058 Club
"Aunt Wen was so angry she wanted to drag my brother back and beat him up!" Lin Sitian mimicked the tone Director Wen used when talking about her brother at Guan Yuehe's house, and then added, "My brother deserves to be scolded too!"
Guan Yuehe listened to the radio while changing its batteries, occasionally letting out an "uh-huh" to let Lin Sitian know she wasn't talking to thin air.
Then he continued:
“My brother returned to the army in a hurry, and some people even wanted to arrange a blind date for him, but before they could, they brought his photos to my mother and said that accompanying him to the army was not a problem. They suggested that my brother and the woman exchange photos and write letters to each other to get to know each other.”
“My mom wrote to my brother about this. My brother said he didn’t want to work for Five Star Motors and told my mom to worry less.”
Lin Sitian clapped her hands. "My mom got angry and said she's not going to care about him anymore and will let him stay single for the rest of his life."
Upon hearing this, Guan Yuehe thought to herself: It's fortunate that the south is far away, otherwise Aunt Fang might have rushed to the army to deal with Lin Yiku.
After finishing talking about her brother, Lin Sitian remembered the gossip she had overheard when she got home. "Aunt Wen introduced you to a gay man? Who is it? Do I know him?"
“Zhao Youtong from the Technical Department.” Guan Yuehe picked up the radio with the battery changed and put it aside, reaching out to tickle Lin Sitian. “Didn’t you say there weren’t any outstanding single men at the car factory? Aunt Wen came over today and praised Zhao Youtong to the skies. My dad and mom are both tempted.”
Lin Sitian was so wronged, and she even had to ask her in return, "There's a single male colleague in the technical department named Zhao Youtong? How come I didn't know that?"
"You haven't been keeping up with the news lately."
"I'll be attending training courses soon, so I'm bound to miss some gossip." Lin Sitian told her not to rush into rejecting Director Wen, "Let me find out more about him first. What if you find someone good?"
Oh, that's late.
She has already rejected him completely.
Upon hearing Guan Yuehe's reason for refusing, Lin Sitian completely agreed: they weren't compatible in appearance, and she didn't even have the desire to get to know her, let alone live together in the future.
“A new doctor who joined our hospital last year, I think he’s interested in me.”
Guan Yuehe immediately stopped what she was doing and asked anxiously, "And then?"
Lin Sitian shrugged, "That's all."
"Originally, I had a bit of a crush on him. But it seems like he's pursuing me, and also like he's pursuing a female doctor in another department. I'm not really sure, so now when I look at that male doctor, he seems just so-so."
"Ugh! Don't bother with this kind of person. If we find a chance later, we'll just smother him."
Lin Sitian said regretfully, "If he wanted to live in Ginkgo Hutong, I would have asked you and Xu Chengcai for help a long time ago. I've been thinking about it for days, but I just couldn't find an opportunity to put a sack over him."
Doctors and nurses at the Workers' Hospital can apply to live in the hospital's dormitory building. There are many people there, and it is close to the hospital, so there is no opportunity to take advantage of it.
It became even more difficult to make a move after the male doctor was assigned a room.
The Wuxing Automobile Factory, which had been talking about building dormitories for workers for several years, finally started construction this October. After that, when they allocate housing, it will be in apartment buildings. In Ginkgo Alley, unless someone moves out, no new neighbors will move in.
The workers' quarters are located at the other end of the Five Star Automobile Factory, further away from Ginkgo Alley. The distance between the two sides would take at least an hour by bicycle.
People in Ginkgo Hutong have a new topic of conversation lately: How many years has your family member worked? Are they eligible for housing allocation?
Lin Yufeng was most concerned about this news and went to the alley entrance every day to find out the latest updates: Had the factory issued any regulations? How were the eligibility criteria for apartment allocation determined?
Guan Yuehe only overheard a few words before asking Jiang Guiying, "Can my brother apply for housing allocation in his situation?"
The house her family currently owns is registered under her father's name, but they were able to get it by using the quotas of her parents and older brother, who were all workers. Otherwise, the factory would not have been able to allocate such a large house to her family.
"I don't know, let's submit the application first. If we don't get a spot this time, we'll get one next time." Jiang Guiying said, "Your older brother has been working for ten years, and Weiwei and Jingjing are older now, so his score should be quite high."
