Although he doesn't think much of the selfish behavior of the elder, but again, he is not the Virgin, and as long as it doesn't happen to him, he will not take the initiative to provoke the elder.
But what about Mr. Yi? At this stage, he still has a status in the courtyard. There is no need to say anything to Yi Zhonghai for matters that have nothing to do with him.
Yi Zhonghai looked at Zhou Chen with admiration. Zhou Chen's family had lived in the courtyard for many years. Although not as long as he and the He family and the Jia family, he had also watched Zhou Chen grow up.
It's just that because the Zhou family lived in the front yard and they lived in the middle yard, and before Zhou Chen joined the army, he often went out to play with others when no one was around, so he didn't have much contact with them.
"Let's go back together."
Yi Zhonghai said something and then took the lead and walked forward.
"Zhou Chen, the factory wants you to come to work the day after tomorrow. What type of work are you going to do? You should start as an apprentice."
Apprentice workers have the lowest salary in the factory, only 18 yuan. However, most people who work as replacements start as apprentice workers. Some work for a few months, and after mastering certain skills, they will be promoted to the first level.
Even if you are not good at work, you will be promoted to a higher level in a few years at most.
However, there are exceptions. Like Qin Huairu, whose husband died of a work-related injury, the factory took care of her. Although she had to start from scratch, the salary was not low. Plus subsidies, it was twenty-seven and a half yuan, which was much higher than that of an apprentice.
Zhou Chen's situation is similar to Qin Huairu's, except that Zhou Chen is now alone and unlike Qin Huairu who has to take care of a family, Yi Zhonghai doesn't know what arrangements the factory will make for Zhou Chen, which is why he asked this question.
"I don't know. The personnel arrangements haven't been made yet. We won't know until the report is made the day after tomorrow."
It doesn't make much difference to Zhou Chen what kind of work he does. If he is really assigned to a hard-working workshop, he will definitely not be able to admit it by pinching his nose. It's OK for a while to treat him badly, but if he wants to do it forever, that's not possible.
possible.
Yi Zhonghai said: "When you first join the factory, no matter what type of work you do, you must learn with humility and don't be half-hearted. Only by being serious can you make progress."
Looking at Yi Zhonghai who was preaching to him, Zhou Chen felt very strange. Is this the "dundun teaching" from his elders?
"Uh-huh."
Yi Zhonghai was very satisfied to see Zhou Chen's good attitude. Although he was the eldest man in the courtyard, he had no children and usually did not have much opportunity to teach young people. Even when he was facing He Yuzhu and Xu Damao, he mainly scolded him.
.
Looking at the young Zhou Chen, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind. Zhou Chen was a few years younger than He Yuzhu, and now he has no father, mother, or relatives, and he was just getting ready to work. Isn't this also a good idea?
Choose?
Because he has no children, Yi Zhonghai began to consider the issue of his own retirement many years ago.
Jia Dongxu, Qin Huairu's husband, was the first investment he made.
Jia Dongxu was orphaned and widowed, and he had watched him grow up since childhood. Although he had no independent opinions, such people were easier to control.
So he accepted Jia Dongxu as his apprentice and taught him with all his heart, hoping that Jia Dongxu would be successful in the future and provide for the old couple.
It's a pity that Jia Dongxu's fate was not good. They didn't wait for Jia Dongxu to provide for them in old age, but instead gave him away first.
With Jia Dongxu gone, he began to look for new elderly care recipients. However, the young people in the hospital either had parents or relatives and did not meet his conditions.
Finally, under the influence of the deaf old lady, he noticed He Yuzhu, and after repeated observations, he felt that although He Yuzhu was a mess, he was a person he could rely on.
He had never paid attention to Zhou Chen before, because Zhou Chen had a father and lived in the front yard.
But things are different now. Zhou Chen seems to be the only young man in their courtyard who has no relatives. If Zhou Chen can live together with the old couple, wouldn't it be much better than finding He Yuzhu?
This possibility came to mind for a moment, but Yi Zhonghai was also a wise man. He just had this idea and would not take action immediately.
The issue of pension is the biggest concern of his life, and of course he cannot make a hasty decision.
"Zhou Chen, you have just returned from the army. You may not know much about things in the courtyard. If you encounter anything in the courtyard in the future, you can go to the intermediate courtyard to find me."
Zhou Chen didn't refuse and responded directly: "Okay, sir."
Qin Huairu looked at Yi Zhonghai talking to Zhou Chen intentionally, with thoughtful eyes.
After walking for more than ten minutes, they returned to the courtyard. Zhou Chen arrived home first, said something to Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu, and then returned to the house.
