Living in a Siheyuan

Li Pingan returned to the courtyard. It was almost noon. He went home, lit the stove, put the kettle on and started boiling water. He went back into the space and asked Liu Mi to make a braised fish, a stir-fried vegetable, and steamed rice.

After dinner, Li Pingan began to practice the Five Elements Magic in the space. Now he can use several small magics skillfully. Fireball can instantly cast a fist-sized fireball. Ice Arrow can also send out ice arrows as big as chopsticks. Earth Spike can make a half-meter-long earth spike suddenly grow on the ground. The last time he practiced the Cutting Technique, he was able to cut off a bowl-sized tree. As for the Entanglement Technique, he is still in the exploratory stage because he has not found a vine seed that can cooperate with it.

After practicing for a long time and meditating to recover his spiritual power, Li Pingan left the space and continued to walk around before going home to sleep.

After a day's rest, Li Pingan got up early the next morning. Today was his first day at work and he couldn't be late.

After washing up and having breakfast, I didn't ride my own bike today. The bike he got was still in the factory. I rode the factory bike when I went to the countryside today. I wouldn't feel bad if it got bumped.

As soon as he went out, he ran into Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong and a few others who were also going to work. They were also surprised to see Li Pingan wearing the uniform of the steel mill. The second uncle Liu Haizhong said, "Pingan, why are you working in the steel mill? Which workshop are you in?"

Li Pingan took out cigarettes from his pocket and distributed them to everyone, then said, "I graduated but didn't get into college, so the neighborhood office arranged for me to work in the steel mill. Uncle Er, I didn't work in the workshop, but was assigned to the purchasing department."

Hearing that Li Pingan was assigned to the steel mill so quickly, everyone was a little surprised at his ability. There are many people who have not been assigned to a job for half a year or a year after graduation, but he was assigned to a job right after graduation. And it was a big factory like the steel mill. The position was good, and he didn't have to go to the workshop.

The second uncle Liu Haizhong patted Li Pingan on the shoulder and said, "Not bad, Pingan. Work hard in the future. Listen more to your leaders."

Others also said some words of congratulations. Only the uncle Yi Zhonghai snorted and walked forward without even turning his head.

Li Ping'an ignored him and followed everyone towards the factory.

When they arrived at the office, other people had not arrived yet. Li Ping'an cleaned the office and filled Zhou Changming's and his own office kettles with water.

After sitting at the table and waiting for a while, everyone came slowly. Everyone was here today. Seeing Li Ping'an's performance, everyone was very enthusiastic. Li Ping'an also went up to everyone and gave them cigarettes.

At this time, Zhou Changming also came and saw that everyone was there. He said, "Since you are all here, I won't say anything more. Those who need to run for supplies should go ahead."

Then he told Ji Qingshan: "This is Ping An's first time going to the countryside, you two should be careful."

After getting Ji Qingshan's assurance, Zhou Changming returned to his office.

Zhou Changming left and everyone became more lively. Li Pingan also knew that the remaining two young men were Chao Junhui and Wang Yousheng, both of whom were quite polite. But Chao Junhui seemed a bit arrogant, and Li Pingan didn't know where this arrogance came from.

A few people smoked and chatted for a while before they went their separate ways. As for where they went? Who knows?

Ji Qingshan also took out a list from the drawer and gave it to Li Pingan, saying, "This is our internal purchase price. The items listed above are within the purchase range. You have to memorize this. Otherwise, if you purchase at a higher price, you will be in trouble."

Li Pingan took the list and read it carefully. The prices were higher than those at the grain station and the supply and marketing cooperative, after all, there were no tickets. But they were much lower than the prices on the black market. For example, a pound of pork would cost 78 cents if you went to the market with a meat ticket. On the black market, it usually costs 1.6 yuan without a ticket, and the most expensive ones are less than 2 yuan. Their purchase price was only 1.2 yuan. (The plot requires it, and the author set it himself.)

The others were similar to this one. Li Pingan quickly read through the list. It can be said that anything that can be eaten is within the purchase range.

Ji Qingshan looked at Li Ping'an and said, "I'll give you this list. Let's go now. I'll tell you more on the way."

After saying that, Ji Qingshan took the freshly filled water bottle, carried his bag and walked out. Li Pingan also hurriedly followed.

The two of them went to the carport, pushed their bicycles, and left the factory, heading toward the countryside.

On the way, Ji Qingshan told Li Pingan. Generally, as long as they can complete the task, they don't need to go to the office every day. They only have to go on Monday morning, and everyone has a regular meeting. The rest of the time is arranged by themselves. It's mainly the task of each week. If the task is not completed for three consecutive months, they will be transferred out of the purchasing department. Most of them go to the workshop.

After riding for two hours, Ji Qingshan finally brought him to a village. The village didn't look big, with only about a hundred households.

Ji Qingshan took him to find the village chief, Liang Laosan, and the village was also called Liangjia Village. Ji Qingshan should come here often. The village chief enthusiastically took them to the village courtyard. Along the way, they saw busy figures everywhere in the fields. It is now mid-July, and the wheat here has been harvested to the end. This year's grain output is still good, but Li Pingan thought of the practice of exaggerating grain output starting this year, and he didn't know what would happen to those people next year or the year after?

Arriving at the courtyard of the village office, several people sat at a stone table under a tree. The village chief Liang Laosan said, "Purchaser Ji, you know everyone is very busy recently. What do you want to buy today?"

Ji Qingshan handed a cigarette to the village chief and said, "Today I am mainly here to help a new colleague get familiar with the work. If you have anything, bring it out and I will collect it."

Li Ping'an also stepped forward to the village chief Liang Laosan and said, "Village Chief Liang, my name is Li Ping'an, and I need your support in the future." After saying that, he took out a pack of unopened Daqianmen cigarettes and stuffed it into Liang Laosan's hand.

