Chapter 18: Untitled
“You two masters, we’re here.”
The car slowly stopped at the entrance of the siheyuan at 95 Nanluoguxiang. Camel Xiangzi wiped his sweat with the towel on his shoulder, radiating heat under the sunlight. Untitled
“You kid, you’re way too desperate. Look at you panting.” Master Duo took out money to pay the fare and patted Xiangzi’s shoulder. “Don’t be so desperate. You’re still young. Don’t ruin your body.”
Camel Xiangzi grinned foolishly, feeling warm inside: “Master Duo, it’s fine. My body can take it. I’m counting on buying my own rickshaw, so I have to run more.”
“You.” Master Duo shook his head helplessly and said no more.
Cao Weida suddenly spoke up: “Xiangzi, I usually need a car when I go out, and your pulling is pretty steady. Interested in chartered car?”
Camel Xiangzi hesitated. “Yes, but I say this upfront: I only pull the car, nothing else.”
He had pulled chartered car for people before, but that master made him do this and that, treating him completely like a slave.
The key was the money was little, but the tasks were many. The master’s bossy attitude made Camel Xiangzi quit that day.
After that, he became more cautious, scared of being cheated.
Cao Weida laughed heartily and waved carelessly: “Pulling car is pulling car. I’m not a black-hearted landlord who treats people like donkeys.”
“I go out a lot on weekdays and need a car often.”
“You just pull your car well. When I tell you to follow, you follow. When I don’t, do whatever you want. Twenty silver dollars a month. What do you think?”
“Really?” Camel Xiangzi’s heart moved. He ran desperately every day, but his car wasn’t always busy.
More often, he couldn’t get customers and just ran empty.
Plus, regardless of earnings, the daily rental fee had to be paid in full.
Averaging it out, he could only earn ten silver dollars a month.
That was just peak season. In off-season, like rainy days, snowy days, or severe cold, he earned even less.
Chartered car usually paid 15-20 silver dollars. If Cao Weida only needed him to pull the car, it would be false to say he wasn’t tempted.
“You silly Xiangzi, agree quick.” Master Duo patted him and winked desperately.
Before, Master Duo would definitely stop Cao Weida from such luxury. His own monthly salary was only six or seven silver dollars. Who had so much money to burn on chartered car?
But things were different now. With the Ono Shiota connection, twenty silver dollars a month was pocket change for Cao Weida. He naturally wouldn’t stop it.
They were making money, so why not enjoy it?
“Alright, I agree.” With Master Duo signaling so clearly, and knowing Master Duo’s character, he agreed immediately.
Then he tried to return the money in hand to Master Duo: “Since I’ve agreed, uh.”
“My surname is Cao.”
“Since you’ve agreed to chartered car for Master Cao, no need for this fare.”
“Take this money. This was before chartered car.” Master Duo waved carelessly. About to get big money soon, he wouldn’t care about this little bit.
Besides, it was Cao Weida’s chartered car, not his.
“This”
Seeing his troubled look, Cao Weida smiled: “Take it if I say so. One thing at a time. Master Duo doesn’t care about these couple bucks.”
“Th-then thanks, Master Duo.” Since Cao Weida said so, Xiangzi had to take the money.
“Alright, wait here. We’ll need the car soon.” Here, Cao Weida joked: “But next time, no extra pay.”
“Master, what are you saying? Of course, of course.”
The two stepped into the siheyuan. A skinny man in his thirties wearing glasses was washing diapers. Seeing the two officers come in, he quickly stood, wiped his hands randomly on his body, and ran over with a fawning smile:
“Oh my, isn’t this Master Duo? Greetings, Master Duo!”
“Old Yan, what are you busy with?” He introduced Cao Weida: “This is Old Yan, Yan Bugui, a resident of the siheyuan.”
Cao Weida nodded slightly in greeting.
So this was Yan Bugui.
Cao Weida looked at him with interest. Yan Bugui’s appearance was somewhat similar to in the TV show, but he seemed more refined.
But Yan Bugui now looked dispirited, ruining that refined air.
Yan Bugui nodded and bowed hurriedly. Though patrolman was just the lowest rank, to ordinary people, they were untouchable.
“Ah, my wife just gave birth. I’m busy serving her postpartum confinement. What brings you two masters here? Just say the word!”
“Nothing much. I have business with the Jia family in the middle courtyard. You do your thing.”
