Chapter 16 Cruel enough
After waiting for more than half an hour, the two finally got their turn.

He handed over the coal book, stamped it, pointed at it, and packed it away himself.

Look how much they trust the people. They are not afraid of you taking more.

It is said that the old people working in the coal yard can tell at a glance how much you have installed, so there are smart people everywhere and no one dares to be clever.

After the two men loaded the honeycomb coal, Yu Zhiyuan put the pull rope on his shoulder, pulled the cart with both hands and walked home.

Sha Zhu carried Qiao Qiao on his back as they walked and said, "You said you were going to take a day off, but everywhere was crowded. In the morning, I couldn't even get a piece of tofu at the grocery store."

"You are just lazy. You don't make breakfast at the factory, so you are not free in the morning. You are so heartless all day long, and you don't plan your life at all."

"That's why I asked you to find me a wife. I wear clean clothes and live in a clean house every day. Don't you think I don't want to?"

"Okay, okay, it's not a cabbage. I have to examine it carefully for you."

Halfway through the journey, Sha Zhu took over pulling the cart, while Yu Zhiyuan carried his daughter on his back.

"Qiaoqiao, what are you doing here? Your clothes are dirty, and your face is dirty too. Aren't you asking your dad to go back and wait for your mom to clean it up? You don't care about your dad at all."

"It's okay, Daddy, I'll protect you, and Mom loves me the most. I'm here, please be alright!"

"What have you learned all day? Let's make a deal. If your mom wants to scold me, remember to ask for your dad's help. Don't be a deserter then."

A few people chatted and laughed, and took turns pulling each other to the gate of the courtyard.

I saw Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai chatting and laughing as they were moving honeycomb coal into the yard.

Yu Zhiyuan looked at Sha Zhu and smiled, and told Qiaoqiao to go home first.

So Sha Zhu and I started moving the honeycomb coal using wooden boards as a base.

When Yu Zhiyuan carried the honeycomb coal into the backyard, he saw Qiaoqiao standing at the door of her house with tears on her face as a punishment.

He put the coal in the honeycomb coal shed in the alley next to the ear room, then squatted down to take out the old honeycomb and put it aside.

Quietly go to the door.

"Why are you still crying? Did your mother hit you?" Yu Zhiyuan said to Qiaoqiao in a low voice.

Qiaoqiao nodded: "You called me a dirty girl. Why did you follow me to the coal yard for no reason? And you even spanked me."

Qiaoqiao said this while touching her butt.

"Dad can't help me, my girl, you're on your own."

"What do you mean by asking for your own luck, Dad?"

"Well, let's talk about this later. Dad has to behave himself."

After moving all the coal from the three families, tell Sha Zhu that the cart will be needed in the afternoon, so don't clean it yet.

I had lunch in the low pressure area at noon.

Yu Zhiyuan put two bottles of Moutai into his cloth bag and hurried out.

When we arrived at the front yard, we saw that the cart was clean, without any coal ash or cinders.

He glanced at Yan Bugui's house, then chuckled and pulled him out of the compound.

It's just a bit difficult to cross the threshold.

He pulled it to Bi Zhengliang's courtyard, told the children in the courtyard to watch over the car, and then went into the courtyard carrying the cloth bag.

Bi Zhengliang took his notebook and headed for the coal yard.

"Master, will my eldest brother come back to visit this year?"

"I haven't decided yet. I will definitely send a telegram if I come back. I must meet your brother-in-law when the time comes. I haven't been back for four years. I guess I will have to come back this year."

Yu Zhiyuan nodded: "It's just too far away, everything is inconvenient, and it takes several days to go back."

"How can a soldier be free? Fortunately, Qiuyan has passed away and can take care of him. How can a group of grown men live without having enough food?"

"It's been almost a year since my sister-in-law passed away."

Bi Zhengliang sighed after hearing this.

Yu Zhiyuan thought, this is because he misses his son and grandson at the same time. After walking for a while, Bi Zhengliang lit a cigarette and said, "The factory may expand production after the New Year. Have you made any arrangements? Master, your old face is still useful."

"My brother-in-law is 17 at the beginning of the year, and I want to ask him to join the factory. I don't want him to work in the workshop anymore. He is quite smart, so I think it would be best to arrange him to work in logistics, or in the kitchen if that doesn't work."

After listening to this, Bi Zhengliang nodded without saying anything.

