Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

After Yan Jiekuang left, Xu Haijiang saw Leng Guofeng frowning and asked, "Old Leng, what's wrong with you?!"

Leng Guofeng said: "I was wondering what that young man bought those things for?!"

Xu Haijiang smiled and joked, "You are just a nobody. He bought it for a purpose. Why do you care so much?! But I think he wants to assemble a bicycle again."

Leng Guofeng smiled bitterly and said, "This is an occupational disease and it can't be cured in a short time. But what you said is possible."

Yan Jiekuang rode his bicycle out of the repair station. Not long after, Yan Jiekuang turned into an alley. Seeing that there was no one around, Yan Jiekuang flashed into the space. He dismantled the two scrapped bicycles into pieces. Then he picked up some parts from a pile of old bicycle parts in the space, enough to assemble two bicycles, put them into a sack, and then left the space.

More than 20 minutes later, Yan Jiekuang arrived at the place he had agreed with Gou Wa. Not long after, Gou Wa staggered out of the commune. When Gou Wa saw Yan Jiekuang, he immediately ran to him and asked, "Yan Zhiqing, have you been waiting for a long time?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "I just arrived too." Then he asked, "Have you got your stuff?!"

Gou Wa replied, "I've got them!" Then he saw the things Yan Jiekuang had placed on the side and asked, "Yan Zhiqing, what are these things for?!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Of course, it's just in case. This place is not as good as Sijiucheng. In Sijiucheng, if a bicycle breaks down, you can still find a place to repair it. Here, there are places to repair it, but it's hard to get spare parts. Today, I happened to see a broken bicycle in the scrap warehouse of the repair station. Some of the parts on it can still be used. I will dismantle the parts and buy them back as spare parts. If the bicycle breaks down one day, I can still repair it."

Gou Wa looked at the bicycle parts and nodded unconsciously. Yan Jiekuang asked, "You ride, or should I?!"

When Gou Wa heard that he could ride a bicycle, he immediately became interested and said, "I'll ride it!"

Yan Jiekuang gave the bike to Gou Wa. After Gou Wa got on the bike, Yan Jiekuang sat on the back seat of the bike with the bicycle parts.

Gou Wa shouted, "Hold on tight!" Then he pedaled and rode his bike straight to the road leading to Qingshan Village. At first, Gou Wa rode very fast, but as he got closer to the village, he gradually slowed down. Yan Jie Kuang knew what Gou Wa was thinking and said, "The bike can't fly. If you need it, just come to me. With our friendship, how could I not lend it to you?!"

Gou Wa said, "Yan Zhiqing, your bicycle is the first one in our village. Among so many Zhiqing in Shengli Commune, you are the only one who has a bicycle. You have brought honor to our village."

Yan Jiekuang asked: "Gou Wa, have the village chief and his men never thought of getting a bicycle?!"

Gou Wa replied, "My father and his family have thought about it, but it's really hard to get tickets. Every year, the government only issues one or two bicycle tickets to the commune. The commune can't even distribute them all! How could they think of us?!" He then asked, "Yan Zhiqing, can you help think of a way to get a bicycle ticket or a corresponding number of industrial coupons for the village?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied: "I don't have the ability to get tickets and industrial vouchers. But..."

"But what?! Yan Zhiqing, don't leave your words half-said, just say it quickly if you have something to say!" Gou Wa urged anxiously.

Yan Jiekuang said: "You can buy parts and assemble them yourself. I assembled this bicycle myself."

"What?!" Gou Wa was slightly stunned and suddenly braked his bicycle. Yan Jiekuang quickly grabbed Gou Wa and said, "Why did you stop the bicycle for no reason?!"

Gou Wa asked, "Yan Zhiqing, how much would it cost to buy parts and assemble a bicycle yourself?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied: "That depends on what parts you use. If there are more old parts, it will be cheaper. If all the parts are new, it is almost the same as buying a new bicycle. At most it will be a few dollars cheaper, but the only advantage is that you don't need tickets or industrial coupons."

Gou Wa thought about it and said, "I'll talk to my dad later. But even if I buy the bicycle parts, no one will tinker with it, right?!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "I know how to do this! Anyway, there is not much work in the fields now. Find some time and come to my place. I will teach you how to assemble a bicycle."

Gou Wa was stunned for a moment and said, "This is a craft, are you willing to teach me?!"

"What's the big deal?! As long as you want to learn, I'll teach you. It's a piece of cake." Then he urged: "Hurry up! Go back to the village!"

"Hey!" Gou Wa responded and continued riding his bicycle towards the village.

At around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Gou Wa and Yan Jie Kuang returned to the village. Gou Wa returned the bicycle to Yan Jie Kuang and went straight to the brigade. Yan Jie Kuang put his things on the back seat of the bicycle and pushed the bicycle to the educated youth point.

"Dad!" Gou Wa ran to the brigade headquarters, pushed the door and walked into the office, saying, "I got my stuff back." Then Gou Wa took out the list sent by the Youth League Office of the commune and handed it to Gao Junsong, saying, "Dad, there are six people assigned to us this time. All are from Shanghai. Three men and three women. The Youth League Office said that they gave us too many people last time, so this time they give us two less."

Tian Dazhuang said: "The people from the Youth League Office finally managed a personnel matter this time."

Gou Wa went on to say, "Dad, this time someone has reported Xishan Brigade. I heard that there are several old bachelors in Xishan Brigade who have taken a fancy to the female educated youth. Then they teamed up with the villagers to do something and made it a fait accompli. They thought that the female educated youth had no one to rely on here, so they forced the female educated youth to marry the old bachelors. Unexpectedly, one of the female educated youth went to the countryside with her boyfriend, and her boyfriend was assigned to Beixin Brigade next to Xishan Brigade by the commune. The female educated youth didn't want to get married and committed suicide. Later, her boyfriend came to find her and accidentally learned the truth, so he reported the entire Xishan Brigade. I heard that the police went to Xishan Brigade yesterday and arrested many people."

Tian Dazhuang said: "Fortunately, we gave those bastards in the village a heads-up in advance. If something like this happened in our brigade, not to mention finding a wife, even girls wouldn't be able to get married."

Gao Junsong said, "No! Tomorrow morning when I go to work, I must tell everyone about the Xishan Brigade. I hope we won't follow in the footsteps of the Xishan Brigade."

Gou Wa continued, "Dad, I came back with Yan Zhiqing. Yan Zhiqing said that if I didn't have a bicycle ticket, I could buy bicycle parts and assemble them myself. He also promised to teach me how to assemble a bicycle."

"What?!" Gao Junsong was stunned and asked, "Why did you come back with him?!"

Gou Wa told Gao Junsong and Tian Dazhuang about his encounter with Yan Jiekuang in the town. After listening to Gou Wa's narration, Tian Dazhuang said with a smile: "I never thought that a silly boy like you would be so lucky."

Gao Junsong said: "Since Yan Jiekuang is willing to teach you, you should learn from him! If you can't learn, I will teach you a lesson!"

Gou Wa patted his chest and promised solemnly: "Dad, don't worry! I will definitely learn the skills well!"

Tian Dazhuang said, "I remember that Ni Dalong seemed to work in the security department of the bicycle factory in Harbin. If Gou Wa has learned the skills well, we can write a letter to Ni Dalong and ask him to arrange a job for him."