Starting from 1950

"Wow! Su Yang, you're amazing!"

Wu Xinxue looked like she was about to pounce on Su Yang and hug him.

Su Yang's brow twitched, and he quickly changed the subject, "You have to go to work later, hurry up and eat."

He took out the two large, rough bowls he had bought yesterday, filled them with pork stew with vermicelli, and said to Wu Xinxue, "Aunt Ma brought us two bowls of rice the other day. Today I'm returning the favor to her. Let's make do with these lunchboxes for now."

After saying that, he picked up the bowl and left the house.

As he approached the door next door, just as he was about to knock, he heard Aunt Ma's scolding voice coming from inside: "...Look at Xiao Su, she made over ten thousand yuan this morning hunting rats. And you? What have you been hunting for all these years?"

Su Yang felt a little embarrassed, but since he was already there, he still gritted his teeth and knocked on the door.

"Xiaoman, go open the door!"

A moment later, the door opened, and there stood Ma Da Niang's son, Niu Xiaoman.

"What are you doing...?" Niu Xiaoman was about to speak when her gaze was drawn to the two bowls of rice in front of her.

His Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably a few times, and he called out to those behind him, "Father, Mother, Su Yang brought us food."

"What?"

Aunt Ma rushed over, and when she saw the two bowls of pork stew with vermicelli, her wrinkles deepened with a smile.

There are no secrets in the family compound.

Today, when Su Yang was exchanging rats for money, she didn't come back from grocery shopping and missed the excitement.

But when she returned, she heard what the other women had said.

This is also why Niu Yiqun was scolded by her.

"Oh my! So much meat? Xiao Su, you brought us so much, do you two have any more?" Aunt Ma rubbed her hands together and laughed.

"Yes, we still have half a pot left."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Aunt Ma wasn't one to be pretentious. Without much formality, she accepted the two bowls of rice, emptied them, and returned the empty bowls to Su Yang on the spot.

"Alright! Then I won't disturb your meal any longer, I'll head back now."

"Our family really benefited from Xiao Su's help today."

"Don't mention it!"

.......

Su Yang returned home with an empty bowl, while Wu Xinxue was happily eating her lunchbox.

"Su Yang, your cooking skills are getting better and better," Wu Xinxue exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up.

Su Yang chuckled and started eating, serving himself some rice.

It's not that he's a good cook, but rice dishes with meat are always delicious.

"Oh, right! Our section chief praised me today. I sang a song, and it completely stunned them!"

Wu Xinxue was eating half of her meal when she suddenly remembered what happened that morning and couldn't help but brag about it to Su Yang.

"Really? You're really amazing."

Su Yang complimented her as she wished, then suddenly had a thought.

He quickly asked, "What song are you singing?"

"The Song of the Four Seasons, what's wrong?" Wu Xinxue asked, puzzled, seeing his expression turn serious.

Su Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Song of the Four Seasons" was alright, but he knew that Wu Xinxue had learned a lot of decadent music in the Eight Great Hutongs.

"Don't sing casually in the future, especially the songs you learned at Zuiyuxuan, such as 'Rose, Rose, I Love You,' 'Night Shanghai,' and 'The Wandering Songstress'..." Su Yang said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xinxue rolled her eyes at him and said sweetly, "Don't worry, I'm not stupid. At worst... at worst I'll just sing at home."

"You're not allowed to sing at home either!" Su Yang glared and said.

"Okay, Butler Su!" She deliberately dragged out the sound, poked the slice of meat in the lunchbox with the tip of her chopsticks, and couldn't help but laugh. "Then I'll sing 'We Workers Have Strength' from now on, alright? The propaganda department even organized us to learn it this morning, it was so exciting!"

Su Yang then smiled and put a large piece of meat into her lunchbox: "That's more like it. Eat quickly, then rest for a while before going to work."

After the meal, Wu Xinxue rushed to wash the lunchbox and then tidied her hair in front of the blurry little round mirror on the table.

The mirror was a secondhand item that the saleswoman had casually pulled out from under the counter as a bonus when they bought pots and pans at the consumer store yesterday. The mirror was a bit dull, but Wu Xinxue still looked at herself carefully.

"I'm leaving now!" She took the book, walked to the door, then turned back, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Su Yang. "When I come back tonight, I'll tell you what the factory's broadcasting station is like!" Her tone was full of anticipation for her new job and a desire to share.

"Okay, I'll wait for you." Su Yang nodded with a smile, watching her disappear briskly into the stairwell.

Su Yang rested at home for a while, then stood up, stretched, and opened the door to go out.

The midday sun in winter brought a touch of warmth, and in the residential compound, groups of two or three women were still chatting and basking in the sun in the open space downstairs.

Their gazes would occasionally drift towards the direction of room 209 in building 3.

Su Yang knew that his "sharpshooter" act that morning had already made him somewhat famous in this small residential compound.

Fame often means attention, but it also means trouble.

I imagine many people smelled the aroma of his stewed meat around noon.

Fortunately, everyone living in this residential compound has someone in their family working at the flour mill. While everyone may envy each other, it doesn't lead to any unpleasant incidents like people coming to their door to freeload.

Having tasted initial success in the morning, Su Yang decided to continue his rat extermination mission.

However, using a bow and arrow is really inconvenient. Wooden arrows are all disposable, and when they are shot, they either get stained with rat blood or the arrowhead breaks off on the wall or the ground after passing through the rat.

Su Yang thought to himself, "I still need to make a proper slingshot."

After thinking for a while, he decided it would be better to ask someone, so he went downstairs and headed straight for the gatehouse of the family compound.

"Thank you, Uncle Xie," Su Yang greeted him by peeking inside.

Old Xie was roasting cornbread slices by the stove when he saw him coming again. His eyes lit up: "What? Kid, you want to go catch rats again? You've got some energy!"

"Well, I'm just killing time anyway." Su Yang smiled. He noticed that the old man's jar contained only bland water, so he casually took out two candies from his pocket and placed them on the table. "It's cold, have a sweet treat."

Old Xie squinted at the two sugar cubes, then looked at Su Yang's sincere smiling face, and nodded.

This kid may be young, but he's polite and knows how to handle things.

"Oh dear, this...this is so embarrassing." He said, but his hands honestly put the candy into his pocket. "Go on, go on, be careful, the snow is thick in the fields, don't twist your ankle."

"Oh dear! I have something to ask you, do you know where I can buy or repair a rickshaw?" Su Yang said.

"A rickshaw? Those things are rare. What? You want to buy a rickshaw?" Old Xie asked doubtfully.

"I can't afford a foreign car, I want to buy..."

Su Yang explained his plan to buy bicycle inner tubes or valve core rubber tubing to make a slingshot.

After listening, Old Man Xie was somewhat bewildered, as if he was trying to figure out what Su Yang was talking about.

A moment later, he suddenly slapped his thigh!

"Xiao Su, you've got it wrong. Who said you need all of these to make a slingshot?"

Now it was Su Yang's turn to be bewildered.

Old Xie smiled smugly at his expression.

"You young people are so ignorant! I'm not talking about some child's toy slingshot, but a real slingshot that can kill!"

After he finished speaking, he gestured again, "It's similar to the bow you had this morning."