Break out of the courtyard

At night, many people in the courtyard gather under the light of Zhang's house in the front yard to collect shoe soles, paste matchboxes, and sew clothes. They have one ear free to listen to the radio and the other ear to assist their chatter, and their eyes are fixed on what Zhang Heping wrote. Bamboo stools, and a bamboo coffee table that he was weaving.

According to Grandma Zhang's wishes, when the short long coffee table is finished, her family will no longer need the small square table. Then ten small bamboo stools will be placed around the coffee table, so that eating will not be crowded.

For this reason, many people came over and wanted to try out the newly made bamboo stools, but Zhang Heping stopped them, saying that the bamboo stools had just been made and the bamboo legs were still tied with hemp ropes and needed time to shape.

However, they were not without gains.

When the Zhang family's mistress was roasting and cooking bamboo on the wood stove, he boiled a large pot of boiling water. He scooped out several pots of boiling water and put them on the square table next to the sink. He also put some on the table in front of the onlookers. Malted milk and sugar are in a basin for onlookers to drink.

With the sweet water and excitement, more and more people went to Zhang's house to ask how to sell old furniture.

Soon, a four-legged coffee table was ready and placed by Zhang Heping next to the flower garden in front of the steps, deliberately blocking the road.

Zhang Heping walked to the sink, picked up several large basins of boiling water from the square table, placed them on the newly made large coffee table, and then gave the square table to the person who had just bid 8 cents.

"Zhang Xiaosan, do you sell the coffee tables and benches you made?"

Zhang Heping, who was putting ten small bamboo stools away under the coffee table, turned to look at Silly Zhu who made a noise and Yi Zhonghai next to him, shook his head and said: "Not selling it yet!"

Zhang Heping maliciously speculated on the intentions of these two items. The population of their family was not large, so it was probably not a good idea to ask whether such a large coffee table would be sold.

Her mother, Ma Xiuzhen, happened to be carrying a long bench out and replied smoothly, "Even if you want to sell it, you have to ask the street office for its opinion first. These things are different from fish and ordinary bamboo."

"Tomorrow I will help you go to the street office to inquire. If it works, sell a set to my family first!" The third aunt touched the still rough coffee table, looked at the ten small bamboo stools arranged in two rows under the coffee table, and said hopefully:

"I have a large family. When they get married and have children, who can put together a big table? At that time, Lao Yan and I and the children will sit and eat, and the adults will stand behind the children to eat. hehe……"

An aunt next to me leaned over to look at the coffee table, "I think if this coffee table is made bigger and some beams are added on the back, it can be used as a bed!"

A few more people came over and said, "It's true! I don't know if it's okay to sleep with adults, but it's definitely okay to sleep with children. In summer, put it in the yard and sleep on it. It will definitely be cool. In winter, spread a quilt and put it next to the kang. , can sleep at least three children.”

"My house is small and I can't fit it in."

"It can be put down, it must be put down! When you are not using it, you can put it upright. In this way, stand it up and put it on the kang, facing the wall, with only four legs exposed. When you want to use it, put it up again Put it next to the kang as a bed."

……

The radio station has closed its evening shift, and the radio is no longer playing. There are still many people watching the excitement in front of Zhang's house, just because Zhang Xiaosan is weaving a bamboo bed!

The simple shape, coupled with the fact that Zhang Xiaosan let six children lie on it to try to sleep, made the onlookers more interesting to talk about.

In particular, when Zhang Heping dismantled the bamboo bed, put it in the right wing room and reassembled it, with the head and foot of the bed just touching the left and right walls, and then put the debris under the bed, the originally messy wing room suddenly became fresh and tidy.

"Peace, can I lie down and give it a try?" Third Aunt asked excitedly.

The third aunt and Yan Bugui both wanted to rent the two penthouses next to theirs. However, they were a little dissatisfied with the small penthouse next to the door. There was no kang in it, just an ordinary wooden bed. There was a small penthouse between the bed and the wall. Not a small gap, a waste of space.

The bamboo bed customized by Zhang Heping for his right-hand room did not leave any gaps at the head and end of the bed, which was exactly what the third aunt wanted.

After Zhang Heping asked the third aunt to try out the bamboo bed, he locked the right room and moved the bamboo stools and coffee table to the kang in the left room. He also added some firewood under the earthen kang to heat the room. It will be available tomorrow morning. Come out and use it.

The crowd dispersed, and the two Zhang sisters went to clean the yard. Zhang Heping went home and asked how much the old furniture had been sold for, and learned that someone wanted to buy the high-legged low cabinet next to the earthen bed. Zhang Heping nodded in agreement without hesitation, and sold it!

