The conspiracy of the courtyard

Chapter 157 The Famine Begins

Seeing that everyone was waiting for his answer, Lu Zixuan had no choice but to explain.

“There are two reasons for not letting him come.

First of all, his mother and sister died not too long ago, so it is not suitable for a reunion like ours;

Secondly, the relationship between us is that I use money to buy his labor, which is similar to an employment relationship.

It is pure and without any other emotions, so both parties can get along more comfortably. "

Seeing that Lu Zixuan was not interested, He Yuzhu did not continue the topic.

Cheng Xiaoman suddenly thought of the notice from the Street Office and interrupted:

"Yesterday the subdistrict office notified us that after the Chinese New Year, we will elect a new manager for our courtyard.

It seemed that it was because Yan Jiecheng succeeded Yan Bugui and went to collect water and electricity bills from each household. Everyone was dissatisfied and almost started a fight.

Why don't you let Zhuzi take charge of this matter? At least it can reduce the number of people targeting our family."

Her proposal received support from everyone except Lu Zixuan, and He Yuzhu also enthusiastically asked for Lu Zixuan's opinion.

Lu Zixuan first affirmed the proposal, and then asked a few questions:

"Yes, I can ask you a few simple questions.

First, your approval rating will not be too high. There are many residents who have conflicts with our family. How do you plan to resolve them?

Second, Xu Fugui's age and popularity are obviously better than yours, and will be your biggest obstacle. How can you convince him?

Third, there may be a food shortage next year. How do you plan to help everyone get through this difficult time?

Fourth, how do you plan to help those families who are living in difficult circumstances?

Fifth, if you become a manager and an older person makes unreasonable demands on you, how will you respond? "

He Yuzhu had never considered these questions. After thinking for a long time, he asked Lu Zixuan in confusion:

"How do you solve it?"

Lu Zixuan looked at He Yuzhu with a smile without saying a word.

Cheng Xiaoman suddenly realized and said to He Yuzhu:

"Zhu Zi, don't embarrass Xuan Xuan, I just said it casually, don't take it too seriously.

You are indeed not suitable to be a manager, and I am not trying to discourage you.

In terms of wisdom, popularity, and ability, you are at most average in Siheyuan. We should know ourselves.

Who cares who is in charge? It’s fine for us to be ordinary residents.”

He Yuzhu had just been inspired to talk about this, so there was no reason to be upset, so the topic ended there.

Although the topic of electing a steward in Lu Zixuan's family has ended, Xu Fugui's family has just started discussing it.

"Dad, do you have a good chance of becoming the steward this time? Do you want me to go and deliver some things to the residents in the courtyard to help them get some exercise?"

Xu Damao was the first to bring up the topic.

Xu Fugui was reluctant to say more about this matter.

"I didn't want to be the manager. The timing is wrong. It's like a fire pit now. Who dares to jump in? Except for the newcomers, no one should do it.

Your mother said that after the New Year, she would talk to Madam about your marriage with Miss Lou.

If Mr. Lou agrees, our family and the people in the Siheyuan will no longer be in the same class, so there is no need to worry about the position of that crappy steward.

Remember, next time you meet Miss Lou, say more nice things to make her happy.

As long as you can make her happy, you can expect to be very successful in the future. Even if you pluck a hair from her, it would be enough for us to eat and drink for several years.

Try to win over the people around you recently, and don’t let your nicknames like Waste Mao, Stupid Mao, etc. leak out, or Director Lou might send someone to investigate you…”

The day for electing managers soon arrived, and Director Liu still presided over the meeting of the entire institute.

The method is the same as Director Wang’s previous method. First, individuals voluntarily go on stage to vote.

But this time, only three people volunteered to go on stage: Old Sun's son Xiao Sun, Yan Jiecheng, and Liu Guangqi.

However, Director Liu denied their request for election on the grounds that all three families had prisoners serving sentences.

We repeatedly encouraged other old residents to run for election, but they all shook their heads and refused.

There are various reasons. The younger ones say that they have too little experience and are not qualified.

The elderly said that they were old and could not overwork.

He has the age and experience required, but he says he is too busy at work and doesn't have the energy.

When Director Liu was in a state of panic, Xiao Zhao, who followed him, suggested that each family go on stage to participate in the election.

After two hours of mutual shirking of responsibilities, we finally found a suitable candidate.

The seventh-level fitter named Guo, who just moved into Yi Zhonghai’s house, is less than 50 years old.

In his hometown, he has won honors such as Advanced Individual of the Factory and Model Worker of the Factory, and has served as a workshop team leader.

It was announced on the spot that Guo Tiejun would be the manager of the courtyard, and that there would be no deputy manager for the time being. Yan Jiecheng was designated as responsible for the collection and payment of various fees.

After negotiation, each household had to pay Yan Jiecheng 3 cents as labor fee every month.

The cleaning of the hospital is done by three needy families, who take turns to clean it, and each family pays 3 yuan per month for cleaning fees...

"Son, a truckload of food arrived this afternoon, including a few bags of bark flour. The stationmaster asked me to record the corn flour in the account.

This is a typical case of selling inferior goods as good ones. I don't want to help the evildoers. How should I deal with it? Should I take a long vacation to rest? "

Chen Ping attended the entire college meeting with a restless mind, and immediately asked Lu Zixuan for advice as soon as he entered the door.

Lu Zixuan frowned and thought for a while, then said dejectedly:

“You don’t need to ask for leave. Even if you did, it would be useless. As long as you are still working as an accountant at the grain station, you cannot escape responsibility for this matter.

It's okay. This situation is starting to occur in grain depots across the country. It's normal.

The general environment is like this and no one can change it. All you have to do is keep accounts from now on.

Tomorrow I will have someone bring back a few sets of wooden racks and put them outside the door. I will plant some easy-to-grow vegetables and sweet potatoes on the racks.

I hope those smart people can learn from this and fill their stomachs.”

As the weather got hotter, the food shortage became more and more obvious, and the food quota was continuously reduced.

The coarse grains purchased are becoming less and less pure. By summer, the ratio of corn flour, bark flour, and tree root flour reaches 1:1.

Smart people all followed Lu Zixuan's example and set up shelves outside their doors to grow all kinds of food and vegetables to fill their stomachs.

There were also some courageous people who dug up the blue bricks and slabs on the ground of those dilapidated courtyards and planted edible plants there.

The subdistrict office once tried to stop such excessive behavior, but to no avail, and gradually they just accepted it.