Chapter 66 Lively
At this moment, an old lady suddenly pretended to groan twice. Everyone was startled and turned their heads to see that it was Li Zhiguo coming out from the backyard.

"Hey, you're all here, what are you talking about, is there anything new in the hospital?"

Li Zhiguo went to the toilet because he had to pee urgently. He didn't get up at night and peed so that he could have a good sleep.

"Let's talk about Jia Zhang's purchase of grain. You can chat with me for a while. I have a bench here."

Although Mrs. Chen seemed to be speaking very eloquently just now, her expression immediately changed when she saw someone coming, and she looked very kind.

"Okay!"

He has good kidneys, so he is not in a hurry. He just goes over and sits in Chen Dasao's seat, while others stand aside. This is very necessary for maintaining his figure.

The second aunt said, "Jia Zhang, your family has no food. Are you really not going to make a living this month?"

Jia Zhang did not mention the shoes anymore, and said with a bitter face: "Of course I have to pass, but I can't buy them. Fortunately, Lao Yi agreed to go to the workshop to ask and ask the workers to share their food this month.

Next month I have to hurry up and line up to buy food. Li Zhiguo, will you join me? You are good at bargaining!"

Aunt Wang then said, "I will help Li Zhiguo buy food next month. He can't get up in the morning. Let him sleep more. It's spring now, and it's the season for growth."

"Bah, this is shameless. Why do you stop gossiping when Li Zhiguo comes?"

Jia Dongxu was muttering nearby, but he didn't dare to speak louder. He was a gentleman, a good man, and he wouldn't bother with a villain.

Li Zhiguo happened to see Jia Dongxu's actions. He was just like Jia Zhang, who liked to nag. He must have said something bad, so he had to be punished.

"Dongxu!"

"No, you keep chatting. I'll go see if Bihua has finished sewing her clothes."

Jia Dongxu wanted to hide and didn't want to be the next person to be bullied by Li Zhiguo.

"Come over and chat for a while, and ask your mother to give you a seat. I'm not saying anything bad about you, you're just too unsociable.

Otherwise, if your family is short of food, why bother an old man? You can just find your co-workers to share the food.

There are so many workers in our second workshop, and if each of them has a bite, they can feed you full."

Li Zhiguo waved his hand, indicating that Jia Zhang should give up her position. He was teaching his son a lesson on behalf of old Jia.

"Dongxu, come here and listen. You should learn a little from Li Zhiguo. You see, his family is getting better and better."

Jia Zhangshi could no longer say that people would have a hard life in the future, and she was afraid that day would be hard to wait.

Jia Dongxu felt weak and could only come over obediently and sit on the stool properly. He was surrounded by the aunties and didn't know where to put his hands. From the corner of his eye he saw Sha Zhu turn around and slip away.

"Dongxu!"

Li Zhiguo also sat on a stool, with Chen Dasao standing on his left and Jia Zhangshi on his right. This grassroots work is actually about studying how to get along with the aunties, and if you can do that, you are a good cadre.

Just like now, he is in the same team with the aunties, and Jia Dongxu is alone, sitting there like a little chicken, what can he do to resist?

"Listen."

Jia Dongxu finally put his hands on his knees and sat upright.

"Dongxu, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you take five dollars for food allowance and eat white noodles in the cafeteria every day at noon, and you don't care about your family?
Don't forget that this position was left to you by my uncle Jia. When my uncle Jia was here, he was so kind to your mother. Why don't you learn from him?"

Li Zhiguo took the initiative and occupied the moral high ground right from the start.

As soon as the words fell, Jia Zhang said in a sympathetic tone: "Dongxu, your elder brother Li is absolutely right. You can't forget your mother after you marry a wife. I have been eating sweet potatoes all day."

"Mom, it's not like I don't make money. Bihua gave you money to buy food. It's you who didn't buy it yourself."

Jia Dongxu lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything tough. If it were just a few middle-aged women, he could still act tough, but Li Zhiguo was in charge, so he felt intimidated.

"How dare you quibble!"

Li Zhiguo said angrily: "Dongxu, your master, my uncle, what did I usually tell you?

You should respect and be considerate of the elderly. There is nothing wrong with being a child, but there is nothing wrong with being an elderly.

It's not easy for your mother to raise you, so you should be more careful and don't wait until your parents are gone!"

"Well said, Dongxu, you must listen to what Li Zhiguo just said."

