Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

"Xiao Jie, are you getting impatient waiting? There's nothing we can do. There are too many people here today. They said we'd be off at 4:30, but we ended up being busy until now."

Although Wang Yuxiu was very tired, she was very excited.

As long as business is good and she makes a lot of money, she is willing to work any hardship or fatigue.

"Dapeng, go back quickly. I think your family must be waiting anxiously for you."

Du Shaojie smiled, said hello to Su Dapeng, and rode his bike back home with his mother.

Wang Yuxiu was holding a black handbag tightly in her hand. This was the money for today's business. If Su Dapeng hadn't been with her, she wouldn't have dared to take the bus to bring it back.

The savings bank is only open half a day, so there is no way to save money.

"Mom, take a rest first, we'll have dinner soon."

Xiaomei and Xiaoya felt sorry for their mother, so as soon as Wang Yuxiu entered the room, the two sisters started serving tea and water.

Du Shaojie started cooking. After a few dishes were ready, they were served on the table. Then he set off firecrackers at the gate of the yard.

Hot pot is simple, everything is prepared in advance and you can start eating right away.

Du Shaojie opened a bottle of wine and drank by himself, feeling very comfortable. The family had no worries about food and drink, and even money, but this good family atmosphere was more precious than anything else.

The sound of firecrackers outside was deafening and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

After eating and drinking, no one wanted to move, and in the end Xiaomei and Xiaoya cleaned up the mess.

"It's on fire! Put out the fire!"

The family sat down and started playing poker as they did in previous years.

Du Shaojie was suddenly startled when he heard a noisy sound coming from outside.

"Whose house is on fire? Mom, keep an eye on them. Don't let them run around. I'll go check it out."

Du Shaojie put on his coat and went out. As he walked out of the alley, he saw flames rising into the sky not far away.

That was the direction of Qi Yan's home. Although he thought it wouldn't be such a coincidence, he was still worried and quickly ran over to check.

The house on fire was not Qi Yan's, but it was very close. The nearby residents spontaneously took buckets and basins and carried (held) water to put out the fire.

"Yanzi, let your parents go to my house first. Do you know if anyone has called the fire department?"

Du Shaojie immediately saw Qi Yan, who had also joined the fire-fighting army.

However, due to the lack of professional fire-fighting tools and the howling north wind, the fire was not only not brought under control, but instead became more and more intense.

He quickly grabbed Qi Yan because he saw that the fire had begun to spread and Qi Yan's home was no longer safe.

"I don't know if anyone has called the fire department yet, I'll go call them now."

After hearing what Du Shaojie said, Qi Yan panicked a little and ran back home in a hurry.

Du Shaojie trotted back, got on his bike and headed straight to the cafeteria of the medical school. There was a phone there.

Rushing into the office, Du Shaojie thought for a moment before dialing "09". The current fire alarm number is still "09", and it will not be until 82 that the national fire alarm number will be unified and changed to "119".

After the call was connected, he briefly explained the situation and then returned to the fire scene.

Every effort is made. Su Dapeng and his wife also came. They ran so much that their fingers were frozen.

Firefighters arrived shortly after, and fortunately there were no tall buildings in those days, so the fire was eventually brought under control. Five families' houses were completely burned down, but Qi Yan's was relatively safe, with only the courtyard wall blackened.

The only thing to be thankful for is that there was property damage but no casualties.

"What a commotion! It's New Year's Day and we can't even have peace."

Qi Yan's parents returned home and couldn't help shaking their heads and sighing.

Five families lost their homes on New Year's Eve. Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, it is likely that some naughty child set off firecrackers.

The street office stepped in to relocate the affected people, and it was almost midnight when Du Shaojie returned home.

The next day.

Everyone who came to pay New Year's greetings knew about the fire that broke out in Chunfeng Lane last night.

Du Shaojie rode his bike out for a walk, and when he came back he went to the street to take a look. The five families were in a very bad situation. The fire came very suddenly and spread very fast, and basically no property was saved.

It was like a huge fire burning the house to the ground.

When I got home, most of the people who came to pay New Year's greetings had left. Only Su Dapeng, Huang Tingting and his wife, Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin were still there.

"Shaojie, Dapeng, I think we should do something. There are so many people in Chunfeng Lane, why don't we come forward to raise funds, there is strength in numbers, we can't just watch our neighbors become homeless."

When Qi Yan saw Du Shaojie, she felt like she had found a backbone.

She proposed to launch a fundraising campaign for the affected families to help them rebuild their homes.

Su Dapeng and others nodded repeatedly, thinking that this was a good idea. Fundraising had to be led by someone, and it would be more effective if they came forward than if the street did.

"It's a good idea, but we still need to communicate with the street office in advance. After all, it involves money, so there must be supervision, otherwise it will be hard to explain later."

Du Shaojie thinks more. Of course, it’s okay to do good things, but you can’t put yourself in it.

Everyone thought it made sense. Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin volunteered to communicate with the street office.

Of course, this matter is not so urgent, we can wait until after work. After all, door-to-door fundraising during the Chinese New Year is not a big deal, and everyone knows this.

