Siheyuan: I am Banggeng's uncle

Chapter 717 Pretending to be confused while pretending to understand!
Gao Jianbin, a clerk in the Security Section of the Security Department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, went to the courtyard on Gulou East Street with his colleagues after getting off work at around 5 p.m. to collect the Mid-Autumn Festival benefits distributed by the department. He then happily headed home with his colleagues who lived in the same courtyard.

Around 6 p.m., Gao Jianbin and his colleague finally returned to their courtyard house. As the two men entered the courtyard carrying bulging bags, one of the neighbors immediately came forward and greeted them warmly, saying, "Comrade Jianbin! Comrade Liu Ming! Why are you so late coming home from get off work today? Judging from the bags you're carrying, could it be the Mid-Autumn Festival benefits distributed by your security department?"

When we went to collect our welfare benefits, our section chief told everyone that if anyone asked where these things came from, we should say that we paid for them ourselves and asked a friend to help us purchase them. If others find out that these things are welfare benefits distributed by the department, the department may not distribute welfare benefits to everyone anymore.

At first, everyone was puzzled by the section chief's instructions, but after they learned about what happened last year, they understood why the section chief had asked them to conceal the fact that the department was distributing benefits.

Upon hearing his neighbor's question, Gao Jianbin immediately remembered the instructions from his section chief and feigned curiosity, asking, "Brother Zhou! Aren't all the employee benefits distributed the same at our steel rolling mill? You just mentioned that our security department also distributes holiday benefits. What's going on here?"

When Brother Zhou heard Gao Jianbin's question and saw his curious expression, he immediately looked surprised and asked Gao Jianbin with some doubt, "Comrade Jianbin! During holidays, in addition to the benefits you receive from the factory, the security department also distributes additional benefits. Didn't your security department distribute any benefits this Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"What! Brother Zhou! You're saying that during holidays, besides the factory's welfare benefits, our security department also distributes an extra benefit? Is that true?" Liu Ming, who was standing to the side, immediately pretended to be curious and asked Brother Zhou after hearing his explanation.

When Brother Zhou first heard Gao Jianbin's explanation, he was skeptical of Gao Jianbin's answer because of the cloth bags the two men were carrying. Now, hearing Liu Ming's question and seeing Liu Ming's curious expression, Brother Zhou instinctively assumed that the security department had not distributed any additional benefits this year because of the workers' disturbance during the Spring Festival.

Upon having this thought, Brother Zhou's face immediately showed an embarrassed expression, and he said somewhat apologetically, "Jianbin! Liu Ming! This year during the Spring Festival, in addition to the welfare benefits you received from the factory, the security department also distributed an additional welfare benefit internally."

"Later, this matter somehow spread throughout the factory. Some workers, out of jealousy of your security department's benefits, went to the security department to cause trouble. Because of those few people causing trouble, Director Jia canceled the plan to distribute benefits. Later, I heard that although your security department officially canceled the distribution of benefits, it secretly distributed benefits behind the scenes, and even distributed quite a lot of things."

After introducing the items, Brother Zhou glanced at the bags the two men were carrying and said with a curious expression, "I saw you two carrying big bags and thought it was a perk from your security department, so I came over to ask you about it."

Gao Jianbin had naturally heard about the situation from his section chief, as Zhou had described. Initially, he hadn't taken it seriously, but seeing Zhou's reaction, he finally understood why his section chief had repeatedly warned them not to spread the word about the security department distributing benefits. Seeing Zhou's curious expression, Gao Jianbin feigned sudden realization and muttered to himself, "I was wondering why everyone in the department had been asking the section chief if the department had distributed any benefits for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was puzzled because the factory had already distributed benefits; why were they asking the section chief? Turns out, it's because of this."

Seeing Gao Jianbin's reaction and hearing his answer, Brother Zhou finally believed what Gao Jianbin had said. Seeing the bags the two were carrying, Brother Zhou couldn't help but ask them curiously, "Comrade Jianbin! Comrade Liu Ming! Where did you two go to buy all that stuff?"

“Brother Zhou! The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, right? We were thinking of sending some things to our parents in the countryside, so we asked a comrade who works at the supply and marketing cooperative to help us buy some rice and flour. We were planning to have someone bring it back to the countryside first thing tomorrow morning.” Liu Ming saw Brother Zhou staring intently at the cloth bags they were carrying. Although his face didn’t change, he was very dissatisfied. Before Gao Jianbin could answer, he immediately made up an excuse to brush him off.

Upon hearing Liu Ming's excuse, Gao Jianbin quickly chimed in, "Brother Zhou! We've moved to the city and are living a good life now, so we can't just ignore our parents in the countryside, can we? That's why I asked Liu Ming to help us by having his comrades buy some rice, flour, and meat for us. We'll take some back to our parents in the countryside tomorrow. But even though we bought quite a lot, we've used up all the ration coupons the armed forces department gave us when we were discharged."

Upon hearing Gao Jianbin and Liu Ming's explanation, Brother Zhou's face showed approval. He smiled and praised them, "Comrade Jianbin! Comrade Liu Ming! You are right. We may move to the city to live a good life, but we must not forget our parents in the countryside. After all, our lives were given to us by our parents."

Although Gao Jianbin hadn't lived here long, he knew that Brother Zhou was a chatterbox. To avoid any trouble, Gao Jianbin immediately said to Brother Zhou, "Brother Zhou! We went to the supply and marketing cooperative to pick up some things right after get off work, and we haven't had dinner yet, so we're going back now."

Upon hearing Gao Jianbin's words, Brother Zhou remembered that he was planning to go for a walk outside. He quickly smiled and said to the two of them, "It is indeed getting late. I was just about to go for a stroll outside. I won't chat with you two any longer. You two should hurry home and have dinner!"

Upon hearing Brother Zhou's words, the two exchanged a very subtle glance, then carried their belongings and headed home.

(End of this chapter)