Courtyard House: A Prosperous and Joyful Life

Chapter 33 There's nothing to be afraid of.

In the shopping mall, Huaihua spotted a Phoenix bicycle and bought it for 180 yuan plus a bicycle voucher. After buying the bicycle, Huaihua touched its shiny frame, feeling incredibly excited, and rode it quickly back to the courtyard house.

In the courtyard, when the neighbors saw that Huaihua had bought a new car, they all gathered around and praised it.

"Phoenix bicycles, what great bikes!"

"Not bad, not bad, Huaihua has good taste."

"This bike is great; if you ride it carefully, it can last for twenty years!"

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect Huaihua to actually get bicycle tickets, that's amazing."

"Yes, bicycle tickets are still very hard to get these days."

As Huaihua listened, she secretly thanked Brother Jun. Without Brother Jun, she wouldn't have had the money to buy a bicycle, nor would she have been able to get a bicycle ticket.

Huaihua pushed her bicycle home. Jia Zhangshi glanced at it and immediately scolded, "You little brat, what are you doing buying a bicycle! You have some money, and you just squander it everywhere. You're such a money-loser! You might as well give me your money to keep safe."

At this moment, Huaihua was in a good mood and completely ignored Jia Zhangshi. Anyway, she had been scolded by Jia Zhangshi countless times since she was a child, and she no longer cared.

Huaihua parked her bicycle outside, then took a cloth and wiped the dust off it. That's how people who have just bought a new bicycle are; they'll wipe off even the smallest speck of dust. But after a few years, even if the bicycle is covered in dust, they're too lazy to bother with it.

When Banggeng came home from get off work, he saw Huaihua wiping a bicycle and said disdainfully, "What's so special about wiping a mere bicycle? You've never seen anything like it."

Huaihua wasn't intimidated at all and said, "I bought this bike myself, so of course I'll take good care of it. You can't even afford a bicycle, yet you have the nerve to criticize me."

Hearing this, Bang Geng's face darkened instantly. He'd spent all his wages at work and didn't even have enough money to buy a bicycle. Later, Qin Huairu gave him the money, and he was finally able to buy one. Honestly, after working for so long, not being able to afford a bicycle was indeed embarrassing, though none of his neighbors in the courtyard knew. Now, that brat Huaihua had actually brought it up, making him even more humiliated.

At this moment, Huaihua remembered something else and said, "Brother, the family gave you some money to open a restaurant. When exactly can this restaurant open?"

Mentioning this, Banggeng's face lit up with a smile, and he said smugly, "Don't worry about that! Anyway, I'm going to be rich soon, and then you'll be envious, hahaha."

Bang Geng recently met a very important person. This person was extraordinary; he could get his hands on imported color TVs from customs. These days, imported color TVs were incredibly valuable. Even if you had TV tickets, you couldn't buy them; you could only get them at the Friendship Department Store using foreign exchange certificates. In short, whoever had an imported color TV could easily make money.

Therefore, Bang Geng decisively decided to cooperate with this important figure to sell imported color TVs and make a fortune.

"Wang Jun, you started out assembling radios. I, on the other hand, started by dealing in imported color TVs. I'm several levels above you from the start. Just wait until I'm rich, then let's see how arrogant you can be!"

Banggeng secretly planned to make a fortune and then flaunt it to Wang Jun with bundles of cash. Thinking this, Banggeng chuckled loudly, a laugh so loud that even Huaihua couldn't stand it.

Huaihua said skeptically, "You'd better use the money your family and Uncle Yi gave you to run the restaurant properly. Don't squander it, or you'll regret it."

Banggeng couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Go away, you little brat, what right do you have to lecture me! Get out of here!"

Huaihua sensed something was off about the stalk, but she didn't say much. She planned to talk to Wang Jun about it sometime.

……

The cannery finally completed its recruitment after two hours!

This time, a total of 260 people were recruited, including 150 male workers, 110 female workers, four security guards, four financial staff, and several people in charge of logistics.

All the male workers recruited this time were retired soldiers, each one strong and capable, clearly skilled workers. Because there were so many retired soldiers, the entire cannery resembled half a military camp; thieves probably wouldn't dare approach.

With recruitment complete, the next step is to familiarize ourselves with the equipment. This canning production line is very advanced, capable of producing 10,000 tons of canned goods a year. Proficiency in all operations is required to operate it successfully.

