Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Five years have gone by in a blink of an eye.

After so many years of hard work, Banggeng finally became a regular employee this month.

Looking at the twenty-two yuan and fifty cents salary he had just received, Banggeng was very excited and wished he could take the money and go out and have some fun.

Yi Zhonghai thought that Banggeng was happy about the salary increase, and said with a smile: "Banggeng..."

"To celebrate your promotion, your mother prepared delicious food at home today and is waiting for us to return."

"You used to complain that your mother didn't cook enough pork and it was not satisfying."

"I went to the pigeon market last night and bought three pounds of meat tickets. I will make sure you have enough to eat tonight."

What Banggeng wants most now is to go out and play with his brothers in the workshop.

There are cheaters in every workshop, and Workshop 1 is no exception.

After several years of exploration, Banggeng managed to find a few brothers with the same personality, and they often went out together to drink and hang out.

Before, he only had three dollars in pocket money every month and was often looked down upon by his brothers.

Now that I have become a regular employee, my salary has increased to 22.5 yuan, and my pocket money has also increased to 7.5 yuan.

Although he is not as good as all his bad friends, at least he is not the one with the least pocket money among his brothers.

Banggeng decided to go find them tonight to show off and treat them to a drink, otherwise those friends would always say that he was taking advantage of them.

But he didn't want to ignore his mother Qin Huairu's kindness.

After all, that was a dinner made from three pounds of pork.

Going out for a drink with a bunch of bad friends may make you look good, but the food isn't good.

Many things out there require not only money but also tickets.

The steel mill only paid them wages and did not issue them any receipts, which resulted in them only being able to drink every time they hung out, and the food was not that good.

As he thought about it, Banggeng made a decision in his mind.

I'll go home and eat meat tonight, and then go out with friends tomorrow night.

…………

The central courtyard of a quadrangle.

A very strong aroma of meat could be smelled coming from the Jia family from a long distance away.

The Jia family is living a much better life now than before.

Xiaodang and Kuihua went to the countryside a year ago, and the number of people eating at home suddenly dropped from six to four, but the monthly living expenses of 25 yuan did not decrease.

The frequency of eating meat has gone from once every three or four days to once every two days.

If Qin Huairu was in a good mood and was willing to use his private money to buy meat, he could stew one or two pounds of pork in one meal.

Today is the first time that Banggeng has received his regular salary after being converted to a regular employee, which means that from now on Banggeng has become a regular employee of the steel mill. Even if Wang Dong, the director of the kitchen, takes action, he cannot easily be dismissed from the steel mill.

Such a good day is worth celebrating no matter how you analyze it.

Qin Huairu was generous for once and used her own private money to celebrate with Banggeng.

After eating and drinking, Yi Zhonghai suddenly said, "Great..."

"Have you finished the things I asked you to do?"

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhang both focused their attention on Bang Geng, wanting to know what Yi Zhonghai had asked him to do and whether it was dangerous. Facing the worried eyes of Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu, Bang Geng patted his chest and said to them confidently, "It's all done."

"This time, I will make sure that beast Wang Dong can't escape even if he has wings."

As soon as Qin Huairu heard it, she knew that Yi Zhonghai had endured for four or five years and had not taken action against Wang Dong. Now that Bang Geng had successfully become a regular employee at the steel rolling mill and had no worries, he finally couldn't help but want to take action again.

Qin Huairu could also understand him.

With the support of Wang Dong, Aunt Zhang from the backyard became a formal worker in the steel rolling mill four years ago, working as a kitchen helper and earning 22 yuan a month.

Because she works in the kitchen, Aunt Zhang has more or less some privileges when it comes to meals, and she only needs to spend three or four yuan on food every month.

If you spend another five dollars on raising your son and keep three or four dollars for pocket money, you can save at least ten dollars a month.

Although Yi Zhonghai is a third-level fitter in the steel rolling mill, he can get a salary of about 40 yuan per month, which is nearly twice as much as Aunt Zhang in the backyard.

But because of the Jia family's bloodsucking and his own expenses, he sometimes had to give Banggeng some pocket money, so he could only save fifteen yuan a month, which was only five yuan more than his ex-wife.

You have to know that the retirement money he saved will be used by both himself and Qin Huairu in the future.

The retirement money saved by his ex-wife, Aunt Zhang, was only for his own use.

On average, his ex-wife, Aunt Zhang, saves more money for retirement every month than he does.

Such a person was actually kicked away by him a few years ago as if he were throwing away a burden.

Nowadays, when people in the yard mention the past between the two of them, they would mock Yi Zhonghai for being blind.

Of course...this is not what makes Yi Zhonghai most angry.

Under the personal instruction of Aunt Zhang in the backyard, and the good character of the neighbors and children in the backyard, the child adopted by the ex-wife from the welfare home was obviously a very filial person.

When the child grows up, even if the ex-wife has not saved any money for retirement, she will have a very good life after retirement.

Then look at the Jia family that he relies on.

Not only is everyone a selfish person who loves money, but they are also full of calculations towards each other.

Then he looked at Bang Geng, whom he had high hopes for. He had learned fittering from him for five years and, in Yi Zhonghai's opinion, had only reached the second-level fitter level.

In addition, Banggeng is essentially a sneaky person, so he is destined not to make much progress in locksmithing.

If you are lucky, you may be able to pass the exam to become a third-level fitter in the future. If you are unlucky, you can only be a second-level fitter for your entire life.

If you let such a person help you in your old age, and if you don’t save money for your old age, Banggeng will definitely kick you away.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai suddenly realized that he had been planning all his life, but when he got old, the problem of retirement was still not solved.

My ex-wife can not only earn money, but also has someone to rely on when she is old, and her life is getting better and better. Now I am about to retire, and I am still thinking about my retirement all day long.

Comparing the two, Yi Zhonghai suddenly felt like a complete failure and was filled with regret.

If I had known this would happen, I should have listened to my ex-wife and adopted a child from an orphanage and raised him myself instead of pinning my hopes on the Jia family for my retirement.

But there is no medicine for regret in the world. Besides, he has already obtained a marriage certificate with Qin Huairu and is completely tied to the Jia family. There is no way out and he can only go down this path to the end.

In this situation, Yi Zhonghai could only transfer his hatred to Wang Dong.

Without his support, his ex-wife, Aunt Zhang, would not have lived such a good life, and she would have no one to compare herself with, and others would not be able to laugh at her.

So in Yi Zhonghai's eyes, the better his ex-wife's life was, the greater the gap between them, the stronger his hatred for Wang Dong became, and the more he wanted to take revenge on him.

Now that he has finally gotten rid of all his worries, he must want to take revenge as soon as possible. (End of this chapter)