, if you compare yourself to me, it will hurt your self-esteem."

Li Zhiguo joked and went to learn various ways of operating a sewing machine, such as changing the thread and the needle, so that he would not need to ask for help if he encountered any problems in the future.

By the time we finished work in the evening, Qin Huairu had learned the technique quite well and even got two books which explained how to take measurements and tailor clothes.

“Aunt Fang, thank you so much today. Here’s a little token of my appreciation. Please help me.”

Li Zhiguo took out some money, rolled it up and handed it over.

There is no control over staple food at the moment, otherwise others will be angry with you if you give them money!
"Boss Chen has already given it to me, so I can't take it back. If you have any questions in the future, come over anytime. You two learn very quickly and are very talented."

Aunt Fang quickly refused and finally didn't take it.

After leaving the tailor shop, Qin Huairu said, "I hope this won't cause too much trouble for the boss lady!"

"She's waiting. She came over this afternoon and insisted that I settle her bill on the first of every month and give her fifty dollars. I had no choice but to agree."

Li Zhiguo explained this matter so that Qin Huairu wouldn't think too much. "Ah, give me fifty yuan."

Qin Huairu was stunned. This was not treating money as money. "Brother, how rich is the boss lady?"

"It's her family business that was passed down from generation to generation. She does make a lot of money, but the good days won't last long. It's still the glory of us workers."

Li Zhiguo never forgets his working class origin. He has shed sweat and blood for the factory.

"Brother, you are the street officer!"

Qin Huairu is not stupid. The gap between workers and cadres is still widening.

"Ahem... don't mention this! Otherwise, when I get to the hospital, I won't be able to get along with everyone as an ordinary person."

If it weren't for the shop and the compound, he wouldn't want to take any work on the street.

It was a little late at this time, so the two found a state-owned restaurant halfway and spent 40 cents to eat two large bowls of braised pork noodles.

Qin Huairu had never had such a good life before. How could she have eaten out for two meals a day?

When we arrived at the alley near the courtyard, we happened to meet Jia Dongxu and his wife walking in front.

Li Zhiguo accelerated and was able to hear the conversation between the two.

"Wife, you've had a great meal today!"

Jia Dongxu is showing off, it’s good that he doesn’t have to hand over his salary.

"Dongxu, don't be so wasteful next time. A bowl of noodles costs eight cents and only weighs two taels, and there's no meat in it.

We both have 1.6 cents each, which is enough to buy a pound of flour to make cabbage dumplings. "

Although Chen Bihua thought that eating out was respectable, she didn't know how expensive oil and salt were if she wasn't a household keeper. With such a small monthly salary, she didn't dare to do so.

"Jia Dongxu, you are great. You can even go to a restaurant."

Li Zhiguo suddenly spoke, startling the two men.

Jia Dongxu turned around and shouted, "Li Zhiguo, what's the matter? Are you jealous? I earned my own money, so I can spend it however I want."

"Jia Dongxu, are you out of your mind? Qin Huairu makes money for my family, and I can spend it however I want. I don't want to talk to you anymore. I'm riding my bike, and I'm one step ahead of you."

Li Zhiguo drove Qin Huairu away quickly. He really didn't expect Jia Dongxu to be able to eat out.

"Bah! Qin Huairu followed him, she will regret it someday."

Jia Dongxu was in a good mood, but suddenly it turned bad.

……

They soon arrived at the central courtyard and saw a few middle-aged women chatting. Jia Zhang was holding a shoe sole in her hand.

The shoes on Li Zhiguo's feet are made by Jia Zhang. They are comfortable to wear and of excellent quality.

"This kid is back."

Jia Zhang muttered to herself, remembering that Li Zhiguo did not approve of her being in charge of the money.

"Li Zhiguo, where did you take Qin Huairu to hang out? It's been a whole day."

Mrs. Chen is more polite and is a chat friend in the circle of aunts.

"What are you shopping for? Take her to the tailor shop to learn how to sew on a sewing machine. I've been waiting there all day."

Li Zhiguo estimated that Jia Dongxu would be back soon, and this was a rare opportunity.

Then he asked, "Jia Zhang, where is your Dongxu?"