Yi Zhonghai didn't know when he stood behind Chen Dasao, and Li Zhiguo's words resonated strongly with him.

"Master, I..."

Jia Dongxu just felt aggrieved. How could it be his business if his mother couldn’t buy food?
"Dongxu, listen carefully!"

Jia Zhang stood up and said that she was not wrong at all, as she had been eating sweet potatoes all day.

"Dongxu, you have to respect the elderly."

Yi Zhonghai strikes while the iron is hot and it is only right for him to teach his apprentice.

"Yes Yes Yes!"

Jia Dongxu was intimidated and just sat there to listen to the instruction.

Li Zhiguo didn't hold on to him either. He had to pee urgently, so he left the battlefield to Yi Zhonghai and went first.

When they reached the corridor, he looked back and saw Yi Zhonghai still chattering away, instilling all the moral power that had nowhere to go into Jia Dongxu.

He felt that Jia Dongxu was also a talent and should not have been hung up on the wall so early. He should have stayed to experience more of this world.

……

Mencius said: "Love the old and the young! Punish your widow, even your brothers, to control your family and state!"
Meng De said: That makes sense!
Today is Wednesday. Li Zhiguo has already gotten up, eating brunch slowly, and then reading a book.

There is a big star and four small stars in the book, one is farmers, two is workers, three is petty bourgeoisie and four is private capital.

Can you believe that freelancers are classified as petty bourgeoisie?

In his situation, if he wants to live a good life in the next twenty years, he can either become a cadre in the administrative system.

Either they are the working class or the peasant class, and they have to be poor and lower-middle peasants.

There is no need to think about the poor peasant, because he is born with a city hukou, so he is either a worker or a cadre, and he is both.

As for how to choose your identity in the end, it depends on which one has a higher degree of freedom.

People like Chen Xueru, as long as they don't run a business, also belong to the category of petty bourgeoisie, while Lou Xiao'e's family is definitely large private capitalists.

"Li Zhiguo, I bought you the soy milk from the store in front of the vegetable market."

Suddenly, the voice of Damao's wife came from the door.

"Chunyan, thank you."

Li Zhiguo quickly put down the book, walked a few steps to the door, and took the large enamel cup from Tang Chunyan's hand with both hands.

Damao's wife really can't do any housework, but she can run errands. He is helping Damao to cultivate a virtuous wife.

"You're welcome. Just drink it. I jogged all the way back here, so it's still warm."

Tang Chunyan had a smile on her face, feeling that she had done something great.

"Okay! Then ask Damao to come over and take the enamel cup back later."

He didn't have such a large cup at home, so he just served it to the host.

"What else do you want? I'm giving it to you. It's new and you can use it next time."

Tang Chunyan has a pretty good personality, except that she doesn't go to work, doesn't do housework, and doesn't... Why do these things sound more and more similar the more I talk about them?

"Chunyan, look how embarrassing this is. Next time, I'll bring you whatever you want to eat."

Li Zhiguo inexplicably felt like a dragon slayer who had become a dragon, but dragons are so noble, so he was lucky.

"Well, drink slowly, I won't bother you anymore."

Tang Chunyan knew how to avoid suspicion and just stood at the door without entering the house.

Across the street, the second aunt lowered the curtains and muttered, "Another one has been infected. Fortunately, our family is safe."

"Second aunt!"

What you fear will come true. Why is Li Zhiguo calling for help?

"I'm coming."

The second aunt hurried out of the house, holding little Liu Guangfu in her arms.

"Li Zhiguo, what do you want to talk to me about? Are you going out?"

"I have something to do. I have to visit Qin Huairu's brother in the evening. Huairu and I will be back later. I will say hello to you."

He was a resident of an upper floor of the compound, and his inexplicable disappearance was feared to cause panic.

"Okay! Go ahead and get busy!"

When Second Aunt saw people pushing bicycles out, she thought that their lives were really good. They had white flour and eggs in the morning, and other new daughters-in-law had to run to the market to buy soy milk. Xu Damao had never enjoyed such treatment.

"Master, cheer me up!"

Li Zhiguo left the yard and pedaled for a while when he found that one of the tires was underinflated, so he had to turn around and go to the Dongzhimen repair shop.

"It's free if you do it yourself. I'll charge you a penny for doing it for you."

The master was busy repairing a cart.

"Master, you should come."

Li Zhiguo said as he took out a one-cent receipt.