Yi Zhonghai did not return to the Intermediate Courtyard immediately, but went to find the third uncle.
At dinner time, Aunt Li came to ask Zhou Chen to have dinner again, but Zhou Chen did not agree. Instead, he borrowed a dozen briquettes from their family, turned on the coal stove outside the house, and cooked by himself.
When he went out today, he bought some grain, both fine grain and coarse grain.
He is not short of money, but he still needs to prepare some coarse grains at home. If there is no coarse grains at home, it will not be good for others to know. There are many people suffering from pink eye these days.
After carrying the coal stove home, Zhou Chen started cooking. Fortunately, there were all the pots and pans at home. They had all been washed yesterday and were ready for use.
The current living conditions are naturally incomparable to those a few decades later. Fortunately, Zhou Chen has also lived through hard times and can still eat whole grains.
The only bad thing about living alone is that you have to do everything by yourself.
If we were in the 21st century with advanced technology, the kitchen would be fully equipped and cooking would not be difficult. But now the conditions are limited and a simple bite is enough. If you want to eat something good, it is still more troublesome to cook.
Thinking of living like this for the next few years, Zhou Chen could only sigh. It was all his fault that the dog system had to tie him up in this courtyard.
There were no steamed buns, so Zhou Chen cooked more rice porridge and took out the pickles he bought at noon, barely filling his stomach.
Although it was already winter, Zhou Chen did not dare to close the windows tightly. After all, there was still a coal stove burning in the house. This thing could not be extinguished, otherwise it would have to be re-ignited, which would be troublesome.
Burning briquettes will produce toxic gases, so for safety reasons, it is necessary to open some windows for ventilation.
"Dongdong!"
"Zhou Chen, stay at home, I am, Xu Damao."
Zhou Chen, who was laying out a new four-piece suit, stopped what he was doing and walked over to open the door.
Seeing Xu Damao's tired appearance, Zhou Chen asked in surprise: "Xu Damao, what are you?"
Xu Damao said with a smile: "I just came back from a movie in the countryside. I brought two old hens from the countryside. Do you want me to share one with you?"
Zhou Chen was a little surprised, because he knew that Xu Damao was an egoist and not a generous person.
"No, I just came back and I can't even take care of it myself. How can I have time to take care of a chicken? You can take it back and raise it for your sister-in-law. I can lay an egg every day."
Seeing that Zhou Chen didn't want to do it, Xu Damao didn't try to dissuade him: "Okay, you've been to the human resources department in the factory. How about it? Have you been assigned to that workshop?"
"It hasn't been decided yet. I'll report it the day after tomorrow. We won't know until then."
"Oh, I think Factory Manager Yang is very kind to you. If the assigned workshop is not good, you can go to Factory Manager Yang to intercede. It will definitely be useful."
"It hasn't happened yet, let's talk about it the day after tomorrow."
Zhou Chen didn't take it to heart and chatted with Xu Damao for a few words, and Xu Damao left with his things.
At nine o'clock in the evening, Zhou Chen opened the system panel and immediately discovered that the task progress had improved a little, reaching 2/10000.
Zhou Chen calculated that from early morning to now, he had been away from the courtyard in the morning and afternoon. So far, he had only been in the courtyard for twelve or three hours at most.
In other words, the day specified by the task is less than twelve or thirteen hours.
After doing this calculation, Zhou Chen had a good idea and decided to record the time tomorrow and finally determine the specific time for easy operation in the future.
The night passed quickly. Zhou Chen left the house at around nine o'clock in the morning. The system's task progress had actually reached three ten thousandths, which made him overjoyed.
Counting from early morning, it has only been less than nine hours, and a task progress has been completed. This shows that the system's prescribed day is less than nine hours.
This result made Zhou Chen very happy. If it took nine hours, or even less, or even one day, then this task would not be as difficult as imagined.
As long as he stays in the courtyard for nine hours every day, he can complete a progress every day. In this way, the task can be completed in twenty-seven and a half years at the fastest.
Even if there is an accident in the middle and it is delayed for a few years, as long as he lives long enough and no accidents occur, the task can still be completed easily.
Thinking of this, he felt very good. He was just wasting time. He had already gained experience. Compared with the years he had lived, twenty or thirty years was nothing.
Zhou Chen has been shopping all day today, and he bought a lot of necessities for his home.
His current total net worth is more than 2,000 yuan, some of which was saved by his father over the years, and some of which was compensated by the factory after his father died unexpectedly.
More than two thousand yuan is already a huge sum in this day and age. Many families these days don't have enough to eat, and it is even more difficult to save money.
