Chapter 313 One Hundred Thousand Whys
After Lin Xiaotong finished eating, she hid in the mosquito net, and Chengzi followed her in.
An adult and a child sat cross-legged and listened attentively.
After Xie Yi finished wiping the table and washing the dishes, he dragged a small stool over and swatted mosquitoes for his mother and the other two.
After finishing his meal, Old Xie saw that it was still early, so he went to the alley with his hands behind his back to watch people play chess.
Because he is a well-known "bad chess player" in this area, no one plays chess with him.
Before, when Chengzi was playing with his grandfather, Old Xie’s chess skills were so bad that he couldn’t even stand the slightest bit of sesame seeds. In his excitement, he even overturned the table.
"What happened again?"
Gao Xiulan took the mung bean soup handed to her by Chengzi and took a sip.
Diao Yulian looked at him with great envy, wishing that her eldest grandson could be as sensible as him in the future.
"Haven't you noticed? I always feel like she's been secretly looking at me lately.
I once caught myself peeking while I was combing my hair.
Could it be that... I've become more beautiful recently?"
As he spoke, he touched his curly hair and said shamelessly.
Gao Xiulan rolled her eyes.
"Now that you mention it, I remember that the last time I went to Xiushui Street to set up my stall, I also saw her go into the post office."
Diao Yulian smelled something unusual, and her gossip radar started to pick up.
"What is this person doing at the post office? Is she trying to secretly send money to her crooked-butt son?
Does Erya know about this? No, I have to go and find out."
This time he could no longer sit still. He put the bowl in Wu Shengli's hand and rushed to the front yard to find Jin Qiaofeng.
Gao Xiulan was relieved to finally get rid of the person and was relieved.
Orange ate too much tonight, so he leaned on his mother and touched his little belly.
"Mom, why does the summer sun come home so late?
Doesn’t the sun’s mother hit people?”
Children aged six or seven are at the peak of their curiosity and are curious about everything.
The flowers and birds seen everywhere, the sun and the moon alternating between day and night...there are a lot of questions in my mind.
There are simply a hundred thousand whys.
Sometimes it’s really hard for adults to answer questions.
Lin Xiaotong put it another way.
"Let me think about it, maybe the moon that's supposed to take over the shift at night hasn't come up yet."
Children don’t really need to understand the profound secrets yet, and sometimes they just want to hear the answers from adults.
As for what the real answer is, they need to understand and find it themselves as they grow up.
Growth doesn't require an accelerator, just let it happen naturally.
Orange seemed to understand: "The stars are smart. They know the moon is coming, so they come less."
The sky is so small, and it will be crowded if too many people come out to stand guard.
After all, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse.
Xie Yi burst out laughing. His daughter's little head was so funny sometimes.
"What are you laughing at? Chengzi has to go to the Children's Palace for classes next week. You'll have plenty of time after get off work so go pick her up."
Gao Xiulan killed three mosquitoes with one slap. Xie Yi shrank his head and moved the mosquito coil outside.
During the summer vacation, Lin Xiaotong has to work on projects with her teacher and do internships during the day.
I have a paper to write recently and I am really too busy.
"Okay, I'm on my way anyway.
If Mom doesn't have time to cook lunch, I can take Orange to the company cafeteria to eat."
When the time comes, he can just pay for the meal, and it won’t be considered taking advantage.
"Why are there so many mosquitoes lately? They bit me all over my legs."
Lin Xiaotong slapped another mosquito to death with both hands. This annoying thing was quite capable and could even get in through the mosquito net.
"Go back and apply some Fengyoujing (medicated oil) on it. It's getting late, so take a shower and rest."
Now that we have built a bathroom at home, it is much more convenient in the summer. We also brought back cement, fine sand and putty this year.
The walls were repainted, the floor was smoothed with cement and treated with anti-slip treatment.
"It's already this late, why hasn't your dad come back yet?"
Gao Xiulan stood up and fanned her legs with a palm-leaf fan. Just as she finished speaking, Xie Da Jiao came back staggering with her hands behind her back.
A summer day in the hutong basically ends like this.
…
Lin Xiaotong has been very busy with her studies recently, and the lease on the courtyard near Peking University has also expired.
Now we have hired workers to renovate it and convert the house into a single shop facing the street.
I finished my mission early today, so I went to take a look on the way. It was nearby anyway, not far away.
