Reborn to Strive

After Guan Baiyu told Shi Zhen the good news that he had won the third prize in the city, he did not go home, but stood beside Shi Zhen and helped Shi Zhen collect money.

Seeing this, Shi Zhen said: "Xiao Yu, you go back to sleep first."

Guan Baiyu was unwilling: "Brother, I am very happy now, even if I go home, I won't be able to sleep."

"Kids need to sleep longer at night."

"I'm not a child anymore! Brother, you're not much older than me!" Guan Baiyu said.

Shi Zhen said: "I'm already full, you're only fifteen when you're an adult."

Guan Baiyu didn't speak anymore, but he just didn't leave.

Shi Zhen had nothing to do with him, he didn't chase him away, he just asked how he was studying recently - the high school entrance examination will be in two months!

Guan Baiyu bent his eyes: "Brother, I think it's better for me to study by myself at Xinhua Bookstore than at school."

"Is there anything you don't understand?" Shi Zhen asked.

"I can understand mathematics by reading more, and I can also read the reference answers later on in Chinese. The reference answers are better than what our school teacher said." Guan Baiyu said.

Shi Zhen was not surprised.

Nowadays, there are very few teaching aids, and they cannot be produced by just one person. The quality is naturally good, but many of the teachers in rural schools have graduated from junior high school.

Guan Baiyu can learn Chinese and mathematics by himself, and he is also good at chemistry and physics. His weak point is English.

Shi Zhen inquired about the price of English extracurricular classes in the town.

It was done privately by a teacher who taught English in a junior high school in the town. He paid 30 yuan a month and had two classes a week for two hours each time.

Shi Zhen can accept this price, but it is taught in large classes, and Guan Baiyu's high school entrance examination is about to come, so he suddenly intervenes to study for two months, which may not be effective.

And listening to Guan Baiyu recite English words these days, I probably know where Guan Baiyu's English is poor.

Guan Baiyu is learning dumb English, he can't speak or read, he only knows how to memorize it by rote, and he doesn't even have an English dictionary... the meaning of many words is vague to him.

Before Shi Zhen flipped through his book, he saw "dog" and "Doug" written under the word "dog". He doesn't know either.

Surely not.

When Shi Zhen himself was in junior high school, because his school didn't have an English teacher, he didn't learn English at all.

It was only later that one of his partners learned English for a long time in order to do export business, and he followed suit.

But he didn't learn much, he just said hello to people, so naturally he couldn't teach Guan Baiyu at the moment.

But judging from the method of learning English that his partner found at the time... If you want to learn English well, it is best to listen and read more.

Guan Baiyu is very independent, buy him a radio, buy an English-Chinese dictionary, and find some English tapes, and he should be able to learn by himself.

But before he went to Xinhua Bookstore, he didn't see any tapes... I'll ask next time.

Even if there are no books and tapes for learning English, such as New Concept English, which were later highly praised, there are still textbooks and English tapes that go with the textbooks.

While thinking about Guan Baiyu's studies, Shi Zhen quickly made fried skewers.

There are several stalls near the movie theater, one of which also sells various skewered ingredients, but he doesn't sell many kinds of things, mainly fried chicken wings and fried chicken legs, so Shi Zhen's business here is quite good.

After selling until after nine o'clock in the evening, there were no people on the road. Shi Zhen put away the stall, moved all the things on the tricycle, and went home with Guan Baiyu.

"Xiao Yu, there is a seat there, you can sit down." Seeing that Guan Baiyu couldn't get on the tricycle, Shi Zhen greeted him.

Guan Baiyu shook his head: "Brother, I'll just run with your car." Tricycles require effort to pedal, and Shi Zhen is tired enough after a busy day, he doesn't want Shi Zhen to carry more than [-] catties of meat.

Well, he might weigh more than ninety catties now!

Shi Zhen was indeed a little tired, thinking that he might not be able to ride fast, so he didn't force Guan Baiyu to get on the bike: "That's fine, then let's go back slowly."

On the way back, Shi Zhen missed the battery tricycle a little bit.

In his last life, when he started working alone, he bought a tricycle like this when he brought a few villagers to build houses for rural people.

After riding for two years, he saw someone installing a battery on a tricycle, so he followed him to install one. It finally saved a lot of effort, and he didn't have to pedal hard.

Of course, there are potential safety hazards in such self-installed batteries... But for the bottom layer, it is always convenient.

