Siheyuan: After I moved in, the compound became a mess

Chapter 333: Frozen Like a Dog in the Cold Weather

After dinner, Wang Dabao lay on the sofa and drank another pot of tea. The stove was burning brightly, and the doors and windows of the small house were tightly closed, so he felt warm and fell asleep on the bed in a daze.

As a result, Wang Dabao was woken up by the cold in the second half of the night.

I stuck my arm out from under the quilt and saw that the temperature in the room was almost below zero.

I looked up at the stove. It had been burning too brightly in the first half of the night and had gone out by now.

I estimate the temperature outside to be around minus ten degrees Celsius. I can't help but sigh that people these days are really not pretentious.

Especially those two green hands Xu Damao and Sha Zhu, they didn't even have a kang at home, and their wooden beds were frozen to the ground!

Of course, he himself also has a wooden bed, but he has space!

As soon as the thought came to his mind, Wang Dabao lay down on the big bed in the space farm.

The two puppies had grown a lot. When they heard the noise, they hurried into the house to check. After a while, they fell asleep under the bed with Wang Dabao.

That night, there was a strong cold wind in the Hongxing Courtyard, and even those who had kangs could not sleep well.

In the front yard of old Yan's house, Yan Bugui poked the stove, boiled water and handed it to Yan Jiekuang in bed, so that he could warm himself up and continue sleeping.

Xu Damao and Sha Zhu were so cold that they huddled in their quilts like dead dogs, but the quilt was so hard that there was no warmth at all.

There was no other way, so Sha Zhu had to get up and watch over the stove, which made him feel a little warm.

The next morning, Wang Dabao carried a tin bucket and wanted to go to the central courtyard to fetch some water. But when he arrived at the courtyard, there was no one there. At this time every day, there were always many people queuing by the well.

After fiddling with it for a while, Wang Dabao gave up. The well was completely frozen by the northwest wind last night.

"Dabao."

Wang Dabao was just about to turn around and go back when Sha Zhu poked his head out of the door and waved at him, implying that the well could not be used.

Then Sha Zhu put his hands in his sleeves and came out trembling, "How much do you need? If you just want to wash your hands and face, go to my place. If you use more, it will be troublesome. You have to go to the water station to get some."

"But I have to tell you, I just came back from there, and the line was almost all the way to Menban Hutong. I guess it would be great if I could make it back by the time I get to work."

Sha Zhu stamped his feet and said with a wry smile.

The Hongxing Siheyuan is considered better off. Some small courtyards don’t even have a well, so people have to go to the water station to fetch water when they need it. However, water stations are usually built near such courtyards.

There is one water station for every alley. Wang Dabao thought that in this cold winter, the wells in every house might not be well supplied. People would freeze to death just waiting in line to get water.

"Well, that's all the water I can use. I have some at home. I don't need to go to your place. I can just put it on the stove when I get home."

As he spoke, Wang Dabao took out a cigarette and handed it to Sha Zhu. "But I say, Zhuzi, you got up early. Did you get woken up by the cold last night?!"

Sha Zhu took the cigarette and chuckled: "You're right. I almost didn't fall asleep last night. It was so cold. I got up to warm myself up and didn't go back to sleep. It was already daybreak when I finished sweeping the area assigned to me in the yard."

Sha Zhu took out a match and lit Wang Dabao's cigarette. "I wanted to get some water, but the well was frozen solid. I poured two basins of hot water on it but it didn't melt. Later, Grandpa Yi followed suit. Finally, we had no other choice, so we went to the water station together. As soon as I entered the house, I heard you tinkering outside."

As the two were talking, Xu Damao came in with a pot in his hand, a messy hair and a cotton coat on.

"Dabao, what's going on?"

Seeing Wang Dabao's iron bucket placed next to the well, Xu Damao asked.

Wang Dabao laughed and said, "Forget it. There's no water. The well is frozen."

Xu Damao frowned and said, "What a damn bad luck! There must be a long queue at this water station."

"Hey, I have some. 50 cents a pot. Do you want to buy it?" Sha Zhu smiled and teased Xu Damao while holding a cigarette in his mouth.

"Go wherever is cooler, and save your bottle of water."

Xu Damao waved to Wang Dabao and left with the pot.

Wang Dabao looked at Xu Damao's departing back and joked to Sha Zhu, "You, stop teasing him. It's freezing cold out here, and it's hard for everyone."

Sha Zhu shrugged and flicked the cigarette butt in the direction Xu Damao left.

"Okay, Dabao, if you don't need water, then I'll pack up and go to work early. I don't know how the well over there in the cafeteria is doing yet, so I'll go get some water and melt it."

After returning from the middle courtyard, Wang Dabao closed the door and slipped into the farm hut.

After washing up and eating something, he returned to the courtyard.

When I pushed my bicycle to the central courtyard, I ran into Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi who were also coming out of their homes.

"Brother Dabao, are you at work?"

Qin Huairu was wearing a blue cotton jacket and greeted Wang Dabao with a smile.

Wang Dabao looked at Jia Zhang who was reluctant to go out and wondered, "To work, where are you two going this early in the morning?"

Qin Huairu glanced at Jia Zhang, then said with a somewhat unnatural expression: "Yesterday, Xu Damao mentioned the matter of making paste for matchboxes. I discussed it with my mother-in-law and we think it is feasible. It just so happens that the Banggeng will be on holiday soon. If Xiaodang and the others can help out, they can also get two or three kilograms of corn flour for the New Year."

"That's great. Everyone is busy with family matters during the New Year, so you can get more when you go there."

Wang Dabao laughed.

Nowadays, even the task of making matchboxes assigned by the street office is limited, and the wages for making matchboxes before the New Year are settled in cornmeal.

"It's almost time to go, otherwise there won't be any left by the street office."

Jia Zhang was grumbling on the side.

Qin Huairu smiled awkwardly and walked in front with Jia Zhangshi, while Wang Dabao followed behind pushing his bicycle.

Looking at Qin Huairu's twisting body, Wang Dabao shook his head. If the guy surnamed Qin in the play could be kind enough to give a child to the guy surnamed "Sha", then it would really be a scene of love in the courtyard!