128 is getting better and better.

Guan Yuehe was unaware that after reading the letter, Shenghua and Chunmei, while thinking to themselves that she was being smug again, couldn't help but be happy for her.

Chunmei even shared the newspaper she received with her classmates, saying, "It's the November issue of the Daily News."

Their class would subscribe to magazines published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, learn about important domestic news through the school's broadcasts, and some students would go to the library to read various newspapers to get information.

Chunmei suddenly handed over the newspaper. Her classmates thought there was some big news related to the English major and called on the other classmates to read it together.

I read it once, but didn't quite understand, so I read it again. The only thing in the newspaper related to English majors was the front-page story about Comrade Guan Yuehe, who acted bravely. It mentioned that Guan Yuehe graduated from the Department of Western Languages ​​at Peking University with both her undergraduate and graduate degrees, and now works in the Ministry of Foreign Trade...

The classmate frowned as he looked at her, when he suddenly heard Chunmei say with a hint of pride, "Guan Yuehe was my college roommate; we were in the same class."

After a few seconds of silence, the classmate said dryly, "Your roommate is really amazing."

"Yes." Chunmei put the newspaper away with satisfaction, then strode towards the library; she was going to continue studying!

Meanwhile, Guan Yuehe, far away in Beijing, was being praised by her classmates and junior classmates.

Work was urgent, so Guan Yuehe went to work at 8 a.m. as usual on Sunday. After finishing her work, she didn't want to go home to cook, so she went to the company cafeteria.

They happened to run into the interns who were there for training.

The extra meal tickets she had exchanged before finally came in handy.

When she graduated, her juniors gave her a fountain pen, which is now lying in her bag. She finally managed to get a chance to bring it back.

"Senior Sister Guan, we've all seen the newspaper from the Daily News! You're amazing!"

"Yeah! We didn't know you were so amazing, Senior Sister!" Not only are you fast at rushing to the cafeteria, but your martial arts skills are also superb. How come no one has ever mentioned this?

Ye Zhi Qiu also discovered another impressive quality of Guan Yue He, and exclaimed in admiration, "Senior Sister, how do you manage to get along so well with the cafeteria ladies no matter where you are?"

It was only then that the others realized this commonplace detail: whether in the school cafeteria or the foreign trade department's cafeteria, Guan Yuehe would always greet the aunt behind the window familiarly when she went to get her food.

Guan Yuehe said earnestly, "It's something I've learned over many years. Just be sweet to Auntie."

"Don't just talk about me, right? Did any of you apply for early graduation? Have you been assigned to any new jobs yet?"

Students who are selected must be good at their studies, and Guan Yuehe was also curious about where they would be assigned.

Speaking of this, Lan Yunqin sighed helplessly, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has too high requirements, so I couldn't get in and was assigned to customs."

As for the others, some applied to stay at the university, some were assigned back to the foreign trade bureaus or foreign trade corporations in the provincial capitals or cities where their household registrations were located, and some were assigned to joint ventures...

Of course, some people are still waiting for the Ministry of Foreign Trade's hiring results.

These people will be assigned to positions where the country needs them. Even if they weren't assigned to their preferred units, they weren't disappointed. Before even receiving their graduation certificates and reporting to their new jobs, they're already preparing to make their mark in their future roles.

Only one person seemed dissatisfied with their current situation.

Ye Zhiqi was assigned to work as a translator at the Beijing Foreign Trade Corporation.

The Beijing Municipal Foreign Trade Corporation was established this year and is responsible for the management of the city's import and export business. Her family members all say that this is a good company and that it has a bright future.

She doesn't really like working for a company, but she wants to start her own business, such as opening a travel agency to cater to foreign tourists. I'm afraid her family would be in complete chaos.

Ye Zhi Qiu glanced at Guan Yue He sitting opposite him, then looked at his classmates or senior sisters on either side of him, and suppressed his thoughts.