It was completely dark, and after leaving the town, there were no street lights on the road.

Guan Baiyu was running behind the car, panting heavily, Shi Zhen said: "Xiao Yu, when we have money, I will buy a van, so that it can hold more things! You don't have to run anymore."

Guan Baiyu said: "Well, brother... Huh, you can definitely do it!"

"It will definitely work." Shi Zhen laughed, but his expression froze quickly - there were raindrops hitting his face.

Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu, who were rushing home with the cold wind, realized almost at the same time that it was raining!

The two didn't speak, one ran, the other rode, and rushed home quickly.

The rain came suddenly, and it rained heavily. Shi Zhen was drenched when he got home. Fortunately, he covered the things in the car with a plastic sheet, so they didn't get wet.

It's still hot today, with a temperature of [-] degrees, so there should be no gonorrhea.

It was almost ten o'clock when we got home, after tidying up a bit and scrubbing briefly, Shi Zhen finally went to bed at 10:30.

At this time, Shi Xinghuo was already fast asleep, and did not wake up when he heard the movement.

It rained that night, and it didn't stop the next day, only a little less.

Shi Zhen and Shi Xinghuo brought umbrellas when they came out of the village, but they didn't have raincoats, and Guan Baiyu only had an umbrella but no raincoat.

It is more convenient to wear a raincoat on a tricycle, so you need to buy at least one raincoat and three pairs of rubber rain boots, preferably one pair per person.

Shi Zhen looked at his savings and wrote down the things he wanted to buy.

He and Shi Xinghuo came out to work. Guan Baiyu only had a grandmother before, and the three of them had no family background. They needed to buy everything, and there were many places to spend money, so they needed careful planning.

Especially these days, things like rain boots and raincoats are quite expensive compared to per capita income.

Although it was raining, Shi Zhen rode his bicycle to the town early in the morning and set up a stall selling rice balls and pork head meat.

He had thought about how to deal with the rainy weather very early, so he bought a bag of cement from a nearby cement factory, mixed stones and poured several hollow concrete piers, and when he arrived in the town, he inserted bamboo poles he had cut into the concrete piers to support them. , then tie bamboo poles horizontally on top, and finally cover with plastic sheeting, and you have a simple shed, which can protect the stalls inside from the wind and rain.

On rainy days, country people generally do not come to the town to buy things, but people who work and live in the town still need to buy vegetables and breakfast.

Those who came out of their homes wearing raincoats on bicycles and rushed to the factory were too lazy to stop to take off their raincoats and go to the steamed stuffed bun shop to eat steamed stuffed buns. Many of them stopped right next to Shi Zhen's booth and asked for rice balls to take away.

Shi Zhen's rice ball business is actually better than before.

The pork head meat with money is also selling well.

The couple who followed suit and sold cold-cut pig heads were laid-off workers from the town. They were inexperienced and couldn't build a shed when it rained, so they didn't set up a stall.

Without competitors, even if there is less traffic because of the rain, the speed of selling things is not slow.

Before nine o'clock, the rice cooked by Shi Zhen in the morning was sold out, so he simply closed the stall and went home.

When Shi Zhen came home, Guan Baiyu just came back holding an umbrella - after helping Shi Zhen this morning, he went to school.

Guan Baiyu's umbrella is a big black umbrella, the surface of which has been mended, and it is very old. When he saw Shi Zhen, he raised the umbrella higher and smiled with two canine teeth: "Brother, the recommendation is confirmed. As long as you don’t do badly in the exam, you can go to No. [-] Middle School in the city!”

"My Xiaoyu is awesome." Shi Zhen felt proud from the bottom of his heart.

Guan Baiyu was smiling, but his eyes were a little sore for some reason.

His brother is so nice!

He's not really good, but his brother always

think he is great!

Guan Baiyu put away the umbrella and came to help Shi Zhen pack his things. After packing, Shi Zhen grabbed him and said, "Xiao Yu, you slept late last night, go and catch up on sleep, and I will go to catch up on sleep too."

"En." Guan Baiyu responded, a little wanting to follow Shi Zhen to sleep in Guan Jianguo - he always wanted to sleep next to Shi Zhen like Shi Xinghuo.

But without waiting for Guan Baiyu to put forward his own ideas, Shi Zhenyou said: "After waking up and having dinner, I will go to Xinhua Bookstore with you."

