Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 29 Payday

early morning.

When Li Hongmei got up early to cook, Li Hongbing also got up.

After washing up, Li Hongbing went to a corner of the yard and started practicing Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Brocade) by himself.

At first, the people in the front yard were a little curious about this scene, but they gradually got used to it.

Several days have passed since Yi Zhonghai was dismissed from his post as the head of the management school, and Li Hongbing has resumed his peaceful life of going back and forth between home and school every day.

Since that day, Li Hongbing and Yi Zhonghai have had no further contact, and have never even met.

Obvious.

Yi Zhonghai was deliberately avoiding Li Hongbing.

He didn't even bother to go to Li Hongbing to apologize and beg for reconciliation like he had before.

No more pretending.

When he was a senior figure, doing this could earn him the reputation of being considerate of the bigger picture and correcting his mistakes, thus salvaging his image.

If we continue like this, we'll only be humiliating ourselves and making ourselves look like nobody's grandson.

Li Hongbing could clearly sense that Yi Zhonghai, who could have been considered the head of the courtyard, was intentionally and quietly reducing his presence in the courtyard.

That's understandable, given that his reputation has already been severely damaged.

As for the incident where he and Jia Dongxu were knocked unconscious, they went to the police station to file a report, but instead of causing any stir, the police investigation helped to completely clear Li Hongbing of suspicion.

After all, when Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were beaten, Li Hongbing was still at Fengzeyuan, and the apprentices and masters in the kitchen could testify for him, providing him with a solid alibi.

After having breakfast at home, Li Hongbing, as usual, ran towards Fengzeyuan.

[Heaven rewards diligence! Congratulations, host, your running skill level has increased from lv0 to lv1, reaching a new level! Reward: one million cash and ten jin of premium small-leaf jasmine tea!]

Just as they were about to reach Fengzeyuan, a notification from the system suddenly flashed through Li Hongbing's mind, making him overjoyed.

Although this was part of Li Hongbing's plan, and he had been running to and from work for the past few days to max out his lv0 running skill experience points, he was still pleasantly surprised when the reward actually arrived.

Needless to say, there's a million in cash, which is more than half a year's salary, and this jasmine tea is a real treat.

Jasmine-scented tea has a rich aroma and refreshing taste, and it can also mask the bitterness of well water in Beijing. It is very popular among the people of old Beijing, especially the premium small-leaf jasmine tea.

Although the era of ration coupons has not yet arrived and tea no longer requires coupons to purchase, a pound of tea, especially good tea, is not cheap.

However, the tea consumed by the general public nowadays is mainly broken tea, which is the tea dust after sifting.

Good tea is something most people can't afford, and they usually can't bear to buy it.

These ten catties of small-leaf jasmine tea are enough for Li Hongbing to drink for a long time.

Of course.

Currently, I can only drink it secretly.

Otherwise, it would be too high-profile.

Many of the chefs in the kitchen are still drinking high-quality liquor!
It's not that they can't afford good tea, but working in a place like the kitchen, close to the stove, they sweat a lot every day, and they drink their tea in big gulps.

If all the tea is of high quality, even if the master tea masters are paid well, they can't withstand such processing over a month.

The older generation is generally frugal, and they also have to support their families and children, so even if they don't meticulously budget, they have to be careful with their spending.

One more thing.

High-quality tea leaves are not only inexpensive, but also have the advantages of quick flavor release and being able to withstand multiple infusions, making them a top choice for many people's everyday tea.

On the other hand, if Li Hongbing wanted to openly present the tea leaves rewarded by the system to outsiders, he would have to find an opportunity to legitimize their origin; otherwise, he would have to disguise them as broken pieces.

The rewards you receive from the system will only increase in the future.

However, if Li Hongbing uses it without any restraint, it could easily turn a good thing into a bad thing.

Once the problem of a complete mismatch between income and consumption level is exposed, it will inevitably arouse suspicion from those around them over time, and may even bring some unnecessary trouble.

It should be noted that there are still a large number of spies lurking in Beijing.

If there are too many illogical or inexplicable things about you, you might be arrested as a spy.

Faced with all of this, Li Hongbing maintained a clear head throughout.

Upon arriving at Fengzeyuan, Li Hongbing first went to the apprentice dormitory, fetched a basin of water to wash his face, and then wiped away his sweat.

The clothes that had been washed and hung up to dry yesterday were already dry. Li Hongbing threw the clothes he had taken off into the basin, and before it was time to start work, he quickly washed them and hung them up to dry.

The weather hasn't turned cold yet, and the clothes are quite thin, so it's not much of a hassle.

If it were winter, there probably wouldn't be any way.

"Brother Hongbing, did the tram break down again today?" Wu Jun, who had just finished breakfast, ran over while Li Hongbing was washing clothes and couldn't help but complain, "Why are you washing clothes again? You're always sweating and running here. The trams in this city are so unreliable..."

"I've run a few times and gotten addicted to it. I'm just exercising to stay fit."

This time, Li Hongbing couldn't let the tram take the blame for him anymore, so he told the truth.

Previously, Li Hongbing was too lazy to explain and simply blamed the trolley, which broke down frequently, and Wu Jun believed him.

Once or twice is fine, but Li Hongbing runs every day now. Even if the tram's failure rate is high, it shouldn't be this bad.

It's true that public opinion has been harmed!

Upon hearing Li Hongbing's words, Wu Jun started complaining again: "Brother Hongbing, I really admire you. You're almost exhausted from working in the kitchen all day, yet you still have the mind and energy to exercise. Aren't you tired?"

“That’s different.” Li Hongbing smiled. “Health is the foundation of everything. Only by taking good care of your health can you work more easily.”

The fatigue from exercising is quite different from the fatigue from working.

Li Hongbing was telling the absolute truth.

However, Wu Jun clearly wouldn't listen. Now, after work every day, he just wants to collapse onto his bed immediately, and he has no intention of exercising at all.

"Brother Hongbing, today is payday. What are you planning to do with your salary this month?"

Wu Jun clearly didn't want to engage with that topic and jumped straight to a subject that interested him.

Upon hearing this, Li Hongbing, seeing Wu Jun's excited expression, couldn't help but say, "What can we do? We'll buy some good food to take home, and some cloth to buy. My sister and I will each make a new set of clothes..."

Li Hongbing had actually thought about this.

Like Wu Jun, Li Hongbing was looking forward to getting paid today.

There are still two million in the system space. With the income on the surface, we can take the opportunity to spend more of it; otherwise, it's just a waste of paper.

Especially in 1955, when the second set of new currency was issued, although there would be a special channel for exchanging old and new currency, if an excessive amount of old currency were released at once, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

There is no reasonable and convincing explanation; it is self-destruction.

Therefore, if Li Hongbing had money, especially cash rewards from the system, he wouldn't think about saving it, but rather spend it as reasonably as possible, or rather, in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion.

For Li Hongbing...

Only when money is spent, life is improved, and life is better, does the money realize its true value.

(End of this chapter)