Taking advantage of the lull in the movie's plot, when there was no need for his explanation, he immediately beckoned Liu Guangtian, the inspector, over.
"Guangtian, you stay here and keep an eye on it. Don't let any fool touch the machine."
Xu Damao solemnly instructed, "I'll be right back after I make a quick round. I'll go home and get a pack of cigarettes, and I'll give you two then."
Upon hearing that he could get some cigarettes, Liu Guangtian was immediately delighted. "Okay, Da Mao, you go ahead. Don't worry, I won't go anywhere. I'll just stay here and keep watch."
Xu Damao nodded and headed towards Qin Huairu's tea stall.
There were no customers at the tea stall, so Xu Damao strolled over happily and said, "I'm telling you, Qin Huairu, your stall is doing pretty well. You've earned enough in one night to make a worker work for several days."
"Hey, isn't this Uncle San? Thirsty?"
Qin Huairu was watching a movie with Bang Geng when she saw Xu Damao coming over. She stood up, took a large bowl, scooped out a spoonful, and handed it to him, saying, "This is for Uncle San, it's free."
"Oh dear, I think my third uncle is only considered an official in front of you guys."
Xu Damao took the bowl, blew on it along the rim, and gulped it down in two mouthfuls.
Banggeng was glaring at him with his eyes wide open. Xu Damao pretended to wave the remaining tea in his bowl at Banggeng, "You little brat, you're not learning anything good. Now I have a big bump on my head. Let me tell you, stay away from Shazhu from now on. That guy won't teach you anything good."
Qin Huairu smiled sheepishly beside her and chimed in.
"Banggeng, did you hear what your Uncle Mao said? From now on, you should stay home and do your homework. No more being naughty or causing trouble."
Upon hearing this, Xu Damao almost collapsed to the ground. This kind of talk is meaningless. So, your dog hitting people with bricks is just being naughty and mischievous?
"Alright, I'm too lazy to scold you, just be careful in the future. I'll bring you some candy to sweeten your mouth tomorrow."
As he spoke, Xu Damao began looking for money.
"Really?" Banggeng stood up from the small stool. "Xu Damao, do you keep your word?"
Xu Damao frowned. "How can you talk like that? Didn't your mother just tell you to call him 'uncle'? You're the kind of kid who never learns from a bad memory."
"Besides, do you think I, an adult, would lie to a child like you? But let me tell you, stay away from Sha Zhu. He was definitely the one who instigated the raid on my house last time. I'll remember that."
Xu Damao glared at him and gave him a frightening speech, which made the Thief Saint shrink back.
Seeing Xu Damao take out his money, Qin Huairu quickly said, "Alright, Damao, it's just a bowl of tea, why are you paying for it? Consider it my treat."
Xu Damao waved his hand: "Who said I wanted a bowl? This is your first time doing business, so I have to help you out. Can I borrow your thermos for a bit? Can you make me a thermos?"
As he spoke, Xu Damao slammed a dime on the table and joked, "Let me tell you, don't give me change, or you'll be looking down on your old man."
"Wow, Uncle Xu is very generous."
Qin Huairu didn't care about making a few cents off Xu Damao. She quickly put the money away and told Banggeng to bring out the thermos.
After finishing the thermos of tea, Qin Huairu asked in confusion, "Xu Damao, where are you taking this thermos? Is it with the projector? Should I bring you a bowl?"
"No need, I'll bring it back for you in a bit."
Xu Damao gestured to Qin Huairu to look towards the side of the crowd, "See that? Those are teachers from Hongxing Elementary School. Maybe one of our neighborhood's three aunties is in there."
“They’ve come all the way to our Hongxing Courtyard. We can’t be like Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong, making them come and buy their own tea. That would be inconsiderate.”
Qin Huairu peeked over there and saw that they were all young female teachers. She then gave Xu Damao a thumbs up.
"Okay, Xu Damao, give it your all and try to make sure that the three 'big aunties' in our department come out from among these female teachers."
Xu Damao chuckled: "Just you wait and see."
After saying that, he picked up the thermos and trotted away.
As Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and Wang Dabao were chatting about their plans for the Spring Festival in the compound, Xu Damao happily headed towards the female teacher across the way.
"Oh my, if I'm not mistaken, isn't that Da Mao? The movie is still playing, why is he wandering out here?"
Yan Bugui leaned forward, adjusted his glasses, and upon closer inspection, realized it was indeed Xu Damao.
Wang Dabao and Liu Haizhong were drawn by Yan Bugui's voice and looked over, only to see Xu Damao carrying a thermos and approaching several female teachers.
Liu Haizhong immediately slapped his thigh and turned to look at the projector.
There was Liu Guangtian, sitting with his legs crossed and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking quite content.
"Xu Damao is simply outrageous! What if something goes wrong with the film? He's off flirting with the female teacher halfway through!"
Wang Dabao didn't take it seriously at the time. What could go wrong? At worst, it would just delay everyone's time a little. It wasn't a big deal.
But Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui considered this a big deal, a stain on the Hongxing Courtyard!
"Old Yan, you know those teachers well, go and take a look, and tell Xu Damao to go back quickly." The head of the compound spoke up, and Yan Bugui, the second uncle, had no choice but to get up, whether he was willing or not.
"Okay, you two chat first, I'll go take a look."
........
"Hello teachers, I am Xu Damao, the third uncle in charge of our Hongxing Courtyard, and also the planner and projectionist of this screening event."
Xu Damao introduced himself in one breath.
"It's so cold today. Our space is limited, so you'll have to make do here. I've brought over some hot tea for you. Even if you don't drink it, you can keep it warm in your hands."
The female teachers quickly thanked him, and their goodwill towards Xu Damao increased significantly.
The slightly older female teacher exclaimed in surprise, "Comrade Xu, you don't look that old! You're such a young man, yet you're already the one in charge of this compound. And you mentioned that you were the planner of the film screening event, and you were actually the projectionist at the factory, right?!"
Such a long list of titles left the female teacher a little dizzy.
"Sigh, isn't it all thanks to the kindness of the neighbors in the courtyard? It's really not appropriate for someone my age to be the head of this department, but everyone voted for me."
Xu Damao took the female teacher's tea mug and cup and poured tea for them one by one.
"After thinking about it, I figured that being busy and tired was for the benefit of the compound, so I agreed. As soon as I took office, I started thinking about how to improve the lives of the neighbors in the nearby compound. After discussing it with the other two old men in the compound, we planned this screening event."
Xu Damao was indeed a smooth talker; he said everything he could to express.
At this moment, Yan Bugui rushed over in a hurry.
"Hey Da Mao, what brings you here? The projector can't do without you."
"It's Old Yan. I just brought some tea to the teachers. We can't be inadequate in our hospital."
As he said this, Xu Damao kept winking at Yan Bugui behind the female teacher's back.
He was afraid that his use of the word "Old Yan" would anger Yan Bugui.
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