"Xiaojie, are you getting impatient waiting? There's nothing we can do. There are too many people here today. We were supposed to have a holiday at 4:30, but we've been busy until now."
Although Wang Yuxiu was very tired,
she was very excited. With good business and a lot of money to earn, she was willing to do anything no matter how hard or tired she was.
"Dapeng, go back quickly. I guess your family is getting impatient waiting too."
Du Shaojie smiled, said hello to Su Dapeng, and rode his mother back home.
Wang Yuxiu held a black bag tightly in her hand. This was the money from today's business. If Su Dapeng hadn't been with her, she wouldn't have dared to take the bus back.
The savings bank only worked half a day, so there was no way to save money.
"Mom, take a break first. We'll have dinner soon."
Xiaomei and Xiaoya felt sorry for their mother. As soon as Wang Yuxiu entered the house, the two sisters were busy serving tea and water.
Du Shaojie started cooking. After a few dishes were cooked, they were served on the table, and then firecrackers were set off at the gate of the yard.
Hot pot is simple. Everything is prepared in advance and can be eaten directly.
Du Shaojie opened a bottle of wine and drank by himself, feeling very comfortable. The family had no worries about food and drink, and even no shortage of money, but this good family atmosphere was more precious than anything else.
The sound of firecrackers outside was deafening, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.
After eating and drinking, no one wanted to move, and in the end it was Xiaomei and Xiaoya who cleaned up the mess.
"It's on fire! Put out the fire!"
The family sat down and started playing poker as in previous years.
Du Shaojie suddenly heard a noisy sound coming from outside and was shocked.
"Whose house is on fire? Mom, you watch them and don't let them run around. I'll go and take a look."
Du Shaojie put on his coat and went out. When he walked out of the alley, he saw flames rising to the sky not far away.
That was the direction of Qi Yan's house. Although he thought it would not be such a coincidence, he was still worried and ran over to check.
The house on fire was not Qi Yan's house, but it was very close. The nearby residents spontaneously took buckets and basins and carried (carried) water to put out the fire.
"Yanzi, let your parents go to my house first. Do you know if anyone has reported a fire?"
Du Shaojie immediately saw Qi Yan, who had also joined the firefighting army.
However, without professional firefighting tools and with the howling north wind, the fire was not under control but was getting more and more intense.
He quickly grabbed Qi Yan because he saw that the fire had begun to spread and Qi Yan's home was not safe.
"I don't know if anyone has reported a fire. I'll go call them now."
After hearing what Du Shaojie said, Qi Yan was a little panicked and hurried back home.
Du Shaojie trotted back, rode his bicycle and headed straight to the cafeteria of the medical school. There was a phone there.
Rushing into the office, Du Shaojie thought for a while before dialing the number "09". The current fire alarm number is still "09". It will not be until 1982 that the national fire alarm number will be unified and changed to "119".
After the call was connected, he briefly explained the situation and then returned to the fire scene.
Every effort counts. Su Dapeng and his wife also came. They ran so many times that their fingers were frozen.
The firefighters arrived later. Fortunately, there were no tall buildings in those days, and the fire was finally under control. The houses of five families were completely burned down. Qi Yan's house was relatively good, with only the courtyard wall blackened.
The only thing to be thankful for was that there was property loss but no casualties.
"What a fuss! It's not a peaceful New Year's Day."
Qi Yan's parents returned home and couldn't help shaking their heads and sighing.
Five families lost their homes on New Year's Eve. Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, it is likely that some naughty child set off firecrackers and caused the fire.
The street came forward to resettle the affected people, and Du Shaojie returned home almost at midnight.
The next day.
Everyone who came to pay New Year's greetings knew about the fire in Chunfeng Lane last night.
Du Shaojie rode his bike out for a walk, and when he came back, he went to the street to take a look. The five families were miserable. The fire came very suddenly and the fire was very fierce. Basically, no property was rescued.
It was like a big fire that burned the house to the ground.
When I got home, most of the people who came to pay New Year's greetings had
left. Only Su Dapeng, Huang Tingting and his wife, Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin were still there. "Shaojie, Dapeng, I think we should do something? There are so many people in Chunfeng Lane, why don't we come forward to raise funds? There is strength in numbers. We can't just watch our neighbors become homeless."
Qi Yan saw Du Shaojie and felt that she had a backbone.
She proposed to raise funds for the families affected by the disaster to rebuild their homes.
Su Dapeng and others nodded repeatedly, thinking that this was a good idea. There must be someone to take the lead in fundraising, and it would be more effective for them to come forward than for the street to come forward.
"It's a good idea, but we still have to communicate with the street in advance. After all, it involves money, and there must be supervision, otherwise it will be unclear in the future."
Du Shaojie thought more. Of course, it's okay to do good things, but you can't put yourself in it.
Everyone thought it made sense. Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin took the initiative to volunteer and were willing to communicate with the street.
Of course, this matter is not so urgent, and we can talk about it after work. After all, door-to-door fundraising during the Chinese New Year is not a big deal, and everyone knows this.