"Uncle, it's hot, drink more herbal tea."
The bricklayer was introduced by Xie Da Jiao. He has had a toothache recently, so the carpentry work has also been assigned to others.
The weather is hot now. I don’t work in the middle of the day when the sun is scorching, for fear of accidents.
I also asked the aunt next door to make a big pot of herbal tea to clear away heat and relieve summer heat, and of course I paid her for it.
"Hey, don't worry, my girl. Zhiqiang and I have been brothers for many years. I promise to make this house beautiful for you."
A black-faced man was drinking cold tea from a tea bowl. When he saw someone coming, he bared his white teeth.
There are a lot of people repairing houses these days, so he took a few of his brothers and found acquaintances to do the work.
With good attitude, careful workmanship and no money-sucking, his reputation grew.
Xie Da Jiao, a half-baked carpenter, was relieved to introduce him to Lin Xiaotong.
"Uncle, I trust you to do the job."
In addition to her, Gao Xiulan and Xie Yi also came over to take a look from time to time.
"My daughter, do I need to install a water tap in every room?"
When the black-faced man was working in other people's homes before, he had carefully calculated the location of the faucets, one for each household.
She nodded: "Yes, so as to save the trouble of changing it later."
In the 1950s and 1960s, there was one faucet per courtyard in the hutongs, and most of them were installed at the entrance.
People often sneak in to get water to drink at this location. After playing wildly, the children enter the yard and tilt their necks to drink from the faucet.
If some brave people turn on the faucet and the water rushes down towards their feet, they will definitely get beaten.
The most common phrase adults say in a day is probably: "Don't waste water!"
Since the water is used by the entire hospital at this time, the water bill must be shared equally, and we would feel bad if we wasted even a drop.
Later, water seeped into the base of the wall and had an unpleasant smell when it was hot, so the public faucet was moved to the middle of the yard.
Some yards are small and have many people living in them, so they just build a pool.
That is also public water. If more water is used to wash large items, other families will be unhappy and may even start a quarrel if they start arguing.
When there is a baby being born or a woman in confinement in the yard, everyone will take care of each other, and no one will complain at this time.
Later, as the quarrels became more frequent, each household in the compound installed a water meter.
Each courtyard sends a representative to collect water fees from each household every month based on the water meter readings.
In their compound, Zhang Dazui was the one who did this annoying and thankless job.
In 1976, tap water was introduced into the house, and every household moved the faucet indoors, usually in the kitchen. Some people simply moved the faucet to the sink at the door to save trouble.
The mess of water pipes was unplanned and looked like a maze with no exit.
Since you are planning to use it as a shop for rent, just give each household one and charge according to the water meter. You can't take advantage of it, nor can you suffer a loss.
It's worth spending a little money to reduce unnecessary friction.
"Okay, girl, I'll make sure your pipes are in good order."
"Then I'll trouble you, uncle."
After watching it, she was ready to go back.
Riding a bicycle through the streets and alleys, the straps of my hat flutter in the wind, and from time to time I can hear the shouts of people selling popsicles.
This summer, Hutou and Wu Jiabao led Chengzi and Guoqing to continue their small business, but this time they did not choose to go door to door.
After discussion, they rented a small space in the third uncle's store to store popsicle foam boxes, and the business of the store improved a lot.
Orange has started a new business, which is to find the picture books at home and rent them out.
It costs one cent to read a book, and you cannot take it home, so you have to finish it on the spot.
She is small, but Hu Tou is a big boy, so he helps to look after the kids.
When Wu Jiabao saw some children being naughty, he didn't hold back and started yelling.
It was so embarrassing to lose face in front of my friends that I quickly left the money and ran away.
While classes were in session at the Orange Children's Palace, Guoqing volunteered to help look after the stall.
With the money he earned, Orange treated the three of them to cream ice cream and the children's favorite ice cream.
Uncle Three made some money last year and installed a ceiling fan so that people can feel the cool breeze when they come in.
It is a small shop with things neatly organized and a variety of snacks. It is a paradise for children.
The third uncle lay on a bamboo chair, watching happily and never with a gloomy face.
He is getting older, and he won’t be lonely if he has popularity.
"Boss, here comes another chick. She's so pretty. Shall we take action?"
"Am I the boss, or are you the boss?
I haven't even started shouting slogans yet, why are you so anxious? "
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