novelslam Chapter 37 How about getting an electric kettle?
Chapter 37 How about getting an electric kettle?
You have to admit, Old Ma is a real man. There were eight people in total, and he brought five jin and two fen of food.
Nie Lan left after drinking half of it, while the remaining men each drank at least half a jin (250ml).
There was a bottle of wine on the table. Zhang Chengfei picked up the bottle and began to pour wine for Lao Tian.
"That's enough, that's enough." Old Tian tapped the table with his fingers to express his gratitude, and then brought up the matter of the radiator again.
"We're in the same department. Xiao Zhang, you didn't tell me yourself, but had Xiao Ke do it. That's a bit roundabout."
Zhang Chengfei smiled and said, "I'm just embarrassed. I just started working here, and I'm already asking you to do this troublesome thing."
"It's nothing, don't mention it's too much trouble." Old Tian looked at him and smiled憨厚ly, "You educated people always have a lot on your mind."
"Brother Tian is right." Zhang Chengfei smiled and then asked, "I heard that Brother Tian is the best at fixing the heating in our factory."
Old Tian said with some pride, "Twenty years ago, when I was just a teenager, I started helping people install heating systems."
"Wow, that's pretty early." Zhang Chengfei did the math. "Brother Tian, you're thirty-seven now, so you were only seventeen back then, right?"
Old Tian nodded: "I'm different from you. I started working as an apprentice in a steel rolling mill when I was around ten years old. Life was tough in the old society. Back then, factories were sweatshops. We worked overtime every day without getting overtime pay."
"I was so exhausted in the repair shop that my hands were blistered and bleeding, and I would get beaten by my supervisor if I made a mistake."
Then one time, I made a mistake and my foreman kicked me from the workshop door all the way to the factory gate…”
Recalling the past, Lao Tian sighed: "I was beaten until my head was covered in blood and I was about to faint when an engineer saw me. He took pity on me and said that he was short of a errand boy for his project in Dongjiaomin Lane, so he took me away."
He was cultured and knowledgeable, spoke slowly and deliberately, and even taught me to read. Because of him, I have a very good impression of intellectuals.
It was because he learned to read and write that he gained insight and learned real skills from the engineer over two years, which enabled him to advance further in his work.
Recalling the past, Old Tian's expression became somewhat emotional. Little Ke, however, was drunk and stammered, "Dongjiaomin Lane 20 years ago? Wasn't that where I worked for the Little Secretary?"
Old Tian paused for a moment, then quickly recovered: "We're just ordinary people, trying to make a living. Under the circumstances back then, we just did whatever the higher-ups told us to do."
"You know, back then, which restaurant or tavern in Beijing hadn't served little notebooks?"
Xiao Ke nodded: "That's true."
Old Tian was filled with righteous indignation, gritting his teeth: "Those guys are wicked, every single one of them is wicked. That engineer who saved me and took good care of me. Later, during a project, because he talked back to one of their team leaders, they whipped him and threw him into a mass grave outside the city."
Thinking of this, his eyes reddened: "I secretly went to look for it later, but I couldn't find it..."
Zhang Chengfei thoughtfully took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Lao Tian.
Old Tian wiped his face: "I hate those little devils, I hate them from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could kill them all and drink their blood..."
Zhang Chengfei patted him on the shoulder: "It's all in the past."
Liu Cixin also spoke up: "So we should thank the CCP, thank the old man. Without him, we would still be a colony being bullied by the Japanese."
Old Tian smiled, picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, then changed the subject and asked Zhang Chengfei how the house renovation was going.
"The table and chairs were left by the previous residents. After a simple cleaning, I could move in that same day."
Zhao Xu was quite surprised: "No one has lived here for years, shouldn't we tidy it up properly, repaint the walls, give it a good coat of white paint, and buy some decent furniture?"
Zhang Chengfei: "I don't ask for much. I'd be happy with just a place to rest. As for anything else, it's all just icing on the cake; I don't need it."