The Five Star Automobile Factory has a large number of employees but limited housing. Housing eligibility is determined by a score, and the specific calculation method depends on factors such as length of service, marital and childbearing status, whether both spouses work, and contributions to the factory, which is quite complex.
Guan Yuehe thought that it might be possible to get Guan Aiguo, the apprentice, a full-time employee.
The car factory acted extremely quickly in allocating housing this time.
In early November, the ginkgo leaves at the entrance of the alley all turned yellow, and the housing allocation list for the car factory was also released.
“I can understand giving Grandpa Li a house, but why is Zhao Youtong from the technical department getting a house? He joined the factory in September and got a house in November? There’s definitely something fishy going on!” Aunt Xu slammed her hand on the list on the wall angrily.
The Xu family was the most vocal in their protests during this housing allocation process.
Grandpa Xu, along with his eldest son, his second son and his wife, and his youngest daughter, make up a family of five who all worked at the car factory. Even if they weren't allocated apartments, shouldn't they at least be given an extra room in a single-story house? It's unreasonable for such a large family to be crammed into the east wing of the No. 3 courtyard in Ginkgo Hutong.
However, the next second, everyone pointed to the second-to-last line of the list, "Your son got a room!"
Mr. and Mrs. Xu both work at the factory's cinema. As dual-income families with two children, they are more likely to be allocated housing.
Before Sister-in-law Xu could finish venting her anger, she was interrupted by these words. She hurried over to take a look and found that it really was the name of the third brother and his wife!
Sister-in-law Xu was filled with mixed feelings. She thought it was good that her third son's family of four had moved out. Her fourth son had been allocated a house at the garment factory, her second son had voluntarily gone to the countryside years ago and hadn't been heard from since, and her sister-in-law would eventually get married. The house would belong to their little family from now on.
But they were also envious that the third brother and his wife were about to move into an apartment building. Why didn't that apartment end up in Xu Laoda's hands?
If this really happens to Xu Laoda, then after they move out, they won't have their father-in-law's salary to supplement their household income...
Sister-in-law Xu fell silent, but the others who hadn't been allocated a room all had their eyes on Zhao Youtong, all wondering the same thing: why was he able to get a room?
Even if you only get the smallest single room, it's still a room!
Lin Sitian finally found out the truth and came to Guan Yuehe to gossip: "He used to work at a car factory in Northeast China. The factory wanted to hire his mentor but couldn't, so his mentor sent him to our car factory. They said he was an important technical talent, so the factory gave him an extra apartment."
"As soon as he arrived, the factory leaders were busy arranging dates for him, hoping to keep him tied to our car factory."
Lin Sitian chuckled and said, "He said he's pursuing free love and rejected all the factory's offers. I think he still wants to come looking for you."
Guan Yuehe rolled her eyes. "Stop laughing and give me the scissors."
"Oh, okay." Lin Sitian casually cut the thread for her and said with a sigh, "My mom said you and my brother are both idiots."
I'm not interested in this, and I don't like that.
"Aren't you one?" How dare you say that about others.
"Of course not!" Lin Sitian chuckled. "Comrade Zhou Jinghang from the pharmaceutical factory invited me to go to the movies this Sunday, and I've already agreed."
The news that her childhood friend was going on a date with a strange gay man came as a complete surprise. Guan Yuehe looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"How did you end up making plans with someone?"
Xu Chengcai and Ding Xuewen's families moved into Courtyard No. 3 after she was four years old. She and Lin Sitian had lived in the same courtyard since they were little, growing up together and were closer than sisters. When she suddenly learned that her childhood friend was going to date someone else, she wanted to be happy for her, but she couldn't feel happy. She even wanted to frown and pout.
"We haven't talked about it yet!" Lin Sitian quickly said when she saw her grumbling in dissatisfaction, "I saw him once before at the hospital. He came over today to do something for us and said he wanted to invite me to a movie, so I agreed."
Guan Yuehe was a little happier. It wasn't like they had kept their relationship a secret for a while before telling her, so she could forgive them.
"You invited him to a movie after only one meeting? Do you even know anything about him?"
“There’s an older woman in our pharmacy who knows him. His family situation is similar to mine. He also has an older brother in the army. His parents and he are all workers in a pharmaceutical factory. Oh, and his dad works in the pharmaceutical industry.”
