Siheyuan: I am the seventh uncle of Banggen

"You dare to dream of an eighth-level worker? It would be good enough if he could reach the third level," Jia Buxu said what was in his heart.

"Level three, I asked you to reach level three, did you really force yourself to reach level three? You said your father can't do it, but you can do it too. I think you can't compare to being blessed." Zhang Cuihua was really angry. She stuffed Xiaodang into Zhang Dabao's arms and attacked Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu didn't react immediately and was slapped twice, then ran eight meters away. "Mom, I was just talking casually, why are you angry? You are so angry and have a bad temper. This is not good," said Jia Dongxu.

"Dongxu, it's menopause," Zhang Dabao reminded.

"Yes, Mom, you have reached menopause. You need to change your temper. It's not good for your health," Jia Dongxu said to his mother after getting the hint from his seventh uncle.

"I want to change? I tell you, Jia Dongxu, I can't change it." Zhang Cuihua chased after him again.

Seeing that things were not going well, Jia Dongxu ran out of the yard.

At this time, the large group of people who were off work came back. The first to come was Yi Zhonghai. Jia Dongxu entered the yard with him and said, "Master, my father worked with you at that time. How was his skill?"

"Brother Youfu's skills were pretty good, almost the same as mine at that time. If he could live until now, he would be at least level six," Yi Zhonghai said affirmatively.

"No, didn't my father help you?" Jia Dongxu's worldview collapsed. The secret he had hidden for so many years turned out to be wrong?

"When I was making very precise workpieces, he helped me. This is not something that anyone can do; the use of tools and the grasp of dimensions require very high standards. Brother Youfu is also a very good craftsman. Gongxu, don't be discouraged. Now you start to use your brain. If you study hard for a decade or so, you can almost reach the level your father was at." Yi Zhonghai's words directly made Jia Dongxu collapse. It turned out that his father was a master.

Yi Zhonghai went home. Jia Dongxu stood at the door for a long time until Liu Haizhong came in again. Jia Dongxu stopped him again and said, "Second uncle, can I ask you something?"

"What's the matter?" Liu Haizhong puffed out his belly and put his hands behind his back. From outsiders' perspective, he was at least a village-level cadre.

"Wasn't my father a workmate of yours? How good are his skills?" Jia Dongxu took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it for Liu Haizhong.

Liu Haizhong took a deep puff of his cigarette and said, "Youfu is a petty person who is slow to get things done and doesn't respect his superiors very much. But his skills are okay, slightly worse than mine, around level six. Dongxu, you are much worse than Youfu. I'm not saying this to you, but you have to work hard. You said you've been a level one worker for almost seven years, which is not only embarrassing for Youfu, but also for our No. 95 Yard. The exam is coming soon, you'd better study hard, and if you can't do it, you can work overtime. You are always the first one to leave the factory after get off work, and you don't have any sense of contribution..." Liu Haizhong taught Jia Dongxu a lesson, finished his cigarette, and then walked back to the backyard in a square step.

"Damn it, he eats delicious food and drinks spicy drinks every day, and he doesn't even invite the second uncle in the backyard. He has no respect for the leader at all." Liu Hai looked at Zhang Dabao, He Yuzhu and others angrily, and returned to his room.

Jia Dongxu is now feeling drowsy. It is now confirmed that his father is really a senior worker, because Liu Haizhong can't lie. He has no brains, is not good at lying, and there is no need to lie to him.

"Dongxu, don't waste time. Go and see if your wife is back. Let her come over directly. Call He Yushui as well. Let's all drink the first bowl of mutton soup in 1960 together." Zhang Dabao saw that Jia Dongxu was looking down and listless, so he arranged something for him.

Jia Dongxu turned around and went back to the central courtyard. Zhang Lianhua came back with the sticky Jia Jingshu.

"Dad, has my seventh uncle made delicious food again?" Banggeng asked happily when he saw Jia Dongxu.

"Do you still need to ask? Go now," Jia Dongxu replied to his son unhappily.

"Dongxu, what are you doing here?" Zhang Lianhua asked her nephew.

"When Yushui and Banggeng's mother come back, Uncle Qi will let us go to the backyard to drink mutton soup together," said Jia Dongxu.

Xu Damao was also at home today. Zhang Dabao called Xu Damao over again and asked Jia Dongxu to send a large bowl to the Yan family, a large bowl to the Liu Guangtian brothers, and a bowl to the Guo Kang family who lived in the backyard. As for Liu Haizhong, he was told to get out of here as far away as possible.