So with more than two thousand yuan, plus the thousands of tickets in his system backpack, he can live a comfortable enough life.
As for the grain book and so on, I had already done it yesterday when I went to the subdistrict office to report. Today I happened to go to the street office again and got my own grain book back.
Nowadays, the food in the four-nine cities is rationed and must be redeemed based on the food book. Like rural households, there is no food subsidy in the city.
"Zhou Chen, I see you bought so many things today and spent a lot of money, right?"
Zhou Chen lives in the front yard, which makes it easier to get in and out, but when he comes back carrying things, the third aunt still sees him clearly.
The third aunt looked envious and distressed. She felt that this child really didn't know how to live, and the things at home were not usable anymore, so she had to buy new ones, and there were so many things that looked good and not cheap.
After just a few cursory glances, she was sure that Zhou Chen spent a lot of money to buy these things, at least dozens of yuan. If this was given to their family, it would last for several months.
Zhou Chen was speechless when he heard the third aunt's words, "I'm spending my own money, why are you feeling so distressed?"
"There is no way. No one has lived in the house for a long time, and many things are broken. I can only buy new ones. To live a good life, I must not wrong myself."
The third aunt objected: "You can't say that. Life is just daily necessities, so you have to make plans. If you don't make plans, no matter how much money you have, it won't be enough."
"Ah? Really? I'm really not sure about this, and I've never lived alone. Thank you, Third Aunt, for your reminder. I'll pay attention to it in the future."
"That's how it should be. Hey, Zhou Chen, I see you bought a lot of new things. If you don't use those old items at home, they will be lost if you throw them away. Why don't you give them to me and I'll see if they can still be used."
The third aunt looked at Zhou Chen eagerly. As long as Zhou Chen agreed, she would immediately rush to Zhou Chen's house to move things.
Zhou Chen was even more speechless. As expected, the three uncles were capable of scheming, and the three aunts were also deeply affected by it.
"Uh, I have to sort this out first. Third aunt, please do your work first and then we'll talk about it after I'm done."
The third aunt looked pityful: "Then you go ahead and tell me when you throw things away."
"OK."
After dealing with the difficult third aunt, Zhou Chen couldn't help but laugh. The people living in this courtyard were really interesting, with all kinds of people there.
Although Third Aunt is capable of calculations, she is not annoying at all. Talking to Third Aunt gives you a sense of life.
After another day of tidying up at home, Zhou Chen secretly cooked a pot of vermicelli and cabbage stew in the evening, closing the doors and windows tightly while cooking.
After cooking, he sent a bowl to Uncle Zhang and Aunt Li's house. Uncle Zhang and Aunt Li pushed it around, and finally Zhou Chen put down the bowl.
Looking at the meat in the pot, Zhou Chen thought for a while, filled another bowl, covered it with the bowl, and walked to the third uncle's house in the east wing.
"Dongdong."
"Third uncle, third aunt, where are you at home?"
The third aunt opened the door and saw Zhou Chen, and her face suddenly lit up: "Zhou Chen, are you here to ask us to get something?"
Seeing the excitement and eagerness on the third aunt's face, Zhou Chen immediately fell silent, "Good guy, I'm still thinking about this."
"Third aunt, you misunderstood. Didn't I go to the store today and buy some meat? I just stewed it. Why don't I bring a bowl to your family?"
"ah?"
When the third aunt heard that it was meat, she was very surprised. The third uncle in the room, as well as his two sons and daughters, all stood up, especially the three children, who stared at the hand in Zhou Chen's hand.
bowl.
Third uncle Yan Bugui hurriedly urged: "His third aunt, why don't you let Zhou Chen in quickly? Why are you blocking the door?"
"Oh, yes, Zhou Chen, come in, come in." The third aunt warmly greeted Zhou Chen to enter.
Being stared at by the five members of Yan Bugui's family, the look in his eyes made even Zhou Chen feel very uncomfortable and wondered whether he had given it to the wrong person.
Putting down the bowl in his hand, Zhou Chen said to Yan Bugui: "Third uncle, this meat has just been stewed. The quality is limited. I don't know if it suits your taste. Also, I just came back to live, so there will be more trouble in the future."
You take care of it.”
Yanbu Guixiao's eyes narrowed: "That's for sure. Your dad and I have been neighbors for more than ten years, and we have a very good relationship. I also watched you grow up. You don't need to tell me.
Third uncle will definitely take care of you."
"Then thank you so much, Mr. Third." Zhou Chen thanked him politely.
"It should, it should."
Yan Jiefang's eyes were fixed on the bowl on the table, and he felt that he could smell the fragrance.