"He said he was impressed when he first met me and wanted to be friends. When I saw him, I thought he was good-looking and had a good sense of humor, so I agreed."
Guan Yuehe asked curiously, "How memorable was your first meeting?"
"Hahaha!" Before Lin Sitian could answer, she burst into laughter and collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
Guan Yuehe tossed the sewn quilt cover aside and glared at her, saying, "Speak up!"
When Lin Sitian encounters something funny, she laughs to her heart's content before speaking. If she encounters an impatient person, she can drive them crazy with impatience.
"The first time he met me was when I was about to give him an injection or IV drip. He kept dodging, so I chased after him. I even said to him, 'He's a grown man, it's just an IV drip, what's there to be afraid of?'"
Guan Yuehe: "......" What's so funny about this?
“I called out in the infusion room, ‘Where is Wang Weiguo?’ He raised his hand, so I naturally assumed it was him! Hey! He brought his colleague Wang Weiguo here.”
Guan Yuehe scratched her head, still unable to understand. They'd fallen for each other already?
I thought to myself: I might really be a fool.
Sunday hadn't arrived yet, and Lin Sitian had made plans to go to the movies. Xie Dongxue was going to a relative's wedding with her family, and after much thought, she couldn't find anyone to go back to her hometown with to transport apples.
The apples are ripe again this year, and it's another bumper harvest. My second brother sent a message early on, asking her to come back to our hometown in November if she has time.
“It’s not safe for you to go by yourself. I’ll talk to the guys in the transport team and ask them to take a detour to my hometown to bring the apples back.”
Guan Jianguo slurped down his food in a few big mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, grabbed his coat, slung it over his shoulder, and hurried out the door. The factory's transport team was incredibly busy, sometimes delivering trucks, sometimes delivering parts, and sometimes helping out at the request of other factories...
"Oh, right," Guan Jianguo reminded her, "Comrade Zhao from the technical department has been coming to our transportation team quite often. I think he has ulterior motives."
After saying that, Guan Jianguo picked up the dawdling Guan Aiguo and hurriedly left the house.
Guan Canghai snorted in dissatisfaction, "Coming to the barbershop once a week? I think he's going to be the first bald man in the Five Star Automobile Factory!"
Guan Yuehe corrected, "Our Uncle Ming was the first bald man in the factory back in the day."
So, she always found it strange that her father, who cuts hair, and Uncle Ming, who doesn't need haircuts, could talk to each other so well.
"Don't let your Uncle Ming hear you say that."
"oh."
Despite her playful nature, Guan Yuehe earnestly told her father, "Next time he comes to see you, just talk to him straight. He keeps coming to see you and my brother every day. People who don't know the situation might think that I have something going on with him. If there are any men at the car factory that I like, wouldn't that be a waste of my time?"
"Okay, I'll tell him again next time I see him." Guan Canghai shook his head. Comrade Xiao Zhao still didn't understand the priorities. It's useless to just fawn over other people.
No one knows what her father said, but when Guan Yuehe got off work on Saturday, she actually saw Zhao Youtong at the factory gate.
He waved and greeted her when he saw her; it seemed he was looking for her.
Almost simultaneously, Dr. Jia, who was leaving the factory gate, looked away from Guan Yuehe as soon as their eyes met and quickly ran off.
Guan Yuehe had just returned to work at the factory when he tried to strike up a conversation with her, only to be elbowed and forced to stay home for a week.
After recovering, back at the factory, hesitating whether to continue flirting, Gu Mannian strolled to the infirmary and mentioned that Guan Yuehe had once single-handedly beaten several people without breaking a sweat, and that she had even beaten armed fugitives black and blue... Dr. Jia completely gave up on the idea.
"Comrade Guan Yuehe, we meet again."
As soon as Zhao Youtong greeted him, he saw Guan Yuehe staring at him with an unfriendly expression, as if she was about to throw a punch at him at any moment.
He immediately stopped laughing and said, "The head of your factory's technical department invited me here to find out if there are any suitable production lines for garment factories overseas."
Ah, I misunderstood you.
But she felt that it wasn't wrong for her to look fierce.
Zhao Youtong noticed the change in her expression and said, "Last time I saw you borrowed books about automobile manufacturing from the library. I brought a lot of books with me when I came to the Five Star Automobile Factory. If you are interested, you can borrow some from me. They are all books that are not available in the library."
