Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 731 The Turmoil Continues, Everyone is Prepared
The crowd dispersed, but the noise did not stop.

Li Kailang's promotion to deputy head of the Materials Department is ultimately a big deal for everyone.

Although Li Kailang explicitly said he wouldn't help and shouldn't ask, since they were under the same roof, how could he really remain indifferent and offer no assistance whatsoever?

That's probably difficult; they certainly won't believe it.

Yan family.

When Yan Bugui returned home, the fawning smile on his face remained unchanged, but instead became even more pronounced.

He closed the door tightly, circled the table, and whispered to the third aunt, "See that? It's true! That kid Li Kailang! He really jumped up there! He's the deputy section chief! He's in charge of the materials department's warehouse!"

"Great, great!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

The three women weren't so happy: "What's so good about it? Didn't you hear what Xiao Li was saying outside just now?"

Yan Bugui waved his hand: "What do you know, you woman! That's just polite talk! Who would believe that! Young people who have just become officials are too proud to admit it and are afraid of taking responsibility, you know?"

“Let’s get to know each other privately. With the relationship between us, and the courtesy we’re showing, do you think he won’t give us some face? Besides, it’s not illegal. It’s just a job opportunity. The steel mill is so big, how could it be short of a warehouse manager position?”

"You're just ignorant."

"Really?" The three women were overjoyed, their faces full of anticipation.

"How could it be false? Once this blows over, we'll talk to Li Kailang. With the relationship between our two families, surely he'll help us?"

"Just think about it, if you could get Jie Cheng a job in the materials warehouse of a steel rolling mill, that would be a real secure job! Easy, respectable, and lucrative."

"Well, the future looks bright! We must strike while the iron is hot!"

The three women nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, that's good. Being a ticket seller is no good at all. Look at Jie Cheng, getting up early and working late, exposed to wind and rain. What future is there? The steel mill is much better."

"What should we do?"

"Don't worry about this, I can handle it myself. But we can't contact Xiao Li right now, or people will gossip behind our backs. Just keep normal contact for now, and don't do anything reckless."

"Once things calm down, I'll find Xiao Li for a couple of drinks."

Yan Bugui and the three aunts were discussing what to do, while Yan Jiecheng, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but prick up his ears to eavesdrop.

If I could get into the steel rolling mill, everything would be perfect.

I never expected that Li Kailang would become the deputy section chief, while I was still doing nothing.

Thinking of this, Yan Jiecheng's eyes darkened.

"Why do good things never happen to me?!"

Jia family.

When Jia Zhangshi returned home, she sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), her triangular eyes drooping, her lips moving as she cursed incessantly.

"Pah! What a piece of trash! A so-called deputy section chief! I bet he just got lucky! He probably bribed some leader with a lot of money!"

"You've kept it well hidden; not a sound for half a month! I bet you've been up to some shady business behind the scenes! That's why you haven't dared to speak out!"

As Jia Zhangshi continued to curse Li Kailang, Qin Huairu sewed clothes, her eyes glazed over, glancing in Li Kailang's direction from time to time.

What would have happened if he hadn't married Jia Dongxu but instead married Li Kailang?
The wife of a college student, and also the wife of a leading cadre, is not much better off than she was in the Jia family.

She was influential not only in the city, but also back in her hometown, where her brothers and sisters had to fawn over her. Unfortunately, it was all just wishful thinking.

But it's all good, at least Jia Dongxu is dead, and now I can be in charge.

After cursing for a while, Jia Zhangshi finally stopped, exhausted. Noticing Qin Huairu's "absent-minded" appearance, she instantly cursed inwardly.

"You jinx! Dongxu died because you married me! If it weren't for you, Dongxu wouldn't be dead! You're a jinx! You're a curse on your husband! A curse on your family! A curse to the core!"

The thought of Jia Dongxu filled Jia Zhangshi with hatred.

Her current predicament is a direct result of Jia Dongxu's death; no one can support her now!
'That damned Qin Huairu, you're the one who killed my son! With that jinxed face of yours! Whoever marries you will be doomed! If Li Kailang really married you, what kind of official position would he hold? He'd be sweeping the latrines by now!'

"Qin Huairu, you shameless slut! Now that Li Kailang has become an official, you want to curry favor with him? Dream on! You're just a leather-shoe-wearing bum; you won't be able to back out now!"

The more Jia Zhangshi cursed in her heart, the dirtier she became.

Qin Huairu vaguely sensed a pair of resentful eyes looking at her, and immediately looked over as if she had a spider's sense of touch.

She saw Jia Zhangshi glaring at her.

