Siheyuan: A master brewer starts with a jar of bone-strengthening wine!

wow——

The whole factory was in an uproar!

In the workshop, Jia Dongxu was stunned upon hearing this: "What? Only... only two sheets? Such a big factory, and only two sheets in total?"

"Are you stupid!" Liu Haizhong immediately retorted, "It's one for each! One for the workers, and one for the officials! Do you even know what a manager is?"

What is a manager?

"He's the boss!"

Jia Dongxu knew perfectly well that even if the votes were multiplied tenfold or twentyfold, he wouldn't get a chance.

He accepted his fate, but he refused to admit defeat.

We need to come up with another idea.

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, he would wait at the factory gate, specifically for Liu Dong.

Liu Dong had just come out, accompanied by He Yuzhu and Xu Damao.

"Hehehe..." Jia Dongxu grinned and leaned closer. "Liu Dong, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead and say it." Liu Dong stopped and adjusted his old bicycle.

Jia Dongxu rubbed his hands together: "I'm also thinking of getting a used one. Where did you buy your car? Is it reliable?"

Liu Dong smirked, his eyes crinkling with amusement: "Oh, Jia Dongxu, are you really planning to become a dog?"

"What do you mean!" Jia Dongxu's face immediately fell.

"You're being unreasonable, Liu Dong! If I ask you, just answer. If you don't want to, fine. Why are you swearing?"

He looked aggrieved.

Liu Dong shrugged: "I never said you were a dog. I didn't make that up."

Jia Dongxu's eyebrows shot up: "Who said that? I'll beat the bastard up!"

Liu Dong casually remarked, "Have you forgotten? Who said 'even a dog wouldn't buy a secondhand bicycle'?"

……

Jia Dongxu's face flushed red.

I remembered.

He Yuzhu once bought an old car, and he laughed at the owner, saying, "Even a dog wouldn't ride this piece of junk!"

Now, he's eagerly inquiring about secondhand goods.

Isn't this a slap in the face, and you still have to bend down to pick it up?

He roared, barely containing his anger, "Are you going to tell me or not?!"

He Yuzhu quickly smoothed things over, saying, "It's a car repair shop over at Qianmen. They're closed tomorrow, so we can go check it out."

Xu Damao chimed in from the side, "Dongxu, don't hold back when you see the boss, give that piece of junk seller a good beating!"

"snort!"

Jia Dongxu turned and left.

The remaining three stood there, laughing so hard they couldn't stand up straight.

The next morning, with the year-end approaching, the factory was closed for the holidays and no one was at work.

Jia Dongxu got up as soon as it was light and went straight to Uncle Liu Haizhong's house.

"Uncle Er, I've thought it through. I'm going to buy a used one. Do you think... it's shameful?"

Liu Haizhong pondered for a while, then slapped his thigh: "Buy it! What's there to be afraid of! Look, Liu Dong has one, He Yuzhu has one too, let's get one too, it won't be shabby!"

As soon as the two reached the front yard, Yan Bugui stopped them, saying, "Hey, where are you two going?"

Jia Dongxu spoke frankly: "Buying a used car...don't you think that's beneath you?"

"Bah! Enough nonsense!" Yan Bugui had been asking around for a car these past two days, but to no avail.

Now that he hears others are buying secondhand items, he's made up his mind.

What's so shameful about it? Everyone does it!

The three of them squeezed onto a bus and arrived at Qianmenlou. After asking around, they finally found a car repair shop.

"Boss! We'd like to buy a car, do you have any used ones?"

The shop owner, without even looking up, said, "Yes! There's only one left!"

……

The car was pushed out.

"How much?" Yan Bugui asked first.

"One hundred and twenty."

"What? A used car costs 120? A new one only costs 160! Let's negotiate, how about 100?"

As they were talking, Jia Dongxu suddenly shouted, "One hundred and twenty, I'll take it!"

Yan Bugui's face turned green with anger: "I'll add 130!"

Seeing the situation was turning against him, Liu Haizhong immediately raised the stakes: "One hundred and forty! Nobody can take it from me!"

Holy crap... Jia Dongxu and Yan Bugui were completely stunned.

Good heavens, this isn't a car repair shop, it's like a vegetable market where people are fighting over cabbage!

"Stop, stop, stop—" the shopkeeper raised his arm, "Don't just shout out the price! Take out your bicycle ticket first!"

click-

The boss simply spread his palms out, fingers pointing upwards.

Everyone was stunned, their faces frozen.

"We need a ticket again?" Yan Bugui's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "This isn't a new car; why would we need a ticket to buy an old one?"

"Cut!" The boss nodded decisively.

Jia Dongxu immediately exclaimed, "That's not right! Old Zhang from our institute just picked up a car from you a couple of days ago, and he didn't even pay a receipt!"

The boss didn't even blink: "That was a couple of days ago! The policy has changed—public-private partnership, starting last month. No tickets? Forget about it!"

"What?!" Jia Dongxu slapped his thigh. "If I had a ticket, would I be buying a used one from you? I would have gone to the department store and gotten a new one already! I'm not buying it anymore!"

The group of people turned and left with stiff faces.

Seriously... You need a ticket to buy a beat-up old bicycle?

Are you kidding me?

Siheyuan!

Early in the morning, just past eight o'clock, Chen Zhongze grabbed Lü Fang and the two of them rushed to Liu Dong's house.

"Hey—bro? What brings you to visit today?"

Chen Xueru raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, but in her heart she had already guessed most of it.

Chen's mother peeked out from the inner room, startled: "Hey? What brings you here?"

Chen Zhongze chuckled, "Well... you've been married for almost half a year now, and we haven't had a chance to come and visit!"

Lü Fang quickly nodded in agreement, her face beaming like a freshly steamed bun: "Yes, yes, look, look!"

Chen Xueru stepped aside and said, "What are you looking at? Come in and talk."

Without a word, Chen's mother grabbed Chen Zhongze's arm with astonishing strength: "Come with me!"

She dragged him straight to her room, and the door slammed shut.

"Mom... what's wrong?"

Chen Zhongze felt guilty and his throat tightened.

"You still know how to call me Mom?!" Chen's mother's temper flared, her voice rising eight octaves. "Every time Liu Dong goes to your house, he brings bags and bags of things—fruit candy, soap, matches, eggs, nothing missing! And you, you come empty-handed! Where's your face?!"

"How did our Chen family end up with such a 'vacuum person'? Empty inside and out!"

Chen Zhongze's face flushed red instantly: "Mom, it's not that I don't want to buy it... I know how to be polite!"

"But now, I can't buy anything without coupons! I can't even get soy sauce! Coupons, coupons, coupons! I'm being crushed into a pancake by them! I really don't have any coupons!"

Chen's mother took a deep breath and made her point clear: "I'm making this clear to you today—it's an old Beijing custom: a daughter can visit her parents' home, but she can't 'bring back' goods! Once you're inside this door today, no matter what Liu Dong gives you, you can't take even a single scallion out of the house!"

"I...I..." Chen Zhongze stammered, his face ashen as if it had been brushed with soot.

"What?" Chen's mother raised her eyebrows. "You came here just to 'borrow' this?"

"Mom!" Chen Zhongze exclaimed anxiously, "The New Year is almost here! Everyone needs to stock up on meat. Liu Dong's family definitely has some. I'll borrow a few pounds and pay them back after the New Year!"

"Borrow?" Chen's mother sneered. "I've given you all your food and meat coupons! Tell me, is four ounces of meat a month for three people enough to even fill a tooth gap?"