Lü Guangrong wasn't familiar with canning equipment, and neither was Wang Jun. However, there are many canneries in China, and these canneries have many experienced workers. Lü Guangrong spent some money to hire a few experienced workers to train everyone and familiarize them with the equipment.

Under the guidance of several experienced workers, the entire cannery quickly became busy and began to try production.

The cannery currently only produces one product: canned soybeans in tomato sauce. There's no other way; it's the dead of winter, and they can't find any raw materials. The eggplants are shipped from the south, and the transportation costs are a huge expense, making Wang Jun even consider growing his own eggplants. The other canned product is canned tomatoes, but with the winter weather, they can't find any ingredients either, so they have to leave it for now.

Wang Jun looked around and remembered something: he had caught four Changjiang 750 motorcycles while fishing, which he could give to the factory.

Thinking of this, Wang Jun said to Lü Guangrong, "Director Lü, I still have four Changjiang 750 trucks. Find four people to drive these four trucks back later. Two for each factory."

Upon hearing this, Lü Guangrong was immediately delighted and said, "Great, that's wonderful! Our factory has so much to do, and we often need to go out. With these four Changjiang 750 trucks, it will be much more convenient for us to go out on business."

When Wang Jun returned to the courtyard, Huaihua ran over and said mysteriously that Banggeng was making a fortune with a powerful figure. From what she heard him talking to himself, it seemed like he was dealing in imported color TVs, but she didn't know if it was reliable.

Wang Jun laughed as soon as he heard this; it was obvious he'd run into a scammer. Bang Geng had probably gotten some money and was showing it off, which attracted the attention of the scammers. Judging by the current situation, it wouldn't be long before Bang Geng's money was completely swindled away.

However, Wang Jun didn't say anything more. His relationship with Bang Geng was already bad, and it was impossible to expect him to remind Bang Geng.

Wang Jun took a shower, watched TV for a while, and then prepared to go to bed. He had been going to the factory every day for the past few days and was exhausted, so he planned to take a good rest for a couple of days.

Lying in bed, Wang Jun suddenly remembered the book he was writing, "How to Assemble a Radio." He'd been working on it for so long, and was only halfway done. He decided to use the next couple of days to finish it and then take it to a publisher to see if it could be published.

……

Early the next morning, Yan Bugui and his third aunt pushed their old-fashioned tricycle out the door.

On the tricycle was a large basket full of sunflower seeds, weighing over a hundred pounds. They had roasted them last night according to Wang Jun's recipe. And let me tell you, the sunflower seeds roasted according to the recipe really tasted good; even Yan Bugui himself ate quite a few.

The three women pushing the cart behind asked, "Old man, how much of this hundred pounds of sunflower seeds do you think we can sell today?"

Although the three aunties already knew that many people liked sunflower seeds, they were still unsure at this point.

Yan Bugui was a little nervous at this point, as selling melon seeds was a business he had never tried before. However, since the seeds were already roasted, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and keep going.

Yan Bugui hesitated before saying, "Should we sell half of these melon seeds today?"

The two pushed their tricycle to the entrance of Tongluo Lane, found a spot, parked it, and that was it—business was on. In the 1980s, most street vendors operated this way: a tricycle parked on the street, and business could begin.

Just as Yan Bugui finished arranging the items, a young man came over with his girlfriend. The young man tasted one, his eyes immediately lighting up. He said, "Hey, these sunflower seeds taste pretty good! Better than anything I've ever had before. Boss, I'll take a dollar's worth."

The three women immediately cheered and quickly picked up a bamboo tube to scoop out sunflower seeds. Nowadays, when people sell sunflower seeds, they all use a bamboo tube to scoop them out. Each tube of sunflower seeds costs one cent, so one dollar would be exactly ten tubes.

Next, several more young people came over. After trying the melon seeds, they all bought some. Business never stopped, and Yan Bugui was making so much money that his hands were sore from collecting it, his mouth was practically splitting open with a grin.

The two were busy until noon, and when they looked into the big basket, they were surprised to find that all 100 jin (50 kg) of sunflower seeds had been sold out, not a single one was left.

The three women looked on in surprise and said, "Old man, you know, these sunflower seeds are selling so well! We've sold a hundred pounds in just one morning!"

Yan Bugui said regretfully, "We didn't sell enough. We sold 100 jin in just one morning. If we calculate it that way, we could sell at least 200 to 300 jin a day."

