Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 23 Neighbors

Summer in Northeast China isn't very hot yet, and electric fans aren't a common household item; they're quite rare.

This Director Lu, whom Xiaowei had never met before, was really considerate and thoughtful. He brought out almost everything Xiaowei needed for daily life, including pots and pans. At this point, the dormitories for public security, procuratorate, and court officials were not much different from family residential areas. They lived there, except that the things were usually provided by the government, so they basically had everything.

Just as they were moving, a loud rumble came from nearby, and a round-fronted, black-smoke-belching Happiness 250 motorcycle pulled up and stopped beside Jiefang Road. A young man of about twenty got off, turned the key, and walked over, looking in their direction. He asked, "Moving? New here? Which floor do you live on?"

Li Zhongguo turned to look at him and said, "Third floor, you live here too?"

The young man nodded, took out a pack of cigarettes, and offered one to each of them, saying, "I live on the fifth floor. What do you do, sir? I've never seen you before. You're not from the power company, are you?"

The driver lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "From Jixian Police Station. Our chief's child lives and goes to school here. You're from the power bureau? What's your name?"

The young man paused for a moment, then said, "Is this the Maluwan power supply area? I'm from the power company, my name is Chen Hui."

The driver laughed and said, "We're staying here, not here to manage things. Can't people from Jixian stay here? We're all young people, so let's look after each other and treat each other well."

Chen Hui nodded and said, "That will work. Don't underestimate me just because I'm young. There are hardly any people in the power industry who don't know me. If there's anything in this area in the future, just mention me and it will definitely be effective."

Li Zhongguo pointed to Xiaowei and said, "This is Zhang Wei. He and his girlfriend will live here from now on. His girlfriend is studying at the engineering college. You two can get to know each other slowly."

Chen Hui nodded and said to Xiao Wei, "Wow, buddy, your wife's amazing, going to engineering school! What's your story?"

Xiao Wei glanced at Li Zhongguo, licked his lips, and felt a little nervous as he interacted with a young man from the city for the first time. He took a breath and said, "I'm a bricklayer, I build houses."

Chen Hui was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Holy crap, you're from Dalian University of Technology? That's awesome! You're not as big as me, are you? How did you become a Dalian University of Technology graduate?"

Xiao Wei felt a bit more confident and said, "Take it slow, it's not that hard. What are you doing?"

Chen Hui scratched his head and said, "I work at the power bureau. My dad works there, so I was assigned here. I'm checking meters now, and this whole area is under my jurisdiction." He lowered his voice and said, "Tell me beforehand if you're stealing electricity. Sometimes it's not just one person checking meters, it's not good to keep an eye on things."

Xiao Wei was completely dumbfounded. Electricity could be stolen?

After unloading everything from the Jiefang truck, the driver said goodbye to Li Zhongguo: "That's settled then, Director Li. You can call Director Lu later."

Li Zhongguo said, "Okay, thanks. I'll call Lao Lu sometime, and we can go out for a drink together."

The driver got in the truck, started the engine, and reversed out. The road inside was a bit narrow, and the Jiefang truck couldn't maneuver around it.

Chen Hui whispered in Xiao Wei's ear, "What's this Director Li to you? What kind of director?"

Xiao Wei said, "My uncle works at the Public Security Bureau; he's the deputy director."

Chen Hui blinked and said, "You're awesome, buddy. I'll have to follow you from now on."

Xiao Wei smiled, and in that instant, his vanity grew rapidly, blossoming and bearing fruit as if touched by the water from Guanyin's jade bottle. He took a drag of his cigarette, inhaled deeply through the smoke, swallowed, and said, "What's the point of following someone? Nothing is more real than doing well on your own. You think your power industry is so great? When you become the director, that's when you'll be truly powerful; everything else is just empty talk."

Chen Hui also took a drag of his cigarette, watching the departing Liberation truck, and said, "That's how things are, but in this society, you need connections. Without connections, you're nothing. If you have strong connections, you rise quickly; if you don't, you have to endure. I was wondering why you, with such strong connections, ended up as a bricklayer? Although that job pays well and isn't lowly, it's just manual labor, and you won't get ahead in the future."

Xiao Wei said, "I was young back then, and my family let me go out and practice. I didn't have much else to do, so I went to work on a construction site. I've stopped now. I'll think about what to do after my boyfriend is settled and school starts."

Chen Hui said, "Is this your house? Even people from the power company might not be able to live here. You've got some connections."

Xiao Wei said, "It doesn't belong to my family, it belongs to my uncle, the deputy general manager of the taxi company. No one lives in the house, so he let me stay there for now."

Chen Hui said, "The taxi company headquarters? That's a high level, you must be a deputy director-general, right? Brother, your connections are off the charts! What else do you have? Tell me, I want to brag about it tomorrow."

Xiao Wei smiled and said, "It's nothing. It's not my own problem; it's all because of my elders."

Chen Hui patted Xiao Wei on the shoulder and said, "That's not the same thing. If you're in trouble, won't your family take care of you? Brother, if you ever make it big, remember me. Starting tomorrow, I'll be your follower."

Xiao Wei said, "Don't say that. Let's be friends from now on. I'll be living here for several years."

Little Red from upstairs shouted, "Hey, you devil, what are you doing down there?"

Xiao Wei threw away his cigarette butt, stomped it out, and said, "I'm going upstairs now, buddy. Let's chat another day."

Chen Hui waved the keys in his hand and said, "I'll go up too. Let's go, let's grab a drink sometime."

Xiao Wei nodded, patted himself off, and said, "Okay, we're staying here anyway, and we have plenty of time. We'll come down for a visit sometime."

The two walked into the building entrance. Chen Hui said, "Okay, let's get together sometime. You've just moved in, so you must be quite busy. I won't bother you these next few days."

Upon reaching the third floor, the two greeted each other and parted ways; Xiaowei then pushed open the door and went inside.

The room was already neatly arranged and tidied up. Xiao Hong was putting things in the cabinet when she turned to look at Xiao Wei and said, "Why aren't you coming up to tidy up? What are you fussing about?"

Xiao Wei scratched his head and said, "They're my neighbors upstairs, and we'll be dealing with them for years to come. I can't just ignore them."

Li Zhongguo came out of the kitchen after washing his face and said, "Yes, they're all about the same age. It's good to get along well and make some friends. Locals can be quite helpful sometimes. What's up with him?"

Xiao Wei said, "They said they were checking the electricity meter, and they even told me to let them know beforehand if I were to steal electricity. Electricity can be stolen?!"

Li Zhongguo said, "What can't be stolen?" He walked to the door, looked around, and opened a small iron gate on the wall, saying, "Look, this is the electricity meter. They come to read the numbers every month, and then calculate your electricity bill. This thing is easy to steal."

He turned around and looked around, then picked up a piece of wire from the old cabinet in the dining room and said, "Look, just this piece of wire, bend it like this."

Li Zhongguo bent the wire into a U-shape, compared it, and said, "See this? This is the incoming line, and this is the outgoing line. Live and neutral, live and neutral, that's the order on the meters. Use this piece of wire, insert it like this, and connect the incoming and outgoing live wires directly. See, it spins slower now, right? That's stealing electricity. Just unplug it on the two days when the meter is checked. Isn't he the one checking the meter? Just tell him, it's fine. You can save some money every month."