mtl008 Chapter 123 Introduce me to someone!
Chapter 123 Introduce me to someone!
As night deepened, scattered lights began to illuminate the streets of the county town.
After leaving the state-run restaurant, Li Xiangyang intended to go straight back to the village, but Wang Ergou stopped him.
"We finally made it to the city, and we're going back already?" Wang Ergou stuffed a pastry he'd brought from the restaurant into his mouth and mumbled, "Let's explore the city a bit more."
Li Xiangyang touched the money in his pocket and hesitated.
He had intended to deposit the money in a bank, but it was already late and the bank was closed.
Carrying so much cash on your person is indeed not very safe.
The best thing to do now is to go back, but Wang Ergou clearly doesn't want to go back.
Seeing this, Cheng Shichang quickly said, "How about this, I'll take you to the guesthouse for the night. You can go back early tomorrow morning."
"A guesthouse?" Wang Ergou's eyes lit up. "The kind of place city people stay in?"
"That won't do! They're keeping rooms for foreign guests. We should enjoy ourselves too."
As soon as Cheng Shichang finished speaking, Wang Ergou's eyes lit up instantly.
Li Xiangyang glanced at the sky and, having heard that the accommodations for foreign guests were safe enough, nodded in agreement: "Then I'll trouble you, Cheng Zhiqing."
Cheng Shichang waved his hand, "Don't be so polite. We've become friends through a bit of a misunderstanding. Besides, if it weren't for you guys today, I would have made a huge mistake."
The three of them walked towards the guesthouse, chatting and laughing.
On the way, Cheng Shichang suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Li Xiangyang, about today's matter..."
“Don’t worry,” Li Xiangyang interrupted him, “Let bygones be bygones.”
Cheng Shichang nodded with a sigh of relief.
The guesthouse was located in the most bustling part of the county town. Although it was an old two-story building, it was considered quite impressive for that era.
The gatekeeper recognized Cheng Shichang, greeted him, and let them in.
"Isn't it impressive?" Cheng Shichang said, leading the way as he introduced the place. "If my uncle didn't come here often, I wouldn't even be able to get in."
Wang Ergou looked around, finding everything new and interesting.
Li Xiangyang remained calm, after all, compared to later generations, his level was only average.
Of course, in this day and age, being able to enter such a place is indeed a rare opportunity for these rural people.
After settling into his lodgings, Cheng Shichang took his leave.
Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment, then said, "Li Xiangyang, I keep my word. As long as I take over the family business, you won't need coupons when you buy things; I'll pay you the original price."
Li Xiangyang smiled and nodded without saying anything.
After Cheng Shichang left, Wang Ergou buried himself in the bed and exclaimed, "This bed is so soft! Much better than the earthen kang (heated brick bed) in our village!"
Li Xiangyang carefully put the money out of his pocket, looked at the night outside the window, and pondered his plans for tomorrow.
So much happened that day, from being robbed by Cheng Shichang in the morning, to meeting Lin Shouye, and now checking into the guesthouse.
"Tomorrow morning," Li Xiangyang said to Wang Ergou, "let's go to the bank first to deposit the money, then go to the supply and marketing cooperative to see what new goods they have."
"Alright!" Wang Ergou, already lying on the bed, said with his eyes half-closed, "You can arrange it."
Li Xiangyang looked at Wang Ergou, who was almost asleep, and shook his head.
This rough man grew up in the mountains, and everything in the city was new to him.
However, it was precisely because of his simplicity that Li Xiangyang found it easy to deal with him.
As night deepened, the guesthouse gradually quieted down.
Although the guesthouse rooms were small, they were very clean.
Li Xiangyang put the money away, lay down on the bed, and drifted off to sleep.
"Dong dong dong."
Early in the morning, a knock on the door startled Li Xiangyang awake.
"You're here early!" A clear voice came from outside the door.
Wang Ergou jumped up and was about to open the door.
Li Xiangyang quickly stopped him: "Put on some clothes before you go."
"Hey, I'm used to it, I think this is my own home..." Wang Ergou chuckled, grabbing his clothes and putting them on.
After the door opened, a girl in a dark blue work uniform stood at the doorway holding two enamel plates.
The plate contained steaming hot pickled vegetable buns and a bowl of millet porridge.
The girl had fair skin and beautiful features, even more striking than the educated youth in the village.
Seeing Wang Ergou's staring gaze, the girl lowered her head, her face slightly flushed.
"Thank you, thank you." Li Xiangyang quickly stepped forward to take the tray. "I'm sorry, this is my buddy's first time staying at a guesthouse, he's a little unfamiliar with the rules."
"It's nothing." The girl brushed a stray hair from her forehead, turned around, and quickly left.
Watching the girl's departing figure, Wang Ergou smacked his lips, "City girls are so beautiful. If I could find a wife like that, I'd gladly give up ten years of my life."
"Just eat your food," Li Xiangyang said irritably.
After breakfast, Li Xiangyang patted Wang Ergou on the shoulder: "Let's go to the bank."
The two walked down the main street of the county town, and Wang Ergou found everything he saw fascinating.
He would take another look at each car as it passed by, clicking his tongue in amazement.
You can't blame Wang Ergou for being ignorant; these days, industrial products are in high demand.
After crossing two streets, I arrived at the county agricultural bank.
A long queue had formed in front of the bank, mostly members of the cooperative and cashiers from their companies who were there to deposit money.
"So many people!" Wang Ergou rubbed his hands together, looking at the long queue. "How long are we going to have to wait?"
"Just wait patiently, you don't have anything else to do anyway." Li Xiangyang took out two wads of cash from his pocket and handed one wad to Wang Ergou. "Here, a thousand yuan, this is yours."
Wang Ergou clutched the money, his eyes reddening: "Xiangyang, you're a real friend."
After a while, the line finally moved to the counter.
A young female bank clerk sat behind the counter, wearing glasses, her head down as she diligently filled out forms.
"Comrade, I want to deposit money." Li Xiangyang handed over the money.
The female bank clerk looked up, saw the amount of money, and adjusted her glasses: "Fill out the passbook."
She smiled and reached for her bankbook.
Wang Ergou stood behind Li Xiangyang, staring intently at the female bank clerk behind the counter.
"Wang Ergou!" Li Xiangyang lowered his voice, "Can you stop staring at people?"
"Huh? Oh." Wang Ergou suddenly realized what was happening and scratched his head sheepishly.
The female bank clerk was very patient, carefully filling out the passbook and explaining to Li Xiangyang how to withdraw money.
After Wang Ergou finished depositing his money, the two walked out of the bank.
Li Xiangyang couldn't help but ask, "Couldn't you have behaved a little better just now?"
"How am I being dishonest?" Wang Ergou grinned sheepishly. "Just because she's pretty doesn't mean I can't look at her! I didn't even touch her..."
"Right, right, you haven't tried it yet. If you dare to try, I guarantee you'll get some peanuts," Li Xiangyang said speechlessly.
"Sigh, what are you saying? I'm not stupid. You're just a rich man who doesn't know the hunger of a starving man. Seriously, I have money now, why don't you ask your partner to introduce me to someone? She doesn't have to be pretty, just a young woman from the educated youth era will do. My mother really wants me to find one..."
"Okay, I'll talk to Xiaoyun about it when I get back. But introductions are just introductions; whether she's interested or not isn't guaranteed. If you want to find a partner, at least make sure you look presentable, right? Look at you now."
“Indeed.” Wang Ergou touched his rough face. “How about we get a haircut?”
“Okay.” Li Xiangyang nodded. “It’s time I got it sorted out too.”