"Brother, are you going with me?" Guan Baiyu was a little overjoyed and forgot about sleeping together.

Shi Zhen nodded: "I asked people, and they said that it will rain these few days. If it rains, no one will go shopping in the town at night, so I won't set up a stall later."

On a rainy day, those who should buy breakfast should still buy breakfast, and those who should buy vegetables should still buy vegetables.

But the fried skewers at night are snacks, and no one will buy them in the rain.

He can rest for a few days, tidy up the house, and Guan Baiyu's English learning needs to be resolved.

And Yan Jiangtao... Shi Zhen narrowed his eyes slightly.

He didn't let Guan Baiyu go to school these days and avoided Yan Jiangtao, but that didn't mean he didn't hold grudges anymore.

Shi Zhen went back to sleep for two hours, and when he arrived at Guan Baiyu's house, it was almost twelve o'clock.

Guan Baiyu had already woken up, and when he saw him, he asked, "Brother, are you hungry? Shall I get you a bowl of noodles?"

"Okay." Shi Zhen didn't refuse.

Guan Baiyu lit the straw with a match and stuffed it into the stove, then poured hot water into the pot with a kettle, quickly put a handful of dried noodles, and when the noodles were cooked, picked them up, put them in chopped green onion, soy sauce and lard, and mixed it with pork. It was a simple and delicious pig. The noodles are mixed with oil.

There is also a plate of cold cucumbers and fried cabbage that Guan Baiyu made in the morning on the table.

Shi Zhen was afraid that Guan Baiyu, who was still in the developing stage, would not be able to keep up with his nutrition, so he always paid attention to the combination of meat and vegetables when eating. After being with him for a long time, Guan Baiyu used to eat a bowl of pickles for several days, so he was used to cooking some for every meal. dish.

After dinner, Shi Zhen took Guan Baiyu to the town to read a book on a tricycle.

Guan Baiyu moved a bench and sat in the tricycle compartment, holding an umbrella and watching the mulberry trees on the side of the road keep receding, not knowing why he wanted to laugh so much.

After all, it was a working day, and there was no one in Xinhua Bookstore. Shi Zhen asked Guan Baiyu to read a book, but he approached the staff of the bookstore and asked if there were any English tapes for sale.

The staff looked at Shi Zhen lazily and said no.

In a few years, English textbooks will be distributed to students on tapes, and later on CDs, but now there is nothing.

"Where can I buy it? My child wants to learn English." Shi Zhen asked.

The staff member yawned, but still replied: "Go to the city to have a look, maybe there are. There are tapes in the teacher's textbooks, if you come here when the school just starts, maybe you can buy them... It's sold out now."

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhen thanked him: "Thank you."

The staff member ignored him and leaned drowsily on the cash register.

Shi Zhen asked Guan Baiyu for the information he wanted, and asked Guan Baiyu to look for him at Qianqiqi, and left the bookstore first.

When he arrived at Qianqi's place, Qianqi was looking at the rain scene with his chin propped up, looking very bored.

Since they had tricycles, they could bring more things to the town, and when they got money, they could have a long stool to sit on. When he saw Shi Zhen, he immediately gave up half of the stool to ask Shi Zhen to sit down, and happily followed Shi Zhen chatted.

There is some truth to the saying that children from poor families are in charge of the family early. After Qian Li came out to set up a stall with Shi Zhen, he matured in a very short period of time and looked like an adult.

Now he goes to work at six o'clock in the morning every day, and there is no rest time throughout the day, but he never complains.

Shi Zhen knew that it wasn't just Qian Qiqi who wanted to practice martial arts with him...Qian Qiqi was very serious about setting up a stall as a job.

He now pays ten yuan a day, including food...

The parents who got money did not have a stable job, at most they did odd jobs occasionally, and they already made the most money in their family.

After Shi Zhen sat down, he asked Qian Qi: "Yan Jiang

Have you heard about Tao? "

"I got it!" Qian Qiqi quickly told about the Yan family.

Yan Jiangtao was beaten up by his father several times recently, and he was beaten last night because he did poorly in the league test.

As for things at school... Yan Jiangtao used to bully Guan Baiyu all the time, but never really hurt Guan Baiyu.

"What does Yan Jiangtao's father usually do?" Shi Zhen asked again.

