Liu Hui Zhen: “That’s great, Zhuzi, have you eaten? Want to have a bite here?”
Sha Zhu: “I ate at the steel mill. This is some white flour, you keep it for Yuan Chao to eat!”
Sha Zhu placed the white flour on the stove and looked down at Shen Yuan Chao in the bamboo carriage.
Shen Yuan Chao looked up and saw a big, pockmarked face, oily hair, old man appearing before him. He immediately felt dizzy and closed his eyes.
He already knew Sha Zhu was ugly, but he didn't expect that at seventeen, he already had the charm of a forty-year-old.
No wonder Qin Huairu dragged Sha Zhu around for eight years and couldn't bring herself to marry him?
Sha Zhu: “Hey, this kid, looks much more spirited than Bang Geng, and he’s so smart! Yu Shui, let’s go home!”
Yu Shui got up: “Auntie, then I’ll go home with my brother. I’ll come tomorrow and help take care of Yuan Chao.”
Sha Zhu: “Yu Shui, we have something to do tomorrow, so we can’t come. Auntie, tomorrow I want to take Yu Shui to Baocheng to find my dad. Leaving us like this isn’t going to work!”
Liu Hui Zhen: “Go tomorrow? When will you be back?”
Sha Zhu: “I don’t know. We don’t have a clear address, only a general area. We'll have to look around, it’ll take at least a week!”
Liu Hui Zhen got up, opened the door, looked around, making sure no one was there, and then said softly: “Zhuzi, didn’t you hear the old workers at the steel mill say that state-owned factories are going to start evaluating and rating levels? It’s probably going to be based on your skills. People with higher levels get higher wages, and those with lower levels get lower wages. If you miss it, who knows when the next opportunity will be?”
Sha Zhu was taken aback: “Auntie Liu, where did you hear that? I haven’t heard anything about it!”
Liu Hui Zhen told Sha Zhu about Guo Da Niang.
“Guo Da Niang said that the old workers in the factory should all know about it, Zhuzi. What I mean is, you can find your dad early or later, it’s not a very urgent matter. You should take the exam first. Once you get your level up, your salary will be higher, and you and Yu Shui’s lives will be better! In the future, it will also be better for you to talk about getting married.”
Sha Zhu pondered, that did make sense. He came to his senses and said gratefully: “Auntie Liu, thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known I’d miss such an important thing!”
Since He Da Qing left, most people in the courtyard either schemed against Sha Zhu or bullied him. Sha Zhu had no choice, in order to raise He Yu Shui, he had to make himself look like a scoundrel. This was the first time someone had considered him.
Lying in the bamboo carriage, Shen Yuan Chao heard the conversation between Liu Hui Zhen and Sha Zhu, thinking that in the original story, Sha Zhu and He Yu Shui went to find He Da Qing. But it didn’t mention that Sha Zhu missed the exam, so could it be that his arrival had fluttered the wings of a butterfly, changing Sha Zhu’s fate? Making him become a chef earlier? If so, then this courtyard was in for some good entertainment.
Another point, Sha Zhu didn’t want to find his dad before, but now he wants to go. Could it be that Yi Zhong Hai intentionally wants Sha Zhu to not be able to take the exam? Does he want to control Sha Zhu?
If Sha Zhu figures this out, then can Yi Zhong Hai still brainwash him later?
Shen Yuan Chao wasn’t a saint, even if he could speak now, he wouldn’t take the initiative to help Sha Zhu change his destiny and escape from his life of being sucked dry! But like this, unconsciously changing things, having some good entertainment, and being able to have Sha Zhu protect his mother and two bean sprout sisters in the courtyard in the future, that would be nice.
Who could refuse free muscle and a chef?
Thinking carefully, it seems that it was indeed from 1952 that the new country implemented the eight-level wage system in the regions of North China, East China, Central South, Northwest, and Southwest, each with its own suitable system. Unexpectedly, Shen Yuan Chao traveled to the past and landed right in the middle of this evaluation exam!
