Siheyuan: I just want to live

After leaving the courtyard, Chen Feng rushed towards Andingmen without hesitation. He rode several miles out of the city and finally found a deserted road. He stopped the bike and carefully tied the two goats that were killed by the wolves to the back seat of the bike.

Then, he got on his bicycle and drove towards Sijiu City. Chen Feng's purpose was very clear: the New Year's Day was coming in a few days, and at this moment, the purchasers from major factories and government agencies throughout Sijiu City were out looking for welfare materials needed for the holiday.

These two goats were the bait that Chen Feng had carefully designed. He knew that the buyers at the steel mill would be interested in such good stuff. After all, for Chen Feng, the materials he urgently needed were mainly steel, and other items could also be found in the steel mill.

With this expectation and confidence, Chen Feng continued to move forward. He believed that as long as he could successfully hook the purchaser of the steel mill, he would be able to obtain the necessary materials and realize his plan.

"Hey, hey, hey! Comrade in front, please wait a moment." A man riding a bicycle and wearing textile factory work clothes caught up from behind.

The man came up and handed over a peony, then introduced himself, "My last name is Zhang, and I'm also known as Zhang Gongchang. My double name is Shengli, and I'm a buyer for the Second Textile Factory. Comrade, what's your last name?"

I took the Mudan cigarettes and thought they were really good. At 50 cents a pack, they were affordable. When you're out shopping, handing someone a cigarette like this won't make you look incompetent or embarrassed, but will make you look generous and down-to-earth.

"Oh! Your surname is Chen, Erdong Chen. My name is Chen Feng, and I don't have a job yet." Chen Feng introduced himself in the same way.

"Brother Chen, are you planning to sell these two goats? Don't worry, we are purchasing them from the public and can issue you an invoice." Zhang Shengli went straight to the point and asked directly about the sale of the goats.

"No, I won't sell them. These two sheep are for my family to eat." Chen Feng refused almost without thinking.

Chen Feng kept these two goats to fish for the steel mill buyers. What would he use to fish if he sold them?

"Would you like to consider it? Sell it and exchange it for something else. Our factory has some defective cloth. I can help you adjust it!" Zhang Shengli continued to seduce Chen Feng.

"No need to think about it. I won't sell it this time. I'll come to you next time when I need it." Chen Feng was a little tempted, but gave up the idea when he thought of steel.

"Okay! Next time if you have something good, you must remember to save it for me! When you get to the gate of the Second Textile Factory, just ask for Zhang Shengli from the Third Purchasing Department."

"Okay! Don't worry, if there is something good, I will definitely inform you as soon as possible." Chen Feng looked at his back as he walked away and sighed silently in his heart. This was the third buyer he had met today. The first two were from the canning factory and the bakery. But until now, he still hadn't met the buyer from the steel mill.

Chen Feng continued to ride his bike slowly towards the direction of Sijiu City. When he was about to reach the city gate, a thin man suddenly jumped out from the side and quickly stopped Chen Feng's bike.

If he hadn't been wearing a steel mill uniform, Chen Feng would have hit him on the arm with a steel bar.

"Comrade! Comrade! Wait a moment!" the man shouted anxiously.

Chen Feng asked in confusion: "Comrade, why did you stop my car? I don't seem to know you?"

"Hey! This is all my fault. My name is Hou Dekui, and I'm a buyer for the steel mill. I saw two goats behind your car. Can you please be kind and sell me one?"

"Are you a buyer for the steel mill? You don't look like one!" Chen Feng said in a doubtful tone.

Finally, I met a buyer from a steel mill! Next, I just need to ask him to take me to the steel mill and talk to his leader about the material transfer.

"I am really a purchasing agent for the steel rolling mill. Look, this is my work ID!" Hou Dekui quickly took out his work ID and handed it to Chen Feng for inspection.

"I won't look at it! Work ID cards are not something rare. Who knows whether yours is real or fake? You can just find someone to make a stamp and stamp it. It will work just as well!" Chen Feng's face was full of disdain, and his tone was full of contempt and doubt.

Hearing this, Hou Dekui did not give up. He still tried to persuade Chen Feng: "Then how do you think I can make you believe that I am the buyer of the steel mill?"

Chen Feng seemed to have expected the other party to ask this question. He fiddled with his fingers and answered nonchalantly, "Unless you take me to your steel mill right now, as long as I step through that door, I will naturally believe you. Otherwise, who knows if you want to take advantage of the opportunity to do some speculative activities? If you are caught, you will be sentenced!"

Hou Dekui couldn't help but feel helpless after hearing what Chen Feng said, but at the same time he also admired his caution: "Oh, brother, you are really cautious!"

Finally, Hou Dekui had no choice but to compromise: "Okay, brother, since you insist so much, I will take you to our steel mill!" After that, he took Chen Feng to the steel mill.

On the way, Hou Dekui said, "Brother, I haven't asked you what your name is? Where are you from? Where do you work?"

