Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

It was still dark when Zhao Shanhe got up. He went to bed too early yesterday, so he was too lazy to go back to bed. He roasted two sweet potatoes in his small world and heated up the stewed chicken in the static space. After enjoying a simple breakfast, he pushed his bicycle to work.

There's no point staying at home, so I might as well go to the office to look for last week's newspaper. I pushed the cart from the backyard to the front yard, and just in time I saw the old man who was going to empty the urinal.

"Uncle, you got up early today. When I came back yesterday, Auntie said you weren't back yet. How did you harvest?"

Yan Bugui really didn't want to bother with Zhao Shanhe. He fished until sunset yesterday and he was almost frozen to death, but he didn't catch any fish weighing more than half a pound. Jealousy made him feel extremely unbalanced, and he was even more angry that he didn't get the upper hand.

I can only say that this kid has a bit of uncanny luck, but now that Old Yan knows the trick, he will definitely not be worse than him next week. When he got home yesterday, he told Jie Cheng, Jie Fang, and Jie Kuang to go fishing with him next Sunday, as he also wanted to try the feeling of catching a big fish.

"It's okay, it's okay, I didn't catch as much as you did. Let's stop talking for now. I'm going to the public toilet."

Looking at Old Yan's fleeing posture, Zhao Shanhe knew that the stingy man must not have gained much yesterday. He smiled at his back and pushed the cart out of the yard to go to work.

He got up too early. There were not many people at the breakfast stalls on the road. When he arrived at the factory gate, he greeted the guard on duty and went directly to the purchasing department.

He was the first one to arrive today. He filled the thermos with water, swept the floor, and finally pulled all the newspapers on Wang Tiecheng's desk over. He read the newspapers while waiting for the warehouse manager and accountant to come to work. He had not yet collected the money for yesterday's fish.

Yao Decai came very late today. As a deputy section chief, his work is not limited to the purchasing group. Last night he had a discussion with Director Liang of the meat processing plant over the dinner table. New Year's Day is coming soon, but the factory's holiday benefits have not been settled yet.

His intention was good, but he never expected Director Liang to refuse outright.

"Old Yao, it's not that I don't give you face. It's still easy to get grain on the market now, but all the factories can forget about pork this year. The storage capacity of the meat processing plant's cold storage has dropped to near the warning line. I get anxious every day when I look at the warehouse.

It’s just New Year’s Day, what about the Spring Festival?

If I approve pork for you today, all the other factories in the city will have to come to me. Do you think I can continue to do this job?"

Yao Decai was so disappointed after hearing this that he even forgot how he got home. If they only distributed flour instead of meat on New Year's Day, would the workers cause trouble? The entire logistics department would be criticized, and he, the deputy section chief in charge of purchasing meat products, would probably be the first to take the blame.

I woke up feeling dizzy in the morning. I finally rode my bike to the factory. As soon as I sat down in the office, the warehouse manager of the small warehouse came.

"Yao Ke, Zhao Shanhe from the purchasing team sent some fish yesterday. I saw that they were quite big, so I kept them all. Here is the list, please take a look at it."

Yao Decai took the list and took a look at it. There were 53 kilograms of fish, and the smallest one weighed more than kilograms. Zhao Shanhe was good and was growing very fast.

When he looked at the list, he shuddered, as if he suddenly remembered something.

"Go to group one and see if Zhao Shanhe has arrived. If he has, ask him to come over. I need to talk to him about something."

Yao Decai's office was just two rooms away from Group 1. When the warehouse manager walked into Group 1's office, he saw Zhao Shanhe lying on the desk reading a newspaper.

"Shanhe, Yao Ke asked you to come over. I guess he wants to ask you where you got the fish. You are quite calm. You must be determined to make a splash. If you have any extra fish, don't forget to leave some for us."

"How could I? I will never forget the warehouse management brothers. When I first started working, I was very grateful for your guidance, otherwise I would still be confused. If I catch fish again, I will definitely pick the big ones and leave some for you."

"Okay, stop being so mean, go quickly, don't keep Yao Ke waiting anxiously."

The warehouse managers sound like a low-paying job, but that's just a cover-up. Many of them are relatives and friends of the leaders. They control all the materials in the factory, especially the small canteen warehouse, which contains oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, various condiments, and all kinds of meat for the leaders' tables. There is a lot of knowledge involved.

Zhao Shanhe would try to make friends with these people as much as possible and try not to offend anyone.

Who knows what the "background" of the offended person is? You have to know that this is the old city, and there are probably more section-level cadres than fish in Shichahai.

Zhao Shanhe quickly walked to the door of Yao Decai's office and knocked on it.

"Bang bang bang~"

"Please come in."

Zhao Shanhe heard the sound, opened the door and walked in. Seeing Yao Decai making tea, he asked directly.

"Uncle Yao, I heard you were looking for me?"

Yao Decai looked up at him, pointed at the chair in front of the desk and motioned for him to sit down.

"You've become more capable now. You didn't come last week. If the warehouse manager hadn't come to me to sign in the morning, I would have thought you were missing. Tell me, did that 50-pound fish come from a normal place? Where did you get it?"

"Uncle Yao, don't you know me? I will never do anything illegal or criminal. That would bring shame on my father. I caught these fish yesterday in Shichahai. There are not many witnesses around, maybe only a few dozen. I guarantee their origins are fine."

This sounds very Versailles, but it's a pity that Yao De is not from the 21st century and cannot hear the deeper meaning of the words, otherwise he would definitely smell a faint scent of "snail noodles".

"I remember there weren't any big fish after the autumn fishing in Shichahai? Your group's Zhao Chunjiang always went fishing, but he always caught crucian carp weighing two or three taels, and never caught more than one jin.

Are you kidding me for teasing your uncle Yao?"

"Uncle Yao, I don't know about this. This is my first time going to Shichahai. Maybe I'm lucky?"

Zhao Shanhe was full of nonsense, he couldn't say he had his own little world, but through this delivery of fish to the factory, he also found that he was a bit reckless. Which of those who had survived the war and were able to take up leadership positions was not a shrewd person? Not to mention that he was the deputy section chief in charge of procurement for a large factory with 10,000 people.

If you tell the other party where there are fish and where there are no fish in the city, it would be a miracle if they don’t know.

Yao Decai leaned back in his chair with his elbows folded, and seeing that he had failed to trick the boy into telling the truth, he hesitated for a long time before speaking again.

"Shanhe, don't think too much. I don't have any other intentions. After all, every buyer has his own way. I won't interfere or ask too many questions. I just came to you to ask if you can still catch fish?

Corey is in some trouble now. The meat processing plant won't provide pork, and the only New Year's Day benefit left is flour."