At this moment, Yan Bugui was overjoyed. Selling melon seeds seemed to be a viable business; if it were scaled up, it could be even more profitable than selling antennas.

Yan Bugui immediately said, "Go and bring back 250 catties of melon seeds. We'll roast them tonight. I'll go to the pigeon market to buy some things."

The three women asked, "What are you buying?"

Yan Bugui said with a smile, "Buy two fish and give them to Wang Jun! We should know how to be grateful. Wang Jun has shown us a way out, so we have to repay him."

During this period, Yan Bugui made a lot of money and became more generous. The first thing he thought of after making this money was to give something to Wang Jun.

……

On the other side, Xu Damao and the young widow He Xiaoyun were also selling melon seeds, and business was booming; they were almost sold out.

After Xu Damao's affair was discovered, Qin Jingru extorted 3,500 yuan from him. The two are now preparing for divorce, and Xu Damao doesn't even want to go back to the courtyard house.

The losses were too severe, so Xu Damao thought of starting a business selling roasted melon seeds to earn back the money.

In the courtyard, if you were to ask who admired Wang Jun the most, Xu Damao would probably be number one. Xu Damao knew that Wang Jun was very capable, so he trusted him completely. When Wang Jun said that selling melon seeds could make money, he believed it immediately and took action.

This time, he and He Xiaoyun roasted over 200 jin (approximately 100 kg) of sunflower seeds. Unexpectedly, business was exceptionally good; they sold out almost entirely in less than a morning.

The young widow beamed with joy and said, "Da Mao, the melon seeds are all sold out. I never expected this business to be so booming, with so many people coming to buy them."

At this moment, the young widow was in a very good mood, laughing non-stop. No matter the era, a widow's life is always very difficult; she is helpless and alone, and even her own family looks down on her. Unfortunately, she had no job and could only stay at home day after day, earning money by sewing clothes for others. This life was anything but secure; she felt completely insecure.

Now that I have this business, I have an income. With an income, I feel more secure, and I smile more often.

Xu Damao chuckled and said smugly, "This little business was guided by an expert. He even gave me a recipe for roasting melon seeds, it would be strange if business wasn't good. Alright, you go first, and buy three hundred catties of melon seeds to roast while you're at it. I'll buy something to thank him."

As it turned out, Wang Jun was indeed insightful and capable. Therefore, Xu Damao decided that he must stick close to Wang Jun from now on and learn from him as much as possible.

"You can only make money by following Wang Jun. That kid Bang Geng actually went against Wang Jun; he's going to be in trouble sooner or later. If I get the chance, I might as well teach that kid a lesson and get revenge for Wang Jun," Xu Damao thought to himself.

in the afternoon,

Wang Jun was eating his meal.

then,

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong,

They came to the door.

Yan Bugui brought over a fish, weighing three or four jin. Liu Haizhong brought over a pile of dried shiitake mushrooms and wood ear fungus, which looked to weigh two or three jin.

Xu Damao also came.

They brought over a piece of lamb chop.

It weighs about four or five pounds.

It's perfect for grilling.

Since it had been delivered, Wang Jun accepted it.

these people,

He gained his own benefit.

Knowing how to be grateful

Although the things delivered weren't valuable.

But it's also a token of my appreciation.

after,

We could look after them.

After packing his things, Wang Jun continued writing his book, "How to Assemble a Radio." He had already written more than half of it and estimated that he could finish it in another day.

but,

Can it be published?

Wang Jun had no idea.

……

Intermediate Court

Everyone has come home from get off work.

Qin Jingru and Qin Huairu,

They sat together and chatted.

Qin Jingru and Qin Huairu have been friends since childhood and have a good relationship. They talk to each other about everything and then work together to find a solution.

at this time,

The two were talking,

It's about Qin Jingru's divorce.

Qin Huairu said, "Are you really going to get a divorce? Let me tell you, after a divorce, you'll have to rely on yourself for everything, and life will be very difficult."

After Jia Xudong died,

Qin Huairu supports a large family.

Various difficulties

If she weren't somewhat cunning,

And with the help of Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai,

It had long been unable to sustain itself.

Therefore,

She had known all along.

It is very difficult for a woman to rely on herself.

I reminded my cousin.

but,

Qin Jingru wasn't afraid, saying, "I'm on my own, and I have a job. Even if we get divorced, I'm not afraid. I've had enough of this kind of life."