After dinner, Wang Dabao lay on the sofa and drank a pot of tea. The stove was burning brightly, and the doors and windows of the small room were tightly closed, so it got warm and cozy. He then lay down on the bed and fell asleep in a daze.
As a result, Wang Dabao woke up in the middle of the night because he was cold.
I peeked my arm out from under the covers, and wow, the temperature in the room was almost below zero.
Looking up at the stove, I saw that it had burned too brightly in the first half of the night and had long since gone out.
I estimate the outside temperature is around minus ten degrees Celsius, and I have to say that people these days are really not fussy.
Especially those two greenhorns, Xu Damao and Shazhu, they don't even have a heated kang bed at home, they just have wooden plank beds and they're freezing to death!
Of course, he himself was on a wooden plank bed, but he had space!
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Wang Dabao lay down on the large bed in the space farm.
The two puppies had grown a lot. Hearing the noise, they quickly went inside to check, and after a while, they fell asleep under the bed with Wang Dabao.
That night, a cold wind howled through the Hongxing Courtyard, and even those with heated brick beds couldn't sleep soundly.
In the front yard of Old Yan's house, Yan Bugui tidied up the stove, boiled water, and handed it to Yan Jiekuang in bed so he could warm up and continue sleeping.
Xu Damao and Shazhu were huddled in their blankets, freezing like dead dogs, but the blankets were hard and had no warmth at all.
With no other option, Sha Zhu had to get up and guard the stove, which finally warmed him up a bit.
The next morning, Wang Dabao carried a tin bucket to the Intermediate People's Court to fetch some water, but when he arrived, there was no one there. Every day at this time, there would be a long line of people by the well.
After fiddling with it for a while, Wang Dabao gave up. The well was frozen solid last night by a light northwest wind.
"Da Bao".
Just as Wang Dabao was about to turn back, Sha Zhu poked his head out of the door and waved at him, meaning that the well was unusable.
Then Sha Zhu, his hands tucked into his sleeves, came out trembling. "How much do you need? If you just need to wash your hands and face, come to my place. If you need a lot, then it'll be troublesome; you'll have to go to the water station to get some."
"But let me tell you, I just came back from there. The line was almost all the way to Menban Hutong. I'd be lucky if it could be cut back by the time we start work."
Sha Zhu stamped his foot and said with a wry smile.
The Hongxing Siheyuan area is considered good; some courtyards don't even have a well, and people have to fetch water from a water station. However, water stations are usually built near such courtyards.
One alley shares one water station. Wang Dabao thought to himself that in this freezing cold, every household's well would probably be in bad shape, and they would freeze to death just waiting in line to get water.
"Hey, I'm just one person, how much water can I use? I still have some at home, so I don't need to go to your place. I'll just put it on the stove when I get home."
As he spoke, Wang Dabao took out a cigarette and offered one to Sha Zhu. "But I must say, Zhu, you're up pretty early. Did you wake up from the cold last night?"
Sha Zhu took the cigarette and chuckled, "You were right. I almost couldn't sleep last night. It was so cold. I got up to warm up for a while and then couldn't go back to sleep. I finished sweeping the area in the yard that was assigned to me and it was already dawn."
Sha Zhu took out a match and lit Wang Dabao's cigarette. "I didn't want to fetch some water, but the well was frozen solid. I poured two basins of hot water on it, but it still wouldn't thaw. Later, Grandpa Yi joined in, but when we had no other choice, we went to the water station together. As soon as we entered the room, we heard you fiddling around outside."
As the two were talking, Xu Damao arrived carrying a kettle, with messy hair and a cotton-padded coat on his back.
"Da Bao, what's going on?"
Seeing Wang Dabao's tin bucket placed by the well, Xu Damao asked.
Wang Dabao chuckled: "Forget about it, there's no water, the well's frozen."
Xu Damao frowned, his long face contorted: "Damn it, there's probably a long line at this water station."
"Hey, I have some, five cents a bottle, want to buy it or not?" Sha Zhu chuckled, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and teased Xu Damao.
Go somewhere cool and stay there, save your water.
Xu Damao waved to Wang Dabao, picked up the kettle, and left.
Watching Xu Damao's departing figure, Wang Dabao joked to Shazhu, "You shouldn't tease him. It's freezing cold, and everyone's having a hard time."
Sha Zhu shrugged and flicked his cigarette butt in the direction Xu Damao had left.
"Alright, Da Bao, if you don't need water, I'll get ready and go to work early. I don't know how the well over at the cafeteria is doing, so I'll go get some water to dissolve it."
After returning from the Intermediate People's Court, Wang Dabao closed the door and slipped into the farmhouse.
After washing up and eating something, I returned to the courtyard house.
When they arrived at the Intermediate People's Court with their bicycles, they ran into Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, who were also coming out of their homes.
"Brother Da Bao, are you going to work?"
Qin Huairu, wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket, greeted Wang Dabao with a smile.
Wang Dabao looked at Jia Zhangshi, who seemed reluctant to leave, and asked with some confusion, "Going to work? Where are you two going so early in the morning?"
Qin Huairu glanced at Jia Zhangshi, then said with a somewhat unnatural expression, "About what Xu Damao mentioned yesterday about pasting matchboxes, I discussed it with my mother-in-law and we think it's feasible. Banggeng will be on holiday soon, and Xiaodang and the other two can help out. They can exchange them for two or three pounds of cornmeal for the New Year."
"That's great. With everyone busy with family matters during the Lunar New Year, you can get a bigger share of the produce."
Wang Dabao laughed.
These days, even the task of pasting matchboxes assigned by the neighborhood committee is limited, and the wages for pasting matchboxes before the Lunar New Year were settled in cornmeal.
"Let's hurry up and leave, lest we reach the neighborhood office and find nothing left."
Jia Zhangshi muttered to herself from the side.
Qin Huairu gave an awkward smile and led Jia Zhangshi ahead, while Wang Dabao followed behind pushing his bicycle.
Looking at Qin Huairu's writhing body, Wang Dabao shook his head. If the Qin family in the drama could have a change of heart and have a child with the "foolish" family, then the courtyard would truly be filled with love!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
