Yonghe Road

Chapter 4 Doorman
The white tea factory fired Zhong Ziwang, and Zhong Ziwang lost his job packaging tea in the evening.

After finishing his work of moving sand and soil at the materials company, Zhong Ziwang returned home facing the sunset, washed off his sweat, and rode his electric bike out again.

Huifang chased after Zhong Ziwang and shouted at his back, "Ziwang, you haven't had dinner yet."

"Come back later to eat."

Where is Zhong Ziwang going?

Zhong Ziwang rode a small electric scooter to a toy processing factory in the village.

This processing plant is a "three-in-one" model project invested by an overseas Chinese in the village.

The so-called "three imports and one compensation" refers to production with supplied materials, processing with supplied samples, assembly with supplied parts and compensation trade.

There has always been a broad market for processing of materials and parts for toys, and the labor force in the surrounding areas is very abundant, especially the female labor force, which is idle. This toy processing factory is located in the She ethnic township, which can mobilize the surrounding labor force. The processing plant does not need a factory building, but only needs a warehouse for raw materials and samples. Women go to the warehouse at a fixed time to pick up raw materials and samples, and then go home to make them. In this way, they can make money and take care of housework, children and the elderly at home.

Zhong Ziwang parked his electric scooter on the street in front of the warehouse and walked towards the warehouse.

The warehouse keeper was a middle-aged man, working on a computer, with the sound output set to loudspeaker mode, sounding both cheesy and comical.

"I want to get some ingredients and samples."

Hearing Zhong Ziwang's voice, the man looked up and said, "You're a stranger. You've never done this before, have you?"

"It's not a difficult job. If women can do it, I can do it too."

The man was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "I thought you came here to help the women in your family. How can you, a grown man, compete with women for work? Men should do men's work. These small jobs should be left to women so that they can also earn some pocket money. Men become bad when they have money, and women become bad when they don't have money. Being bad makes you rich..."

The man's words made Zhong Ziwang's face burn.

"Just tell me whether you will do it for me or not?"

"Just because you have rough hands doesn't mean you can do this job," the man glanced at Zhong Ziwang's hands, which had been used for rough work for a long time. The backs of his hands were very dark, and the knuckles of his fingers were large, which was very different from the delicate hands of young people today. "You can take a small amount of raw materials first and try it. Let me explain first, the wages are divided into several levels. Those who reach the first-level standard..."

After listening to the man's introduction of the wages for each level, Zhong Ziwang frowned.

"You think the pay is too low? I told you, this is work for women, the elderly, and children. Young men like you should go and make big money."

"I want to give it a try." said Zhong Ziwang.

"But let me make it clear to you first, if it's done well, it's just a small amount of money, but if it's done badly, you have to compensate me for the raw materials." The man emphasized.

Zhong Ziwang nodded, and the man stood up and pulled out a woven bag from the corner.

A few minutes later, Zhong Ziwang put a bag of toy raw materials and samples on the front partition of the electric car, got on the car and drove back.

When the electric car drove back to Baile Village, it was dark and the street lights in the village were lit. Each light was retro, making the whole village look full of artistic conception.

Zhong Ziwang's electric scooter passed by the gate of the village primary school, and the security guard, Old Xie, walked out of the school's electric gate carrying a bucket.

"Zi Wang--" He waved to Zhong Zi Wang.

Old Xie was about sixty years old, even thinner than the average thin man, with a hunched back like a shriveled, bent bamboo. Although he was lame, his steps were still very strong, even walking with a gust of wind.

When he heard Lao Xie calling him, Zhong Ziwang stopped his electric scooter.

"Uncle, are you still not done with your work so late?"

"Just take out the trash." Old Xie's eyes fell on the front of the electric car, revealing the toy materials in the woven bag. "Did you get this for your mother?"

"I myself. My mother had a major operation before and can't sit for a long time." Zhong Ziwang explained.

Old Xie muttered, "How much money can you make from this?"