Shi Zhen specifically asked Qian Qiqi to inquire about this matter. Qian Qiqi said: "Yan Jiangtao's father usually watches the machine at home, and sends a batch of cloth to the printing and dyeing factory at Qiaotou every few days. Every time he After delivering the cloth at Qiaotou, I would go to the town to eat a bowl of mutton noodles and drink a bottle of wine."

Qian Qiqi's home is not far from Yan Jiangtao's home, and he has friends who live behind Yan Jiangtao's home, and he has found out his whereabouts very clearly: "By the way, Master, Yan Jiangtao's father will deliver the cloth tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," Shi Zhen took out five yuan to pay, "hard work."

When he got up, he refused to accept the money: "Master, there is no need, I didn't spend much effort!"

"I can't let you do it for nothing." Shi Zhen insisted.

He still refused to accept the money: "Master, my friend actually inquired about this matter. He is also in town today. If you want to thank you, you might as well give him a cold pork nose later. He likes to eat it." this."

"That's fine." Shi Zhen had no objection, a serving of cold pork head meat didn't cost five yuan.

Qian Qiqi's friend came to the town to sell the small crucian carp he caught by snails. After the sale, he came to say hello to Qian Qiqi, and Shi Zhen saw him.

This person looks a little anxious, only 17 years old and looks like 27, Shi Zhen gave him a cold pig nose, he was very happy, and told Shi Zhen: "Yan Jiangtao's father usually leaves at [-] o'clock in the morning to deliver After delivering the goods, he went to eat mutton noodles after nine o’clock, and he often said in the village what kind of wine he would drink when he ate mutton noodles, and how much mutton would be added, so he couldn’t be wrong.”

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhen gave him two more marinated eggs.

It was still raining the next day, and the weather in City J was like this. Once it rained, it tended to fall intermittently for a long time.

After eight o'clock in the morning, Shi Zhen sold out the rice balls. He simply cleaned up the stall, but instead of going home as usual, he went to the mutton noodle shop in the town.

There are three noodle shops in Anshan Town, one of which sells mutton noodles, and the other two sell noodles like shredded pork noodles, pork liver noodles, and sliced ​​fish noodles.

Among all the noodles, the mutton noodles are of the highest grade.

A bowl of shredded pork noodles costs five yuan, and a bowl of mutton noodles costs five yuan!

The man who sells mutton noodles also sells mutton by the way, because he is the only one in the whole town who sells cooked mutton, and his business is very good.

Shi Zhen remembered that he was a contractor here around 2000, and he heard from Guan Baiyu that this mutton noodle shop, which was opened a little bigger at that time, had a net profit of [-] a day and [-] to [-] a month.

At the beginning of the 21st century, this was definitely a high income. At that time, he was a contractor and couldn’t get back tens of thousands.

It's a pity that the owner of the noodle shop spent so much energy and gambled after he got rich... This person didn't become a big boss in the end.

Everyone's income is low now, and their purchasing power is not as high as it will be in five or six years. The noodle shop will definitely not be able to earn a thousand a day, but they can earn more than him no matter what.

He set up a stall when he had a serious shop, so he couldn't compare to others.

Although it was past nine o'clock in the morning, there were still many people sitting in the mutton noodle shop.

Some of them just came in to eat noodles, and some of them have actually been sitting here for a long time. They have already finished eating noodles, but they just keep going to find someone to brag about.

A van stopped suddenly at the door of the noodle shop, followed by a black and fat middle-aged man got out of the car and entered the noodle shop.

"It's Boss Yan!"

"Boss Yan is here!"

Some of the people sitting in the noodle shop knew this person, so they greeted him immediately.

It was Yan Jiangtao's father who came. He entered the noodle shop and said to the boss: "Boss, give me [-] yuan of mutton, [-] yuan of mutton leaves, and a bottle of strong wine."

"Okay!" The boss

He responded with a smile, and quickly brought out a bowl of mutton and a bowl of sheep louvers.

The mutton is burnt fragrant, and garlic leaves are sprinkled on it, which makes people feel particularly appetizing.

Yan Jiangtao's father took a bowl, poured himself a bowl of wine, and ate and drank.

Most people come here and only eat a bowl of mutton noodles for five yuan.

The mutton noodles here, the noodles and the mutton can be served separately, so they asked the owner to serve the mutton first, and then go to the side to scoop a bowl of free bulk liquor, wait until the mutton is finished with the wine, and then serve the noodles.