The master was also happy to come and add gas, which was free of charge.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Zhiguo looked around the shop and had the urge to modify a bicycle. But in the end, he thought better of it, thinking he might end up becoming a petty bourgeois by accident.

If you want to do manual work, it’s better to go to a steel rolling mill.

Afterwards, in less than twenty minutes, we arrived at the Qianmen Street Office and started the rhythm of adding, adding, and returning to zero again, and calculated the grain station's accounts three times.

"Director, the situation is very good this time. There are only two stores with problems, and it has little to do with the investigation. These two stores concealed something, and we can only judge it through comparison."

Li Zhiguo handed over the statistical sheet and said that the work was completed this week and he could take a rest.

"Very good! It seems that the ideological education last time was effective."

Director Li was very satisfied and suddenly asked, "Li Zhiguo, do you want to move here and live in Qianmen Street? The three-story compound your grandfather left behind is too conspicuous.

It just so happens that the yard behind the silk shop has been vacated. If you have any ideas, you can rent it..."

"No, I don't have that idea!"

Li Zhiguo was numb. In order to trap him, the director actually resisted the pressure of pillow talk and wanted to let him live in the enemy spy's yard. Wasn't he shooting himself in the foot?

Now he is the second largest shareholder of the silk shop, how can he compete with Chen Xueru for the yard.

"Okay! Has your illness improved? Do you want me to contact a few doctors for a consultation?"

Director Li felt a little regretful, but also inexplicably relieved. Since Li Zhiguo didn't want it, then give it to Chen Xueru.

"Director, thank you for your kindness. My disease is a chronic one and I can only rely on diet therapy. I have to take care of it for a while.

Well, I won't delay your work, I'll leave first."

Li Zhiguo quickly slipped away. If it weren't for the huge difference in appearance between him and the director, one would have suspected that this man was his long-lost brother!

In a blink of an eye, we arrived at Xueru Silk Shop.

"Li Zhiguo, I thought you weren't coming today. Something happened."

When Chen Xueru saw someone come in, she quickly took him to the inner hall.

"Don't tell me that the back yard hasn't been taken yet?"

Li Zhiguo always felt that this matter was related to him, and was he innocently involved in it?
"You know everything. Oh, I don't know what the director is thinking. He insists on leaving the yard to someone else. I've asked Sister Zhenzhen to talk to him three times, but we still haven't come to an agreement.

Do you know who that bad guy is? I'm going to find him to settle the score."

Chen Xueru was very angry. Everything was going well, but who knew that such a bad guy would appear out of nowhere.

"Ahem! You can go to the street to negotiate the lease now. The man you mentioned is not a bad guy at all. On the contrary, he is a handsome man with a kind heart. He is well-versed in history and the present, and has mastered both Chinese and Western knowledge..."

"Stop, aren't you talking about yourself?"

Chen Xueru was confused. What went wrong? Didn’t they agree to grow bigger and stronger together?

"You think I'm handsome too?"

As soon as Li Zhiguo said this, he wanted to slap himself in the face, and quickly changed the subject, "This is all a misunderstanding. The director wanted me to live in Qianmen Street and work a few more days, but I refused."

"Ah! Director Li takes such good care of you!"

Chen Xueru was a little slow to react. It turned out that the stumbling block was really Li Zhiguo.

"It's all right! Go and rent the yard. By the way, have you gone to negotiate with Aunt Fang?"

As he was speaking, a clerk suddenly ran to the door and shouted, "Sister Xueru, the street cadre Fan wants to see you."

"What is he here for?"

Chen Xueru frowned, thought for a moment and said, "Chun Tao, bring him in later, and don't mention that your brother Li is here."

"Okay Sister Xueru!"

The clerk glanced at Li Zhiguo and wondered why he became Brother Li.

"This is your relative!"

Li Zhiguo was not very clear about the personnel situation in the silk shop and did not have the energy to remember names.

"She's a distant relative. You can just call her Chuntao. I don't know what Fan Jinyou wants to talk to me about. Did you come to my small office or hide in the dressing room next door to eavesdrop?"

Chen Xueru pointed to the small compartment next to her. Although her shop was a silk shop, she often asked tailors to take measurements and there was a changing room.

"Then there's no harm in listening! That guy surnamed Fan is incompetent at everything he does. He made a mistake in an account before and was severely scolded by Director Li."

Li Zhiguo habitually slandered his opponent, because Damao's tactics were so effective. But in fact, there was no need for that. Just relying on his vast knowledge, he won easily.

