Chapter 63 Chance Encounter
Qin Guangming was so excited to live in such a big yard. He no longer felt sleepy or hungry and was full of energy.

"Okay, when your sister is not busy, I will bring her to see you."

Li Zhiguo rode away on his tricycle. When passing by Chunqiao Grocery Store, he saw an acquaintance, He Daqing, coming out of the store holding a bottle of wine. The tricycle was parked on the side of the road.

"Old He!"

"Hey, you're back late today?"

He Daqing was very happy. He could earn cash every day by riding his tricycle, but he had to drink a few sips of wine at night to feel energetic.

"Why, are you attracted to the lady at the counter of the grocery store?"

Li Zhiguo has been to this store. There is a veteran salesperson who is as good as the three aunts.

"Go, I'm so short-sighted."

He Daqing is still obsessed with Widow Bai, and he wants to find a wife who is suitable for him, and she cannot be worse than He Hua.

"Old He, don't be in such a hurry. Finding a wife depends on fate. I won't talk to you anymore. I have to go back to eat."

Li Zhiguo ran away after he finished speaking. With conditions like He Daqing's, as long as he was willing to lower his requirements, there would still be a market for him.

"You think everyone is like you."

He Daqing muttered something, then rode away on his tricycle.

"Brother, you're back. The meal is ready."

When Qin Huairu heard the noise, she hurried out of the house. At that moment, she operated the sewing machine for a while.

"Well, I'll just wash my hands and come in."

Li Zhiguo parked his bicycle and went to the faucet in the yard to wash his hands. At that time, everyone was having dinner, so he didn't say hello to anyone.

When I got to the house and sat down, I was handed chopsticks and a bowl of noodles.
I was actually a little hungry, so I ate a few bites before he said, "Guangming is doing well at work today, and he will go by himself tomorrow."

"That's good. He is still obedient."

Qin Huairu was also relieved and decided to go and check again in two days.

"Huai Ru, is there anything going on in the factory recently? I have to go to the factory to collect my salary tomorrow."

The days when the ringing sound comes again. When I went to pick up Guangming today, he had already collected the rent and salary from the street, as well as the 50 yuan part-time job at the silk shop.

In other words, he had a legal net income of 222.5 yuan per month, of which he gave 30 yuan to Qin Huairu, and the rest was enough for him to build his own house.

"Nothing, they just want us workers to hold a meeting tomorrow afternoon. They say there are other shareholders in the steel mill, and they want to hear the workers' opinions."

When Qin Huairu said this, Li Zhiguo frowned. Could it be that the steel rolling mill was going to take the lead and engage in public-private partnership?
If you think about it carefully, it is true. It is impossible for private individuals to hold shares in an important enterprise like a steel mill.

As expected, the Lou family had to hand over their shares. Only in this way would the Lou family be willing to marry their daughter to the working class.

But it's none of his business.

"Well! I won't see you off tomorrow morning. I've been getting up early these past two days and I can't handle it anymore."

Li Zhiguo ate his meal and did not take a walk. He washed up early and went into the inner room.

Afterwards, he fell into a deep sleep.

After a long while, Qin Huairu got up and worked on the sewing machine for another half an hour to finish a piece of baby clothes. Seeing that it was getting late, she hurried to rest.

Front yard, Yan family!
In order to prepare for the important event tonight, Yan Bugui has specially switched classes with another teacher tomorrow, so he doesn't have to go to school in the morning.

It was not even midnight yet, and seeing that it was quiet all around and very late, he took his wife and four children out.

"Dad, where are we going so late at night?"

Yan Jiecheng was completely confused at this moment.

"Kid, I told you to stop yelling. Wait until you get out of the alley."

Yan Bugui told his eldest son to shut up. He was holding one child in his arms and holding another.

The third aunt held her little daughter in her arms, locked the door, and the family sneaked out of the yard, using the light of a flashlight luxuriously.

After a while, after leaving the alley, Yan Bugui instructed his eldest son and second son according to what Li Zhiguo had said.

"Dad, are you reliable?"

Yan Jiecheng was dumbfounded. They had to wait in line until dawn.

"Jiecheng, what's so unreliable about this? Mom brought you a stool. When you get there, hold your brother. I put half a steamed bread in your pocket. If you're hungry, save some food. Put on your clothes."

The three aunts are very motivated and they are going to make extra money.

"No more talking, hurry up and take action. If we can really make some money, we'll have some Erhe noodles to eat tomorrow. Don't eat steamed bread every day. It's unlucky."

Not long after, Yan Bugui, his wife, and children said goodbye to each other and disappeared into the night. When he arrived at the grain station he had chosen, he found that there were already several people queuing up.
"Brother Li, are you up yet? You have to collect your salary today. Don't sleep too late, Brother Li..."