Yu Zhiyuan added: "Nowadays, every household has more and more children, and housing will be a problem in the future. I want him to come to the factory as soon as possible and arrange a home for him, otherwise it will be too troublesome."

"Well, I'll ask around, there shouldn't be any problems with logistics. I'll have to retire in a few years, and I haven't had a good life for a few days."

It was already mid-afternoon by the time I finished cleaning up for Bi Zhengliang.

Yu Zhiyuan pulled the car back to the courtyard and shouted "Liberation".

Yan Jiefang came out of his house and looked at Yu Zhiyuan.

Yu Zhiyuan pointed at the cart and walked towards the backyard. Just as the family of three sat down to eat dinner, they heard Fan Changjun shouting outside.

"Zhiyuan, come out quickly and take me."

When I went out, I saw Fan Changjun pushing a cart with two boxes on the back rack and a cloth bag hanging on the handlebars.

"Don't just stand there! Hurry and move your things into the house."

Yang Xuemei lifted the door curtain and asked Yu Zhiyuan to move the two boxes into the house and put them under the bed in the west room where her mother used to sleep.

Fan Changjun followed him into the west room carrying a cloth bag.

"That's two boxes of Maotai, just delivered today. Han Guang just came back, I want to take one of the two sheep first, and you can keep half of the other one for me, my brother will need it when he comes back. It's almost 80 kilograms of beef, our hospital has ordered nearly 20 kilograms, and my family needs kilograms for the New Year. You can deal with the rest."

After saying that, he handed the cloth bag in his hand to Yu Zhiyuan.

"Hu Hanguang is really ruthless. He got so many at once."

Fan Changjun sighed and said, "His mother is not in good health, and his wife is pregnant. He didn't ask for money even though he needed it. Now that the situation outside is better, he is bolder. The herders are also short of wine and money. The cows died regardless of how they died. Don't worry, I won't let him run away before the New Year. We'll see after the New Year. Remember to prepare more eggs and fish for him in April."

Then he stuffed another note into Yu Zhiyuan's hand and said, "Take this, my brother gave it to me. Han Guang has a military note, and he can't bear to part with it. He has to go get it without spending money."

Then he said with a happy smile: "Now that my brother has become a full-time regiment, we don't have to tighten our belts anymore. These past two years have been very difficult for me. Okay, I'm going back. We'll talk about it later when we have dinner."

Yu Zhiyuan sent Fan Changjun out of the compound, went back to the house, looked at the watch ticket in his hand, and shook his head. Fan Changjun still felt at ease with the eighty yuan he gave him last time.

For the sake of his brother, Yu Zhiyuan has thought of a lot of things for Fan Changjun. Field troops are really difficult.

Yu Zhiyuan told Yang Xuemei about Fan Changjun's family and gave her another 150 yuan.

At the end of the year, Yu Zhiyuan didn't have time to look at his watch, so he asked her to check it herself.

After eating, I pushed the cart out.

Cut up the meat from the courtyard outside the city and put it away.

The next day, when I arrived at the workshop and finished cleaning up, I saw Bi Zhengliang coming into the workshop humming a song!
He handed the teacup to Bi Zhengliang: "Is there any good news? I am so happy for you so early in the morning. Can you still see the front gate?"

"Go, don't interrupt me with your master. Your elder brother wrote that he will be back on Laba Day and will go to Shijiazhuang to study after the New Year. It will take about eight months, and then he will join the Beijing Garrison District."

"No wonder. That's a great thing."

"Your brother-in-law may have to go to the Northeast to visit your eldest brother's comrades."

"No problem, as long as someone takes it."

Bi Zhengliang drank a sip of tea and continued to enjoy himself.

A busy morning is over.

Yu Zhiyuan walked into the canteen director's office, took the cigarette box from the table, took out a cigarette, lit it himself, and put the cigarette into his pocket.

"Director Shang, this time we have some good stuff, 200 kilograms of beef, how about that? That's quite generous, isn't it?"

Shang Chunan smiled and took out another box of Daqianmen cigarettes from the drawer and threw it to Yu Zhiyuan.

"You can do it, kid. Send it over tonight and add it to the factory workers' dishes tomorrow. We haven't had beef for a while, so a little is better than nothing. Just cut it into smaller pieces!"

Shang Chunan burst into laughter after he finished speaking.

(End of this chapter)