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Liu Haizhong's chubby face showed an envious expression: "It's so good to be educated! Those brats of Guangtian are all hopeless at studying!"

Xiao Shan glanced at Liu Haizhong and said calmly, "Second Uncle, I think it's fine for Guangtian and the others to be like this now. Everyone has their own way of living, there's no need for everyone to be the same!"

Hearing Xiao Shan's words, Liu Haizhong disagreed, but he didn't say anything.

During halftime, Ding Dade took out the Marlboro cigarettes that Xiao Shan had given him and distributed them to everyone at the table.

Everyone except Xiao Shan was extremely excited about the cigarettes they were holding.

"This is a gift from Xiaoshan, a pack of imported cigarettes. Let's all try it!" Ding Dade's crow's feet were all wrinkled together, showing how happy he was.

Seeing Ding Dade's happy expression, Xiao Shan took out a kerosene lighter from his pocket and held it to Ding Dade's mouth.

With a "click," he lit the cigarette in Ding Dade's mouth.

This scene made everyone at the dinner table widen their eyes.

Yan Bugui and his group had naturally seen lighters before.

However, the lighter in Xiao Shan's hand was clearly different from the old-fashioned fuel lighter.

Not only is the exterior more refined, but it also emits a faint fragrance when lit.

The sound of the opening and closing was incredibly crisp.

Seeing everyone staring at the lighter in his hand, Xiao Shan smiled and placed it on the table, letting everyone hold it and light it: "This is a gift from a friend of John Bull when I was on a business trip with the Ministry of Foreign Trade. It's a John Bull brand lighter!"

Liu Haizhong was the first to grab the lighter. Following Xiao Shan's example, he opened the lighter's cap with one hand and then rolled the gear with his thumb.

With a "snap," a flickering flame appeared at the cotton thread.

“This thing is really rare!” Liu Haizhong put the lighter cap back on and handed it to Mao Dexing, who was standing next to him.

After lighting the cigarette in his hand with a lighter, Mao Dexing handed it to Yan Bugui, who was standing next to him with a curious look on his face.

Yan Bugui was extremely fascinated by the lighter.

He held it in his hand and played with it for a long time, but he just wouldn't light it.

He Yuzhu, standing to the side, was getting anxious: "Uncle, why don't you light the fire? I'm still in line!"

"Hey, what's the rush? I've never seen such an exquisite lighter before!" Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses, carefully opened the lighter's outer cap, and lit it for himself.

He played with it for a while longer before handing it to He Yuzhu.

Yan Bugui took a deep drag on his cigarette: "You know what, the cigarette lit by this lighter actually smells much better!"

Seeing everyone's excited expressions, Xiao Shan smiled knowingly.

Even in later generations, the John Bull Aspen kerosene lighter would still be a favorite among men.

Especially in an era when everyone uses matches!

He Yuzhu finally got his hands on the lighter he had been longing for, and took a deep sniff of the kerosene scent.

He then lit a cigarette for himself and exclaimed with admiration, "Xiaoshan is really something! These foreign cigarettes and foreign lighters are things I've never even seen before!"

Chapter 384, He Yuzhu Shows Off with a Lighter! (Please Subscribe!)

"That's because you're ignorant!" Xu Damao mocked He Yuzhu, who was sighing. "I'm different. I've at least seen foreign cigarettes before when I was drinking with the leaders!"

Hearing Xu Damao's mockery, He Yuzhu glared at him.

However, considering that Xiao Shan was hosting the dinner today, He Yuzhu did not make a scene.

Xu Damao naturally knew when to stop and did not provoke He Yuzhu further.

Instead, he took the lighter from He Yuzhu and lit the cigarette in his hand.

After taking a satisfying drag, Xu Damao exclaimed, "This foreign cigarette just tastes different!"

Xiao Shan lit a cigarette for himself: "It's all thanks to the appreciation of the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Trade; otherwise, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see all this!"

"That's because you have the ability to gain the leader's appreciation!" Yan Bugui said with a smile.

As one of only two scholars in the courtyard, Yan Bugui felt proud of Xiao Shan's excellence.

Ding Dade was exceptionally happy today, pulling everyone at the table to drink with him.

By the time the event ended, Ding Dade was already stammering.

Yan Bugui and his group weren't much better off.