Guan Yuehe had no work to do in the afternoon, while they had training sessions. After having lunch together, Guan Yuehe said goodbye and went straight home.

The roads inside Ginkgo Alley have been restored to their original state, so there's no longer any need to worry about anyone falling into the pit.

As soon as Guan Yuehe entered the alley, she saw a large crowd gathered at the gate of courtyard number three. Some of the people at the innermost part of the alley were carrying rolling pins, while others were carrying spatulas. They all looked fierce and menacing, and were clearly not to be trifled with. These were all unfamiliar faces.

The people surrounding the area were all residents of Ginkgo Hutong, and Song Gong'an was standing right in the middle of the gate of Courtyard No. 3.

Guan Yuehe knew without asking that these people were there to settle scores with Ding Laowu.

This happened quite often that month. Guan Yuehe wasn't usually able to leave work on time, so she only saw it twice. But she heard Lin Sitian and other neighbors mention it frequently, saying that someone came to see Ding Laowu almost every day.

When these people came over, some demanded that Ding Laowu pay more money, saying that the goods had been sold too cheaply. Others wanted Ding Laowu to return the goods so they could refund the money.

Guan Yuehe thought Ding Laowu was no good, but she also felt that some people were just too unreasonable.

They probably thought Ding Laowu was stupid and rich when they were selling the goods and collecting money. But when they turned around and found that the seller had resold them at a high price, they felt that Ding Laowu had cheated them.

“Some people were tricked by him.” Jiang Guiying raised her chin outwards. “The group of people who came to cause trouble today didn’t sell anything at all. Ding Laowu went to collect scrap and casually stole the earthenware jar that someone used to pickle sauerkraut. If it hadn’t been discovered by chance, the person would have been cursing their neighbor in the same courtyard for being a thief.”

Guan Yuehe clicked her tongue, "Then he really deserves a beating."

The group made a scene until the afternoon, and even Officer Song could barely stop them. In the end, Aunt Ding came out with a pained expression, bargained, and finally paid them 300 yuan in compensation.

"A total of seven groups of people came to cause trouble. I did the math, and Ding Laowu lost a total of nearly two thousand... Wow! His scrap metal collection job is really lucrative!"

This sparked some ideas among the other neighbors, who wondered if they could also modify a tricycle so that their unemployed children could collect recyclables.

When Wu Jiawang passed by and heard the phrase "making money by collecting recyclables," he agreed with it, but did he really think that collecting recyclables was such a simple thing?

Ding Xianguang also went out to collect scrap, but all he did was ride his tricycle around aimlessly. When he asked others if they had any scrap to sell, he had a sour face. He couldn't bring himself to do it, couldn't endure hardship, and still wanted to make money? Dream on.

Besides, Ding Laowu doesn't make money by collecting scrap at all. If he really collected scrap honestly, he wouldn't have been able to save up two thousand yuan so quickly.

Guan Yuehe was also curious.

"When did Ding Laowu learn the skill of appraising treasures?" If he hadn't learned it, how could he know that someone else's inconspicuous old object was a good thing?

"I don't know. When he was in the Fengshou Brigade, he would slack off every day and sleep at the educated youth settlement. He only started learning after he returned to the city," Guan Aiguo replied.

“Anyway, it can’t be based on intuition.” As Jiang Guiying said this, she stared straight at Guan Canghai and snorted coldly. “If you don’t have the ability, you still want to learn from others and find a bargain. You’ll end up buying a worthless piece of junk for a few dozen yuan.”

Guan Yuehe glanced around the room and saw a rather old-looking vase on the green dresser against the wall in the living room. She then looked at her father, who was standing silently and looking guilty, and guessed where the vase came from.

Many people shared Guan Yuehe's doubts, but since Ding Laowu returned from the hospital, he had been lying in his room every day. Aunt Ding wouldn't allow anyone to go in and disturb him, so no one could find out the reason.