Chen Bihua called out three times, but today was a little unusual and there was no response from the room.

The second aunt couldn't bear it anymore and ran over and said, "Bihua, you're here too early."

"But we need to get our wages early to line up. How about I go to the factory first and you can wake up Li Zhiguo later."

Chen Bihua asked her mother-in-law to queue up to buy food early in the morning. She ate sweet potatoes last night.

It's not that she is short of money, but she still wants to get Dongxu's salary as soon as possible.

"Bihua, are you stupid? If you follow Li Zhiguo to the factory, will you be allowed to queue?"

Second Aunt didn't believe that Li Zhiguo was a man of rules, otherwise he would be called a bad boy in private.

"That's right."

Chen Bihua responded, "Then I'd better wait and take Brother Li's bicycle. I won't be questioned when I enter the factory."

"That's it. Li Zhiguo doesn't want to go anywhere... That's all."

The second aunt was worried that the real owner would be obeyed, so she held back.

After waiting for a while, Chen Bihua couldn't sit still and went to the window and started shouting again.

"I'm coming."

Li Zhiguo looked at his watch and realized that it was just past nine o'clock. It was too early.

Forget it, how can I not be enthusiastic when I’m getting paid?

As soon as he opened the door with the washcloth over his face, he saw Chen Bihua taking the kettle and basin and urging him to rinse his mouth.

The second aunt muttered not far away: "It's a good thing that we are in a new society now, otherwise Jia Dongxu would have been intercepted twice."

"puff!"

Li Zhiguo spat out the mouthwash, took the washcloth and wiped his face, finally feeling refreshed.

"Brother Li, please hurry up. I got my salary and I have to go see if my mother-in-law has bought any food."

Chen Bihua quickly put away the kettle, washbasin and other things. Her mother-in-law had done the same thing before, and no one in the courtyard gossiped about it.

"Okay, you are my brother's wife."

Li Zhiguo took out a bicycle and took Chen Bihua out of the yard.

After seeing this, the residents had the same idea as the second aunt. Jia Dongxu had to be grateful that we now live in a new society.

"Third Aunt is not here today!"

When they arrived at the front yard, Li Zhiguo asked casually.

"There's no one here this early in the morning. I guess they're queuing up to buy food."

Chen Bihua helped lift the back seat of the bicycle and stepped over the threshold of the front yard.

When they got outside, Li Zhiguo rode away on his bike. Chen Bihua sat on the back seat, gently holding the corner of his clothes with one hand.

"Bihua!"

"Brother Li, go ahead."

"Have you named the baby in your belly? I'm just asking casually." Li Zhiguo was quite curious and wondered if the Banggeng would appear again.

"Dongxu has been named. His full name is Jia Geng and his nickname is Bang Geng. He must be a boy."

Chen Bihua touched her belly and felt hopeful about the future.

"Banggeng is a good name. It sounds like he has great potential."

Li Zhiguo almost slipped, and then a good joke really happened. He was not alone in the courtyard.

"Dongxu also said it's a good name."

Chen Bihua herself felt that it was a bit strange, but she couldn't make any decision.

The bicycle was fast, so Li Zhiguo didn’t have time to eat breakfast. He simply took his salary and went to the canteen for a ride.

In a blink of an eye, we arrived at the gate of the steel mill. We had to get off the car and manually push open the small door, otherwise we couldn't ride in. The gate was closed during working hours.

"Uncle, I'm busy."

Li Zhiguo threw a cigarette over.

"Hey, you're here again, who are you with? He looks familiar."

The security guard caught the cigarette accurately and put it between his ears happily.

"This is Jia Dongxu's wife, from the same hospital. She's here to collect Jia Dongxu's salary. You have to recognize her and don't make things difficult for her in the future."

Although Li Zhiguo occasionally cheated the Jia family, he would not go so far as to make things difficult for a pregnant woman.

"Hey, you snatched one away, didn't you? This will help you build a good relationship with Jia Dongxu! He will be able to let you take care of his new wife without any worries."

The security guard spoke very clearly. He was from the security department and even if he spoke to Jia Dongxu in person, there was nothing he could do to a simple man like him.

"Look at what you said. Jia Dongxu is my brother. There's nothing to worry about."

Li Zhiguo spoke vaguely and didn't say much. Getting up early is not a waste of time.

"Uncle, I'm leaving now. I'll talk to you when I have time."

"welcome any time!"

The security guard watched the young wife get on Li Zhiguo's back seat. He found it strange and couldn't help but sigh, "Jia Dongxu deserves justice. No matter how many wives he finds, he will always fall into someone else's hands."

Li Zhiguo did not go to the workshop, but rode his bike all the way to the office building. As expected, there was already a long queue waiting to collect wages.