"You ask what Dongxu does. He is not like you who does nothing all day. My Dongxu goes to the library to study. In the future, he will be a senior fitter like the old man."

When Jia Zhang heard that Qin Huairu went to the tailor shop, she took it to heart and asked her daughter-in-law to go and learn the same the next day.

Li Zhiguo smiled, "Did Dongxu say he was going to a restaurant tonight and asked you not to wait for him for dinner?"

"What, Dongxu went to a restaurant? That's impossible, he brought his wife with him."

Jia Zhang was stunned and almost pricked her hand with the needle.

The aunties in the yard became interested, there is new gossip.

"Li Zhiguo, what did you see? Tell me quickly."

Aunt Wang urged, and she, who was from the front yard, ran to the middle yard to chat.

"Nothing much, I just heard something in the alley when I came back that Dongxu took his wife out to a restaurant.

Oh, Dongxu is back, I won’t gossip to his face.”

Seeing a figure on the other side of the corridor, Li Zhiguo hurriedly took Qin Huairu away, but they didn't go far.

"Mom, have you cooked yet? I'm hungry after reading all day."

Jia Dongxu didn't want to say this, but seeing so many middle-aged women...

"Dongxu, are you really hungry?"

Jia Zhang had a miserable look on her face. Li Zhiguo was a liar, but there was no need to talk nonsense about such things.

"Why aren't you hungry? Don't you see what time it is? Mom, don't eat alone first."

Jia Dongxu looked around and saw that Li Zhiguo was not there, so he was not panicked.

"Oh my! Lao Yi, please come quickly, Dongxu is being unfilial."

Jia Zhang couldn't hold back her tears and started to cry.
"Mom, what are you doing? How am I being unfilial?"

Jia Dongxu was confused. His mother's behavior had a very bad impact on his reputation.

"Dongxu, tell me yourself, is it because you went to a restaurant that you had such a good meal?"

Jia Zhang's face was full of tears. Why didn't he take her with him when he went to the restaurant?

"Oh, that kid Li Zhiguo must be right."

Jia Dongxu reacted and realized that he had been harmed by a villain again.

"Don't worry about who said it. Tell me whether you went to a restaurant or not."

Jia Zhang didn't have time to say anything about the bad boy, she was feeling upset herself.

Everyone was watching, Jia Dongxu couldn't hold it in any longer, so he had to bite the bullet and say, "I just got hungry halfway through the journey, so I went with Bihua to have a bowl of vegetarian noodles."

"Oh my, this guy is not going to live anymore. His son and daughter-in-law are not filial to him."

Jia Zhang didn’t care about vegetarian noodles at all. She couldn’t even eat white noodles.

……

Li Zhiguo shook his head in the corridor, "Huai Ru, let's go, go back and rest early."

"Ok!"

Qin Huairu didn't want to talk about this gossip, so she went home and busied herself with heating up the water for a bath.

Li Zhiguo fiddled with the sewing machine for a while and went to the yard to rinse his mouth. He happened to meet Xu Damao who came out to wash his face.

"Da Mao, how was the blind date? I was out today, so I didn't disturb you."

Xu Damao grinned, "We've almost reached a conclusion. The girl is good and nice to me, but she's an only child. She's never had to endure hardship since she was a child and she can't even cook, which makes me a little hesitant."

Li Zhiguo was stunned for a moment. If he didn't do anything, even the best conditions would be useless.

This is 1952, the best time for gentlemen. Why not find someone who is willing to work hard?
But he would rather demolish ten temples than get married, so he has to support it.

"Da Mao, you've done well. Everyone would envy you for marrying a wife like this. Not being able to cook is not a big deal. Look, I'm not a good cook either, but I'm living a good life."

Xu Damao was stunned. Sister Qin was diligent and virtuous.

Li Zhiguo added: "I remember you often wash vegetables and so on, your cooking skills should be good, practice more.

Get married soon, and manage your own salary."

"That's right. Among the young people in our courtyard, only Shazhu is still single."

Xu Damao grinned again, "Li Zhiguo, you don't know, Shazhu went out to ride a tricycle today, but he took the wrong road, got scolded, and didn't even get paid."

(End of this chapter)