Yi Zhonghai's Siheyuan

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly took the money to the department store, but this department store was not like the modern ones! There was a sign inside saying "Do not beat or scold customers". This situation lasted until seven or eight years after the reform and opening up.

When Yi Zhonghai arrived at the bicycle store, he asked the salesperson, who was a woman in her 30s or 40s. She was eating sunflower seeds and chatting with someone, and didn't hear Yi Zhonghai's question at all! Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to ask again, "Hello, comrade, can you tell me what types of bicycles you have?"

This time Yi Zhonghai spoke a little louder, and the salesperson rolled his eyes disdainfully, "I have a bicycle here, do you have a ticket? You need to check the bicycle ticket before buying a bicycle. I will introduce it to you if I have a ticket."

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to take out the bicycle ticket signed in by the system and hand it to the salesperson. The salesperson took the ticket to the manager's office and came out in less than a few minutes. "Comrade, what kind of bicycle do you want to buy? Men's or women's?"

Yi Zhonghai: "Men's bicycles, can you help me see what kinds there are?"

The salesperson said, "We now have Phoenix brand bicycles made in Shanghai, Fei Ge brand bicycles made in Tianjin, and the Shanghai Forever brand bicycles that just arrived yesterday. Which one do you want to buy?"

Yi Zhonghai immediately decided to buy a Forever brand bicycle, so he told the salesperson that he wanted to buy a Forever brand bicycle.

Salesperson: "A Forever brand bicycle costs 188 yuan plus a bicycle ticket."

Yi Zhonghai took out the money and ticket he had prepared in advance and handed them in. In less than a moment the salesperson came out pushing a brand new bicycle!

"After buying a bicycle, remember to go to the police station to get it stamped and pay the 2.5 yuan tax every year."

Yi Zhonghai rode his bike to the police station, made the steel stamp and returned to the steel mill. When he returned to the workshop and saw that everyone was working, Yi Zhonghai also started to produce parts.

In a blink of an eye, it was time to get off work. Yi Zhonghai was pushing his bicycle out of the factory gate when he saw Jia Dongxu and Liu Haizhong. Jia Dongxu was about to call Yi Zhonghai "master" when he saw him, but he found that he was no longer in the same workshop and had been transferred to the forging workshop. Yi Zhonghai could of course see what Jia Dongxu was thinking, so he took the initiative to say, "Dongxu, how is it in the forging workshop? Old Liu, you must teach Dongxu well, he is a smart kid since he was young."

Liu Haizhong looked at the bicycle that Yi Zhonghai was pushing and couldn't help but ask, "Old Yi, what's wrong with your bicycle?"

Yi Zhonghai had already thought of an excuse: "I just took a leave of absence this afternoon to buy Lao Liu's bicycle."

No matter how stupid Liu Haizhong was, he would never doubt Yi Zhonghai's bicycle ticket. Who would work in a steel mill for decades without a bicycle ticket? Moreover, Yi Zhonghai had won several "Advanced Individual" awards! The topic turned to Jia Dongxu again.

Jia Dongxu, who was standing next to him, couldn't help feeling jealous when he saw Yi Zhonghai buy a bicycle, thinking that this old guy had just left me behind and bought another bicycle!

The three of them chatted intermittently until they returned to the courtyard and met the goalkeeper Yan Bugui. Yan Bugui saw Yi Zhonghai pushing a brand new bicycle, and with envy in his eyes, he asked, "Old Yi, whose bicycle is this?"

Yi Zhonghai was about to speak when Liu Haizhong stepped forward and said, "Old Yan, this was bought by Old Yi himself." Yan Bugui was extremely envious when he heard Yi Zhonghai buy a bicycle. He thought that a seventh-level fitter could buy a bicycle whenever he wanted, and the couple didn't need much living expenses, unlike his family of six who had to rely on his teacher's salary.

Thinking about it, Yan Bugui added, "Old Yi, you bought a big item, you have to invite the neighbors in the yard to have fun. What's more, you are the uncle in the yard, you have to take the lead."

Yi Zhonghai thought to himself that he had been prepared for this move of yours. "Old Yan, every household is in financial difficulty now! As the elders of the courtyard houses, we must take the lead and not be extravagant or wasteful. Otherwise, if you buy something big today and I buy something tomorrow, we will all have to treat everyone. Who can afford to spend so much money?"

Although Yan Bugui knew that Yi Zhonghai would reject him, he still asked without giving up. Now that Yi Zhonghai's words came out, it did make sense. If he wanted to buy a bicycle, he would be heartbroken to think about treating the people in the courtyard to a meal! So he gave Yi Zhonghai a good word, "You are still an old man, so you have a high level of awareness. You can skip the meal, but you should give him some candies as a token of your appreciation."

Liu Haizhong next to him also agreed, thinking to himself, "Yi Zhonghai, wait, I will definitely get a bicycle ticket after I teach Jia Dongxu well, and then I will buy a bicycle too."

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to say, "Forget the candy. I'll invite you two to my house for a gathering this weekend." Yan Bugui was so happy that he almost jumped up when he heard what Yi Zhonghai said.