Anger instantly welled up inside him: "What are you looking at! Have you finished pasting the matches yet! How much have you pasted today! It's almost the end of the month and you're still not done. Are you trying to slack off?!"

"What are you looking at me for! Get back to work! All you do all day is cause and effect! Have you cooked the food yet?! You haven't even burned the matches, and you haven't cooked anything. What are you trying to do?!"

Qin Huairu's interrogation startled Jia Zhangshi, who immediately realized that things were different now and got up to cook.

"You can't seem to understand anything properly all day long!"

Seeing Qin Huairu's furious outburst, Bang Geng dared not do anything reckless at this moment and immediately went to do his homework.

"All you do all day is play, play, play! You never do your homework earlier or later, but you only do it right before mealtime! Who are you trying to show it to?!"

Liu family.

When Liu Haizhong returned home, his face was still alternating between pale and flushed. As soon as he entered the house, he gulped down a large vat of cold boiled water, but even the cold water couldn't suppress the churning anger and sourness in his heart.

Seeing this, the Liu brothers dared not provoke Liu Haizhong at this moment and kept their distance.

"Bang!" Liu Haizhong, seeing the two brothers' cowardly appearance, slammed the jar heavily on the table, making a loud noise that startled the two brothers.

"You're all good-for-nothings! Look at Li Kailang! And look at you! Where's Liu Guangqi? If Liu Guangqi were here, he'd be..."

He instinctively wanted to bring up his eldest son, but the words caught in his throat.

Yes! Liu Guangqi is gone! He's not here!
I'm even more furious!

"See that! Luckily, your big brother is capable enough to go out of town instead of staying in this dilapidated warehouse! Otherwise, I would have been utterly humiliated!"

"Pah! Who does Li Kailang think he is! No matter how high he climbs, he's still just a nouveau riche!"

His words sounded like he was trying to persuade his son, but more like he was trying to numb himself.

He struggled his whole life, hoping to become a minor official and manage a few people, but in the end, even people in his own backyard didn't respect him.

Now even the position of Second Uncle has been taken over by Xu Damao.

Li Kailang? A quiet, unassuming driver, suddenly rose to the top! How? Just because of that university diploma?

The two brothers were so frightened that they shrank back and dared not breathe.

Liu Haizhong's anger, which had nowhere to go, intensified: "Get out of here, all of you! You're an eyesore!"

The two brothers felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly slipped out the door. As long as they didn't get beaten, they were fine with going anywhere.

Looking at the empty room, Liu Haizhong felt an even greater pain in his chest.

Easy home.

Yi Zhonghai was much quieter, sitting at the octagonal table with a cup of hot tea in his hand, but he didn't drink it.

Seeing his serious expression, the older woman sighed and remained silent, but finally couldn't help asking.

"Old Yi, are you still thinking about that?"

"Hmm." Yi Zhonghai put down his teacup, his eyes somewhat vacant. "Li Kailang has become an official; things are different now."

"You heard what he said," Yi Zhonghai shook his head. "It wasn't just polite talk; it was the truth. He's an eighth-grade fitter."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, stroking the calluses he'd developed from years of holding a wrench.

"I'm respected in the factory, but in other people's eyes, I'm just a worker."

The older woman didn't say much about Yi Zhonghai's self-deprecation: "Little Li is a sensible and ruthless guy. This commotion is good; it prevents everyone from trying to take advantage of him." Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai remained silent for a long time.

Who would have thought?

The thought that Li Kailang's achievements are not limited to this, and that he is still a college student who will be even more successful after graduation, is truly remarkable.

A sense of powerlessness suddenly made him feel extremely desolate.

Deaf old lady's house.

The old lady had also heard about Li Kailang.

Standing at his front door, looking in the direction of Li Kailang's house, he thought, "This kid's future is different. What a pity."

It's a pity the deaf old lady didn't get along with Li Kailang back then. Who would have thought that this quiet young man would go through so much trouble to become a driver, thinking that was the end of his life?

I never imagined I'd become a college student, and now I'm even a leader.

With that status and ability, how could Sha Zhu possibly compare?

Oh no, there are still some things that it can compare to.

It's just that Sha Zhu is easy to control.

"Why didn't I swallow my pride and take this child back then? He's better than Xiao Yi and Sha Zhu."

Last year, I had intended to have Li Kailang join me as a roommate, but he didn't agree.

I should have been tougher back then. Even if the house was given away for free, as long as I could get on Li Kailang's good side, I wouldn't have had to lower my head and apologize to Yi Zhonghai and that old lady, losing face in the end.

The next day.

It's another rare weekend.

The reason why everyone in the Materials Science Department dared to secretly drink in the department yesterday was because they had a day off today, giving them a day to sober up and avoid getting drunk and causing trouble.