I just felt that there was no need to tidy up the rented house.
Old Tai nodded, then looked at the chubby boy and lectured, "This is a humble abode, but my virtue makes it fragrant. Very good. The country needs development now, young people shouldn't always think about enjoying themselves, but should talk more about contributing."
Good heavens, two moral paragons!! The chubby boy secretly pursed his lips, his disdain for the two increasing several points.
Some people don't like to hear it, while others do. Old Ma has been out of the army for over a year and knows all too well how hard-won his current life is.
Upon hearing this, he praised Zhang Chengfei highly, noting that Zhang was uneducated and could not quote classical texts like Lao Tai.
It's just that this time, Fatty Feng had a sharp eye, choosing Zhang Chengfei, who is technically skilled, capable of R&D, and has a high level of vision.
"Giving you level fourteen treatment is quite a good thing, Fatty Feng did!"
"Level 14? Who?" Xiao Ke, who was already slumped over the table, suddenly raised his head and stared at Zhang Chengfei with bloodshot eyes.
Zhao Xiaopangzi, Zhao Xu looked at him suspiciously: "Zhang Chengfei was a level 14 cadre when he entered the factory, didn't you know?"
"I don't know," Xiao Ke shook her head, looking around. "You all know?"
Everyone nodded, but Xiao Ke was furious: "So everyone knew, but you kept it from me?"
Da Liu chuckled: "Ke Yisheng, don't call yourself the know-it-all of the machinery factory anymore..."
Xiao Ke looked at Zhang Chengfei with a hint of resentment, and the latter explained, "You never asked, so I assumed you already knew. After all, you said you're a know-it-all..."
Xiao Ke looked up to the sky and roared, "Stop calling me a know-it-all! I'm just an egg!"
If he can't even understand the affairs of his own department, what right does he have to call himself a know-it-all?
The drinking party that night ended with Xiao Ke filled with self-blame and regret.
The next day, the way he looked at Zhang Chengfei was a little strange. Zhang Chengfei even sensed a trace of disgust from him, though the amount was small each time, but the frequency was high.
Zhang Chengfei felt he still valued Xiao Ke as a colleague, so he put down his pencil, rubbed his eyes, and said, "Brother Ke, it was wrong of me not to tell you. I'll treat you to lunch today to make up for it, so please don't be angry."
Xiao Ke said proudly, "Then I have to eat two white steamed buns!"
"Two it is fine." Zhang Chengfei was wealthy and didn't care.
Xiao Ke was delighted and urged him to get to work quickly so as not to miss his meal.
Just as the two were about to get back to work, the power went out.
It's been cloudy for the past few days, and the office building has been poorly lit, so everyone has been drawing with the lights on.
The lighting was poor, so everyone had to stop writing. Xiao Ke started complaining that the electricity was always running out; the technician from Mao Xiong had said that they had more than enough electricity to use up.
Zhang Chengfei: "You've also been in contact with bear experts?"
"Yes, I assisted them when they came to repair the machine. The Russian expert said it's very cold there, and they have to bring a small stick when they go to the toilet."
"Do you know why we brought a small stick?"
"That place is so cold that your pee freezes into an icicle after you pee. If you don't break it, you can stand up on it." Xiao Ke exaggeratedly gestured.
Zhang Chengfei listened with great interest, then got up to pour himself some tea.
The water in the thermos wasn't very hot. He blew on it and sipped it slowly.
Xiao Ke glanced at him, and the topic started to veer off course: "It's probably because it's too cold. People there really like to drink hot tea and hot coffee. Before, after we finished repairing the machine, the water we poured from the thermos in our factory wasn't hot enough, and that Russian expert even gave us a hard time."
At this point, Xiao Ke became indignant again: "I don't believe their water is always boiling hot! These people are just taking advantage of us and deliberately stirring up trouble."
Suddenly, Zhang Chengfei had an idea and asked, "Then what do you think? If we made an electric kettle that can heat water anytime, could we sell it to the Russians who love hot drinks?"