Seeing this, Village Chief Liang said happily, "Okay, okay. Then you two just wait. When it's almost time to get off work, I'll use the loudspeaker to notify everyone to bring all your things here."

By noon, after the village chief's propaganda, villagers soon came to the village yard with their own belongings.

Li Ping'an didn't receive any tasks today, so he helped Ji Qingshan with his studies.

The villagers had a few eggs, some vegetables, and two half-grown roosters. It was a pretty good harvest. With just these, Ji Qingshan could complete one-third of his task. He usually didn't get as much as he did today.

At noon, the two gave the village chief money and food coupons, had a meal at his home, packed up their things and headed back.

The two of them returned to the steel mill in the hot sun at around 5:00. They first went to the material warehouse to hand in their tasks, and then took the receipt from the warehouse to the finance department to report their accounts. After all the operations, it was almost time to get off work.

Back at the purchasing department, the two drank a lot of water. This trip was tiring and hot.

Zhou Changming saw the two people coming back, so he came out and asked, "Ping An, how did you feel about going there today? Do you know the procedures?"

Li Pingan stepped forward and handed Zhou Changming a cigarette and said, "I followed Brother Ji all the way, and the general process is almost the same. I didn't expect it to be so hard!"

Zhou Changming smiled and said, "It's okay, just exercise more and you'll be fine. Go to the Finance Department tomorrow to collect the advance payment, and take as much as you can. I won't assign you any tasks this week."

Ji Qingshan also smoked a cigarette and said, "Tomorrow you go to the surrounding villages. If they don't sell to you, it's probably because they have a familiar buyer. Go to other villages. Don't count on the villages nearby. Most of them have already reached cooperation with other buyers. You usually can't win them over. The procurement task is heavy now, and buyers from various factories are running around. Go to a remote village far away, where most people are reluctant to go. Maybe you can find good things there."

Li Pingan had no choice but to agree: "Then I'll go check it out tomorrow and try to visit more places."

After chatting for a while, it was time to get off work. Li Pingan also packed up and prepared to leave work.

I arrived at the garage and pushed my bike out. When I was almost at the gate, I ran into Xu Damao. This guy was also pushing his bike over.

When the two met, Li Pingan said first: "Brother Damao is back. I haven't seen you for several days?"

Xu Damao didn't expect to see Li Ping'an at the factory. The relationship between the two was neither good nor bad. Although they were neighbors, Xu Damao was two years older than Li Ping'an, and Li Ping'an didn't usually hang out with him. Xu Damao was the type who was doing well, so the two didn't interact much.

Hearing Li Ping'an's words, Xu Damao replied: "It's really you, Ping'an. Why did you come to work at the steel mill? Which department are you in?" Xu Damao saw that Li Ping'an was not pushing his new car and came out of the office building, and he had some guesses in his mind.

Li Pingan said as he walked: "Hey, didn't I fail the college entrance examination? The street office arranged for me to work in the steel mill. I was assigned to the purchasing department, and today is my first day at work."

After verifying his guess, Xu Damao became more enthusiastic. He said, "The purchasing department is good. I can go to the countryside like me in the future. The work is free, which is much better than staying in the workshop."

"Then I'll have to ask Brother Damao to take care of me in the future. Everyone knows that you have face in those villages. Next time you go there, please introduce a few villages to me so that I can complete the task." Li Ping'an also flattered Xu Damao.

Xu Damao was even happier after hearing Li Ping'an's flattery. He said, "Of course, no matter which village I go to, they will treat me well. The village cadres will personally serve me with good food and wine. Next time I will take you there and let you see how impressive your brother is there."

As they talked, the two of them walked out of the factory.

Li Pingan said to Xu Damao, "Then I'll wait for you, Brother Damao, to go to the movies and take me with you. I'll treat you to a drink then."

Xu Damao said happily, "Don't wait, come to my house tonight and have a drink together. You just got to work, can I let you treat me, Brother Damao? I'll go buy some food later, and we'll have a drink at my house tonight."

Li Ping'an thought it would be fine to go back, so he agreed.

So Xu Damao rode his bike to the market to buy vegetables, and we agreed to go to his house for dinner in the evening.

Li Pingan also rode his bike back to the courtyard. As soon as he arrived at the door, he ran into the third uncle Yan Bugui. Seeing Li Pingan, Yan Bugui came forward and said, "Pingan, I heard that you went to work in the steel mill? Or as a buyer?"

Everyone knows that although the job of a buyer is dangerous, it only happens occasionally. It is generally safe. However, buyers have a lot of money to earn, and they can make a profit from the price difference. Moreover, buyers have many connections, and sometimes they can bring back some good things for their families.

So Yan Bugui asked Li Pingan this to see if he had any connections and could make arrangements for his family member Yan Jiecheng as well?

Li Ping'an couldn't say he hated or liked the third uncle, he could just treat him as an ordinary neighbor.

He stopped the car and handed Yan Bugui a cigarette, then explained: "Yes, Uncle San, you also know that I didn't get into college. This was arranged by the Street Office."

Yan Bugui saw that it was Daqianmen, and quickly took it, not wanting to clip it on his ear. He then said, "Ping An, you are really capable. You started working right after graduation. Didn't you ask the street office what kind of jobs are available now? Look, my Jie Cheng is also idle at home, waiting for the street office to arrange a job."

"I don't know about this. Why don't you ask Jie Cheng to go to the street office to ask? I went to the street office every day after the exam to inquire about the job they arranged for me." Li Ping'an said.

After hearing what Li Ping'an said, Yan Bugui cursed this little rascal inwardly. Knowing that he couldn't get any advantage from Li Ping'an, he stepped aside. Li Ping'an pushed the cart home.