"Old Guan, Guiying! Your nephew has brought a truckload of apples over and is at the alley entrance." Zhang Ersao called out loudly as she returned from outside and stepped into the yard.

Second brother came to Ginkgo Alley?

Guan Yuehe was the first to get up and go out, followed by many other neighbors.

Guan Weiguo and his two brothers-in-law were transporting a tricycle full of apples into the city. Just as they reached the entrance of the alley, an old man pulled off the black cloth covering the apples, revealing a basket of bright red apples.

The others at the alley entrance immediately gathered around, pulling them aside to whisper, "Are these apples for sale? How much per pound? Can you give us a discount?"

There are large apple orchards in the production teams on the outskirts of Beijing. Buying apples in the city isn't difficult, but the price is. If a company is doing well, apples might be included in the New Year's gifts distributed before the Spring Festival.

But there are still more than two months until the Spring Festival, and Guoguang apples have already been launched. The kids in the family are clamoring to eat them, and the adults are also craving them.

This is where the advantage of having relatives in the countryside becomes apparent. If the relatives living in the countryside grow their own apple trees, then you can eat apples.

"Second Brother!"

The neighbors who came out with Guan Yuehe also wanted to ask if they would sell the apples they brought.

"We didn't bring many apples, so we won't trade with you all." Guan Weiguo called to his two brothers-in-law to carry the remaining two baskets of apples down.

His family also grows apples on their private plot, and every year they send two baskets of fruit to the city to be divided among his second uncle's family, Aunt Fang's family, and his two younger sisters' families. In reality, there isn't much fruit.

In previous years, the goods were delivered by hitching a ride on someone else's vehicle into the city, but this year a special tricycle was used to transport them.

The neighbors weren't stupid either. Although they only had two baskets of apples in their truck, there were still many empty bamboo baskets inside. These baskets must have been used to hold apples, and they had sold them all outside before coming over.

I just don't know whether they sold the apples to the supply and marketing cooperative or to the purchasing station.

Guan Weiguo, along with his two brothers-in-law, delivered two baskets of apples to Courtyard No. 3 and Courtyard No. 1 respectively.

There were too many problems with the neighbors in Courtyard No. 3, so Guan Weiguo stayed with Guan Yuehe and his two brothers-in-law to talk.

“We brought two truckloads of apples and went to the TV factory’s residential compound. We sold twenty baskets in one morning. The others went back first, and the two of us came to deliver apples to you.”

Guan Yuehe made them some sugar water, then found her own bamboo basket and divided the apples into two baskets, leaving the other portion for Gu Mannian to take away when he came.

As she changed the apple baskets, she asked, "Is this year's harvest good?"

Guan Weiguo nodded happily, "The harvest is good, but the purchasing station was pushing the price down too low, so we brought some to the city. We didn't expect it to sell so quickly."

Guan Yuehe asked them about the price they were selling for, and then said, "The apples at the supply and marketing cooperative are 50 cents a pound, and you're selling them for 38 cents a pound. It's not surprising that you're selling them well. But just don't make too much of a fuss."

"Today was an accident. We've discussed it and will sell our stock in different residential compounds another day. There aren't many left. Once we sell our own stock, that's it. We hope to have a good New Year this year."

Selling apples to a collection station is easier, but the price is low, less than two cents. It's a bit of a hassle to go into the city, but it's much more profitable than selling them to the collection station.

When I came to pick up Juanjuan in August, I ran into Gu Mannian. Gu Mannian said that there was a lot of demand for fruit in the city and reminded me that I could send some to the city to sell. He said that as long as I set the price lower than that of the supply and marketing cooperative, I wouldn't have to worry about not having buyers.

He pondered for a long time before deciding to give it a try.

Only one family in the village joined him in the work; the others had various concerns and did not join. So he went to his father-in-law's house and asked Li Qiuyue's younger brother, Li Sheng, and cousin, Li Ming, to work together to deliver their own apples and his father-in-law's apples to the city.