After saying goodbye to the two, Yi Zhonghai pushed his bicycle towards the middle courtyard. When he got home, Wu Xiulian couldn't let go of the bicycle. Yi Zhonghai ignored her and drank a cup of tea. He thought about inviting them to dinner at home on the weekend and explaining things to them.

Thinking about it, Jia Zhang's voice was chattering at the door. Yi Zhonghai walked out to see Jia Zhang's shrewish look and knew that Jia Dongxu must have told her mother about the work.

Yi Zhonghai walked over and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

Jia Zhang: "Huh! What am I doing? I want to ask you, Yi Zhonghai, what you want to do. Did you collude with me to make Dongxu a blacksmith instead of a fitter? You're going to wipe out the whole family! I know exactly what you're thinking. Now you want to adopt a child and think that you're throwing Dongxu away because he didn't take care of you in your old age? I tell you, no way!"

Of course Yi Zhonghai was too disdainful to tell Jia Zhangshi, and he couldn't explain it clearly. He called out to Jia Dongxu, "Dongxu, tell me first whether I taught you the technology with all my heart. Tell me what I told you."

Jia Dongxu stood up timidly and said, "Master, you asked me to learn blacksmithing because you felt that my seven or eight years as a first-class fitter had brought shame to you."

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he almost died. "Jia Dongxu, did I tell you! You have been studying for so long and are still a first-level fitter? Didn't I tell you that you are not suitable for the fitter position so I asked you to be a forger? Director Yang even asked me to go to his office for a talk this morning! Director Yang said that because I want to take the eighth-level fitter exam, all my apprentices have been assigned out, but I plan to continue teaching you, Jia Dongxu, but it's no use. Director Yang saw that you have been studying for seven or eight years and are still a first-level fitter, so he simply transferred you to the forging workshop. Tell me, what can I do to protect you?"

Jia Zhang: "Dead family! I don't care! Our Dongxu has been smart since he was young. It must be because you didn't teach him well. You even went to Director Yang to complain and asked him to transfer Dongxu out of the fitter department. I don't care what method you use, you must get our Dongxu back to the fitter workshop."

Yi Zhonghai: "Anyway, I don't have that much power. It was Director Yang who ordered you to go find Director Yang. You can't find me!"

Jia Zhang: "Well, you don't want to go, right? Then your bicycle will belong to our family. It's your fault for not teaching Dongxu well. This is the compensation." After saying that, Jia Zhang went to push the bicycle. Of course, Yi Zhonghai would not let him succeed.

He opened his mouth and said, "Jia Zhang, just push it. If you push the bicycle, I will call the police! Don't blame me when you go in there!" Everyone was shocked when Yi Zhonghai said to call the police. Even Jia Zhang, who was about to push the bicycle, didn't dare to move. The consequences of calling the police in that era were very serious. Everyone in the compound heard it and thought, doesn't this old man advocate that problems should be solved within the compound?

Xu Damao stood up and said, "Uncle, it's not right for you to call the police. When Sha Zhu beat me up before, I called the police and you said that you wanted to solve the problem for the harmony of the compound. Why did you call the police when it happened to you?"

Yi Zhonghai couldn't help feeling upset when he heard what Xu Damao said. It was all the fault of his previous life! It seems that he has to pass the eighth-level fitter exam and move house. This yard is really full of monsters and demons. He said, "Da Mao, first of all, I apologize to you. I handled this matter wrongly. From today on, if there are problems in the yard, they will be solved in the yard. If you are not satisfied with the solution of the yard, you can call the police to solve it yourself."

After Yi Zhonghai apologized, Xu Damao said nothing more. If he continued, he would probably offend Yi Zhonghai.

As Xu Damao fell silent, Yi Zhonghai looked at Jia Zhangshi again, "Jia Zhangshi, I told you that last time you robbed Xu Damao's things, didn't we say we would vote to kick you out of the courtyard? This time you dared to rob a bicycle, so will you start robbing houses in a few days?"

Jia Zhang was not to be outdone. "Don't talk nonsense. I didn't steal any bicycles. This is our Dongxu's compensation. You, as a master, have delayed him for seven or eight years. If it weren't for you, my Dongxu might have been the director of the eighth-level fitter workshop long ago."

After Jia Zhang finished speaking, everyone booed. Everyone knew that Jia Dongxu was a coward, a mama's boy, who only knew how to be lazy at work all day.

Sha Zhu stood up and said, "Jia Zhang, can Jia Dongxu also be the factory director?"

Jia Zhangshi "Of course, who is our Dongxu! You think that person who has been smart since childhood is just a fool like you!"

Jia Zhang's words broke Sha Zhu's defense. He was ready to go forward and hit her, but when Jia Zhang saw Qin Huairu's tears, he stopped and said, "I won't bother with you, an old hag!"

Xu Damao was so happy to hear Sha Zhu being humiliated!

Yi Zhonghai no longer cared about Jia Zhangshi, he opened the door and went home, and even pushed the bicycle into the room. Jia Zhangshi was reluctant but still didn't want to go to the police station! She could only look at Yi Zhonghai fiercely. Just when she was about to call him "Old Jia", she suddenly remembered that Yi Zhonghai might really drive him back to the countryside, so she didn't dare to call him!