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Heping opened the money box under the low cabinet, and a pile of money tickets, meal tickets, and household registration books fell out. Zhang Heping took three empty cans and bottles and packed them separately to avoid being served in one pot.

The money box under the low cabinet already seems to be running out of space, and with the increase in money bills at home, a more hidden place is needed to hide money.

Between the sky and the earth, a large blue brick of 300*300mm is suitable for hiding glass bottles.

If you don't put money in bottles, you will be eaten by insects before thieves come to steal it.

After saying hello to his family, Zhang Heping went to the right room with three glass bottles containing money, tickets and other items as no one was allowed to go to the right room to look under the bed recently.

After Zhang Heping returned to the east wing, he quietly communicated with his mother Ma Xiuzhen about their gift-giving in the afternoon. He learned that there was no suitable house at the street office for his cousin to rent, and it was too far away. Grandma Xie Ermei did not agree.

In addition, the problem of the two little girls studying is not easy to solve. Their parents must have a capital household registration.

Finally, it was the principal of the kindergarten. After receiving the gift, the other party hoped that Ma Xiuzhen could show some special skills, such as music, art, dance, etc.; if not, she would study and strive to become a qualified childcare worker.

In this regard, Zhang Heping asked about the current curriculum of the kindergarten and suggested that Ma Xiuzhen should learn simple origami first.

Then, Zhang Heping went to get his homework book, tore up a few sheets, and made several different shapes of airplanes, frogs, and hearts. He asked Ma Xiuzhen to take it to the kindergarten tomorrow and ask the principal if she could teach the children origami.

Later, Ma Xiuzhen took Zhang Heping to teach her origami. In order to use his time efficiently, Zhang Heping simply took Ma Xiuzhen outside the door and taught her origami while making a bamboo desk by the window for the right room.

Near midnight, Ma Xiuzhen was still in high spirits, but Zhang Heping only had bamboo strips and could only take out a peeling knife to cut the bamboo skin in preparation for weaving bamboo mats.

Suddenly, there was a sound of bicycle chains.

Then, the unbolted courtyard door was pushed open, and Yan Bugui came back dejectedly pushing his bicycle.

Zhang Heping glanced at the slippery bicycle and asked in confusion: "Third uncle, what's wrong with you? Where are your sacks and fishing gear?"

"Oh... let's talk about it another time." Yan Bugui sighed and went back to his home without even closing the courtyard door.

Zhang Heping ran to close the door, but saw Yan Jiecheng sneezing and walking behind. Seeing that his clothes were wet and clinging to his body, he was afraid that something had happened while fishing.

After closing the door and bolting the bolt, Zhang Heping asked Ma Xiuzhen, who was addicted to origami, to go to bed quickly. It was not certain whether it would be possible tomorrow. On the contrary, Zhang Heping's homework books were destroyed by the disaster. If he does not hand in homework in the future, it will be his mother Ma Xiuzhen's fault!

……

The next day, Monday.

When Zhang Heping came back at noon, Lao Zhang was lying on the rocking chair at the door to bask in the sun. His cousin Zhang Cuishan was helping to move out the old wooden furniture from the house. Grandma stood by the door with a handful of cents and looked at it, as if she was reluctant to part with those belongings.

However, she took all the money from selling the furniture.

Zhang Heping saw two more bundles of bamboo under the window on the left side of the door, probably cut by his cousin Zhang Cuishan in the morning, so he took the money from his grandmother and called his cousin over after he had returned from moving the furniture.

"Cousin, go and move the wooden planks and square tables in your small wing room and sell them together. I will help you make a bamboo bed and bamboo cabinets later." Zhang Heping said, handing over another 3 yuan. Qian, explained:

"You should keep this money with you first. When you go to cut bamboo, if someone says that the bamboo belongs to him and wants you to pay for it, you should pay the money to others. Don't conflict with others, so as not to cause trouble in the factory."

Zhang Cuishan hesitated and did not answer, but turned to look at grandma Xie Ermei.

Grandma smiled and said: "Listen to your brother, your brother is doing it for your own good!"

After Zhang Cuishan took the money and left, Zhang Heping went back to the east wing and took a look. All the old furniture was sold, and the living room seemed empty. Only the bamboo coffee table that had been moved in the morning, ten small bamboo stools underneath, and the old sewing machine were left.

There was a lot of debris piled on top of the Tukang, the most conspicuous ones being the radio and the big clock.

……