Yan Jiangtao's father is also like this, but he wants a lot of mutton, and he doesn't want the free bulk liquor in the store, but buys another bottle of strong wine.

It costs more than [-] yuan to eat and drink like this, and many people can’t earn it for a day, which can be said to be very lucrative.

The people in the noodle shop looked at Yan Jiangtao's father enviously, and kept complimenting him. The boss even came out to share cigarettes with him, the best cigarettes.

All this put Father Yan in a good mood. While enjoying the flattery from the people around him, he revealed something from time to time, which made the people around him even more envious.

For example, why did he have a payment of more than [-] yuan but did not get it back? For example, he bought a gold bracelet for his wife and she thought it was too heavy to wear, or for example, he disliked his van and said he wanted to buy a car to drive on weekdays...

He runs a small workshop at home, which is actually very, very hard work, and he rarely has free time, but why is he working so hard?Don't you just want him to be envied by others?

Every time I come to town to eat beef noodles, I can make Father Yan feel good.

Father Yan ate while drinking, and he ate for more than an hour.

Shi Zhen changed into tattered clothes, and walked around a few times in a bamboo hat and coir raincoat, feeling a little worried.

He was afraid that he would not find a chance to beat someone up.

No matter how you say it, Yan Jiangtao is still a minor. Before Yan Jiangtao kept saying that Guan Baiyu was dirty, he asked someone to pour dirty water, which was regarded as an eye for an eye.But it is inappropriate for him to beat Yan Jiangtao, that is clearly bullying the weak.

So he planned to beat Yan Jiangtao's father instead.

The child does not teach, the father too.

And if it wasn't for Yan Jiangtao's father giving gifts to the teacher and insisting that Yan Jiangtao and Guan Baiyu be at the same table, Guan Baiyu wouldn't be bullied by Yan Jiangtao.

But... Yan Jiangtao's father came to eat noodles in a van, and if he got in the van after eating the noodles, he would leave... Shi Zhen might not be able to catch him and beat him.

Shi Zhenzheng was hesitating, when he saw Father Yan coming out of the mutton noodle shop, walking into the side alley in the light rain, unbuttoning his trousers and pouring water against the wall.

The town in [-] was not as prosperous as it was later. There was only one big street in the town, and the others were all small alleys.

Because this mutton noodle shop is the only business, it is not opened in the center of the town but outside the town, surrounded by private houses and no other shops.

No one was there either.

Father Yan was addressing his physical needs when he suddenly put a sack on his head.

"Who?" Father Yan just asked while holding his trousers, when he was pushed to the ground. Immediately afterwards, someone kicked him on his thigh and buttocks.

Father Yan screamed like a pig being killed, but the man didn't stop, he just said in a hoarse voice, "Let your son look down on me, let your son look down on me!"

It was raining and the ground was wet, and Father Yan just went to the toilet next to him.

He fell to the ground, his head was covered by a sack and he couldn't see anything, but he could feel his clothes were wet and knew that he must have rolled in mud.

too disgusting!

Who is beating him?Who did his son offend?

Why does this brat cause trouble for him all day long!

Father Yan yelled "forgive me" while being annoyed.

What Shi Zhen kicked were places on Father Yan's body that were not easily injured.

He didn't want to actually hurt people.

After a few kicks, Shi Zhen was about to leave.

But just as he was about to leave, he saw someone coming from the noodle shop... Shi Zhen covered his face with a bamboo hat while trying to escape, but the man glanced at him and walked towards the noodle shop in the opposite direction as if nothing had happened.

This is... don't plan to go back and call someone?

Shi Zhen was speechless.

Shi Zhen left soon, and after Shi Zhen left, Father Yan came out of the sack, and found himself covered in mud and water as soon as he came out. As for the injury...the man kept mentioning the meaty place behind him, and at most kicked him Get bruised.

He didn't suffer any injuries, but he was pressed into the mud and beaten. This behavior is really insulting!

Father Yan was about to be blown up, and immediately wanted to call the police.

But he didn't see who that person was, he didn't suffer any injuries and didn't lose any money, so calling the police might not be useful.

Father Yan was angry, and a group of people came from the noodle shop: "Boss Yan, we seem to have heard you calling for help... What's wrong with you?"

Father Yan's trousers hadn't been zipped up properly, so he felt ashamed and threw them home.

When he gets home, he will beat his debt-collecting son!