"Thank you, but I don't need it for now," Guan Yuehe said, then tried to walk around him and push her cart away.
Zhao Youtong followed again, "It was presumptuous of me to ask Director Wen to be the introducer, and I apologize to you here. Comrade Guan Yuehe, I'm sorry."
"It's alright, plenty of people want to introduce me to potential partners, I'm not angry." Guan Yuehe stopped and looked at the person next to her, "Is there anything else?"
"Uh." Zhao Youtong was stunned by her words, not expecting her to be so straightforward.
"That's right, I think we're both interested in car manufacturing, so we can exchange ideas and learn from each other..."
Seeing that Guan Yuehe was getting impatient, and had even stepped over the bicycle, ready to paddle off, he quickly said, "Comrade Guan Yuehe, I'd like to be friends with you."
"You don't need to make friends on purpose; people with similar interests will become friends sooner or later."
Guan Yuehe looked into his eyes and said seriously, "Comrade Zhao, I have no intention of dating you. You don't need to contact my family anymore. They can't make decisions for me. Your contacting my family is affecting me a lot."
She didn't want everyone to know, and then someone to advise her: "Comrade Zhao is a very good catch. If you don't find a partner like him, what kind of partner will you find in the future?"
He didn't want to talk about someone he liked in the future. People at the car factory might compare him to Zhao Youtong and belittle him, saying that he was inferior to Comrade Zhao and that Yuehe was really making a mistake by dating him.
The message was clear, so as not to waste my own time or delay others.
Zhao Youtong felt differently when he heard Director Wen or Guan Yuehe's father and elder brother refuse than when he heard Guan Yuehe herself refuse.
Zhao Youtong was disappointed for a moment, then smiled again, "Then let's pretend the blind date never happened. If there's a chance, I hope we can be like-minded friends, Comrade Guan Yuehe."
"Uh-huh."
She didn't take it to heart. The planning department of the garment factory and the technical department of the automobile factory had no opportunity to cooperate and never even came into contact.
Guan Yuehe pushed off with her feet, and the bicycle shot off, crunching the fallen leaves on the road.
Zhao Youtong stood there for a while, then sighed and turned to walk towards the bus stop.
—
On a Sunday when she didn't know what to do, Guan Yuehe didn't let herself be idle. She brought out the winter quilts to air them in the sun, borrowed tools from Grandpa Chang, repaired the wooden door of her cellar, and even pickled some Chinese cabbage.
After Aunt Zhao returned, she pushed her bicycle out, intending to go to the recycling station to bring back two boxes.
This was specially saved for her by Aunt Zhao.
The longer you live in a house, the more things you accumulate—scattered, miscellaneous items, things you're unsure if you'll ever need again. You end up with quite a lot.
It doesn't seem like much on ordinary days, but when I have free time, it looks messy, and I have to find boxes to put things away.
Anyway, her bedroom is spacious, so she can put the box on the floor or at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed).
On her trip to the scrap yard, Guan Yuehe discovered some other good things.
The old man who opened the door for them was a long-time worker at the scrap yard. I heard he used to be a big shot, but nobody really knew exactly what kind of person he was.
Seeing Guan Yuehe searching for treasure, she wanted to take this vase and pick up that plate. She even flipped through an antique book with great interest before putting it on the empty ground to the side.
The old man's lips twitched, and he reminded her, "So young, yet your eyesight is worse than mine. You've picked out nothing of value!" They look nice, but you haven't found a single thing worth anything.
But then again, if there are anything truly valuable, it's usually been looted before it even reaches the scrap yard. Anything that's missed ends up there, and there are discerning people watching it. If an ordinary person tries to find something worthwhile, not one in ten will get lucky.
Guan Yuehe wasn't there to find anything good, and impatient with the old man's rambling, she said, "Never mind! As long as I like it, that's fine with me."
The old man couldn't stand it anymore and asked her to buy the big desk in the corner.
"This is such a big table, I don't need it all by myself." Guan Yuehe went over and touched it, but couldn't see anything different, except that it was much heavier than an ordinary wooden table.
She suspected the old man was trying to rip her off; this table was going to cost fifty yuan!
She doesn't even earn fifty yuan a month!
Aunt Zhao tugged at her clothes and whispered, "Hai Ban'er used to be the steward in the Prince's house. He's a good judge of character, so he can't be wrong."
