Chapter 33 Survival
The two men smoked another cigarette before they saw Yang Zhiqiang walking towards them from a distance with something in his hand.

When he got to the front, Yu Zhiyuan asked, "How come you can get the benefits on the first day?"

"No, our supervisor said that these work gloves have been stored for a long time, so he asked us two newcomers to take them back for our own use. Brother-in-law, I don't need the gloves, so why don't you take them?"

"Go away. What do you know? When you move things, you will find out that gloves are useless."

Sha Zhu patted Zhiqiang: "It's right to listen to your brother-in-law."

It seems that there are quite a lot of tricks in my warehouse!
"Go back and talk to Zhiqiang alone. Don't yell about everything all day long. Can't you see Shazhu and Hao Yingjuan are here?" Yu Zhiyuan thought to himself.

The four of them strolled towards the courtyard. Just as they turned a small intersection, they saw a bicycle lying on the side of the road with the words "Red Star Steel Rolling Mill" written on it.

Then I heard some cursing coming from the woods nearby.

Yu Zhiyuan ran into the woods as soon as he saw it. Zhiqiang threw his things on the ground and followed his brother-in-law into the woods.

Sha Zhu took one look and said to Hao Yingjuan, "Wait here."

They ran into the woods together.

It was not yet dark, and Yu Zhiyuan vaguely saw Xu Damao lying on the ground holding his head and being kicked by five young street thugs.

Yu Zhiyuan didn't say a word, he ran over, jumped up and kicked a street urchin to the ground, then punched back and knocked down another one.

Then Shazhu and Zhiqiang arrived.

Three people surrounded five people and started fighting.

Xu Damao on the ground also reacted and stood up to join the battle.

When the five men saw this, they got up, frantically fought for a while, then turned around and ran away.

After all, this place is not far from the steel mill.

The few people did not chase after him and left the woods.

Xu Damao, with a bruised face and nose, took out the cigarette from his pocket and saw that it was all clumped up. He said while sucking on it, "Zhiyuan, give me one of your cigarettes."

Yu Zhiyuan took out cigarettes and gave them to Xu Damao and Sha Zhu, then lit them.

Xu Damao took two puffs of his cigarette before picking up the bicycle, pushing it and heading towards the courtyard.

"Shamao, which young wife are you harassing again? Why are you being stopped and beaten by someone?"

Xu Damao grinned and replied, "Silly Zhu, stop slandering me all day long. It's not true at all."

"What's that? Tell me about it." Sha Zhu asked.

Xu Damao looked at Zhiqiang and asked, "Is this your brother-in-law?"

Yu Zhiyuan nodded and said to Zhiqiang, "Call me Brother Damao."

Yang Zhiqiang called out, "Brother Damao."

"Okay, I accept you as my brother. I'll treat you to a meal later."

"Hey, I said Sha Mao only invited him and not us."

Xu Damao glanced at Sha Zhu and said, "I'm inviting you, do you dare to come?"

"If you dare to invite me, I will come."

"Okay, I'll treat you guys to a meal in a few days."

"That's better. Tell me what happened. Those guys were really ruthless. If Zhiyuan hadn't acted quickly, you would have been half dead!"

"Hey, it's all about the bicycle ticket."

"Bicycle? What bicycle? Shamao, explain it clearly."

"Why are you so anxious? We are talking about this right now. Those guys are also dealing in tickets. A few days ago, someone in the alley next door wanted bicycle tickets, and a few guys were trying to get more from him. I don't know how they found out about me. I sold them to others when I had them, and these guys probably knew that I stole their job, so they came to block me."

"Shamao, you deserve this, you don't do things like this."

"How the hell would I know? That person even contacted someone else to buy a bicycle ticket. I am just unlucky."

When several people entered the compound, Yan Bugui shouted, "Da Mao, what happened to you? Why were you beaten so badly?" This made Xu Damao so angry that he said nothing and just pushed the cart away.