It turns out that you really can make money this way!

"The harvest from our own fields is good. After deducting the grain that has to be handed over to the state, there is enough left to eat our fill."

Guan Yuehe then said, "Tell your uncle and aunt that they don't need to send me food anymore. Lin Yiku and I don't eat at home often, and the rations we receive are enough for us."

Guan Weiguo didn't agree. He remembered that his parents had mentioned that Yuehe's family was going to build a separate bathroom. He had never seen what a separate bathroom looked like, so he asked where the bathroom was being built.

“Outside, the storage room and bathroom have been converted.” Guan Yuehe pointed to the key on the wall next to the door, telling him to take it and open the door himself.

Guan Weiguo's two brothers-in-law sat quietly and reservedly after entering the house, too embarrassed to look around or know what to say to Guan Yuehe. When they saw their brother-in-law about to leave, they immediately got up and followed him.

Guan Weiguo had just unlocked the bathroom door when Li Sheng, who had just turned sixteen, couldn't hold back and whispered, "Brother-in-law, why do city people have to lock their toilets? Are they afraid someone will steal their fertilizer?"

"If you build a toilet on your own land and don't lock it up, other people will come and use it. Wouldn't that be a nuisance?"

Li Sheng curled his lip, thinking to himself, "How could using a toilet be such a hassle?" He peeked inside and found it clean and tidy, with cement floors, unlike the dry toilets in the brigade. Now he understood why his own toilet also had a lock; he would have done the same.

“I want to get one like this for my family someday,” Li Sheng whispered, tugging at his cousin Li Ming’s sleeve.

Guan Weiguo laughed and said, "After the fruit trees in the house bear fruit and we make money, you can build two toilets if you want."

When Jiang Guiying came over carrying a heavy bamboo basket, she saw the three of them peeking into the bathroom and found it amusing.

After the public toilets in the alley were renovated, those who hadn't built their own toilets all went to visit other people's houses, and they had the same expressions on their faces.

However, many people regretted their decision after seeing the information and wanted to apply to the neighborhood office to build their own independent toilets. But the neighborhood office said that if they applied now, they would have to pay all the costs and personally go to each of the relevant departments to apply. The considerable expense and cumbersome process deterred these people again.

"It gets dark early, so I won't keep you for dinner. Next time you come to the city, come over for lunch. Take these things back to your parents."

Jiang Guiying put the things into the empty bamboo basket that Guan Weiguo had brought and brought them over. After speaking, she asked him how many apples she had left to send to the city to sell.

“If it doesn’t sell well outside, you can deliver it to Ginkgo Alley. There are plenty of factory workers here who are willing to buy fruit.”

Guan Weiguo scratched his head sheepishly and replied with an "okay".

He had actually considered selling his products in Ginkgo Alley, but there were too many acquaintances there, and if someone with ulterior motives reported him to the car factory, it might affect his second uncle's work.

Jiang Guiying guessed his thoughts, "Don't worry, just send it over. We'll exchange our own apples and the people in the alley for other things. It's not like we're doing speculation. You can exchange whatever coupons you need, and no one can find fault with it."

Now, many people carry loads of goods to sell in the alleys, and even Public Security Officer Song pretends not to see them, and the street office does nothing about it.

Guan Weiguo's two brothers-in-law's eyes lit up. Why didn't they think of finding someone to exchange tickets?

"Okay, I'll bring any extra to the alley next time. Second Aunt, Yuehe... Yuehe?" Guan Weiguo turned his head, not knowing where Guan Yuehe had run off to.

"Huh?" Guan Yuehe responded from inside the bedroom.

"We have to go back now, we'll come see you again next time." With that, she told her brother-in-law to pick up the bamboo basket from the ground.