He added regretfully, "If I didn't already have enough furniture at home, I would have bought this table too."
Almost all the furniture in Aunt Zhao's and her eldest son's home was bought from a scrap yard, which shows that there are some good things to buy there.
Guan Yuehe couldn't bring herself to spend fifty yuan on a desk that wasn't even made of good wood. Besides, even if the wood was good, she couldn't sell it; it would just take up space at home.
But her mind was already intrigued. What if she came across something good? What if she had the chance to resell it and make a profit later?
"This desk, plus all these odds and ends, fifty!" Guan Yuehe tried to bargain.
Hai Ban'er sneered, "Do you think this is a black market? This scrap yard is state-owned, with clearly marked prices, and we treat everyone fairly!"
"Aunt Zhao." Guan Yuehe blinked, asking Aunt Zhao to put in a good word for her.
"Old Hai, this is my niece. How about we get her the internal rate for workers at our scrap yard?"
Hai Ban'er glared at them. Whose niece keeps calling Zhao Dama?
After a long silence, Aunt Zhao said, "Your Uncle Hai agreed, so we'll calculate it at 80% of what our internal workers get. Let me do the math for you, it'll be a total of fifty-two yuan and thirty-five cents."
Guan Yuehe sighed; it was still far beyond the budget!
She gritted her teeth and bought it.
She hadn't anticipated this situation when she left home and didn't have enough money. But it wasn't a big problem; Aunt Zhao lent her a tricycle from the scrap yard, telling her to pay the rest when she returned it.
Yeah, she can't escape anyway.
It cost a lot of money and effort, but we finally got the newly purchased furniture home.
She moved the original desk to the side wall, next to the wardrobe, and put the two newly bought wooden boxes on the desk.
The newly purchased large desk was placed under the windowsill.
I must say, having a bigger desk makes me feel much more comfortable sitting down to read and study.
After returning the tricycle and going back to Ginkgo Hutong, I found a lot of people gathered at the main gate of Courtyard No. 3.
As they got closer, they discovered that they were surrounding the gatehouse, which belonged to Grandpa Li.
"Aunt Bai, what are you doing?"
"Oh my! This is great news!" Aunt Bai said with a smile. "Your Uncle Li has finally found a partner and is handing out wedding candy right now. Go and share in the joy."
There were too many people gathered at the entrance, including many unfamiliar faces from Ginkgo Hutong, probably other relatives of Grandpa Li. Unable to squeeze in, she just watched from the entrance, joining in the fun.
"Grandpa Li got an apartment this time, is he planning to move out?"
No wonder the factory suddenly allocated an apartment to Grandpa Li. He had the opportunity to move to a better place before, but he said that he lived alone and that a small gatehouse in the courtyard of the alley was enough for him. He wanted to give the more spacious apartments to the workers who needed them more. So, he lived in that small gatehouse in courtyard number three for ten years.
Aunt Bai shook her head and said, "Old Li said that he and his partner are not young anymore and they will not have children in the future, so they will continue to live in their current house and let the factory redistribute the houses they were allocated."
Grandpa Zhang, standing nearby with his hands behind his back, remarked with admiration, "Old Li's awareness is absolutely top-notch."
Another person chimed in, "The gatekeepers in your courtyard, Lu Chang and Lu Yan, are a couple with high moral character."
"Oh, right, the same goes for them. This time when the factory was allocating apartments, they didn't even submit their applications."
Speaking of which, this couple moved into Ginkgo Alley around the same time as Grandpa Li. After living there for so many years, they are the most low-key couple.
In the evening, Guan Yuehe received wedding candy delivered personally by Grandpa Li.
Mr. Li's wife's surname is Hua, and her name is Hua Qin. Guan Yuehe greeted her as "Aunt Hua" as Mr. Li introduced her.
Grandma Hua has difficulty walking. She and Grandpa Li met on the battlefield, and later, after being discharged from the army, they returned to their respective hometowns. After more than ten years, the two, who had remained unmarried, reconnected and have now become revolutionary partners.
The couple delivered wedding candy to three neighbors in the backyard. When they reached the archway in the backyard, they reached out to each other for support and stepped over the threshold together.
Guan Yuehe lowered her head and smelled the rare White Rabbit milk candy; it seemed even sweeter than the ones she usually ate.
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