Li Zhiguo then went to the changing room with a cup of coffee in his hand. As gentlemen in Beijing, we must never lose our dignity.

After a while, footsteps were heard. They were very light and the cadres were also wearing cloth shoes.

It is true that Fan Jinyou is a cadre, but his salary is only 37.5 yuan, and he has an old mother to support at home, so his situation is better than Jia Dongxu's.

"Officer Fan, do you have something to talk to me about?"

Chen Xueru spoke in a calm tone. She was not familiar with the man and they had only met each other on the street.

"Boss Chen, didn't you apply to rent the backyard? Director Li has been holding back on the rent, you know that, right?"

Fan Jinyou stood there, and he didn't feel comfortable sitting down until others spoke.

"I know! Officer Fan, what do you mean?"

Chen Xueru was puzzled. Li Zhiguo had already resolved this matter. It was all a misunderstanding.

Fan Jinyou smiled and said, "It's like this, Director Li wanted me to rent this yard. My house is small and I have an old mother with me, so it's a bit inconvenient to stay here. The director sympathized with me and left the yard to me.

However, if you really want to rent it, Boss Chen, I will transfer it to you."

Oh my god! Li Zhiguo in the dressing room was a little confused. It turned out that he was taking credit for it. Ugh, what a villain.

Chen Xueru was also angry, so she just went along with him and said, "Cadre Fan, how dare I compete with you for the yard? I don't want the backyard anymore, Cadre Fan, you can rent it."

“You don’t rent it anymore.”

Fan Jinyou was stunned. Looking at the glamorous Chen Xueru in front of him, he thought, weren't they planning to expand their business? Why didn't they rent the property?

"Yes, we don't want to rent it anymore. Officer Fan, please move to the backyard as soon as possible. I have something else to do so I won't send you off."

Chen Xueru has seen the guests off. It’s impossible to show your kindness to her.

"Well, this..."

Fan Jin walked away in a daze. This place was too high-end and made him uncomfortable. After leaving the silk shop, he couldn't help but frown. Even if he wanted to rent the yard, he couldn't afford it.

There are seven rooms with a small yard, and the monthly rent is less than 30 yuan. If you really rent it, you will be starving.

"Xue Ru, you are good at this. You have learned how to embarrass others."

Li Zhiguo came out of the dressing room with a smile on his face.

"This Fan Jinyou wanted to use this as an opportunity to show his kindness. I almost got tricked by him."

Chen Xueru suddenly raised her chin, "Li Zhiguo, do you think I am quite attractive?"

"That's right. You're young, beautiful, and rich, and you own such a large silk shop passed down from your ancestors. You're bound to be popular."

Li Zhiguo cannot lie with his eyes open.

"Then do you want it?"

Chen Xueru walked closer and raised the ring on her hand.

"Ahem... I already have a wife. Now is a new society, and it is not fashionable to take concubines."

Li Zhiguo made a joke, saying that the young rich woman was too young to be with him.

Unexpectedly, Chen Xueru answered the question irrelevantly: "Hou Cheng is going abroad, to the Ugly Country, and he wants me to go with him."

"What do you mean? Is our friendship over?"

Li Zhiguo frowned, hesitating whether to take action, but the problem was that remarriage was not popular nowadays, and he couldn't run away.

It is not so easy to go abroad now. He has no legitimate reason at all. Besides, he has already returned the little foreign language he learned to his biology teacher.

Chen Xueru smiled and said, "I won't tease you anymore. I broke up with Hou Cheng before. Besides, I just started a business with you. How could I run away?

This is what I thought. I would trick Hou Cheng into getting married to me and have him go to the Ugly Country first. I would go find him after I sold the shop and hold the wedding banquet in the Ugly Country. Do you understand?"

Li Zhiguo was stunned. "No, since you don't want to go to the Ugly Country, why did you get married for no reason? Just get a marriage certificate for show!"

Chen Xueru stared into the man's eyes and said, "You already have a wife, so I can't stay single forever. Li Zhiguo, I love you, can we take our friendship a step further?"

"and many more!"

Li Zhiguo was confused. Although he knew that the rich young woman was bold, he couldn't do this.

"What are you waiting for? I've said this, but you're still not happy. I don't want you to marry me, so just give me a child. Anyway, you don't have to work, so you can come over anytime."

Chen Xueru thought about it for a long time and finally came up with this idea. Wouldn’t people be happy about it?

"Xue Ru, take back what you just said, let me speak!"

(End of this chapter)