My name is Chen Feng, and I live in No. 95, Nanluoguxiang. Tomorrow I will report to the scrap collection station and take over the security post. Chen Feng told the other party his real name without hesitation. After all, everyone is a public ration, and even if you don't tell it, others can easily find it out.

"Yard No. 95! I seem to have some impression of it. Several employees of our steel rolling mill seem to live there." Hou Dekui responded after thinking for a moment.

"Yes, there are indeed a few families. Like the eighth-level fitter Yi Zhonghai, the seventh-level blacksmith Liu Haizhong, and Sha Zhu from the cafeteria, they all live in this yard." Chen Feng answered truthfully.

"So how is your relationship with them? If possible, I can talk to the leader and transfer you to our factory. In this way, you will not only live in the same yard, but you can also take care of each other in the factory!" Hou Dekui suggested enthusiastically.

"I didn't have much contact with Liu Haizhong, but as for Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu... there were some frictions between me and them." Chen Feng frowned slightly and continued, "But then again, the job at the scrap collection station is pretty good. I only need to watch the gate every day. The work is very easy and leisurely. I don't think there is any need to change to other jobs."

"What kind of conflict is there between you and them? Tell me about it quickly!" Hou Dekui asked curiously.

"Actually, it's nothing big. Yi Zhonghai asked me to exchange three private houses for one public house of Jia Xudong's family. I didn't agree, and ended up offending him." Chen Feng said lightly.

"Ah? Just because of this! He got angry because you didn't listen to him? That idiot Zhu even said he wanted to teach you a lesson?" Hou Dekui widened his eyes, seeming to find it difficult to understand.

Seeing this, Chen Feng explained the reason in detail to Hou Dekui, satisfying his curiosity: "That's right! I didn't listen to him, which made him very angry. As for Sha Zhu, I guess he was also instructed by Yi Zhonghai to stand up for him."

"Three private houses for one public house? What is Yi Zhonghai thinking? Is he crazy?" Hou Dekui looked incredulous, and then asked, "Then why did Yi Zhonghai insist on you and Jia Xudong exchanging houses?"

Chen Feng frowned, thought for a moment and replied: "I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he saw that I was the only one left in my family and thought I was easy to bully! Besides, Jia Xudong is his apprentice. He did this, maybe he wanted to take the opportunity to bully me and get some benefits for his apprentice."

Soon Chen Feng and Hou Dekui crossed the urban area in the northeast corner of Sijiu City and arrived at the gate of the steel rolling mill.

The steel mill is located not far from Dongzhimen and not far from Liangma River in the north. There are many factories around here, among which the easternmost are Textile Factory 1, Textile Factory 2 and the newly built Textile Factory 3.

Hou Dekui led Chen Feng towards the main gate of the steel mill. When they passed the gate, Hou Dekui whispered to the comrade standing guard at the gate: "Brother Wang! This is the comrade who delivered supplies to our factory. I will take him to the logistics department first and send him out later."

The man glanced at the two goats on the back seat of Chen Feng's bicycle, did not say anything, just nodded slightly to show his agreement, then opened the side door and let them enter smoothly.

The two continued to walk inside. As they walked, Hou Dekui said to Chen Feng, "How is it? I didn't lie to you! I am indeed a buyer for the steel mill!"

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I apologize to you, Comrade Hou, I'm sorry!" Chen Feng sincerely apologized to Hou Dekui.

"Hey! What are you doing? I just said that, why are you apologizing? Why are you calling me comrade? Just call me monkey! My friends who know me well all call me that." Hou Dekui said quickly.

"You are older than me, so I will call you Brother Monkey from now on!" Chen Feng said along with Monkey's words.

Soon they arrived at the door of a small warehouse next to the Purchasing Section of the Logistics Department. This should be the place where the Purchasing Section counts the purchasers' inventory every day.

There was a kind-looking middle-aged woman sitting at the door of the warehouse. Monkey walked up to her and greeted her warmly: "Sister Wang, you are on duty today!"

"Yes! Little monkey, you've returned from shopping so quickly today?" She responded with a smile, and glanced at the two goats tied to the back seat of Chen Feng's bicycle, and couldn't help but praise: "Wow, the harvest is quite good!"

"Hehe, I'm just lucky! Sister Wang, come and help me put these things into the warehouse." Monkey smiled modestly, then turned to Chen Feng and said, "Brother, give me a hand, let's lift the goats to the scale and weigh them." Upon hearing this, Chen Feng hurried forward to help put the two goats on the scale.

Monkey looked at the data on the scale carefully and nodded with satisfaction: "5.5 kilograms! How about this, I will buy it at the price of cents per kilogram, and give you kilograms of meat coupons. I will definitely not let you suffer a loss, brother."

"Okay, then let's go by the price you said, Brother Monkey." Chen Feng was also very straightforward and did not bargain any further.

"Well...but this number doesn't sound very nice. I'll give you 45 yuan. I don't have enough meat coupons at the moment. Please wait a moment. I'll go to the leader to get some." Monkey said as he handed the money to Chen Feng, and then trotted towards the purchasing office.

Sister Wang didn't seem to be interested in their transaction and just started moving the goats into the warehouse for storage.