Later, Du Shaojie asked everyone to sit in the next yard. Then everyone worked together to pick, wash and cut vegetables. He re-fried the hot pot base and continued to eat hot pot.

Wang Yuxiu, Xiaomei and Xiaoya have not touched the dishes they cooked last night. Their mission today is to finish these dishes.

"Tingting, do you think you can get a house this year?"

When Su Dapeng and Huang Tingting got married, their company didn't give them a house, so they still lived with his parents.

As they ate and drank, the topic turned to the house.

"I don't know. I just heard that the bureau is going to build a residential building for family members this year. I don't know if a small person like me can get it."

Huang Tingting shook her head and didn't dare to hold too much hope for a house.

Su Dapeng had an idea. He wanted to follow Du Shaojie's example and buy a yard. But he hadn't found a suitable one yet, so he didn't tell anyone.

Du Shaojie smiled and nodded, and did not continue the topic.

The reason why he asked this was to remind Su Dapeng to hurry up and buy a yard. It is actually very suitable to buy it now, because it will be much more expensive in two years.

For the next few days, Du Shaojie basically stayed at home.

Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin would come over to visit occasionally, and I spent a few rare days of peace and quiet.

The fifth day of the first lunar month.

The first branch, the second branch, the [Da Pan Ji] specialty store, the private restaurant and all [Dezhou Braised Chicken] stores opened for business simultaneously.

Du Shaojie immediately got busy, while Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin went to the street to discuss the fundraising. The street was very happy, as this was a spontaneous action by the residents, and they certainly supported it.

However, at the request of Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin, the street sent a staff member to supervise the money and accounts.

Later, Xiaomei also joined in. Xiaoya definitely had no part in this matter, because her task was to study. She had only a few days off during the Chinese New Year, and then she had endless exercises to do and books to read every day.

Du Shaojie took the lead in donating 500 yuan, Wang Yuxiu donated 100 yuan, and Su Dapeng and his wife donated 100 yuan.

The neighbors in Chunfeng Lane were very considerate, giving 3000 yuan each and yuan each, and within a few days, they had raised more than yuan. There should be some more later, but it had nothing to do with Qi Yan and the others, and all the rest was handed over to the street.

The street also applied for some subsidies from the higher authorities, and the victims contributed some more money themselves, so they can rebuild their houses after the spring.

"Shaojie, what do you think this is?"

Qi Yan and Xiao Mei received social practice certificates issued by the street. At the same time, the street also wrote letters of praise to their schools and Liang Meiqin's unit.

Qi Yan was so happy that she ran to show off to Du Shaojie after dinner.

"Sister Yan Zi, where is mine?"

"Isn't this it? Here you go."

Qi Yan and Xiao Mei played around for a while before showing Du Shaojie what they had in their hands.

Du Shaojie felt that the street was too stingy, using such things to coax people, but it was actually useless. But he couldn't say it, and kept saying nice things.

Otherwise, Qi Yan and Xiao Mei would be angry with him.

Time flies and the winter vacation is over in a blink of an eye.

This time, Du Xiaomei and Qi Yan took the same train. Xiaomei got off halfway and then transferred to Yangcheng, while Qi Yan would sit all the way to the final stop, Beijing.

Du Shaojie actually wanted to buy a plane ticket for his sister, but Xiaomei refused, so there was nothing he could do.

On the day of the farewell, Liang Meiqin insisted on going to the train station, and Du Shaojie did not stop her. He couldn't keep her in the room all day long, could he? Her eyesight had recovered, so she didn't have to be as careful as before.

After sending Liang Meiqin home, Du Shaojie went to the private restaurant.

Feng Qingsong and Liu Ying booked a table for lunch today and specifically asked him to be the chef.

Since there were not many people, Du Shaojie prepared 8 dishes and asked Zhang Yufei to serve them on the table.

"Manager Du, the guest in Room 1 invites you over."

After the dishes were served, Zhang Yufei came to find Du Shaojie and said that the guest was looking for him.

Du Shaojie hurried upstairs and walked into the private room. He saw Feng Qingsong smiling and waving at him: "Master Du, come and sit down. Have a couple of drinks with me."

There were only four people present. In addition to Feng Qingsong and Liu Ying, he knew the other two, but he was not very familiar with them.

"Master Du, I will be leaving soon. I don't know when I will be able to taste your cooking again."

After Du Shaojie sat down, he clinked glasses with everyone.

Feng Qingsong then made a shocking statement, which was completely beyond Du Shaojie's expectations. Because he had not heard anything about it, it seemed very sudden.

"Master Du, the leader has been promoted and transferred to another province. Not to mention you, I just found out about it too, and even the leader didn't know about it beforehand. Since we're in a hurry, let's consider today as a farewell banquet."

Liu Ying explained to Du Shaojie that Feng Qingsong was about to leave the local area to take up a post in another province.

Du Shaojie quickly poured himself a glass of wine and congratulated Feng Qingsong.

People go to high places and water flows to low places. This is a happy thing.

"I'll drink this glass of wine from Master Du!"

Feng Qingsong was full of confidence, and both the host and the guests enjoyed the meal very much.

Before leaving, he called Du Shaojie aside and spoke to him alone. (End of this chapter)