Life in siheyuan era

Han Xue looked at the paper bag in front of her and then looked up at Zhou Zhiyuan across from her.

He had washed his hands and sat calmly in his seat, as if the young man who had been fighting had nothing to do with him.

He had beaten Hu Biao, making it look effortless and without a trace of aggression, and then continued to act like a refined scholar, calmly sitting down to eat his steamed bun.

Han Xue watched as he slowly reached out his left hand, took a palm-sized cornbread bun from the paper bag, and slowly brought it to his mouth.

This action made the word "pretentious" pop into Han Xue's mind.

Then she turned to look at Wan Chunfang, who also happened to be turning to look at her. The two women's eyes conveyed the same opinion: "Pretentious."

Having reached this conclusion, the two women withdrew their gazes. Wan Chunfang turned to look out the window, while Han Xue looked down at the paper bag in front of her, worried that the buns inside were as big as the one Zhou Zhiyuan was eating, which would be embarrassing.

If that were the case, she would definitely not eat it.

Having made up her mind, she carefully opened the paper bag and took out a bun, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the small and exquisite white bun.

She was quite satisfied with this bun; the delicate bun folds looked like a flower.

Han Xue dispelled her worries; she could eat the buns in the paper bag.

She was a staunch feminist, believing that women could hold up half the sky and were in no way inferior to men at work.

But everyday life was different. Gender equality should still have its distinctions. A young woman couldn't publicly hold a palm-sized cornbread bun and stuff it into her mouth.

A man eating a large bun seemed bold, while a woman eating a large bun just looked extremely hungry.

At this moment, Zhou Zhiyuan was eating a large bun. Men could eat gracefully, but they definitely couldn't eat in small bites like a sissy.

Zhou Zhiyuan ate elegantly, and Han Xue was no different. She took a gentle bite of the small bun and suddenly remembered something. She put the bun back into the paper bag, picked up the handkerchief on the table, wiped her hands, and took out one yuan and half a catty of food stamps from her pocket, placing them in front of Zhou Zhiyuan.

His words stunned Han Xue. Her first reaction was, "Is Zhou Zhiyuan extorting me?" She didn't understand what Zhou Zhiyuan meant by saying this.

Wan Chunfang turned her face and asked, "How much money do you want to make from Section Chief Han?"

At this moment, she and Han Xue were standing on the same side. Zhou Zhiyuan had brought up a topic that everyone could discuss, as the room was too quiet.

Hearing her words, Han Xue reacted and looked up at Zhou Zhiyuan, listening to his surprised question, "Is this price very expensive?"

Then he muttered to himself, "It seems quite expensive."

Immediately afterward, he lowered the price: "We should treat comrades with the warmth of spring. Let's cut it in half. Section Chief Han, give me five yuan and two and a half catties of food stamps."

"Heh..." Wan Chunfang laughed, and even Wang Dagang smiled.

Han Xue immediately replied, "You're asking an exorbitant price, and I'm bargaining on the spot. One yuan and half a catty of food stamps, that's the price."

After saying this, Han Xue took a bite of the bun and then found that it tasted quite good, with sauerkraut and pork filling.

She was waiting for Zhou Zhiyuan to reply, and she heard him exclaim, "Comrade Han Xue, you can't do this! I've already given you a 50% discount. Giving me this little money will bankrupt me."

Now that there was a topic, Han Xue swallowed her mouthful of bun and resolutely replied, "Resolutely crack down on price gouging..." At this point, she paused, suddenly realizing her weakness: she couldn't say humorous things.

Zhou Zhiyuan's words and actions had nothing to do with price gouging; he was just trying to make everyone laugh and thus narrow the distance between them. She should have cooperated at this time, but she didn't know how to respond to Zhou Zhiyuan.

Han Xue stopped halfway, and Zhou Zhiyuan had to perform a one-man show, sighing, "It's hard to be a good person!"

He muttered to himself again: "If Comrade Han Xue gives me five yuan and two and a half catties of food stamps, I can add at most one or two yuan, one catty of food stamps, and the money for tomorrow's lunch treat will be available."

"Daydreaming!" This time, Han Xue and Wan Chunfang issued their opposition together.

Wan Chunfang immediately shouted, "I want to drink wine and eat meat!"

Zhou Zhiyuan immediately shouted, "Comrade Wan Chunfang, no, Big Sister Wan, I'm really going to go bankrupt!"

Wan Chunfang laughed and said, "It's only natural for a younger brother to treat his older sister to wine and meat."

"Alas, being young is a disadvantage." Zhou Zhiyuan muttered to himself, then turned to Wang Dagang and said loudly, "Brother Wang, you are destined to have many sons and grandsons, what are you worried about?"

Hearing this, Wang Dagang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Are you serious? Is my wife pregnant with a son?"

"Brother Wang, regardless of whether this child is a boy or a girl, I see that Brother Wang's appearance is blessed with a full forehead and a round chin, and his bones... uh, in the future, he will definitely have many sons and grandsons."

Zhou Zhiyuan spoke off the cuff, and Wang Dagang actually believed him, hurriedly saying, "My family has only had one son for three generations. My parents are afraid that my wife will give birth to a girl. I'm not greedy, it's enough for me to have two sons in this lifetime."

