Yang Xuan parked his bicycle by the door.
“Whose bicycle is this?” Zeng Wen Fang asked.
“Ours. It’s a reward from the factory.” Yang Xuan replied.
Zeng Wen Fang laughed: “You’re really making your parents proud. You can’t leave it at the door, bring it inside. This is a new bike, what if someone bumps into it? There are quite a few mischievous kids in this courtyard.”
Yang Xuan thought for a moment and carried the bicycle into the house.
After all, there were too many children in the courtyard, especially Qin Huai Ru’s three kids, they were totally lawless. They even dared to steal rice, oil, and money from Sha Zhu’s house. He didn’t have a good relationship with the Jia family. If these brats retaliated, a few scratches on the bike would be a big loss.
There would be no evidence for such things. As long as they denied it, there wouldn’t be anything anyone could do.
Bang Geng played outside for a while before returning to the courtyard. He saw Yan Bu Gui’s bicycle and asked: “Third Master, can I borrow your bike to learn how to ride?”
Yan Bu Gui shook his head: “Absolutely not. My bike might not be brand new, but it’s well-maintained. I’ve been riding it for years, it’s almost like new. What if you scratch the paint? ”
Bang Geng snorted angrily and turned to leave. He walked to the corner and looked back.
“Just a rusty old bike, what’s so great about it? I’ll make you regret it!” Bang Geng said.
He went back home and started rummaging through the drawers.
“Bang Geng, what are you looking for?” Jia Zhang Shi asked.
“Looking for a wrench.” Bang Geng replied.
“What do you need a wrench for?” Jia Zhang Shi asked in confusion.
“To play.” Bang Geng found pliers, wrenches, and other tools from a wooden box. As a family of mechanics, they were not lacking in these tools.
“Looks like our grandson has the potential to be a mechanic. When you grow up, let your mother give you her position.” Jia Zhang Shi said.
Jia Zhang Shi had always had a plan to have Qin Huai Ru retire and let Bang Geng take over her position when he grew up. This way he could carry on the family business.
Third Master didn’t take Bang Geng borrowing the bike seriously. He wasn’t the only one who had asked him to borrow the bike. He refused everyone. Even if his own son wanted to use the bike, he would find ways to refuse.
Yan Jie Cheng and his wife wanted to ride Yan Bu Gui’s bike to visit her family several times, but Yan Bu Gui refused them with various excuses.
“Bang Geng asked Dad to borrow the bike earlier to play, but Dad refused. I think Bang Geng won’t give up.” Yu Li told Yan Jie Cheng.
Yan Jie Cheng said: “What does that have to do with us? We can’t ride it anyway.”
Yu Li nodded: “Last time my aunt came over, she wanted to use the bike, but he wouldn’t let her. It made me lose face.”
Yan Jie Cheng said with a wry smile: “You know Dad’s personality. He values that bike more than our siblings.”
When Qin Huai Ru returned home, she saw Bang Geng oiling a wrench and frowned. “Save on the kerosene.”
“Got it, Mom. When will our family get a bike?” Bang Geng asked.
“It depends on whether you have the potential. Yang Xuan is only sixteen years old, just four or five years older than you, and today the factory rewarded him with a bike. He is a technical cadre, an engineer, and earns over one hundred yuan a month, more than First Uncle.” Qin Huai Ru said.
“He has a bike?” Bang Geng asked in surprise.
“Yes. It was a reward from the factory. It’s a Forever brand bike.” Qin Huai Ru said.
Bang Geng said: “Tomorrow, I’ll ask Yang Xuan to borrow his bike to learn. Many people in our class know how to ride on the triangular stand.”
Children are short, they can’t step over the handlebars of an adult bike, so they would stick one foot through the triangular stand frame and lean their body to one side of the bike.
“Don’t even think about it. His bike is brand new, he won’t let you learn on it? Afraid it gets scratched?” Qin Huai Ru had already tried, and ended up with her nose out of joint.
However, if Qin Huai Ru had her own bike, she would definitely not want to lend it to others to learn how to ride.
At Yang Xuan’s house, Zeng Wen Fang couldn’t sleep at night, worried that their brand new bike would disappear.
“What are you fussing about?” Yang Da Cheng mumbled in his sleep.
Zeng Wen Fang got out of bed in her coat: “I think I heard something outside, I’ll go take a look.”
“You’re just worried about our bike.” Yang Da Cheng knew his wife’s personality best.
“You just go back to sleep. I won’t disturb you.” Zeng Wen Fang said impatiently.
Zeng Wen Fang really did hear some noises outside, but after getting out of bed, she saw their new bike safe and sound in the house, and didn’t pay attention to the sounds outside.
At this time, a short, dark figure came to the front yard, tiptoed to the door of Yan Bu Gui’s house, lifted the bike parked under the eaves and left.
He accidentally bumped into things a few times, making a slight metallic clanging sound.
The hardworking people in the courtyard were basically asleep at this time, and a little noise wasn’t enough to wake them up.
This era was still very safe. There were few thieves, so people slept soundly.
When dawn broke, Yang Xuan got up early, holding a washbasin and a towel to wash his face.
Qin Huai Ru had already been by the sink washing clothes.
“Yang Xuan, so early.” Qin Huai Ru greeted him.
“Aren’t you even earlier?” Yang Xuan smiled.
“By the way, how did your talk with Sha Zhu at Teacher Ran’s house go? Did Teacher Ran and Sha Zhu reach an agreement?” Qin Huai Ru asked.
“You’ll have to ask Sha Zhu and Teacher Ran. They know if it will work out. I just went there with Sha Zhu.” Yang Xuan said.
“Sha Zhu has been thinking that I sabotaged his blind date, but it’s really a misunderstanding. You know Sha Zhu is messy, I just wanted to help him tidy up. I really didn’t intentionally sabotage his blind date.” Qin Huai Ru said.
“You don’t need to tell me that.” Yang Xuan looked at Qin Huai Ru with disdain. Even at this point, was there any point in explaining?
At this moment, Yan Bu Gui’s voice rang out.
“There’s a thief! There’s a thief in our courtyard! I clearly left it at the door last night, but it’s gone.” Yan Bu Gui’s loud shout attracted all the hardworking people in the courtyard.
“Yesterday afternoon, I wiped down the bike, oiled it, locked it, and left it right here at the door. When I got up this morning, I found that the bike was gone!” Yan Bu Gui said.
“Let’s look around first. Maybe it’s some mischievous kid messing around.” Yi Zhong Hai said.
So everyone started helping Yan Bu Gui find the bike.
They soon found the bike at the entrance of the courtyard.
Unfortunately, the bike they found was incomplete, missing a wheel.
Yang Xuan’s face was a little strange. This scene was very familiar.