Seeing Wei Hua's business grow bigger and bigger, the other people in the courtyard also had other ideas. Working for others was out of the question; one by one, they started their own businesses.
The first to stand out was naturally Yu Li. Thanks to He Daqing's culinary skills, Yu Li's restaurant did well as soon as it opened, and she made a fortune during this period.
Yu Li, with her own ideas, planned to expand the business. She also planned to have her husband come and help her. Working for someone else is always just doing work for someone else; even if Wei Hua gave Sha Zhu a raise, it still wouldn't be as good as him working for her.
Human nature is selfish, even though Sha Zhu and Wei Hua had a good relationship over the years. When it came to his own interests, Sha Zhu still resigned without hesitation.
With the money she earned during this period and her previous savings, Yu Li opened a small restaurant near the neighborhood office. Although it was a small restaurant, it wasn't small in size and had a pretty good location.
The restaurant wasn't particularly high-end, but it wasn't low-end either. Thanks to He Daqing and Sha Zhu's skills, the business was booming.
Seeing that Sha Zhu had already succeeded, the others couldn't resist any longer. Xu Damao, who used to run a small stall outside, now had his sights set on the electronics business.
As people's living standards continue to improve, more and more people can afford radios and televisions. Seeing that his arch-rival Sha Zhu's family has opened a restaurant, Xu Damao began to head south to find sources of goods.
What started as a few dozen radios and a few televisions gradually grew to over a hundred. They even rented a storefront near Guanzhong Village, and Xu Fugui and his wife helped Xu Damao sell these electronic products outside.
Seeing that everyone else was making money, Zhang Chu couldn't stay calm anymore. Although he had a certain status now, he wasn't making any money at all. He only earned a little over 200 yuan a month, which might not even be equivalent to Xu Damao's or others' weekly income.
It's unclear where Zhang Chu heard the news, but he somehow managed to set up a scrap metal collection station near the steel mill. He had his parents run the station while he used his connections to procure scrap metal from the mill to sell, especially scrap iron slag.
Thanks to Zhang Chu's relationship with Secretary Nie, the Zhang family's scrap metal business was thriving. Their profits were no less than Xu Damao's appliance business. The steel rolling mill employed tens of thousands of people; the amount of scrap it generated daily was unimaginable.
Moreover, steel rolling mills always produce some waste materials and scrap iron slag. These things combined made Zhang Chu's family rich overnight.
Seeing that even Zhang Chu had become successful, were the Liu brothers somewhat resentful? Liu Guangtian also knew that he was not good at socializing and might not be able to do other businesses, so he could only rely on his skills to make a living.
Seeing the increasing number of cars on the street, Liu Guangtian actually started learning car repair from others while working. Once he had learned enough, he opened a car repair shop by the roadside. Although his skills weren't perfect, he was constantly improving.
In order to acquire better skills, Liu Guangtian actually began to teach himself.
Even Liu Guangfu wasn't idle. Seeing that his earnings from working were getting worse and worse, Liu Guangfu decided to go out and try his luck. With the savings he had accumulated from working for so many years, he opened a general store selling southern Chinese goods.
The shop was run by Liu Guangfu's wife, while Liu Guangfu learned repair skills from his second brother. The two brothers had maintained a good relationship over the years. He didn't hide anything from his younger brother, Liu Guangtian, and the two brothers ran the auto repair shop together.
Just as they were all starting their own businesses, Liu Guangqi, who had been in prison for more than ten years, was also released.
Liu Guangqi returned to the courtyard house as soon as he came out, and his return even caused a sensation. Now in his thirties, Liu Guangqi looks more than ten years older than Sha Zhu.
Sha Zhu, due to years of exposure to smoke and fire, looked slightly older than his peers. Liu Guangqi, though a year or two younger than Sha Zhu, looked to be around fifty or sixty. Compared to the Liu brothers, they didn't look like brothers at all; they looked more like father and son.
Although he didn't look as old as Liu Haizhong, they didn't look like father and son either. Seeing Liu Guangqi's appearance, Liu Haizhong and his wife felt particularly helpless. They had originally hoped Liu Guangqi would take care of them in their old age, but judging from his current state, they were already being lenient by not supporting him.
No matter what, Liu Guangqi was their son, and they had invested a lot of feelings in him before. Gu Chunyan couldn't help but run over and hug her son, crying.
"Guangqi, how did you become like this?"
"Mom, don't even mention it. Life in prison is terrible. I've been assigned to serve in the Northwest for years, planting trees in the desert every day. There's hardly any food there, and we're exposed to the sun and rain every day, and this is how I ended up like this."
Upon hearing her son's words, Gu Chunyan took Liu Guangqi back to her home. Due to the difficult living conditions, there was nothing good for Liu Guangqi to eat except for a few flatbreads and a bowl of hot water.
Liu Guangqi hadn't had an easy time these past ten years, so he naturally had no right to complain. After eating, he took a shower and shaved his beard.
After tidying up, Liu Guangqi looked slightly better. Although he was not yet 34 years old, he looked about 50. Moreover, due to years of sun and rain exposure, his skin appeared particularly rough.
After learning about the situation of the other people in the courtyard, Liu Guangqi rested at home for two or three days before going out to look for work.
There are indeed many places hiring now, and the requirements are not as strict as before, but it is still quite difficult for a former convict to find a job.
It's often said that being born is easy, living is easy, but life is not easy. Liu Haizhong and his wife are not only in poor health but also getting old, making it difficult for them to rely on their parents for support.
Liu Guangqi, who was not yet 40 years old, was not willing to accept his fate. In order to live a better life, Liu Guangqi tried everything, but no one was willing to hire him.
Finally, with the help of his former cellmates, he found a job. Don't expect the jobs these people introduced to be respectable. Although he didn't want the job, Liu Guangqi had no choice but to work as a security guard at a nightclub to survive. While the job wasn't respectable, the pay wasn't bad, earning him over 300 yuan a month.
Places like nightclubs are a mixed bag, and sometimes you even have to fight with other people. What they need are people with prison experience.
Even though he didn't want to live this kind of life, Liu Guangqi had no choice but to grit his teeth and go through with it for the sake of survival. When Liu Guangqi finally got a job, Liu Haizhong and his wife were overjoyed.
Although they had many conflicts in the past, so many years have passed. Even the greatest amount of time is enough to heal the wounds between parents and children.
Thinking about Liu Guangqi's age, Liu Haizhong and Gu Chunyan considered their future. Although Liu Haizhong had suffered all these years, he had also extorted a large sum of money from Qin Huairu.
It was clearly unrealistic to expect Liu Haizhong to swing a sledgehammer. He couldn't handle heavy physical labor either. In the end, Liu Haizhong could only use the money to help Gu Chunyan open a small general store near the courtyard house. The elderly couple would rely on this store for their retirement.
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