After Xiao Shan and He Yuzhu escorted Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, and Xu Damao home, they also saw Mao Dexing and his wife off.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Ding Dade, since Mr. Ding had drunk too much, they had to stay at their home in Xiaoshan.

Fortunately, when Feng Chunlian was taking care of Ding Qiunan during her postpartum period, Xiao Shan had cleaned up another room in the house.

Mr. and Mrs. Ding Dade can stay here today.

As He Yuzhu was leaving Xiao Shan's house, he said to Xiao Shan somewhat embarrassedly, "Xiao Shan, could I borrow your lighter for a day? I want to take it to the cafeteria tomorrow and show it off to those brats!"

Xiao Shan squinted at He Yuzhu and held up three fingers.

He Yuzhu immediately understood: "Okay, not just three meals, five meals are fine too!"

“You said it, five meals! Not a single meal less!” Xiao Shan said, handing the lighter from his pocket to He Yuzhu.

He trusted He Yuzhu quite a bit, so he didn't need to give him any special instructions and simply lent him the lighter.

The next day, Xiao Shan was finishing his task in the welding workshop when he heard Luo Zhengqiu come over and tell him that Li Huaide was looking for him.

Xiao Shan went directly to Li Huaide's office.

After entering the office, Xiao Shan looked at Li Huaide and said, "Factory Director, you wanted to see me?"

"Xiao Shan, I heard from Minister Zhou that John Bull's people wanted to recruit you, but you refused?" Li Huaide asked Xiao Shan with a serious expression.

Xiao Shan had already prepared for this matter when he told Zhou Bangqiu.

Upon hearing Li Huaide's inquiry, Xiao Shan nodded and said, "Yes, that's right! The people from John Bull saw that I refused, and they thought I had principles, so they gave me a lighter!"

"Okay!" Li Huaide nodded, gave Xiao Shan a few instructions, and then let Xiao Shan leave.

Back in the welding workshop, Mao Dexing asked Li Huaide with some curiosity what he wanted to do with Xiao Shan.

Xiao Shan then briefly recounted his conversation with Li Huaide to Mao Dexing.

After listening to Xiao Shan's account, Mao Dexing nodded and said, "Xiao Shan, you did the right thing! It seems we need to be more careful when dealing with foreigners in the future, lest we be taken advantage of by them!"

"Don't worry, Master, I know what I'm doing!" Xiao Shan said with a smile, looking at the worried Mao Dexing.

After getting off work in the afternoon, He Yuzhu returned the lighter to Xiao Shan when he returned to the yard.

"How about it? Aren't your colleagues especially envious?" Xiao Shan asked with a smile as he took the lighter He Yuzhu handed him.

He Yuzhu nodded: "You know what, those little brats are incredibly envious!"

Xiao Shan put the lighter in his pocket and looked at He Yuzhu, asking, "Did you have enough fun this time?"

"That's enough, that's enough. I'll go cook for you now." He Yuzhu walked happily towards the kitchen.

After finishing the dinner prepared by He Yuzhu, Xiao Shan took out the watch ticket that Zhou Bangqiu had given him earlier and said to Ding Qiunan, "Wife, how about we go to the department store this weekend?"

"What? Are you planning to buy a watch?" Ding Qiunan, who was holding her child, asked with a smile as she looked at the watch ticket in Xiao Shan's hand.

Xiao Shan showed off the Rolex watch he had asked Zhang Chulan to buy for him: "My watch still works, I'm going to buy you one!"

"Watches aren't cheap these days, so let's forget about it!" Ding Qiunan shook her head and said, "We already have wall clocks at home and in the office, so I don't think I need a watch to tell the time!"

Xiao Shan put the watch voucher away and said to Ding Qiunan, "How can that be! We still need to buy what we need! Besides, it would be a waste not to use this watch voucher!"

Xiao Shan had previously considered buying Ding Qiunan a watch, but Ding Qiunan had refused.

Just then, Zhou Bangqiu gave Xiao Shan a ticket for a watch, and Xiao Shan took the opportunity to buy one for Ding Qiunan.

"Then you can go to the department store this weekend, I won't go!" Ding Qiunan said, looking at Xiao Jingyan in her arms. "The department store will definitely be crowded on the weekend, it won't be convenient to take Jingyan there!"

Xiao Shan thought Ding Qiunan's words made sense, so he nodded and said, "Okay, what kind of watch do you want? I'll buy it for you!"