Wang Dagang was biased towards sons over daughters, and Han Xue retorted with dissatisfaction, "In the new society, men and women are the same."

"That's right..." Zhou Zhiyuan immediately followed up, "Women can hold up half the sky, but..."

He expressed his support for Han Xue, then brought the topic back, "Brother Wang is destined to have many sons and grandsons in the future, and this fate will not change because women can hold up half the sky."

"Heh..." Wang Dagang laughed happily.

Wan Chunfang shouted, "Can you also tell fortunes? Take a look at Big Sister."

Han Xue said seriously, "This is promoting feudal superstition."

Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Big Sister, I can only tell someone's fortune once every six months."

Then he turned to Han Xue and said, "Comrade Han Xue, the correct explanation of superstition is that one party speaks nonsense, and the other party believes it confusedly."

"Look at Comrade Wang Dagang, with his square face and big ears, and dignified appearance, he fully meets the appearance of a full forehead and a round chin, which shows that I am not speaking nonsense."

"Look at Comrade Wang Dagang again, with his bright eyes and refreshing spirit, which shows that he is not believing it confusedly."

"In summary, the fact of promoting feudal superstition is not established, and this court will not accept Comrade Han Xue's accusation against Comrade Zhou Zhiyuan."

As soon as Zhou Zhiyuan finished speaking, Wan Chunfang and Wang Dagang laughed together. Han Xue smiled and said, "Eloquent."

Zhou Zhiyuan replied modestly, "Comrade Han Xue is too kind. My mouth is quite clumsy."

"Heh..." This room issued a collective laugh for the second time, and they had passed the period of awkwardness.

Sometimes, interactions between people are very simple, but they require an opportunity, and creating this opportunity is very important.

At the meeting presided over by Li Huaiyi, Zhou Zhiyuan clumsily poured water, and Wan Chunfang didn't react when the hot water spilled, so this opportunity would not appear.

And Han Xue didn't react at all to the dispute between Wan Chunfang and Li Huaiyi, so this opportunity would not be connected.

In the end, it was Wang Dagang's reaction. If he had taken the rag from Wan Chunfang, this opportunity would have been completely cut off.

Analyzing this process carefully, first, Zhou Zhiyuan discovered Wan Chunfang's dissatisfaction with Li Huaiyi and created an opportunity by pouring water. Then, a series of conversations prompted Han Xue to take the initiative to respond.

Wang Dagang's reaction was the most tacit cooperation. He was the most suitable person to wring the rag, but he was absent-minded.

This was a circle, with each link indispensable. Zhou Zhiyuan, Han Xue, Wan Chunfang, and Wang Dagang met for the first time, and something could be seen from this process.

Wan Chunfang was dissatisfied with Li Huaiyi and needed to find an opportunity to vent.

Wang Dagang knew Wan Chunfang's attitude and expressed his support with silence.

Han Xue was very responsible. As the head of the Urban Management Section, she had to come forward to support her colleagues.

Zhou Zhiyuan was the one who created the opportunity.

He wanted to grasp first-hand information as soon as possible, so he needed an opportunity. Li Huaiyi gave him the opportunity, so he gave Wan Chunfang the opportunity. Thus, this opportunity entered a virtuous cycle. When the four people formed a circle, goodwill also sprouted.

This goodwill stabilized after Zhou Zhiyuan told a joke, but after the fight, another problem arose: "How do I get along with Zhou Zhiyuan?"

Zhou Zhiyuan's performance shook their original image of him, and they had to consider this issue.

Zhou Zhiyuan also had to consider a problem: "How to eliminate the negative impact of the fight?" This was a government work department, not a marketplace, and the negative impact of fighting was great.

At this time, Han Xue gave him an opportunity, and he would definitely not let it go. A few words made everyone let go of their burdens, and Zhou Zhiyuan and Han Xue finished their buns while talking and laughing.

After eating, Han Xue raised her wrist to look at her watch and turned to Wan Chunfang and said, "Sister Wan, Brother Wang, should we hold a small meeting this afternoon? Comrade Zhou Zhiyuan and I will start learning from now on, and also clarify our recent work goals."

She spoke including Wang Dagang, but her eyes looked at Wan Chunfang. She knew that Wan Chunfang was the one who made the decisions between the two of them.

Wan Chunfang replied readily, "You are the section chief, you decide."

This was a cooperative attitude, and Wang Dagang also nodded gently; he followed Wan Chunfang's lead.

Having obtained their cooperative attitude, Han Xue turned to Zhou Zhiyuan and said, "Comrade Zhou Zhiyuan, you are familiar with Director Zhang Yong, please go to the Comprehensive Office to get some pens and stationery."

She spoke politely, but Zhou Zhiyuan immediately realized that the only soldier Han Xue had confirmed was him.

He was familiar with Zhang Yong, but weren't Wan Chunfang and Wang Dagang familiar with him too?

At this time, he needed to use his brains. This was an attitude problem. He had expressed his willingness to obey Han Xue's leadership, but Han Xue still wanted to clarify it through action, to listen to his words and observe his actions.