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

Wang Xingguo explained with a smile, "I'm just eager to see you, I haven't even met my eldest brother yet. But my third sister told me that the girl she's meeting is named Shen Qingqing. She's a sister and brother, her father is a carpenter, and she and my eldest brother seem to hit it off. It should turn out well."

Upon hearing this, everyone smiled. After all, unless absolutely necessary, they did not want Wang Xingguo to get married before his older brother, as this would go against traditional values.

These days, people still hold onto traditional values. Let alone whether it's old or outdated, people have all lived this way, how could it change overnight?

Wang Xingguo also reported on the matter of recognizing his ancestors, which made Li Laishun quite happy.

The Li family moved from Tianjin, so they didn't have any relatives in Beijing. Tianjin is a place that places great importance on clan concepts, so Li Laishun thought it was a good thing that Wang Xingguo was now recognized as a member of the clan and had relatives behind him.

Li Wenbin asked, "Xingguo, the price of eels has gone up now. The factory is offering 60 cents a pound to buy them. Do you want to sell some to the factory?"

Wang Xingguo said with a grin, "No, the price on the black market has already risen to one yuan per kilogram. But we need to be careful, everything is going up in price now, and it will probably rise even more in two months after winter has fully arrived."

Li Wenbin said with some surprise, "Wow, it's risen so much!"

Li Laishun lowered his voice and said, "I was chatting with the workshop director. His hometown is in Shandong. I heard that the village wrote to him asking for help because the food shortage is very serious. I heard that the price of flour on the black market in Shandong has risen to 2.5 yuan per kilogram."

Wang Xingguo nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, I've heard about it too. A lot of our goods are transported from Shandong, so they'll probably be affected as well. So the days ahead are probably going to be tough."

Li Wenlong said with a grin, "Don't worry, we have you at home, brother-in-law. You're so capable, what do we have to worry about?"

Upon hearing the word "brother-in-law" again, Wang Xingguo burst into laughter. However, seeing Li Laishun glare at Li Wenlong, he quickly stopped laughing and composed himself.

It's really a bit inappropriate. They're not even married yet, and it's already quite rude for the future brother-in-law to call himself his brother-in-law.

However, while his father-in-law might be unhappy, Wang Xingguo certainly wouldn't be; that "brother-in-law" sounded so good...

He didn't drink alcohol, ate a simple meal, chatted with her for a while afterward, and then left.

It was still ten minutes to eight o'clock when Wang Xingguo rushed to the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army to exchange fish. Speaking of which, he had stood up his appointment at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. After all, it was already past ten o'clock when he rode his bicycle back to the city, so he didn't go to sell fish.

The main reason is that fishing is like picking up money; the more you do it, the more addicted you get, and you never want to stop...

When Wang Xingguo parked his tricycle at the entrance of the General Hospital of Liberation, a group of people swarmed around him and began stuffing things into his hands.

The items were cleared out in no time. Wang Xingguo apologized to those who didn't get any fish and said he would come back at the same time tomorrow.

To his surprise, security guard Guo Mingzhong ran out and whispered to Wang Xingguo, "Dude, could you save us fourteen crucian carp tomorrow?"

Wang Xingguo hadn't expected that he also wanted fish. However, such security personnel could have easily caught him, but they didn't, and even made things convenient for him, so naturally he had to give them face.

He laughed and said, "Brother Guo, I'll come a little earlier tomorrow night, not too close to the gate. Please keep an eye out for me. You can come and get the fish first, and then I'll move closer to the gate. Otherwise, it might be difficult to save any fish for you."

Guo Mingzhong smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, then I'll leave it to you, sir."

"Hey, Brother Guo, you're too kind. It's settled then. I'll be going now."

Guo Mingzhong nodded and turned back to continue his post.

There are fourteen fish in total, enough for each person in a small team to have two.

However, Wang Xingguo didn't think much of it. Anyway, he wasn't short of fish, and fourteen crucian carp were no big deal.

He didn't want their things; giving them some fish was a favor, making it easier for him to continue his fish-trading business—that was better than anything else.

After riding their bikes home, Wang Xingbang helped push the tricycle into the yard. They had already eaten dinner, and now that the weather was getting cooler, his younger sister and brother had gone back to their rooms and were reading in bed.

I have to commend the eldest brother for this. He loves reading, so he encourages his three siblings to read more and often buys them useful books.

Unfortunately, the original owner of this body was a bit disappointing and didn't like studying, which is why she couldn't get into a vocational school.

Wang Xingguo parked his bicycle, pulled his older brother, who had just closed the courtyard gate, back to the living room of the main house, and asked with a smile, "Brother, I heard the blind date went quite smoothly?"

Wang Xingbang chuckled and nodded, saying, "It's alright. Shen Qingqing has a good personality, and her family is well-off, so she won't cause any trouble. Besides, she's a thrifty girl. To entertain them, we bought chicken, fish, and pork, and my third sister even fried some eggs. The food was so plentiful that although she was happy, she felt it was too wasteful. She said that it's just a casual meeting, not a banquet, so there's no need to be so extravagant."

Wang Xingguo said happily, "Hey, what a great temper! He's a straightforward person. You're quite honest yourself, so living with someone like him means you won't make any mistakes or go astray. I think he's quite suitable for you."

Wang Xingbang was no longer embarrassed and nodded with a smile, saying, "I also think it's pretty good. She's very satisfied with our house. She said she likes to grow some vegetables and such. The yard is so big, and she really likes the vegetable gardens that have been cleared out from those rooms. She also said she likes her younger sister and brother, praising them for being sensible and polite, and for being very straightforward girls."

Wang Xingguo slapped his thigh and said, "Since she's satisfied, that's good. From now on, go see her every day after get off work to chat and get to know her better. I'll get you some things tomorrow; bring her a fish tomorrow, a pound of eggs the day after, and a chicken the day after that. Just keep going to her house and express your feelings. After I finish this week's work, I'll ask Director Zhao, as an elder in our family, to propose marriage. What do you think of that?"

Wang Xingbang genuinely liked Shen Qingqing. Although he was a little embarrassed, he didn't refuse and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll go all out. It's not good to visit someone's home before we're engaged, but bringing some nutritional supplements each time is acceptable. I'll go all out..."

The city is really different from the countryside. There's no such thing as getting married right after a blind date, unless the family can't afford to raise their daughter and is in a hurry to marry her off.

Otherwise, if you're going to be in a relationship, you should spend some time together so that the two young people can get to know each other better.

It's not unheard of for couples to meet on the first day and then propose marriage the next day, but it's extremely rare.