Sha Zhu took He Yu Shui back to the middle courtyard. He Yu Shui: “Brother, are we really going to find Dad tomorrow?”
He Yu Shui’s eyes were full of expectation. She was still young, only seven years old. Her mother died young and He Da Qing had to be both a father and a mother to her. So, He Yu Shui was more dependent on He Da Qing.
Sha Zhu patted He Yu Shui’s head: “Yu Shui, not yet. Your brother’s factory is having an exam, and once I pass the level exam, my salary will be higher, and you won’t be hungry anymore, okay?”
He Yu Shui obediently nodded: “Then I’ll go see Yuan Chao brother tomorrow!”
“Okay!”
Qin Huairu was washing clothes in the courtyard, and when she saw Sha Zhu carrying white flour to the west wing to deliver, she felt uncomfortable.
Jia Zhang Shi muttered: “Sha Zhu, you stupid, useless thing, born of a mother, but without a mother’s upbringing, you have good things at home and you don’t know to give some to our family, you just take care of the widow in the west wing! Ugh!”
Jia Dong Xu grew up with Sha Zhu, and they actually used to have a good relationship. But because he married Qin Huairu, he didn’t like Sha Zhu always staring at Qin Huairu, and that’s how Jia Dong Xu came to despise Sha Zhu. But now seeing that Sha Zhu had good things at home and didn’t give any to him, Jia Dong Xu’s face turned black: “Mom, you’ll see, Sha Zhu will soon be unlucky!”
Jia Zhang Shi: “How do you know?”
Jia Dong Xu went into the house, closed the door, and told Qin Huairu and Jia Zhang Shi about the level exam that Yi Zhong Hai had mentioned.
“My master said, Xu Da Mao is still in school, and Yan’s eldest son is still an apprentice. If you count, among the young generation, it’s just me and Sha Zhu who will participate in the evaluation exam. In the end, I pass the exam and my salary is higher than Sha Zhu’s. Then I’ll be the most promising young person in the compound! My master said, with my seniority and skills, second-level fitter should be no problem!”
When Qin Huairu heard this, she was delighted. If this were the case, then their family would be one of the best in the courtyard. What could Liu Widow compare to her with?
Jia Zhang Shi was also proud: “Still, my son Dong Xu is the most promising. That west wing has been too arrogant lately, you watch, you’re arrogant, you will suffer! I’ll see, her family will be unlucky soon!”
Jia Zhang Shi said so with a vicious curse.
Liu Hui Zhen finished her meal and it was still early. She wrapped an extra blanket around Shen Yuan Chao. “Chu Chu, Tian Tian, I’m going out with my brother. You two stay home and look after the house.”
Chu Chu and Tian Tian obediently said: “Mom, come back soon!”
“Ai!”
Liu Hui Zhen dug out the lunchbox of braised pork that Sha Zhu had given her earlier from the snow. She put it in a net bag and hung it on the small bamboo carriage. Then she pushed the carriage towards the courtyard gate.
Shen Yuan Chao couldn’t just eat rice porridge. She needed to find a way to get him some nutritious food. It would be best if there was someone who could help feed a baby. Qin Huairu was unwilling, so Liu Hui Zhen could only go and ask others.
Shen Yuan Chao was speechless. He hadn’t expected that Liu Hui Zhen hadn’t given up on the idea of making him eat other people's...奶. You know, that stuff, he definitely couldn't eat it himself. In this era, hygiene standards were poor and they didn't shower every day in winter. Shen Yuan Chao had a cleanliness fetish! But now he was just a little baby, he couldn’t even speak, so he could only let Luo Hui Zhen push him out.
Seeing Liu Hui Zhen pushing the small bamboo carriage out, everyone in the courtyard looked at Shen Yuan Chao sitting on the carriage with envy.
“Aiyo, Hui Zhen, you still keep this little bamboo carriage!”
Jia Zhang Shi: “Humph, I went to borrow it last time, and she said she had sold it. It’s obvious she didn’t want to lend it!”