Later, Du Shaojie asked everyone to sit in the next yard.
Then everyone worked together to pick, wash and cut vegetables. He re-fried the hot pot base and continued to eat hot pot.
Wang Yuxiu, Xiaomei, Xiaoya and the dishes cooked last night were not touched. The three of them had the task of finishing these dishes today.
"Tingting, do you think you can get a house this year?"
Su Dapeng and Huang Tingting got married, but the company did not give them a house, so they still lived with his parents.
As they ate and drank, the topic turned to houses.
"I don't know. I just heard that the bureau is going to build a family building this year. I don't know if a small person like me can get a share."
Huang Tingting shook her head and didn't dare to hold too high hopes for the house.
Su Dapeng did have an idea. He wanted to follow Du Shaojie's example and buy a yard. But he hadn't found a suitable one yet, so he didn't mention it to anyone.
Du Shaojie smiled and nodded, and didn't continue the topic.
The reason he asked this was to remind Su Dapeng to hurry up and buy a yard. It was actually very suitable to buy it now, but it would be much more expensive in two years.
In the next few days, Du Shaojie basically stayed at home.
Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin would occasionally come to visit, and they had a rare few days of peace.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month.
The first branch, the second branch, the [Da Pan Ji] specialty store, the private restaurant, and the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] stores opened for business simultaneously.
Du Shaojie immediately became busy, while Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin went to the street to discuss fundraising with people. The street was very happy, as this was a spontaneous act of the residents, and they certainly supported it.
However, at the request of Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin, the street sent a staff member to supervise the money and accounts.
Later, Xiaomei also joined in. Xiaoya definitely had no share in this matter. Xiaoya's task was to study, so she was free for a few days during the New Year, and then she had endless exercises to do and books to read every day.
Du Shaojie took the lead in donating 500 yuan, Wang Yuxiu donated 100 yuan, and Su Dapeng and his wife donated 100 yuan.
The neighbors in Chunfeng Lane were very considerate, and they raised more than 3,000 yuan in just a few days. There should be some more later, but it has nothing to do with Qi Yan and the others. The next thing is all handed over to the street.
The street also applied for a part of the subsidy from the higher authorities, and the victims raised a little more by themselves, and they can rebuild their houses after the spring.
"Shaojie, look at what this is?"
Qi Yan and Xiaomei got the social practice certificate issued by the street, and the street also wrote a letter of praise to their school and Liang Meiqin's unit.
Qi Yan's heart was so happy that she ran to show off to Du Shaojie after dinner.
"Sister Yan, where is mine?"
"Isn't this? Here you go."
Qi Yan and Xiaomei quarreled for a while, and then showed the things in her hand to Du Shaojie.
Du Shaojie felt that the street was too stingy, and it was useless to use such things to coax people. But he couldn't say it, and he kept saying nice things.
Otherwise, Qi Yan and Xiaomei would get angry with him.
Time passed quickly, and the winter vacation was over in a blink of an eye.
This time, Du Xiaomei and Qi Yan took the same train. Xiaomei got off halfway and transferred to Yangcheng, while Qi Yan would sit all the way to the final stop, Beijing.
Du Shaojie actually wanted to buy a plane ticket for his sister, but Xiaomei refused, and he had no choice.
On the day of seeing her off, Liang Meiqin insisted on going to the train station, and Du Shaojie did not stop her. You can't keep her in the house all day long, right? Her eyesight has recovered, so she doesn't have to be as careful as before.
After sending Liang Meiqin home, Du Shaojie came to the private restaurant.
Feng Qingsong and Liu Ying booked a table for lunch today, and specifically asked him to cook it himself.
Since there were not many people, Du Shaojie made 8 dishes and asked Zhang Yufei to serve them on the table.
"Manager Du, the guest in room number one invites you over."
After the dishes were served, Zhang Yufei came to Du Shaojie and said that the guest was looking for him.
Du Shaojie hurried upstairs and walked into the private room. He saw Feng Qingsong smiling and waving at him: "Master Du, come and sit down and have a drink with me."
There were only four people present. In addition to Feng Qingsong and Liu Ying, he knew the other two, but he was not very familiar with them.
"Master Du, I will be leaving soon. I don't know when I will taste your craftsmanship next time."
After Du Shaojie sat down, he clinked glasses with everyone.
Feng Qingsong then said something shocking, which was completely beyond Du Shaojie's expectations. Because he hadn't heard any rumors, it seemed very sudden.
"Master Du, the leader has been promoted and transferred to another province. Not to mention you, I just found out, and even the leader didn't know about it beforehand. Because it's quite rushed, today is considered a farewell banquet."
Liu Ying explained to Du Shaojie that Feng Qingsong was about to leave the local area to take up a post in another province.
Du Shaojie quickly poured himself a glass of wine and congratulated Feng Qingsong.
People go to high places, and water flows to low places. This is a happy event.
"I'll drink this glass of wine from Master Du!"
Feng Qingsong was full of confidence. The dinner was a great pleasure for both the host
and the guests. Before leaving, he called Du Shaojie aside and spoke to him alone for a few words. (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