"Dongxu delivers food everywhere, but he doesn't even mention giving a bowl to his master." An old lady got a little angry when she saw Jia Dongxu carrying a bowl of food everywhere.

"Is this his thing? Does he have the final say? It's good enough that he can make a living with his family. Can he take us with him?" Yi Zhonghai said to his wife.

Yi Zhonghai's answer was a long sigh.

Chapter 81: Digging Wild Vegetables

After stewing the mutton soup for a while, He Yuzhu added wolfberry, red dates, yam, and Zhang Dabiao also cut two Polygonum multiflorum into it, and a pot of tonic soup was ready. Children eat meat, and adults like to drink soup. After drinking the mutton soup and strong liquor, He Yuzhu couldn't stand it anymore. He went to the front yard to call the Liu brothers. The three of them ran on the street for an hour. The patrolman found them and almost arrested them as bad guys.

"What? Running? Are you crazy?" When the patrolman asked the three people why they were doing such strange things, he got the answer that it was running.

"Of course, I had something nutritious today, and I'm not getting married, so what should I do if I don't run?" He Yuzhu asked the patrolman.

The patrolman saw that the three people's faces were flushed and their bodies were steaming, as if they had just come out of a pot. After registering their addresses, he let them leave. However, they could not run because it was already past ten o'clock and a bit late.

So He Yuzhu and the other two ran back. Although they were still a little excited, they felt much better. After taking a shower, they felt very comfortable and of course slept well.

Jia Dongxu was worried today, so he drank two glasses of wine and got drunk. He vomited all over his body. There was nothing they could do, so Zhang Dabao and Huang Xinsheng carried him to Huo Yusen's former room, stripped him naked, wiped his face, covered him with a quilt, and let him have some sleep.

After Qin Huairu finished her meal, she washed clothes and gave Jia Dongxu water. It was almost eleven o'clock before she finished.

It was still the familiar recipe, still the familiar taste. Zhang Dabao left the door open. At eleven o'clock, a warm body came in and left after a big fight.

Jia Dongxu felt a little headache when he woke up in the morning, but the supplements were really useful. He had that long-lost feeling again. He had a dream yesterday that he fought a woman for 300 rounds, and saw his wife sleeping so soundly beside him. It was not a dream, but a battle between him and his wife. He was still very powerful. Thinking of this, Jia Dongxu almost laughed out loud.

Jia Dongxu got up because he was a little hungry. Today was Sunday, and he had made an appointment with his seventh uncle to go to the suburbs to dig wild vegetables. At this time, Zhang Dabao had also gotten up.

"What's wrong? Were you in a bad mood last night?" Zhang Dabao asked his nephew.

"It's nothing. I just feel that I didn't learn the locksmith well. I feel sorry for my father and my master. I feel a little sad," said Jia Dongxu.

"It's not too late to study hard now, and you can do it if you change jobs and work hard. Dongxu, you should do what you love and you can't live a sloppy life. You are still young. Work hard for two years and save some money. I will help you buy a house with one or two rooms. Your children are grown up now, and your family only has one room. It is becoming more and more inconvenient. Does Banggeng still sleep with your mother now?" Zhang Dabia asked.

"Isn't it? It's indeed inconvenient." Jia Dongxu also felt a little ashamed.

"Sleep separately. I'll lend you the room you two live in today. You and your wife can live with your children, and your mother can live in the inner room and Bang Geng can live in the outer room. It will be more convenient this way. When you buy a house, you can move back." Zhang Dabao thought about it for a long time. He wanted to lend Jia Dongxu money, but he still understood the principle of repaying a favor with a favor, and he couldn't let Jia Dongxu's mentality of getting something for nothing be nurtured.

"No need, Uncle Qi, we can still hold on, maybe next year. If I can't afford it anymore, I'll borrow your house to live in." Jia Dongxu was very touched.

"Okay, any time is fine. You know I have a small courtyard in Chunfeng Hutong. If it really doesn't work out, your whole family can live there first." Zhang Dabao took Jia Dongxu to kill pigs there, and the two of them played cards there.

"That place is even worse. If you rent it out, you can get five or six yuan a month. I'd better wait another year. If I can't get promoted this time, please ask my uncle to change my position. I may not have much room for development in fitter." Jia Dongxu now faces the reality, which is good.

"No problem, these are just small things. You are my nephew, how can I not help you with this small favor? Aren't we going to the countryside to pick vegetables today? Your aunt has heated up the mutton soup, call your mother and others to come. Let's leave early after dinner, there are no wild vegetables nearby." Zhang Dabao ended the conversation between the two.