Old Xie took out the remote control from his pocket and clicked it at the electronic gate at the school gate. The electronic gate slowly opened a wider gap. Old Xie signaled Zhong Ziwang to drive the electric car in, and he quickly took out the garbage and returned to school.

In order not to keep Zhong Ziwang waiting for long, he quickened his pace, and his limp became even worse. He limped like an old broken boat in the wind and waves.

Zhong Ziwang was already sitting in the guard's dormitory connected to the security room, waiting for Lao Xie.

There is a rectangular white wooden dining table by the window, with some bottles and jars scattered on the table. This is how most elderly people arrange their living spaces, and it is difficult to keep them tidy.

Old Xie came in, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and gave one to Zhong Ziwang.

Zhong Ziwang didn't refuse. He was used to smoking Lao Xie's cigarettes and would share them with Lao Xie when he had some. But Lao Xie hadn't smoked Zhong Ziwang's cigarettes in a long time. In order to raise the betrothal gift to marry Lin Yingying, Zhong Ziwang had quit smoking, saving hundreds of yuan a month.

Old Xie pulled a chair and sat down opposite Zhong Ziwang. The two of them lit cigarettes and smoked facing each other.

"Your sister ran away from her marriage?"

"It's not considered a runaway marriage. They weren't officially engaged in the first place."

Zhong Chunshui ran away from home before Lei Sheng proposed the marriage. Since she was gone, the Zhong family naturally couldn't accept the Lei family's betrothal gifts. If the betrothal proposal hadn't been successful, there couldn't be an engagement. If there wasn't an engagement, how could she have run away from the marriage?
"What about your marriage?"

"If I can't afford the bride price, then forget it." Zhong Ziwang took a deep puff of the hot smoke. The pungent smoke passed through his throat and trachea to his lungs, and then was exhaled from his lungs through his nose. It severely irritated Zhong Ziwang and made him cough violently.

When people are unlucky, they can choke even when they smoke a cigarette.

Old Xie poured Zhong Ziwang a glass of water, then finished his cigarette. He slowly rolled up his trouser legs, revealing his red, swollen ankles, and said, "Ziwang, you're unlucky. You don't have a father to help you."

More than ten years ago, when Lao Xie went to work in the southwest, his ankle was crushed by a rock falling from the top of a tunnel and he almost had to have his leg amputated. He cried in front of the attending doctor, saying that he had two sons at home waiting for him to support them. The attending doctor was quite moved. Later, he joined forces with the hospital's expert team to use an expensive but advanced internal fixation steel nail from abroad, which saved his foot. However, Lao Xie has been disabled ever since.

Old Xie returned to Baile Village with the meager compensation. After recuperating for two years, he dragged his lame leg out to work again. With his excellent skills in using a pneumatic gun, he participated in various tunnel-digging projects. In a few years, he earned hundreds of thousands of yuan, which was enough to support his two sons' education and help them get married.

"My leg aches and aches every time the weather changes. Fortunately, I've already accomplished the important things. So, I'll just let it hurt. I'm not making a lot of money from it anyway."

The big things that Old Xie mentioned were building houses for his sons, helping them go to school, getting them married, and having children.

Don’t be fooled by Mr. Xie’s thin appearance. He has indeed made a lot of money in his life by relying on his physical strength and fulfilled his mission as a father.

When he got old, he worked as a security guard at the village primary school. He was more hardworking than anyone else. Every day, he dragged his lame leg to clean the entire campus. He was afraid that the school would dismiss him because of his age.

He works as a security guard at the school, where he eats and lives right there, and doesn't have to pay for utilities. It's much better than living in a nursing home. While the elderly in the village committee's nursing homes don't have to pay, they don't earn a salary. As a security guard, he earns a steady income of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan a month, which helps support his two sons.

Zhong Ziwang looked at Old Xie's ankle, feeling a mixture of emotions. If only his father were still alive, he would have been like Old Xie, trying every possible way to provide for his sons. Unfortunately, his father died of illness early, leaving the family in debt. His mother, a widow, raised three children, moved from the mountains to the village, and built a small Western-style house on Chang'an Avenue. It was already very difficult.