Li Kailang went to Xinhua Bookstore as usual.

As the end of the semester approached, he was a little worried about the graduation assessment and felt somewhat uneasy.

I happened to see Bai Xiuwen riding a tricycle collecting recyclables on the street in the bookstore.

However, he didn't advertise; he just wandered around, buying scrap from anyone who was selling it, and ignoring those who weren't.

"Brother Cui, Xiao An." Bai Xiuwen saw the two holding hands, looking very affectionate.

"Xiao Bai, out looking for inspiration again?" Cui Yuan was also a little surprised to run into him outside.

He knew a little about Bai Xiuwen's ability to turn waste into treasure, as Bai Xiuwen had previously sought his inspiration.

Having worked as an electrician for so many years, Cui Yuan had encountered various situations that provided Bai Xiuwen with some inspiration.

“Yeah, you two are out shopping again. By the way, Xiao An, I remember the college entrance exam dates have been announced, right?” Bai Xiuwen looked at Liu An.

Liu An nodded: "It's out, the college entrance exam is on the 15th of next month."

"How are you doing? Are you confident about the college entrance exam?"

Upon hearing this, Liu An's face flushed red, both because of her poor academic performance and because of her relationship.

Ever since she got together with Cui Yuan, Liu An has not paid much attention to her studies. Her grades were already average, and the longer she spent with Cui Yuan, the less she cared about them.

The two decided to get married around the time they received their graduation certificates.

Liu An is the first in the school to get engaged so quickly, and many female classmates envy her for meeting such a good man.

He's an electrician who can earn extra money with his skills, and he even dares to get married at this time.

Each of these conditions is good on its own, let alone when they are all combined in one person.

Other female classmates also found men, but most of the men were unwilling to get married at this time and planned to wait until the food shortage was over before discussing marriage.

Liu An affectionately hugged Cui Yuan's arm: "What confidence? Everyone knows what my grades are like. Even if I studied hard, I wouldn't get into university. With Brother Cui taking care of me, why should I study hard?"

After saying that, Liu An looked smug.

None of her female classmates had a husband who was willing to support her financially like she did.

This made them incredibly envious.

Bai Xiuwen didn't want to comment on whether Liu An's decision was good or bad; he just wanted her to make her own choice.

"That's right, who doesn't everyone in this alley know that our Brother Cui is a romantic!"

"Are you kidding me?" Cui Yuan laughed.

After chatting for a while, the two went about their own business.

Unable to find any inspiration, Bai Xiuwen returned to the junkyard.

We headed straight for his little repair shop.

Piled against the wall were various oddly shaped, rusty parts: twisted gears, broken connecting rods, and deformed flanges.
In stark contrast to the mountains of "waste" was the open space in the middle—a few old tables placed side by side, with several semi-finished products on them.

A small foot-operated snowplow ingeniously constructed from a discarded bicycle chain, a few bearings that weren't too badly worn, and a piece of iron plate.
The other item was an automatic chicken feeder, made from several broken valves, a piece of scrap steel pipe, and some discarded spring steel wire.
Only Bai Xiuwen himself knows exactly what it is.

Although it looks crude, it exudes a vitality that can turn decay into magic.

Bai Xiuwen was holding a wrench, carefully adjusting the angle of a gear. His face was covered in oil and sweat, but his eyes were shining with excitement.

He carefully poured a small handful of pebbles into the simple feeding trough model.

"Click...whoosh..."

As a simple lever was pressed down, a valve opened, and a small stream of pebbles rolled precisely into the small basin below.

"It's done!"

"Another one!"

"Phew—" Bai Xiuwen let out a long sigh and looked at a counter.

After more than 20 days of preparation, several "treasures" that are easy to modify, highly practical, and can reflect the value of "turning waste into treasure" have been initially selected.

He was determined to win the initiative to turn waste into treasure.

He's figured it out after all these days.

This exhibition that turns waste into treasure must be a success.

For him, it was a stepping stone to prove his abilities and take over as station manager.

For station chief Wang Chengcai, this is a good opportunity to add another outstanding achievement before being promoted to a higher position.

"There's still time, we need to prepare more things."

The exhibition is expected to be held in August, and we still have a month to prepare.

He would report to Wang Chengcai once he had more items.

Bai Xiuwen took out a notebook from deep inside the cabinet, which was filled with densely packed notes.

He recorded his thoughts, ideas, production process, and precautions during the production process to avoid forgetting them when reporting back later.

When the exhibition opens, we'll be introducing it to everyone, so we naturally need to put some effort into this.

After taking notes, Bai Xiuwen moved on to the next one.

(End of this chapter)