Just as they were about to go in, Yan Bugui quickly stopped them: “Wait, Master Duo, can I ask you for something?”
“What?”
“Master Duo, it’s like this. My wife is in postpartum confinement, but these days there’s really nothing nutritious to supplement her. Even her breast milk is almost gone.” Yan Bugui sighed, full of worry:
“You don’t know, my wife has little breast milk. The kid is sucking so hard he’s nearly drawing blood. He cries hungrily every day. My heart is breaking.”
“I wanted to hit the black market for something nutritious for her, but you know, checks are tight these days. Who dares go? Even if I did, probably couldn’t get anything.”
“So I thought, can you help think of a way to get some? Rest assured, I’ll pay every cent.”
“This” Master Duo looked troubled. He usually ate only mixed flour and such, occasionally sneaking some rice or millet Cao Weida scrounged.
Getting something nutritious now wasn’t easy.
“Waa~~waa~~”
A baby’s cry came from the room, weak and obviously starving hard.
Hearing the cry, Yan Bugui trembled, eyes reddening, worry deepening on his face.
Master Duo felt bad hearing the cry, pulled Cao Weida aside: “Cao’er, got a way to get something?”
Cao Weida wasn’t heartless. For adults, he’d ignore, but for a child, he couldn’t refuse.
After thinking, he said: “Alright, I’ll get some rice, make some rice soup and rice oil. Meat if I can.”
Some don’t know what rice oil is. It’s the white layer floating on porridge from rice or millet.
Li Shizhen said: Children eating rice oil grow fat in a hundred days.
From three-month-olds to eighty-year-olds, rice oil is very nourishing. Once said to rival ginseng soup.
Meat is best, but without, rice oil is next best.
Master Duo relayed this to Yan Bugui, who immediately knelt with a thud.
Cao Weida quickly pulled him: “Don’t do that. You’ll shorten my life. Get up.”
“Master, let me kowtow once. Otherwise, I don’t know how to thank you. You’re our family’s benefactor!”
Cao Weida couldn’t let him kowtow for real, and with Master Duo, finally pulled him up.
Cao Weida had seen the show Neighborhood and some fan novels.
Those novels portrayed Yan Bugui as ugly in every way, scheming for a buck, all sorts of ugliness.
But in the original show, he didn’t dislike Yan Bugui, nor was he that ugly.
He was scheming, sure, but methods might be wrong without negating the person or exaggerating.
From a bystander’s view, Yan Bugui schemed but wasn’t bad.
Not to mention later plot, where he humbled himself to relieve He Yuzhu’s pressure, showing good heart and literati backbone.
“Alright, wait here.”
Outside, he called Xiangzi, who ran over nimbly: “Master, your orders.”
Cao Weida wanted to say don’t call him master always, but thought no other term fit.
Master Cao?
Too flashy.
Anything else?
Couldn’t be Brother Cao; he was younger than Xiangzi.
“Xiangzi, know where Little Ear’s home is?”
“Master, around Tianqiao, few don’t know Master Lian Little Ear. Of course I do.”
“Good. Find Little Ear, have him give you ten jin rice. Say it’s from me; he’ll know.”
“Got it, going now.” Xiangzi just nodded, asked nothing. This attitude made Cao Weida nod approvingly.
This was the attitude he wanted. He didn’t like chatty types.
Back inside, Cao Weida said: “Someone will bring ten jin rice soon. I can help, but don’t spread it around. Eat it secretly at home.”
Yan Bugui nodded immediately, eyes red: “Master, rest assured. My lips are sealed.”
“Good. Master Duo, let’s go in.”
“I’ll show you”
Cao Weida stopped Yan Bugui’s eagerness: “No need. You stay here. Master Duo, let’s go.”
The two entered the middle courtyard. Beiping now differed greatly from post-liberation.
Beiping wasn’t the capital yet. Before liberation, Nanjing was, then Chongqing. Beiping became capital after liberation.
Beiping’s population was about 1.8 million, far from 7.87 million in 1965 when Neighborhood started.
With fewer people, housing wasn’t tight. The siheyuan didn’t have over a hundred residents.
Just into the middle courtyard, a disheveled, pale-faced woman sat dazed on a stool, eyes lifeless.
“That’s Jia Zhangshi.” Master Duo pointed with his chin.