"Look, here comes Li Zhiguo. He must be cutting in line again."

"It's none of our business. He has stomach problems and can't stand for long, or he'll faint."

"What the hell, why doesn't he get dizzy when riding a bicycle?"

"Xiao Chen, go ask Li Zhiguo about this in person and see if he will miss your wife."

"I'm just saying this out of curiosity about the disease. It's not targeting Li Zhiguo. Everyone is watching."

The worker kept silent, but suddenly shouted again, "Look, he's not alone, he's carrying someone... Oh, isn't that Jia Dongxu's wife?"

"What a sin! They even didn't let go of other people's new wives? I heard that Jia Dongxu's wife is pregnant."

"Not really. I've met Jia Dongxu's wife twice, and she's far inferior to Qin Huairu."

"You can't say that. Each has its own merits. If you are tired of eating meat and fish every day, maybe you want to eat some wild vegetables."

The workers joked around, but it was limited to small-scale chatting and it didn't have much of an impact.

Li Zhiguo came closer and parked the car without locking it, mainly for factory safety reasons.

"Bihua, come on, I'll take you in."

"Okay, Brother Li."

Chen Bihua followed behind like a young wife.

"Please give way!"

Li Zhiguo led his men all the way up the stairs and successfully collected Qin Huairu's salary, 27.5 yuan. There were only 28 days last month, and the Spring Festival was also a holiday, so it was considered a good profit.

"Jia Dongxu's salary is twenty-two dollars and fifty cents. Order it."

"Thank you!"

After Chen Bihua got the money, she didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, she went to the corridor next door and started counting the money against the wall. She couldn't make any mistakes.

There is more than one worker counting money against the wall so as not to affect others passing by.

Li Zhiguo also followed the crowd and counted today. This is good, just like receiving a pension, it arrives on time every month.

"Isn't this Jia Dongxu's wife? Li Zhiguo, did you bring her here?"

The workers counting money in the corridor were unaware of what had just happened.

"We're from the same courtyard. I have a good relationship with Dongxu's wife."

Li Zhiguo just told the truth, there is nothing shameful about it.

"Brother Li, I've counted, let's go!"

But Chen Bihua couldn't stand it. Everyone was pointing and talking, as if there was something going on between her and Li Ge'er.

"Well, let's go. I'll bring you here next month. It's convenient."

Li Zhiguo waved to the workers and disappeared side by side with Chen Bihua at the end of the corridor, where there was also a staircase going down.

"Oh my, Jia Dongxu never learns his lesson!"

"This Li Zhiguo is too immoral. I'm so scared."

"You're not afraid of shit, you're single!"

"But I have to find a wife. When Li Zhiguo was here, I didn't say anything wrong..."

But Li Zhiguo came downstairs and asked, "Bihua, do you want me to take you home? It will only take a short while. It won't delay you."

"No, I have to go to the workshop to get five yuan for Dongxu's living expenses. After that, I will go to the grain store to find my mother-in-law. It's not far from here, so I won't bother Brother Li."

Chen Bihua wanted to ride a bicycle back. Others who saw her along the way were envious, but she didn't want to trouble others too much.

"Okay, then I'll go to the cafeteria. I got up too early and didn't have breakfast."

Li Zhiguo left first. With Sha Zhu around, there will always be food.

Chen Bihua knew the way and found the second workshop in no time. There were not many people in it at the moment. They were all lining up to collect their wages or slacking off. The factory didn't care about them that day.

"Buzz!"

Jia Dongxu was still working hard at drilling screw holes. A few days ago, his master said that he drilled well and the workload increased a lot every day. Fortunately, his wife collected his salary on his behalf, otherwise the job would have been left behind.

"Dongxu!"

"Wife, you're here. Why are you so late? Go and line up, or you won't get it until noon..."

Jia Dongxu wanted to say something, but his wife interrupted him and said, "I've already received my salary. I'll give you five dollars right now."

"So fast, just get it. I ate sweet potatoes last night and this morning. I'm starving now."

Anyone who has really eaten sweet potatoes will find that it does not satisfy your hunger and the more you eat it, the more you crave it.

Especially in this era of shortage of oil and water, sweet potatoes are far inferior to cornmeal.

"Dongxu, I have to go to the grain station. I wonder if mom has bought any grain there."

"Go quickly! Ask mom to buy some flour. If you can't find any, come to the factory again in the afternoon and we'll go to a restaurant tonight and have noodles with a portion of meat. We'll share it between us."

Jia Dongxu laughed as he spoke. Isn't it great to get the salary?

Soon Chen Bihua left, and soon a worker returned to the workshop, shouting, "Jia Dongxu, you are really good. You have entrusted your new daughter-in-law to Li Zhiguo to take care of her."

(End of this chapter)