After dinner, Zhang Dabao drove the car and went to the suburbs with Zhang Cuihua's family, the He brothers and sisters, Huang Xinsheng, and Zhang Lianhua's mother and son.

The place Zhang Dabao chose today is about fifteen kilometers away from the city and more than ten kilometers away from the nearest village. There is a small hill and a stream in front of the hill. Most people would not walk so far to pick wild vegetables without a car.

At the foot of the mountain, there were a lot of shepherd's purse, bitter herbs, wild chrysanthemum buds, and Zhang Dabao's favorite wild leek. Everyone was talking and laughing, and they dug a lot in just the morning. Zhang Cuihua's basket was almost full.

"Let's take a break and eat something. There should be small fish in the stream. I'll catch a few. Brother Zhuzi will go cook. Let's eat some wild leeks." Zhang Dabao looked at the time and it was almost twelve o'clock. Everyone had been busy for more than two hours. Even the youngest Jia Jingshu was tired. However, everyone's baskets were full. It seemed that there was a sense of accomplishment. Being busy made people forget their fatigue temporarily.

After getting down the mountain, He Yuzhu dug some earth to make a stove and started to boil water. Everyone sat aside to rest, while Zhang Dabao took Jia Dongxu to the creek to catch fish.

The stream was about two meters wide, so they found a larger puddle and blocked it upstream to change the course of the stream. Then they used buckets to clear out all the water in the puddle. All the loaches, small fish, and small crabs in the puddle were caught in one net. They added some wild onions and asked He Yuzhu to make soup.

"Seventh Uncle, this is so much fun. Let me dig another puddle," Jia Dongxu was having a great time. Catching fish was much more fun than digging wild vegetables.

"Be careful, there are rocks inside, don't fall," Zhang Dabao reminded Jia Dongxu. He went upstream, washed his hands, and then chatted with everyone.

After about ten minutes, everyone heard a "ouch!" and when they stood up, they saw that Jia Dongxu had accidentally fallen and his clothes were covered in mud.

"Come up quickly, I have clothes in the car, change into them first, don't catch a cold." Zhang Dabao really didn't know what to say to Jia Dongxu. It seemed that Jia Dongxu really couldn't go into the water.

"There are so many loaches. Uncle Qi, please catch them." After Jia Dongxu came up, he looked back, reluctant to leave the loaches in the creek.

"There are quite a few." Zhang Dabao put all the loaches and small crabs in the puddle cleared by Jia Dongxu into a bucket. He then cleared away the stones and soil that the two men had used to block the water, restoring the stream to its original state.

Chapter 82 Jia Dongxu is ill

"It's time to eat," He Yuzhu shouted.

"Haha..." Jia Dongxu came over after changing his clothes.

"Dad, I told you not to catch fish last time, and look, you fell into the water again. It cost fifty cents to see a doctor last time, and our family didn't have much money to begin with. Now you have to spend money again because you caught a cold, and you just won't listen." Banggeng first criticized Jia Dongxu.

"Get out!" Jia Dongxu said to his son angrily.

"Banggeng is right. Dongxu, don't go fishing in the future. Not only do you not catch any fish, but your clothes get wet every time." Zhang Cuihua immediately supported her grandson.

"I caught a lot this time. Look how much is in the bucket?" Jia Dongxu said unhappily.

"Don't say that. We all heard you asking your seventh uncle to catch him. You are an adult, but you just like to lie. I never lie." Bang Geng said again and almost sent Jia Dongxu away.

"Jia Geng" Jia Dongxu stood up angrily.

Banggeng was not afraid of Jia Dongxu at all because his grandmother was by his side. When faced with Jia Dongxu's loud scolding, he looked up and then continued to eat.

"Dongxu, eat something quickly and drink some hot soup. Don't catch a cold." Zhang Lianhua served a bowl of fish soup to her nephew and asked him to drink it.

"It tastes good, sour and spicy." After drinking it, Jia Dongxu praised He Yuzhu and then served another bowl.

The longer the break between work, the less willing you are to work. It was the same for everyone today. After dinner, we saw that the baskets were almost full, so we didn't want to go up the mountain anymore and went back home.

They were in high spirits when leaving the city, but listless when returning. Zhang Cuihua even fell asleep leaning against the carriage.