Yan Bugui hurriedly grabbed Yu Zhiyuan and said, "Zhiyuan, what's going on? Tell the third uncle."

"Uncle, I really didn't know. I just met him at the entrance of the alley. I've been busy all day and there are several mouths to feed at home. Can you please let me go home?"

Yan Bugui's face flushed and he let go of Yu Zhiyuan's hand.

Yu Zhiyuan hurriedly went into the intermediate courtyard with Yang Zhiqiang to avoid Yan Bugui asking questions again.

After returning home, he asked Zhiqiang to cook, and Yu Zhiyuan mixed some bran to feed the chickens.

Qiaoqiao ran over and hugged Yu Zhiyuan's legs: "Dad, our chickens laid eggs today. Mom and I saw it when we came back this afternoon. Grandma said she heard our chickens clucking in the afternoon!"

After feeding for several months, it finally laid eggs.

"Give Qiaoqiao scrambled eggs tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay, I like eggs the best."

After feeding the chickens, Yu Zhiyuan took a small axe from the ear room and took Qiaoqiao to a few willow trees at the entrance of the alley.

It doesn't look like a weeping willow.

He picked out a few thumb-thick, dry and dead branches and cut them down.

Qiaoqiao was still chirping: "Dad, why are you cutting branches? Isn't this tree alive?"

"The branches that Dad cut are dry and dead. They won't grow anymore on the tree. Dad took the branches back to build a trellis for the cucumbers. Cucumbers grow vines. You have to build a trellis and let them climb on it. They can't flutter to the ground, otherwise they won't produce cucumbers, and even if they do, they won't grow big. When they produce cucumbers, Dad will tell Qiaoqiao, okay?"

"Hehe, dad, don't forget it when the time comes."

"Then Qiaoqiao, remind daddy when the time comes, okay?"

Qiaoqiao nodded repeatedly.

After saying that, Yu Zhiyuan held the branch and the father and son walked back to the courtyard.

After building the cucumber rack, I washed my hands and had my meals.

After dinner, when Yu Zhiyuan and Zhiqiang were washing dishes, Yu Zhiyuan said to Zhiqiang: "Don't talk so much when you were carrying things this afternoon. From now on, just keep your own business in the warehouse and don't talk about it everywhere. Don't ask questions randomly when you are working, understand!"

"I know, brother-in-law."

"As for Xu Damao, no matter who asks, he says he doesn't know. This is their way of survival. Don't offend others unintentionally, or they will trip you up behind your back. Keep your mouth shut in the future. The people in our courtyard are all good at keeping their mouths shut."

"I remember that, brother-in-law."

"Just wait and see. If you move into the back house, there will definitely be people who will be jealous and things will get complicated."

I ate early and packed some snacks for Xuemei.

Yu Zhiyuan led Zhiqiang to gather and walk towards the steel rolling mill.

Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, Director Guo led a group of young people to the workshop door.

"This is the second workshop. You must arrive on time tomorrow and I will arrange your work. Okay, remember where you are supposed to work, and go home now."

After watching the newcomers leave, Director Guo heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I've been exhausted this day."

After Yu Zhiyuan finished his task for today, he saw his master and Director Guo whispering in the corner.

He went over to offer cigarettes to the director, and then lit cigarettes for the director and the master and asked, "Director, how many people are here?"

"There are more than 180 people, about the same number as our workshop. From tomorrow we will start collecting parts and moving things around. Don't waste such good labor. We will adjust it in two months."

"How about it, Yu Zhiyuan, you don't want to transfer to another workshop?"

The master waved his hand and said, "Zhiyuan and I are in Workshop 2."

Director Guo said, "That's great. I was counting on you to train two more mid-level workers for me. Yu Zhiyuan and Yin Tiemin are both good. Okay, let's stop talking. I'm going to go back and have a drink of water. I'm exhausted."

(End of this chapter)