He couldn't blame his parents, he could only blame his own bad luck. He was a young man, but he couldn't make as much money as Old Xie, a cripple.

He should be considered the most diligent young man in the village. He was not afraid of hard work and gave every penny he earned to his mother. He helped build a house for his family, supported his two younger siblings' education, and treated his mother's illness. However, when it was his turn to get married, he could not afford the bride price because his family was still in debt.

If he works harder, pays off his debts and saves enough money for the bride price, it will take at least three to five years, and Yingying's belly can't wait.

Zhong Ziwang said goodbye to Lao Xie, left school, and rode his electric scooter instead of going home. Instead, he called Yingying and asked her to go to the Filial Piety Culture Park to talk.

When Zhong Ziwang planned to see Lin Yingying, he proposed to break up. He couldn't let Yingying suffer with him, but Yingying couldn't come out. He had heard Lin Dangdang scolding Yingying on the phone and not allowing her to date him.

After hanging up the phone, Zhong Ziwang sat in Filial Piety Culture Park and smoked another cigarette. Old Xie had just given him half a pack of his own. Old Xie said that Zhong Ziwang would often come to the guardhouse to chat with him, and he was closer to him than his two sons. His two sons each had their own families and rarely saw him, only briefly when he delivered his salary to their homes every month. But his grandchildren didn't feel close to him, and they disliked his cigarette smell and wouldn't even hold him.

Zhong Ziwang took a few puffs of his cigarette, watching the spark of the cigarette butt flicker in the night, and somehow he started crying. When his father died that year, he didn't cry so sadly in front of the coffin.

After being scolded by Lin Dangdang, Lin Yingying ran out of the house crying.

Lin Dangdang stood at the door and cursed at her from behind: "One day you will die in the eyebrows of the She people!"

In the past, eastern Fujian was mountainous and barren, with little flat land, mostly small terraced fields hanging on the walls. The She people, in particular, had always lived in the mountains. Although it was a mountain, there were no trees. Whether it was a thousand meters or a few dozen meters above sea level, it was all bare, interlaced like dog teeth. It was so poor that even birds could not live there. The places where they lived were named "坵": Eyebrow坵, Douli坵, and Toad Jumping Over Three坵.

People like Lin Dangdang looked down on the She people from the bottom of their hearts, especially since everyone in Baile Village had become wealthy while Zhong Ziwang's family was still in debt. Marrying his sister to Zhong Ziwang would really make him lose face in front of his relatives.

Unexpectedly, while Lin Dangdang was still cursing, a small car passed by his door and stopped. The passenger window rolled down, and a young man stuck his head out from the driver's seat and cursed Lin Dangdang, "You can't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth. Mr. Lin, what have we She people done to you? Did we give you shit so that you can't eat enough?"

Hearing that it was thunder, Lin Dangdang immediately put on a smile.

Lei Sheng is also a She ethnic minority, but unlike Zhong Ziwang, Lei Sheng is a rich man. His parents are rich. Lei Sheng used his parents' money to build a family farm, where he raises bees, grows edible roses, and also runs a tea garden, homestays, and sightseeing tourism. He makes quite a lot of money.

"Mr. Lei, it's just a misunderstanding. The She people are kind. They are young talents like Mr. Lei. They are the pride of our Baile Village. Mr. Lei, would you like to come down and have a cup of tea at my house? Mr. Lei, I'll bring a group of friends from the city to visit your base someday. We'll buy flower cakes and honey. Please give us a discount..."

Lei Sheng was too lazy to look at Lin Dangdang's face anymore. He rolled up the car window and drove away.

Zhong Chunshui ran away from home. His marriage was ruined and he was very upset.

Chunshui, you silly girl, where have you been? Do you hate me that much?