"Just don't buy me a men's version!" Ding Qiunan said with a smile.

Time quickly came to the weekend.

After having breakfast, Xiao Shan rode his bicycle to the department store.

"Xiaoshan, isn't it the weekend? What are you doing out so early?" As he passed by the front yard, Yan Bugui, who was tending to his potted plants at the door, asked Xiaoshan with some curiosity.

Xiao Shan smiled and said to Yan Bugui, "Let's go to the department store and buy something for my wife!"

"Oh, I see!" Yan Bugui said with a smile. "Little Ding is really lucky to have married you!"

Xiao Shan simply smiled at Yan Bugui's praise and didn't respond.

Upon arriving at the department store, Xiao Shan went straight to the watch counter.

Unfortunately, the counter was full of Shanghai brand watches; I didn't see any foreign watches.

Xiao Shan took a fancy to a silver women's watch and asked the salesperson to bring it out for him to see.

Although the sales clerk was reluctant, she still took it out and let Xiao Shan take a look.

After examining it carefully, Xiao Shan was quite satisfied with the watch: "Comrade, how much is this?"

"Eighty yuan!" the salesperson said calmly.

"Okay, I'll take it!"

Xiao Shan readily took out his wallet and handed the money and the watch ticket to the sales clerk.

After counting the money and tickets, the sales clerk was not impatient when packing up the watch for Xiao Shan, perhaps because of Xiao Shan's straightforwardness.

After buying the watch, Xiao Shan strolled around the department store again.

After buying some other things, I leisurely rode my bicycle home.

Chapter 385, House Expansion and Renovation! (Please Subscribe!)

Back home, Xiao Shan put the watch on Ding Qiunan's wrist.

From the smile on Ding Qiunan's face, Xiao Shan could tell that Ding Qiunan quite liked the watch he had bought.

After playing with the watch for a while, Ding Qiunan said to Xiao Shan, "By the way, honey, Director Wang from the neighborhood committee just came looking for you!"

"Director Wang wanted to see me? What's up?" Xiao Shan asked Ding Qiunan with some curiosity.

"Director Wang said that Old Qian next door is going to live with his daughter and son-in-law in the south, so he's going to sell his two back rooms. Director Wang wants to ask you if you'd like to buy them!" Ding Qiunan said slowly to Xiao Shan while feeding Xiao Jingyan malted milk powder.

The current house in Xiaoshan is located in the last row of the backyard of the No. 95 courtyard house, near the corner of the wall. To the left is the house where the deaf old lady used to live, and to the right is the house of Old Qian in the neighboring courtyard.

Xiao Shan's current house consists of two rear buildings, but he has divided them into a kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms.

It's more than enough for a family of three, but it's a bit cramped for an individual.

Xiaoshan had actually considered buying the house that the deaf old lady used to live in.

However, considering that He Yuzhu now has three children, Xiaoshan did not let He Yuzhu bring up this matter.

Now that there's an opportunity to buy the two rear houses of the Qian family, Xiaoshan naturally won't miss it.

Xiao Shan said to Ding Qiunan, "Buy it, of course we'll buy it! Once we open it up, our rooms will be much more spacious!"

"But Director Wang said that buying those two back rooms would cost 400 yuan, which isn't cheap!" Ding Qiunan said hesitantly.

Seeing Ding Qiunan's hesitation, Xiao Shan smiled and said, "Money is no problem! I'll go find Director Wang right now!"

Xiao Shan took the money, went to the neighborhood office to find Director Wang, and bought the two rooms belonging to Lao Qian's family.

Then they found a renovation contractor. After Lao Qian moves out in a few days, they can open up the rooms and do a completely new renovation.

Three days later, Lao Qian moved out as scheduled, and the renovation workers also arrived.

During these three days, Xiao Shan also discussed the renovation plan with Ding Qiunan.

They plan to divide the house into a kitchen, a small living room for dining, three bedrooms, and a bathroom.

The kitchen is too small now, so Xiaoshan plans to expand it.

For a small living room, this size is about right for a family to eat in.

However, Xiaoshan plans to install an iron fireplace in the small living room so that the house will be warmer in winter.

Although the three rooms are not as large as the complete rear building, they are still much larger than the previous housing area in Xiaoshan.