They returned to Compound No. 95 at around three o'clock. "Doesn't Dongxu want to eat shepherd's purse and fatty meat dumplings? You guys wash the shepherd's purse, and I'll get some pork belly," Zhang Dabia said to his two sisters after parking the car.

"Seventh Uncle, I like meat dumplings too," Banggeng replied.

"If you like it, eat more. But don't let your father eat them all," said Zhang Dabao, touching Bang Geng's head.

Everyone had no objection to eating dumplings, or dumplings with meat. Then everyone walked towards the yard with today's harvest.

"Sister-in-law, you have dug so many wild vegetables. I and several children have also gone out of the city, but how come we haven't dug up anything?" When Yan Bugui saw the wild vegetables in the hands of Zhang Cuihua and others, his eyes almost grew bigger.

"Old Yan, how far can you go next? Dongxu's seventh uncle has a tricycle. We have been out for at least thirty miles. No one goes there. There are so many things on the mountain. We dug for the whole morning and the baskets are full. We can't dig all the way, we can't dig all the way," said Zhang Cuihua with a sigh.

"Damn it." Zhang Cuihua's words almost pissed Yan Bugui off to death. We can't dig up the gold here, and you can't dig it all up there. It's because your brother has a car that can take you far away. This Zhang Cuihua is really nothing.

"Sister-in-law, please call me next time you go. Shepherd's purse in spring is so delicious. It tastes amazing when made into dumplings. I love it," Yan Bugui said to Zhang Cuihua, hoping that he could go out with her next time. It would be such a wonderful thing to dig endless wild vegetables.

"Mom, give some shepherd's purse to the third uncle." Seeing that the two were arguing endlessly, Jia Dongxu grabbed a handful of shepherd's purse from the basket and gave it to Yan Bugui.

"Dongxu, I'm not..." Yan Bugui took the shepherd's purse and wanted to explain.

"Uncle, we're going to make shepherd's purse dumplings tonight. Uncle Seventh went out to buy pork belly. Banggeng likes to eat fatty meat and shepherd's purse dumplings. He has been greedy for it since he was a child, and I can't help it. You can make a few today. Next time we go, I'll call you along so we can dig more." Jia Dongxu explained and pulled Banggeng towards the central courtyard.

"Dad, don't you want to eat fatty meat and shepherd's purse dumplings? I mean meat dumplings," Banggeng asked as he walked.

"I just want to ask you, do you want to eat shepherd's purse with fat?" Jia Dongxu asked his son.

"Of course I'll eat it. I'm not stupid. What doesn't taste good with fat on it? I'm going to eat a hundred of them tonight, and I can't let you eat them all." Bang Geng broke free from Jia Dongxu's hand and jumped straight to the backyard.

"I like to eat dumplings with fat and shepherd's purse, too. I don't use white flour when making dumplings, but I put fat in them. It's really a shame. A child can eat a hundred of them. Do you know how much a hundred is? It's enough for the two of us to eat together." Yan Bugui muttered quietly when he saw them leaving. "Old Yan, didn't you find any wild vegetables today? Where did this come from?" Third Aunt Yang Ruihua came out and saw the shepherd's purse in her husband's hand.

"Dongxu gave it to me. Today, Zhang Dabao took his family, including Shazhu's brother and sister, to a faraway place. They dug up four or five baskets of wild vegetables and a bucket of small fish," Yan Bugui said sourly.

"If we had known they were going to Yuannian today, we would not have left so early in the morning and would have just followed them," Yang Ruihua said regretfully.

"It's not possible to follow them. Zhang Dabao's car can't fit all the cargo. I told Zhang Cuihua that next time they go, just take me with them. I'm sure I can do the digging as well as several of them alone," said Yan Bugui.

"That's fine. I just heard you say you wanted to eat dumplings because you have no white flour at home," said Yang Ruihua.

"Are dumplings something we eat at home? That's what Zhang Cuihua and her family eat, and they're made with fatty meat and shepherd's purse. It's really infuriating. Why don't you have a brother like this?" Yan Bugui let out another long sigh.

"My brother? He is poorer than us. He came to borrow money and grain last year, and we had a big fight with him, didn't we? None of his children came to visit during the Chinese New Year this year," said Yang Ruihua.

"Yes, we can't compete. Tonight, I'll add some garlic to the shepherd's purse, and it will be a nice dish." Yan Bugui has a good attitude and recovers quickly.

Zhang Dabao came back in less than half an hour, with four or five pounds of pork belly, more fat and less lean meat, which made Yan Bugui, who was watching through the window, swallow his saliva.