Lei Sheng really wanted to cry. If Chunshui could return safely, he would rather not get married. He just wanted Chunshui to be well. No matter how bad the people in Baile Village were, they were just hardworking little bees, but in the outside world, they were all big hornets.

Lin Yingying ran to the Zhong family in one breath, but Zhong Ziwang was not there.

Zhong Ziqi came to open the door for her and saw the tear marks on her face. Zhong Ziqi, who was a man with a bad temper, felt soft at this moment and was indescribably sad.

"Sister-in-law, you must wait for my brother. Don't abort the child. I will definitely find a way to raise enough money for the betrothal gift for you."

With Zhong Ziqi's assurance, Lin Yingying's heart was finally comforted. She nodded to Zhong Ziqi with tears in her eyes and said, "Ziqi, tell your brother that if all else fails, I'll just steal the household registration booklet and get the marriage certificate with him. Now that the matter is settled, what can my brother and my parents do to me? They've already killed my two children. Do they really want to kill me too?"

Lin Yingying became increasingly agitated as she spoke, sobbing heavily. "If only household registration books weren't required for marriage certificates, then it would be useless for them to hide them. When will the country introduce a policy to abolish this damn rule?"

Zhong Ziqi had no choice but to comfort Lin Yingying: "Yes, it will happen, maybe soon."

After seeing Lin Yingying off, Zhong Ziqi ran out.

"Are you going to look for Zi Wang? Why isn't he home so late? He hasn't even had dinner yet and he didn't answer the phone." Huifang muttered worriedly.

"I'll go and get him back." Zhong Ziqi replied to her.

Zhong Ziqi did not go to find Zhong Ziwang, but went to the new district to find Wang Zian.

It was already nightfall. Since no one lived in the new district, the whole street was pitch black. Only a street lamp hung under the corridor of a villa at the innermost part of the street.

The street lights swayed in the night wind, emitting a snow-white light, making the new district look even more terrifying and eerie.

The further Zhong Ziqi walked in, the more nervous he felt, and the hairs on his arms stood up. Finally, he could not bear it anymore, so he took out his cell phone and called Wang Zian, asking him to pick him up.

When Wang Zian walked out of the villa, Zhong Ziqi also walked to the door.

"Wang Boya, you must have done this on purpose? You knew I was scared, but you took so long to open the door."

"You're a grown man, not a little girl." Wang Zian said, turning around and entering the villa.

Zhong Ziqi also hurriedly followed him in and said, "This new district is so far away. We've all lived well on Chang'an Avenue for 20 or 30 years. Now we're being asked to move here, and we're being asked to pay the price difference. Anyone who moves is a fool."

As Zhong Ziqi spoke, he looked around the villa. The decoration was indeed incomparable to the one on Chang'an Street. It could be called a "luxury house".

"You, the prince of Baile Village, really know how to enjoy life, living in such a nice house..."

"You can move here if you want. Every villa in the new district has the same interior decoration. My home will be the same as yours when you move in."

Zhong Ziqi curled his lips and said, "I would like to move, but how can my family afford the difference?"

"There are always more solutions than problems. As long as your family is willing to move, we can work together to find a solution."

Wang Zian sat down beside the coffee table and made tea for Zhong Ziqi.

Zhong Ziqi sat on the sofa nearby and stared at Wang Zian for a while. Wang Zian focused on making tea, his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, without any distractions. He was like a Bodhisattva with wonderful words.

Zhong Ziqi leaned forward and said with an apologetic smile, "Wang Boya, I know you have many ideas. Your Wang family has a wide network of connections. Please help our Zhong family find a solution. If we can't come up with the betrothal gift, my brother won't be able to marry Lin Yingying."

Wang Zian poured Zhong Ziqi a cup of tea, quietly placed it on the coffee table in front of him, and said, "Do you want me to help you borrow money?"

"That's not what I meant," Zhong Ziqi scratched his head and chuckled, "I'm here to ask for your help in finding me a husband."

"You?" Wang Zian had just taken a sip of tea and now it all came out.

(End of this chapter)