In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

Grandma Sun paused for a moment, then burst into a shrill laugh: "Hahaha, so you got reported, no wonder you're so angry... Xingguo, you're hilarious, you actually got reported... Hahaha..."

Wang Xingguo's face darkened further, but he knew why Granny Sun was laughing. Speculation wasn't a serious problem yet; Granny Sun was only laughing because of her own bad luck. Just like Liu Chang'an couldn't hold back his laughter either, after all, he'd been evaded by the patrol team and reported…

The front yard was inhabited by four families: Sun, Li, Zhang, and Yang. Among them, the Sun family was the home of Granny Sun.

In the capital, women are addressed by their husbands' surnames, so Wang Xingguo really didn't know what Aunt Sun's surname or given name was.

However, despite her laughter, when Wang Xingguo was about to leave, Aunt Sun quickly pulled him aside and comforted him, though she couldn't quite stop smiling...

Grandma Sun just had a grandson last month, so she often asks Wang Xingguo to help her get nutritional supplements. She's not a troublesome person.

Wang Xingguo's wariness of her today is simply a case of being bitten by a snake once and being afraid of a rope for ten years.

Grandma Sun gave Wang Xingguo five yuan and asked him to help her buy two fat crucian carp and some eggs the next day.

After taking the money, Wang Xingguo nodded and said, "Aunt Sun, I can help with this, but you need to understand one thing: you can buy crucian carp for 42 cents a pound at the seafood market now, but it will cost you at least 1.3 yuan a pound if I buy it for you. Eggs have also gone up in price now, and you probably won't be able to buy them for less than 2 yuan a pound."

Grandma Sun glared at her and said, "If I had fish coupons and egg coupons, would you need to tell me? Do you think I don't know what kind of person Xingguo is? Go ahead and buy them with confidence, pay whatever the price is, I trust you."

It has to be the neighbor! That old lady with bound feet in Nanluoguxiang is such a disrespectful old woman! I've been so selfless in serving them, personally delivering duck eggs to the alley to make it easier for them to buy, and she still reports me...

"Alright, you wait here. I'll run all over the capital tomorrow to buy it for you."

"Okay, thank you so much, Auntie. Come over to my house sometime and have a drink with your brother Jiankang. I still have some peanuts to go with your drinks."

Wang Xingguo waved his hand, exchanged a few polite words, and then walked towards the Intermediate Court.

His family lived in the west wing of the central courtyard. Because his family was large, when his father was assigned housing at the factory, they were given two rooms in the west wing.

It's actually the main room in the west wing plus the right side room; the left side room is where the neighbor lives.

A room was partitioned off at the back of the main house, and the living room was in front. The side room was partitioned off into two rooms. Now, the eldest brother and the fourth brother live in the main house, while he and his third sister live in the small room in the side room.

In the past, in wealthy families, one side room was usually a study and the other was where the maids lived, so the side rooms were much smaller than the side rooms.

The main house is over thirty square meters, and the partitioned rooms are about seventeen or eighteen square meters each. The side house is only over twenty square meters, and the two partitioned rooms are each only about twelve square meters.

It's summer vacation now, and the third sister is at home with the fourth brother, pasting matchboxes. This stuff doesn't really make any money, and you have to make the paste yourself.

The outer and inner paper boxes of the matchboxes, as well as the label paper, were all obtained from the match factory by the street sewing group or the handicraft sideline group, so they didn't have to buy the paper themselves.

In fact, as long as you apply to do this job, the neighborhood office will basically approve it. After all, the biggest benefit of these manual jobs is to provide unemployed people with a source of income to make a living.

However, this job is also troublesome because it requires making paste with flour, so it can't be said that there is no cost, but the cost is not too high.

This work is paid by the piece, one thousand pieces per box. A complete set can earn more than two cents. A quick and skillful woman can make three or four thousand pieces a day, earning a dollar or two to supplement her family's income.

If Wang Xingguo were to do the pasting, he couldn't make two thousand a day because he has a restless personality and really can't do this kind of meticulous work that requires patience.

But the younger sister and brother have this patience. It is said that poor children learn to be independent early, and this is absolutely true.

The two of them worked from dawn till dusk, conscientiously every day, and even refused to go out with their classmates, all in order to earn tuition fees and supplement their family income.

"Third sister, look what your second brother brought back!"

Before Wang Xingguo even entered the door, his voice arrived first. Wang Xingning, who was covered in matchboxes, looked up at the doorway and his eyes lit up when he saw the carp in Wang Xingguo's hand: "Wow~ Second Brother, where did you get this big carp?"

Wang Xingmin ran over and took the carp, his face beaming with joy, and asked, "Second Brother, did you catch this?"

Wang Xingguo waved his hand and said, "How could that be? Your second brother knows nothing about fishing. This fish is a fish I bought from duck eggs from an old man in the countryside. I resold it at a higher price. We'll have a special meal tonight. Third sister, you braise this carp and we'll have a good meal to nourish ourselves."

Wang Xingning nodded and said, "Okay, the weather is so hot. I don't know how long this fish has been dead. We need to kill it, marinate it, and put it on top of the water basin, otherwise it will probably rot by tonight."

When it came to cleaning the fish, Wang Xingguo didn't let his sister do it. He took a kitchen knife and a cutting board and went to the tap to process the fish himself.

He's not very good at cooking, mainly because all he knows is to use lots of oil and seasonings!

But now each person only has three ounces of oil per month, so we really don't dare to use too much. Every time Wang Xingguo cooks a dish, his sister feels the pinch for half a day...

He can throw away anything except the fish's gallbladder and gills, and his sister will get angry with him if he does!

So Wang Xingguo obediently began to clean the fish's internal organs. If it weren't for his advice that the black membrane would make the fish fishy, ​​back when the family bought fish, this girl wouldn't even bother to remove the black membrane.

It was already past 3 p.m., not a good time to go out, so Wang Xingguo joined in pasting matchboxes.

Wang Xingning whispered, "Second brother, if you go to the backyard to use the toilet today, remember not to talk to Zhang's second sister-in-law. Zhang's second brother got into a fight with her at noon today, saying she was having an affair."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xingguo exclaimed in surprise, "No way, has Zhang Lao Er lost his mind? Zhang Er's wife would do something like having an affair? That's utter nonsense!"

Wang Xingning shook his head: "Who knows what happened? Just be careful, so that Brother Zhang doesn't make wild guesses. If he insists that you seduced his wife, you won't be able to explain yourself."

Wang Xingguo curled his lip and said disdainfully, "He wouldn't dare! I'll beat him to death. Who does Zhang Lao Er think he is, daring to spout nonsense and slander me? Let's see how I deal with him."

Wang Xingguo was no pushover. He was neither good at literature nor martial arts, but he had a personal space where he could grow crops, vegetables, poultry, and fish. So, relying on this cheat code, he became very familiar with the black market dealers and thugs in the area.

If Zhang Lao Er really dared to provoke him, he wouldn't even need to put himself in a sack; just giving a few fish to the local thugs in the alley would be enough to give Zhang Lao Er a hard time.