"Wait!" Guan Yuehe quickened her pace, gathered a roll of cloth and two bundles of yarn from the bedroom, then ran to rummage through the storage cabinet, took out two cans of food and a bag of milk candy, and put everything into their bamboo basket.

"These are for Uncle, Aunt, and Juanjuan. Tell Uncle and Aunt not to send me food next time, I have enough to eat here. Come on, come on, I'll see you out."

When Guan Weiguo left Yinxing Hutong with his two brothers-in-law, the two bamboo baskets that were originally full of apples were now piled with a lot of supplies that were hard to buy in the countryside.

"Brother-in-law, the city has so many things! You should invite me again sometime, and my cousin too."

Sitting on the back of the tricycle, Li Sheng was still reflecting on his experiences in the city that day. He used to think that living in apartment buildings was the best thing in the city, but after visiting Ginkgo Hutong today, he realized that living in a traditional courtyard house wasn't so bad. Everyone there had their own clean toilet, which was easy to use with a flush. And even in a courtyard house, people still had televisions; they had all the essential household items...

"Sure, come on over if you're willing to put in the work."

Guan Weiguo took his two brothers-in-law directly back to their father-in-law's house, settled the bill in front of the elders, and then rode his tricycle back to Fengshou Brigade.

Guan Weiguo's father-in-law, Grandpa Li, asked his youngest son, Li Sheng, to go next door and call people over. Some of the apples delivered to sell today belonged to his brother's family, and they would then divide the money according to the weight of each family's apples.

"That's two cents more than sending it to the purchasing station, that's double the profit!" Li Erye, Li Daye's brother, counted the money and said excitedly, "Brother, we won't send the rest of our money to the purchasing station. We'll have Li Ming, Li Sheng, and their brother-in-law take it to the city to sell!"

Grandpa Li reminded them, "When outsiders come to ask how much you made, you'd better keep your mouths shut. I don't need to tell you the principle of making money quietly."

"Hey!" Old Master Li handed the money to his wife and said happily, "Luckily, Weiguo is quick-witted, otherwise we would have earned a lot less money."

Grandpa Li smiled but didn't say anything. He knew his son-in-law's personality well.

He was an honest man and a good talker, but if no one gave him a push, Wei Guo definitely wouldn't have been able to make up his mind to sell apples in the city.

After thinking it over, he guessed that it was Wei Guo's brothers and sisters in the city who came up with the idea.

No. 3, Ginkgo Hutong.

When Gu Mannian brought Guyu over, he heard that Guan Weiguo had brought apples into the city to sell, and he said it was quite a coincidence.

"I'm going to Fengshou Brigade tomorrow. The factory plans to give apples to the workers for New Year's Day, and the purchasing department wants to buy them directly from the brigade."

He has to leave with the factory's truck early tomorrow morning, so he sent Guyu to stay overnight in Ginkgo Hutong.

Guan Yuehe was surprised, "The factory is giving out New Year's Day gifts like it's the Spring Festival?"

In addition to rice, flour, and cooking oil, there was also meat and fruit, and the quantities were quite large.

Gu Mannian said proudly, "This is just a small part. Zhuoyue Garment Factory is one of the second batch of state-owned factories to pilot reforms. The extra profits can be used to pay bonuses to the workers. As for me, my bonus this year is equivalent to a month's salary. The workers in the production workshop will only receive more than me."

Guan Yuehe felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this, "The factory's benefits are so good!"

"When you have time, come back to the factory and take a look. The factory building we rented from the street office has been cleaned up now. Our factory director said that we must keep up with the wave of reform and strive to be the first to try something new!"

"Oh, and I have some more good news for you: Zhuoyue brand sportswear will be exhibiting at the Canton Fair next spring!"

Guan Yuehe's tone became even more sarcastic, "Alright, stop talking. If you keep talking, I'll get jealous."

But she was genuinely happy for Zhuoyue Garment Factory.

In her mind, Zhuoyue Garment Factory should keep moving forward and naturally get better and better.